Remnants were 8th century church

Archaeologists in central Syria have unearthed the remnants of an 8th century church, an antiquities official has reported.

A Syrian-Polish archaeological team recently discovered the church in the ancient city of Palmyra, said Walid Assaad, head of the Palmyra Antiquities and Museums Department, on Thursday. He did not say specifically when the church was discovered or the precise date it was built.

He said the church was the fourth and largest discovered in Palmyra, an ancient trade center that is now an archaeological treasure trove.

The church’s base measures 51 by 30 yards, and archaeologists estimate that its columns stood 20 feet tall and that its wooden ceiling would have been about 50 feet high, Assaad said. A small amphitheater also was found in the church’s courtyard, where experts believe Christian rituals were practiced, Assaad said.

“In the northern and southern parts of the church, there are two rooms that are believed to have been used for baptisms, religious ceremonies, prayers and other rituals,” he said.

Ancient Palmyra, about 150 miles northeast of Damascus, was the center of an Arab servant state to the Roman Empire and thrived on caravan trade across the desert to Mesopotamia and Persia.

Under the 3rd century Syrian Queen Zenobia, the city rebelled against Roman rule and briefly carved out an independent desert Arab kingdom before being reconquered and razed by the Romans.