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1,500-year-old church drawings show Christian pilgrims arriving by ship at Gaza port

Michie

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Excavations in Israel are offering a rare window into Christian pilgrimage in the Byzantine era.

Finds from the dig at a Byzantine-period church in Rahat, in the Northern Negev, have revealed a trove of wall art by pilgrims featuring ships.

"These intriguing drawings may have been left by Christian pilgrims arriving by ship to the Gaza port — their first inland stop was this Rahat church; continuing from here on to other sites throughout the country," excavators from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) explained.

One drawing depicted what appeared to be a two-masted ship, and its exacting details testified to the artist's familiarity with maritime life, but "since the drawing was found upside-down, it seems the person placing the stone during construction was either unaware it bore a drawing, or did not care."

The IAA has been conducting excavations at the site for several years.

"This is a greeting from Christian pilgrims arriving by ship to Gaza port," the IAA said.

Continued below.
 

AlexB23

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Excavations in Israel are offering a rare window into Christian pilgrimage in the Byzantine era.

Finds from the dig at a Byzantine-period church in Rahat, in the Northern Negev, have revealed a trove of wall art by pilgrims featuring ships.

"These intriguing drawings may have been left by Christian pilgrims arriving by ship to the Gaza port — their first inland stop was this Rahat church; continuing from here on to other sites throughout the country," excavators from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) explained.

One drawing depicted what appeared to be a two-masted ship, and its exacting details testified to the artist's familiarity with maritime life, but "since the drawing was found upside-down, it seems the person placing the stone during construction was either unaware it bore a drawing, or did not care."

The IAA has been conducting excavations at the site for several years.

"This is a greeting from Christian pilgrims arriving by ship to Gaza port," the IAA said.

Continued below.
It is good that we are uncovering the history of the church using archeology. Sad that the art piece was placed upside down. The construction worker probably had a long day some 1,500 years ago.
 
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