Not elder law: Dig uncovers ancient church on Israeli jail site
Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removingrubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shoveluncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeliarchaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land’s oldest church.
Thediscovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, nearthe biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an importantdiscovery that could reveal details about the development of the earlychurch in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from thethird century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity acrossthe Byzantine Empire.
“What’sclear today is that it’s the oldest archaeological remains of a churchin Israel, maybe even in the entire region. Whether in the entireworld, it’s still too early to say,” said Yotam Tepper, theexcavation’s head archaeologist.