EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND HOLY PLACES

CHURCHES

Dura Europas Church

The word "church" (ecclesia, assembly) is traced to Pentecost (escent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks) and the beginning of the Christian mission in the 1st century. It was not used in reference to a building. "Church" may also be used in the sense of "Christian denomination", or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. [Source: Wikipedia]

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Cenacle (the site of the Last Supper) in Jerusalem was the "first Christian church."Archaeology magazine suggests that the Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world. While Jordan's Aqaba Church is considered to be the world's first purpose-built church. Several authors have cited the Etchmiadzin Cathedral (Armenia's mother church) as the oldest cathedral.

Professor L. Michael White told PBS: “The term "Christian" was first coined in Antioch probably some ten maybe even fifteen years after the death of Jesus. Now while this term Christian of course becomes the standard terminology for all later Christian traditions, and we think of it in much more lofty and positive terms, at the time that it was coined it was probably a slur. It was probably thrown at these early followers of Jesus as some derogatory designation of them. This is what we often see happening with new religious movements.... We often find in the sociology of sectarian groups that the group may have one self designation. [Source: L. Michael White, Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin, Frontline, PBS, April 1998 ]

“They may call themselves "the way" or "the true light" or something like that because that's their religious self conception, but outsiders will often label them by the name of the leader or the name of some catchy element in their message that sparks their interest. So when we hear at Antioch that they're called "Christians" we have to think of that in more in the vein of them being called "Messianists" or "Christies." People who follow a Messiah or just talk about the Messiah an awful lot and we're not actually sure who coined the term. Whether it's other Jews who didn't believe in the Messiah or pagans who heard these Jewish groups talking about messianic ideas. It's not entirely clear.

Websites and Resources: Early Christianity: PBS Frontline, From Jesus to Christ, The First Christians pbs.org ; Elaine Pagels website elaine-pagels.com ; Sacred Texts website sacred-texts.com ; Gnostic Society Library gnosis.org ; Guide to Early Church Documents iclnet.org; Early Christian Writing earlychristianwritings.com ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Early Christian Art oneonta.edu/farberas ; Early Christian Images jesuswalk.com/christian-symbols ; Early Christian and Byzantine Images belmont.edu Christianity BBC on Christianity bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity ; Candida Moss at the Daily Beast Daily Beast Christian Answers thedailybeast.com ; Christian Classics Ethereal Library www.ccel.org ; Bible: Bible Gateway and the New International Version (NIV) of The Bible biblegateway.com ; King James Version of the Bible gutenberg.org/ebooks; Bible History Online bible-history.com ; Biblical Archaeology Society biblicalarchaeology.org

Holy Sites in Christianity

The Holy Land, in the Christian context, refers mainly to Israel but also includes Jordan, and the West Bank and embraces places connected with the birth, life, and death of Jesus. It also contains sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims. Michael J. McClymond wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Constantine's mother, Helena (c. 225–c. 330), visited the Holy Land in 326 and founded basilicas on the Mount of Olives, outside Jerusalem, and at Bethlehem. According to later tradition, she also discovered the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Helena encouraged a kind of Christian archaeology, resulting in the establishment of holy sites that in time became places of pilgrimage. The best known are the Church of the Nativity and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, associated with Jesu's birth, death, and burial. Other sites in Galilee pertain to Jesus' ministry. [Source: Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

Christian holy sites are not confined to Palestine. For Orthodox Christians the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople is an important center, though since 1453 the building has been a mosque and museum. Mount Athos, in northern Greece, contains a vast complex of Orthodox monasteries, where at its peak, in the 1400s, 40,000 monks may have been in residence. For Anglicans the town of Canterbury was an early Christian center and the archbishop's seat. Glastonbury, in England, is the site where Joseph of Arimathea is said to have taken the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. In Spain the shrine of Saint James in Compostela is a major pilgrimage center. Several sacred sites are connected with reported appearances of the Virgin Mary, including Lourdes in France (1858), Fátima in Portugal (1917), and Medjugorje in Croatia (1981). Lourdes has become the most famous center for healing in Christendom.

Many Protestants reject the whole idea of holy sites and insist that all places are equally sacred in God's sight. Yet Protestant tours to the Holy Land and to cities connected with the sixteenth-century Reformation — for example, Wittenberg and Geneva — indicate that the notion of holy ground may still be present.

Holy Places Associated with Jesus

Agape feast

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which contains the tomb of Jesus Christ, is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Christianity. Al-Maghtas ruins on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River are the location for the Baptism of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist. [Source: Wikipedia]

In Christianity, the Holy places are significant because they are the place of birth, ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour or Messiah to Christianity. Holy cities for Christians of all denominations

Jerusalem is believed to be the site of some of Jesus's teaching, the Last Supper, the subsequent institution of the Holy Eucharist as well as His entombment; Christians believe He was crucified on a nearby hill, Golgotha (sometimes called Calvary). It contains the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Via Dolorosa, Mount Zion and the Dormition Abbey, and Gethsemane (with Mary's Tomb and the Church of All Nations).

Nazareth is Jesus's hometown and the site of many holy places, including the Church of the Annunciation and Mary's Well. Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus. Qana is where Jesus made his first miracle (Turned the water into wine) Machaerus, the Herodias fortress where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. The site is in Jordan

During the Crusades, Christian pilgrims often sought out the Holy Places in the Outremer, especially early in the 12th century immediately after Jerusalem was captured. The Holy Places included sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem as well as: 1) Sephoria, where the Virgin Mary was said to have spent her childhood; 2) The River Jordan, site of Christ's baptism; 3) Cave dwelling of John the Baptist; Galilee (North Israel/South Lebanon); Sea of Galilee: Mount Tabor, site of the Transfiguration of Jesus; Jericho, along the road to which was the location of the Good Samaritan's charity.

Disputes Over Holy Places

Mary's Well in Nazareth

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am wrote in the Times of Israel: “Christians began jockeying for control of the Holy Places after the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099. Until that time a variety of Christian denominations — mainly eastern Orthodox — apparently worshipped peacefully in the Holy City. But when the Crusaders took over Jerusalem, the Catholic Church gained control of the sacred sites. The result has been a thousand years of out-and-out rivalry. [Source: Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am, Times of Israel, September 7, 2012 /:]

“The most volatile period was during the era of Turkish rule, from 1517 to 1917, when the success of each religious group depended on the political climate and on how much money passed into the pockets of the authorities. Sometimes the Turks would decree in favor of the Catholics, at others in favor of the Orthodox. Once they even tried giving two communities rights to the same holy site – and told each that it was to be theirs alone. Nobody was ever pleased with the results. /:\

“Provocation was the order of the day, and fights even erupted within Orthodox ranks. In Bethlehem, the Greek Orthodox placed a carpet in front of the Armenian (Orthodox) altar. When Armenians came to worship, the Greek Orthodox assaulted them for stepping on their rug. Like many disputes between bickering couples, neighbors and nations, the squabbles among differing Christian denominations often seem petty and trivial to outsiders. Yet for much of the Christian world these issues are as vital as the air they breathe.” /:\

Oldest Churches in the World

1) Dura-Europos Church is the earliest identified Christian house church. It is located in Dura-Europos in Syria and dates from 235 AD. The site of Dura-Europos, a former city and walled fortification, was excavated largely in the 1920s and 1930s by French and American teams. Within the archaeological site, the house church is located by the 17th tower and preserved by the same defensive fill that saved the nearby Dura-Europos synagogue [Source: [Source: thewondrous.com, Wikipedia]

2) Megiddo Church in Tel Megiddo, Israel is one of the oldest church buildings ever discovered by archaeologists, dating to the 3rd century AD. In 2005, Israeli archaeologist Yotam Tepper of Tel-Aviv University discovered the remains of a church, believed to be from the third century, a time when Christians were still persecuted by the Roman Empire. The remains were found at the Megiddo Prison, which is located a few hundred meters south of the Tel. Among the finds is an approx. 54-square-metre (580 sq ft) large mosaic with a Greek inscription stating that the church is consecrated to “the God Jesus Christ.” The mosaic is very well preserved and features geometrical figures and images of fish, an early Christian symbol.

3) Aqaba Church is a historic 3rd-century church located in Aqaba, Jordan. It was unearthed in 1998 by a group of archaeologists and is considered to be the world's oldest-known purpose-built Christian church.[1] Its first phase was dated between 293 and 303, which makes it older than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, both of which were built in the late 320s.[2] Its peripheral location within the Roman Empire is likely to have saved it from destruction during the Great Persecution that broke out just a few years after the church's construction.

Church in Aqaba, Jordan

4) Monastery of Saint Anthony is a Coptic Orthodox monastery standing in an oasis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Hidden deep in the Red Sea mountains, it is located 334 km (207 miles) southeast of Cairo. It is one of the oldest monasteries in the world, and was established by the followers of Saint Anthony, who is considered to be the first ascetic monk. The Monastery of St. Anthony is one of the most prominent monasteries in Egypt and has strongly influenced the formation of several Coptic institutions, and has promoted monasticism in general. Several patriarchs have been pulled from the monastery, and several hundred pilgrims visit it each day.

5) Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains Basilica is a historic church building in Metz, France that was built in 380 AD and is one of the oldest churches in Europe. The building was originally built to be part of a Roman spa complex, but the structure was converted into use as a church in the 7th century becoming the chapel of Benedictine monastery. A new nave was constructed in the 1000s with further interior renovations. In the 16th century the building became a warehouse and remained so until the 1970s when it was restored and opened for concerts and exhibitions.

6) Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important church in Ethiopia. The original church is believed to have been built during the reign of Ezana, the first Christian emperor of Ethiopia, during the 4th century AD, and has been rebuilt several times since then. The church is in the town of Axum in the Tigray Province. Its first putative destruction occurred at the hands of Queen Gudit during the 10th century. Its second, confirmed, destruction occurred in the 16th century at the hands of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, after which it was rebuilt by the Emperor Gelawdewos, then further rebuilt and enlarged by Fasilides during the 17th century.

7) Cathedral of Trier is a church in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest cathedral in the country. The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of Saint Helen, resulting in a cathedral added on to gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras. Its dimensions, 112.5 by 41 m, make it the largest church structure in Trier. Since 1986 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

8) Church of Saint Simeon Stylites is a well preserved church that dates back to the 5th century, located about 30 km northwest of Aleppo, Syria. It is built on the site of the pillar of St. Simeon Stylites, a famed hermit monk. It is popularly known as Qalat Seman the ‘Fortress of Simeon’.

9) Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1934, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

Hagia Sophia

10) Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai, the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in Saint Katherine city in Egypt. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO report (60100 ha / Ref: 954), this monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world together with the Monastery of Saint Anthony, situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo, also lays claim to that title.

11) Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians. The site is also revered by followers of Islam.

Dura-Europos Church

The Dura-Europos church is the earliest identified Christian house church. Located in Dura-Europos, Syria, it appears to have been a normal house converted for worship between A.D. 233 and 256 In his book, “The World’s Oldest Church”, Fordham Associate Professor Michael Peppard examines the iconography on the walls of the chursh

The Dura-Europos church is situated above the Euphrates River in what was or is now ISIS territory. Dura Europos was a busy metropolis in ancient times. The church is one of three ancient religious buildings that have survived intact from the city (the others are a Jewish synagogue and a pagan Mithraeum).

Candida Moss wrote in the Daily Beast: The Dura-Europos church was originally the home of a wealthy third century Christian that had been converted into a “house church” — a building containing an assembly room and a baptistery. The walls of the baptistery were adorned with biblically inspired artwork, including a depiction of a woman drawing water from a well. Traditionally, scholars have thought that the woman is meant to be the Samaritan woman who engages Jesus in conversation at a well in John 4. [Source:Candida Moss, Daily Beast, February 21, 2016]

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher lies on the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion, burial and resurrection — Golgotha or Cavalry. All the historical and archaeological evidence seems to indicate it is in the right place. In Jesus’s time executions were carried out on a hill outside the city walls. The site was on a hill outside the walls in Jesus’s time. Furthermore, the niche style grave is consistent with that of Jesus’s time and there are written statements to its authenticity that date back to the A.D. 2nd century. Scenes from the life of Christ—including his infancy, triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and Last Supper—adorn a small Coptic Orthodox chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

A room in the south-east corner of the church has been placed on top of Golgotha, or Calvary, where Christ according to tradition Christ was crucified. The gray rock mass of Golgotha is protected by a plexiglass case. Here, a narrow half circle of stairs leads to a chapel — with a Greek Orthodox side and a Roman Catholic side “placed over the spot where Christ was nailed to the cross.

Harriet Sherwood wrote in The Guardian: “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of the Christian quarter of the walled Old City, covers the assumed site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It is a huge attraction for pilgrims and tourists from all over the world, many weeping and clutching precious mementos or photographs of loved ones and forming long queues for the shrine. The shrine has been rebuilt four times in its history, most recently in 1810 after a fire.The structure had been held in place for almost 70 years by iron girders erected on the instructions of a British governor who ruled Palestine in the Mandate era. They have now been removed.” [Source: Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian, March 21, 2017]

Bethlehem and the Church of Nativity

Bethlehem (five miles south of Jerusalem) is the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ and, for many Jews, the birthplace of King David. Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” Today it is a rough West Bank town with 35,000 people (100,000 if you include the nearby refuge camps and Jerusalem suburbs), brown stone buildings, white stone houses, surrounded by brown hills and olive groves.

Church of the Nativity in 1887

Church of Nativity (in Bethlehem) is a basilica built over the grotto where it is believed that the Virgin Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus. It is not built around an outdoor manger like the Christmas nativity scenes (mangers were often built in caves as were homes). Just so its clear, a manger, or trough, is a structure used to hold food to feed animals. The word manger originally referred to a feed-trough. Mangers are generally found at stables and farmhouses.

The Church of Nativity Grotto is reached by a small stairway just a few steps from the main hall of the basilica. A two-foot-wide, 14-point silver star marks the spot where it is believed that the Virgin Mary gave birth. The grotto itself is lined with marble, save a small section of the rock floor worn smooth by centuries of kisses and caresses. Above the star on a platform are 15 silver lamps each representing a different Christian denomination, whose fires are always left burning.

Near the star is a an inscription that reads, “Here of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was born.” Many of the pilgrims who come to cave read a passage from the second chapter of Luke: "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for him in the inn."

Qasr Al Yahud— Jesus’s Baptism Site

The baptism of Jesus marked the beginning of his tenure as a teacher and spiritual leader. For Christian believers Qasr Al Yahud — where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in Jordan River in present-day Jordan — is considered to be the third most important holy site after the Church of Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to tradition, this spot is also where the Israelites, led by Joshua, crossed the river to enter the Promised Land following the Exodus from Egypt; and where approximately 300 years later, the Prophet Elijah crossed the river in the opposite direction, to be taken into heaven by ‘fiery chariots’, witnessed by his disciple Elisha. [Source: deadsea.com]

Qasr el Yahud is also known as Kasser/Qasser al-Yahud/Yehud ("Castle of the Jews" in Hebrew) and Al-Maghtas in Arabic. It is located in a region of the West Bank that is claimed by the State of Palestine and under Israeli occupation. The site and facilities are administered by the Israeli Civil Administration and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism as part of an Israeli national park. Both sides of the river have historically been used as pilgrimage sites.

Researchers cannot identify the exact location for the events from the Bible beyond the reference that they occurred in the proximity of Jericho, however, since the Dead Sea was a natural barrier between the land of Moab across the Jordan, when approaching from the south, the first option of crossing by land into the Promised Land was from where the Jordan River enters the Dead Sea, just to the north of its northern shoreline.

The Baptism of Jesus, described in The Gospel of Mark 1:9-11, is seen as a transformation, from which point Jesus ceases his former simple life in Nazareth and begins His Public Ministry (Mark 1:14-15), in which he performs miracles and gathers recognition, but first, we are told in the Gospel of Mark 1:12-13 that Jesus too, while fasting, is ‘tested’ by Satan for 40 days and nights immediately following the Baptism.

The site itself is located approximately 8 kilometers north from the intersection of Route No. 90 and Route No. 1, 15 kilometers from the northern shore of the Dead Sea. The Jordan River is the border between Israel and Jordan. Between 1967 and 1994, the site was almost impossible to visit, ensconced in an effective ‘no-man’s land’ between barbed wire fences and surrounded by mine-fields. Following the Peace Agreements between the the two countries in 1994 the border was defined and the site was made more accessible. After that entrance still necessitated a military escort and involved complicated logistics and procedures. Since 2011 new regulations and work at the site has enabled easy and free access. The site is now managed by the Israel National Parks Authority.

Jesus baptism site on the River Jordan

Along the earlier centuries of the Current Era, many churches and monasteries where constructed within the vicinity of the site, beginning in the Byzantine Period. Later, when times became harsh for the Christian community, the monasteries served as a refuge and place of protection for pilgrims, but as the pilgrims grew fewer, especially following the Moslem re-conquest from the Crusaders in the 12th Century, most were abandoned. Later in the Ottoman Period, from the 17th century onwards, custodianship was restored to the Greek Orthodox Church for its buildings, but most others still remain abandoned. Since 2011 two new outdoor chapels have been constructed, mainly to serve the Eastern Orthodox celebrations at the site, but which are also used by Christian visitors of all denominations.

Al-Maghtas describes an area stretching over both banks of the river. The Jordanian side uses the names Al-Maghtas, Bethany beyond the Jordan and Baptism(al) Site, while the western part is known as Qasr el-Yahud. The nearby Greek Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist has a castle-like appearance (thus qasr, "castle"), and tradition holds that the Israelites crossed the river at this spot (thus el-Yahud, "of the Jews"). Qasr el-Yahud is close to the ancient road and river ford connecting Jerusalem, via Jericho, to several Transjordanian biblical sites such as Madaba, Mount Nebo and the King's Highway. It is located in the West Bank, a little southeast from Jericho and is part of the Jericho Governorate of Palestine. [Source: Wikipedia]

Jesus' Baptism Site Still Surrounded by a Minefield

As of 2011, when Qasr El-Yahud was opened to the public, the area where John the Baptist is said to have baptized Jesus remains surrounded by thousands of land mines. Associated Press reported: “Some 15,000 Christian pilgrims marched between two fenced-in minefields to reach the Epiphany ceremony led by the Greek Orthodox patriarch on the Jordan River, five miles east of the oasis town of Jericho at the edge of the West Bank. Worshippers from around the world dipped themselves in the muddy waters, facing fellow believers on the other side of the small river. Orthodox clergymen dressed in dark frocks and robes chanted prayers as Patriarch Theofilos III blessed the waters, hurled branches and released white doves into the air. [Source: Associated Press, January 20, 2011]

Since Israel took control of the area in the 1967 Mideast war, pilgrims have had to coordinate their visits with the Israeli military, because of security concerns and leftover land mines. The ancient churches and monasteries on the Israeli side, some dating back to the fourth century, are surrounded by signs reading "Danger! Mines!" "Since it was a border, the place is really littered by hundreds and hundreds of mines, and therefore the area is not open to the public and to the believers and pilgrims," said Avner Goren, an archaeologist who works with Israel's Tourism Ministry.

The ministry says about 60,000 people visit each year, but with the upcoming official opening that number is expected to rise to the millions. The Israeli military says the baptism site and adjacent churches are located in a "completely mine-free zone," and insists "no danger is posed to tourists or worshippers." "The (military) regularly clears away minefields in the Jordan River Valley, and in the last year alone approximately 8,000 mines have been removed from the area," the military said in a statement.

Dhyan Or, the Israel director of the global anti-mining advocacy group Roots of Peace, said there are half a million mines in the Jordan Valley — an area prone to floods. He warned that land mines could drift from the fenced areas, and that overzealous worshippers could stray from the marked paths. "There is no political problem to remove the mines and no technical problem to do so," he said. "All that is missing is the political will." In contrast, Jordan cleared the minefields on its side of the border after signing a peace deal with Israel in 1994. Jordan has developed a cultural heritage center on its side across the narrow river from the West Bank shrine, claiming it as the site of the baptism. The center has attracted millions of tourists. Pope John Paul II visited the Jordanian site in 2000, reinforcing the Jordanian claim

Church of the Loaves and Fishes

ruins of the Church of Loaves and Fishes

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (also known as the Church of the Multiplication and Church of the Loaves and Fishes) is a church in Tabgha (ancient Heptapegon) on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Built on the site of 4th and 5th-century churches, the modern church preserves a splendid early Christian mosaic as well as the traditional stone on which it is said the miraculous meal was laid. [Source:sacred-destinations.com]

According to sacred-destinations.com: “The miraculous feeding of five thousand people is described in Mark 6:30-44, just before Jesus walks on water. The Gospel account of the loaves and fishes does not specify where it took place; only that it was in a "remote place" (6:32,35) on the shores of Galilee. According to Mark's account, Jesus and his disciples had gone out in a boat to this remote place for some peace and quiet, but the crowds ran ahead "from all the towns" and met him when he landed. By then it was dinnertime and they were not in a village where food could easily be bought, so Jesus fed them all by miraculously multiplying his disciples' five loaves and two fishes.It is possible that this is the actual site of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, but not terribly likely. Scholar Jerome Murphy O'Connor attributes the selection of the site to pilgrims' associations with the area.^

“A church of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was first built on this site in c.350. The church was small (15.5m x 9.5m) and on a slightly different orientation than the later versions. The Spanish pilgrim Egeria visited this church in the 380s, and reported on it. The church was significantly enlarged around A.D. 480 — an inscription attributes its building to the patriarch Matryrios (478-86) — which included the addition of the splendid floor mosaic. The mosaics were repaired in the 6th century and the church was destroyed around 685. The site was bought by the Deutsche Verien vom Heilige Lande and excavated in 1932; a protective cover was built over the mosaics in 1936. In 1982 this was replaced by the modern Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes that stands today, which is a faithful reconstruction of the original. ^

“Under the altar table is a block of limestone (1 x 0.6 x 0.14m) venerated as the table of the Lord. This is unlikely to be the same one Egeria saw in the 4th century (see History, above), and of course pilgrims are no longer permitted to chip away at it! In front of the altar is a lovely restored mosaic of two fish flanking a basket of loaves. Besides its sacred importance as the place of a miracle of Jesus, the main highlight of the Church of the Loaves and Fishes is this beautiful 5th-century figurative mosaic floor. It is the earliest known example of a figured pavement in Palestinian Christian art. ^

“The main mosaic covers the two transepts and the intervals between the pillars (the rest of the floor has a mosaic in a simple geometric pattern, mostly restored). The principal mosaic was clearly designed by a great master who was able to create a free-flowing design without need of any repetitious pattern. The mosaic depicts birds and plants, with a prominent place given to the bell-like lotus flower. This flower is not found in the area and indicates the influence of the Nilotic landscapes then popular in Hellenistic and Roman art. However, all the other motifs depict flora and fauna from Galilee - the level of detail allows the identification of each species. There are charming "ducks in love" in the lower center and a depiction in the upper left of the round tower (nilometer) that was used to measure water level. Also visible are the Greek letters for the numbers 6 to 10. ^

A few other parts of the 5th-century Byzantine church are preserved in the modern church, including the sill of the left entrance to the atrium, some of the basalt paving stones of the atrium, and part of the frieze in the apse. The foundations of the original 4th-century church can be seen under a glass panel. Old basalt presses and a font are displayed in the courtyard.

Two rooms of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes were vandalized and badly damaged in a June 2015 fire. The complex reopened to pilgrims following eight months of renovation work at a cost of around one million dollars, of which the state of Israel contributed almost $400,000. Three Jewish extremists were indicted for the attack on the church, in what was termed a hate crime against Israel’s minority community. [Source: AFP and Times of Israel staff, February 12, 2017]

Holy Land's 'Oldest Church' Found at Megiddo (Armageddon)

In 2005, archaeologists announced they had unearthed the oldest Christian church discovered in the Holy Land behind the walls of a maximum security prison in Megiddo (Armageddon in the New Testament). Chris McGreal wrote in The Guardian: they uncovered a detailed and well-preserved mosaic, the foundations of a rectangular building, and pottery dated to the third or early fourth century. One of several inscriptions on the mosaic floor in ancient Greek said the building was dedicated to "the memory of the Lord Jesus Christ". [Source: Chris McGreal, The Guardian, November 7, 2005 ~~]

Megiddo Prison, home of one of the world's oldest churches

“Other inscriptions name a Roman army officer, Gaianus, who donated money to build the floor, and a woman called Ekoptos who "donated this table to the God Jesus Christ in commemoration". The table is believed to have served as an altar. "There are no crosses on the mosaic floor," said Yotam Tepper, an archaeologist who led the dig on behalf of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. "In their place is a picture of two fish lying side by side - a very early Christian symbol. ~~

"This is an extremely dramatic discovery, because such an old building of this type has never been found either in the land of Israel or anywhere else in the entire region. The structure and the mosaic floor date back to the period before Christianity became an officially recognised religion, before St Constantine. "Normally we have from this period in our region historical evidence from literature, not archaeological evidence. There is no structure you can compare it to - it is a unique find."

“The inscriptions at Megiddo were interpreted by Professor Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University. "I was told these were Byzantine but they seem much earlier than anything I have seen so far from the Byzantine period. It could be from the third or the beginning of the fourth century," she said.The use of the word "table" in one inscription instead of "altar" might advance the study of Christianity, she said, because it is widely believed that rituals based on the Last Supper were held around a table used as an altar.”

“The earliest churches, until this discovery at Megiddo, include the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, said to stand on the site of Christ's crucifixion, dating from about AD330, and the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Megiddo has long been described by religious scholars and archaeologists as the most important biblical site in Israel. Over the centuries, more than 25 cities rose and fell at Megiddo. Some were powerful commercial centres on the ancient thoroughfare between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Five of the conflicts fought in the 30-mile-wide Jezreel valley around Megiddo are recorded in the Old Testament. The New Testament names Armageddon - a Greek corruption of the Hebrew word "har", meaning mount, and Megiddo - as the scene of the final great battle between good and evil.”

Ancient Christian Sites in Egypt

Candida Moss wrote in the Daily Beast: Egypt is one of the most named locations in the Bible: it was the location of the Israelites enslavement and liberation; the place the patriarchs looked for help during famine; the birth place of Moses; the site where the law was delivered to Moses; and where Jesus took refuge from Herod. In the Gospel of Matthew, the Holy Family flees to Egypt to escape Herod the Great’s slaughter of the children of Bethlehem. Most historians think that the story was created in order to make Jesus appear more like Moses, but to ancient Egyptian Christians it gave them the opportunity to write themselves into the biblical story. From the fourth century onwards we begin to find evidence of churches and shrines dedicated to filling in the gaps in this period of Jesus’ life. How did they arrive in Egypt? Where did they stay? And what did they eat? [Source: Candida Moss, Daily Beast, August 11, 2018]

The answers to these questions can be found in the archeology, literature, and religious sites of Roman-era Egypt, To this day pilgrims can visit the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus (also known as Abu Serga) in the Babylonian Fortress is Cairo. It’s one of the oldest Coptic Christian Churches in the world and was first consecrated in the fourth century. According to legend it was built on the spot where Joseph and Mary rested after their long journey to safety in Egypt. Those who want to follow in the literal footsteps of the Holy Family should descend into the crypt. Just don’t attempt this when the Nile is flooded as the 10 meter-deep crypt may be flooded. While in Cairo also visit the hanging church, for its architectural history and wide-ranging collection of icons and just wander the narrow, medieval streets of Coptic Cairo.

Egypt is the birthplace of monasticism. Beginning in the third and fourth centuries, Christians began to yearn for a more austere and holy existence where they could be closer to God. Their solution was to flee to the desert. One of the first—and certainly the most influential—of these was St. Anthony, whose biography inspired many wealthy young men to leave behind their lives of privilege. Hermetic or anchorite monks would shelter in natural caves, survive on minimal amounts of food, spend their days in prayer and spiritual battles with demons, and, for those who were semi-hermetical (‘half-hermits’), often only congregate for religious worship

If it is history in general that you are looking for you could do worse than to visit Alexandria. This ancient coastal city of Alexandria was famous for two things: its lighthouse and its remarkable, unparalleled library. The library declined after Julius Caesar burned at least part of the collection in 48 BCE, but the city remained a center of learning and intellectual engagement throughout antiquity. You can visit a modern reimagining of the museum, complete with manuscripts and antiquities., today.

According to tradition, Christians first arrived here in the first century, led by St. Mark, the author of the oldest Gospel (some of his relics, stolen by the Venetians in the medieval period are housed in the Coptic Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria and others in St. Mark’s Cairo Cathedral).

Alexandria is still the home of Coptic Christianity but, in the ancient world it also housed a famous Christian “school” or university headed up by famous intellectuals Clement and Origen. Though he was later denounced as a heretic, it was Origen who developed the principles of modern religious interpretation. He argued that scriptures had multiple layers and modes of interpretation including both literal and spiritual layers. If you have ever found yourself saying that a passage in the bible should be understood metaphorically or symbolically you probably have Origen to thank for this line of explanation. For those tiring of Christian, the remains of the Serapeon, the intellectual heir to the library and an important ancient pagan religious site, are still open for visitors.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File); “ Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); King James Version of the Bible, gutenberg.org; New International Version (NIV) of The Bible, biblegateway.com; Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ccel.org , Frontline, PBS, Wikipedia, BBC, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Live Science, Encyclopedia.com, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider, AFP, Library of Congress, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2024