Israel's Antiquities Authority on Monday unveiled a Roman-era floor mosaic, which was unearthed last year.
Archaeologists said that the "breathtaking" mosaic served as a floor of a villa's living room some 1,700 years ago. The piece, measuring 11 by 13 metres, was discovered in Lod, a city east of capital Tel Aviv, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The villa we found was part of a neighbourhood of affluent houses that stood here during the Roman and Byzantine periods," Amir Gorzalczany, excavation director, said in a statement.
"At that time Lod was called Diospolis and was the district capital, until it was replaced by Ramla after the Muslim conquest. The building was used for a very long time," he added.
The mosaic depicts scenes of hunting and animals, fish, flowers in baskets, vases and birds.
According to Gorzalczany, "the quality of the images indicates a highly developed artistic ability."
A similar piece was unearthed in the same spot in the 1990s and is widely considered by archaeologists as one of the most spectacular in the country.
