MAINZ, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, a team of researchers conducting geomagnetic surveys found traces of a settlement near the site of the palace of Khirbat al-Minya on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. It had been previously thought that the land was unoccupied when the caliph Walid began construction of the palace, mosque, and gateway tower in the early eighth century. Test pits in the settlement revealed structures made of basalt with plastered walls, mosaic floors, and a water cistern. Images on the mosaics include plants with long, curved stems resembling those found in mosaics depicting scenes on the Nile that date to the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. Ceramics in the settlement have also been dated from the fifth to seventh centuries. To read about an Islamic desert castle in Palestine, go to "Expanding the Story."
