http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_sc/israel_ancient_church;_ylt=AvRTMDkUfGdIRMOoPj9gk0w DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

MEGIDDO PRISON, Israel - Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land's oldest church.

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The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.

"What's clear today is that it's the oldest archaeological remains of a church in Israel, maybe even in the entire region. Whether in the entire world, it's still too early to say," said Yotam Tepper, the excavation's head archaeologist.

Israeli officials were giddy about the discovery, with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calling the church "an amazing story."

Vatican officials also hailed the find.

"A discovery of this kind will make Israel more interesting to all Christians, for the church all over the world," said Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican envoy to Jerusalem. "If it's true that the church and the beautiful mosaics are from the third century, it would be one of the most ancient churches in the Middle East."

Razilo, who is serving a two-year sentence for traffic violations, was one of about 50 prisoners brought into the high-security Megiddo Prison to help excavate the area before the construction of new wards for 1,200 Palestinian prisoners.

Razilo was shocked to uncover the edge of the mosaic. The inmates worked for months to uncover all the parts of the mosaic — the floor of the church, he said.

"We continued to look and slowly we found this whole beautiful thing," said Razilo, who used a sponge and a bucket of water to clean dirt off the uncovered mosaics Sunday.

Two mosaics inside the church — one covered with fish, an ancient Christian symbol that predates the cross — tell the story of a Roman officer and a woman named Aketous who donated money to build the church in the memory "of the god, Jesus Christ."

Pottery remnants from the third century, the style of Greek writing used in the inscriptions, ancient geometric patterns in the mosaics and the depiction of fish rather than the cross indicate that the church was no longer used by the fourth century, Tepper said.

The church's location, not far from the spot where the New Testament says the final battle between good and evil will take place, also made sense because a bishop was active in the area at the time, said Tepper, who works with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The inscription, which specifies that Aketous donated a table to the church, indicates the house of worship predated the Byzantine era, when Christians began using altars in place of tables in their rituals, Tepper said. Remnants of a table were uncovered between the two mosaics.

The building — most of which was destroyed — also was not built in the Basilica style that was standard under the Byzantines, he added.

Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar and professor at the Holy Land University, said the second and third centuries were transitional periods where people sought to define their religious beliefs and modes of worship. Iconography and inscriptions found in Nazareth and Caperneum — places where Jesus lived — show that people went there to worship, although most did so secretly.

"This was a time of persecution and in this way it is quite surprising that there would be such a blatant expression of Christ in a mosaic, but it may be the very reason why the church was destroyed," Pfann said.

The dig will continue as archaeologists try to uncover the rest of the building and its surroundings, including what they believe could be a baptismal site, Tepper said.

Joe Zias, an anthropologist and former curator with the antiquities authority, questioned the dating of the find, saying there is no evidence of churches before the fourth century. The building may have been in use earlier, but most likely not for Christian religious purposes, he said.

"They're going to be hard, hard-pressed to prove it ... because the evidence argues otherwise," Zias said.

I suppose the Church will say that this is where the "Generals of the Armies of the World" will pray before the foray.

This is very interesting. Most "churches" in the third century would actually have been converted houses, presumably donated by wealthy Christians. Poorer congregations would have met simply in converted rooms in people's private houses.

The oldest church known at the moment is in Dura-Europos, from the early third century, and it was one of these converted houses - quite a large one, which could fit a hundred people into the biggest room, and which came equipped with a baptistery featuring a big bath (Japanese-style, I suppose). I don't know why this Zias character apparently disagrees with this. The new find could perhaps be even older, but I think what makes it especially interesting is the mosaics, which sound quite elaborate, especially given that this is presumably a similarly converted house used during a time of intermittent persecution. Evidently the mosaics are Christian in character (although the fish was not exclusive to Christians).

This was an interesting read and it helped towards my growing understanding of these times and institutions, as elaborated by Plotinus.Thanks.

Plotinus: With was other reference was the fish used for? I think the finding states that the names of the people who built the church were enscribed into the floor.

Tank Guy: I dont think any findings said that the church refered to the area of Megiddo as having the site of Armageddon, it just has references to Jesus as the Lord Christ, in Ancient Greek.

Oh yes, no doubt that this is a Christian mosaic, given the other inscriptions. It's simply that the fish in itself doesn't confirm that.

I don't know off-hand what other uses the fish symbol had, except that it was a fairly common symbol for a number of religions at the time. The Christians co-opted it rather than invented it. It's often said that the fish was used because ICTHOS was interpreted as an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour", but it is not certain if that was the reason why the Christians used it in the first place, or if they used it first and then thought of the acrostic as a sort of justification for doing so.

If you're interested, there were a number of symbols used by the early church which later fell into disuse. These include the phoenix (a symbol of resurrection, used as such in 1 Clement) and the anchor (a symbol of steadfast faith). Jesus is sometimes represented in early Christian art, usually as a young, beardless man in a toga. His youth was not only historically accurate (although some people, notably Irenaeus, believed against all the evidence that Jesus was quite old when he died) but represented the fact that this was a "new" god. It was only in the fourth century that Jesus acquired the beard, long hair and centre parting with which he is still customarily depicted. It was at that time, too, that people began to assume that, being divine, Jesus must have been extremely good-looking. In earlier times there had been a tradition that Jesus was ugly, although this was presumably based not on real historical memories but on Isaiah 53, about the Suffering Servant, which described the servant as unpleasant to look at. The Christians interpreted this whole passage as a prophecy about Jesus.