Sorta

Quote :

"Archaeologists in Jordan have discovered a cave underneath one of the world's oldest churches and say it may have been an even more ancient site of Christian worship. .... Thomas Parker, a historian at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, who led the team that discovered the church in Aqaba, said that while he hadn't seen the Rihab site, any such claim should be taken with a degree of caution. "An extraordinary claim like this requires extraordinary evidence," he said. "We need to see the artifacts and dating evidence to suggest such an occupation in the 1st century A.D." Parker asked how archeologists could be certain whether the "cave was actually a center of Christian worship." The archaeologist also noted that mosaics are difficult to date unless there is a precise date in the text of the mosaic inscriptions themselves and typical mosaic inscriptions with Christian themes are from the 5th to 6th century. "It's quite possible that there was a cave with earlier occupation which was later converted to Christian use. But to make the jump that this was actually used by Christians fleeing Jerusalem in the 1st century A.D. seems like a stretch to me," Parker said. "

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/11/jordan-cave-church.html

More like Professor Buzz-kill! Am I right!!???

But seriously, I thought this was pretty cool. It made be proud to have majored in History at NCSU for one semester!

[Edited on June 22, 2008 at 6:39 PM. Reason : ``]

6/22/2008 6:38:49 PM

YAY!

6/22/2008 6:39:54 PM

Tom Parker is one of the coolest dudes you would ever meet.
He's been digging in Jordan since the early seventies.

boogaloo

6/22/2008 6:42:14 PM

Crap. I misread the article. Parker actually was working on unearthing another church in Jordan 10 years ago.

Quote :

"The cave is under St. Georgeous Church, built in A.D. 230, making it one of the oldest churches in the world, along with one unearthed in the Jordanian southern port of Aqaba in 1998 and another in Israel discovered in 2005."

N/M [Old]

6/22/2008 6:43:57 PM

if you have a class with him he'll bring it up at least once

i liked the guy

[Edited on June 22, 2008 at 6:50 PM. Reason : he takes student volunteers on his digs]

6/22/2008 6:49:45 PM

whats he doing there, is he off for the summer?

6/22/2008 7:04:10 PM

dr parker is always all over the world

6/22/2008 7:08:11 PM

AQUABAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6/22/2008 7:13:05 PM

Remember how he'd pass that plate around and make us caress the surface against our cheeks to "fully appreciate" it?

6/22/2008 7:18:58 PM

dude. Students could volunteer on his digs? Now I'm really sad I didn't stick with history a little longer.

6/22/2008 7:25:27 PM

Here's the old press release on Parker's actual dig.
http://www.ncsu.edu/news/press_releases/02_10/291.htm

Still pretty bad ass

6/22/2008 7:26:57 PM

^^ Yeah, I would have but it was too expensive for me at the time.

[Edited on June 22, 2008 at 7:27 PM. Reason : I just helped out in his little factory he has going on brushing dirt off artifacts and labeling.]

6/22/2008 7:27:34 PM