Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., March 19, 2008 Adar2 13, 5768 | | Israel Time: 10:43 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

A mosaic from the excavation on the grounds of Megiddo prison. (BauBau) Last update - 10:49 07/11/2005 Prison dig reveals church that may be the oldest in the world By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and AP A mosaic and the remains of a building uncovered recently in excavations on the Megiddo prison grounds may belong to the earliest church in the world, according to a preliminary examination by the Israel Antiquities Authority. One of the most dramatic finds suggests that, instead of an altar, a simple table stood in the center of the church, at which a sacred meal was held to commemorate the Last Supper. Photographs of three Greek inscriptions in the mosaic were sent to Hebrew University expert Professor Leah Di Segni, who told Haaretz on Sunday that the use of the term "table" in one of them instead of the word "altar" might lead to a breakthrough in the study of ancient Christianity. It is commonly believed that church rituals based on the Last Supper took place around an altar. Advertisement The excavation was begun prior to the issuing of building permits for a new wing of the Megiddo prison, which houses security prisoners. Some 60 inmates from the Megiddo and Tzalmon prisons took part in the excavation. The site is close to Tel Megiddo, believed to be Armageddon of the New Testament book of Revelation. The northern inscription mentions a Roman army officer who donated the money to build the floor. The eastern inscription commemorates four women, and the western inscription mentions a woman by the name of Ekeptos, who "donated this table to the God Jesus Christ in commemoration." The mosaic also contains geometric patterns and a medallion with a fish design. "I was told these were Byzantine," Di Segni said, "but they seem much earlier than anything I have seen so far from the Byzantine period. It could be from the third or the beginning of the fourth century." A pottery vessel discovered at the site confirms Di Segni's dating, however she said the church's age can only be determined with certainty after excavators reach the level below the floor. "The problem is that in Israel we have no mosaic inscriptions from this period, and they will have to be compared with inscriptions from Antioch or Rome," she said. Christian rituals were prohibited in the Roman Empire prior to the year 313 CE, and Christians had to pray in secret in catacombs or private homes. The earliest churches, dating from around 330 CE, are the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Nativity in Bethlehem, and Alonei Mamre near Hebron. However, they contain only scant remains of the original structures, which were built by Emperor Constantine I. The structure discovered at the Megiddo prison is a simple rectangular one lacking the later characteristics of churches, such as an apse facing east. "I don't know if this structure can even be called a church," Di Sengi said. Other discoveries at the prison include dwellings from the Roman times and a ritual bath, which was sealed and built on top of during the Byzantine period, bearing out historical information about a Jewish site in this area, Kfar Othnai, which became a Christian site in the Byzantine period. The excavation was directed by Yotan Tepper of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson said the discovery could greatly increase tourism to Israel. "If we nurture this properly, then certainly there will be a large stream of tourists who could come to Israel. There is great potential and together with the evangelical center in the north could bring great strides in tourism," he told Channel Two Bookmark to del.icio.us   My three homelands French Vogue chose Lizzie Doron as one of Israel's influential authors. President Barghouti Jailed Tanzim leader says he's considering running in next PA presidential elections.   1.   Would generate tourism 00:01  |  Yoav 06/11/05   2.   "Archaeologists may have found the oldest Church" 04:36  |  Dr Anthony Ganendran 06/11/05   3.   Christians visit now 04:51  |  dev 06/11/05   4.   It`s a prison, not a destination. 05:40  |  idf_sergeant 06/11/05   5.   Oldest Church 06:48  |  laura Peterson 06/11/05   6.   4 women - answer for no. 2 07:16  |  Dr Beeri 06/11/05   7.   Betlehem 08:57  |  Pablo 06/11/05   8.   Tourism 09:35  |  Mart 06/11/05   9.   the site is interesting of and in itself irrespective of tourists 09:47  |  fagin 06/11/05   10.   fascinating and ironic 10:10  |  Dror 06/11/05   11.   Welcome to hell. 10:23  |  Frank Alioni 06/11/05   12.   just thinking about money 10:38  |  ray 06/11/05   13.   Frank @ 10 11:24  |  Chanah 06/11/05   14.   ALIONI Re Welcome to hell The USA sends terrorists to ARAB countries for torture. 11:34  |  Peter S.M. 06/11/05   15.   lies, lies, lies, lies 11:56  |  Orthodox girl 06/11/05   16.   Oldest Church 12:50  |  Tony Price 06/11/05   17.   #3/Dev: Christian`s visit now.. 12:57  |  Nehama 06/11/05   18.   #8/tourism 13:06  |  Nehama 06/11/05   19.   I guess Palestinian Christians can have right of return now! 13:10  |  Joe 06/11/05   20.   Dorothea 13:32  |  Mikhael 06/11/05   21.   Orthodox girl, what would Jesus say? 13:37  |  Tulip 06/11/05   22.   Joe from Ramallah, these christians were Jewish 13:41  |  Tulip 06/11/05   23.   #19 Joe 13:49  |  Bobby 06/11/05   24.   #16/Oldest church/tony 13:57  |  Nehama 06/11/05   25.   I guess....#19 14:03  |  Nehama 06/11/05   26.   Tulip, I hate Israel for the same reason Jesus hated them 14:26  |  Orthodox Girl 06/11/05   27.   This is a big evidence that this is a Palestinian state 14:56  |  Gaza Boy 06/11/05   28.   Tulip Hello 15:37  |  Danite 06/11/05   29.   Joe 15:43  |  Danite 06/11/05   30.   1000 years before the Arabs arrived 15:54  |  JJ Doyle 06/11/05   31.   Danite 16:03  |  Tulip 06/11/05   32.   mikvah 16:09  |  Ross 06/11/05   33.   Much islamic territory was stolen from Christians. 16:12  |  Tulip 06/11/05   34.   Orthodox girl on Jesus 16:18  |  Tulip 06/11/05   35.   Gaza Boy #27, Great point!! It probably wasnt all Jewish as they claim! 16:35  |  Realistic 06/11/05   36.   Zionists are really against Islam & Christianity in all forms 16:48  |  Realistic 06/11/05   37.   Latest Haaretz Poll: 73% of Readers agree with JDL`s Foxman; Dont want a Christian America 16:50  |  Realistic 06/11/05   38.   Good News 16:53  |  Scrolls 06/11/05   39.   #8 Mart of Haifa (in Israel I presume) 16:53  |  Man deVoshkes 06/11/05   40.   Pablo #7, You cant have tourism with israeli idf terrorism 16:58  |  Realistic 06/11/05   41.   Realistic being unrealistic again 17:01  |  Tulip 06/11/05   42.   REALISTIC.Cair Policy is to Islamise the USA--- 17:15  |  Peter S.M. 06/11/05   43.   Relistic .Sharia is kinda scary. 17:24  |  Ezreal 06/11/05   44.   Realistic What are you talking about? 17:25  |  Danite 06/11/05   45.   I couldn´t agree with you more, Scrolls 17:29  |  Tulip 06/11/05   46.   Mikvah 17:40  |  ENS 06/11/05   47.   to the hate monger realistic 17:45  |  G-d lover 06/11/05   48.   As palestinian christian, Israel will continue violating my rights 18:02  |  George 06/11/05   49.   Hi Tulip. Orthodox?? 18:04  |  Ezreal 06/11/05   50.   Hello Tulip 18:22  |  Danite 06/11/05   51.   dev: Christians visit now 18:27  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   52.   Ezreal 18:27  |  Tulip 06/11/05   53.   idf_sergeant 18:28  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   54.   Orthodox is Khalid 18:29  |  Danite 06/11/05   55.   Danite 18:36  |  Tulip 06/11/05   56.   Tulip 18:48  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   57.   Are we on the same page? 18:48  |  Dan 06/11/05   58.   Peter sm @ 14 18:50  |  potobac 06/11/05   59.   Joe, another one witb delirium tremens 18:55  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   60.   Kim on the crusade in spain 19:15  |  Tulip 06/11/05   61.   Kim and Tulip 19:26  |  Danite 06/11/05   62.   Joe Distorts History 19:42  |  Semsem 06/11/05   63.   Danite and Kim 19:43  |  Tulip 06/11/05   64.   Hi Joe, Khallid, AKA the rest of you 19:54  |  Delta 06/11/05   65.   Silly Arguments 20:07  |  Fli` Ah-garic 06/11/05   66.   not a Jewish Homeland? nonsense 20:15  |  l.a. 06/11/05   67.   Tulip 21:02  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   68.   Danite 21:04  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   69.   Danite 21:11  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   70.   Tulip and Danite 21:14  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 06/11/05   71.   Orthodox Girl / Realistic / Khalid 21:20  |  Gina 06/11/05   72.   to beguile Christian tourists? 21:20  |  raphael 06/11/05   73.   What an Awesome Discovery 21:25  |  Gina 06/11/05   74.   # 4 idf_sergeant NODDEGAMRA 22:16  |  Annabelle 06/11/05   75.   oldest christian church video? 22:41  |  john beard 06/11/05   76.   Megiddo-IDF sergeant 22:52  |  Tulip 06/11/05   77.   Whoa whoa whoa, we`re not unearthing this for money... 23:30  |  JJ 06/11/05   78.   Interesting 23:31  |  Ben 06/11/05   79.   Re: Interesting 23:48  |  Scrolls 06/11/05   80.   I find the discovery most interesting 00:10  |  Nikkii 07/11/05   81.   Archaeology not Ideology 00:22  |  Mark Lincoln 07/11/05   82.   Howdy Kim 00:37  |  Danite 07/11/05   83.   WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!! 01:04  |  Aharon 07/11/05   84.   Realistic # 35-37 01:10  |  Comforti 07/11/05   85.   Realistic #36 01:17  |  Comforti 07/11/05   86.   Danite 01:44  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 07/11/05   87.   Mel Gibson 01:50  |  Mark Lincoln 07/11/05   88.   Danite 01:53  |  Kim: UP THE WALL 07/11/05   89.   Mark Lincoln 02:04  |  Danite 07/11/05   90.   Mark Lincoln #81 02:35  |  Wonda 07/11/05   91.   Mark Lincoln #87 02:38  |  Comforti 07/11/05   92.   DROR WHY IS IT IRONIC? 02:40  |  MEOW~~ 07/11/05   93.   IDF SERGENT YOU MADE ME LAUGH 02:46  |  MEOW~ 07/11/05   94.   megiddo church 02:48  |  Manuel Strauss 07/11/05   95.   #30,JJ DOYLE I OBJECT FIERCELY! 02:52  |  MEOW~~ 07/11/05   96.   SALAM REALISTIC!USA CAN BECOME MUSLIM BUT NEVER JEWISH 02:55  |  MEOW~ 07/11/05   97.   Que Bueno Kim 03:07  |  Danite 07/11/05   98.   Hey Meow 03:08  |  Danite 07/11/05   99.   Mark Lincoln re #89-90 03:12  |  Danite 07/11/05   100.   POTOBAC.Torture is wrong so are the hypocrites who only ever blame Israel. 03:13  |  Peter SM 07/11/05   101.   To Meow #96 03:38  |  Rustam 07/11/05   102.   A sign that impressed a druid 05:25  |  Rev R. Twig Jones 07/11/05   103.   diverse history 05:58  |  jack g 07/11/05   104.   G-d`s land grant 06:00  |  jack g 07/11/05   105.   Jesus did not HATE Israel. 06:11  |  Jack G 07/11/05   106.   no photography allowed (#74) 06:15  |  idf_sergeant 07/11/05   107.   population converted not supplanted by muslims 06:17  |  jack 07/11/05   108.   Religon in US 06:28  |  jack 07/11/05   109.   Bethlehem 06:34  |  jack 07/11/05   110.   how many? (#104) 06:34  |  idf_sergeant 07/11/05   111.   NOT all Jews were in the Diaspora 06:45  |  Jack 07/11/05   112.   Gaza boy 07:01  |  Alex 07/11/05   113.   Un-realistic & "Palestinian Israelites" 07:09  |  Alex 07/11/05   114.   meow 07:26  |  Alex 07/11/05   115.   Churches before 313AD 08:46  |  prodromos 07/11/05   116.   #33 Tulip and the crusades 08:57  |  hala 07/11/05   117.   MEOW-Next time you try to categorize Israel or the USA as imperialistic, 09:36  |  Me 07/11/05   118.   idf seargent 10:07  |  Dror 07/11/05   119.   # 106 idf_sergeant no photography allowed 14:11  |  Annabelle 07/11/05   120.   translation of the Greek texts 14:45  |  Peter Joehnk 07/11/05   121.   RE: Tulip, I hate Israel 16:45  |  Darrell 07/11/05   122.   RE: Orthodox Girl 17:01  |  Darrell 07/11/05   123.   Archaeologists may have found the oldest Church" 17:49  |  Lyn Burns 07/11/05   124.   number 26 18:07  |  david 07/11/05   125.   Debunks The Jewish Claim ? 19:27  |  RandyTexas 07/11/05   126.   Reply to hate . 19:56  |  Ann 07/11/05   127.   Orthodox Girl 20:03  |  Amy 07/11/05   128.   For Dr Anthony Ganendran 20:40  |  Ari 07/11/05   129.   Thanks Ari and Lyn! 22:22  |  Gina 07/11/05   130.   Prison Dig 22:42  |  Claudia 07/11/05   131.   Translation of Inscriptions 05:16  |  Tim Kirby 08/11/05   132.   Fisking religion in America 05:44  |  Mike 08/11/05   133.   Oldest church found at Tel Megiddo 12:24  |  Marcel Amrein 08/11/05   134.   Table in oldest Israeli church 14:35  |  Mike 08/11/05   135.   Comforti #85 15:15  |  Mike 08/11/05   136.   Oldest church 23:20  |  Toni Racalto 08/11/05   137.   Re oldest church 15:42  |  Karina 09/11/05   138.   To tulip about the orthodox girl on Jesus 16:00  |  Karna 09/11/05   139.   Free Palestine, pitiable 14:18  |  sarah from the universe 10/11/05   140.   Megiddo church 01:46  |  Paul McKechnie 11/11/05   141.   Fish symbol for early Christians 17:44  |  John Rich 12/11/05   142.   RE:I guess Palestinian Christians can have right of return now! 20:05  |  William 12/11/05   143.   RE: I guess Palestinian Christians can have right of return now! 20:08  |  William 12/11/05   144.   Fish Symbol for early Christians 02:47  |  J Werneke 13/11/05   145.   Christians in the catacombs 16:55  |  L.Brink 14/11/05   146.   to karna on #138 02:09  |  Melissa 16/11/05   147.   Who are the Christians ? 01:38  |  David 18/11/05   148.   Materialism 15:23  |  Ambience 18/11/05   149.   An old friend lookin` for you !! 13:22  |  Kenneth Adrian Emuang 22/11/05   150.   Prison dig reveals church that may be the oldest in the world 06:07  |  Stephen F. Ingenito 19/03/08

Today Online Tom Segev: Merkel slams Qassams, but ignores Israel's actions Responses: 89 Egypt brokering Hamas-Israel deal for long-term Gaza truce Responses: 33 High Court closes off use of West Bank route to Palestinians Responses: 51 Study finds Israeli Jews increasingly racist toward Arabs Responses: 38 Security forces fear double Hezbollah attack in Israel, abroad Responses: 13 Rosner's Domain McCain rep to Jewish crowd: Christian right 'serious problem' Were Shakespeare's Plays Written By A Jewish Woman? (WTR) Rosner's Mailbox: I used to believe that you just hated Hillary Poll: Is the "road map" still relevant? Did Iraq have ties to Al Qaeda? (WTR) More Headlines 10:05 Egypt brokering Hamas-Israel deal for long-term Gaza truce 10:07 Security forces fear double Hezbollah revenge attack in Israel, abroad 10:10 High Court closes off use of West Bank route to Palestinians 10:09 Study: Israeli Jews becoming increasingly racist toward Arabs 10:09 New Meretz chair: We won't join Olmert's government 10:00 U.S. slams Switzerland for signing huge gas deal with Iran 09:47 ANALYSIS: Merkel condemns Qassams, but ignores Israel's actions 10:06 Multidenominational rabbinical school to graduate its first class 08:09 Tel Aviv setting up tent city for African refugees 05:48 Merkel to Knesset: Germany will always stand by Israel 05:58 Charities dependent on dollar donations fear for future 08:04 Visa requirement for Russian tourists to be eliminated 02:56 Rubinstein Piano Competition / A perfect Haydn in stage II 08:51 U.S. presidential hopeful McCain set to meet PM, senior ministers Previous Editions Select Day 18 mar 17 mar 16 mar 14 mar 13 mar 12 mar 11 mar 10 mar 09 mar 07 mar 06 mar 05 mar

Special Offers Advertisement FAREWELL ISRAEL New Film The Coming War for Islamic Revival - View Movie Trailer READY FOR PURIM? BUT - Who Will Guard The Hamentasch? Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Long-term Israel programs MASA is your gateway. More programs. More grants. NEW! Dan Boutique Jerusalem Hotel Hip Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. Attractive Introductory Rates 7589 rockets fired so far HELP US TO HELP THEM FREE JEWISH HISTORY COURSE Berel Wein's best selling lectures. 5000 Years in Five hours /CD/MP3 Marina Royale Herzelia Pituach Your Luxurious Suite While Staying in Israel Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved