The analysis of the remains of Pi Mazuva (Pi Metzuba) was published this month in the Hebrew-language journal Atiqot. You can download a pdf of the the article for free here.
Dwellings from the Byzantine Period at Pi Maẓuva in the Western Galilee (with a contribution by Danny Syon) (Hebrew, pp. 31*–39*; English summary, pp. 182–183)
Gilad Cinamon and Yoav Lerer
Keywords: Western Galilee, rural settlement, ṭabun, numismatics, cross, Christianity, ethnicity, villa, art, iconography, epigraphy, nomismata weight
The excavation at Pi Maẓuva revealed building complexes, some separated by an alley, dating from the Byzantine period. The finds at the site included a bronze cross, an ashlar limestone lintel with a cross engraving, and pottery dated to the sixth–seventh centuries CE, which comprised local types, alongside many imported ones, some adorned with crosses. An interesting find is a high-quality, colorful, seventh-century CE mosaic floor adorned with floral motifs, animal and human figures, and two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. The finds at the site point to the existence of a rural Christian settlement, probably destroyed during the Persian conquest of the region in 613 CE.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
