'Beautiful and Significant': Israel's Megiddo Mosaic On Display At Museum of the Bible

For the first time, you can see part of the world's oldest Christian site of worship. 

The Megiddo Mosaic, discovered during the construction of a prison, dates back to the third century. 

Since its recent premiere at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., curators say the exhibit has already drawn in thousands of visitors from all over the world.

"We now have rediscovered it and came to witness Christianity [from] so far back," said, Deshaun Mills, a visitor from Jacksonville, Florida. 

Behind each of these original artifacts, lies a powerful story reaching across generations.

"It's kind of crazy. And how they just finally discovered it, which is pretty significant," said Peyton, a visitor from Colorado. "This exhibit for sure has been my favorite part." 

From teenagers to history teachers, like Maurice Corollo, there was an eagerness to learn.

"What we teach is something that is an artifact," said Corollo. "Something that is real and something that, most importantly, is interesting (and) really profound for students."

"When I heard about this mosaic and read the story behind it, I got the same kind of chills and the same kind of goosebumps," said, Dr. Bobby Duke. 

Duke is the Interim Chief Curatorial Officer and Director of the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible.

'Greatest Discovery in Israel'

Historians like Dr. Duke describe the Megiddo Mosaic as the greatest discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

"I would say the question we get asked the most often is, is it real?" said, Dr. Duke.  "It does date back to the third century AD 230."

This was a period before Christianity was recognized as an official religion in the Roman Empire.

The Megiddo Mosaic features a table used for communion, and a design showing two fish: early symbols of Christianity with hand-crafted, geometric patterns.
 
"To make the designs that we see even around this flooring here, I mean, that takes hours and hours and hours," said Duke.

The mosaic likely decorated one of the oldest Christian prayer halls in Megiddo, a city located in Canaan.

In the 1940s, this site of ancient worship became buried under a newly built maximum-security prison, where it remained for nearly 60 years.  

Then in 2005, archaeologists accidentally re-discovered it.

"They were wanting to do some construction, and whenever you do construction in Israel, you have to do a salvage archeological dig to make sure that you're not constructing over something significant," Duke explained.

He added they carefully excavated the mosaic, hiding it securely in Northern Israel, until flying it to Washington D.C. for its first public appearance. 

Inscriptions on the Mosaic

The Mosaic is filled with exciting features, including three inscriptions.  

"The first one right here is dedicated to a man named, Gaianus," said Dr, Duke.

Historians say Gaianus was a Roman Centurion who helped fund the mosaic floor and table; a rare show of unity between Romans and Christians.

The second inscription describes some key women in early Christianity, while the third marks history. 

"This phrase, God Jesus Christ is, in the fifth line of the inscription, and it is actually in a shortened form," said Dr. Duke. "So, the letters that have the lines over them, [are] actually a respectful way to write those words."
 
Dr. Duke believes these early writings are some of the first to show belief in the deity of Jesus, with this inscription from a Christian woman identified as Akeptous, that reads, "God Jesus Christ".

The Megiddo Mosaic is one that Dr. Duke hopes will open up a world of possibilities for future discoveries.

"I think the thing that excites me the most is, we never know what the next excavation is going to show and demonstrate," Dr. Duke said. 

"No one before 2005 would have ever dreamed we would have found something as beautiful and significant as this. What's around the corner?"
 
The Megiddo Mosaic exhibit is on display at the Museum of the Bible through July 2025.  After that, curators say it may travel to other U.S. museums before returning home to be memorialized close to its original site in Northern Israel.