Ray.
Very cool article. I love archeaology! When I was small I wanted to be an archeaologist, (until my 4th grade teacher laughed me to scorn in front of the class when I said that is what I wanted to be when I grew up! Bad Teacher!)

You might also enjoy thisone - This archealogical find was unvieled in november 2005, but I dont recall hearing about it until recently. Appearantly there is prison in Meggido and the ruins of this church were uncovered. Some experts beleive this may be the oldest "church building" ever found, dating it to the 3rd century, before Christianity was legalized in the roman world. Below are some excerpts from some of the articles at their website.


http://www.armageddonchurch.com/

From one of the interviews at the website with Dr. Moti Aviam.


Dr. Aviam is an adjunct professor and archaeologist in residence in the Department of Classics and Religion, Center for Judaic Studies, University of Rochester NY, and Director of the Institute for Gallilean Archaeology of the University of Rochester.


What can you say about the era in which the Church was supposedly built (3rd century)?


Well, it was a time of transition. In some of my researches and article I was trying to show the ethnic and religion changes from Jewish to early Christians. Megiddo area was in the first and second century a Jewish community known as Kefar Otnai. Evidence for it can also be in the ritual baths (called miqve in Hebrew). In fact, the British, who built Megiddo prison in the first place, documented some of these miqvaot (as Teper discovered). This Christian structure seems to have been built in the transition between the end of the Jewish settlement and before the established Christianity, hence it is a remarkable evidence of the early Christian ere, of we know very little of.
What about the mosaic itself? What makes it so special?
The table mentioned is probably what is later called the Altar. We can see, like in a time machine, the earliest days of Christianity. The specific name of Jesus as god is also uncommon version, different from found in later Churches.


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But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1 Corinthians 1:27