'Greatest religious discovery since Dead Sea Scrolls' rewrites religious history

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

An ancient inscription unearthed beneath an Israeli prison floor is creating waves, being dubbed "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls" and as the earliest known proclamation of Jesus as divine.
The mosaic, which dates back 1,800 years and was found by a jailbird at Megiddo prison, features the Greek inscription: "The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial."
This colossal 581-square-foot artwork was part of the globe's oldest prayer hall around 230 AD, cementing the fact that early Christians recognised Jesus as the son of God.
The stunning Megiddo Mosaic also showcases some of the first imagery of fish, with scholars suggesting it refers to the New Testament tale where Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 with two fish. Although initially discovered back in 2005, the mosaic had been hidden under the penitentiary floors until recently; it's currently on loan to a Washington DC museum until next month.
As Carlos Campo, head honcho of the museum, hailed the find as "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls," his fellow experts claimed it to be "the most important archaeological find for understanding early Christianity.", reports the Mirror US.
"We truly are among the first people to ever see this, to experience what almost 2,000 years ago was put together by a man named Brutius, the incredible craftsman who laid the flooring here," remarked Campo at the exhibit's launch. For the time being, the Megiddo Mosaic takes pride of place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, up until July 2025.
Alegre Savariego, the exhibition's curator, said: "The mosaic presents groundbreaking physical evidence of the practices and beliefs of early Christians, including the first archaeological instance of the phrase, 'God Jesus Christ.'".
The Megiddo Mosaic came to light in the historically significant Jezreel Valley, believed by Christians as the site where the apocalyptic battle of Armageddon described in the Book of Revelations will unfold.
After four years of digs, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed a 581-square-foot mosaic flooring. The remarkable aspect of this mosaic is that it carries the name of the Roman officer who commissioned it during the time Judea was under Roman rule.
The find has prompted scholars to propose the possibility of some level of peaceful coexistence between Romans and Christians, which goes against the common narrative of conflict and turmoil of the era. The mosaic contains an inscription that reads: "Gaianus, a Roman officer, having sought honor, from his own money, has made the mosaic."
Bolstering this notion of potential harmony, excavators found a Roman encampment in close proximity. It appears that the place of worship, or church, was deserted and hidden as a result of the relocation of the Roman Empire's Sixth Legion to the region modern-day known as Transjordan, to the east of the Jordan River.
In addition to Akeptous, who was acknowledged for her gift of a table to the prayer hall, the mosaic's inscription also requests remembrance for four other women: Primilla, Cyriaca, Dorothea, and Chreste. However, the identity of these women remains a mystery.
Bobby Duke, director of the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible, highlighted the significance of the discovery, stating, "This is arguably one of the most important archaeological discoveries for understanding the early Christian church."
The mosaic features some of the earliest known depictions of fish as a symbol of Christianity, echoing the biblical account in Luke 9:16, where Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people.
Duke further said: "For example, the mosaic underscores the crucial role of women in the early church by the fact that five women are mentioned in it by name."
He added: "Truly, the mosaic presents a wealth of new data for church historians, like the Dead Sea Scrolls did for Bible scholars."
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) pointed out that there is no information available to explain why these women were singled out, which is unusual since it was not common for individuals to be specifically remembered by God. "While they were clearly important to the community, the inscription does not tell us whether they were patrons of the community (like Akeptous), or martyrs, or honored for some other reason."
Following the significant archaeological find, the IAA meticulously cleaned and restored the mosaic.
The floor was then carefully disassembled into 11 crates that were shipped to the US earlier this year for an exhibition titled The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith.
"You couldn't just lift the whole floor up," Duke clarified. "So ... they very intricately cut different pieces of the mosaic so that they didn't destroy any of the artwork. So, not all the pieces were the same size. So, even one of the crates that came into this gallery was about a thousand pounds."
Once the exhibition concludes, the Megiddo mosaic will be returned to Israel and displayed permanently at the exact location where it was unearthed. Upon the mosaic's return, the inmates at Megiddo will be moved to another prison.
The museum also had to admit that several of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments displayed in its collection were modern fakes.
"While some of the founders and actions of the museum are questionable, and the museum clearly has a very ideological agenda, I don't think a 'purist' agenda is very helpful here," Prof. Aren Maeir, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University, told Haaretz.com..
"As long as everything is done by the letter of the law, I see no problem. ".