ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered an ancient church in the first ever Christian country – built a mere 350 years after Jesus walked the Earth.
Experts discovered the fourth-century church in Armenia – and is considered the country’s oldest ever found.
Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest known Christian church in Armenia[/caption]
The Khor Virap monastery located at the foot of Mount Ararat[/caption]
Experts discovered the fourth-century church and is considered the country’s oldest ever found[/caption]
Armenia is believed to be the first Christian state in the world[/caption]
Armenia is believed to be the first Christian state in the world after King Tiridates III converted to Christianity.
The ancient church is bizarrely octagonal, measuring nearly a whopping 100ft in diameter – crafted from a mortar floor laid with terracotta tiles.
On the incredible site, archaeologists found significant amounts of marble that’s believed to have been imported from the Mediterranean.
The import of the ultra-valuable material suggests the church was once extravagantly decorated for visitors and held incredible significance.
Archaeologist at National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Mkrtich Zardaryan explained how octagonal churches were “unknown” in the country “until now”.
He said: “We are very familiar with them from the Eastern Mediterranean region, where they first appeared in the 4th-century C.E.”
The octagon became a key symbol in early Christianity as a representation of Jesus’s eighth day – his resurrection.
Octagon’s were commonly used for early baptisteries and shrines for martyrs.
The Armenian-German research team has been excavating in the Artaxata area for around six years.
It’s a site where founder of the Armenian Apostolic Chutch Gregory the Illuminator is said to have converted the Armenian king Tiridates III to Christianity in 301 C.E.
The excavation project look to continue their work into next year to reveal more of the church’s history.
It comes as an ancient 4,000-year-old tomb with mysterious wooden statues was unearthed in Egypt.
The fascinating discovery revealed a chamber with two wooden coffins one placed inside the other – and both had painted texts describing the journey to the afterlife.
The mysterious tomb was made at the Nile River in Upper Egypt’s Western Assiut Mountain by a team of researchers.
The tomb which dates back to the 12th Dynasty, belonged to Edi, the daughter of Jifai-Hapi, the governor of Assuit during the reign of King Senusret I of the 12th dynasty between 1991 and 1778 BC.
Mohamed Ismail, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said: “Preliminary studies suggest that Edi died before reaching the age of 40 and suffered from a congenital foot defect.”
The tomb also included smashed jars and wooden statues and the mummy was dismembered.
Ismail pointed out the chamber had been looted in antiquity.
The team of archaeologists will continue excavations inside the tomb to find out more about the governor and his daughter and more details about the historical era they lived in.
The excavation project looks to continue their work into next year to reveal more of the church’s history[/caption]
