Nag Hammadi Library, 3rd-4th century CE

In 1945 an Egyptian discovered a set of 13 books in an earthenware jar in upper Egypt. The book are made up of religious and hermetic texts, works of moral maxims, Apocryphal texts, and a rewriting of Plato’s Republic. In addition to the importance of the...

Madaba Map, 527-565 CE

The holy land, from Lebanon to the Nile Delta, and from the Mediterranean to the Jordanian desert, is depicted on the Madaba mosaic map, found in a sixth-century Byzantine church about 18 miles south of Amman, Jordan. The map covers about 33 square yards of the...

Coin of Helena, 324-5 CE

  Coin of Helena Fl[avia] Helena Augusta reads the legend on this coin minted in 324/5 C.E., just a year or two before Helena traveled to Palestine. The coin shows Helena in profile, wearing a diadem and a mantle. Of humble origins (Helena may have been an...

Hammat Gader Synagogue, 450 CE

Hammat Gader Synagogue 1 Hammat Gader Synagogue 2 Jews apparently settled in Hamat Gader even before it was conquered by Alexander Janneus, the Hasmonean king (103-76 B.C.). When Herod ascended the throne he established colonies of Jews on the Golan, and this...

Hagia Sophia, 532 CE

Hagia Sophia 1 Hagia Sophia Mosaic of the Imperial Door Hagia Sophia 2 Located in Istanbul, Turkey, the Hagia Sophia is considered to be the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was originally constructed as a church, beginning in 532, on the orders of the Emperor...