Very interesting article about acient Jewish synogogues

[Kevin H]

This is a fascinating article I hope you find it useful!

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily...-pagan-symbols/

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

interesting! The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the zodiac circle and the mosaics was "Kabbalah"....

[phkrause]

That was really interesting.

[LifeHiscost]

Continuing archeology reveals continuing evidence of the historical Jesus.

http://www.livescience.com/31942-image-gallery-stunning-byzantine-mosaic.html

Quote:

Ancient Church Mosaic With Symbol of Jesus Uncovered in Israel

LiveScience.com

By by Megan Gannon, News Editor 6 hours ago

Ancient Church Mosaic With Symbol of Jesus Uncovered in Israel

.

View gallery

This Byzantine mosaic was discovered during salvage excavations in southern Israel.

Update: The article was updated on Jan. 23 at 9:55 a.m. ET to include comments from an archaeologist at the site.

Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered intricate mosaics on the floor of a 1,500-year-old Byzantine church, including one that bears a Christogram surrounded by birds.

The ruins were discovered during a salvage excavation ahead of a construction project in Aluma, a village about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Tel Aviv, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday (Jan. 22). Excavator Davida Eisenberg Degen said the team used an industrial digger to probe a mound at the site, and through a 10-foot (3 meters) hole, they could see the white tiles of an ancient mosaic.

Much of the church was revealed during excavations over the past month. The basilica was part of a local Byzantine settlement, but the archaeologists suspect it also served as a center of Christian worship for neighboring communities because it was next to the main road running between the ancient seaport city of Ashkelon in the west and Beit Guvrin and Jerusalem in the east. [see Images of a Byzantine Mosaic Discovered in Israel]

"Usually a Byzantine village had a church, but the size of this church and its placement on the road makes it more important," Degen told LiveScience.

Remarkable finds

View gallery

Ancient Church Mosaic With Symbol of Jesus Uncovered …

This mosaic found in an ancient Byzantine church contains a Christogram, or a monogram of Christ.

The excavators plan to keep working on the site for another week, but one of the most remarkable finds so far was a mosaic containing a Christogram, or a "type of monogram of the name of Jesus," Degen said.

At the time, Byzantine Christians wouldn't have put crosses on their mosaic floors so as to not step on the symbol of Christ, Degen explained. The Christogram in the mosaic may look like a cross, but it's actually more like a "chi rho" symbol, which puts together the first two captial letters in the Greek word for Christ, and often looks like an X superimposed on a P. There is an alpha and omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) on either side of the chi rho, which is another Christian symbol, as Christ was often described as the ""the beginning and the end." Four birds also decorate the mosaic, and two of them are holding up a wreath to the top of the chi rho.

Inside the 72-by-39-foot (22-by-12-meter) basilica, archaeologists also found marble pillars and an open courtyard paved with a white mosaic floor, said Daniel Varga, director of the IAA's excavations.

Just off the courtyard, in the church's narthex, or lobby area, there is "a fine mosaic floor decorated with colored geometric designs" as well as a "twelve-row dedicatory inscription in Greek containing the names 'Mary' and 'Jesus', and the name of the person who funded the mosaic's construction," Varga said in a statement.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

God cares! Jesus saves!