'Church of the Ark' found on West Bank
By Harry de Quetteville in Shiloh
Last Updated: 1:40am GMT 04/12/2006
Archaeologists claimed yesterday to have uncovered one of the world's first churches, built on a site believed to have once housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The site, emerging from the soil in a few acres in the hills of the Israeli occupied West Bank, is richly decorated with brightly coloured mosaics and inscriptions referring to Jesus Christ.
According to the team, led by Yitzhak Magen and Yevgeny Aharonovitch, the church dates to the late 4th century, making it one of Christianity's first formal places of worship.
"I can't say for sure at the moment that it's the very first church," said Mr Aharonovitch, 38, as he oversaw a team carrying out the final excavations before winter yesterday. "But it's certainly one of the first." He said the site contained an extremely unusual inscription which referred to itself, Shiloh, by name.
Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=M2XK4PLRV2GHVQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/12/04/wchurch04.xml
No comments:
Post a Comment