Armageddon ancient-early Christian church found in Israeli jail

[emad]

Israeli officials say they have discovered what may be the oldest Christian Church in the Holy Land - on the site of a maximum security prison.

Israel's Antiquities Authority said the church at the Megiddo jail dated back to the third or fourth century AD and was "a once in a lifetime find".

It contained a mosaic bearing the name of Jesus Christ in ancient Greek, fish murals and an altar, officials said.

The dig took place near the biblical site of Armageddon in northern Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4411286.stm

[sam sarrha]

1. Prof End Times are near.!! Can i have your car after the rapture..!!

[C_U_L8R]

2. Oh Thank God !!!

I thought that rapture would never come...
hooray hooray !! all those awful fundie freaks will be GONE !!!!

Pephaps now the world can enjoy a little peace and harmony.

[Generarth]

3. I'm skeptical

didn't the religion start later? Also ancient greek? Anybody with better greek alphabet skills than me able to pick up Christ in that photo on that page. I certainly can't.

[Javaman]

5. Actually, Greek was the pretty much the main language in that part of the

world during Jesus's time. Regardless, what mel gibson wants us to think.

Any biblical scholar will attest to that.

[Igel]

6. Xianity as a cult started earlier, if manuscripts are any indication.

The Greek wasn't ancient, but koine. The result of dear old Alexander making his mark on that part of the world, with trade/political influence that followed.

I don't see the reference to anything involving Christ, but my Greek is really, really poor, and I can't make out the lower right hand corner. Larger image here:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/photos/X/XEM80211052144.html?SITE=SCFLO&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I'd like a transcription. But I figure I won't get one.

Probably the common folk spoke mostly Aramaic at home; anybody with education or who had to deal with the educated/foreigners in 50 AD would have known a lot of Greek--not Euripides' Greek, but Greek nonetheless. And they'd have known a bit of Latin. Hebrew was the liturgical language. Greek sunk deeper roots in the area over the next 500-600 years, and by 300 AD would have been dominant. That was the case until Islam pushed everything (for the sake of the conquerors' and their proselytizing) to Arabic. And that took a couple hundred years.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. remember you read Greek right to left, too. nt

[mzteris]

4. Maybe they were

Pisces??