'Greatest religious discovery since Dead Sea Scrolls' found underneath jail

An ancient inscription, found beneath the floor of an Israeli prison, hailed as "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls", is named the earliest known declaration of Jesus as God.

The 1,800 year old mosaic, discovered by a prisoner at Megiddo jail, bears the ancient Greek inscription: "The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial."

This sprawling 581-square-foot mosaic adorned the world's first prayer hall in 230 AD, providing solid evidence that Christians believed Jesus was the son of God.

The Megiddo Mosaic also features some of the earliest depictions of fish, which experts believe allude to the story in Luke 9:16 where Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people. Hidden under the prison since its initial discovery in 2005, the floor has now been loaned to a museum in Washington DC until next month.

Carlos Campo, CEO of the museum, lauded the mosaic as "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls," while his colleagues deemed it "the most important archaeological discovery for understanding the early Christian church."

"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," Campo said during the exhibition's opening. The Megiddo Mosaic is currently on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, where it will remain until July 2025.

Alegre Savariego, the exhibition's curator, added: "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 was unearthed in the Jezreel Valley, a location where Christians believe the final battle of the Biblical Armageddon as described in the Book of Revelations will take place.

The four-year excavation project, led by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), successfully recovered the 581-square-foot mosaic floor. Interestingly, the mosaic bears the name of the Roman officer who commissioned the tile during the Roman occupation of Judea.

This discovery has led researchers to suggest that Romans and Christians may have coexisted to some extent, despite the numerous accounts of war and bloodshed during that era. An inscription on the mosaic states: "Gaianus, a Roman officer, having sought honor, from his own money, has made the mosaic."

Further supporting the theory of peaceful coexistence, the team discovered a nearby Roman camp. The prayer hall, or church, was likely abandoned and concealed when the Roman Empire's Sixth Legion was relocated to Transjordan - an area east of the Jordan River.

The mosaic also features the names of five women. In addition to Akeptous, who was recognized for her donation of a table to the prayer hall, the mosaic's inscription also requests remembrance for Primilla, Cyriaca, Dorothea, and, Chreste. It is unclear who these women are.

Bobby Duke, director of the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible, said: "This is arguably one of the most important archaeological discoveries for understanding the early Christian church."

The mosaic showcases some of the earliest depictions of fish symbolizing Christianity, reflecting the narrative in Luke 9:16 where Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people.

Duke added: "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 IAA noted that there isn't any information explaining why these women were singled out, which is unusual since God wasn't typically asked to remember individuals.

"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."

After the significant archaeological discovery, the IAA cleaned and restores the mosaic. It also carefully disassemble the floor, placing pieces into 11 crates that were shipped to the US earlier this year for an exhibit, The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith.

"You couldn't just lift the whole floor up," Duke explained. "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."

After the exhibit ends, the Megiddo mosaic will return to Israel and be put on permanent display at the exact site where it was discovered. Upon the mosaic's return, the Megiddo inmates will be relocated to another prison.

The museum also had to confess that several of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments showcased in its collection were modern forgeries.

"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. "