Posted on 12/04/2006 6:07:52 AM PST by NYer
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.
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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.
"That is very rare and shows early Christians treated this as an ancient, holy place," said Mr Aharonovitch. According to the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, was kept by the Israelites at Shiloh for several hundred years.
It was eventually moved to the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple that the Bible says was built by King Solomon around 1000 BC. When the temple was sacked by the Babylonians 400 years later, the Ark was lost, sparking theories about whether it had been hidden or destroyed.
The team at Shiloh is considering whether to dig under the beautiful mosaics that they have uncovered, in order to find traces of the Ark. "We have to decide whether to fix the mosaics here or take them to a museum," said Mr Aharonovitch.
Jewish residents in the modern settlement of Shiloh, which sits on a hill amidst Palestinian villages, want the team to keep digging.
David Rubin, a former mayor of Shiloh, said: "We believe that if they continue to dig they'll reach back to the time of the Tabernacle," referring to the portable place of worship where the Israelites housed the Ark.
Makes more sense to take them up, dig underneath to seee if they find any more artifacts, then put them back in place, restoring the Church as much as possible, if not as a place of worship, then as a wonderful example of ancient art.
Thank you for your service. God Bless you.
Correct reference: http://www.bibleplaces.com/areag.htm
Straighten up.
1,219th holiest site. Gad, I hate it when the facts are bungled up.
:~)
go! we went last fall ('05) and enjoyed it immensely - a life-changing experience, especially for a Christian. never felt unsafe, everybody was cool, even muslims during ramadan.
Hey, that looks just like my kitchen tile!!
What religion do you suppose the Arabs practiced for 800 years between the Resurrection of Our Lord and the depradations of the followers of Mad Mo the Deranged?
This was a major event for the DFW Monday morning commute. Cars were force to go two by two!
Well, since it's a church, how about getting the input of Christians?
My guess is that this church was named after the Ark, just as a church today may be named after a saint.
bookmark
Gorgeous mosaic.
Very Ezekial-ish...
Or at least Copper Scroll-ish...Or something...
BTW, I just finish the "Copper Scroll"...Would just be like "Joel R." to leave us hanging like that...
Great post, awesome find. I do have to add, there are some mighty big clues in the Bible about where that Ark and its contents went.
How could the "first church" have been built at the end of the fourth century?
"Don't look, Marion! Keep your eyes shut!" ...
Ah (that explains a lot!) -- thanks!
I heard from a Muslim I worked with one summer years ago that, pre-Mohammed, Arabs practiced animism. He didn't go into detail, so I can't. :-)
Actually, I know this sounds crazy, but it's very possible that the lost Ark is in Ethiopia, having been removed from Jerusalem by descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who became the royal line of Ethiopia.
If you want to read a really interesting story, which I posted here when it came out, have a look at this:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/julaug2002/feature2.htm
The author doesn't absolutely KNOW where the lost ark is, but his travels and hypotheses are extremely interesting. And it's apparently true that the ancient Ethiopian strand of Christianity involves--the Ark.
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