The Inn of the Good Samaritan is really a remarkable site that I really like showing people and it’s not far from Jerusalem, on the way down to Jericho and the Dead Sea. There is a unique indoor-outdoor exhibition space specifically dedicated to preserving ancient Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian and Roman mosaics discovered across Judea, Samaria, and Gaza and moved to this site in the West Bank for safekeeping.

Most recently I spent a week doing conservation work there on some mosaics. I worked with a team from the Israel Parks Authority on a mosaic from the 6th century synagogue in Gaza. We cleaned the mosaic and then we did additional conservation work, injecting a mixture of lime and limestone powder and water under the mosaic to strengthen it. Very cool

I also worked with Mahmoud who is a very experienced conservator on the mosaic floor from a Byzantine Church that was uncovered in the town of Jiflik. and moved to the Samaritan.

If you’d like me to take you to see mosaics