Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered intricate mosaics on the floor of a 1,500-year-old Byzantine church, including one that bears a Christogram surrounded by birds. The ruins were discovered during a salvage excavation ahead of a construction project in Aluma, a village about 50 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday (Jan. 22). Much of the church was revealed during excavations over the past month. The basilica was part of a local Byzantine settlement, but the archaeologists suspect it also served as a center of Christian worship for neighboring communities because it was next to the main road running between the ancient seaport city of Ashkelon in the west and Beit Guvrin and Jerusalem in the east. Remarkable finds The excavators plan to keep working on the site for another week, but one of the most remarkable finds so far was a mosaic containing a Christogram, or a type of monogram of the name of Jesus. At th...