The ruins of a Christian church that is believed to be built as far back as the first century A.D. was found at a site in northern Syria where the Islamic State dumped their trash.
Members of the militant group were apparently unaware that the old gate on the dump site in the city of Manbij ran several feet into the ground, leading to an ancient tunnel system that might have served as a hideout for Christians during the Roman Empire.
The tunnels contained grooved shelves to offer light as well as escape routes with large stones that might have been used as hidden doors.
"I was so excited, I can't describe it. I was holding everything in my hands," Abdulwahab Sheko, who serves as the head of head of the Exploration Committee at the Ruins Council in Manbij, told Fox News.
The site was discovered by Sheko's team back in 2014 shortly before the ISIS invasion. He noted that he had been studying the neighborhood when ISIS took over and he managed to keep quiet about the discovery until the militants were driven out in 2016.
The archaeologists were only able to begin digging at the site in August last year because the area had been riddled with land mines.
Locals had reportedly led the team to another site that led into a cave with multiple rooms adorned with Christian symbols.
"We think this place after Christianity was no longer a secret anymore," Sheko noted, pointing to the symbols.
Other carvings show geometric designs consistent with the Roman era, and were believed to have been added at a time when the Christian faith has been accepted by the empire.
Christians have been forced to worship underground during the Roman Empire until the religion was decriminalized in 313 A.D. by Emperor Constantine.
Sheko, who recently gave a tour of the site to Fox News, noted that the second site also contained a "graveyard," that was most likely reserved for clergy. The tombs, which included an elevated "stone cushion" for the head, still contained human remains.
The team began the cleanout process for the second site in 2017 using digging tools and a forklift.
Sheko noted that there are still other sites that may contain potential ruins, but the buildings above them present some difficulties for the archaeologists.
He lamented that some of the precious artifacts that have been found by archaeologists are simply being left on the street outside of the nondescript Ruins Council office because there is "no museum to put it in."
