Archaeologists uncover one of the world’s oldest churches: “Stirring testimony to early Christianity”

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an Armenian church that was built nearly 2,000 years ago, making it the oldest building in the country and one of the oldest in the world. Germany’s University of Münster, which partnered with a team from the Armenian Academy of Sciences on the archaeological dig, announced the discovery on Friday and called it “an amazing proof of early Christianity in Armenia.”

A joint team of archaeologists and researchers uncovered this building during excavations in Artaxata, once a thriving city and commercial center, which for several centuries before and after the common era served as the capital of the ancient Armenian kingdom. The excavation was part of the larger Armenian-German Artaxata project, an initiative launched in 2018 to study the area.

Experts believe that the church recently found in Artaxata was first built in the 4th century AD That period coincides with the construction of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, also in Armenia, which is considered the first cathedral of the ancient kingdom and is often considered the oldest cathedral in the world.

“This building, which dates back to the 4th century, is the oldest archeologically documented church in the country – a stirring testimony of early Christianity in Armenia,” said Achim Lichtenberger, a professor at the University of Münster who works on the archaeological project in Artaxata. , the statement said.

Mkrtich Zardaryan of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, who also worked on the project, separately noted that the architecture of the church may help researchers understand something new about Armenian history. The church is octagon-shaped, with rectangular rooms from the four sides. It is the first octagonal church known to exist in Armenia, Zardaryan said, adding that churches with that shape usually come from the eastern Mediterranean and can date back to the 4th century.

The ancient church resembled the monumental buildings of the early Christians, according to the University of Münster. It measured about 100 feet in diameter and originally had a mud floor, built mostly of sand and cement, and walls made of thick slabs of terracotta – a ceramic material that was then produced in places like Greece and Italy.

Fragments of the original materials found at the ruins suggest that the church was richly decorated with terracotta, which may have come from the Mediterranean. Remains of wooden platforms found and clay helped researchers confirm the ancient origin of the building through carbon dating, the university said.