Archaeologists unveil ancient church in Israel

MSNBC ^ | 5 Nov 05 | AP

[Charles Henrickson]

[Charles Henrickson]

[Charles Henrickson]

[Tempest]

wow! Thanks for posting all the pics.

[gobucks]

Sorry. I put two words, "Church" and "Israel" in the search before I posted. Can't believe that none of the other articles included both words, but they didn't.

[Charles Henrickson]

[Charles Henrickson]

Here's what it says, first using the Greek characters themselves, then a transliteration using English characters, then two translations into English, changing the word order into normal English for the second. (BTW, the reason for the parentheses is that I'm filling in the missing letters on those abbreviations of sacred names.):

ΠΡΟΣΗΝΙΚΕΝ
ΑΚΕΠΤΟΥΣ
Η ΦΙΛΟΘΕΟΣ
ΤΗΝ ΤΡΑΠΕ-
ΖΑΝ Θ(Ε)Ω Ι(ΗΣΟ)Υ Χ(ΡΙΣΤ)Ω
ΜΝΗΜΟΣΥΝΟΝ

PROSĒNIKEN
AKEPTOUS
HĒ PHILOTHEOS
TĒN TRAPE-
ZAN TH(E)Ō I(ĒSO)U CH(RIST)Ō
MNĒMOSYNON

OFFERED
AKEPTOUS
THE GOD-LOVER
THE TAB-
LE TO THE G(O)D J(ESU)S CH(RIS)T
MEMORIAL

Akeptous the God-lover offered the table to the God Jesus Christ as a memorial

[BlackVeil]

Many many thanks for your informative contribution to this thread.

[fso301]

Thanks!

[EternalVigilance]

A wonderful discovery!

[monkfan]

old and greek ping! ;)

[ODC-GIRL]

Thank you! Simply spectacular.

[ALWAYSWELDING]

Interesting

[HiTech RedNeck]

A tourist site right up against a jail -- security problem?

[Liberty Valance]

What a wonderful find. Amazing fish mozaic.

[tubebender]

Is this as it was found or has there been restoration work done on the tiles?

[Charles Henrickson]

From what I read, this has just been discovered by accident in the last couple weeks. Once they uncovered it and took off the dirt, all they did to make the colors and details stand out more clearly was apply a wet sponge.

[YCTHouston]

You're pretty smart for a White Sox fan.

[Charles Henrickson]

You're pretty smart for a White Sox fan.

What may amaze you even more is that I am first and foremost a Cubs fan!

[Charles Henrickson]