CV NEWS FEED // The Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC has announced that it will soon open an exhibition featuring a historic mosaic floor that was conserved earlier this year by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

According to an emailed press release from the museum, the decorative floor, known as the Megiddo Mosaic, was “part of the floor of the oldest Christian place of worship ever discovered.”

“The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith” opens to visitors on September 15 and will remain on display for nine months. The exhibition will then travel to other locations before returning to Israel, where it will be presented in a permanent exhibition at the site where it was found.

The mosaic and the building in which it was located were discovered 20 years ago by Dr. Yoram Tepper of the IAA during an archaeological excavation prior to construction at Megiddo Prison in Israel, the press release said.

There had been plans to build a new wing in the prison, but “eventually prisoners worked with archaeologists to bring the rare find to light.”

The IAA’s conservation department preserved the mosaic during restoration work and reburied it while the IAA investigated. Eventually, the IAA decided to relocate the mosaic for an exhibition in 2024, and archaeologists and restorers re-exposed the historic soil.

“This is arguably one of the most important archaeological discoveries for understanding the early Christian church,” said Bobby Duke, acting chief curator and director of the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible, in the press release.

“For example,” he continued, “the mosaic underscores the crucial role of women in the early church by mentioning five women by name. The mosaic actually provides a wealth of new data for church historians, just as the Dead Sea Scrolls did for Bible scholars.”

The mosaic is also accompanied by various artifacts from the Roman Sixth Legion Ferrata that were discovered during the excavation. The fragments include “roof tiles, an inscribed bread stamp, a bronze statuette of the Roman home god Lar, engraved carnelian intaglios, fragments of Moratorium pottery with the Greek inscription ‘Peace and Happiness’ and coins,” the press release states.