Archaeologists discover one of the world's oldest Christian churches in history's first Christian country



Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of one of the world's oldest Christian churches in an ancient city located in Armenia.

On Oct. 11, the University of Münster announced the discovery of a previously unknown church in a press release.

Archaeologists also found some fragments of marble imported from the Mediterranean, from which experts determined the church was 'lavishly decorated.'

Archaeologists from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the University of Münster in Germany have discovered the remains of one of the oldest Christian churches in the ancient Armenian city of Artaxata, the capital of the kingdom of Armenia for almost six centuries.

Researchers believe the church dates back to the fourth century.

"Typologically, the find corresponds to early Christian memorial buildings," the press release stated. "In the cross-shaped extensions, the researchers discovered the remains of wooden platforms, which were radiocarbon dated to the mid-fourth century A.D."

Dr. Mkrtich H. Zardaryan of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia explained, “Octagonal churches were unknown here until now, but we are very familiar with them from the Eastern Mediterranean region, where they first appeared in the fourth century A.D.”

Professor Achim Lichtenberger of the University of Münster added, “The fourth-century building is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country — sensational evidence for early Christianity in Armenia.”

The octagonal building is approximately 100 feet in diameter. The church features a mortar floor and terra-cotta tiles. Archaeologists also found some fragments of marble imported from the Mediterranean, from which experts determined the church was "lavishly decorated."

The archaeologists excavated parts of the ancient ruins and studied them by using geophysical methods.

The German-Armenian team has been in Armenia since September and will continue excavations in hopes of making new archaeological discoveries.

The kingdom of Armenia was the first Christian country in the world.

St. Gregory the Illuminator was a fourth-century apostle of Christianity and a prince in Parthia, a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran.

Gregory's father, Anak, allegedly attempted to assassinate the Armenian king and was executed. The Armenian king ordered all of Anak's family to be executed as well. Gregory's caretakers smuggled him out of Armenia and transported him to Cappadocia, in modern Turkey. Gregory was raised by a Christian priest.

Gregory became a monk and later returned to Armenia to promote his faith and convert people to Christianity.

At the time, the Armenian king Tiridates III was informed that Gregory's father was the man who attempted to assassinate his father. Tiridates III — also known as Tiridates the Great — had Gregory detained, thrown into a pit, and tortured.

Legend has it that Tiridates III descended into madness and had a dream that Gregory could heal him. Gregory healed the mad king around 300 A.D.

Following the miracle, Tiridates III declared that Armenia would be a Christian nation — the first Christian state in history.

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Archaeologists unearth long-lost temple believed to be the very site where Jesus Christ performed miracles



Archaeologists believe they have unearthed a long-lost temple which is said to be the very site where Jesus Christ performed miracles.

Recent archaeological excavations in Israel may have revealed the hidden location of where Jesus Christ preached and healed people, according to New Testament accounts.

The archaeologist believes this could be the long-lost temple from over 2,000 years ago that could prove the Biblical narratives mentioning Chorazin.

Archaeologists descended upon a synagogue built in 380 AD that was discovered in 1905. The synagogue is located in the ancient city of Chorazin, which is now part of Korazim National Park in northern Israel.

The archaeologists moved giant rocks that appeared to be strategically placed inside the synagogue and also removed the floor during the excavation.

The excavation revealed an even older temple, buried beneath the synagogue floor.

Behind the rocks, the team discovered pottery, coins, and cookware.

“We can’t date the rocks themselves, but we can date the items found between them," stated lead archaeologist Achia Cohen-Tavor of Dagesh Tourist Archaeology.

Cohen-Tavor explained in a YouTube video documenting the excavation, "What I can date is the pottery and, hopefully, coins coming from between the rocks and definitely what's beneath them. Whatever I get from between those stones would be dating the construction of the synagogue here."

Cohen-Tavor declared, "This is a groundbreaking discovery. I have been excavating all over [the globe], and, for me, it's definitely one of the most important excavations I've ever directed."

The archaeologist believes this could be the long-lost temple from over 2,000 years ago that could prove the Biblical narratives mentioning Chorazin.

Chorazin is well-documented in the New Testament, especially in the Book of Matthew, which mentions the city as a place where Jesus preached and healed people.

However, Jesus eventually cursed the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because the inhabitants did not accept his teachings to repent despite witnessing the miracles that he provided the citizens.

Matthew 11:20-24 reads:

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."

The 4th-century synagogue at Chorazin features a "Seat of Moses," an ancient chair carved from a basalt block. This chair is where rabbis and other religious leaders would sit and read the Torah.

The "Seat of Moses" is mentioned in Matthew 23:1-3: "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.'"

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'A king will die': 4,000-year-old Babylonian tablets finally deciphered to reveal disastrous omens



Researchers have finally deciphered a set of 4,000-year-old Babylonian tablets that had ominous omens of doom and destruction.

The four clay tablets dating back some 4,000 years likely originated in Sipparan — an ancient Babylonian city southwest of what is now Baghdad, Iraq.

'There will be an attack on the land by a locust swarm.'

The Babylonian tablets were written in cuneiform — the earliest system of writing that was developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia around 3,400 to 3,300 BCE. The term "cuneiform" comes from the Latin word cuneus, meaning "wedge," and forma, meaning "shape," referring to the wedge-shaped formations made by a stylus on the soft clay tablets.

The British Museum acquired the tablets between 1892 and 1914. However, the tablets have never been fully translated until now.

The translation of the ancient artifacts was recently published in a paper featured in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies. The paper was written by Andrew George, an emeritus professor of Babylonian at the University of London, and Junko Taniguchi, an independent researcher.

The paper titled "Old Babylonian Lunar-Eclipse Omen Tablets in the British Museum" declares that the artifacts are "the oldest examples of compendia of lunar-eclipse omens yet discovered and thus provide important new information about celestial divination among the peoples of southern Mesopotamia in the early second millennium BCE."

The paper reads: "They are all found to bear witness to a single text, which organizes the omens of lunar eclipse by time of night, movement of shadow, duration, and date."

The Babylonians were deeply driven by astrology and invented the 12 zodiac signs and the horoscope.

Babylonians recorded the movements of the celestial bodies, the stars, and planets and recognized patterns in them. They believed celestial phenomena were divine signs from the gods and could predict joyous and catastrophic events.

One of the most significant celestial phenomena for the ancient people was lunar eclipses — when Earth’s shadow falls on the surface of the full moon. The Babylonians were able to predict lunar eclipses with fair accuracy for the time.

Babylonians believed that "events in the sky were coded signs placed there by the gods as warnings about the future prospects of those on earth," George and Taniguchi wrote in the paper. "Those who advised the king kept watch on the night sky and would match their observations with the academic corpus of celestial-omen texts."

According to NASA, Babylonians believed lunar eclipses meant evil omens were coming that involved their kings.

The Babylonians went as far as appointing substitute kings so they would be the victims of the wrath of the gods instead of the real king. The substitute king was reportedly killed so the omen was always correct.

The tablets claim that if "an eclipse becomes obscured from its center all at once [and] clear all at once, a king will die, destruction of Elam,” referring to a region that is now located in modern-day Iran.

A prediction proclaims if there is "an eclipse begins in the south and then clears" that it will result in the "downfall of Subartu and Akkad," referring to two other regions of the time.

Another omen warns that "a dearth of straw will occur; there will be losses of cattle" if an eclipse occurs on a certain day of the month.

"There will be an attack on the land by a locust swarm," one omen reads.

The tablet text foresees that a "large army will fall" if a lunar eclipse occurs.

George told Live Science, "The origins of some of the omens may have lain in actual experience — observation of portent followed by catastrophe."

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'Monumental' fortification that protected Jerusalem's biblical kings discovered, reveals hidden history from 3,000 years ago



Archaeologists have uncovered a "monumental" fortification that protected Jerusalem's biblical kings some 3,000 years ago. The "dramatic" archaeological discovery solved a 150-year-old mystery in the City of David.

Since 2007, archaeologists have been excavating the area around the Givati Parking Lot, the largest active archaeological excavation in Jerusalem today. The excavation site on the northwestern side of the City of David has unearthed different layers of the city's life from the Middle Ages to ancient times.

'The creation of the moat was a large-scale, monumental operation, designed ... to demonstrate the power of Jerusalem’s rulers to those who entered its gates.'

The most recent archaeological find is the remnants of a moat that split the City of David in half — separating the king's palace and Temple Mount from the rest of the city, including the Ophel in Jerusalem.

The fortification aligns with the city's division noted in the Bible as Ophel and Millo. In the first Book of Kings (11:27), King Solomon described a fortification known as Millo.

"And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the City of David his father," the Bible verse reads.

Archaeologists had been searching for the route of Jerusalem's northern fortification for 150 years. However, the recent excavation finally solved the riddle and revealed a city-dividing moat with unclimbable perpendicular cliffs on both sides.

“It is not known when the moat was first dug, but it is clear that it was used during the centuries when Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah – almost 3,000 years ago, starting from the days of King Josiah,” said Tel Aviv University professor Yuval Gadot and Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dr. Yiftach Shalu.

The archaeologists added, “During those years, it divided between the extension of the city that spread to the south and was served as the residence of the people of Jerusalem and the Acropolis – the upper city, which was where the palace and the temple were located and stood on the Temple Mount, to the north.”

“The connection of the two exposed sections creates a deep and wide trench that stretches across About 70 meters at least, from west to east,” Gadot noted. “Following the dramatic discovery, we reexamined the past excavations reports written by the British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, who excavated in the City of David in the 1960s, in an area located slightly east of today’s Givati Parking Lot.”

Gadot said the "dramatic discovery" has opened up a "renewed discussion of terms from biblical literature that relate to the topography of Jerusalem," which includes Ophel and Millo.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said of the engineering efforts involved in the moat's construction, “The creation of the moat was a large-scale, monumental operation, designed to change and modify the natural topography to demonstrate the power of Jerusalem’s rulers to those who entered its gates.”

Israel Antiquities Authority Director Eli Escusido said in a press release, "The excavations in the City of David never cease to amaze; once again, discoveries are being revealed that shed new and vivid light on the biblical literature. When you stand at the bottom of this giant excavation, surrounded by enormous hewn walls, it is impossible not to be filled with wonder and appreciation for those ancient people who, about 3,800 years ago, literally moved mountains and hills."

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Archaeological discovery backs up epic battle from 2,700 years ago documented in the Bible



An archaeological discovery has seemingly corroborated an epic battle that took place some 2,700 years ago and is documented in the Bible.

King Sennacherib's Assyrian troops attempted a siege of Jerusalem approximately 2,700 years ago. King Hezekiah of Judah allegedly prayed for a miracle to save the city from being captured.

As per the Bible, an "angel of the Lord" descended on the invading Assyrian troops attempting to besiege Jerusalem. The "angel of the Lord" allegedly "struck down" 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night. Sennacherib – the king of Assyria – realized the devastation and was forced into a military retreat. The "angel of the Lord" allegedly prevented an Assyrian conquest of Jerusalem, according to accounts detailed in 2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 37:36.

2 Kings 19:35:

"And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."

Historical records do indicate that there was an attempted Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. However, Sennacherib's Annals claim that Assyrian troops returned to Assyria after receiving tribute from King Hezekiah. He was purportedly allowed to stay in power as a vassal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire – which included present-day Iraq, as well as parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Kuwait.

Archaeologists had previously discovered a scene carved into the stone walls of King Sennacherib's palace, which displayed the Assyrian conquest of Lachish – a city 42 miles south of Jerusalem. The carvings showed how the Assyrian military bases were laid out.

Archaeologist Stephen Compton carefully examined these ancient engravings to determine the locations of ancient military camps set up by King Sennacherib in the Levant.

Compton wrote a peer-reviewed paper titled "The Trail of Sennacherib’s Siege Camps," which was recently published in the journal Near Eastern Archaeology. In the paper, Compton mapped out the likely locations for the ancient Assyrian military camps, from around 700 B.C.

Compton utilized aerial photographs of Lachish from World War II, landscape images, satellite imagery, onsite surveys, ancient pottery, and archaeological data to create a virtual map of Sennacherib's camps.

After Sennacherib's invasion of Lachish, the ruins near the city were abandoned for approximately 2,600 years. The ancient Arabic name for the ruins was "Khirbet al Mudawwara," meaning "The Ruins of the Camp of the Invading Ruler." Based on the discovery of pottery sherds from a period of prehistory known as the Chalcolithic, Compton suspects that the ruins were an Assyrian military camp used for the invasion and then abandoned after the city was conquered.

There was similar ruins north of Jerusalem, which was on a hill that was known in Arabic as "Jebel el Mudawwara," or "The Mountain of the Camp of the Invading Ruler."

Some archaeologists believed the ruins were a Roman military camp built by Titus during the later Roman invasion of Jerusalem. However, Compton noted that Roman military camps were always rectangular, but Assyrian military camps were an oval shape.

"We knew it was an oval. What I did was I took the image of the relief and match it up with recognizable features in the landscape with the actual landscape and overlayed the two," Compton told Fox News. "I used earlier photographs of the landscape from World War II, right before major changes were made. And it was a match."

Using the location of the military camps, Compton said that he had determined the location of two lost ancient cities – Libnah and Nob, Both cities were known to have been conquered by the Assyrians, but whose exact locations were uncertain. Nob was described as a "city of priests" near Jerusalem in 1 Samuel 22:19. Compton said Nob "held the tabernacle, the holiest site in Judaism prior to the construction of the temple."

Compton – an independent scholar specializing in Near Eastern archaeology – believes that the sites of the Assyrian military camps tell the story of where Sennacherib's armies invaded and conquered. He concluded that the discovery of the military camps proves that King Sennacherib's infamous siege of Jerusalem did happen.

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Archaeologists unearth ancient sword from 3,000 years ago at German burial site in 'extraordinary' condition



Archaeologists unearthed an ancient sword at a German burial site that is believed to be more than 3,000 years old. The Bronze Age sword is said to be in such remarkable condition that it "almost still shines."

An "extraordinary" bronze sword with an ornate octagonal hilt was discovered during excavations last week in Nördlingen, Germany – between Nuremberg and Stuttgart. The sword was found at a grave site said to have the remains of three people – a man, woman, and young person. Archaeologists believe the trio were buried shortly after one another, but it is not clear as to their relationship to each another. There are also several arrowheads in the burial mound.

The sword is believed to date back to the end of the 14th century BC — the middle of the Bronze Age.

Bavaria's State Office for Monument Protection noted that the sword is in such impressive condition that it "almost still shines."

"The sword and the burial still need to be examined so that our archeologists can categorize this find more precisely. But we can already say that the state of preservation is extraordinary. A find like this is very rare," said Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, according to the Associated Press.

The German website Welt noted:

The manufacture of such octagonal swords was complex because the handle was cast over the blade. Two of the recognizable rivets are real connections, the other two are only suggested. Despite the effort involved in making it and the lack of any traces of a blow, the Bavarian archaeologists assume that it was a real weapon, not just a showpiece. The center of gravity in the front part of the blade indicates that this sword was primarily aimed at slashing.

The Jerusalem Post reported, "The sword, which had a greenish color, contains both bronze and copper. Over time, the copper oxidized to create the unique color."

Archaeologists believe that the sword’s components were crafted in southern Germany, northern Germany, and Denmark.

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