Earliest inscription declaring ‘Jesus is God’ discovered in Israel

It also contains images of fish, which experts say may refer to the story of Luke 9:16, where Jesus multiplied two fish to feed 5,000 people.

The CEO of the Museum of the Bible in Washington called the mosaic “the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, he said: “We are truly among the first to ever see this, to experience what was put together almost 2,000 years ago by a man called Brutius, the incredible craftsman who laid the floor here. ”

Other experts at the museum said this: “The most important archaeological discovery for understanding the early Christian church.”

Curator Alegre Savariego added: “The mosaic presents groundbreaking physical evidence of the practices and beliefs of early Christians, including the first archaeological example of the phrase: ‘God Jesus Christ.’

The Megiddo mosaic was first found in 2005 in the Jezreel Valley during the expansion of a maximum security prison. The valley is thought to be the location where the final battle of the Biblical Armageddon will take place.

The excavation, conducted by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority, lasted four years.

The mosaic bears the name of the Roman officer who commissioned it, which reads: ‘Gaianus, a Roman officer, who sought honor with his own money, made the mosaic.’