Tombstone of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1400 years old, found in Israel

The city of Nitsana, located in the north-west of the Negev Desert in Israel, is of great historical importance as it serves as a key site for the study of the transition period from the Byzantine to the early Islamic eras.

Oxu.az writes about it.

During the V-VI centuries AD, Nitsana was a centre for the surrounding villages and settlements, and had a number of important buildings, such as churches, a military fortress, a monastery and a roadside inn serving Christian travellers.

A Byzantine tombstone with an inscription in ancient Greek was found on the territory of Nitsana: "Holy Mary, who led a chaste life". This grave probably belonged to a woman who lived 1400 years ago, and the tombstone bears the date of her death - 9 February. The discovery joined other unearthed gravestones that also belonged to Christians.

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The researchers note that there is very little information about burials around Nitsan compared to other ancient cities in the region. Therefore, each tombstone found is of great importance for determining the boundaries of the ancient settlement.

The city was founded in the 3rd century BC as an intermediate station on a trade route and existed for 1300 years before being abandoned in the 10th century AD. The name of the settlement has been forgotten, but researchers found an archive of papyri with the Greek name of the city, Nessana, which allowed them to restore its history in the 1930s.

As a reminder, an 1800-year-old marble statue of a nymph was discovered during excavations in Spain.

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