Archaeologists
in Israel have announced the discovery of a large 1,500-year-old pool and
elaborate fountain at the site of an ancient church near Jerusalem.
The
pool is part of a system of pools unearthed at Ein Hanniya Park between 2012
and 2016, officials said Wednesday. Built during the Byzantine era, the pools
date back to between the 4th and 6th centuries AD, according to the Israel
Antiquities Authority. Other artifacts found at the site include a rare silver
coin from the 4th century BC and an ancient capital, or part of a pillar.
Experts say that the capital is typical of royal structures from the First Temple period between 960 BC and 586 BC.
The
site’s large pool, in particular, is generating plenty of buzz. “The most
significant finding in the excavation is a large and impressive pool from the
Byzantine period,” explained Irina Zilberbod, excavation director for the
Israel Antiquities Authority. “This pool was built in the center of a spacious
complex at the foot of a church that once stood here. Roofed colonnades were
built around the pool that gave access to residential wings.”
There
are still, however, plenty of unanswered questions about the mysterious pool.
“It’s difficult to know what the pool was used for — whether for irrigation,
washing, landscaping or perhaps as part of baptismal ceremonies at the site,”
said Zilberbod. The pool’s water, she noted, drained through a network of
channels to a fountain.
The
fountain, a monument adorned with depictions of nymphs, is the first of its
kind in Israel, according to archaeologists.
Experts
worked to restore the ancient water systems, which are now functioning again.
Coins,
pottery and glass found at Ein Hanniya indicate that the location was a hive of
activity between the 4th and 6th centuries BC. The site has also been linked to
the New Testament account of an Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion to Christianity
by St. Philip the Evangelist. “We believe that some early Christian
commentators identified Ein Hanniya as the site where the Ethiopian eunuch was
baptized, as described in Acts 8:26–40,” Jerusalem district archaeologist Dr.
Yuval Baruch said in a statement. “The baptism of the eunuch by St. Philip was
one of the key events in the spread of Christianity. Therefore, identifying the
place where it occurred occupied scholars for many generations and became a
common motif in Christian art.”
Part
of the site, Baruch noted, is still owned by Christians and is a focus of
religious ceremonies by the Armenian Church (which owns the site) and the
Ethiopian Church.
Archaeologists
also think that, prior to the Byzantine era, Ein Hanniya may have been a royal
estate at the time of the First Temple, as evidenced by the capital discovery.
The
site is one of a number of amazing archaeological locations in Israel, many of
which shed light on early Christianity. Last year, for example, archaeologists uncovered a stunning 1,500-year-old Christian mosaic that
was once the floor of a church or monastery in the ancient coastal city of
Ashdod-Yam.
Also
in 2017, an ancient Greek inscription was found on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor near the Damascus
Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The inscription mentions the Byzantine
emperor Justinian, who ruled in the 6th century AD, and commemorates the
building’s founding by a priest called Constantine.
In
2015, a 1,500-year-old church was discovered at a Byzantine-era rest stop between Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem. In 2014, the remains of another church from the same period were
uncovered in southern Israel.
Experts
also believe they have found the lost Roman city of Julias, formerly the village
of Bethsaida, which was the home of Jesus’ apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip.
