A mosaic and the remains of a building discovered in the grounds of the Megiddo prison are most likely the oldest church in the world - according to tests conducted recently by archaeologists and experts from the Antiquities Authority. A preliminary examination conducted by an inscription expert shows that the church is from the time when Christianity was still forbidden to worship. One of the sensational discoveries in the excavation hints at a different Christian worship than the known worship, according to which instead of an altar there was a simple table in the center of the church around which a "mitzvah meal" was held in the style of the "last supper" of Jesus and his disciples. The discovery was first reported yesterday on "News Channel 2".
This is the archaeological dig that has been going on for several months in the grounds of the prison in Megiddo and whose purpose is to enable the construction of new prison wings. About 60 inmates from Megiddo Prison and Zalmon Prison are participating in the excavations. Megiddo is a site of great importance in Christian theology, because according to tradition, the Battle of Judgment Day is expected to take place there.
Excavations at the site revealed a mosaic floor with three inscriptions in Greek, geometric decorations and a medallion decorated with fish paintings. The northern inscription is dedicated to an officer in the Roman army, who contributed his money to the construction of the mosaic floor.
The eastern inscription emphasizes the memory of four women: Primilia, Kyriake, Dorothea and Kersta. In the western inscription, a woman named Akeptos "lover of God" is mentioned and it is written that she "donated this table to God Jesus Christ - as a memorial".
Photos of the inscriptions were sent last week by e-mail to Dr. Leah Disgeni from the Hebrew University, an expert on ancient inscriptions. Dr. Disgeni told "Haaretz" last night that she was "very surprised" to see the inscriptions. According to her, "I was told that these are Byzantine inscriptions, but these inscriptions look much older than anything I have seen so far from the Byzantine period. It could be the third century or the beginning of the fourth century AD."
Dating done on ceramic vessels found at the site strengthened her hypothesis, but only after the diggers reach under the floor will it be possible to determine the age of the inscriptions with certainty. It will also be necessary to check the addresses themselves compared to addresses from the same period. "The problem is that in Israel we don't have mosaic inscriptions from this period, and it will be necessary to compare the inscriptions with inscriptions from Antioch or Rome," says Dr. Disgeni.
Dr. Disgeni points out that the use of the term "table" in one of the inscriptions instead of the term "altar" could lead to a breakthrough in the study of early Christianity. Until now it was known that the Christian worship in churches, based on the "Last Supper", developed around an altar. However, the inscription strengthens the possibility that originally the Christians sat around a simple dining table, as according to the Christian belief Jesus and his disciples did during the "Last Supper".
Until 313 AD, the worship of Christianity was forbidden in the Roman Empire, and Christians were forced to pray in hiding places such as the catacombs and in private homes. In the city of Dura-Europos in Syria, such a house was discovered, which was destroyed in 257 AD and which was called a meeting house - "domus ecclesia" in Latin. In 313 and 330, Emperor Constantine I made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire and a short time later the earliest churches discovered so far were built: the Church of the Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the church in Aloni Mamra (near Hebron). However, only a few remains remain of the original churches.
The structure discovered is a simple rectangular structure, which does not face the east and does not include the basic characteristics of a church structure such as an apse or staves. "I don't know if you can even call this building a church," says Dr. Disgeni.
Excavations in the western and upper part of Megiddo Prison revealed residential buildings and settlement facilities from the Byzantine period from the fourth-sixth centuries AD. Layers containing findings from the Roman period were also found - mainly in soil pockets and in spaces under the floors of the settlement's buildings from the Byzantine period. In addition, we will discover at the site a mikveh tahara from the Roman period. From its uncovered parts, it can be said that this mikvah is of the type of the larger mikvahs, known in research from the regions of Judea and Samaria.
This find is added to another mikvah that was excavated in archaeological salvage excavations, which were carried out at the site during the mandate government period. The excavation findings indicate that in the Byzantine period the mikvah was sealed and buildings were built on top of it and floors were laid. Evidence of use of a different and other nature in this area. These data add up nicely with the historical information about the site and the change that took place in the place during the transition from a Jewish settlement (Kfar Otanei) in the Roman period to a Gentile settlement in the Byzantine period (Maximianopolis).
