The Civil Administration uncovered a church from the Byzantine period in the Jericho area. The church, with its mosaic floors, was probably built during the sixth century AD and continued to exist during the early Muslim period. Despite the Muslim rule that forbade depictions of figures in public spaces, the phenomenon of desecration of figures, “iconoclasm”, was not seen on the church floors.
Photo: Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories
The size of the church, 250 square meters, indicates that it was one of the largest regional churches of the Christian population. At the entrance to the prayer hall where an inscription was discovered in Greek with the names of the donors, “Georgius and Nonus”. The mosaic area on the floor of its central hall has been preserved almost entirely and is decorated with vines and animals. Marble columns and lattice parts made of black bitumen stone that were discovered there testify to the wealth and great effort required to build it, since the materials are not found in the area.
The Civil Administration plans to move the church building to the mosaic museum on the “Good Samaritan” site. According to the officer of the archeology headquarters in the Civil Administration, Hanania Hizami, “I am excited and welcome the historic and amazing discovery, which joins a number of discoveries uncovered by the archeology subcommittee unit in the Civil Administration. We will continue to work to discover and preserve the history of Judea and Samaria.”