The startling discovery was made at a site called Tel Rechesh, near to Mount Tabor in the Nahal Tavor Nature Reserve in lower Galilee, in a synagogue that dates back to 79 AD – the year when the Romans attacked Jerusalem.

The findings confirm that Jesus once preached sermons at the synagogue, according to Motti Aviam, a senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee.

He said: "This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages.”

Inscriptions found at the synagogue show that synagogues in the region were used for study of the Torah and meetings, rather than a place of worship, making it the perfect platform to Jesus to preach about his views on Judaism and how people should act.