This reprint of Sukenik’s article “The Earliest Records of Christianity” is presented as the first volume of Gorgias Press’s Analecta Gorgiana series with a new introduction by George Anton Kiraz. This fully illustrated archaeological abstract is sure to be of interest to readers concerned with the archaeology of the area around Jerusalem, as well as those interested in early artifacts of Christianity.

The Beth Alpha synagogue mosaic is one of the most striking examples of ancient Jewish art ever uncovered. Excavated in 1929 by E. L. Sukenik on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this mosaic provoked an immediate sensation among scholars and lay people throughout Jewish Palestine, Europe and America. Located in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, this remarkable mosaic preserves images of the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), of a zodiac wheel flanked by personifications of the seasons that was labeled in Hebrew, and of a Torah shrine flanked by menorahs and lions.