Interesting find in northern Jordan!

Heard about this yesterday on Fox News Channel.

JERUSALEM: Archaeologists believe they have found the world's oldest church, dating from shortly after Christ's crucifixion. If tests confirm that it dates back to between AD33 and AD70, as the archaeologists claimed this week, it would make it the earliest known place of Christian worship by about 200 years.

A report in The Jordan Times on Tuesday said a very early underground church had been found beneath the ancient St Georgeous Church, which itself dates back to AD230, in Rihab, northern Jordan, near the Syrian border.

"We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from AD33 to 70," said the head of the Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies, Abdul Qader al-Husan.
"We have evidence to believe this church sheltered the early Christians - the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ."

A mosaic found in the church describes them as "the 70 beloved by God and Divine". Mr Husan said they were believed to have fled persecution in Jerusalem and founded churches in northern Jordan.

He cited historical sources that suggest they lived and practised religious rituals in the underground church and left it only after Christianity was embraced by Roman rulers in the fourth century.

There is no clear holder of the title of oldest Christian church: various sites claim the honour without definitive evidence.

The bishop deputy of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, Archimandrite Nektarios, described the Rihab discovery as an "important milestone for Christians all around the world".
Researchers recovered pottery dating back to between the third and seventh centuries, which they said suggested that those first Christians and their followers lived in the area until late Roman rule.

Inside the cave are several stone seats which are believed to have been for the clergy, and a circular shaped area, which is thought to be the apse.