Early Christian Archaeology

Iona was a major European intellectual and artistic centre during the seventh to ninth centuries, with outstanding illustrated manuscripts, sculpture and religious writings produced there, despite its apparently peripheral location 'at the ends of the earth'. Recent theological discourse has emphasised the leading role of Iona, and particularly its ninth abbot, Adomnán, in developing the metaphor of the earthly monastery as a mirror of heavenly Jerusalem, allowing us to suggest a new appreciation of the innovative monastic layout at Iona and its influence on other monasteries in northern Britain. The authors contend that the unique paved roadway and the schematic layout of the early church, shrine chapel and free-standing crosses were intended to evoke Jerusalem, and that the journey to the sacred heart of the site mirrored a pilgrim's journey to the tomb of Christ. The key to this transformative understanding is Charles Thomas's 1956-63 campaign of excavations on Iona, which this article is publishing for the first time. These excavations were influential in the history of early Christian archaeology in Britain as they helped to form many of Thomas's ideas, later expressed in a series of influential books. They also revealed important new information on the layout and function of the monastic complex, and produced some unique metalwork and glass artefacts that considerably expand our knowledge of activities on the site. This article collates this new information with a re-assessment of the evidence from a large series of other excavations on Iona, and relates the results to recent explorations at other Insular monastic sites. Article is open access and available to download direct from the publisher: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581520000128

Throughout the history of research, the topic of persecution has been one of the more heavily debated issues within the study of 1 Peter. At the moment, however, a general agreement has been reached concerning the nature of the readers’ problems. According to the modern consensus, the persecutions were localized and sporadic hostility consisting of verbal abuse and discrimination (i.e., “unofficial” persecution). The present article will survey exactly how this consensus was reached, focusing particular attention on a key oversight which took place very early in the discussion. Our review will explore some of the significant effects which this omission has produced in the subsequent debate, while examining how a few of the most recent treatments have worked towards rectifying the situation.

This article aims to raise issues for discussion about the change in the use and concept of sacred landscapes, which were originally constructed in the era of the Cypriot kings (the basileis), but then continued to function in a new imperial environment, that of the rule of the Ptolemaic strategos and later of the Roman proconsul and the various Christian bishops. Our archaeological survey project in the Xeros river valley, titled 'Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus', reveals that these new politico-economic structures were also supported by the construction of symbolically charged sacred landscapes. Thus, while outlining the long history of the island as manifested from the diachronic study of Cypriot sacred landscapes, we identify three pivotal phases: first, the consolidation of the Cypriot polities and the establishment of a 'full' sacred landscape; second, the transition from segmented to unitary administration under the Ptolemaic and Roman imperial rule and the consolidation of a more 'unified sacred landscape'; and finally, the establishment of a number of Christian bishoprics on the island and the movement back to a 'full' sacred landscape. Moving beyond the discipline of Cypriot archaeology, this contribution aims to serve as a paradigm for the implications that the employment of the 'sacred landscapes' concept may have when addressing issues of socio-political and socioeconomic transformations. While it is very difficult to define or capture the concept of landscape in a pre-modern world, it offers a useful means by which to assess changing local conditions. We have also attempted to situate the term in archaeological thought, in order to allow the concept to become a more powerful investigative tool for approaching the past.

Riassunto. Lungo la via Aurelia Antica, a partire dall'epoca cristiana, si sviluppano alcuni nuclei catacombali, noti attraverso le fonti. Mentre due di essi-San Pancrazio e Calepodio-sono stati scoperti negli anni passati, altri due-quello dei due Felici e di Processo e Martiniano-non sono mai stati rinvenuti. Con il presente articolo si propone una lettura aggiornata della situazione, esaminando anche altre aree private che presentano caratteristiche storico-archeologiche interessanti, nello specifico la zona occupata dal Santuario di Schoenstatt, dalla proprietà CONSEA s.r.l. e dalla Fondazione Piccolomini. Quel che emerge è un quadro variegato, che si fonda sull'analisi di testi scientifici, ma anche su sopralluoghi effettuati e sull'esame di documentazione archivistica. La conoscenza del territorio si rivela, quindi, fondamentale per poter provare a ricostruire un contesto in parte rimasto forse inesplorato e in parte, purtroppo, distrutto nel corso dei secoli, modificato dalle stratificazioni urbanistiche. Parole chiave: via Aurelia Antica; topografia; catacombe; Processo e Martiniano; archeologia; acquedotto [en] Iuxta formam aquaeductus: those private properties placed at the border with the Traiano-Paolo aqueduct on the via Aurelia Antica

This paper presents the results of the 2015-2017 excavations at the site of Gird-i Bazar in the
Sulaymaniyah province of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq, where the Peshdar Plain
Project excavated a Sasanian cemetery installed on the older Iron Age structures of the Dinka
Settlement Complex. The characteristics of this cemetery are discussed in the framework of
other Sasanian period cemeteries excavated in both Iraq and Iran. The objects from Gird-i Bazar
cemetery are presented and compared to other similar items coming from graves and other
contexts of the Sasanian period. Particular focus is given to a stamp seal showing a woman
figure found in Grave 47, and the results of the radiocarbon analysis on a sample from the same
grave, which has provided a good chronological anchor for the cemetery and the stamp seal as
well. Finally, a discussion is offered as to the type of community who might have used the
cemetery and its possible religious affiliation in relation to the attested presence of Christian
communities in northern Mesopotamia during the Sasanian period

The Augustan Roman temple at Barcino has been a key element during the last 60 years in the research of the colony's urban development. Its peculiar elongated and narrow plan, first proposed in 1835, and its location at the highest point of the ancient city have dictated our understanding of the urban layout of Barcino by conditioning the shape of the city's forum and affecting the interpretation of the archaeological excavations carried out in the area since then. This paper proposes an alternative plan of the temple, based on data drawn from recent archaeological excavations, topographical analysis, typological comparisons, and the study of written sources. Our alternative hypothesis for the temple permits an in-depth reinterpretation of the plan of the forum and the evolution of the urban plan.

The article deals with the origins of the Russian Christian Archaeology namely with pilgrim notes of Vassiliy Barskiy. The author is reviewing Barskiy's text as one of the first scientific descriptions of the sacred places, wonder-working icons and holy places. His descriptions of sacred objects are structured, they include illustrations, information from written and verbal sources as well as critics of these sources. He makes conclusions about relevance of information and relics themselves. Based on this, the author believes Vassiliy Barskiy schould be recognized not only one of the sources of Russian scientific tradition, but the first Christian archaeologist.

The spread of mystery cults in Rome, between the 1st and 3rd century AD, involved that of Persian Mithras too, as shown by his temples.
The cult of Mithras was particularly attended by the soldiers who fought against Parthes. The Christian religion spread in the army as well. For example, according to Basilius of Cesarea (AD 370-379) and the other Christian writers, Forty Martyrs of Sebastia belonged to the Legio XII Fulminata, and had been persecuted by Licinius in 320 AD. Their relics arrived in Rome at the beginning of the 5th century, as well as many others which have been translated from Pannonia, Northern Africa and Holy Land.
The aim of this paper is to analyze differences and relationships between mithraea and martyrial sanctuaries, and to show the evolution of Persian cults from Roman Age to Christian era.

Background: The mathematical idea of Jesus Christ is ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y. Other mathematical ideas are the Cartesian coordinate system, n⁰ = 1 and ~, and n⁰ = 1 (X for the Lord ‘s day) and n ^n + 2 (Y for human’s day). Mathematically, it is scholarly that Christ came from heaven to earth and the dead people, and then came back to heaven through the earth. The gospel does not introduce a new Lord. There is no other Lord in Christianity, except Christ. The mathematical idea of - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1 is for Satan and the false prophet.
Objectives: To show mathematically that Jesus Christ is Lord and journey of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth and the world of the dead, then returned to heaven through this world. This journey is scholarly.
Methods: The n⁰ (X) and 10 ^2+n is mathematical ideas of days in God and human. The n⁰ = 1 and ~ in which -~≤ n ≤ ~ is for mathematical idea for one God. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y is mathematical idea for the spiritual journey of Jesus Christ. For the false prophet and Satan are - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1, and Cartesian coordinate systems were described.  Searched verses in the Bible manually and via the internet. Keywords included such as Christ, and the false prophet. 
Results: God in the Old Testament is the same as God in the New Testament. In mathematics, God is the same as one and ~. Mathematics can show who is God. Christ is the same as God. There is no other Christ. God became man in Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to humans. He went to the earth of the dead to preach the gospel 3 days, returned to the earth, and then to the heaven. This is the spiritual journey. Emmanuel is God with us.  A Christian could catch up into paradise as Paul’s vision. It was from the earth. It was not from heaven. It is different with Jesus Christ’s journey. Paul’s vision shows that the man catch up from the world to heaven, returned to the earth and died. He needed to wait the advent of Christ to rise up him from the death. Christ is eternal forever. The man in Paul’s vision still needs to be rise by Christ on the day of the Lord. The - ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y fills Quadrant 1, Quadrant 2, Quadrant 3, and Quadrant 4 in the Cartesian coordinate system. Mathematical idea of -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~ is first the evidence as spiritual journey of Jesus Christ as the Father, Son, and the Spirit. The Cartesian coordinate system is the second evidence of the journey. Another evidence in mathematical idea, the third evidence, of the Father, Son and the Spirit is n⁰ = 1, ~. For example, if n is 1, 2, 3, the result is 1⁰ = 2⁰ = 3⁰ = 1. It shows that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is one. The forth evidence is day in the Lord and day in human. Its mathematical idea is n⁰ = 1 (the Lord’s day) and n^n+2 (human’s day). Satan was from heaven and was thrown into the earth. It was not a spiritual journey. Satan, his angels and the false prophet have been thrown into the hell.  The mathematical model of the false prophet is - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.
Conclusions: Jesus Christ is the Lord and scholarly. There is only one Lord Jesus Christ. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y shows that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Ten mathematical ideas or evidences can demonstrate the relationship between God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit. This relationship also shows the Spiritual Journey of Jesus Christ. These include n⁰ = 1and~ , n0⁰ (X) and n^2+n, -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~, and the Cartesian coordinate systems. The false prophet has mathematic idea as - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.

HR, 23 000 Zadar Ministarstvo kulture Konzervatorski odjel u Zadru Ilije Smiljanića 3 jakov.vucic@hi.htnet.hr Jakov Vučić Ecclesia Naronitana / Prostor i granice UDK: 262.3 (497.5 Dalmacija) "652" Izvorni znanstveni rad Primljeno: 29. 4. 2005. Prihvaćeno: 3. 5. 2005. Narona, jedan od najznačajnijih antičkih gradova na istočnom Jadranu, postala je u kasnoj antici značajno biskupsko središte. Jedini pisani spomen naronitanske biskupije nalazi se u aktima salonitanskih crkvenih sabora iz godina 530. i 533. U literaturi su zastupljene različite ocjene autentičnosti tih akata. Autor rada pristaje uz prevladavajuće mišljenje da su akta, premda su prepisivanjem dijelom izmijenjena, ipak autentična. U ovom radu pokušavaju se na temelju ranijih administrativnih podjela, podataka iz akata salonitanskih crkvenih sabora i zemljopisnih značajki prostora omeđiti granice naronitanske biskupije. Prema pretpostavci autora ona se protezala na teritorij agera kolonije Narone s otocima Mljetom, Lastovom i Korčulom. Uz taj prostor unutar granica biskupije nalazilo se i Makarsko primorje, teritorij municipija Nove, područje oko Mostara i teritorij municipija Diluntum. Godine 533. osnivanjem novih biskupija Muccur i Sarsenterum, područje koje je obuhvaćala naronitanska biskupija značajno se smanjilo.

In this paper we examine the problem of compositional data from a different starting point. Chemical compositional data, as used in provenance studies on archaeological materials, will be approached from the measurement theory. The results will show, in a very intuitive way that chemical data can only be treated by using the approach developed for compositional data. It will be shown that compositional data analysis is a particular case in projective geometry, when the projective coordinates are in the positive orthant, and they have the properties of logarithmic interval metrics. Moreover, it will be shown that this approach can be extended to a very large number of applications, including shape analysis. This will be exemplified with a case study in architecture of Early Christian churches dated back to the 5 th-7 th centuries AD.

Studies of the Roman convivium have traditionally focused ont he literary, artistic, and architectural evidence of the event. As such, our understanding of Roman dining is biased toward an elite population that provides the bulk of such information. Missing from the discussion is a materials-based approach whereby the utensils of dining provide information on the mechanics of social meals. Here I present an analysis of 12 Roman table assemblages that identifies patterns of vessel groups to which I apply functional possibilities informed by literary and artistic evidence. The results of the analysis are contextualized using primary literary, artistic, and architectural evidence from which interpretations of dining behavior are offered. Two divergent traditions of dining are identified. One, which I call status dining, confirms the established model of Roman dining, which is centered on individual service so that status boundaries are maintained at the table. The other emphasizes group service through the use of shared vessels, introducing a new style of dining in the Roman world that I call convivial dining. The dining models are placed in their historical and social contexts, and an argument is made for the emergence of convivial dining as a response to a decreasing social identity among the Late Roman sub-elite after the third century and the growth of Christianity in the fourth century.

This work serves as a comprehensive and detailed socio-historical investigation into the nature of suffering in 1 Peter. While interpreters commonly portray the conflict situation addressed by the epistle as "unofficial" persecution consisting of discrimination and verbal abuse, the study demonstrates the inadequacy of this modern consensus by situating the letter against the backdrop of conflict management in first-century CE Asia Minor. Drawing on a wide range of historical evidence and on modern social-psychological perspectives, the book reconstructs the conflict situation of the Anatolian audience and offers important insights regarding the legal culpability of Christians following the Neronian persecution, the roles of local and provincial authorities in the judicial process, and the variegated conflict experiences of different socio-economic groups within the Christian communities.

It has been proposed that references to Jesus’ relationship to Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Philip represent a possible context for an early gospel fragment in which Jesus refers to her as ‘My wife’. It will be argued here that Mary’s relationship to Jesus in Philip is determined by her role as privileged recipient of revelation, not by her marital status. More significant in accounting for the Jesus’ Wife fragment is the Gospel of Thomas, which the author appears to have known in precisely the text-form represented by the one surviving Coptic exemplar.

Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 183 (juillet-septembre 2018), p Malgré la multiplication des études qui, au cours des dernières décennies, ont analysé le phénomène des reliques sous divers angles d'observation, un thème n'a curieusement pas encore été analysé, à l'exception de quelques mentions dans des contributions plus générales sur la céroplastie artistique et pieuse (Ballestriero, 2012) 1 : les corps saints en céroplastie, un type de reliques qui commence à être exécuté à Rome à la fin du xviii e siècle, plus précisément à partir du pontificat de Clément XIV, avant de se diffuser très rapidement en presque tous les points de la catholicité L'article qui suit présente les premiers résultats d'une enquête en cours sur le phénomène des corps saints en céroplastie 2 On s'y attache d'une part à repérer les lieux et modes de production de ce type d'artisanat et les dévotions qui y sont liées et, d'autre part, autant que le permet l'état actuel de la recherche, aux aspects économiques, officiels ou non, de leur diffusion et du profit commercial qui s'y attache Enfin, à partir d'un cas d'étude que l'on présentera plus en détail, on cherchera à comprendre ce que l'on conserve réellement des restes osseux à l'intérieur des majestueux reliquaires qui évoquent et représentent grandeur nature le moment culminant du trépas, c'est-à-dire la dimension pathétique du simulacre du martyre D'ordinaire et de façon impropre, les études, mêmes les plus récentes et les plus approfondies, se concentrent sur les « producteurs » des reliques des catacombes, en identifiant dans la hiérarchie ecclésiastique les créateurs et dispensateurs des restes osseux sacrés et antiques En réalité, après une première période, entre les dernières décennies du xvi e siècle et la première moitié du xvii e , au cours de laquelle la recherche des reliques puis leur distribution suivirent des

After the fall of the Meroe kingdom, three entities – Nobadia, Early Makuria, and Alwa (Alodia) – emerged in northeast Africa between the 4th and the 6th centuries AD. Richly furnished elite cemeteries with tombs of the Nobadian kings are known from Qustul and Ballaña in Lower Nubia (Emery and Kirwan 1938), but until now no royal tombs of Early Makuria have been identified. A comparative analysis of some recently excavated adornments and ornaments from the tumulus cemetery of el-Zuma in Upper Nubia have now enabled the Early Makuria royal tombs (AD 450–550) to be placed there. The assemblages from three large tumuli are dominated by personal adornments (beads, pendants, earrings, chains, crosses, and a ring), royal regalia (cabochons and settings), and other decorated items (metal sheets, an intarsia and ivory gaming pieces). Apart from beads of various materials, like marine mollusk shell, ostrich eggshell, faience and stone, which were made probably in local workshops, the remaining items were imports from the Mediterranean and Sri Lanka/South India (glass beads in the latter case). Moreover, many of the decorated objects and the techniques used to make them find parallels in the elite Nobadian cemeteries of Qustul and Ballaña, hinting at the royal origin of some of the Early Makuria tomb owners at el-Zuma. These parallels induce the thought that there was a single workshop in late antique Nubia producing artifacts for the elite.

Among the buildings discovered thanks to the archaeological project of the Tolmo de Minateda, we have to highlight a church of basilical plant with three naves and baptistry whose excavation is almost finished, and another building that will need some more time to be completely exposed. The set constitutes the main part of a monumental area in the city of Eio, most likely consisting of the basilica and a representative annexed building. It has been possible to document certain aspects related to the construction of the building, its architectural disposition, its decoration and the rites which took place there.

The towns and surrounding rural areas of the Eastern Roman Empire experienced a remarkable boom during Late Antiquity (late fourth to seventh century AD), which involved both extraordinary diversity from region to region but also continuities and parallel transformations in town size and monumentality. Early investment in church and fortification building on behalf of an ecclesiastical and secular/urban elite gave way to a gradual, progressive ‘Christianisation’ of townscapes in the late fifth and sixth centuries AD. This was a ‘global’ phenomenon, in that it began in many parts of the eastern Mediterranean world at more or less the same time, and this paper focuses on the example of central and southern Greece to discuss how this process relates to issues of urban diversity during this period. The article draws from a data set of excavated remains at Athens in Attica and Corinth in the Peloponnese, and from recent survey work in Tanagra in Boeotia.

Excavations in the North-West Church yielded numerous fragments of plain and painted wall plaster, which suggest that the entire interior of the church was plastered, and in large part, decorated with wall paintings. The majority of painted remains were discovered in the martyrion chapel and in the diakonikon. This paper describes the findings and addresses the following questions: to what extent was the church painted; what did the paintings represent; were these paintings aniconic; what are the characteristic features of the technique of execution of these paintings; do these paintings belong to a single phase
of decoration of the church?

A first summary of excavation results on an Early Byzantine hillfort settlement in Western Serbia, on the Jelica mountain (6th / beginning of 7th c.), in German. It was a paper read at the Int. Conference - 75 years of excavations in Caricin Grad (organized by prof. dr. Vladislav Popovic in 1987). A part of the results, like those from some of the churches, are still valuable. The Jelica-Gradina site is one of the most important Early Byzantine sites in the region (huge fortified settlement, several church remains, residences etc.)

Nel settembre l99l l'improvvisa sesnalazione di un laico della comunità salesiana di S. Callisto, sulla via Appia, portava al rinvenimento di una nuova basilica paleocristiana del tipo circiforme.' Era stata la crescita diversificata dell'erba medica, piantata su un terreno prospiciente la via Ardeatina, a circa 600 m dal bivio del < Qyo Vadis? > (tav. I), a tracciare sul campo, in modo inequivocabile, i contorni di una basilica a deambulatorio lunga 66 metri e larga 28 (fig. l); un saggio elfettuato il l0 settembre lungo quello che si evidenziava come muro perimetrale est della costruzione conlermava la presenza delle strutture sottostanti.' Una sesta basilica a deambulatorio veni'"'a così ad aggiungersi alle cinque già note dislocate nel suburbio romano (Ia Basilica Apostolorum (S. Sebastiano) sulla via Appia, quella dei SS. Pietro e Marcellino sulla Labicana, di S. Agnese sulla Nomentana, S. Lorenzo sulla Tiburtina e la c.d. Anonima della via Prenestina), basiliche tutte, come si sa, di carattere lunerario, tutte realizzate nel periodo compreso tra I'età costantiniana e la metà circa del IV secolo (fiS.2).'

This paper presents gazetteers of radiocarbon determinations and dendrochronological dates acquired by Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd in an effort to make this body of dating evidence more widely available. The dates range from the Early Mesolithic to the post-medieval period.

The chapter explores how emperors could exploit the symbolic potential of palace and city gates as highly visible locations for the display of programs in art, text and architecture, and tries to elucidate the reasons and impact of these images. It further looks at the growing martyr cult beyond the city gates, and specifically how the cults of Laurence and Stephen were related to imperial patronage, relic translations and ideology. The contribution also investigates the physical links between these saintly shrines, city gates and imperial residences.

The investigations carried on since 2014 in the oppidum of Silla del Papa have revealed the existence of a high mediaeval church associated with a habitat that is still little known. This modest-sized church has a rectangular nave measuring 10 x 6.50 m merging into a quadrangular apse of 3.50 x 4.90 m on the east side, with adjoining enclosures on the north and south sides, including a secondary apse. Both apses once contained an altar set on a cylindrical pillar with a loculus for relics. Sounding has revealed the presence of several tombs inside the nave. The church may have been founded as a euergetic work by Pymenius, Bishop of Asidonia, in the 7th century. The building continued to be occupied, for domestic use, after the Arab-Berber conquest.

Transformation in the settlement pattern and settlements themselves took place in 6th c. Northern Illyricum, leading to landscape
and environmental changes. Due to Barbarian invasions new locations on hilltop positions have been preferred, judging by the
actual state of investigation. This process is best shown by examples of new built cities, as it is the case with the Gradina site
on the Jelica mountain in modern Western Serbia. Dissimilarities compared to models from ancient Roman times and to other
contemporary towns like Carièin Grad are discussed.

As marble exportation from Proconnesian quarries and ergasteria in roman and byzantine periods was widespread in the entire Mediterranean
basin, the Adriatic coasts were affected too by a massive flow of marble either as raw material or completed sculpture. In the Marche region arrival
of materials from Marmara quarries dating from 2nd to 6th century was encouraged by imperial (Trajan Arch at Ancona) and high ecclesiastical (S.
Ciriaco) patronage, but in a broader perspective, the presence of Proconnesian marble depended on autonomous economic and trade relations that
Ancona and other Marche ports were able to entertain with the production centers of the Marmara, the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean Sea.