Ancient Christian church reveals mysterious 1,600-year-old warning to nonbelievers: ‘Only the righteous’

Archaeologists in Turkey recently excavated the ruins of a millennia-old city, revealing a fifth-century Christian church with a message that hasn’t been seen in over 1,000 years.

The excavation took place at Olympus, an ancient Lycian port city in Turkey’s Antalya province, according to Anadolu Agency (AA), a state-run news outlet in Ankara.

The city has been excavated continuously since 2006, but during the recent season, archaeologists uncovered multiple mosaic floors, along with large storage jars called pithoi.

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Excavator Gokcen Kurtulus Oztaskin, an associate professor at Pamukkale University, told AA that the site “continues to surprise us with its mosaics.”

The professor noted that “in 2017, 2022 and 2023, we discovered richly decorated mosaic floors at the sites we worked on. This year, we uncovered and restored the floor mosaics of Church No. 1.”

Archaeologists in Turkey uncovered a fifth-century Christian church floor, seen above, inscribed with a message unseen for over 1,000 years. (Fatih Hepokur/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The most striking discovery was an inscription found at Church No. 1’s entrance. 

Oztaskin translated the message as: “Only those on the righteous path may enter here.”

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Olympus was abandoned by the 12th century — meaning the inscription has not been seen since.

The mosaics also featured vegetable motifs, a common artistic element of the era. 

The ancient city of Olympus, once a key Lycian port, has yielded new Christian-era mosaics and architectural finds. (Fatih Hepokur/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The names of benefactors were also visible on the mosaics, indicating that an affluent class once flourished in Olympus.

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Excavators also found a newly uncovered building that resembles a temple, though more work will be done to determine its age and function.

Olympus was in use for several centuries. It still bears some remnants of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture.

The ruins of Olympus include Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture, reflecting centuries of layered history. (Fatih Hepokur/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Archaeologists have uncovered multiple churches, a bridge and an entrance complex.

They also found the Bishop’s Palace, the Antimakhos sarcophagus and the Lycian Marcus Aurelius Archepolis Monumental Tomb.

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The discoveries come on the heels of several recent breakthroughs in early Christian archaeology.

“Olympus continues to surprise us with its mosaics,” said excavation lead Gokcen Kurtulus Oztaskin. (Fatih Hepokur/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Earlier this spring, an archaeologist uncovered an ancient Christian settlement in Jordan known as Tharais.

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Last year, historians unveiled the earliest-known evidence of Christianity north of the Alps, in the form of a silver inscription.