A Quick Bible Study Vol. 330: What Jesus Says About Death

The Deisis (or Deësis) mosaic of Jesus Christ in Hagia Sophia dates to A.D. 1261 and was unearthed and restored in the 1930s. Other Christian mosaics in Hagia Sophia date to the 9th century. There are none from earlier than that because of the period of Iconoclasm in the Eastern Church, which prohibited the placement or use of icons. Original construction of the Byzantine cathedral, which still stands today, was completed in A.D. 537.