Issues@Hand

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December 2019 – A colorful 1,500-year-old mosaic discovered in the remains of an ancient church in Israel is believed by some experts to depict Jesus’s miraculous feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 16:9). The mosaic, which features inscriptions and depictions of baskets containing loaves and fishes, was uncovered at the “Burnt Church” at Hippos in northern Israel. The church, built in the late fifth or sixth century A.D., was likely burned in the seventh century A.D.

A spokesperson for the University of Haifa, which is involved in the excavation, said “[T]he room was burnt down and collapsed on the floor of the church and covered it in a layer of ash, thus protecting it from being damaged over time.”

Michael Eisenberg, Ph.D., head of the Haifa University excavation team, said, “There can certainly be different explanations to the descriptions of loaves and fish in the mosaic, but you cannot ignore the similarity to the description in the New Testament.”

albawaba.com, 9/16/19; foxnews.com, 9/20/19