Archaeologists uncover one of the world’s oldest churches: “Sensational testimony to early Christianity”
Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an Armenian church dating back almost 2,000 years, making it the oldest structure of its kind in the country and one of the oldest in the world. Germany’s University of Münster, which partnered with a team at the Armenian academy of Sciences on the archaeological dig, announced the discovery Friday and called it “a sensational testimony to early Christianity in Armenia.”
The joint team of archaeologists and researchers uncovered the building during excavations in Artaxata, once a thriving metropolis and commercial center, which for several centuries before and after the common era served as the capital of the ancient Armenian kingdom. Excavations were part of the larger Armenian-German Artaxata Project, an initiative started in 2018 to study the area.
Experts believe the church found recently in Artaxata was originally built in the 4th century A.D. That timing coincides with the construction of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, also in Armenia, which is considered the ancient kingdom’s first cathedral and is often regarded as the oldest cathedral in the world.
© Armenian-German Artaxata Project
“The building, which dates back to the 4th century, is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country — a sensational testimony to early Christianity in Armenia,” Achim Lichtenberger, a professor at the University of Münster who works on the archaeology project in Artaxata, said in a statement.
Emily Mae Czachor
Source: cbsnews.com