Pilgrims’ first stop: 1,500-year-old Byzantine-era ship etchings found at Negev church
Site, just south of the Bedouin city of Rahat, was likely the first inland stop for Christian pilgrims touring the Holy Land after arriving by sea at Gaza
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
Excavations at a Byzantine-era church in the northern Negev desert have revealed 1,500-year-old wall etchings of ships, likely left by Christian pilgrims who had arrived by sea to the Holy Land.
The illustrations were discovered as part of ongoing archaeological work at the site, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a Thursday statement. The ancient church lies just south of the Bedouin city of Rahat, in an area earmarked for the development of new neighborhoods.
The ancient church lies “only a half-day’s walk” along a Roman road that led to Beersheba from the coastal port in Gaza, the IAA noted, explaining the etchings of ships in the desert.
The church and the Rahat area were likely the first stop for pilgrims after disembarking, before they traveled to Christian sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Negev or Sinai.
“Pilgrims visited the church and left their personal mark in the form of ship drawings on its walls. The ship is indeed an old Christian symbol, but apparently in this case it is a true graphical depiction of real ships in which the pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land,” the archaeologists said.
The recent work was conducted by IAA archaeologists Oren Shmueli, Dr. Elena Kogan-Zehavi and Dr. Noé David Michael, in conjunction with Prof. Deborah Cvikel of the University of Haifa’s Department of Maritime Civilizations.
One of the ship illustrations is a simple line drawing, with a slightly pointed bow and discernable oars on both sides, similar to some etched ship designs left by pilgrims in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre church, Cvikel noted.
“Another drawing depicts what is apparently a two-masted ship. The main mast has no sail, but seems to show a small flag in its upper section. The foremast is slightly raked towards the bow and bears a sail known as an artemon. The exacting detail indicates the artist’s familiarity with maritime life,” Cvikel said.
Similar ship etchings, thought to be 2,000 years old, were discovered several years ago on the walls of an ancient cistern in Beersheba.
The Rahat church ship illustrations, along with other archaeological finds from the area, will be on display at a special IAA conference at the Rahat Municipal Cultural Hall on Tuesday, June 4, an event open to the public.
