Byzantine graffiti in underground water facilities in the Galilee and Judean foothills

This article will discuss four graffiti from the Byzantine period that were incised during the construction of water systems. Two were incised into the plaster of water reservoirs that were adjacent to or part of Byzantine churches in the western Upper Galilee. The other two were found in the Judean Foothills - one on the doorpost of a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh) from the Second Temple period that was repurposed as a cistern in the Byzantine era; the other, carved into the wall of a deep well dug near a church or monastery. These graffiti include various Christian symbols. The symbolic and meaning of those graffiti will be discussed below. They evidently represent the inner feelings and beliefs of their Byzantine-period builders.