Byzantine Church Discovered in Tiberias

October 31, 2007

The excavations were conducted over the summer at the request of Mekorot (Israel’s water company) as part of a project that involves the installation of a sewage pipeline and the transfer of the waste water treatment facility from Tiberias to the southern part of the Sea of Galilee. The finds date from the founding of Tiberias in the first century BC until the 11th century, when the city was abandoned due to an earthquake, wars, and dire economic and security conditions.

Three dedicatory inscriptions, written in ancient Greek, are incorporated in the mosaics with one line saying, “Our Lord, protect the soul of your servant” (Our Lord=Jesus). One of the mosaics is adorned with a medallion, on which there is a large cross flanked by the letters alpha and omega (A to Z in Greek), which are one of the monograms for Jesus. Dr. Moshe Hartal and Edna Amos, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the IAA, stated that this is the most ancient church to be uncovered in Tiberias and the only one that has been found in the center of the city.

According to Dr. Hartal, from AD 427, the Church issued a decree prohibiting the placement of crosses in mosaic floors in order to prevent them from being stepped on. “The presence of so many crosses in the floors of the church that was exposed here thus confirms the church dates to the period prior to the ban,” he said. The discovery of the church in the heart of the Jewish quarter disproves the theory that Jews prevented Christians from establishing prayer halls in the middle of the city,” they added.

Photo Credit: Photo by Isranet