(Photo By: Yaniv Cohen)
By: Amanda Borschel-Dan - October 28, 2020
One of the earliest churches in Israel has been unearthed at the foot of breathtaking waterfalls in the scenic Banias Nature Reserve in Israel’s north. The rare circa 400 CE Byzantine church was build on top of a Roman-era temple to Pan, the Greek god from whom the park takes its name.
The 4th-5th century Christian builders adapted the Roman pagan temple to fit the needs of the relatively new religion, said University of Haifa Prof. Adi Erlich in a brief Hebrew-language video announcing the find.
Erlich hypothesizes that the church was built to commemorate Jesus’s significant interactions with Peter — who recognized his teacher as the Messiah — that are documented to have taken place in the area, called “Caesarea of Philip” during Jesus’ time.
Read More: Times of Israel