Byzantine-era marble pillar found in Ashdod

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Byzantine marble pillar discovered in Ashdod sand dunes during police patrol. The pillar may have belonged to a church that was located in the area (JUDITH SUDILOVSKY, Jerusalem Post).

Two policemen from the city of Ashdod on their routine patrol in the dunes of the city last week uncovered a piece of history: an impressive 1,500-year-old marble pillar was uncovered on the beach.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) estimates that the pillar is part of the remains of the Byzantine Church which was located in the area some 1,500 years ago.

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For more on the graves at Ashdod's basilica of the deaconesses, see here. For the Georgian church at Ashdod-Yam, whose date is similar to that of the pillar, see here. For more on the famous late-antique Madaba Map mosaic of the Holy Land, see here and links.

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