The more recent discovery is at the castle in Urfa, known at times in the past as Edessa, and the reputed birthplace of Abraham. Dated to the years 460-495 it refers to both the military commander and to the local bishop, senior priest and deacon. Those latter might suggest it was the cathedral. The integration of civil and ecclesiastical authorities is an indicator of the establishment of the administrative structures of Byzantium.
The themes in the design suggest a sense of the harmony of the created order and of Scriptural revelation that accords with later writers in the patristic and medieval centuries.
As with the references to the ecclesiastical hierarchy of this specific community these all point to an established community of worshippers, standing in an established tradition which we would recognise today.
The second mosaic featured in the article was found a few years ago under the prison in Megiddo in Israel and is dated to 230. This specifically describes Jesus as God, and is apparently the first archaeological find to do so. The very elaborate design includes the names of members of the congregation - or maybe the ‘house church’ - of the building from which it survives. Like the Urfa floor it refers to a Roman officer, in this case specifically described as the man who commissioned it.
The online article is interesting reading, despite its somewhat melodramatic title, and can be seen at Mysterious ancient Christian mosaic reveals lost biblical secrets
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