Third/Fourth Century Church Found at Megiddo

[justified]

Along with mosaics and pictures of fishes and the like. This is significant because most churches from this era were either destroyed or never existed outside of houses. This is probably the oldest we've found, though I'm not positive on that fact.

See the pertinent BBC article for more info. Also, I've transcribed -- from what I could of that tiny pic -- the mosaic they have on their site. I have no idea precisely what it says, though I kno a few of the words:

προς η[?]κεν
ακεπ[?]ον[?]
[?]φιαοθεο[ς]
την τραπη
σαμθω[?][φ]
μνημο[σ]υ[???]

Anything in brackets is conjecture or unknown.

 

[CovenantRay]

Ancient Church Found on the Grounds of an Israeli Prison (AP)

JERUSALEM (Nov. 6) - Israeli archaeologists said Saturday they have discovered what may be the oldest Christian church in the Holy Land on the grounds of a prison near the biblical site of Armageddon.

"This is a very ancient structure, maybe the oldest in our area," said Yotam Tepper, the head archaeologist on the dig. "Normally, we have from this period in our region historical evidence from literature, not archaeological evidence," he said. "There is no structure you can compare it to. It is a very unique find."

Click the link below for more including a video clip!

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051105225209990001&ncid=NWS00010000000001

CovenantRay

 

[hypostatic]

Thanks for the clip! Here are some hard-to-find pictures with explanations!

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=oldest+church&ei=UTF-8&c=news_photos

 

[CaiperLane]

Along with mosaics and pictures of fishes and the like. This is significant because most churches from this era were either destroyed or never existed outside of houses. This is probably the oldest we've found, though I'm not positive on that fact.

See the pertinent BBC article for more info. Also, I've transcribed -- from what I could of that tiny pic -- the mosaic they have on their site. I have no idea precisely what it says, though I kno a few of the words:

προς η[?]κεν
ακεπ[?]ον[?]
[?]φιαοθεο[ς]
την τραπη
σαμθω[?][φ]
μνημο[σ]υ[???]

Anything in brackets is conjecture or unknown.

I love how archaeology is bringing to life the World of Jesus and the Apostles when they walked the earth!

 

[justified]

Well, it's not that early.

 

[christianfilmcrew]

Actually according to the direct accounts from israel as show on MSN's newscast it could well be:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=4898d2fb-e067-4e55-b4b7-82776e71c7f8&f

 

[prodromos]

Actually according to the direct accounts from israel as show on MSN's newscast it could well be:

They're just hyping it up to generate interest. I'd wait for the consensus of qualified archaeologists.

 

[christianfilmcrew]

true dat.

 

[justified]

Well, the IAA, which is generally not very happy to find early Christian remains in Israel, thought the site was late third, early fourth century. That's pretty much amazing coming from them. I imagine that's a pretty accurate date, based upon the mosaic above.

 

[CaDan]

Along with mosaics and pictures of fishes and the like. This is significant because most churches from this era were either destroyed or never existed outside of houses. This is probably the oldest we've found, though I'm not positive on that fact.

See the pertinent BBC article for more info. Also, I've transcribed -- from what I could of that tiny pic -- the mosaic they have on their site. I have no idea precisely what it says, though I kno a few of the words:

???? ?[?]???
????[?]??[?]
[?]???????[?]
??? ?????
?????[?][?]
?????[?]?[???]

Anything in brackets is conjecture or unknown.

We've been working on it in a thread over in General Theology:

http://www.christianforums.com/t228...urch-in-israel-found.html&page=6#post19796861

Mega-props to icxn for remembering about the early Christian practice of abbreviating holy words.

 

[listener]

It is finds like this that help to illuminate what Christians have always shared.......a love for and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[justified]

We've been working on it in a thread over in General Theology:

When I saw the pic that you guys had, it was no problem to figure out. Mine was unfortunately at a terrible angle and there was a shadow across the thing.

 

[crusader4peace]

i came across this news as well. its very interesting to know abt such a great find.

 

[vangelicmonk]

Have we heard anything new on this archeological find?

 

[justified]

They're just doing thing their thing. It'll be probably next fall when they come out with a serious report in a respectable journal. BAR is good, but there's better out there.

 

[vangelicmonk]

They're just doing thing their thing. It'll be probably next fall when they come out with a serious report in a respectable journal. BAR is good, but there's better out there.

Thanks for the update. Please post something if you hear anything new. Thanks.

 

[Jackie777]

I love this.