Videos by Georgios Deligiannakis
presented as keynote lecture at the International Conference Twilight of the Gods. Greek Cult Pla... more presented as keynote lecture at the International Conference Twilight of the Gods. Greek Cult Places & the Transition to Late Antiquity, Athens 15-16 October 2021 29 views
Books by Georgios Deligiannakis
The Dodecanese and the Eastern Aegean Islands in Late Antiquity, AD 300-700 is a regional study o... more The Dodecanese and the Eastern Aegean Islands in Late Antiquity, AD 300-700 is a regional study of the history, archaeology, and religious profile of the late antique Dodecanese (the islands of the south-eastern Aegean, centred on Rhodes), exploring how the spread of Christianity altered these communities and how the prosperity of the eastern Roman Empire, and the new capital in Constantinople, affected their life. Incorporating comparative evidence from the rest of the Aegean islands and both the Greek and Turkish mainlands, the volume analyses material from the whole area as part of a wider system of social and economic relations, political history, and culture.
Accompanied by an extensive archaeological gazetteer, it presents the administrative and political history of the islands and considers the written and archaeological evidence for the monotheistic communities of the eastern Aegean, offering a closer examination of the late history of pagan temples and the transition to Christianity. It discusses the settlement and economic history of the islands, focusing on the urban history of Rhodes and Kos, but also on the numerous key non-urban sites from the rest of the islands, in particular the extended ruins of a barely known site located in the small island of Saria, north of Karpathos. The final chapter addresses the seventh century – which saw the destruction of so much of what had been built up in the fourth to sixth centuries – when the islands’ societies acquired a new role for the State as naval outposts, functioning as a border zone in the course of the Arab-Byzantine wars.
Papers by Georgios Deligiannakis
The Twilight of the Gods in Greece: A Review and Synthesis of the Evidence in D. Grigoropoulos, V. Evangelidis & J. Wallensten (eds.), Twilight of the Gods: Greek Cult Places and the Transition to Late Antiquity. Skrifter utgivna av Svenska institutet i Athen, forthcoming
Vying bishops at Boeotian Thebes: The ‹Akkolos mosaic›, Chiron 55, 2025, 119-139 (forthcoming)
Welt und Umwelt der Bibel , 2025
Eschatological Laughter in a Christian Funerary Epigram from Late Antique Egypt, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 79 (2025) (w. Ph. Pilhofer), forthcoming
Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 2025
This paper restudies a late antique funerary epigram possibly from Egypt. The presence in this ep... more This paper restudies a late antique funerary epigram possibly from Egypt. The presence in this epigram of the verbs γελάω/γελόω and μειδιάω pertaining to the Christian martyrs and Jesus makes this text exceptional, something that previous scholars have not thus far recognized. It seems that neither a smiling Christ nor laughing martyrs are attested elsewhere in Christian epigraphy. Moreover, it is the only instance in Christian literature in which both Christ and the martyrs are described specifically as laughing or smiling when they meet, probably in heaven. By restudying this text and setting it in its historical context, our study sheds light on aspects of eschatological laughter in the Graeco-Roman world and late antique Christianity.
My paper takes the different interpretations of the mosaic of the House of Aion at Nea Paphos and... more My paper takes the different interpretations of the mosaic of the House of Aion at Nea Paphos and the Leda mosaic at Trier as case studies to examine the changing perceptions of what one may or may not call Late Antique 'pagan' art over half a century of scholarship.
The Leading Edge, 2024
We used ground-penetrating radar to detect and map artifacts related to an early Christian church... more We used ground-penetrating radar to detect and map artifacts related to an early Christian church located in the ancient city of Messene, Greece. Despite significant archaeological work in the area, archaeologists needed to know where to dig next to save time in the field. We identified areas that correlate with existing findings to guide future excavations.
This chapter addresses the parallel history of two large Mediterranean islands-Cyprus and Crete-w... more This chapter addresses the parallel history of two large Mediterranean islands-Cyprus and Crete-which experienced during Late Antiquity a series of social and cultural transformations that affected their regional identities. As far as Cyprus is concerned, the spotlight is focused on the 3rd and, more particularly, the 4th century AD, showing how Cyprus's position in the Graeco-Roman oikoumene resets in this period. An attempt will be made to show how Cyprus moved from the margins to the mainstream (and back again) and consequently how Cypriot identities were rebranded in the period from the end of the Ptolemaic period until the beginning of the so-called treaty centuries. During this time, Cyprus grew into a highly connected province that was able to import and export goods by sea, based largely on its own skills and manpower, at an unprecedented level. Imperviousness to war, local opulence, and expanding commerce but limited access to the imperial power, also characterised Cyprus throughout this period. The strenuous elimination of the island's pagan past and the concomitant spread of Christianity were the most important developments in Cypriot identity since the end of the ancient Cypriot kingdoms. The issue of Cretan regional identity is mainly addressed through evidence concerning its capital city, Gortyn. Still in the 4th century Crete was connected to Rome and Capua through patrimonial interests enjoyed in the island by high ranking Roman senators. Christianisation was another major transformation that affected Cretan society, a process opposed by part of the local ruling class. From the second half of the 5th century the church of Gortyn grew in importance, a growth reflected in an impressive season of ecclesiastical building in Gortyn itself and in other Cretan centres. The archbishoprics of Gortyn remained under the jurisdiction of the see of Thessalonica, whose primate was papal vicar in eastern Illyricum. Like Cyprus, throughout the period in question the economy of Crete grew within a highly developed network of maritime links with the whole Mediterranean, reaching important levels of wealth. Although not entirely overlapping-and indeed sometimes different-the socioeconomic and cultural
P. Themelis (Κριτική Εστία 5, [1994-1996], 269; SEG 45, 1266) published a short graffito that was... more P. Themelis (Κριτική Εστία 5, [1994-1996], 269; SEG 45, 1266) published a short graffito that was engraved on the door lintel connecting the rooms 23 and 26 of the so-called House 2 of Sector I of ancient Eleftherna. It reads Νείκην τῷ Κυρείῳ. It has been dated to the third or the early fourth century CE and it has been interpreted as a wish to the God by Christians, possibly related to the religious persecutions of the Roman State against them ca. 250 CE. The use of the terms κύριος and ν(ε)ίκη in Roman and Late Roman acclamations found in textual sources, in both religious and secular contexts, is here analysed; the author rejects the previous interpretations and argues that this graffito is an acclamatory wish for a victory and/or the well-being of the owner of the house. Based on Amm. Marc. 16.8.9, he, moreover, connects it with a contemporary ritual of the Roman house.
Thasos u. Nordägäische Inseln, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum Band XXXII (2023), 58-67
'Contextualising the tax tribute paid by Cypriots during the treaty centuries', P. Panayides, I. Jacobs (eds), Cyprus in the Long Late Antiquity: History and Archaeology Between the Sixth and the Eighth Centuries, Oxbow 2022, 47-54
In the first part of my paper and after a snapshot of the history of Cyprus from the fourth to th... more In the first part of my paper and after a snapshot of the history of Cyprus from the fourth to the seventh centuries, I revisit the question of the position of Cyprus in the Levant in Late Antiquity with special attention to the conditions created on the island after the Arab raids. This topic was tackled by two recent monographs, David Michael Metcalf’s Byzantine Cyprus 491–1191 (2009) and Luca Zavagno’s Cyprus Between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (ca. 600–800): An Island in Transition (2017). After looking at the main premises of these studies, the scene for discussion is set in order to explore my hypothesis that the aftermath of the Arab raids to the island marked an important rupture in the island’s late antique history. This hypothesis takes as its centrepiece the tribute that Cypriots had to pay
to the Caliphate and the Roman Empire from the late seventh century onwards and puts this piece of information into a comparative perspective.
Late Antique Athens, like Roman Athens before it, remained a prosperous university city, renowned... more Late Antique Athens, like Roman Athens before it, remained a prosperous university city, renowned for its rhetorical and philosophical schools and its antiquities. Justinian I shut down the Athenian Neoplatonic school in 529, which was by that time only intended for uncompromising pagans. The city shrank a great deal in the seventh century, but it remained an important regional centre and a pilgrimage site.
Η σημαντική έλλειψη αναφορών σε αρχαίες πηγές και αρχαιολογικό υλικό από τα μέσα περίπου του τρίτ... more Η σημαντική έλλειψη αναφορών σε αρχαίες πηγές και αρχαιολογικό υλικό από τα μέσα περίπου του τρίτου αιώνα και έπειτα δεν μας επιτρέπει να αποκτήσουμε μια σαφή εικόνα για την εξέλιξη των παραδοσιακών λατρειών στην Κύπρο την περίοδο αυτή. Εξίσου δύσκολο είναι να μελετήσουμε τις σχέσεις των διαφόρων θρησκετικών ομάδων μεταξύ τους, καθώς γνωρίζουμε ελάχιστα για τις χριστιανικές κοινότητες για τους πρώτους τρεις μεταχριστιανικούς αιώνες (Πράξεις 11.19-26· 13.1-13) αλλά και για την επιβίωση εβραϊκών πληθυσμών στο νησί μετά την αιματηρή καταστολή της εβραϊκής εξέγερσης στην Αλεξάνδρεια, την Ιερουσαλήμ και την Κύπρο τα έτη 115-17 μ.Χ. Ωστόσο είναι βέβαιο ότι η νίκη του αυτοκράτορα Κωνσταντίνου επί του Λικινίου το 324, η οποία τον κατέστησε μοναδικό κυρίαρχο της ελληνορωμαϊκής οικουμένης, και ιδιαίτερα η εύνοια του ίδιου και του γιού του αυτοκράτορα Κωνσταντίου B΄ (337-61) προς τις χριστιανικές κοινότητες της αυτοκρατορίας, με προεξέχουσες εκείνες των ανατολικών πόλεων της Ιερουσαλήμ, της Αντιόχειας και της Αλεξάνδρειας, υπήρξαν καθοριστικές για την εξάπλωση του χριστιανισμού στις ανατολικές επαρχίες συμπεριλαμβανομένης και της Κύπρου, η οποία υπαγόταν διοικητικά και εκκλησιαστικά στην Αντιόχεια, την οποία χρησιμοποιούσαν ως κύρια έδρα τους σχεδόν όλοι αυτοκράτορες του τέταρτου αιώνα μέχρι το 378. Παρακάτω παρουσιάζονται μια σειρά από ιστορικά στιγμιότυπα τα οποία αντανακλούν την φυσιογνωμία του ύστερου πολυθεϊσμού στην Κύπρο καθώς και τις σχέσεις των τελευταίων εθνικών με τους χριστιανούς κατά τον τέταρτο και πέμπτο αιώνα.
Σύμφωνα με τον σημαντικό Κύπριο φιλόλογο και λαογράφο Κ.Π. Χατζηιωάννου, οι τριήμερες εορτές του ... more Σύμφωνα με τον σημαντικό Κύπριο φιλόλογο και λαογράφο Κ.Π. Χατζηιωάννου, οι τριήμερες εορτές του Κατακλυσμού εορτάζονται την Κυριακή της Πεντηκοστής και περιλαμβάνουν το Σάββατο των Ψυχών και τη Δευτέρα του Αγίου Πνεύματος γνωστή στην Κύπρο ως Δευτέρα του Κατακλυσμού. Το Ψυχοσάββατο, που είναι αφιερωμένο στους νεκρούς, κάθε οικογένεια προσφέρει κατά τον εσπερινό της Παρασκευής πρόσφορο και κόλλυβα (κόλλυφα) στην εκκλησία για τους νεκρούς της οικογένειας. Επίσης, ότι οι χωρικοί απέχουν από τις εργασίες τους, ιδίως από την πλύση των ενδυμάτων, διότι θεωρούν ότι οι ψυχές των νεκρών περιπλανώνται επί της γης και μπορεί να πιούν τα ακάθαρτα νερά της πλύσεως, τα ποζούμια, τα οποία χύνονται στις αυλές των σπιτιών. Την Κυριακή της Πεντηκοστής («του Γονατιστού»), οικογένειες φέρνουν στην εκκλησία τους νέους καρπούς και το κρασί για να ευλογηθούν και στη συνέχεια μεταφέρονται και πάλι στα σπίτια. Από το βράδυ της Κυριακής γίνεται η προετοιμασία για την επόμενη μέρα, τη μεγάλη λαϊκή πανήγυρη του Κατακλυσμού, όπου άνθρωποι όλων των ηλικιών αλλά και θρησκειών επιδίδονται στο να καταβρέχουν ο ένας τον άλλο με νερό. Κατά χιλιάδες οι κάτοικοι συγκεντρώνονται στις παραθαλάσσιες πόλεις, ιδίως τη Λάρνακα και τη Λεμεσό. Ξεκινώντας από τη περιγραφή του Χατζηιωάννου, η οποία αποτυπώνεται το 1962, και σήμερα θεωρείται σημείο αναφοράς, η μελέτη αυτή σκοπεύει να εξετάσει λεπτομερώς τις πληροφορίες σχετικά με τα έθιμα του Κατακλυσμού και στη συνέχεια να στοιχειοθετήσει μια νέα υπόθεση εργασίας ως προς τις πιθανές απώτερες καταβολές τους. Θα υποστηρίξω επίσης ότι οι εορταστικές εκδηλώσεις του Κατακλυσμού από την πρώτη σωζόμενη μαρτυρία τους στα μέσα του 18ου αι. και μέχρι σήμερα, δεν παρέμειναν αναλλοίωτες, αλλά υπέστησαν αλλαγές όχι μόνο ως προς το περιεχόμενό τους, αλλά και τον τρόπο με τον οποίο γινόντουσαν αντιληπτές από τους λόγιους παρατηρητές τους.
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Videos by Georgios Deligiannakis
Books by Georgios Deligiannakis
Accompanied by an extensive archaeological gazetteer, it presents the administrative and political history of the islands and considers the written and archaeological evidence for the monotheistic communities of the eastern Aegean, offering a closer examination of the late history of pagan temples and the transition to Christianity. It discusses the settlement and economic history of the islands, focusing on the urban history of Rhodes and Kos, but also on the numerous key non-urban sites from the rest of the islands, in particular the extended ruins of a barely known site located in the small island of Saria, north of Karpathos. The final chapter addresses the seventh century – which saw the destruction of so much of what had been built up in the fourth to sixth centuries – when the islands’ societies acquired a new role for the State as naval outposts, functioning as a border zone in the course of the Arab-Byzantine wars.
Papers by Georgios Deligiannakis
to the Caliphate and the Roman Empire from the late seventh century onwards and puts this piece of information into a comparative perspective.