(ChurchLeaders) According to Israel Antiquities Authority, a recent excavation unearthed the first proof of ancient Christian life during the Byzantine era in the Jezreel Valley, which includes Nazareth. Prior to construction of a new road in northern Israel, archaeologists and local volunteers discovered a 1,500-year-old Greek inscription reading “Christ born of Mary.”
The inscription, which also mentions the early Christian bishop Theodosius, was on a stone portion of a doorway to a Byzantine church. Though archaeologists say discovery of a church in this area isn’t necessarily surprising, it “closed the circle” by providing evidence of Christians’ presence there.