Experts believe the lost city Tharais wasn’t just an agricultural village—it may have also been a spiritual hub. The Madaba Mosaic Map is perhaps the most famous geographical masterpiece of the ancient Near East. They then conducted a field survey near a modern city near the southeastern edge of the Dead Sea called El-’Iraq. Perhaps the most convincing indications of the site’s true identity are the parallels between the structures found by the researchers and the Madaba Mosaic Map. The arrangement of gates, ruins, and even towers closely match the map’s depiction of the lost city.