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Photograph: Courtesy University of Haifa
In a recent post, I reported on the largest human-made cave in Israel which was discovered by Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal. According to published reports, the “cave may have served as a monastery and a hideout for persecuted Christians or the Roman army.”
National Geographic has published several photographs of the caves and its content. Among the items found in the cave, archaeologists discovered what could be a Zodiac sign dating to around the first century B.C. or the first century A.D., thirty-one Christian crosses, Roman letters, and what looks to be a Roman army pennant etched into the cave’s columns.
The above photograph shows one of the crosses found in the cave. The crosses may come from a time when Christians used the cave as a hiding place.
To see all the photos of the cave, visit the National Geographic web page.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Adam Zertal, Archaeology, Cross, Zodiac
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Had you not told me it was a Christian cross, I would've thought it was some other Roman symbol. It's a very unusual (to modern eyes) depiction of a cross.
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>The separation of Christianity from 2nd Temple Judaism certainly does not happen until after the 2nd century and probably not until the fourth century.Jamesian Christianity probably survives until well after this period in regions less integrated into the Roman Empire and probably morphs into Islam Linguistics, Islam and the Beatitudes.My blog entry Reading Abrahamic Scripture Together provides examples of the simultaneous use of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic texts to illuminate the scriptures of Abrahamic religions.
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>While I have no doubt some strain of what you call "Jamesian" Christianity continued to exist in Judea (although I'm not sure what distinguishes it from the rest of Christianity aside from its majority-Jewish composition), the notion that Christianity "morphs" into Islam is, in my opinion, baseless. Islam has different scriptures and different ideas about God than either Judaism or Christianity. Similarities are the result of Islam lifting those ideas from Jewish and Christian sources and cultural osmosis from their close proximity.
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>Jamesian Christianity viewed Jesus as Messiah but not God or son of God.Islam emphasizes piety towards God and righteousness toward fellow human beings just as Jesus did.2nd Temple Judaism had several distinct intellectual currents that had completely shattered by the end of the period from the destruction of the temple to the defeat of the Bar Kokhba rebellion.Constantinian Christianity crystallizes in the 4th century and probably bears the strongest resemblance to the elite Jerusalem form of 2nd Temple Judaism.Was the official form of the religion successfully imposed throughout the Roman Empire, the borderlands and outside?Probably not, and Islam probably preserves the religion of the ordinary Judeans among whom Jesus preached, and crystallizes in the 7th and 8th centuries as Byzantine power in the ME erodes.Rabbinic Judaism is a later development and crystallizes into its Medieval form in the 10th century thanks to the efforts of Saadyah Gaon and his colleagues.From the standpoint of approach toward sacred law, Islam clearly takes an intermediate position vis-a-vis medieval Christianity ad medieval Judaism.As I point out in the articles to which my previous comment pointed, there seems to be a critique and rejection of Talmudic interpretations in the Quran itself.In the 19th century scholars like Geiger assumed that the Islamic tradition was derivative, but such a belief was simply an expression of prejudice. Careful reading of the texts suggests parallel developments with the proto-Christian and proto-Islamic traditions relatively close to 1st century 2nd Temple Judaism while proto-Rabbinic and proto-Karaite Judaism represent later and more radical departures.
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>Joachim,It is interesting to present different views of Christianity and Islam's relationship with Christianity.The fact remains that Islam is a latecomer in the world of religion and that the Koran draws heavily both from the Hebrew Bible and from the New Testament.I doubt that Islam preserves the religion of the Judeans who lived in the days of Christ. This has been the teachings of Palestinians who desire to claim that they are the true preservers of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud.Claude Mariottini
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>Medieval Rabbinic (and Karaite) Judaism are the late-comers. Rabbinic Judaism founded in the Talmud is so different from 2nd Temple Judaism that it is hard to identify continuity. Without the Babylonian Talmud there is no Rabbinic Judaism.The Babylonian Talmud did not reach its final form until around 700 CE after Muhammad's death and the standardization of the Quran circa 650 CE.Of the religions descendant from 2nd Temple Judaism Constantinian Christianity crystallizes first. While Harvard Professor Shaye Cohen argues that Jewishness develops as a reaction, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the early history of Rabbinic Judaism is more intertwined with the formulation of Islam than with Christianity. (Cohen does not read Arabic or Syriac as far as I know.)I place the birth order of the modern religions descended from 2nd Temple Judaism as Christianity, Islam and then Medieval Rabbinic (and Karaite) Judaism.It is fairly easy to show that the Quran incorporates materials going back to the 1st century CE and that idiomatically the Quranic Arabic text has much in common with 1st and 2nd century Aramaic.In general I recommend reading Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic scripture together in order to avoid missing important connections and internal discussion. Here is an example: Golems, Creation, Midrash, the Quran.
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