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Seven lines in Greek, at the entrance to the nave of the church, revealed the name of the church (Holy Elias), the date the mosaic floor was completed (576 A.D.), and the names of the bishop and the abbot at the time the mosaic was created. Because Abbot Thomas is referred to as a monk both in this inscription and in a second one found at the site, archaeologists think the Holy Elias Church may have been a monastic church.