During the Roman period a Jewish village, Roman army legion camp and Roman-Byzantine city were located in a small geographic area in the Legio region near Megiddo. The presence of population groups comprising different ethnic, cultural and religious characteristics that were situated in close proximity to each other make the site a center where extensive mutual influence occurred.
For the past two years archaeological excavations were conducted in the Megiddo Prison compound in the wake of development and with funding provided by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Prison Service. The “Hill of the Megiddo Police”, as the site is referred to, is situated on the slope of a spur south of Nahal Kini and has recently been identified as the location of Kfar ‘Othnai which is mentioned in historical sources of the Land of Israel, as well as other historical sources. Among the antiquities uncovered in the excavations were the remains of buildings and alleys, an oil press, stable, water cisterns, storage and cooking installations, ritual baths and a multitude of small finds. It was also determined that the site there existed from the Roman period until the latter part of the Byzantine period, with a few fragmentary and temporary remains that date to the Early Islamic period and later.
In the excavation that was conducted along the western fringes of the site in Area Q parts of residential buildings were exposed adjacent to alleys in the village. In the upper part of the excavation area a large residential building was revealed that dates according to the coins and pottery to the 3rd century CE, and was used for a short period of time. In the building were a number of rooms arranged around an inner courtyard. In the building’s western wing was a hall whose floor was paved with a mosaic adorned with geometric decorations, a medallion with fish, and three inscriptions in ancient Greek that were deciphered by Dr. Leah De Signi. The northern inscription says the mosaic was built with money donated by a Roman army officer. The second inscription faces east and memorializes four women. The third inscription faces west and commemorates another god-loving woman who dedicated a table to the memory of the Lord, Jesus Christos.

We have here archaeological evidence of an Early Christian community, whose members also included Roman army officers, from a period prior to the recognition of Christianity as a religion and years before it became the official religion of the empire. All these factors allow us to examine questions relating to the development of the Christian religion before the Emperor Constantine, as well as issues connected with the Roman army in the eastern part of the empire in general, and the Land of Israel in particular.