A Byzantine-era mosaic map of an ancient Egyptian settlement is going on display in the parking lot of an industrial park in Israel.
According to Live Science, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Tuesday the site of the display, which is where the mosaic map was first discovered two years ago. It apparently details roads and buildings, but a Greek inscription indicates the settlement has additional significance.
Check out an image gallery of the mosaic display, courtesy of Live Science.
The map details an area in ancient Egypt called Chortaso and it was where the Hebrew prophet Habakkuk was buried.
"The appearance of buildings on mosaic floors is a rare phenomenon in Israel," Sa'ar Ganor and Rina Avner, archaeologists with the IAA, said in a statement. "The buildings are arranged along a main colonnaded street of a city, in a sort of ancient map. A Greek inscription preserved alongside one of the buildings exposed in the mosaic indicates that the place which is depicted is the settlement Chortaso in Egypt. According to Christian tradition, the prophet Habakkuk was buried in Chortaso The appearance of this Egyptian city on the floor of the public building in Qiryat Gat might allude to the origin of the church's congregation."
The industrial park, also known as Kiryat Gat, where the mosaic was found was once the site of a church about 1,500 years ago and the map would have covered the floor.
"The artist utilized tesserae of seventeen different colors in preparing the mosaic," Ganor said in the statement. "The investment in the raw materials and their quality are the best ever discovered in Israel"
