The Mesmeric Megiddo Mosaic: Powerful Lessons from the World’s Oldest Church

January 1st, 2006 Megiddo: Mosaic with the inscription, “The God loving Akeptous has offered this altar to the God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” (Source: WikiCommons)

“One of the most groundbreaking archaeological discoveries since the Dead Sea scrolls. An ancient mosaic floor from the earliest Christian church ever discovered, visible to the public for the first time.” That’s how the trailer introduces the Museum of the Bible’s newest exhibit. The world debut of the Megiddo Mosaic is on display in Washington, DC, from September 15, 2024–July 6, 2025. The extraordinarily well-preserved limestone floor is currently on loan from the Israeli Antiquities Authority. The mosaic is not simply a matter of scholarly curiosity. It reveals several aspects of this early Christian congregation that will be of interest to Christians today. In particular, it shows a congregation that was a strong Christian witness in a diverse society, where community leaders were celebrated, women were afforded status and opportunity, and Jesus was worshipped as the crucified and risen God. 

In 2005, archaeologists made an astonishing discovery while excavating the ancient headquarters of the Roman Sixth Legion Ferrata near the ancient city of Kefar ‘Othnay. About eleven miles southwest of Nazareth, the Jewish-Samaritan settlement was called Legio after a Roman legion camp was established there around AD 117–123. Later, Diocletian (AD 284–305) founded the Roman city of Maximianopolis at the site, eventually becoming the Muslim city of El Lajjun from the seventh century onward. While digging beneath the Megiddo prison, one of the inmates discovered a 16 x 32-foot floorplan, later identified as a Christian prayer hall. The mosaic was one of twelve rooms in a large residential building measuring around 6,500 sq ft. Israeli archaeologists Yotam Tepper and Leah Di Segni published the initial report on the Megiddo Mosaic in 2006. They explain that the building served a variety of different purposes, including as a residential, military, and religious center.

The pottery and coins found in the 500 sq ft prayer hall indicate it was built around AD 230 and used until the end of the third century. Prior to the Megiddo Mosaic, the ruins of a house church dating to around AD 241 in the ancient Roman city of Dura-Europos was considered the world’s oldest church. Like the Syrian domus ecclesiae (“house church”), the congregation at Legio met in a residential building converted to a Christian worship facility. However, it appears to be state property and not privately owned. Larger basilica churches would not be constructed in Israel for another century, starting under Constantine. Tepper and Di Segni describe the multicultural environment at Legio, where Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and devotees of numerous other deities lived together. Similarly, numerous temples to various deities were on the same street as the Christ house in Dura-Europos, as well as a synagogue and a Mithraeum. Thus, the congregation at Legio is a testament to the socio-religious diversity in which early Christianity emerged and thrived. 

The Gaianus Inscription

The Megiddo Mosaic contains three Greek inscriptions that provide an unprecedented glimpse into this third-century Christian community. Each black limestone text is set in a rectangle against a white background in the northern and southern floor panels. The Gaianus Inscription in the northern panel is the largest at over 11 sq ft. Tepper and Di Segni translate it as, “Gaianus, also called Porphyrius, centurion, our brother, has made the pavement at his own expense as an act of liberality. Brutius has carried out the work.” Hence, it identifies the patron of the mosaic floor, a centurion and “brother” in the Lord. The wide use of kinship terminology in early Christianity is found throughout the New Testament, where the most common designation of fellow believers is “brethren.” The fact that the inscription is in Greek instead of Latin and that Gaianus uses his signum (nickname), Porphyrius, suggests he is writing privately and not in his capacity as a centurion. The inscription also identifies Brutius as the gifted artisan who crafted the beautiful, mosaic floor.

An ornate octagonal pattern on the east side of the 9.5 x 11-foot panel is also worth mentioning. A tuna and a bass are in a circle at the center of various geometric figures. The two fish are reminiscent of the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in all four Gospels (see Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:41, Luke 9:16, John 6:9). Fish on plates were common features of early Christian artistry. Also, the fish served as the first universal Christian symbol before the cross. That is, ICHTUS, the Greek word meaning “fish,” became an acronym for “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior” (Iesous Christos Theou Yius Soter).  

The Gaianus inscription and other archaeological evidence suggest that the third-century congregation at Legio included soldiers, high-ranking officers, other military personnel, members of their families and households, as well as people from the local community. Many shrines (lararia) dedicated to Greco-Roman deities have been identified at various Roman military barracks, but the one at Megiddo is the earliest exclusively Christian chapel. The subsequent growth of Christianity in Legio after the military camp was abandoned is indicated by the attendance of Bishop Paulus of Maximianopolis at the Council of Nicaea in 325. 

Thanks to the Megiddo Mosaic, Gaianus is the newest addition to the list of centurions in ancient Palestine who were Jesus followers. The term "centurion," a distinguished military commander over sixty to eighty soldiers, occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament. Of the numerous centurions mentioned, three are worth further consideration. The first is a Gentile benefactor of a Jewish synagogue in Capernaum, around thirty miles northeast of where the Megiddo Mosaic was found. He is the only person in the Gospels whose faith astonished Jesus, which prompted the Lord to prophesy concerning the Gentile mission before healing his sick servant (see Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10). Second, is the centurion standing at the cross. The Synoptics all report how Jesus's suffering so moved him that he not only declared Jesus's innocence but confessed, "Truly this man was God's Son!" (Mark 15:39 NRSV). Yet the most significant centurion in the New Testament is Cornelius of Caesarea, less than eighteen miles west of Legio. The conversion of the pious God-fearer and his household has long been labeled the "Gentile Pentecost." The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the first-century military community is what led the apostle Peter and the Jerusalem church to realize that salvation by faith in Christ is not merely for Jews but also for Gentiles (see Acts 10:1–11:18). Indeed, one striking feature of the Megiddo prayer hall is that the lack of any evidence of Jewish influence suggests the congregation was comprised of Gentile believers. Hence, Gaianus joins a rich tradition of Roman military officers who became prominent converts and patrons of early Christianity.  

The Women Inscription

The other two inscriptions are found in the panel on the southern end of the prayer hall, measuring nearly 60 sq ft. A 15 x 34-inch rectangle on the panel’s eastern side reads, “Remember Primilla and Cyriaca and Dorothea, and moreover also Chreste.” The text is appropriately named the Women Inscription since all four of these persons are women. Three are Greek names, while Primilla is Latin. The term “remember” indicates that it is not a prayer to God but an address to their fellow worshippers. It is reminiscent of the woman who anointed Jesus’s feet before his passion, concerning whom he promised, “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:9 NIV). Intriguingly, after nearly 1,800 years, the memory of these four women at Legio is now being commemorated worldwide. The prominence of women featured in early Christian architecture is also evident at Dura-Europos. As Michael Peppard explains, the dominant visual image of the baptistry is a fresco depicting five women, presumably those who visited the empty tomb, with the name of one woman, Hera, inscribed as a graffito on the wall.

The Akeptous Inscription

The primary cause of the crowds at the Museum of the Bible is a 26 x 31-inch rectangle on the western side of the southern panel. The brief text consists of six lines and reads, “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” There are several reasons why the Akeptous Inscription has garnered so much attention. First, the dedication of the podium at the center of the hall as a Eucharist table clearly identifies it as a Christian worship space. Like the four women, Akeptous also desires to be remembered through the Church’s act of remembering Christ’s body and blood (see Luke 22:19–20; 1 Corinthians 11:24–26). The patron identifies herself as “god-loving” (philotheos), which is similar to the designation of Luke’s patron, Theophilus (see Luke 1:3). Her “offering” is the communion table, which commemorates the offering of Christ’s supreme sacrifice (see Hebrews 9:23–10:18). The same word “table” is also used in 1 Cor 10:21 to refer to the Eucharist as the “table of the Lord” (see also Luke 22:21, 30). The central role of the Lord’s Supper is also evident in the architecture at Dura-Europos.

Another attraction of the Akeptous Inscription is that she is not only the fifth woman mentioned in the Mosaic but also a benefactor of the congregation at Legio. Hence, Akeptous is the newest addition to the list of female patrons in early Christianity. Many scholars have noted that Jesus’s practice of training female disciples was radical in contrast to other Jewish sages. In another article, I have explained how the significant status and leadership opportunities available for women were significant factors in the growth of early Christianity. The prominence of female disciples is most evident in Luke and Acts. The former names several women of wealth and status who were devoted followers of Christ, “helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8:3 NIV). The latter mentions numerous women who served as patrons in the early church, such as Tabitha (9:36–43), Damaris (17:34), and other “leading women … of high standing” (Acts 17:4, 12 NRSV). However, the most significant New Testament benefactress is undoubtedly Lydia of Thyatira. The successful businesswoman became the hostess of the Philippian house church and an early patron of Paul and his ministry team (see Acts 16:14–15, 40; Philippians 2:25–30; 4:2, 17). 

Other prominent female leaders are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, especially in Romans 16:1–7. Indeed, Paul’s most important letter was delivered by a female benefactor named Phoebe, who supported him and many others. He also mentions Priscilla, the church planter and teaching minister. Several studies, including Andrea Hartmann’s recent dissertation, have explored the identity and ministry of Junia, who was “among the apostles” even before Paul himself (Romans 16:7 NRSV). Thus, Akeptous follows a long tradition of phenomenal female Jesus followers who enjoyed a higher status than elsewhere available in society.

Of course, the most sensational element of the Akeptous Inscription is the designation of Jesus Christ as God. This definitively rebuts skeptics’ claims that Christ’s divinity was a later invention of the Council of Nicaea, such as popularized by The Da Vinci Code. Evidence for the widespread pre-Constantinian belief in the divinity of Christ continues to mount. Most recently, a silver amulet dating to 230–270 CE was discovered in the ancient Roman city of Nida (Frankfurt) and finally deciphered thanks to the latest tomography technology. Found on the neck of a 35–45-year-old man, the 1 3/8” amulet contains eighteen lines of Latin text. The silver scroll is causing quite a stir as it professes faith in “Jesus Christ, Son of God! The Lord of the world,” before whom “bend all knees: the heavenly ones, the earthly and the subterranean, and every tongue confess.” The allusion to the so-called Philippian Christ hymn (see Philippians 2:10–11) is, along with the Akeptous Inscription, archaeological proof of early Christian belief in the divinity of Christ. Furthermore, the Frankfurt Silver Inscription is the earliest evidence of pure Christianity north of the Alps in modern-day Germany.

Finally, the three words “God Jesus Christ” in the Akeptous inscription are each abbreviated by their first and last letters with a horizontal line above them. Accordingly, this inscription is not only among the earliest epigraphic evidence of Christian belief in Jesus's divinity but also the use of nomina sacra. That is, sacred or divine names such as God, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Son, and Spirit are frequently abbreviated in the earliest Christian manuscripts of the Bible, just as in the Akeptous Inscription. Intriguingly, among the Latin text of the Frankfurt Silver Inscription is the threefold use of the Greek letters chi and rho, an abbreviated form of the Greek word “Christ” (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ). This makes the amulet an early example of the Christogram, one of the most popular ancient Christian symbols. 

The Megiddo Mosaic is a must-see exhibit in Washington, DC. As the oldest Christian worship facility ever discovered in Israel, it offers fascinating insights into the character of early Christianity that are powerful lessons for the Church today. After nearly 1,700 years of silence, the floorplan reveals a congregation that was a strong Christian witness in a diverse society, where community leaders were celebrated, women were afforded status and opportunity, and Jesus was worshipped as the crucified and risen God.

John D. Doss is an adjunct professor at Asbury University and a Ph.D. student at Asbury Theological Seminary.