Syria (Raqqa) – The national archaeological mission working at Medinet al-Far archaeological site, north of Raqqa City, uncovered parts of an mosque which dates back to the Umayyad age.
Director of the archaeological mission Muhammad Sarhan al-Ahmad said the excavation works at the southwestern part of the site revealed some mosque walls made of bricks and coated with plaster. The floor was paved with square bricks and decorated with floral ornaments.
A niche and a well to the south of the mosque were also discovered. The findings included a pottery, three Islamic coins, pottery lantern and glass fragments. Medinet al-Far is located at the left bank of al-Balikh River, to the north of Raqqa City. It covers an area of 94 hectares including 12 towers.
In the same context, the national expedition working at one of the house burials in the northern defensive wall of Palmyra City has discovered a stone-made head of a man and a woman wearing the Palmyrene traditional costume.
The expedition also unearthed funerary furniture including clay lanterns used for lightening the burial, in addition to a number of clay pieces of different sizes.
Chairman of the Excavation Directorate at Palmyra Antiquities Department Omar Asa'ad said that the discoveries were found during the process of restoring the burial which dates back to the 2nd century AD.
He pointed out that the burial consists of two stories and a cellar including a rectangular vestibule, on the two sides of which one can see 12 burial chambers, each one of them embraces 5 tombs.
He stressed that the expedition will work on restoring the burial during the process of building the wall of the city in the next season.
By R. Raslan
(SANA)
Global Arab Network
