By NIKKI MAIN SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Fifteenth-century Christian pilgrims left an ‘intriguing’ drawing on a port in Gaza as they traveled to other sites throughout Israel, archaeologists have revealed.
The sketches – thought to be about 1,500 years old – depict a two-masted ship with no sail but a small flag flying in the upper section.
Although the ship is an old symbol of Christianity, the archaeologists believe it is a true depiction of the boat the pilgrims journeyed on.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered etchings in an ancient Rahat church where archaeologists have conducted excavations since 2019.
It is thought that the Christians who traveled to the ‘Holy Land’ first stopped in Gaza on their way to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other monasteries in the Negav Hills.
Archaeologists found slabs of stone engraved with pictures of ships that appeared to be drawn by 15th Century Christian pilgrims Pictured: A two-masted ship with no sail but a small flag flying in the upper section
The discovery was made in the ancient Rehat Church located near the Negav Desert and adjacent to the main road that would have led the pilgrims to other religious sites
Archaeologists reported that the Church site where the drawings were discovered is adjacent to the ancient Roman road leading from the Gaza port along the Mediterranean coast to Beer Sheva, the main city of Negav.
This was the most likely route the pilgrims would have taken to reach Israel’s sacred sites, the IAA said in a Facebook post.
‘It is reasonable that their first stop after alighting from the ships in Gaza port was this very church revealed in our excavations south of Rahat,’ the team involved in the excavation said, adding: ‘This site lies only a half-days walk from the port.’
The church that housed the drawings dates back to the Byzantine era which was the start of the early Middle Ages, leading the researchers to believe the artwork was from that time period.
‘This is a greeting from Christian pilgrims arriving by ship to Gaza port,’ excavation directors Oren Shmueli, Dr. Elena Kogan-Zehavi and Dr. Noé David Michael said.
‘Pilgrims visited the church and left their personal mark in the form of ship drawings on its walls,’ the team continued.
‘The ship is indeed an old Christian symbol, but in this case— apparently, it is a true graphical depiction of real ships in which the pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land.’