An ancient marble column was discovered by two police officers patrolling a beach in Ashdod, in southern Israel, on Tuesday, and archaeologists said the find could be a piece from a Byzantine-era church.
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The two officers serving in Ashdod's municipal police force alerted the Israel Antiquities Authority after the pair spotted the artifact in the sand.
IAA experts believe recent rains this winter season unearthed the pillar at the beach, which is located near the Ashdod-Yam archaeological site in the city's south.
Most of the area remains unexplored, although a number of historic finds have been discovered at the site.
The area, which has been under excavation since 2013, is home to the ancient ruins of a Byzantine-era basilica, and the said it IAA believes that the column could be a part of the church, the Times of Israel originally reported.
"It is not inconceivable that the column that was exposed belonged to an ancient church depicted on a map of Madaba," IAA archaeologist Avi Levy announced in a press release on the find, referring to a floor mosaic map, which depicts ancient Holy Land sites.
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The Madaba Map, which dates back to the sixth century, is the earliest such geographic floor mosaic in history.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
