Antiquities robbers were caught destroying an ancient gate and mosaic in the "Soger" ruin in the Western Galilee (Photo: Reuven Capul, Antiquities Authority)
They dug a pit for themselves:
a squad of antiquities robbers was caught red-handed yesterday (Sunday) while destroying an ancient gate and mosaic in the Soger ruin in the Western Galilee.
The two robbers were caught in a joint operation by the inspectors of the Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit at the Antiquities Authority, the inspector of the Nature and Parks Authority and the fighters of the settlements branch unit of the Coastal Police.
Yesterday afternoon, during a routine surveillance activity, the unit's inspectors noticed an SUV parked and hidden among the bushes at the antiquities site, In a way that aroused their suspicion. In the
scans they carried out, suspicious activity was detected at the antiquities site, where there are remains of a settlement that dates back to the Roman period - about two thousand years ago.
Destruction of the geth and the mosaic on the site.
Photo by Nir Distelfeld, Israel Antiquities Authority (3) (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Reuven Capul)
Nir Distelfeld from the Antiquities Authority at the site destroyed by the robbers (photo: Antiquities Authority, Reuven Kapaul)
The inspectors of the Antiquities Authority, with the help of a RTG inspector and a team of fighters from the settlement arm of the Coast Guard, crept into the focus of the activity and managed to surprise and capture the suspects in the hole they had illegally dug at the site.
From the pit in Tzvatsa an ancient wine cellar that was used to make wine in the Roman-Byzantine period.
The suspects caused great damage to the Geth floor, which was made of white mosaic stones: the suspects uprooted the ancient floor from its place and continued to dig under it while causing destruction and irreversible damage to the antiquities site.
The walls of the gate, which were plastered with a layer of ancient plaster, were also damaged during the excavation.
The two suspects were arrested in the field, interrogated at the Nahariya police station, and later an indictment will be filed against them.
According to Nir Distelfeld, the inspector of the antiquities authority's robbery prevention unit in the northern region, "the damage to the site is heartbreaking: the excavation dislodged a mosaic floor that stood here undisturbed for about two thousand years.
Remains of a mosaic destroyed by the robbers (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Reuven Capul)
Destruction of the Geth and the mosaic at the site (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Reuven Kapaul)
Horvat Soger was a flourishing settlement in ancient times;
A similar winery was previously found on the site which allowed researchers to learn about the development of agricultural industries in the area during the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Recently, the antiquities pirates put the ruin "in the crosshairs" for a reason unknown to us.
Very recently, five suspects of antiquities robbery were caught at the same site, while digging in a burial cave."
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