A salvage archaeological excavation that started last month at the Khirbet al-Taybeh site at Mount Hebron has uncovered Mamluk-era frescoes.
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Archaeologists were excited to discover the frescos.
"It's amazing, because we haven't found things like these in private homes from the Mamluk era," explains Hanania Hizmi, head of the Archaeology Unit in the IDF's Civil Administration.
"We are familiar with wall paintings and frescoes mainly from earlier periods, but not in the Muslim culture," Hizmi continued.
Archaeologist Dotan Traubman, who is overseeing the dig along with Ahiya Hager, added, "This is a world-class find [of the kind] that people travel to Greece and Rome to see."
Khirbet al-Taybeh, a recognized antiquties site since 1944, lies between two hills between the isolated settlements Telem and Adora. Excavations at the site began after residents of Telem informed a Civil Administration inspector about suspicious building activity there. Upon arrival, the inspector noticed a group of Palestinians who had begun a series of illegal projects.
Hizmi launched a salvage excavation to seek out any interesting finds that Khirbet al-Taybeh might be concealing. Despite its official antiquities status, the site had never been researched.
"We noticed that the terraces the Palestinians had set up included ancient stones, and their sifting had uncovered the top level of the structure," he revealed.
The frescos date back some 800 years and feature the same decorations used to embellished ceramic vessels in the same period.
"In the Islamic Period it was forbidden to portray human faces, and they drew flowers and animals," Traubman explained. "It was necessary to bring in an artist who is an expert in drawings like these and in the area of painted plaster, and the owner [of the building] was rich enough for him to create something you didn't see in every home – which is why this find is so rare and important, and should be on display in a museum."
For now, the archaeological work has stopped the illegal Palestinian construction. According to Telem secretary Baruchi Bronstein, "Everyone is aware of this place's strategic importance to the region. It connects the Palestinian communities to the Jewish ones, and it's clear that the war over it isn't over."
Head of the Har Hevron Regional Council Yochai Damari noted that the Palestinians' attempt to encroach on Area C, which is under Israeli control, is taking place throughout the region.
"Khirbet al-Taybeh is not the first or the only place where there has been an attempt to take over historical sites. Unfortunately, no one is doing much of anything, and we are left with the glum reality on the ground," Damari said.
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