This is a really cool discovery.
If you've been in church for any number of years, the biblical city name Laodicea surely rings a bell for you.
'Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.' - The Apostle Paul to the church in Colossians, circa 61 A.D.
The church was also described as lukewarm in the Book of Revelation, but let's keep this article on a positive beat:
That's right: This "massive" Roman hall has some really cool Christian imagery carved into it. The hall dates to around the time of Christ, though the Christian symbols have not yet been dated.
Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of a massive Roman council hall in Turkey - and the site holds carvings linked to early Christian worship.
The discovery, found in the ancient city of Laodicea, was reported by Anadolu Agency, Turkey's news agency, in August.
This discovery appears to show that Christian worship was taking place in majestic public meeting halls in the Roman Empire.
Pictures of the site show a cross carved into stone, as well as what appears to be the early Christian Chi-Rho monogram, which represents the first two letters of 'Christ' in Koine Greek. The etchings are also accompanied by Greek text.
The images also show the remnants of the ancient Roman council building, including a headless statue of the Roman emperor Trajan and the remains of a theater ...
In the past, excavators also found a statue of a priest's head at the site, per the Turkish news agency, along with a sculpture depicting Scylla, a monster from Homer's 'The Odyssey.'
It's really interesting to see Greek, Roman, and Christian culture all colliding in the Middle East after the Resurrection of Christ.
Since the dates of the Christian carvings is unknown, it may be possible that Christians inherited the building from Rome at a later date once Christianity became the official religion of Rome.
Archaeologists told the news agency the ancient building functioned as Laodicea's main political and judicial center - and its shape, with pentagonal outer walls and a hexagonal plan, may be the first of its kind in Anatolia.
The structure held as many as 800 members in the late first century B.C., with the names of various citizens, elders and youths inscribed on the seats, according to the same source.
The images in the Fox News story are out of this world.
I hope they keep digging and find even more!
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