Israeli archaeologists have uncovered a 1,600-year-old estate tied to an ancient Samaritan community at Khirbet Kafr Ḥatta near the city of Kafr Qasim, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a Sept. 2 announcement. The excavation exposed a well-preserved mosaic floor, a Koine Greek inscription, a mikveh (ritual purification bath) and extensive olive-processing installations that together trace the site’s transformation over several centuries.
IAA officials said the estate dates to a Samaritan settlement that thrived from the 4th century to the late 7th century A.D. The discovery provides rare evidence of continuous Samaritan occupation and the community’s changing economy and built environment during the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Excavation director Daniel Leahy Griswold said the "magnificent" mosaic at the heart of the residence is decorated with acanthus leaves, a motif common in Roman and Byzantine art, together with rarer depictions of fruits and vegetables such as grapes, dates, watermelons, artichokes and asparagus. In the entrance to one room the team found a partially preserved Greek inscription that the IAA said wished the building’s owner good luck; the owner’s first name was described as common in Samaritan communities.
Archaeologists also uncovered domestic and industrial features adjacent to the residence. Finds include an olive press with a basin for crushing olives and two screw presses, a mikveh used for ritual purification, and Samaritan ceramic oil lamps. Griswold said later construction at the estate reused columns and capitals from the original luxury building, and new walls cut through the mosaic floors.
The IAA and excavation directors interpret the presence of olive-processing equipment and changes to the built environment as evidence that the site shifted from a wealthy domestic estate to an agricultural production center. Griswold suggested that the conversion to oil production may be linked to the broader disruptions and social changes that followed the Samaritan revolts against Byzantine rule in the 5th and 6th centuries, which led to the destruction of many Samaritan settlements.
Excavation director Alla Nagorsky described the find as "fascinating," noting that the estate’s long period of use and the variety of finds will allow researchers to reconstruct the community’s history across centuries and "will enrich our knowledge about this population in ancient times." The IAA said the estate’s survival is relatively uncommon because many Samaritan sites were destroyed in the revolts.
Khirbet Kafr Ḥatta has been linked by some scholars to Menander of Samaria, a disciple of the figure known in early Christian literature as Simon Magus, though the IAA statement stressed the primary significance of the site lies in its material record. The archaeological evidence at Kafr Qasim—mosaic art, ritual installations and household and industrial architecture—adds to a growing body of data about Samaritan life, religious practice and economy in late antiquity.
The IAA said the excavation continues and that further study of inscriptions, ceramics and architectural remains will refine dating and clarify the sequence of occupation and reuse. The finds were announced on the authority’s Facebook page and publicized in a statement describing the site as an enduring example of a Samaritan estate that experienced both prosperity and later adaptation to agricultural production.
Archaeologists plan laboratory analyses of the mosaics, inscriptions and ceramic assemblage, and hope the ongoing work will illuminate how local communities responded to political and economic pressures during the late Roman and Byzantine eras. The excavation at Kafr Qasim contributes to wider archaeological efforts in the region to document minority communities and their material culture in late antiquity.