Rare 1,500-year-old mosaic discovered in Jerusalem
August 24, 2017
A sixth-century mosaic floor containing a Greek inscription has been uncovered in Jerusalem's Old City. Dubbed an "archaeological miracle," the rare find sheds light on Jerusalem's largest Christian church at the time.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli
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A mosaic floor bearing the names of Byzantine Emperor Justinian and senior Orthodox priest Constantine has been found near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.
An inscription, written in Greek and dating to AD 550/551, was on the 1.14-meter (3 feet 7 inches) by 80-centimeter mosaic - making it an extraordinary find.
"Direct text and letters from people back then are relatively rare," David Gellman, director of the excavation in Jerusalem's Old City, told AFP news agency.
"The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle," Gellman said in a statement.
Breakthrough discovery at the last minute
It was by chance that archaeologists came upon the rare find, located a meter below street level. Gellman and his team had been asked to conduct a routine examination before communications cables were to be laid in the area.
"We were very close to closing the excavation when I noticed that a few of the mosaic stones, which were otherwise plain white, were at a different angle and seemed to be a little darker," Gellman recalled. "I cleaned up that small corner… and found that it was the bottom left corner of the inscription itself."
The inscription reads, "The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which this (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction."
Used for taxation purposes, indiction was an ancient method of counting years, which allowed the archaeologists to date the inscription to the mid-sixth century.
Justinian, an important ruler during the Byzantine era in the Roman Empire, established the Nea Church in Jerusalem in AD 543, in which the mosaic was found and where Constantine was an abbot. It was one of the largest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and also the largest in Jerusalem at the time.
Experts hope the discovery will contribute to their understanding of Justinian's building schemes.
The area where the mosaic was uncovered, near the Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem, is now the main entryway to the Old City's Muslim Quarter. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel annexed that territory in a move that has since not been recognized by the international community.
kbm/eg (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
Jerusalem in 1967 and 2017
The city of Jerusalem has been one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. DW compares the city in 1967, during the Six-Day War, with how it looks 50 years on.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Mount of Olives today
The old City Wall and the gold-domed Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock, are visible in the background from the mountain ridge which lies to the east of the Old City. The Old Jewish Cemetery, situated on the western and southern slopes of the ridge, are in an area once named for its many olive groves. It is the oldest continually used Jewish cemetery in the world.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Mount of Olives then
If it weren't for the ancient Ottoman city wall and the shrine in the background, viewers might not realize this is the same site. The picture was taken on June 7th, 1967, when the peak was this brigade's command post at the height of the Six-Day War, or Arab-Israeli War.
Image: Government Press Office/REUTERS
Al-Aqsa mosque today
Al-Aqsa, with its silver-colored dome and vast hall, is located on Temple Mount. Muslims call the mosque the "Noble Sanctuary," but it is also the most sacred site in Judaism, a place where two biblical temples were believed to have stood. As well, it is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam, after Mecca and Medina. There have long been tensions over control of the entire Temple Mount area.
Image: Reuters/A. Awad
Al-Aqsa mosque then
The name Al-Aqsa translates to "the farthest mosque." It is also Jerusalem's biggest mosque. Israel has strict control over the area after conquering all of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, and regaining access to its religious sites. Leaders at the time agreed that the Temple Mount would be administered by an Islamic religious trust known as the Waqf.
Image: Reuters/
Damascus Gate today
The historic Gate, named in English for the fact that the road from there heads north to Damascus, is a busy main entrance to Palestinian East Jerusalem, and to a bustling Arab bazaar. Over the past two years, it has frequently been the site of security incidents and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Damascus Gate then
The gate itself - what we see today was built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1537 - looks much the same in this July 1967 picture. Seven Gates allow entrance to the Old City and its separate quarters.
Image: Reuters/
Old City today
Jerusalem's vibrant Old City, a UNESCO world Heritage Site since 1981, is home to sites important to many different religions: the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque for Muslims, Temple Mount and the Western Wall for Jews, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians. Busy and colorful, it is a great place for shopping and food, and a top attraction for visitors.
Image: Reuters/A. Awad
Old City then
This picture was taken in July 1967, but 50 years later, some things in the Old City haven't changed at all. Boys like the one in the photo balancing a tray of sesame pastries - called bagels - still roam the streets of the Old City today, hawking the sweet breads sprinkled with sesame seeds for about a euro ($1.12) apiece.
Image: Reuters/Fritz Cohen/Courtesy of Government Press Office
Western Wall today
This section of ancient limestone wall in Jerusalem's Old City is the western support wall of the Temple Mount. It is the most religious site for Jewish people, who come here to pray and perhaps to place a note in a crack in the wall. There is a separate section for men and for women, but it is free and open to everyone all year round - after the obligatory security check.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Western Wall then
The Western Wall is also known as the 'Wailing' Wall, a term considered derogatory and not used by Jews. The above photo of people flocking to the Wall to pray was taken on September 1, 1967, just weeks after Israel regained control of the site following the Six-Day-War. It had been expelled from the Old City 19 years earlier during Jordan's occupation.
