In the course of a seven-year-long project (2014-2021), all published architectural, archaeologic... more In the course of a seven-year-long project (2014-2021), all published architectural, archaeological, geographical, textual, and epigraphical data pertaining to early Christian churches (n=715) and monasteries (n=306) were collated in a comprehensive digital database. The objectives of the project and the structure of the database are described in detail, including an appendix outlining the templates of each section of the digital corpus (Appendix A). A designated section of the corpus is devoted to preconceived queries, which permit the generation of specific reports pertaining to geographical distribution, architectural components and members, index of terms mentioned in the inscriptions, and more. A Google search function covering the entire database is also available. At present, the database is undergoing the final stages of proofreading. When completed, it will be fully open to the public via the internet.
Exploration and excavation of ancient sites in recent years have brought to light a considerable ... more Exploration and excavation of ancient sites in recent years have brought to light a considerable number of remains attesting to Christian life in the Holy Land in the early Byzantine period. Not only have religious buildings-churches and monasteries-been uncovered, but also houses and farms once inhabited by Christians, tombs and cemeteries where Christian communities buried their dead. It is impracticable to give a complete survey of the new finds within the present framework. Therefore, I shall focus on one facet of the complex picture of Christian life in the region, which is becoming more and more evident in recent years: namely, the persistence of Christianity after the Muslim conquest and the change in the dominant culture and religion brought about by an Arab Muslim élite superseding the former Greek-speaking Christian leading class. Despite the shattering of the old order, the severance of the links with the centres of Roman-Byzantine culture, and the interruption of the flow of money and patronage from the Byzantine court and aristocracy, Christian life went on on both sides of the Jordan, not as an ebbing survival, but as the expression of a flourishing, self-assured and self-organized community. The exploration of churches and the study of the epigraphical production of the seventh and eighth centuries have made this picture abundantly clear as far as it concerns the Transjordanian region, but it was still a matter of speculation whether this can be truly affirmed also for the region west of the Jordan. Now evidence is accumulating in favour of this surmise. Even in the recent past, the discovery of ecclesiastical inscriptions dated by a creation era at Ramot and Beit Safafa, in the Jerusalem area, indicated that building was going on in religious foundations in the eighth century. The Ramot inscription (Fig. 1), dated June or July 762, attested to the erection of a church of St. George, possibly belonging to a monastery; 1 the Beit Safafa inscription commemorates the building of a chapel of the Holy Martyrs, apparently belonging to a private family or institution, above an earlier burial vault: there is some uncertainty as to which creation era is used, but the most likely interpretation gives us a date in June 701. 2
Liber annuus - Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 2003
The Greek dedication of a village to the Olympian gods in honour of Hadrian, allegedly found in t... more The Greek dedication of a village to the Olympian gods in honour of Hadrian, allegedly found in the vicinity of Kafr ed-Dik and published from a copy in Liber Annuus 1994 has now re-emerged. An examination of the stone permitted to restore the toponym as Kaparbanaia. The village is not identified, but a location in the area of Kafr ed-Dik seems now unlikely; rather, the spelling of the name may point to a location in southern Judaea.
The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date... more The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the fifth century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deaconesses. The third unexpected feature in the church inscriptions dated by an era year (five out of thirteen) is the chronological system consistently used in them all and confirmed by the accordance between the resulting CE year and the indiction. The epoch is 248/9 CE, the millennium of Rome, which was never employed for dating purposed, except as an anchor for the national era and the cosmic era of creation of the Georgians. As an hypothesis, we suggest that Georgian monks, disciples of Peter the Iberian, who frequented this part of the Palestinian coast, became acquainted with the chronological system revealed in this church (possibly adopted by Azotian Christians under Roman influence), chose it as a base for the elaboration of their national systems and later introduced these systems in Georgia, where they are documented only in the eighth century.
... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the sout... more ... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the southern border of the Sharon is contrary to Eusebius as well as Eshmunazer. What is now called Gush Dan was also part of the Sharon Plain. ... ANSON F. RAINEY TEL Aviv UNIVERSITY ...
... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the sout... more ... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the southern border of the Sharon is contrary to Eusebius as well as Eshmunazer. What is now called Gush Dan was also part of the Sharon Plain. ... ANSON F. RAINEY TEL Aviv UNIVERSITY ...
The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date... more The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the fifth century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deaconesses. The third unexpected feature in the church inscriptions dated by an era year (five out of thirteen) is the chronological system consistently used in them all and confirmed by the accordance between the resulting CE year and the indiction. The epoch is 248/9 CE, the millennium of Rome, which was never employed for dating purposed, except as an anchor for the national era and the cosmic era of creation of the Georgians. As an hypothesis, we suggest that Georgian monks, disciples of Peter the Iberian, who frequented this part of the Palestinian coast, became acquainted with the chronological system revealed in this church (possibly adopted by Azotian Christians under Roman influence), chose it as a base for the elaboration of their national systems and later introduced these systems in Georgia, where they are documented only in the eighth century.
Y. Porath, U. ‘Ad and ‘A. al-S. Sa‘id, The Nahal Tanninim Dam and Its Vicinity. Final Report of the 2000–2006 Excavation Seasons (IAA Reports 71), Jerusalem 2023, pp. 255–260
A limestone altar was discovered by the Hebrew University team in the 1987 season of excavations ... more A limestone altar was discovered by the Hebrew University team in the 1987 season of excavations at Beth Shean, among the ruins of a Roman basilica, which was in use from the first to the mid-fourth century CE and was probably destroyed in the earthquake of 363. The altar is hexagonal, 83 cm high, and with its crowning element, now missing, would have reached a height of about one meter. Its faces are decorated with masks of Dionysos, Pan and Silenus, on the front, and with dionysiac attributes-thirsos, syrinx and pedum-on the back. The altar was found in pieces, but its basis was still in situ, set in the stone pavement of the basilica in front of the apse. Several architectural changes were made in the building in the second century CE. One of them was the erection of a bema in the centre of the apse at the northeastern end of the basilica: it was apparently at that time that the altar was put in place. An inscription engraved under the mask of Dionysos dates the dedication of the altar to 141/2 CE.1 The inscription reads as follows:
In the course of a seven-year-long project (2014-2021), all published architectural, archaeologic... more In the course of a seven-year-long project (2014-2021), all published architectural, archaeological, geographical, textual, and epigraphical data pertaining to early Christian churches (n=715) and monasteries (n=306) were collated in a comprehensive digital database. The objectives of the project and the structure of the database are described in detail, including an appendix outlining the templates of each section of the digital corpus (Appendix A). A designated section of the corpus is devoted to preconceived queries, which permit the generation of specific reports pertaining to geographical distribution, architectural components and members, index of terms mentioned in the inscriptions, and more. A Google search function covering the entire database is also available. At present, the database is undergoing the final stages of proofreading. When completed, it will be fully open to the public via the internet.
Exploration and excavation of ancient sites in recent years have brought to light a considerable ... more Exploration and excavation of ancient sites in recent years have brought to light a considerable number of remains attesting to Christian life in the Holy Land in the early Byzantine period. Not only have religious buildings-churches and monasteries-been uncovered, but also houses and farms once inhabited by Christians, tombs and cemeteries where Christian communities buried their dead. It is impracticable to give a complete survey of the new finds within the present framework. Therefore, I shall focus on one facet of the complex picture of Christian life in the region, which is becoming more and more evident in recent years: namely, the persistence of Christianity after the Muslim conquest and the change in the dominant culture and religion brought about by an Arab Muslim élite superseding the former Greek-speaking Christian leading class. Despite the shattering of the old order, the severance of the links with the centres of Roman-Byzantine culture, and the interruption of the flow of money and patronage from the Byzantine court and aristocracy, Christian life went on on both sides of the Jordan, not as an ebbing survival, but as the expression of a flourishing, self-assured and self-organized community. The exploration of churches and the study of the epigraphical production of the seventh and eighth centuries have made this picture abundantly clear as far as it concerns the Transjordanian region, but it was still a matter of speculation whether this can be truly affirmed also for the region west of the Jordan. Now evidence is accumulating in favour of this surmise. Even in the recent past, the discovery of ecclesiastical inscriptions dated by a creation era at Ramot and Beit Safafa, in the Jerusalem area, indicated that building was going on in religious foundations in the eighth century. The Ramot inscription (Fig. 1), dated June or July 762, attested to the erection of a church of St. George, possibly belonging to a monastery; 1 the Beit Safafa inscription commemorates the building of a chapel of the Holy Martyrs, apparently belonging to a private family or institution, above an earlier burial vault: there is some uncertainty as to which creation era is used, but the most likely interpretation gives us a date in June 701. 2
Liber annuus - Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 2003
The Greek dedication of a village to the Olympian gods in honour of Hadrian, allegedly found in t... more The Greek dedication of a village to the Olympian gods in honour of Hadrian, allegedly found in the vicinity of Kafr ed-Dik and published from a copy in Liber Annuus 1994 has now re-emerged. An examination of the stone permitted to restore the toponym as Kaparbanaia. The village is not identified, but a location in the area of Kafr ed-Dik seems now unlikely; rather, the spelling of the name may point to a location in southern Judaea.
The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date... more The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the fifth century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deaconesses. The third unexpected feature in the church inscriptions dated by an era year (five out of thirteen) is the chronological system consistently used in them all and confirmed by the accordance between the resulting CE year and the indiction. The epoch is 248/9 CE, the millennium of Rome, which was never employed for dating purposed, except as an anchor for the national era and the cosmic era of creation of the Georgians. As an hypothesis, we suggest that Georgian monks, disciples of Peter the Iberian, who frequented this part of the Palestinian coast, became acquainted with the chronological system revealed in this church (possibly adopted by Azotian Christians under Roman influence), chose it as a base for the elaboration of their national systems and later introduced these systems in Georgia, where they are documented only in the eighth century.
... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the sout... more ... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the southern border of the Sharon is contrary to Eusebius as well as Eshmunazer. What is now called Gush Dan was also part of the Sharon Plain. ... ANSON F. RAINEY TEL Aviv UNIVERSITY ...
... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the sout... more ... The modern assumption that the Wadi el 'Auja (the so-called Yarkon of today) is the southern border of the Sharon is contrary to Eusebius as well as Eshmunazer. What is now called Gush Dan was also part of the Sharon Plain. ... ANSON F. RAINEY TEL Aviv UNIVERSITY ...
The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date... more The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the fifth century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deaconesses. The third unexpected feature in the church inscriptions dated by an era year (five out of thirteen) is the chronological system consistently used in them all and confirmed by the accordance between the resulting CE year and the indiction. The epoch is 248/9 CE, the millennium of Rome, which was never employed for dating purposed, except as an anchor for the national era and the cosmic era of creation of the Georgians. As an hypothesis, we suggest that Georgian monks, disciples of Peter the Iberian, who frequented this part of the Palestinian coast, became acquainted with the chronological system revealed in this church (possibly adopted by Azotian Christians under Roman influence), chose it as a base for the elaboration of their national systems and later introduced these systems in Georgia, where they are documented only in the eighth century.
Y. Porath, U. ‘Ad and ‘A. al-S. Sa‘id, The Nahal Tanninim Dam and Its Vicinity. Final Report of the 2000–2006 Excavation Seasons (IAA Reports 71), Jerusalem 2023, pp. 255–260
A limestone altar was discovered by the Hebrew University team in the 1987 season of excavations ... more A limestone altar was discovered by the Hebrew University team in the 1987 season of excavations at Beth Shean, among the ruins of a Roman basilica, which was in use from the first to the mid-fourth century CE and was probably destroyed in the earthquake of 363. The altar is hexagonal, 83 cm high, and with its crowning element, now missing, would have reached a height of about one meter. Its faces are decorated with masks of Dionysos, Pan and Silenus, on the front, and with dionysiac attributes-thirsos, syrinx and pedum-on the back. The altar was found in pieces, but its basis was still in situ, set in the stone pavement of the basilica in front of the apse. Several architectural changes were made in the building in the second century CE. One of them was the erection of a bema in the centre of the apse at the northeastern end of the basilica: it was apparently at that time that the altar was put in place. An inscription engraved under the mask of Dionysos dates the dedication of the altar to 141/2 CE.1 The inscription reads as follows:
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