14 DAY TRIAL // Just yesterday, June 10, archaeologists announced the discovery of a millennia-old church in Israel, not far from the city of Jerusalem.
In their report concerning this latest archaeological find, researchers with the Israel Antiquities Authority detail that the church, estimated to have been built some 1,500 years back during the Byzantine period, sits near the town of Abu Gosh.
In turn, this small community is located merely 6.2 miles (approximately 10 kilometers) west of Jerusalem, Israel's capital city.
The church was part and parcel of a road station
As explained by Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists, the 1,500-year-old worship place was discovered by workers expanding a highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Evidence indicates that, in ancient times, the church was part and parcel of a road station used by people journeying between Jerusalem and Israel's coastal plain.
Thus, researchers say that the remains of the church sit close to those of an even older road likely dating back to Roman times. Further, the road and the church were adjacent to a spring, The Jerusalem Post informs.
“The road station and its church were built in the Byzantine period beside the ancient road leading between Jerusalem and the coastal plain,” explains specialist Annette Nagar with the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“Along this road, which was apparently already established in the Roman period, other settlements and road stations have previously been discovered that served those traveling the route in ancient times,” the researcher adds.
Several artifacts have also been unearthed in the area
Archaeologists exploring the site of this recently discovered church in Israel have so far recovered several artifacts, among them oil lamps, coins, marble fragments and even glass vessels.
They've also found bits and pieces of red-colored plaster scattered across the church's floor, which indicates that, when the worship place was built, its walls were decorated with frescoes.
When still in one piece and with all its walls still in place, the church measured about 52 feet (16 meters) from one end to the other. It had a 21-foot (6.5-meter) long and 11.5-foot (3.5-meter) wide side chapel and even a white mosaic floor.
Inside this chapel, there was a baptismal font shaped like a four-leafed clover that symbolized the cross. Interestingly, it appears that the church came complete with storage rooms and living quarters for priests, probably even travelers.
