A 1500-year-old slab of marble bearing Hebrew text has been discovered on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. A drop in the water level exposed the inscribed rock near a site where fragments from a Byzantine-era pier had earlier been found underwater. It is evidence that a Jewish or Christian community may have been located in that area around 500 AD. Some have tried to use the discovery to bolster the claim that this was the site of Jesus' "miracle of the swine," but this is unlikely, as that miracle was performed in a predominately Gentile area (they herded pigs!).
Off-site Links:
- http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israeli-archaeologists-find-Hebrew-inscriptions-on-ancient-slab-of-marble-near-Lake-Kinneret-437520
- http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4740314,00.html
- http://paleojudaica.blogspot.ca/2015_12_13_archive.html#1093485732876668487