WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The University of Hartford says a team of archaeologists recently uncovered an ancient mosaic floor at a Greek Orthodox church in Nazareth, Israel.
The university says the mosaic floor appears to be from one of the earliest churches in the history of Christianity. It was uncovered recently at the Church of the Annunciation by archaeologists led by Professor Richard Freund and Maha Darawsha of the University of Hartford and Shalom Yanklovitz at Israel’s Haifa University.
According to tradition, the angel Gabriel announced the forthcoming birth of Jesus at a spring or well that Mary was visiting to get water. It’s where the Greek Orthodox put their church in the Byzantine period.
The mosaic floor is believed to date to the fourth century and was uncovered with radar and other technology.
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