The pursuit of a gang of grave robbers has led to the discovery of an ancient church outside Jerusalem that may contain the burial place of Zechariah, a biblical prophet.
The hill-top church was destroyed by an earthquake some 1,300 years ago and lay partly buried until detectives from Israel's Antiquities Authority, pursuing a gang of antiquity thieves, noticed an elaborate doorpost poking through the earth. The robbers got away -- they were caught a few months later at a site nearby -- but after weeks of digging, archaeologists uncovered the remains of the church. It was about the size of a basketball court and contained fallen marble pillars and a nearly pristine 10-meter-long mosaic floor. A team spends much of their time trying to catch thieves, spending nights lying in ambush or setting up stings for crooked antiquities dealers. The thieves often vandalize or destroy archaeological remains before a unit can catch them.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/02/grave-robber-chase-reveals-ancient-holy-land-church/
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