In Syria, while cleaning the rubble of a destroyed house, the construction workers had a surprise – the remains of an underground Byzantine funeral complex that could be over 1,500 years old.
The discovery was made in the city of Marat al-Buman in the province of Idlib, which is strategically located on the route between the cities of Alepp and Damascus.
Initially the locals found stone holes that indicated the presence of ancient funerals. The inhabitants announced the Directorate for Antiquities, which sent a specialized team to inspect the site.
The specialists discovered that near the building in the ruins there was a hole leading to two funeral rooms, each containing six stone graves. On the top of a stone column is engraved the sign of a cross, reports Noi.md with reference to.
“Judging from the presence of the cross, as well as the ceramic objects and the fragments of glass found, this tomb date from the Byzantine era,” said Hassan al-Ismail, the director of the antiquities in Idlib.
He said that the discovery will complete the very rich collection of archaeological sites in the area. He said that in Idlib “there are one third of the Syria monuments, including 800 archaeological sites in addition to the ancient city.”
