{"id":11901,"date":"2024-10-22T07:59:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T11:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=11901"},"modified":"2024-10-22T08:00:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T12:00:26","slug":"archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/10\/archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches.html","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists Uncover Remains of One of the Oldest Christian Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Armenian-German Artaxata Project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A joint group of researchers has unveiled the discovery of what could be one of the world\u2019s earliest Christian churches. A group of Armenian and German researchers from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the University of M\u00fcnster in Germany revealed finding a previously unknown Christian church in the city of Artaxata, near the city of Artashat in Armenia. There have been excavations in the area since 2018, but the church\u2019s remains had remained hidden until recently. A press release detailed the foundation to be an \u201coctagonal building with cruciform extensions.\u201d The building is described as being about 100 feet in diameter, with a floor of mortar and terracotta tiles.\u201d The team used \u201cgeophysical methods\u201d on the remains and determined that \u201cTypologically, the find corresponds to early Christian memorial buildings.\u201d Wooden platforms were discovered in cross-shaped sections of the building and radiocarbon dated to around the middle of the 4th century AD.<\/p>\n

Armenia and Artaxata in particular have an important position in ancient church history. According to tradition, Gregory the Illuminator, a native of Armenia, converted King Tiridates III to Christianity in Artaxata in 301 AD, making Armenia the world\u2019s first Chrisian state. \u201cThe 4th century building is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country \u2013 sensational evidence for early Christianity in Armenia,\u201d stated University of M\u00fcnster Professor Achim Lichtenberger. The church\u2019s octagonal shape is also unique, according to Mkrtich Zardaryan of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, who was also on the team. It is the first octagon-shaped church uncovered in Armenia, indicating an eastern Mediterranean influence. \u201cOctagonal churches were unknown here until now, but we are very familiar with them from the Eastern Mediterranean region, where they first appeared in the 4th century AD,\u201d said Dr. Zardaryan.<\/p>\n

Several of the clay remains as well as fragments of marble found at the site indicate a lavishly decorated church. The Christian influence of the church would catapult Armenia\u2019s position in the ancient world. According to the press release, \u201cThe medieval monastery of Khor Virap, just a stone\u2019s throw from the now-discovered church, is a reminder of this tradition. Artaxata served as the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, ruled by the Artaxiad and Arsacid dynasties.\u201d As a result, \u201cThe city developed into an important metropolis in the Hellenistic period and was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia for almost six centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A joint group of researchers has unveiled the discovery of what could be one of the world\u2019s earliest Christian churches. A group of Armenian and German researchers from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the University of M\u00fcnster in Germany revealed finding a previously unknown Christian church in the city of Artaxata, near…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":11889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archaeology","category-christian-news"],"yoast_head":"\nArchaeologists Uncover Remains of One of the Oldest Christian Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/10\/archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archaeologists Uncover Remains of One of the Oldest Christian Churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A joint group of researchers has unveiled the discovery of what could be one of the world\u2019s earliest Christian churches. A group of Armenian and German researchers from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the University of M\u00fcnster in Germany revealed finding a previously unknown Christian church in the city of Artaxata, near…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/10\/archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-22T11:59:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-22T12:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2024\/10\/oldest-christian-church_credit-Armenian-German-Artaxata-Project.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archaeologists Uncover Remains of One of the Oldest Christian Churches","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/10\/archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Archaeologists Uncover Remains of One of the Oldest Christian Churches","og_description":"A joint group of researchers has unveiled the discovery of what could be one of the world\u2019s earliest Christian churches. A group of Armenian and German researchers from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the University of M\u00fcnster in Germany revealed finding a previously unknown Christian church in the city of Artaxata, near…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/10\/archaeologists-uncover-remains-of-one-of-the-oldest-christian-churches.html","og_site_name":"Christ News Today","article_published_time":"2024-10-22T11:59:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-22T12:00:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2024\/10\/oldest-christian-church_credit-Armenian-German-Artaxata-Project.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia 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