An Israeli antiquity authority worker cleans a mosaic which was part of a courtyard of a villa dated...
An Israeli antiquity authority worker cleans a mosaic which was part of a courtyard of a villa dated some 1,700 years ago, in Lod, south to Tel Aviv November 16, 2015. The villa, which was part of a neighbourhood of affluent houses, stood there during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Lod was then called Diospolis and was the district capital, until it was replaced by Ramla after the Muslim conquest, excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority said. REUTERS/Nir Elias