In what is today Jordan, during the 5th and 15th centuries, numerous Christian settlements were built. Most of these ancient cities have been lost, but archaeologists have discovered one of them through a very unusual method, as published by the media .
For almost 250 years, the former Jordan was part of the Byzantine Empire, which maintained a degree of religious tolerance, while building churches and large -scale Christian settlements. One of these settlements was the city of Tharais, known by ancient sources, but its exact location was lost for 1,500 years.
Archaeologists have now managed to find, based on an old map of a church, a settlement that provides important information about the first Christian communities.
The project has been led by Dr. Musallam R. Al-Rawahneh, professor of archeology at Mu’tah University, who has carried out extensive field research in northwest Jordan for four years. The advance occurred after a careful analysis of the oldest map that is preserved from the Holy Land, the Mosaic map of Madaba, preserved in the Greek Orthodox Church of San Jorge in Madaba, Jordan.
This led archaeologists to the exact location of the city, and the remains of a Byzantine basilica were among the first discoveries. “The location of Tharais on the map of Madaba and the discovery of the remains of the basilica suggest that it was not only a town but also a place of rest blessed for pilgrims,” Al-Rawahneh said to the Turkish media Turkey .
