Israeli archaeologists continue to uncover a Byzantine-era basilica, a large Ancient Roman building with multiple functions, in Israel's southern port city Ashdod.
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The mosaiced church, built in the fourth or fifth century Common Era, is acclaimed as one of the earliest and largest Christian basilicas found in Israel, according to Haaretz.
It is also one of the most unique, as it was recently discovered to be the site of mass burials including inscriptions dedicated to female ministers.
Such mass graves are typical of large disease outbreaks, Haaretz suggested, as experts hypothesize that they may have found rare evidence of a plague pandemic that swept through the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century CE.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
