A 1,400-year-old church featuring colorful mosaic floors has been discovered at Nitzana National Park in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University announced on Monday.

The remains mark the sixth church found at the site, which is also spelled “Nessana” and is located next to the border with Egypt.

In Byzantine times, the settlement served as an essential stopping place for pilgrims traveling from the Holy Land to Saint Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai, Prof. Yana Tchekhanovets of the BGU Department of Archaeology told The Times of Israel over the phone.

“We came to the site four years ago, and our main goal has been to present Nitzana as a key site for the study of the material culture related to early Christian pilgrimage, because, due to its location, Nitzana served as a logistic hub for crowds of pilgrims,” Tchekhanovets said.

“The site itself did not present any holy places or important relics, as far as we know, but it was the last stop before the desert road,” she added. “This way it became very vibrant, people stayed there for a while, and the residents started to build all these numerous churches.”

According to Tchekhanovets, the village had up to 2,000 residents, which could hardly explain the need for so many churches, without taking the pilgrims into account.

In previous seasons, the BGU team exposed a hostel for pilgrims that included a small church and a bathhouse decorated with marble and wall paintings.

Graffiti by pilgrims has also been uncovered in several places at Nitzana, including some referring to places as far away as Georgia and Armenia.

The mosaic-floor church was discovered during the latest excavation........

© The Times of Israel