Archaeologists working in Jerusalem have discovered a 1500 year old road near the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. It is an intriguing discovery since it matches a road depicted on the Madaba Map, a Byzantine mosaic located in a church in Jordan. The discovery is important because it :
- “…is the oldest known cartographic representation of the Holy Land and at it’s center is a detailed depiction of Jerusalem in the 6th century C.E.. The mosaic has served as a guide to historians and archaeologists as to what Byzantine period Jerusalem may have looked like and depicts many landmarks that survive until this day including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Damascus Gate.”
RSM
Ancient History Ramblings 