In 2004, anticipating a prison expansion at the Megiddo prison, officials discovered the remains of a mosaic from a 3rd century church. Expansion efforts stopped as archaeologists began the protracted process of uncovering the ancient floor. Extended excavations have uncovered three Greek inscriptions, including one that reads, “to the God Jesus Christ.” When the discovery was first made the Antiquities Authority was excited about the possibilities it might hold and then realized it is within the walls of a maximum-security prison and likely never would be fully exposed. However, time has altered this concern.
The mosaic floor sits in an ancient Jewish village that was located next to a Roman army legion camp and a Roman-Byzantine city. The Israel Antiquities Authority describes it as “archaeological evidence of an Early Christian community, whose members included Roman army officers, from a period prior to the recognition of Christian as a religion and years before it became the official religion of the empire…All these factors allow us to examine questions relating to the development of the Christian religion before the Emperor Constantine as well as issues connected with the Roman army in the eastern part of the empire in general and the Land of Israel in particular.”
“This structure is interpreted as the oldest Christian prayer house in the world” and deemed so historically significant that extraordinary efforts are being undertaken to make sure it is protected and available to be studied and viewed by future visitors. Therefore, on March 28, 2022, Israeli officials from the Megiddo Regional Council and the Israel Prison Service announced they would move the entire prison to another location, hopefully by mid-summer. This unusual action provides evidence of the importance of this discovery.
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-702887