The earliest inscription proclaiming Jesus as God – considered ‘the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls’ – was uncovered under the floor of an Israeli prison and is now on display in America.
The 1,800-year-old mosaic, discovered by an inmate of Megiddo prison, depicts the ancient Greek script: “The God-loving Akeptous offered the table in memory of God Jesus Christ.”
The 50 square meter mosaic decorated the world’s first prayer room in 230 AD, confirming this Christians believed from the very beginning that Jesus was the son of God.
The Megiddo mosaic also contained some of the earliest depictions of fish, which experts say refers to the story in Luke 9:16, when Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people.
The floor has been hidden beneath the prison since its discovery in 2005, but is now on loan to a museum in Washington, DC, until July 2025.
Carlos Campo, CEO of the museum, called the mosaic “the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls,” while his colleagues noted that it was “the most important archaeological discovery for understanding the early Christian church.”
“We are truly among the first people to ever see this, and experience what was put together almost 2,000 years ago by a man named Brutius, the incredible craftsman who laid the floor here,” Campo said at the opening of the exhibition.
The Megiddo mosaic (pictured) was unearthed during the expansion of a high-security prison in Israel. The mosaic had an inscription at the top (photo) that read: ‘The God-loving Akeptous offered the table in memory of God Jesus Christ’
The Megiddo Mosaic is currently on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC (photo until July 2025
Alegre Savariego, curator of the exhibition, said: ‘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 found in the Jezreel Valley, where Christians believe the final battle of the Biblical Armageddon in the Book of Revelation will take place.
The excavation, conducted by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), lasted four years restore the mosaic floor of 581 square meters.
The mosaic bore the name of the Roman officer who commissioned the tile during the Roman occupation of Judea.
Researchers suggested that this could prove that the Romans coexisted with Christians to some extent, despite the countless stories of war and slaughter at the time.
An inscription on the mosaic read: ‘Gaianus, a Roman officer, who had sought honor with his own money, created the mosaic.’
The team also found a nearby Roman camp, which provided further support for peace between the two groups.
The prayer hall or church was probably abandoned and covered because the Sixth Legion of the Roman Empire was transferred to Transjordan, a region east of the Jordan River.
The mosaic also included the names of five women, highlighting the important role of women in the church.
In addition to Akeptous, who was mentioned for her donation of a table to the prayer room, the mosaic’s inscription also says “remember Primilla and Cyriaca and Dorothea, and finally Chreste.”
Bobby Duke, director of the Museum of the Bible’s Scholars Initiative, said, “This may be one of the most important archaeological discoveries for understanding the early Christian church.”
The mosaic was discovered during the expansion of a maximum-security prison near the ancient city of Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in 2005.
The mosaic contained some of the earliest images of fish used to represent Christianity, echoing the story told in Luke 9:16 when Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people.
“For example, the mosaic underlines the crucial role of women in the early church by mentioning five women by name,” he continued.
“Truly, the mosaic presents a wealth of new data for church historians, as the Dead Sea Scrolls did for biblical scholars.”
The IAA said there is no information explaining why these women were mentioned, but it is highly unusual because God was not typically asked to commemorate individuals.
“Although they were clearly important to the community, the inscription does not tell us whether they were patrons of the community (like Akeptous), or martyrs, or were honored for some other reason,” according to the Museum of the Bible.
Following the major archaeological discovery, the IAA’s conservation department cleaned and stabilized the mosaic, grouted and re-laid any loose tiles, filled the voids with mortar, and reburied the mosaic while they conducted their investigation.
IAA had to separate the floor and place pieces into 11 crates shipped to the US earlier this year for the exhibition entitled: ‘The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of the Faith.’
“You couldn’t just lift the whole floor,” Duke said.
“So… they carved several pieces of the mosaic very intricately so that they didn’t destroy any of the artwork. So not all pieces were the same size.
“So even one of the crates that came into this gallery cost about a thousand pounds.”
The Megiddo mosaic will return to Israel after the exhibition and be put on permanent display at the exact place where it was discovered.
The Megiddo prisoners will be transferred to another prison upon their return from the mosaic.
The mosaic contained Greek inscriptions with the names of five women, emphasizing the importance of women in the church
In the year leading up to the mosaic’s move to the Museum of the Bible, the IAA was criticized for allowing an important piece of Christian history to be displayed at the museum.
Since its doors opened in 2017, the museum has been forced to return thousands of artifacts, including an ancient Mesopotamian tablet and thousands of clay scrolls looted from Iraq.
The company also had to admit that several fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls displayed in its collection were modern forgeries.
“While some of the museum’s founders and actions are questionable, and the museum clearly has a very ideological agenda, I don’t think a ‘purist’ agenda is very helpful here,” Prof. Aren Maeir, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University told Haaretz.com.
‘As long as everything is done according to the letter of the law, I don’t see a problem.’