Palestine under Christian rule
In the eyes of the Romans, Palestine was a remote and relatively uncivilized province inhabited by a troublesome people with a peculiar ancestral religion and strange customs. For Christians, however, this is the Holy Land, the land of the Bible and the prophets. Here Jesus Christ was born, preached, died, and was resurrected. Therefore, Constantine's legalization of Christianity had an immediate and profound impact on Palestine. Almost overnight the country was transformed from an undeveloped backwater to one of the most important provinces in the Roman world. Thousands of pilgrims poured in to visit sites associated with Jesus and the Bible. The money they spent for food, lodging, transportation, guides, and souvenirs propelled the local economy. Beginning in the fourth century, hundreds of churches, monasteries, and hostels were built around the country, some funded by imperial patrons wishing to display their piety. The population increased to levels that remained unmatched until the twentieth century. Existing towns and cities, such as Jerusalem and Caesarea, expanded to their greatest size, and new settlements were established in marginal and previously uninhabited parts of the country, such as the Negev desert. Byzantine period remains are represented at nearly every excavated site in Palestine. In this chapter we survey just a few of the hundreds of Byzantine sites outside Jerusalem.
Bethlehem: The Church of the Nativity
According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which is three miles south of Jerusalem. Prior to the Byzantine period, Bethlehem was a small village, but under Christian rule it became a major pilgrimage center. In fact, the Church of the Nativity is one of only three churches built
16.1 Map of Byzantine Palestine. Ancient World Mapping Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Www. unc. edu/awmc).
By Constantine in Palestine (the others are the Church of the Eleona and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem). The Church of the Nativity is similar to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in that it consists of a basilica (hall of worship) together with a building enshrining a central focal point. Whereas in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher the tomb of Christ was enshrined within the circular, domed Rotunda, Constantine's Church of the Nativity had an octagonal building surrounding a cave or grotto venerated as the spot where Jesus was born.
16.2 Plan and section of the Constantinian Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. From E. T. Richmond, "Basilica of the Nativity, Discovery of the Remains of an Earlier Church," Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities of Palestine 5 (1936), p. 66 Fig. 1.
Like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Constantinian Church of the Nativity included a large basilica with four rows of columns dividing the interior into a nave flanked by four aisles (two on each side), which was entered through a courtyard (atrium). Three doorways in the west wall provided access from the courtyard into the basilica, which was paved with geometric mosaics. Like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the focal point of the Church of the Nativity (the grotto) was located at the end of the nave — that is, the direction of prayer. However, unlike the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in the Church of the Nativity the building enshrining the focal point was not separated from the basilica by a courtyard but lay at the end of the nave, replacing an apse.
In the sixth century, Justinian rebuilt the Church of the Nativity, which had been damaged during the Samaritan revolt. Justinian's basilica is longer than Constantine's (which was almost square), and had a narthex (porch) added between the courtyard and the entrance to the basilica. The biggest changes, however, were made to the structure enshrining the grotto. Instead of an octagonal building, the grotto was surrounded by three large apses in the shape of a cloverleaf, one apse on each side (east, north, and south), lying at the eastern end of the nave. Justinian also widened the nave, making the aisles narrower.
Unlike the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Nativity has not been damaged and reconstructed extensively since Justinian's time. Under the Crusaders in the twelfth century, the interior was redecorated with wall paintings and mosaics, only a few patches of which still survive. The wooden roof was replaced in the seventeenth century. However, the building itself (including the columns and capitals in the nave) is a product of Constantine's
16.3 Plan of the Justinianic Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. From E. T. Richmond, "Basilica of the Nativity, Discovery of the Remains of an Earlier Church," Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities of Palestine 5 (1936), p. 72 Fig. 1.
And Justinian's time. The church provides a good impression of the appearance of an early Christian basilica.
Beth Shean
The Decapolis, a league of the most Hellenized cities in Palestine, was formed after Rome's annexation of the Hasmonean kingdom. The Decapolis cities were concentrated in northeastern Palestine, outside the most heavily Judaized
16.4 Interior of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/ BibleLandPictures. com.
16.5 Colonnaded street at Beth Shean with the tel in the background.
Regions. Beth Shean is the only Decapolis city located inside Israel's pre-1967 borders (another Decapolis city, Hippos-Susita, is in a part of the Golan Heights that was taken by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War). The other Decapolis cities are in Jordan (see Gerasa, discussed later). Beth Shean was an important city throughout antiquity because of its strategic location at a major crossroads in the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys. Beth Shean is also blessed with an abundance of fresh-water springs (and proximity to the Jordan River), a warm climate, and, fertile agricultural land. Beth Shean was first settled in prehistoric times, and the Bronze and Iron Age tel (artificial mound) still dominates the site. In the Hellenistic period the city was refounded as Scythopolis (“city of the Scythians"), and occupation moved from the tel to the area below. Beth Shean's importance increased in 389 C. E., when it became the capital of one of the administrative provinces of Palestine (the province of Palaestina Secunda, or Second Palestine). The city reached its maximum size in the Byzantine period, when the fortification walls were extended to a length of some three miles. The population is estimated to have reached about 40,000 by the sixth century. Although much of the pagan population converted to Christianity during the Byzantine period, the city included sizeable Jewish and Samaritan communities.
Large-scale Israeli excavations conducted at Beth Shean since 1986 have brought to light the Roman and Byzantine civic center, which lies at the foot of the tel. The civic center was bisected by broad, paved, colonnaded streets lined by shops and surrounded by public monuments, temples, and (later) churches.
16.6 Tyche mosaic from Beth Shean. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.
The monuments include a fountain building, a Roman theater (with the banks of seats supported on stone-built vaults as at Caesarea, rather than on the natural slope of a hill), two large public bath houses, an odeion (small covered theater) or bouleterion (meeting hall for the city council), and a forum with a Roman-style basilica along one side. During the Roman period a temple to Zeus Akraios (the highest Zeus) was built on top of the tel; in the Byzantine period the temple was replaced by a round church and monastery. In 507, a new commercial center called “the Sigma" was added alongside one of the colonnaded streets. It consisted of shops and taverns built around a semicircular space (shaped like the Greek letter sigma [Sj; in this period the Greek sigma is shaped like a C, hence the semicircular shape), with a portico (a row of columns supporting a tiled roof creating a covered porch) in front. A dedicatory inscription informs us that the Sigma was built by the governor of Palaestina Secunda. Many of the shops in the Sigma were paved with mosaic floors, including one depicting the city goddess (Tyche). She wears a crown of city walls and holds in one hand a cornucopia (horn of plenty) that overflows with agricultural produce, symbolizing abundance and prosperity.
In the second century C. E., a hippodrome was established to the south of the city (originally outside the city walls). Two hundred years later, the hippodrome was shortened and converted into an amphitheater (an oval arena). By the end of the sixth century the amphitheater had ceased to function. Beth Shean continued to flourish after the Muslim conquest in the seventh century, but declined after devastating damage caused by the earthquake of 749.
The Byzantine (Early Christian) Period (313-640 C. E.) Gerasa (Jerash)
Gerasa (modern Jerash in Jordan) is another Decapolis city. Although there are earlier remains, like Beth Shean, Gerasa reached its greatest size and level of prosperity during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The area within the city walls was bisected by broad, colonnaded streets consisting of a main cardo and two main decumani. The Chrysorhoas River (usually a dry riverbed) runs through the middle of the city from north to south, to the east of the main cardo. The area east of the river was the residential quarter (largely covered by the modern town). It was divided into insulae (blocks) by a grid of streets that was oriented differently from the cardo and decumani, and may go back to the Hellenistic period. Bridges spanning the river connected the residential quarter with the rest of the city.
Public monuments and temples were laid out alongside the main cardo. A sanctuary of Artemis, the patron deity of Gerasa, was located in the center of the city on the western side of the main cardo. The temple sat in the middle of an enormous, raised temenos approached by a monumental staircase and series of gates. A temple dedicated to Zeus overlooked a large oval plaza just inside the south gate of the city (see Figure 13.6). The public entertainment arenas included two theaters (both inside the walls, one on the north and one on the south), and a hippodrome to the south of the city (outside the walls). A monumental, triplearched gate next to the hippodrome was erected to commemorate Hadrian's visit in 130 C. E.
During the fifth and sixth centuries, churches were built around Gerasa, eight of which have been discovered so far. One of the churches, dated by an inscription to 530—531, was constructed over a synagogue. The mosaic floor of the synagogue (which is covered by the church) included a scene depicting animals entering Noah's Ark and an inscription recording the names of three donors surrounding a menorah, lulav and ethrog, shofar, and incense shovel. Although scholars once believed that Gerasa declined during the early Islamic period, recent excavations have brought to light monumental remains including a large congregational mosque, which was installed in a Roman bath house (that went out of use), at the intersection of the main cardo and southern decumanus. Like Beth Shean, Gerasa declined in the wake of devastating damage caused by the earthquake of 749.
The Negev Towns
The population boom during the Byzantine period led to the establishment of settlements in previously marginal areas such as the Negev desert. After the Romans annexed the Nabataean kingdom in 106 C. E., they moved the caravan routes to the north, out of Nabataean control. The Nabataeans turned to other
Sources of livelihood, developing a sophisticated irrigation technology that enabled them to cultivate the desert. In the centuries following the Roman annexation, many of the former Nabataean trading posts became permanent settlements with an agricultural base (see Chapter 5). They included the Negev towns of Mampsis (Arabic Kurnub; Hebrew Mamshit), Elusa (Hebrew Halutza), Subeita (Hebrew Shivta), Oboda (Hebrew Avdat), Nessana (Hebrew Nitzana), and Ruheibeh (Hebrew Rehovot-in-the-Negev). These towns reached the height of their size and prosperity during the fifth to seventh centuries. By this time the Nabataeans had converted to Christianity, and churches were erected in all the towns. The desert around the towns was dotted with farmhouses that included agricultural fields and terraces, livestock pens, and agricultural installations such as wine presses and olive presses. During the Byzantine period, high-quality wine from the Negev was exported throughout the Mediterranean in torpedo-shaped ceramic jars called Gaza amphoras (so called because the wine was exported from the port at Gaza). Seminomadic pastoralists wandered the more marginal areas outside the settlements, herding sheep and goats and finding occasional employment in the towns and farms.
Mampsis, in the central Negev, is a small, compact town that had an economy based on trade rather than agriculture. The inhabitants lived in spacious, two-story-high houses built of ashlar masonry, with rooms surrounding an open, paved courtyard. Because of the shortage of wooden beams in the Negev, the rooms were roofed with stone slabs laid on top of closely spaced stone arches. One house contained a stable with stone troughs (mangers). A room in another house was decorated with colorful wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures including Leda and the swan, and Eros and Psyche. Nearby a bronze jar containing 10,500 Roman silver coins dating from the first to third centuries was discovered. The excavator speculated that the money belonged to a horse breeder who was hoarding his wealth.
During the fourth or fifth century, a fortification wall was built around Mampsis. Soon afterward, two churches were erected in the town: the Eastern Church and the Western Church. The churches have similar plans: an atrium (courtyard) with peristyle columns that created an open area surrounded by covered porches on all four sides, and a basilical hall with two rows of columns dividing the interior into a nave flanked by aisles. The nave terminated in a large apse, and there were small rooms at the ends of the aisles. The Western Church, which is the smaller of the two churches, was inserted into a preexisting residential quarter. The aisles were paved with stone but the nave was covered with a colorful mosaic that included octagonal medallions filled with birds and baskets of fruit. In front of the bema (the raised area in the apse), two peacocks (a common Christian motif alluding to Paradise) are depicted flanking an amphora with a vine. A donor named Nilus is commemorated in two inscriptions as having built the church.
16.7 Western Church (church of Nilus) at Mampsis.
The Eastern Church is located on the highest point in the town, and might have included a monastery. The floors of the aisles were paved with stone and the nave had a simple geometric mosaic. Reliquaries associated with a cult of saints and martyrs were discovered under the floors of the rooms at the ends of the aisles. In the corner of one of these rooms, a small grave containing a single bone was found, which was covered with a paving stone pierced by a hole through which oil could be poured. Presumably the bone belonged to someone venerated as a saint. Other burials were found below the floors of both side rooms. A chapel to one side of the basilica might have been used by catechumens. It opened onto a baptistery with a cruciform baptismal font (a cross-shaped pool) sunk into the floor and a small round basin or tub next to it. The font was surrounded by four small columns decorated with crosses on their capitals, which originally held a canopy. The font, which was accessed by going down steps inside the arms of the cross, was big enough to accommodate adults, a necessity among a population that was in the process of undergoing conversion to Christianity. Infants and small children could have been baptized in the small basin.
We do not know why Byzantine towns had multiple churches. Perhaps the churches had different functions (such as a cathedral versus a monastic church), perhaps they were used on different occasions, or perhaps they served different denominations with distinctive liturgies. Early Christianity was characterized by a diversity of theologies, dogmas, and practices, which were represented by different movements (many of which were condemned as heresies by their opponents). These differences caused deep — and sometimes violent — divisions among the Christian population, who disagreed on matters such as the nature of Christ and his birth (human or divine; one or more persons or natures), the status of the Virgin Mary (mother of God or not), and whether (and to what degree) Christians should observe Jewish practices and law.
In the early Islamic period, passersby inscribed Arabic invocations on the stone walls of the apse of the Eastern Church at Mampsis, which had ceased to be used as a church. Although many churches ceased to function as churches in the decades following the Muslim conquest, many of the Negev towns and farms flourished until the eighth and ninth centuries.
Desert Monasteries
During the Byzantine period, hundreds of monasteries populated by thousands of monks were established in the deserts of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. Many monastic communities formed when a holy man seeking solitude and an ascetic lifestyle attracted a following. Some monasteries were established in proximity to holy sites, such as the monastery of St. George (or monastery of Choziba) in Wadi Qelt near Jericho, where monks settled around a cave where they believed the prophet Elijah had been fed by ravens. The Jordan Valley and Judean Desert, and especially the area around Jericho, attracted a large number of monks because of the region's proximity to Jerusalem and the concentration of sites with biblical associations. A monastery was even established atop the mountain of Masada. There were also monastic communities in the remote mountains of the southern Sinai desert. An important book on the desert monasteries of Palestine and Egypt, published in 1966 by Derwas Chitty, was aptly titled The Desert a City — a reference to the density of monastic settlement.
Monastic communities were organized along different lines. The most basic type of monasticism consisted of an individual (called an anchorite) living in complete isolation and solitude, without any community. Another organizational model, called a laura (Greek for “lane," probably referring to the paths connecting the monastic cells to the church), was made up of individual hermits who lived in solitude in scattered cells or caves but congregated on weekends for communal prayer and worship. Some monastic communities were organized as a coenobium (pronounced coin-OH-bee-yum), which means “communal life" in Greek. A coenobium consisted of groups of monks who lived communally in an enclosed complex that included a church and/or chapel, living quarters (cells), a dining room, storerooms and cisterns, service quarters, and gardens or agricultural plots. Members of a coenobium worked, prayed, and dined together according to a fixed schedule.
The robust monastic movement and holy sites in the deserts of Palestine attracted many followers from other parts of the Mediterranean, including Asia Minor and Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy. Some of these immigrants became
The leaders of Palestinian desert monasteries. For example, Sabas, a native of Cappadocia in Asia Minor, settled in the Judean Desert at the age of 18. He soon attracted a following and founded a laura called “the Great Laura of Sabas." Sabas eventually initiated or participated in the establishment of nine other monasteries in the Judean Desert. The Great Laura (the monastery of Mar Saba), which dramatically overhangs the steep cliffs of the Kidron Valley midway between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, is one of only a few Byzantine monasteries in the Judean Desert that is still active today (another is the monastery of St. George in Wadi Qelt, mentioned earlier). The conversion of most of the population to Islam, combined with a lack of security, led to the decline and abandonment of most of the desert monasteries in the centuries following the Muslim conquest.
World History
