Excavations Reveal The History of Khirbat-al-Minya Palace

Khirbat al-Minya is an early-Islamic caliphate palace located on the Galilee Sea’s shore in Israel. An archaeologist team from Johannes Gutenbert University Mainz (JGU) began excavating at Khirbat al-Minya in September 2016.

The team under the leadership of PD Dr.Hans-Peter Kuhnen from the Department of Ancient Studies at JGU began the research in a hope to find out how the site looked before the 749 AD earthquake. The quake incurred damage to the palace which was under construction during this catastrophe.

The excavations revealed that it crumbled the fancy of the building. Subsequently it was used only by sugarcane farmers, craftsmen and traders. Among the artifacts they found a tiny glass weight of only 12 millimeters diameter with an Arabic inscription that says “Glory to Allah”. This indicates that Muslim traders operated here during the 9^th or 10^th century.

Another important finding is that of the sugarcane processing facilities. They interpreted that sugarcane was extensively cultivated in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages but subsequently deserted.

The on-going excavations are expected to provide detailed insights into the historical happenings at the Galilee Sea’s shore before and after the construction of Khirbat al-Minya.