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Two of world's oldest mosques discovered in Israel’s Negev desert

The Israel Antiquities Authority discovered ruins of ancient mosques and rural properties dating back about 1,200 years, which sheds light on the area’s transition from Christianity to Islam during that era.

Hadeel Al Gherbawi
Hadeel Al Gherbawi
Sep 16, 2022
Muslim Palestinian workers of Israel's Antiquities Authority pray amid the remains of a recently discovered ancient mosque.
Muslim Palestinian workers of Israel's Antiquities Authority pray amid the remains of a recently discovered ancient mosque, which dates back to the early Islamic period, in the Bedouin town of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev desert on June 22, 2022. — MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

In June, the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed an ancient mosque dating back 1,200 years in the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

Back in 2019, the authority uncovered another mosque dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries AD.

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Archaeology Bedouins