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AMERICAN SCHOOLS
OF
ORIENTAL RESEARCH
SUITE354,BALTIMORE, MD21211(301)889-1383 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE, ASOR,711WEST40THSTREET,
P.KyleMcCarter,Jr.,President Eric M. Meyers,First Vice Presidentfor Publications WalterE. Rast, Second Vice Presidentfor Archaeological Policy GeorgeM. Landes,Secretary Kevin G. O'Connell,Assistant Secretary Holden Gibbs, Treasurer Gough W Thompson, Jr.,Chairmanof the Boardof Trustees Norma Kershaw,Directorof Tours Susan FosterKromholz,Executive Director Pamela R. Collins, Administrative Director Jill O. Morris,Administrative Assistant
W.E AlbrightInstitute of ArchaeologicalResearch(AIAR). P. O. Box 19096, 91 190 Jerusalem,Israel. SeymourGitin, Director JosephA. Callaway,President JoyUngerleider-Mayerson,First Vice President Carol Meyers,Second Vice President Kevin G. O'Connell, Secretary-Treasurer
ASOR Newsletter; P.Kyle McCarter,Jr., Editor Biblical Archaeologist;EricM. Meyers, Editor Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research;WalterE. Rast, Editor Journalof Cuneiform Studies;Erle Leichty,Editor
American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR). P. O. Box 2470, JebelAmman, Amman, Jordan. Bert DeVries,Director RobertCoughenour,President LawrenceT. Geraty,Vice President MarjorieCooke, Secretary Anne Ogilvy, Treasurer
BaghdadCommittee for the Baghdad School. JerroldS. Cooper, Chairman Near EasternStudies, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,MD 21218.
Biblical
S0 OF 00 Q
n 7
cog
CyprusAmerican Archaeological ResearchInstitute (CAARI). 41 KingPaul Street, Nicosia, Cyprus. Stuart Swiny,Director Charles U. Harris,President LydieShufro,Vice President Ellen Herscher,Secretary AndrewOliver, Jr.,Treasurer Damascus Committee. Giorgio Buccellati, Chairman Center for MesopotamianStudies, University of California,405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
Archaeologist
P.O.BOXH.M.,DUKESTATION, NC 27706 (919)684-3075 DURHAM, Biblical Archaeologist (ISSN0006-0895) is published quarterly(March,June,September, December)by the JohnsHopkins University Press for the American Schools of Oriental Research(ASOR),a nonprofit, nonsectarianeducational organization with administrativeoffices at 711West40th Street, Suite 354, Baltimore,MD 21211. Subscriptions.Annual subscriptionrates are $19 for individuals and $27 for institutions. There is a special annual rate of $17 for students and retirees.Subscriptionorders and correspondenceshould be sent to the JohnsHopkins University Press, 701 W 40th Street, Suite 275, Baltimore,MD 21211 (telephone:301-338-6988;telex: 5101012198,JHUPress Jnls). Single issues are $6.50 for individuals and $9.00 for institutions; these should be orderedfromthe JohnsHopkins University Press at the aboveaddress. In Canadaand Mexico, add $3.25 for annual subscriptionsand $2.00 for single issues. In other foreigncountries, add $8.00 for annual subscriptionsand $2.00 for single issues. Second-classpostagepaid at Philadelphia, PA 19104and additionaloffices. Postmaster:Send addresschanges to the JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,701 W 40th Street,Suite 275, Baltimore,MD 21211. Copyright? 1988 by the American Schools of OrientalResearch.
Editor EricM. Meyers Associate Editor LawrenceT Geraty Executive Editor MartinWilcox Book Review Editor PeterB. Machinist Art Director LindaHuff Assistant Editor Melanie A. Wilcox Assistant Editor Leslie Watkins
EditorialAssistants C. E. Carter JohnKutsko CarolRichard MargaretClark Lue Simopoulos Stephen Goranson SusanUdry Julie Hull Catherine Vanderburgh
EditorialCommittee Thomas E. Levy LloydR. Bailey JamesFlanagan Kyle McCarter,Jr. Carole Fontaine David W.McCreery Carol L. Meyers VolkmarFritz JackSasson SeymourGitin David M: Gunn Neil A. Silberman A. T. Kraabel L. Michael White BaruchLevine JohnWilkinson
Publisher The JohnsHopkins University Press
Advertising.Correspondenceshould be addressedto the JohnsHopkins University Press, 701 W 40th Street, Suite 275, Baltimore,MD 21211(telephone:301-338-6982). Composition by LiberatedTypes,Ltd., Durham, NC. Printedby PBMGraphics, Inc., Raleigh,NC. Biblical Archaeologist is not responsible for errorsin copy preparedby the advertiser. The editor reservesthe right to refuse any ad. Ads for the sale of antiquities will not be accepted. EditorialCorrespondence.Article proposals, manuscripts,and editorial correspondence should be sent to the ASOR Publications Office, P.O.Box H.M., Duke Station, Durham, NC 27706. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompaniedby a self-addressed,stampedenvelope. Foreign contributorsshould furnish international reply coupons. Manuscriptsmust conform to the format used in Biblical Archaeologist, with full bibliographicreferencesand a minimum of endnotes. See recent issues for examples of the properstyle. Manuscriptsmust also include appropriate illustrations and legends. Authors are responsiblefor obtainingpermission to use illustrations.
Biblical Archaeolog A Publication of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Volume 51 Number 2
June 1988
Early Judaism and Christianity in the Light of Archaeology Eric M. Meyers
69
The first centuriesof the common era in Palestinewerea time of religiouspluralismandtolerance,but the mid-fourthcentury saw significantchanges.
Jews and Christians in Late Roman Palestine: Towardsa New Chronology Dennis E. Groh
80
It has long been assumedthat Palestineexperiencedthe same political and social disintegrationin the thirdandfourth centuries C.E.as the Romanworldin general.The growing realization,however,that this is not the case makes it necessary to reviseour understandingof the region'schronologyfor this period.
Hairstyles, Head-coverings,and St. Paul: Portraitsfrom Roman Corinth Cynthia L. Thompson
99
In the manydiscussionsof 1 Corinthians11:2-16,verylittle note has been takenof the relevantarchaeologicalevidencethat is available.Suchevidence,unearthedoverthe last ninety years,can be helpfulin clarifyingthe historicalcontextin which Paulandhis congregationlived.
Page80
Ancient Synagoguesof the Golan Zvi Uri MaCoz
116
Cumulativedatafromexcavationsandsurveysreveala distinctive "Golantype"synagoguein which culturalinfluencesandtraditions of decorationfromneighboringareaswereblendedtogetherand adaptedto local conditionsandmaterials. .
.01
Introducing the Authors In Memoriam:JosephA. Callaway
Page 116
66 67
Front cover:The facade of the ancient synagogueat Barcamin Galilee. Photographby Dennis E. Groh.
Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of the Endowment for Biblical Research,a nonsectarian foundation for
the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
65
the Authors Introducing
Dennis
Groh E.
4Ii
-;
. ,
Zvi Uri Macoz
Cynthia L. Thompson
EricM. Meyers,Professorof Religion at Duke University, has over twenty years of fieldwork experience in the Upper and Lower Galilee in northern Israel, including excavations at Khirbet Shemac, Meiron, Gush Halav, Nabratein, and, for the past four years, at Sepphoris.He has also excavatedin Italy,in the catacombs of Venosa,at ancient Venusium, and at the home of the Latin poet Horace. CurrentlyVice President for Publications of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Dr. Meyers is Editorof Biblical Archaeologist. Dennis E. Grohis Professorof the History of Christianity at Garrett-Evangelical Seminaryand an advisorymember of the GraduateFaculty of Northwestern University in Evanston,Illinois. Author and coauthor of severalpublications on the topics of early Christianity and biblical archaeology,Dr.Grohhas excavatedat Caesarea,Meiron, Gush Halav, and Nabratein and is currently Associate Director of the Sepphoris Excavationsof the University of South Florida. A former Montgomery Fellow and
66
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
-IC
,
Io
Eric M. Meyers
F. Institute of Annual Professor at the W. Albright in Dr. Groh has been Research Jerusalem, Archaeological named a HumphreyFellow of the HumphreyInstitute for Social Ecology of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beersheva)for 1988-89. Cynthia L. Thompson was trained in Corinth while holding the Wheelerand Cappsfellowships at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. She received a doctorate in classical and New Testament Greek from Yale and served as a postdoctoral researcher in archaeology and women's studies at HarvardDivinity School. Dr. Thompson is currently an editor of religious books for the WestminsterPress in Philadelphia. A native of Israel, Zvi Uri MaCozis District Archaeologist for the Golan Heights and Hermon for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. Codirectorof the recent excavations at Qasrin, he is the foremost authority today on ancient synagogues of the Golan.
COUNCIL OF SOCIETIES FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION MERCERUNIVERSITY@ MACON, GEORGIA31207 @(912) 741-2376 The Council of Societies for the Study of Religion is a federation of professional organizations that promotes the academic study of religion. Delegates from the member societies meet annually to review the work of the Council's various committees and to plan its publication program. Review Studies Religious
Religious StudiesReview
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Includingmajorreviews, shorternotes, a recapof dissertationsin progressand completed, RSRis the single source for bibliographicalupdatesin the broadfield of religious studies. "The RSRis noteworthyfor its mix of searchingessays, criticalreviews, andinformativenotices. Indispensiblefor those keepingon top of scholarshipin the field of religion." -John F. Wilson, Princeton University. ISSN 0319-485X $30.00 per year to individuals
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Now in its fifth edition (1988) this handy tool lists more than 400 departmentsand programsof religious studies in NorthAmerica with a complete profile includingenrollments,degrees offered, faculty and a brief descriptionof the department.The names and addressesof more than 1,500 schools, colleges, universities and seminariesare includedas well as several indexes includinga faculty index. ISBN 0-932180-10-8, paper; 11-6, cloth $15.95, paper; $19.95, cloth
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Bulletin of the CSSR
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Publicationof the Bulletin was resumed in February1988 (volume 17). The "new" Bulletin appearsfour times a year: February,April, Septemberand November. Its purposeis to serve as a clearinghousefor informationaboutspecific activitiesin the field of religious studies, especially as this informationrelatesto and grows out of the work of the constituentsocieties. The Bulletin includes news from the varioussocieties of the CSSR (andotherswho care to submit), generalannouncements,informationon grants,fellowships, etc., programannouncements,calendarsof events, and directoriesof officers, both regional and national, of the CSSR constituentsocieties.
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68
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
In Memoriam
The world of biblical archaeology lost a creative scholar with the sudden death of JosephA. Callaway on August 23, 1988. Although he had retired in 1982 from twentyfour years of teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Joe had maintained a vigorous involvement with the field, primarily through his presidency of the ASOR'sAlbright Institute, a position he stepped down from only last November, and his editing and publishing of the materials from his excavations of Ai. JosephAtlee Callawaywas born in Warren,Arkansas, in 1920. After graduation from Ouachita College in Arkadelphia, he entered Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, receiving both his M.Div.andPh.D.fromthat institution. In 1958,followinga year on the faculty of FurmanUniversity, he returnedto Southern Baptist to teach Old Testament and eventually biblical archaeology. Joe'sfirst field experience in archaeology came in 1960 at Shechem under the tutelage of G. ErnestWright. He subsequently also worked with Kathleen Kenyon, both in Jerusalemand at the University of London.It was Ai, however,that was to be the majorsite of his work. He went there in 1964 and began an excavation project intended to supplement and clarify the earlier work of JudithMarquet-Krause.He returnedto Ai in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972. After completing his fieldwork there Joeresisted the temptation of so many archaeologists to begin another project and determined instead to publish the results of his excavations.Forthat decision we may be very grateful. Unfortunately, Joe was not able to complete the final excavation reports for the Iron Age materials, but he did publish several major articles on these finds. His most important conclusions involve his reconstruction of the conquest-settlement periodbased on the
Ai evidence. Because, as Marquet-Krausehad determined, the site was not occupied from the EarlyBronze Age until early in the Iron Age, it does not fit a conquest model that assumes a date of around 1250 B.C.E. Nor would an earlier date of around 1400 B.C.E. work. Joefirst proposed a later date of the twelfth century, around the end of Ai'sfirst IronI phase, but subsequently abandoned that reconstruction. The artifactsrecoveredfrom Ai best fit a model of settlement in the early IronAge, and not by nomads settling down for the first time but by ones already accustomed to an agricultural and village- or town-type habitation. Furthermore,the movement into Ai and throughoutthe central highlands duringthis time was not from the east but from the west, the lowlands and the coastal area. Joe, never one to remain wedded to a theory or construction when the evidence dictated otherwise, thus concluded that the Iron I settlers at Ai were Canaanites ratherthan Hebrews.If there was a conquest at the site like that mentioned in Joshua7 and 8, it must have occurred in the eleventh century B.C.E., when the city was destroyedand abandoned. This insight and Joe'smany other contributions to the field were recently recognizedby the publication of a Festschrift honoring him entitled Benchmarks in Time and Culture (ScholarsPress).Joereceived a copy of it just a couple weeks before his death. JosephA. Callaway is survived by his wife of fortyeight years,Sara;two children,Bill andLinda;his mother; a brother;and three grandchildren.Speakingon behalf of the editors of the Festschrift and ASOR, which cosponsored its publication, I want to express our deepest sympathy to his family. Yourloss is our loss, for he was our colleague and our friend. Joel F.Drinkard,Jr.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
67
arly
udaism
and
in the
Qhriztiznity ht
y Meyers ofA rchaeolbogy Eric
IIwehave like to take this topic up again, esinceWorld War witnessed a veritable explopecially in view of the work that has sion of archaeological data gone forwardsince its publication. from the Holy Land,and our understandingof the world of the EarlyChristianity Old Testament has greatly benefitted The members of the first generation from it. There has not yet, however, of the followers of Jesuswere largely been a concomitant improvement in indistinguishable from their fellow our understandingof the New Testa- Jews.Although they professeda bement world. A few years ago JamesF.E lief in the messiahship of Jesusand Strangeand I addressedthis imbegan to articulate a radicallove balance in a book that attempted to ethic ("loveyour enemy")that had show how archaeology,used in conno close parallel in Judaism,the new nection with literary material, can Christians observedmost of the illuminate the first centuries of the Jewishlaws (perhapssome were slack common era, a period when early on table fellowship) and accepted the and rabbinic Judaism Christianity centrality of the JerusalemTemple. were emerging in their Palestinian, They apparentlygot along well with or indigenous, settings (see Meyers their fellow Jews,contraryto the erand Strange 1981).That book was roneous impression of the Gospels meant as a beginning, and I would and other New Testament writings, The
first
centuries
comm0on era in of religious time tolerance, but century
saw
of
the
Palestine
were
pluralism the
a
and
nid-fourth
significant
changes.
M.
which portraythe Pharisees in so negative a light. Only the Sadducees, who are implicated in the trial of Jesus,might be said to be on the "outs"with the new Christians. Because there is no clear, or definite, trace of the Christian community in the Holy Landfrom about 70 to 270
C.E.,
it has been suggested
that all or most of the followers of Jesusleft Palestine during the course of events associated with the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans in 66-70 C.E. I find this unlikely. Christianity was then making a concerted effort to expand the number of its followers, not only through the gentile mission of Paul but also among the many Jewish communities along the western and eastern Mediterranean shores. Wouldthis activity have excluded the large Jewishcommunity in Palestine? Did Christianity develop only in the gentile and hellenized world outside Palestine? It should be noted here that the Jewish community relocated in Galilee after the revolt. Would Christians have ignored this areathe place of Jesus'childhood and ministry? Latergenerations certainly did not. Galilee is the site of numerous Christian loca sancta (holy places) constructed in the post-
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
69
S
nderstanding Jewish-Christianity the Mosaic-law-observantChristians in Jerusalem led by James as "the poor" common era requires that attention (Galatians 2:10, Romans 15:26). Evibe given to sectarian names. Jewish- dently some Jewish-Christianskept this Christianity is a modem designation designation, which became listed as a given to a range of groups that shared Christian heresy. Tertullian and Hiptwo characteristics: observance of pre- polytus suggested Ebionites were cepts of Tbrah(such as calendar,circum- founded by a person named Ebion, but cision, and diet), and a belief in Jesusas this suggestion has more to do with Messiah (Christ). By the end of the their desire to find a culprit than with fourth century, Judaismand Christian- the actual evolution of the name. Other heresy names that evolved ity had largely cut ties with each other, and by that time both sides had con- from a generic to a specific sense have demned Jewish-Christianity under a also been misunderstood. For instance, variety of names. In orderto place these Epiphanius describes the Sampseans sectarian names in context, one must [number53 of his 80 selected heresies) consider the time, language, and reli- andguesses that their name means "sun gious perspective of the writers who devotees" (from Hebrew shemesh). used the names. Epiphanius, however, already told us Most of the Jewish-Christiansec- that they praytowardJerusalem,so they tarian names evolved and changed sig- don't prayto the sun. Rather,in accord nificance during these four centuries. with his description (as F.Stanley Jones Even the Greek and Hebrew terms for andotherssuggest),Epiphaniusmistook heresy themselves had different mean- for Hebrew what reads in Aramaic as ings in the first andfourthcenturies. For shamash, "aservant or worshipper"(of instance, the Greek hairesis in the God). The name of the earlier Theraworks of the first-centuryJewishwriter peutae in Egypt has the same meaning Josephusmeans "agroup,philosophy,or and likely arose from a similar school of thought" this is how he de- self-designation. scribes Pharisees, Sadducces, and EsPerhaps the most striking case senes. A century later,the church writer of name-evolution involving JewishIrenaeus condemns various groups (in- Christians in these four centuries occluding Jewish-ChristianEbionites) as curredto the terms usually renderedin heresies in the more familiar sense of Englishas Nazarene.Nazarene has been used to represent the two Greek forms disapprovedgroups. The Hebrew term for heretics, (Naz6raioi, Nazarinol) that appear in minim (rmin,singular; minut, heresy) the New estament and later writings, also evolved. In Biblical Hebrew, min as well as a number of Semitic-language means merely "akind or type"(such as, cognates. In the New Testament, of grain or fruit). In later, Mishnaic Nazarene most often simply means "of Hebrew, rmin took on the additional, Nazareth. In Matthew 2:23, however, negative connotation of a disapproved Jesus is called Nazbraios in fulfillment kind of Jewish belief. For example, ac- of prophecies,which evidently intended cording to the JerusalemTalmud (San- to convey a distinction additional to the hedrin 29c), "RabbiYobanansaid, 'Israel town name. (Fora good survey of prodid not go into exile until they had been posed explanations of this verse, see made twenty-foursects of minim.'" Brown 1977.) The Ebionites, whom Irenaeuswas In Acts 24:5 Paul is accused as a the first to condemn, also took their leader of the heresy of the Nazbraioi. name from what had been a generic Though of course Paul defends his term in Biblical Hebrew: 'evionim, teaching, he does not disown the group which in Psalms often means simply name. Acts also introduces the name "the poor." By the time of the Qumran Christian (Christianoi) and perhaps commentary (pesher) on Psalm 37 places it, anachronistically, early: The (4QpPs 37), the word had become also a name appears only three times in the semitechnical term: cedat ha-'evionim, New Testament (Acts 11:26 and 26:28 "congregation of the poor."Paul refers to and 1 Peter4:16).
Sinthe first four centuriesof the
70
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
Eventually,the increasinglygentile church preferredthe Greco-Latinname Christianoi to the more Semitic form represented by Nazbraioi. Jews, however, continued to call the "Christians" nogrim, the Hebrew counterpart of Nazbraioi. Also, the Semitic-speaking Jewish-Christianskept various forms of the name Nazarene. In addition, Christians of Syriac, Armenian, and Arabic languages retained cognate forms of Nazarene as self-designations. In the fourth century we have the interesting case of Epiphanius(andthen Jerome) condemning the Nazaraioi, meaning (to him) "Jewish-Christians" (Panarion29). By then some Christians had disowned their own earlier name. From manuscripts found in the Cairo Genizah, we know that some synagoguesaddedto their curse against heretics (the birkat ha-minim) the term nogrim.Also, Epiphaniusreportson this practice of condemning Nazbraioi (Panarion29.9.2). Some listeners to this curse assumed the condemnation covered all Christians, while others assumed it referred only to JewishChristians. (See Jerome,Epistle 112, 13 to Augustine.) One final example of the method of comparing use of sectarian names by writers of differing perspective is provided by juxtaposing a discussion in BabylonianTalmud (Shabbat 116)with patristic literature.The Talmud discussion appearsin the context of books of the minim, among which the rabbis mention Gospels. (They even quote Matthew 5:17:"Icame not to destroythe law ")The question arises whether .... various heretical books in the to save case of a fire. The consensus view emerges among these rabbis that one might save books from the House of the Ebionites (the text slightly alters the spelling to disguise the reference),but one certainly would not save them from the House of the nogrim (orNazarenes, againslightly misspelled).This provides the mirror image of patristic literature, which hadforcenturies elaboratedcomplaints against Ebionites as being too Jewish but only at a late date also condemned the Nazarenes. The rabbissee Ebionites as barely tolerable,but Nazarenes they explicitly condemn; the
Constantinian era (the fourth century C.E.)when Christianity became the official religion of the Empire: the Church of Annunciation at Nazareth, the Church of Transfiguration at Mount Tabor,the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum,the Church of the Multiplication of the Fishes and Loavesat Tabgha,and the Church of the Sermon on the Mount on the
tremendous new immigration to Palestine by Christians in the third through fifth centuries (something like that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for Zionist settlers). Rather,we may infer that there was a substantial community of the followers of Jesus in Palestine from the Birth of the Messiah (GardenCity, NY: first century.It was that community StanDoubleday,1977),pages207-13;F. that was strengthened and enlarged ley Jones,a reviewof Revelationof Elchawhen the new pilgrims of the age of sai (Tiubingen: Mohr,1985)in Jahrbuch Mount of Beatitudes-to name only a few. I think it probablethat some Constantine came to Palestine to fir Antike und Christentum 30 (1987): Reuven "Birkat HaChristians remained with their felbuild their new churches and shrines. Kimelman, 200-09; Minimandthe Lackof Evidenceforan low Jewsto resettle the Galilee and The archaeologyof this period, Anti-ChristianJewish Prayerin Late surroundingareas after the revolt. if somewhat controversial,is supAntiquity,"Jewish and Christian SelfThere is some, albeit controver- ported and amplified by literary Definition (Philadelphia: Fortress,1981), sial, sources that take the existence of archaeological data to support volume2, editedby E.P.Sanders,pages this view. Father the several forms of Jewish-Christianity Bagatti (1971), 226-44and391-403;A. F.J.KlijnandG. Franciscan and some of his or more less for granted (see Saunscholar, Patristic J.Reinink, Evidencefor Jewishders 1977).Hegesippus, a secondChristianSects(Leiden: E.J.Brill,1973); followers believe that Christian remains from this so-called dark age in century Christian, mentions ChrisRayPritz,"TheJewishChristianSectof Palestine the Nazarenesand the Mishna,"Protians belonging to a Jewish sect (see, may be found in graffiti, the World ceedings of Eighth amulets, lamps, flasks, mosaics, and for example, Deferrari1953:253-56). Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, August inscriptions; he sites such villages Irenaeus,bishop of Lyonsin the secWorldUnion 16-21, 1981 (Jerusalem: and towns as Nazareth, Capernaum, ond century and the first Church of JewishStudies, 1982),Division A, Sepphoris,Cana, Cochaba, Tiberias, Fatherto systematize doctrine, The Periodof the Bible,pages 125-30; Gush Halav,and Caparasimaas cen- speaks of the Ebionites who read LawrenceSchiffman, Who Was a Jew?: ters of Jewish-Christianity'in this only the Gospel of Matthew, reject Rabbinic and Halakhic Perspectiveson These with and follow the Torahand Jewish period. sites, together Paul, the Jewish Christian Schism (Hoboken, over two hundred known churches of life (see Robertsand Donaldway NJ:Ktav,1985). from a later make it son These Jewish-Christian slightly period, Goranson 1981). Stephen difficult to imagine that there was a groups, referredto by Epiphanius (see Williams 1987)as Nazarenes or Elkasaites,professed the following beliefs: They proclaimed Jesusas prophet-Messiah;insisted upon the validity of the Torahand laws of ritual purity; spoke of three resurrections; professed a millennarian eschatology; looked forwardto the This Greekinscriptionfrom a Romanperiod synagogue at Sepphorisis frequentlyidentified as restoration of the Temple;observed Jewish-Christianbecause of the Chi-Rhomonogramat the right end of the bottom line. the feast of Sukkoth (Tabernacles), celebratedEasterat Passover,and observedthe Sabbath;affirmedthe church writers display the opposite attitude. Thereis no entirelyadequatetreatment of this subject,but forfurtherinformationanddifferingopinionson the rathermorecomplexnuancesof these names, see: RaymondE. Brown,The
Although there is no definite trace of the followers of Jesus in the Holy Land from about 70 until 270 C.E., literary sources suggest the presence of several forms of Jewish-Christianity. Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
71
Because thereis no definite trace of a Christian community in the Holy Landfrom about 70 until 270 C.E., scholars have posited that the followers of Jesusleft Palestine duringthe FirstJewish Revoltagainst the Romansin 66-70 c.E. Evidence has been found, however,at Capernaumthat suggests the presence there of early Christiansduring this period. Excavatorshave identified a house (reconstructiondrawing,near right), dating to the first century C.E.,that they believe belonged to St. Peter(see Mark 1:29). Sometime near the end of that century the walls and floors of the main room of this house wereplastered three times. This may mean that, instead of its being remodeled, it was convertedto a public building, since stone pavements are the rule for houses at Capernaum.In addition, the pottery found in the room that dates to after the first century tends to be storagejars and other "public wares."Finallygraffitiof a Christiancharacter and dating to the second and third centuries have been found on its plastered walls. It is thereforepossible that a Christian community had convertedthis room into a domus-ecclesia (a House Church).
72
It is likely that a substantial number of early Christiansremained in the Holy Land between 70 and 270. This community was then strengthenedand enlargedas the pilgrims of the age of Constantine (who ruled 306-337) came to build their churchesand shrines. At Capernaumin the fourth century,the main room of the "Houseof St. Peter"was enlarged,provided with an arch across its middle to hold up a heavier roof,plastered, and painted in designs; a large enclosure wall surroundedthe whole (reconstructiondrawing, opposite page, above).This was likely the church seen by Egeria.In the fifth century,after this churchhad been destroyed,a new one was built in its place (reconstructiondrawing oppositepage, below). Its octagonal shape, which is clear in the photographof its remains below, is characteristicof Byzantine churches erected overplaces holy in Christianmemory.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
The
community
of
early
in
Palestine
Christians was
and
strengthened
enlarged
the
as
of
pilgrims
the
Constantinian
age build and
to
came
churches shrines.
primacy of James,brother of Jesus, over Peter in the leadership of the church; and preferredthe designation "Nazarene"over "Christian." The literature of the second century that might have been composed by the Nazarenes, the Hebrews,or the Ebionites, might include the Gospel of Peter,the Gospel of Thomas, the Proto-evangeliumof James,the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Acts of John,the letter of the Apostles, three forms of an Apocalypse of James, and many others. Undoubtedly these Jewish-Christiansare to be equated with some of the "heretics"or minim of rabbinic sources. In short, both the archaeological and literary sources support some kind of Jewish-Christianityin Palestine in the first centuries of the common era, and this view is strengthened when one takes into account the archaeology of the late antique period (the third through fifth centuries). It is interesting to note that a similar case can be made for Christianity in Italy,where I have excavatedin the catacombs of Venosa, ancient Venusium, and home of the Latin poet Horace. There, Jewishand Christian burials, as in Rome, reflect an interdependentand closely related community of Jewsand Christians in which clear lines of de-
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
73
marcation were blurreduntil the third and fourth centuries C.E.(see Meyers 1983). EarlyRabbinic Judaism Just as archaeologyhas helped to illuminate early Christianity in its formative stages, so too has it informed our understandingof Judaism in the years after the destruction of the JerusalemTemple in 70 C.E.when the Mishnah and Talmud were beginning to take shape. I offer two examples. The first will be provided by my own work in regional archaeology;the second will derive from settlement-pattern researchof sites on the Golan Heights conducted by Israeli archaeologists and survey teams. Drawing on my nearly twenty years of fieldwork in northern Israel, in the Upper and LowerGalilee, I think I can generalize a great deal about the condition of Judaismof the period as it is representedat various sites and in several regions. The village sites excavatedby me and the Duke-ASORteam are Khirbet Shemac (Meyers,Kraabel,and Strange 1976),Meiron (Meyers, Meyers,and Strange 1981a),Gush Halav (Meyersand Meyers,in press), and Nabratein (Meyers,Meyers,and Strange 1981b;Meyers 1982).The first two of these are situated along the eastern face of the Meiron massif, or mountain range;the second two are oriented more to the Rift Valley, especially Nabratein, which looks towardTel Hazor, some 4 kilometers to the east and some 600 meters higher. The large corpus of material unearthed and published from these sites has providedthe opportunity to establish the following: a common ceramic family indigenous to the north and common also in the Golan; a dominant economic orientation to Tyrefor sites close to the Meiron mountain chain; a limited, aniconic posture-that is, with little or no representationalart-for sites away from the Rift Valleyand clustered in the center of Upper Galilee; a varied
74
In
this
period
T
the
Jewish population, dispersed all Galilee through but
limited
two
small
regions Golan,
to
subin
the
increased
massively. architecturalplan for towns and synagogues that ehables us to speculate about their religious preferences beyond sensibility to the Second Commandment; a distinct settlement pattern that links Jewish towns and villages in clusters here and there; a dominant linguistic pattern in which Aramaic and Hebrew are preferredto Greek, in contrast to a preferencefor Greek in other regions; and a life span for sites that is reasonablypredictablewhen such elements as precise location and proneness to earthquakesare taken into consideration. Regional efforts in Palestinian archaeology were pioneered by the late YohananAharoni in his work at Arad,Beer-sheba,and Mashosh in the Negeb. (Today,most new longterm projects are employing this approachin orderto establish with a far greaterdegree of certainty the material culture of a region as well as the political and cultural history of the area and its relation to the rest of the country.)Had our project stopped at the end of eight years our conclusions would have been quite different. Indeed, the decision to select one additional village site, Nabratein, further eastwardbut still in the Galilean highlands, was made
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
he archaeological discoveriesofthe pastfew decadeshavehadlittle effect on the disciplinesof Jewishhistory andNew Testamentscholarship. Why? For Jewish scholarshipthere are several reasons. First, the dominant scholarlytraditionin WesternJewish circles is associatedwith the study of sacredtexts,not monuments.Whether it is the Bible, the Mishnah,or Talmud-the principlerepositoriesof Jewish law to survive antiquity-Jewish history is defined from those sacred traditions.TheSecondCommandment, which is often interpretedas banning art,is alsoto be placed representational in this context,forthe studyof Jewish art or architectureis only a modern phenomenon. Second,archaeology-inJewishcircles, at least-is dominatedby Israelis. Thereare only a few AmericanJewish to this veryday,notwitharchaeologists the fact that therewas a giant standing such as Nelson Glueck to inspirean Americandiscipline.In this regardthe AmericanJewishcommunity,by surrenderingarchaeological scholarshipto Israeland Israelis,is abdicatinga fundamentalbuildingblock of futuregenerationsof scholars. Third,in Jewishscholarshipthere has been a modest recognitionof the disciplineof archaeologyas it relatesto the periodof the HebrewBible(or,from the Christianpointof view,the OldTestamentperiod)butnotasit relatesto the beginningof the common era (which witnessed,in connectionwith the creation of the Mishnahand Talmud,the developmentof rabbinicJudaism). This last point bearssome digressionbecauseit pertainsalsoto the state of New Testamentarchaeology.Old Testamentarchaeologyhas been more or less coterminouswith the discipline of biblical archaeologythrough the years.Manyof the nineteenth-century explorers of the Holy Land were Old Testament scholars, and these individuals helped launch the modern archaeological study of the region. The New Testament world, the more familiar Greco-Romancomponent of Near Eastern civilization, was given a back seat to the Old Testamentworld or it was rele-
gated to a subdiscipline of Classical studies. This trend may be observed in the publications of the British Palestine Exploration Fund, established in London in 1865. In Jewish circles such a reality was not altered until the founding of the Palestine ExplorationSociety in 1914, predecessor of the post-1948 Israel ExplorationSociety. Since the inception of the PESand until the present, Israel is virtually the only place in the worldwhere the full and complete range of archaeologicalperiodsmay be studied in detail-from prehistory, to the rabbinic period, down to the modern eraand where fieldworkin all these periods may be carriedout. And yet even in Israelthe impact of "classical"archaeology on the study of rabbinic Judaism has been less than might be expected because archaeology in Israel is pursued as a separate discipline fromBibleor history and is usually located within an institute or a department of archaeology.This has been unfortunate because it has allowed the archaeologistto become overspecialized and the historian to remain isolated from the archaeologist. In America, archaeology is pursued as part of Near Eastern or oriental studies, religious studies, anthropology,or Classical studies or in the context of divinity school or seminary. Only in one or two places in North America (for instance, Boston University) is it possible to study archaeology as an independentdiscipline. WhyhaveChristians,as well, mainly pursued Old Testament archaeology and ignored New Testament archaeology? Forone thing, it was the Protestant Old Testament scholars such as EdwardRobinsonwho led the historical surveys of the nineteenth century and who sought to locate biblical, largely Old Testament, place-names through surface exploration and later by soundings. Perhaps it says something about the state of Old Testament scholarship in the nineteenth which was century, heavily influenced by the "Scientific Study of Judaism" (Wissenschaft des Judenthums) movement but which had little or no impact on New Testament studies. Perhaps Christian scholars were influenced by the emergence of the
Zionist movement in the 1880s, on the heels of both a Europeanand American rediscoveryof the Holy Land,to identify the archaeologicalquest more with the overtly Semitic component of Christian tradition-that is, the Old Testamentthan with the more Western, nonSemitic, Christianity in Europe.But we must also rememberthat the time frame of the New Testamentexperience in the Holy Land embraces only about two generations,from some centralmoment in the life of Jesus, probablyin the late 20s of the common era, until the First JewishRevoltagainstthe Romans(66-70 C.E.). This very brief time span means
that the realia of their everydaylife is indistinguishable from anything that was purely Jewish or Jewish-Christian, forthe early community of the followers of Jesus was to all intents and purposes the same, except in theology and belief, as the Jewishcommunity. Moreover,most Christian New Testament scholars have presupposedthat with the First Revolt the new JewishChristian community fled the Holy Land-eastwards to Transjordan,northwards to the Aegean lands and Asia Minor,andwestwardsto Italy.Tobe sure, significant migration occurred,but it is my contention, and one which I share with a growing number of scholars, especially with many Franciscanscholars workingand writing in Israeltoday,that the idea of such a wholesale emigration cannot be defended in light of the archaeological evidence of the first two or three centuries. In addition,with regardto why New Testamentscholarship has been slow to take archaeology seriously, there is the feeling in New Testament scholarly circles that archaeology can do only limited things for its practitioners, especially in ancient Palestine where the time frame is so constricted. The geographicand physical setting of the early church is secondary to the more dominant concern of belief. Indeed, my esteemed colleague D. Davies (1974) W. has attempted to show that the terrestrial dimension of early Christianity is practically nonexistent and that in this particular respect Christianity represents a radical break with Judaism. A
graduatestudent of mine, however,has recently demonstrated that this is not necessarily so, especially in the Gospel of Luke where a terrestrial, locative dimension is dominant and temple imagery central (see Chance 1984). Such an attitude that denies the terrestrial imperativeof early Christianity is perhapsthe main reason, in my opinion, why so many New Testamentscholars do not feel impelled to take a more serious interest in the Roman archaeology of ancient Palestine. This attitude, however, is in striking contrast with proponents of the so-called new wave of New Testament scholarship, "the Social Worldof EarlyChristianity." But even these spokesmen for an important new subdiscipline (for instance, WayneMeeks, RobertWilken, and Gerd Thiessen) still find it difficult to get hold of the Palestinian component of early Christianity for reasons I have suggested. I'mcertain that as the discipline matures someone will begin to examine the local Palestinianor easternmatrix of the Church with genuine interest and enthusiasm. A problem of equal concern to me, though, is that many New Testament scholars have given up the quest to confront the Jewishworld of nascent Christianity, whether in its Palestinian, SyroPalestinian, or EuropeanJewishsetting. At least the Palestinian social setting can be reconstructedfrom the vast literature of the rabbis,which exists in both canonical and noncanonical form. For Western Christianity, however, and for Christianity in Asia Minor, it is the archaeology of Judaismand Christianity that is so crucial forunderstandingtheir independence as separate faith communities-as well as for understanding their interdependence in the early centuries of the common era. It might be the catacombs of Rome or the inscriptions of Asia Minor, but all of this data must ultimately be filtered into the process of historical reconstruction so that a reliable picture of these historic religions may be derived. Eric M. Meyers
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
75
with a view towardschecking our working hypotheses. The discovery at Nabratein of a new city-coin profile suggested extensive eastern ties, refining greatly my view of trade networks. Also, far more figural art in sculpture than had ever been found in the region before was recovered,which indicateda much more liberal interpretationof the Second Commandment than I had previously understood? Subsequent to the excavation of these village sites I chose to bring our Duke excavation team to a large urban center in LowerGalilee: Sepphoris, just a few kilometers from Nazareth. We have been excavating there for four years (see Meyers, Netzer, and Meyers 1986, 1987),and one of our purposes has been to compare the vocabularyof material culture-ceramics, houses, agriculture, technology, and so on-of town and city. Sepphoriswas the administrative capital of Galilee in the first century under Herod Antipas, and its great theater, severalpagan temples, and triclinium with its colorful Dionysos mosaics reflect its Hellenistic and cosmopolitan ambience. It is perhapssurprisingto some that Sepphorisis where the Mishnah was published around220
Forpresent purposes, let us, like Josephusand rabbinicsources, use the designation of upper and lower Golan. Building on known material data from the Galilee, one can first say that both areas,Galilee and Golan, experiencedmassive increases in population from the period begin-
by the Jewish historian Josephus as into that of Upper Gaulinitis-ties Galilee. Recent studies of the Golan (see Urman 1985 and MaCoz 1988) show how settlement patterns early in the common era reflect religious realities of the day. Much of the information thus far available comes from the Survey of Israel, which is the archaeological office of the Department of Antiquities.
Kursi (Gergasa), site of the New Testament miracle of the pigs, is in this size range. Fifty-one other sites exist whose dimensions cannot be accurately estimated. Thus, the enormous increase in the Jewish population in the Golan between 135 and the midfourth century C.E. was mainly clustered in the central and southern lower Golan. It is not yet clear why these three religious communities
(in Galilee, central lower Golan, and southern lower Golan) separatedout in the way that they did, but several forthcoming studies on the subject will certainly shed some new light on the matter. Religious Pluralism in Palestine
Whether one looks at the evidence for early Christianity or at that for fourth century, a time of profound rabbinicJudaismin Palestine during change. Whereasin Galilee the the first centuries of the common Jewishpopulation was pretty much era, it is clear that it was a period of dispersed in "allGalilee,"to steal a religious pluralism. We see it in phrase from the New Testament, in Golan it was restrictedto two small Upper Galilee and the Golan; we see subregions of lower Golan that were it at Sepphoris,a capital city of LowerGalilee, which in addition to separatedfrom ratherextensive Christians and Jewsshows a strong and Christian settlements pagan and Schonfield pagan presence; and we see it at the 1983; (see Dauphin site of Capernaumon the The total number of great MaCoz1985). northwestern shore of the Sea of settlements revealedin the Israeli survey is 134:Five of these are larger Galilee. Beneath the octagonal than 120 dunams (1 dunam is equal Byzantine Church of St. Peterat to 1,000 squaremeters, or about 0.25 Capernaumlies a house-church of Jewish-Christiansthat dates back to acre)and may be considered to be the first century. Alongside this the size of cities; they are Banias (CaesareaPhilippi), Gamla, Hippos- series of Christian structures exists a parallel series of Jewishedifices, Sussita, Hammath-Gader,and Tell the most famous of which is the between 20 el-Juchadar.Fourteen, and 120 dunams, may be considered familiar reconstructedsynagogue building. Heretoforethought to be provincial towns; examples of these are Dabbura,Qasrin, and Khisfin. early (first,second, or third century 20 and 40 between C.E.), it is now universally regarded Twenty-eight, as late (fourthto fifth century) and be considered dunams, may large as having survived for centuries into an was with that C.E. and where Jewish-Christianity economy villages the an of early medieval period. Just reand post-ConstantinianChristianity mainly agricultural; example this is el-Kanatir. Umm cently the excavatorshave claimed Eightyflourished alongside rabbinicJuto havefoundstill another synagogue, 20 less than dunams, may seven, at daism and Roman paganism. This hamlets or be considered purportedlyfrom the first century, agriculcomparison of city to town is sure to the great structure of the beneath sites tural settlements, though many assist us in better understanding fourth-fifth in have architectural this size range century. If this is true, how Judaismflourished in a variety have a Jewishsynawe would then sizable "public" of different settings in late antiquity. fragments from and a structures such as churches or syna- gogue Jewish-ChristianhouseThe material culture of the on church of opposite sides of the gogues; the beautiful monastery Golan Heights-a region referred to
76
ning in 70-135 C.E. until the mid-
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
street, so to speak, dating from the days of Jesus' ministry in the Lake region. Following the strata and the structures, both the Jewish and (Jewish-) Christian communities apparently continued to live in harmony until the seventh century C.E. A myriad of hypotheses has been proposed to explain this succession of buildings and the presumed events related to their construction. A re-
cent paper (in Hebrew)by Zvi MaCoz even proposedthat the great synagogue was in fact built by the Christians of Capernaumas a pilgrim shrine to commemorate the place of Jesus'preaching.Israel'sarchaeologists are loath to accept the late chronology of the synagoguebecause it casts doubt on virtually all previous theories about synagogue development and typology. Moreover, the evidence for a continuous JewishChristian or Christian presence for seven centuries calls into serious question the whole notion of the earliest Christians leaving Palestine after 70 C.E. Notions of tolerance and religious pluralism once absent from discussions of Roman Palestine are now in the forefrontof consideration due to this series of discoveries. While the Capernaumevidence is unique for the earliest centuries of Just a few meters from the remains of the Byzantine octagonal church at Capernaumare those the common era, parallel evidence of a large contemporarysynagogue (shown below as it appearstoday and above in the famous, exists in abundancefor the end of although not completely accurate,reconstructiondrawn by Carl Watzingerin 1905). These parallel structuresare evidence of the religiouspluralism that existed at that time in Palestine the Roman period and Byzantine (and which lasted until the seventh century at Capernaum).The excavatorshave recently period in the Beth-sheanValley claimed that beneath this structurethey have found evidence of a first-centurysynagogue.If (where Scythopolis has evidence of true, then the earlier structureand the series of Christian structuresbeneath the nearby church indicate that this pluralism extended all the way back to the days of Jesus'ministry in paganism, Judaism,and Christianthe Lakeregion. ity) and in the Golan Heights as well. (The evidence for Nazareth is quite different-there a Jewish synagogue is replacedby a grotto shrine and then a church, though it is not impossible that the absence of data comparableto Capernaumis due to chance only.) Although we can only speculate about the nature of relations among the three great religions of the day, our looking at the situation from an archaeologicalperspective presents an entirely positive view. In such a case, the villages on the periphery of a great city such as Scythopolis, a city of the Roman Decapolis and an administrative center in Palestina Secunda, can even be thought to relate to the central polis in ways that are not entirely dissimilar to northern Galilee or Golan. The result of the interrelationship between satellite Jewish community and Hellenistic city, however, is far different here in the valley than in the highlands.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
77
This Greekinscription, which was found in the earliest of severalchurches below the modern Churchof the Annunciation in Nazareth,and which reads "on(the)holy place (of)M(ary)I have written there,"has been offeredin supportof the contention that early Christiansin Palestine (termedJewish-Christians) built a synagoguechurchduring the period when many scholars think there were veryfew or no followers of Jesusin Palestine. The inscription was scrawled into a column that, along with other architecturalfragments, was used as fill for the foundation of a Byzantine church built during the late fourth or early fifth
T Qnk
century c.E.
'
.
The level of Greek is much higher. The use of colorful mosaics and Greek-pagansymbols in sacred decorations is abundant.Tradeand contacts between dissimilar communities are standard.And yet, judgingfrom the great mosaic inscription at nearbyRehov,the loyalty of Jewsin this region to strict legal or halachic norms is not to be questioned. As a result of these researches I am convinced that the end of the Roman period comes to Palestine either as a result of the so-called Gallus Revolt in 352 or of the great earthquakein 363 (see Russell 1985). There was a stunning breakbetween the Roman and Byzantine periods, not only from the point of material culture but from a political point of view as well. Gallus was the Caesar in the East for EmperorConstantius
78
, ..
from 351 until 354. Unrest and possibly abuses of the local population by Ursinus, the Roman army commander chargedwith putting down the unrest, ultimately led to a series of purportedclashes that encompassed Sepphorisand environs in LowerGalilee and spreadto the north in Upper Galilee and lower Golan. It seems to have been a local rebellion in which the rabbinic leadership did not participate,leaving few traces in the rabbinicliterature (see Nathanson 1986;but see also Schafer 1986). To what extent does the Gallus Revolt or the 363 earthquakepoint to an end to the tendencies toward pluralism that we have noted? In many ways, the revolt and the aftermath of the earthquakesignal a deterioration of the place of the Jewin a largely paganPalestine that was
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
This red-and-blackdrawing of a small Roman sailing vessel and its accompanying inscription constitute some of the earliest evidence of pre-Constantinianpilgrimage to Jerusalem.Discoveredin 1971afterexcavators broke througha wall and into an undergroundspace at the eastern end of the Churchof the Holy Sepulchre,the inscription ("DOMINEIVIMUS,"which means "Lord,we went")could be a referenceto the pilgrim in Psalm 122, beginning "Letus go to the house of the Lord."Althougharchaeologistsare aware of earlierpilgrimages, this artifact is important because of its connection with the putative tomb of Jesus.
undergoingthorough and vigorous Christianization after Constantine. New wealth poured into the land, but much was directed to church building. One immediate Jewishresponse to the events of the midfourth century was the standardization of the calendarby patriarch Hillel II (358/9)and the publication of an incomplete and unfinished Talmudof the Landof Israel around 400 C.E. Also, it would appearthat there was yet another wave of Jewish emigration northwardsfrom the LowerGalilee and Rift areas to the less urbanizedareasof Upper Galilee and Golan. This may have been an effort by the Jewsto establish a new JewishHoly Land-Eretz Israelwithin, but separatefrom, Christian TerraSancta.The possible Gallus uprising, perhapsthe last armed uprising in Palestine until the present
century, and the earthquakeof 363 may thus mark the beginning of the period and a process by which the Jewishpeople began the difficult process of acculturation with Christian rule. A series of other disastersa downturn in the economy, famine, and plague- also contributed to further Jewish dispersion and to a gradual erosion of their dominant position of settlement in key areas of Palestine in the second half of the fourth century. Still, archaeological evidence reminds us to use caution. Pockets of Judaismand Christianity remain in close contact at various places in the Byzantine period, and there is little doubt that the experience of pluralism providedan important counterbalance to the new winds of restrictive legislation that were blowing. Conclusion The political and spiritual currents in Roman Palestine were many and diverse. But these currents,which archaeologyhas helped discern, afford our generation the opportunity of new explorations and reevaluations of old concerns. The centrality of C.E. 70-the destruction of Jerusalem and its marvelous Templeby the Romans-looms less central as a result. ForPalestine and Syria, the divisions of the post-70 era into the gentile church and the Pauline mission seem less significant. One can truly speak therefore of continuity and congruence in Judaismand Christianity in Roman Palestine at least until 363 C.E.,and it is archaeology, the handmaiden of the historian, which has providedthe essential tool for these observations. Notes Partsof this articlewerepresentedin a differentformas the FourthAnnual KathrynFraserMackayLecturein PhilosophyandReligionat St. Lawrence Universityin Canton,New York,on October6, 1987.
1Theterm Jewish-Christianityfirst
referredto believersin the messiahship
of Jesusfromamongthe nativePalesChristianity;The Social and Historical Setting of Palestinian Judaism tinianJewishpopulationearlyin the and Christianity.Nashville, TN: commonera.It has cometo applyto all Abingdon. those of Jewishbirthwho adoptedthe Meyers,E. M., Kraabel,A. T., and Strange,J.F. new faith. 1976 SynagogueExcavationsat Khirbet 2Thisis alsobornout bythe excavaShemac 1970-72. Series:Annuals of tions at nearbyMeroth(IlanandDamati, the American Schools of Oriental in press). Research42. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Meyers,E. M., Meyers,C. L., and Strange,J.F. 1981a Excavationat Ancient Meiron, UpBagatti,B. per Galilee, Israel 1971-72. Series: 1971 The Churchfrom The Circumcision: Meiron ExcavationProjectSeries 3: History and Archaeologyof the Cambridge,MA:American Schools translated Judaeo-Christians, by of Oriental Research. E. Hoade. Series:Publications of the 1981b PreliminaryReporton the 1980 ExStudium Biblicum Franciscanum cavations at En-Nabratein,Israel. Collectio Minor 2. Jerusalem:FranBulletin of the American Schools of ciscan PrintingPress. Oriental Research244: 1-25. Chance, J.B. E. M., Netzer, E., and Meyers,C. L. Meyers, in 1984 Jerusalemand the Temple Lucan 1986 Sepphoris-"Ornamentof All GaliEschatology.Ph.D. dissertation. lee."Biblical Archaeologist 49: 4-19. Durham, NC: Duke University. 1987 Artistry in Stone:The Mosaics of Dauphin, C.M., and Schonfield,J. Ancient Sepphoris.Biblical Archae1983 Settlements of the Romanand ologist 50: 223-31. ByzantinePeriodson the Golan B. G. Nathanson, Heights. PreliminaryReportson 1986 Jews,Christians,and the Gallus Three Seasons of Survey(1979Revolt in Fourth-CenturyPalestine. 1981).Israel ExplorationJournal33: Biblical Archaeologist 49: 26-36. 189-206. and Donaldson, J.,translators Roberts, A., Davies, W.D. 1981 Against Heresies. Pp.307-567 in 1974 The Gospel and the Land:Early The Ante-Nicene Fathers, TranslaChristianity and Jewish Territorial tions of the Writingsof the Fathers Doctrine. Berkeley:University of down to A.D. 325, edited by A. CaliforniaPress. Robertsand J.Donaldson. Grand Deferrari,R. J.,translator Rapids,MI:Eerdmans.(American 1953 Eusebius Pamphili.Ecclesiastical reprintof the Edinburghedition) History (Books 1-5). Series:The Russell, K. R. Fathersof the Church 19. New York: 1985 The EarthquakeChronologyof PalFathersof the Church. estine and Northwest Arabiafrom Ilan, Z., and Damati, E. the 2nd throughthe Mid-8thCenin Ancient Meroth:The Synagogue tury A.D. Bulletin of the American press and the Beth Midrash.Biblical Schools of Oriental Research260: Archaeologist. 37-59. Macoz, Z. Saunders,E. W 1985 Comments on Jewishand Christian 1977 Christian Synagoguesand JewishCommunities in ByzantinePalestine. Christianity in Galilee. explor3: Palestine ExplorationQuarterly117: 70-77. 59-68. P. Schafer, 1988 Ancient Synagoguesof the Golan. 1986 Der AufstandGegen Gallus Caesar. Biblical Archaeologist 51. Pp. 184-201 in Traditionand ReMeyers,E. M. interpretationin Jewish and Chris1982 Second PreliminaryReporton the tian Literature: Essays in Honor of Excavationsat En-Nabratein.BulJurgen C. H. Lebram, edited by J. W letin of the American Schools of Wan Henten and others. Series: Oriental Research246: 35-54. Studia Post-Biblica 36. Leiden: E. J. 1983 Reporton the Excavationsat the Brill. VenosaCatacombs 1981. Vetera Urman, D. Christianorum20: 455-59. 1985 The Golan, A Profile of a Region Meyers,E. M., and Meyers,C. L. During the Roman and Byzantine in Excavationsat the Ancient SynaPeriods. Series: BAR International press gogue of Gush Halav. Series:Meiron Series 269. Oxford: ExcavationProjectSeries 5. Winona BAR. Williams, FE,translator Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 1987 Panarion. Leiden: E. J.Brill.
Bibliography
Meyers, E. M., and Strange, J. F. 1981 Archaeology, the Rabbis, and Early
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
79
Jews and in
Christians Roman
Late
Palestine Towards New
a
Chronology Dennis
by
E
E.
Groh
Ithink,is familiar veryone,
with the picture generally portrayedof the Roman world in the third and fourth centuries of the common era: Following a period when the empire was a coherent and dominant political and military power,it was then in rapiddecline, experiencing invasions, civil wars, inflation, artistic degeneration,and political and social discontinuity. It has long been assumedthat the same circumstances must have existed in Palestine during this period. There is now a growing realization, however,that this was not the case. To see a new picture emerging we must stand in a slightly different place than our illustrious predecessors. We must not stand so exclusively in the great political centers of late antiquity: Antioch, Alexandria, and (aboveall) Constantinople. The views from the palaces gaveus great political histories of the Eastern Mediterraneanand of Palestine (AviYonah 1976)but not enough of the hubble and bubble of the townsfolk
80
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
There that
is
a
Late
affected
Roman
by
the
Mediterranean conditions
realization
growing
and
Palestine
less
was
of
crosscurrents
power natural
than
by
local
events.
all subsequent history in Syria/Palesand villagers of Late Roman Palestine is only just emerging in our contine. Thus the political histories, with their look at our world through sciousness (Ovadiah1970;Liebeschutz the courts and codices, did not pre1979;Meyers 1982;Groh 1987a). little The picture of Late Roman us to see how pare provincials Palestine that is emerging is of a cared about or were affectedby the land of growth and diversity,especrosscurrents of Mediterranean does Chorazin cially at the town and village level. power.What, indeed, have to do with Constantinople? The greatest period of settlement in It is particularly important that the whole history of the Holy Land we leave the great cities (poleis) of was beginning (Groh 1977;Meyers late antiquity and enter the small and Strange 1977;Zori 1977: 154; towns and villages, for the late third Meyers, Strange,and Groh 1978; and the fourth centuries are the Borowski 1979;Urman 1985).'At "centuriesof the villager."These cen- the same time, individual sites were turies see a phenomenal increase of very distinctive. Forinstance, towns and vibrancy in village life (Frend less than a kilometer aparthad different synagogue architecturalforms 1979),the importance of which for (Meyers1987: 130-32). Others just 4 to 7 kilometers apart,on the same The third and fourth centuries C.E.saw much of the Roman Empirein turmoil, as reflected routes, possessed varyingdegrees of in the almost ceaseless competition of a richness in their ceramic vocabusuccession of individuals to rule overits laries (forinstance, Meiron and One to western halves. and eastern attempt deal with these pressureshas been called the Gush Halav;compare Capernaum Tetrarchy,or Rule of Four.In 285, a year after and Magdala-Loffreda 1976). he became Augustus (oremperor),Diocletian In the following pages I hope Maximian as Caesar (orjunior appointed emperor)and soon promotedhim to Augustus. to communicate something of the The formerruled from the East; the latter, of the Jewish and from the West.Then in 293 two Caesarswere amazing vibrancy in Eretz communities Christian added to the group- GaleriusMaximianus, who served under Diocletian, and ConstanIsrael from about 250 to 363 C.E.(my tius Chlorus, who served underMaximian. reasons for the choice of these dates (Thefour are shown opposite in a statue of are explained in the accompanying porphyrythat is built into a cornerof St. Mark'sin Venice.)This system operated sidebar).I begin with two cautions reasonably well, with the three subordinates about the nature of the archaeologicarryingout mainly military and administracal evidence I will be using. First, tive tasks and the senior putting out a great deal of legislation, until Diocletian stepped evidence from the north of Israel, down in 305. At that point, a series of events especially from Kinneret, Upper was set into motion that led in 324 to the establishment of Constantine, a son of Galilee, and the Golan is given the Constantius Chlorus,as sole emperorof the greatest weight because, for the entire RomanEmpire.It is becoming inmost part, it has been developedby creasingly clear, however,that Palestine was means of contemporarymethods of less affected by the battles for power in the Empirethan by local circumstances and stratigraphicexcavation and it has events. been well published. Evidence ob-
tained by survey must be considered less dependable.Even less dependable is evidence, mostly from other parts of the country, that has been taken on a catch-as-catch-canbasis. I should add, however,that even the evidence from the north must be used carefully,since we are still only working with a small proportionof what existed in late antiquity. For example, when we discuss Sepphoris and Tiberias, we must keep in mind that the synagogueswe have thus far found at each site (two or three at the former and two at the latter) are only a small part of the number once there: Tiberias had thirteen synagoguesand Sepphorishad no less than eighteen (Levine 198la). The second caution involves the silence of the pagans of late antiquity in this article. Though startling new finds, such as the mosaic floor discoveredlast summer at Sepphoris(Meyers,Netzer, and Meyers 1987),indicate the continued force of paganism in our era, which parallels the general viability of paganism in the third-century Mediterranean(Geffcken 1978: 85), my focus on Jewish and Christian life has left the pagans regrettably "voiceless"for the moment. The Christian Community The last fifty years of the third century C.E.were important for Christianity aroundthe empire. It began to penetrate into a number of rural areas and to addbuildings in the cities (Frend1979).Our knowledge of Christianity in the Holy Land during this period is still limited, however,and we have more questions than answers (Figueras 1981; Strange 1983). We do know that Christian shrines were venerated at Nazareth, Capernaum, and Bethany (Meyers and Strange 1981: 60, 130, 138; Strange 1983). The one at Nazareth could not have been a big attraction, since the Bordeaux pilgrim passed it by on his way to Bethshean - and then to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, drawn by the churches
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
81
Banias (Caesarea Philippi)
Beth Shecarim *
BarCam
S Scythopolis Caesarea Rel)ov
Dabbura
Hazor Tel T H
Gush Halav *
CEn Nashut
Nabratein
SOasrin
Meiron SCaparasima
* Shemac
cAssalieh
r" r"
Tellel-Juchadar
m
Jerusalem .
Chorazin * Capernaum * Tabgha
Bethany
SCana Bethlehem
Suslya . Eshtemoa 1
Beer-sheba .
NEGEB
* Arad
Galilee?
* Nazareth
* Kursi
Ummel-Kanatir Khisfi Khisfin
Cochaba
Cochaba
Hippos-Sussita
HammathTiberias*
*MountTabor
* HammathGader
Mampsis *
erected there by Constantine (Stewart1897:VIII,IX). We also know, as Strange(1983) has pointed out, that the graffiti at these places revealthat early Christianity was ethnically and linguistically pluralistic (Greek,Syriac, Latin),pilgrimage-centered,and focused on appealsfor personal help. And we can now addthat at the beginning of the period it was very largely localized. It was, however,in the process of changing from a locally- and regionally-basedreligion to one of imperial favorand preferment.This change can be traced in the thought of Eusebius of Caesarea,one of the four or five most influential bishops of the East (Chesnut 1986: 123). Eusebius was born in Caesarea around 260 C.E. and became bishop
of the city in approximately313. The localized nature of Christianity in the latter part of the third century
82
SSepphoris
*
Sea of
CAmudim
Eleutheropolis Gaza
Magdala
Gamla Kanaf
can be seen in his Onomasticon, a list of biblical places in Roman Palestine, which has recently been redatedto the period before 303 (Barnes1975;Groh 1986a).This early work shows that his knowledge of local Christian places was entirely literary (Groh 1986a).He focused on Jerusalemand its library (Grant 1980:41-42) and on Caesarea and its library (Wilkinson 1974; Chesnut 1986: 119-20). But to steal a quip of the writer Saki (HectorHugh Munro, 1870-1916) about the people of Cyprus, the Christians of Palestine "mademore history than they could consume locally."And it was inevitable that one of the most creative Christian writers of our period would tackle in a wholly different way than Origen (Barnes1981:96-97; Groh 1986a:29 and note 39) the problems of place and universal history from a Christian perspective. We are now positioned-thanks
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
to a series of brilliant studies (Barnes 1977, 1980, 1981;Grant 1980),alreadywell-criticized (Chesnut 1983; 1986)-to know how Eusebius' thought progressedfrom the closing years of the third century through the various editions of his Ecclesiastical History and in his writings continuing up to his death on May 30, 339 (Barnes1981:279; see also Deferrari 1953). Scholars disagreeover exactly how early to place the first edition of Eusebius'History and exactly where that history broke off; but all are agreedthat it was written before 303 C.E. and comprised, for the most part, the present books I through VII. Thanks to Barnes(1981:104)we know how much it reveals the mind of a Palestinian churchman years before he could even conceive of a Christian emperor,let alone embrace one. Alreadywe see in that first edition a writer who considered the
A
New
Chronologyfor the
present generally accepted Atchronology for Syria-Palestinesets
the transition from the Late Roman (RomanIII)to the EarlyByzantine period (ByzantineI) at the year 324 C.E. (see Avi-Yonah1975:chronological tables)the year that Constantine the Great defeated Licinius, the emperorof the East, and united the Roman Empire. Thus, Late Roman is designated as 180-324, and Early Byzantine 324-451. To take the village evidence into account is already to begin to see that Jewish and Christian daily life had very little to do with the great dates of Late Romanhistory that were so signally important in the capital cities. Earthquake,not politics, makes the year306 C.E.an attentiongrabberin the lives of the villagers who had to rebuild their beloved synagogues without anyoutside appealor money (as testified by sameness of plan and immediacy of rebuildingwithout intervening abandonment) at Khirbet Shemac (Meyers 1981a), Gush Halav (Meyers 1981b),Nabratein (Meyers,Strange,and Meyers 1982: 35), Hammath Tiberias (Dothan 1983:27),and so on (see Russell 1985). As befits an agricultural world, years of droughtget special mention in both ecclesiastical (312/13C.E.in book 9, chapter 8 of Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History; see Deferrari1953)and rabbinic sources (Sperber1978: 90-92). Water tables, rather than historical watersheds, thus become the most crucial and ubiquitous factors in site settlement and stability (Urman 1985: 80-81). Many excavators, therefore, have not found the older periodization useful in their attempts to distinguish strata (Strange1977: 66-67). This is why Eric Meyers (1981b; but see also Meyers, Meyers,and Strange,in press) proposes that at Gush Halav the Late Roman period be regardedas running from 250 to 363 (phasea, 250-306; phase b, 306363). What he suggests for Gush Halav, I am proposing in revised form for the region as a whole. In the broadest terms, I suggest the following new chronology:
Late
Antiquity
Late Roman circa 250-363 circa 250-306 phase a b 306-363 phase EarlyByzantine 363-419 This scheme recognizes a continuity of culture across the late third and fourth centuries and it takes into account important subperiods in the histories of various sites. Site histories vary, of course, but, based on a study of our best excavatedand scrutinized sites, I believe this chronology will hold for most. The following is a summary of the reasons for this. Late Roman, phase a The middle of the thirdcentury,certainly no later than the death of Gallienus in 268, witnessed the stirrings of something new. A phenomenal amount of new building occurred at a variety of sites. The building often involved synagogues-which, from a socioeconomic and historical perspective, suggests the presence of surplus wealth. The first synagogue at Khirbet Shemac is from this period, a period that also corresponds to the site's independence from nearby Meiron (Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange 1976: 16; Meyers 1981a). The first synagogue of Gush Halav was foundedat mid-century(Meyers,Strange, Meyers,and Hanson 1979).Around 250 a rebuilding period at Meiron inauguratedthe late periodof that site's floruit, and the great synagogue there was founded just after 284 (Meyers,Meyers, and Strange 1978). Phase a may well have a subphase beginning around 280 or 290. In the latter part of these decades there occurred the founding of synagogues at Horvat ha-cAmudim (Levine 1981b: 8) and Chorazin (Yeivin 1973), as well as building and repairor rebuildingof citywalls at Caesarea(Finocchi 1966;Levine 1975a: 13 and note 73) and Mampsis (Negev 1974).At sites such as Magdala, various structures and sections were rebuilt or repaired(Loffreda1976). In addition to the surge in building, we see the appearanceof new ceramics
in this period. After almost a century of absence, imported fine pottery began to appear all across both Galilees (Groh 1977).African forms led the way in the closing decades of the third century (Groh1986b;Loffreda1976:figure 10.23); such imports continued all through the next phase (Groh 1981b),marking the continuity of this period through the mid-fourthcentury. It is not just the presence of the new but the absence of the old and familiar that distinguishes this phase.In approximately 250-260 the city coinage of almost everycity in the Eastceased;Ptolemais in Palestine struggled on during the reign of Gallienus, in which time it ceased minting (Kadman1961: 59-62). A hoardof Syrian tetradrachms,lovingly assembledaround215-270 by a single hand, marks the end of such coinage (Spijkerman1958-1959: 294). The predominant mint represented at midthird-century Capernaum is that of Antioch (Spijkerman1975: 81-86), and this mint is also well representedin the north of Israel during the third and fourth centuries (Meyers,Kraabel,and Strange 1976: 168-69). It was this imperial coinage, and not the long-gone city coinage, that we use to date our evidence, an imperial coinage tied closely to the administrative concerns of Diocletian and his successors (Hendy 1972:81-82). The end of this phase came with the earthquakeof 306, which leveled structures at KhirbetShemac (Meyers198la), Gush Halav (Meyers 1981b),Nabratein (Meyers, Strange, and Meyers 1982), Hammath Tiberias (Dothan 1983: 67), and possibly Mampsis (see Negev 1974). The activity of rebuilding at the sites mentioned above, with no period of abandonment, marks the beginning of the next phase. The end of this phase is more difficult to determine, but evidence fora date aroundthe middle of the (Continuedon page 84.)
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
83
fourth century is impressive and still growing(Nathanson1981,1986).Around this time we see abandonment (for instance, Meiron and Nabratein),destruction (for example, Sepphoris and Beth Shecarim),and earthquakedamage (occurring in 363 at such sites as Gush Halav and KhirbetShemac-see Russell 1980).No single cause can be seen as the terminus for this phase. For instance, the earthquake of 363 affected none of the sites around the Kinneret (such as Capernaum, Tiberias, and Hammath Tiberias-see Nathanson 1981: 111; Dothan 1983: 67). The cleanly dug and clearly recordeddestruction of the midfourth century that seals the site of Sepphoris (Meyers,Netzer, and Meyers 1986: 12, 18) thus far presents no clear signs of seismic destruction (Groh 1987b), and its fourth-century transition could well be attributed to postrevolt or some other disturbance. Still, as Meyers(1982)has written, "afarbetter case for discontinuity in material culture can be made for the mid-fourthcentury than for 324 when speaking about the remains from material culture,"and we will probablynot go far wrong in assigning the year 363 as the latest possible terminus for this phase. This date takes in sites abandoned,sites affected by the Gallus Revoltof 352, sites affected (if any)by Julian'sfailurein 361 to 363 to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and sites damagedby the earthquakeof 363. The termination of this phase at 363 also means that the period around 350, which saw the floruit of the Jewish villages and rabbinic schools of the Golan (Urman 1985: 183), is included and that the superbclustering of datable imported ceramics precisely at this point (Groh 1981b)is registered. EarlyByzantine I must confess some nervousness at not continuing the Late Roman period into the opening yearsof the fifth century.[It is standard practice in Cyprus to call the fifth and sixth centuries "Late Roman," since there is no true break in the fourth century. Unlike Syria-Palestine, there is enormous cultural continuity between the Roman and "Byzantine" periodsEditor.] The continuance of Khirbet Shemac until the earthquake of 419
84
could be seen to argue for this (Meyers squeezing out the smaller peasant-hold1981a),althoughthat site was somewhat ers (Sperber 1978: 134-35). Thus, we damaged by the 363 quake (Meyers, now date the colonate in Palestine to Kraabel,and Strange1976:36).Similarly, 383/88 C.E.,instead of 331 (Sperber 1978: one could point to the continuance of 134-35). Hammath Tiberias from 306 right Certainly the greatchurch building through the earthquakeof 419, with no that Empress Eudocia did in the Holy trace of any mid-fourth-centurydamage Landin the 420s (areaH, Ophel; Ovadiah 1977) provides us with the end date (Dothan 1983:67). Most problematic to the case for for Early Byzantine. Moreover, a new ending the LateRomanPeriodat 363 C.E. import form appearedthroughout the is the unbroken continuity of Caper- Holy Land in the opening years of the naum village to the middle of the fifth fifth century: "PhocaeanRed Slip Ware" century (Corbo 1975: 215-16). So much (Groh 1981b:plate 8.30; with respect to is going on at Capernaumin the second pages 130-31, see also 1986b).This form half of the fourth century; however, I continued until the end of antiquity as suspect they should have begun a new the best represented form in Upper period (atleast) in the closing decades of Galilee. the fourth century. Both the lateness of the synagogue (by their own revised admission: Loffreda 1981) and, at the insistence of James Strange (1977: 68), the Octagonal Church argue for major church of Palestine to be second to change at the site, as do relatedbuilding efforts (forexample, pavement A of the none, whose links with Jerusalem led to the special honor paid to the insula sacra: Strange 1979). See of Jerusalemat the Council of Despite these problems, there is much evidence for a building boom in Nicaea in 325 C.E. (Groh 1977).But the late fourthandearlyfifth centurieswe also see a Christian who firmly for instance, Horvat Susiya (Gutman, believed in religious tolerance and Yeivin, and Netzer 1981), Eshtemoa in the passive and peaceful coexistence the south (Yeivin 1981),and the expanof the Christian church with the state sion of local glass-making to Jalme and other religions (Barnes1981:136, (Johnson 1973: 2-6). The numerous 142, 146-47; Chesnut 1983).The fifth-century synagogues of the Golan also would seem to be part of a new years from 303 through 311 eliminated Eusebius'religious tolerance building period: for instance, Qasrin, cAssalieh, Kanaf, cEn Nashut (MaCoz (Barnes1981: 162;Chesnut 1983). Someone in the imperial chan1981).A slight clustering of inscriptional activity in the late fourth and early cery with a very darksense of humor fifth centuries and after should be noindeed picked the Feastof Terminalia ticed (Kloner 1981, Naveh 1981) and February23, 303 (Barnes ("Endings"), perhaps the rise of Christian inscrip1981: to 21), begin the totally untional testimony (if it dates to the early expected and grisly persecution of fifth century: Ovadiah 1977). Wider Christians. That persecution ran economic changesbracketoff the period in of 363 to 419. The law of ValentinianI sporadicallyin the East from 303 366/367 requiring taxes to be paid in through 311, with mounting viciousness. Eusebius witnessed much of it; gold moved provincials towards an inflexible gold standard (Sperber 1974: for most Palestinian Christians, as 181) and removed their hedge against well as huge numbers of Christians inflation. The movement toward large from Egypt,were brought to his city estates, accompanied by the predatory for trial or execution (Barnes1981: practices of the wealthy against the less 150).He set down the heroism of wealthy, which was building throughPalestinian Christians in the long out the century,acceleratedprecisely in his Martyrsof Palestine recession of the second half of the fourth century,
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
in 311 C.E. and retouched it in or after 313 (Barnes1980).It is the Martyrsof Palestine that also shows
Constantine's in
villagers effects and
324 C.E. meant
in
Empire
of
unification Palestine
the
to
less than
the
of
a
drought, earthquakes, changing economy.
Constantine (shown above in a fragmentof a marble statue currentlyin the ConsistoryPalace in Rome)was the first Christian emperorof the empire.Despite the urgingsof Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea,and his fellow Christians of the East, Constantine did not persecute nonChristians and in fact was more restrained than Julian,a subsequent emperorwho, as a pagan, proclaimed a general toleration of other religions. It should be noted, however, that Julian (shown below in a statue portrayinghim in the guise of a Greekphilosopher)disliked Christianity and sought to discredit it. The photographof the statue of Julianis used courtesy of Max Hirmer.
us the heightened stripe of local pride in Palestine as a special "Christian"place (Groh 1979: 89, 1986a);in the next century there was an all-out battle to make Palestine a Christian Holy Land (Wilken 1985). In this document, we can see Palestinian Christians in a bit wider perspective:They are from Scythopolis (Beth-shean),Gaza, Gadera, Eleutheropolis, Caesarea (Barnes 1981: 150-53). They are primarily Greek speakers,but our thirdcentury Christian graffiti in Syriac are confirmed in the presence of the lector from Scythopolis who is an interpreterof Syriacbut whose Greek is so good he can quote Homer contemptuously to his persecutor (compareBarnes 1981: 150). That partiality to Homer by residents of Beth-sheanwas confirmed over a century later when a Jew named Leontius embellished the floor of his house with a scene and a quote from Homer (Tzori1975). The Christians dragoonedfor trial at Caesareahad alreadybegun to take more distinctively Christian names: Agapius, Zaccheus, Timothy, Paul, Thecla (compareBarnes 1981: 151-53); and the last shows us again the very diverse characterof Palestinian Christianity, for she was a
Christian schismatic, a Montanist in (Barnes1981: 151-52; "Phrygian" the text). We are only just beginning to understandthe damage that persecution did to the hopes of all peoples of the East for religious toleration. But we can now watch Eusebius'jaw slowly tightening on the bitter pipe of religious hatred through subsequent editions of the Ecclesiastical History over the next twenty-odd years. By 335 its signs were apparent (Chesnut 1986: 134-36; alreadyby 315, Barnes 1981: 162),and by 337 (Lifeof Constantine) it was irrevocable: Good emperors stamp out all other religions (Chesnut 1986: 136). It took Eusebius a long time to come to this position because Christians of the East had seen something else in the persecutions of 303 through 311:They had seen lifelong Christians lapse. Chesnut (1986: 122)must surely be right when he attributes Eusebius'silence on his predecessor bishop in Caesareato the fact that he lapsed in the persecution. The new mind of Christianity in the East was haunted by betrayal after a lifetime of believing obedience (Groh 198la; Greggand Groh 1981:180-83). If even Christian bishops could go
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
85
Theprosperityof the villagersof Kefar Barcamin the UpperGalilee during the third and fourth centuries C.E.is suggested by their having had two synagogues.The smaller one (designatedB by scholars)no longer survives, but a fragmentof a lintel, which is preserved in the Louvre,has a Hebrew inscription that says "Maythere be peace on this place and in all the places of Israel. Josethe Levite,son of Levi,made this lintel. May his activities [or property]be blessed. Shalom"(Naveh 1981). The workman, or donor,mentioned here is also referredto on the lintel of a synagogue at nearby cAlma. The largersynagogue (designatedA) at Barcamalso has a Hebrew inscription. Cut into a stone set under the window of the east portal of the facade (on the right of the photographshown here),it says, 'Architect:Eleazarbar Yudan"(Chiat 1982:30). The name bar Yudan(son of Yudan) also occurs in a fragmentaryAramaic inscription found at Naveh in southern Batanaea (an area east of the Golan).
back to paganism when it suited their advantage,there was no certainty that a recent imperial convert like the ambitious Constantine would not return to his old ways if the winds of his personal fortunes shifted. Thus, it is clear that Eusebius did not feel he could unreservedly praise Constantine until he was safely dead and still a Christian. Reviving a classical commonplace (also seen in the Apocryphain Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesusthe Son of Sirach 11:28),he wrote: Henceforward,indeed, there is a full and free opportunity for celebrating in every way the praises of this truly blessed prince, which hitherto we have been unable to do, on the ground that we are forbiddento judge anyone blessed before his death, because of the uncertain vicissitudes of life (I.12;see Schaffand Wace 1890:485). It should be pointed out, as well, that to Constantine'seternal credit he resisted, as did his successors, the urgings of Eusebius and his fellow Christians of the East to persecute (Barnes1981:210). A Christian from his early years, he would fulminate at other religions (Barnes 1976)but he stayed his hand from
86
actual persecution; recent research perial (Cohen 1976:Bachrach1985) into the import of his legislation on and patristic sources in these centhe Jewssubstantiates this (Cohen turies Krauss (1893;1894),as someone once observedabout the works 1976).In fact, Constantine has provedhimself more tolerant toward of the nineteenth-century composer other religions than even the pagan RichardWagner,"werenot as bad as emperorJulianwho ruled from 361 they sounded."The rabbisof Caesarea to 363 (Armstrong1985)and whose (Lieberman1939-1944;Levine 1975b: hatred of Christians has left us little 95-106), Tiberias (Kimelman 1977), reminders in the "OneGod"inscrip- and the Golan Heights (Urman 1981) tions of late antiquity (Negev 1977: are almost unparalleledin their But in the cities and towns of unruffled brilliance. 77). But it is when the material culPalestine, the years of 303 through 311 did their dirty work and helped ture is surveyedthat one realizes ensure that the battle for the Chris- what a great floruit of Jewish life tianization of regions-like the transpired.Whole villages, with their northern Negeb-would be carried synagogues,schools, and houses, apon in the nastiest possible terms. parently formed in the Upper Galilee and Golan a Jewish land within "theLand"(Groh 1977;Nathanson The Jewish Community In contrast to the Christians of our The wealthy Jewishfamilies 1986). the seem almost oblivithe of Patrician and Lintel houses at Jews period, ous to the epoch-making changes of Meiron may be typical of how good their age. The dimmest outline of a it was to be Jewishup to at least the "faceless"gentile does appearin Jew- 360s (Meyers,Strange,and Meyers ish sources (Neusner 1985),and we 1981a:50-76)-though our enthusiasm find the odd trace of a debate bemust be dampened somewhat by the tween a Jewand a Jewish-Christian pain of the less powerfulpeasant(Manns 1977);but on the whole one holders (Sperber1978).The boom in is struck by how completely, and building synagoguesmeant there was pious work to be had for Jewish how securely, the Jewsof Palestine were focused on their main business: workmenlike JosebarLeviand Joseph being Jewish(compareNeusner 1985). bar Nahum, who carriedon conLike Constantine on the Jews,imstruction at Barcamand Gush Halav
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
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.
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.
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Although we only have a few examples of Jewish artistic expressionfrom Late Roman Palestine, something of its power and confidence can be seen in this fragmentof a Torah shrine found at Nabratein and in this synagoguefrieze from Chorazin.The representational beauty of the two lions in the formerand the head of Medusa (orperhapsHelios) in the latter may have been made possible by a rabbinic relaxation of the Second Commandment (against idolatry). The fragmentfrom Nabrateinis also significant because it was reused. Damaged somewhat by the earthquakein 306 C.E., it could not be put back into its originalplace on the Torahshrine when the synagogue was restored.Neither, it seems, could it simply be discarded. Rather,it was reverentiallybuilt into the repairedbema (the platform on which the Torahwas read), which was the focus of worship.
(compareSaller 1972: 19, 52, and 54). And this was the period of the great floruit of the catacombs at Beth Shecarim (Mazar1973:212), where Diaspora Jewswho could affordit had their bones sent to rest in terra sancta, and of ossuary burial, unbotheredby the qualms of later Jews when the practice was taken overby Christians (Figueras1983: 10-12). Only the tiniest of Jewishartistic expression has survived from this period, but we can glimpse something of its power and confidence in the glorious synagoguedecorations of the Galilee and Golan, in the solemn representationalbeauty of the fragment of the Torahshrine found at Nabratein (Meyers,Strange, and Meyers 1981b),in the lifelike human representations of the zodiac mosaic at Hammath Tiberias(Dothan 1983)and in the synagoguefrieze at Chorazin. LaterJewswould attribute such triumphs as these to a rabbinic relaxation of the Second Commandment (againstidolatry),but they are as easily attributableto a Judaism fully confident that it could incorporate Late Roman tastes into itself. Yethere, as in Christianity of the period, there was also great diversity and subregionaldistinctiveness. The LowerGalilee spoke primarily Greek, reserving Hebrew and Aramaic for its formal dedications. The Upper Galilee and Golan spoke Aramaic and were forceful in their turning away from human representational conventions (Meyers1985). We are only beginning to understand the Judaism(s)of this period, and many questions remain. What kind of Judaismwas it that in the most orthodox of areas ensured the proper placement of mikvaot and then built a synagogue next to a cemetery (Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange 1976: 258)? What kind of Judaism was it that paid for a synagogue floor that included depictions of nude, uncircumcised, males (Dothan 1983: 48)? What kind of Judaism was it that used Sepphoris as a bedroom community for highly
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
87
rr &
.
.
1'
•
a
1'".
88
The mosaic floor of the fourth-century-C.E. synagogueat Hammath Tiberiasin Galilee suggests the diversity of Judaismin Late Roman Palestine. The floor features inscriptions in threelanguages-Greek, Hebrew,and Aramaic-and includes, in addition to the traditional depictions of a Torahshrine and menorahs, a zodiac panel. In the center of this panel, the sungod Helios is shown riding in the chariot of the heavens above the sea (the figureis partially coveredin the photographbelow by the wall of a later synagogue),his arm raised in a gesture of might and blessing. He is surroundedby the signs of the zodiac, each identified in Hebrew In each of the four cornersof the panel a female head, with Hebrew inscription, represents one of the seasons. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew for "Deli-Aquarius (shown in detail on the left) has been reversedin what the excavatorcalls mirror-writing(Dothan 1983:46). Also, the nude males in the mosaic (as, for instance, in the detail above)are represented as uncircumcised. Illustrations courtesy of the Israel ExplorationSociety.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
We
get
glimpse
a
the
of
and
power confidence _
_
_
_
-
-I-
I
of
- Ei--------
Jewish
-F
I
-j
artistic
in
expression the lifelike
human
figures in
displayed
01,1
zodiac
mosaic
Hamnafth
,-
4,,
?
1
-
2,7
at
Tiberias.
observant Jews,when pig bones and paganbronzes turn up in the excavations? (Comparethe diversity of Sepphorisin Meyers,Netzer, and Meyers 1986;the pig bones have been identified in the excavations directed by JamesE Strange.)Excavations at sites where Jews,Christians, pagans, Samaritans,and JewishChristians3all lived together are only now beginning. One thing, however,is alreadyclear:Judaismin Late Roman Palestine was marvelously rich and diverse.
/
C
the
s
The End of a Crisis/Decline Model for Late Roman Palestine Our look at the Jewish and Christian communities of Palestine in the Late Roman period might lead us to wonder why the idea that the region experienced crisis and decline persisted for so long. This is a question, I think, that must be addressedif one is to make effective use of much of the scholarship on the periodscholarship that, howevertroubled by serious flaws, is still very valuable. It is not possible to fully answer the question of why our emerging picture of Late Roman Palestine is in such disjuncturewith the previous generation'sscholarship.At this stage of my own thinking, I can only
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Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
Shown here are the remains and a reconstruction of the synagogue at Gush Halav in UpperGalilee. This structure,located in the wadi (orlower) sector of the site, was built in 250 c.E. A four-lineinscription in Aramaic, found on the southeast column (the lower left of the photograph),says, "Jose,son of Nahum, / made this [column?]./ May it be for him / a blessing"(Meyers,Strange,Meyers, and Hanson 1979). The synagogue was damaged by earthquakes,and repaired,in 306, 363, and 447 and finally destroyedby a quake in 551. The upperpart of Gush Halav was also the site of a synagogue,although it has been suggested that this sector was Jewish-Christian(see Bagatti 1971).The reconstructiondrawing is by Lawrence Belkin.
indicate some of the new factors that have begun to adjust my picture of this age. First, there has been a rise in regional study. The previous generation was eager to connect individual sites to the empire-wide scheme of a given age. But the study of regions and subregions of a country may not support such a widely drawnpicture. Thus, we have seen a burgeoning Palestine at the very time that Athens was not only in decline but partly in ruins (Millar 1969).Provinces and subregions of the Eastern Mediterraneanweathered the thirdcentury crises differently.Palestine was sparedthe full consequences of barbarianincursion and experienced only the mildest tremors from revolts that tore other areas apart (Avi-Yonah 1969: 170-71). But the magnetic attraction of writing an empire-wide history drew the very same notices of battle and incursion towardsan opposite conclusion: that Palestine experienced devastation and decline (Avi-Yonah1976: 20). The brilliant Franciscanexcavators of Capernaumshowed how hard it would be to connect individual sites in the Galilee to an empirewide model of crisis and decline. Given the terrible crises of the third century, they were surprisedto discover at Capernauma "naturaland progressivedevelopment of the city through the entire Roman Byzantine period"(Corbo 1975: 215). Second, recent archaeological excavations have providedus with a different kind of site and a new cast of characters.We now have over a decade of excavations in town and village sites. If the previous generation of archaeologists was drawn to the great cities of the Empire and of Palestine, the present generation has turned its attention more to site and settlement patterns of towns and villages. In the towns and the villages we now see a burgeoning of material life that partially offsets the old picture of decline in size and population of the late antique city.
EICBE ORD~l
19
DtYAoIEPr NLT y /r) 3Nf 1,bY
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yf4
This five-line inscription, about 60 centimeters wide and dating to around 300 C.E., is one of twenty-eight found on a rock next to a road that crosses the WadiHaggagin the central northeasternSinai. Excludingthe three letters on the right side of the top line, the inscription says, in Greekreadingfrom left to right, "Onegod who helps Valeriusson of Antigonus, strategos. Thirdindiction year."The mention of the deity, which takes up the first two lines, is an acclamation that was used in variousforms by Jewsand Christiansin Egypt,Palestine, and Syria.It has been suggested that the three additional letters serve to amplify this: Reading this time from right to left, as in Hebrew,the first letter (a Greek theta) and the third letter (a Greekupsilon) are the initial letters for a Greekphrasemeaning "godhighest,"which, in addition to Jewish associations, is connected with a pagan cult of Zeus that was very strongin Egyptaround the turn of the era; between these is a non-Greekletter identified as a Hebrew The inscription may thus be read as "One dalet, the final letter in the Hebrew word for "one." god, one highest god, who helps Valerius. . . ."The figures at the right end of the second line and in the middle of the fifth line have been interpretedas palm branches,a symbol used in both pagan and Christianinscriptions;the one in the second line, however, with only seven branches,may representa menorah. The person who engravedthis, Valeriusson of Antigonus, was probably an EgyptianJew,travellingon official business ("strategos" is an official title) in the company of gentile soldiers; camped for the night in forbiddingcountry,he resortedto an all-purposeinscription (one using elements familiar to gentiles, Jews,and Christians).Foran extensive discussion of this and other inscriptions found at WadiHaggag,see Negev (1983).
This means we have been discoveringevidence about the common people of late antiquity, which tends to correct an older historical picture dominated by the great and politically powerfulpersons whose careersand lives naturally tend to dominate literary-historicalsources. Through archaeologywe are learning to bend closer to the ground for our evidence, nearerto our own humanity, to hear the voices of people who speak so softly because of the passage of time and their own low station. We are beginning to notice the long pilgrimageone Nabatean had to make from his native language to the Greek language (Negev 1977:26, number 69); the donor or
workman who miswrote his Hebrew (Dothan 1983:46, 53);the Egyptian Jewish official, far from Egypt in the company of gentile soldiers, borrowing an all-purposeformula to invoke his god (Negev 1977:62-66); the cries of succor that ease the heavy burdens of individuation (Strange 1983: 19).For,on sites large and small, the history of Palestine is the history of all its people in this and every period. Third, advances in the Late Roman period help us to reinterpret decline evidence. PeterBrown (1978; 1980; 1981; 1982)has helped historians look at late antique evidence in new ways. Thus we must reexamine and reevaluatethe pieces of evidence
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
91
put forwardin support of decline. There is not space to do that fully here, but let me present a few examples: the building of city-walls, the reuse of architecturalparts in new buildings, and the existence of inflation. PeterBrown (1978: 112,note 14) reminds us that the building of citywalls is not necessarily an indication of a city in crisis. Similarly,is the production of new buildings out of earlier structuralelements, which of course produces an unevenness in appearance,proportion,and symmetry, necessarily evidence of a material decline and hardtimes? Not if one follows H. P.L'Orange'sbrilliant analysis of what he calls a "newaesthetic"that began precisely in the era of the Tetrarchy.Instead of a situation where the whole is an organic outgrowth of its parts (as in classical ordersand artistic programs),the typical building of the late third and early fourth centuries C.E.is characterized by the subordination of its parts to the whole: The eye is no longer fixed upon the separatebuilding parts.This is the reason why the flood of antique spolia, i.e., building parts taken from earlier monuments, are admitted into the architecture of LateAntiquity, where they may be reemployed for essentially different architectural purposes, unhampered by their original tectonic function ....
Characteristically
abstract,peculiarly far-seeing and thereforesummary,the glance skips over detail and articulation in order to rest with mass and dimension (L'Orange 1965: 14-15). Thus, reuse does not have to mean hard times but rather a new aesthetic in material culture-possibly corresponding to, though not directly caused by, new theologies and philosophies of the age (L'Orange 1965: 126). Over a decade of arguing this point with classical architects on sites in which late antique build-
92
the Beisan and Jezreelvalleys (Zori 1977).Forothers, especially the Galilee and Golan, a new precision in literary (Freyne1980)and archaehave more we now ological researchis underway. than a decade of Ratherthan speaking about "the Galilee"and "theGolan,"we must at excavations now discuss the two Galilees (Meyers1976, 1985)and the two and town Golans (Urman 1985: 180-81). People worshipped,worked, and shed sites-has shopped (traded)in differentways, in t h e on diverse architecturalstructures, in light new various languages in each of these subregions of the country. Yet,for all the diversity and disof crisis model tinctiveness of individual sites in the north, very smart thinking and and decline. tinkering with subregional cultural influences (ceramics,construction techniques) "pointto a common culture that is provincial, Roman, and ings were under excavation has at 'oriental'"(Meyers1981c). least convinced me of L'Orange's Such a provincial culture is best point. There is an aesthetic that apviewed as something of a renaispears around 300 C.E. in art and arsance of town and village life in the chitecture that in its completed form sets the late antique material Holy Land.Relatively insulated culture off from earlier artistic peri- from the crosscurrentsof imperial ods. Thus, the new buildings of late power and patrician politics, the antiquity may be taken by some as a hardy townsfolk and tradersof Late Roman Palestine marked off their crisis in taste but not as a crisis in progressin years by a calendarof wealth. As for the terrible inflation of natural bounty and disaster (forinthe third and fourth centuries, this stance, the year 306), ratherthan by stanon what the monetary great dates assigned by modern depends by dardwe measure it. The gold and sil- historians (forinstance, the year ver reforms of Diocletian and Con324). As they lived and worked, they stantine did help inflate prices a prospered.They did not amass the but this deal time, only great fortunes of the first families of during great if these are measured in terms of the late antiquity but their lives, houses, and artistic achievements can in no debased silver or bronze coinage. Measuredin gold, prices in fourthway be described or evaluatedby about not were Palestine only appeal to any crisis/decline model. century The religious partisans of our the same for basic goods as they were in the third century but were period shared this time differently. We see a transitional Christianity, also at about the same cost ratio as of to that Egypt (Sperber being shaped by experiences that compared will have final import for the history 1974:94-96, 132, 150, 174-77).
Regional
study-
village
Empire-wide
Conclusions Regional study is the orderof the day.Forsome regions this process is only just underway:for instance, for the Negeb (Negev 1974;Figueras 1981),the Sinai (Negev 1977),and
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
of the Holy Land only in the next archaeological period, when the Octagonal Church at Capernaum faces the late synagogue (competitive building at the least!). We also see something of the Jewish life of the period-its mannered oblivion
in the face of the Christian presence, its tenacious attachment to synagoguecentered village life, its manifold creative material expression: a very good time to be Jewish, indeed! In this article it was my hope to communicate to the reader, both professional and lay, something of the amazing variety and vibrancy of Jewish and Christian life in Late Roman Palestine. If I have done so, I can assuage my guilt over how much has been left for others to say and, because life is short, to find.
Acknowledgments This article is based on part of the William C. Winslow Lectures to be delivered at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, in October 1988 (see also Groh 1987a). I wish to express my appreciation to Seabury-Western and its Lectures Committee for affording me the opportunity to draw these thoughts together. Renovation of the Joint Garrett/Seabury library facilities has indebted me to the library staff, especially David Himrod, who helped me assemble materials. This article is offered in loving memory of Yigal Shiloh (1937-1987), finest of archaeologists and dearest of friends. To borrow from synagogue formulary of antiquity, "may blessing come upon him" for his deeds.
Notes 'It has recently been estimated that the total population of Palestine during this period was arounda million people (1958)view (Broshi1979: 7). Avi-Yonah's of the relative density of site settlement, although based on a higher estimate of the population, is probablystill correct: Forevery site that existed duringthe Canaanite period (priorto around 1200
when RobertC. Greggcompletes his research on the Greek inscriptions of the Golan, including their findspots. Although the important question of Jewish-Christianity has already generated
an enormous literature (Manns 1979),it is only in its infancy (Manns 1977, 1981). 4There is supportfor the idea that the tastes of the people were changing in this period in the returnof fine imported table wares to the households of the Upper Galilee and Kinneret.It is precisely in the last decade of the third century C.E. and continuing through the fourth that the three main imported fine wares of late antiquity appearin households of both Galilees (Meyers,Strange,and Groh 1978).By the mid-fourthcentury in LateRomanPalestine,the verywealthy villager was especially taken by a red ware bowl with "twopart flaring rim" and "curved slightly sagging body" (Groh 1981b). Found across the country on sites, but never in large numbers, this form was apparently an aesthetic prize that a first family of the village could not do without. I should mention, of course, that this return does not apply to all sites. For instance, the great coastal city of Caesarea Maritima showed a steady and full ceramic vocabulary throughout this period; but this is because, as a bustling Eastern seaport, it experienced uninterrupted trade with other Mediterranean ports (compare Riley 1975).
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Strange, J.FE 1977 The Capernaum and Herodian Publications. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 226: 65-73. 1979 The Capernaum and Herodian Publications, Part 2. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 233: 63-69. 1983 Diversity in Early Palestinian Christianity, Some Archaeological Evidences. Anglican Theological Review 65: 14-24. Tzori, N. 1975 Beth-Shean. City Area at the Foot of the Mound. Pp. 225-28 in Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, volume 1, edited by M. Avi-Yonah. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Urman, D. 1981 Jewish Inscriptions from the Village of Dabbura in the Golan. Pp. 154-56 in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, edited by L. I. Levine. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
1985
The Golan. A Profile of a Region During the Roman and Byzantine Periods. Series: BAR International Series 269. Oxford: BAR. Wilken, R. D. 1985 The Restoration of Israel in Biblical Prophecy: Christian and Jewish Responses in the Early Byzantine Period. Pp. 443-71 in "To See Ourselves as Others See Us," edited by J. Neusner and E. S. Frerichs. Chico, CA: Scholars Press. Wilkinson, J. 1974 Lapport de Sainte Jerome a la topographie. Revue Biblique 81: 245-57. Yeivin, Z. 1973 Excavations at Khorazin. Eretz Israel 11: 144-57. (Hebrew) 1981 The Synagogue of Eshtemoa. Pp. 120-22 in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, edited by L. I. Levine. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Zori, N. 1977 The Land of Issachar. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. (Hebrew)
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98
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
by
Cynthia
L.
Thompson
Hairstyles, ea
an -covering I commend you because you rememberme in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have deliveredthem to you. But I want you to understandthat the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man,' and the head of Christ is God. Any man who praysor prophesieswith his head covereddishonors his head, but any woman who praysor prophesies with her head uncovered2dishonors her head-it is the same as if her head were shaven. Forif a woman will not cover3herself, then she should cut off her hair;but if it is disgracefulfor a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. Fora man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God;but woman is the glory of man. (Forman was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.) That is why a woman ought to have authority over5her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless,in the Lordwoman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.)Judgefor yourselves;is it properfor a woman to prayto God with her head uncovered?Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her pride? Forher hair is given to her for a wrapping.6If any one is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:2-16). Note:This translationis an adaptation by CynthiaThompsonof the RevisedStandard Versionof thetext.TheRSVreadsasfollows:
n 1Corinthians 11:2-16,Paul
recommends appropriatehairstyles and head-coveringsfor men and women. Discussions of this passage have seldom paid much attention to relevant archaeological evidence. Such evidence, however,can be very helpful in clarifying the historical context in which Paul and his congregationlived. In this paperI shall present a selection of artifacts from the museum of the Corinth excavations,unearthed over last ninety years, and discuss what these show us about hairstyles and head-coveringsknown to men and women in the city from the late first century B.C.E.through the midsecond century C.E. In making my selection I have naturally concentrated on artifacts that involve portraiture-marble statues, miniature clay statuettes, and coins. These will be presented, first for men and then for women, in their approximatehistorical order. (1)"thehead of a woman is her husband";(2)"unveiled";(3)"veil"; In my comments I shall draw on the (4)"weara veil";(5)"aveil on";(6)"covering." work of numerous ancient authors (forthose unfamiliar with the authors, see the accompanyingsidebar). Although these artifacts can tell us much, I should make several cautions. First, it must be kept in mind that it is not easy to break through the artistic conventions of portraiture and determine the attire characteristic of everydaylife. There were undoubtedly differences in clothing and hairstyle based on class distinctions (see Meeks 1983), on external circumstances like weather, and on
St
Pa
Portraits0from Roman Corinth
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
99
he city of Corinthwassituated on the narrowisthmus that connectsmainlandGreecewiththe Peloponnesus.Forthe sakeof convenience,its historyis oftendivided into twomajorperiods:the occupationthatoccurredfromearlyGreek times until its destructionin 146 B.C.E.by the Roman consul Lucius
Mummiusis often referredto as Greek Corinth;and the occupation that occurred from 44 B.C.E.,when
Julius Caesarestablishedit as a colony,throughthe Byzantineperiod is referredto as RomanCorinth. (Thesite has also yieldedremains from settlements as early as the Neolithic Age, and, as recent excavationshaverevealed,evenfrom the period from 146 through44 B.C.E.-seeKent 1966:20, note 10; Wiseman1978:15, note 25: 1979). Liketheearliercity,RomanCorinth was both economicallyand politically significantbecause it controlledthe commercialtrafficpassingbetweentheAdriaticandAegean seas. Forovera centuryand a half after its refounding,Italianinfluence is illustrated by the overwhelming predominanceof Latin as the languageused for writing public announcementsin stone (Kent 1966: 18). As time passed, with the influenceof Greekneighattitudesof borsandthe pro-Greek the emperorHadrian,the Greek languagewas increasinglyused.In addition to Italians and Greeks, Corinth contained a variety of people from the easternMediterranean,includingsome fromAsia MinorandsomeJews.This led to a widelydiverseculturein this busy port city between 44 B.C.E.and the first half of the second century C.E.
It wasto peoplein this contextthat himselfinthetwoexPauladdressed tant lettersto the Corinthianchurch.
particularoccupations and activities. Second, because we are looking at a cultural continuum that evolved only gradually,I shall present material from both before and after Paul's residence in Corinth. (He is thought to have stayed there some considerable time between 50 and 60 C.E.) 100
Third, the difficulty in dating these artifacts must be kept in mind. For some, the date of manufacture can be estimated by referringto the strata of earth in which they were found; for most, however,dating must be done by comparingthem stylistically to other objects found throughout the Mediterraneanarea ruled by Rome whose dates are known. Fourth,Greco-Romanartifacts are being used here to attempt to illuminate Christian life. Nevertheless, these artifacts are appropriate for such a task since both before and after the passage in question Paul reminds his Corinthian audience that they were formerly pagan:"Shunthe worship of idols"he says in 10:14;and in 12:2he reminds them, "Youknow that when you were heathen, you were led astrayto dumb idols."In addition, the objects presented here, or similar ones, would have been very familiar to the Christians at Corinth. The marble statues were undoubtedly conspicuously displayed in public areas of the city. The costs of producingthem probablylimited their creation to political or other organizations seeking to honor an individual;to wealthy dignitaries seeking attention, honor, and remembrance;or to members of the Roman imperial family benefiting from the propagandaadvantages of such a display.The clay statuettes, which were of course much cheaper to produce, would have been more widely in evidence and might reflect images of more modest purchasers. The coins, featuringportraits of Roman emperors and their wives, were also an effective means of propaganda,and were, because of their utility in commerce, familiar to all Corinthians. And finally, one must keep in mind the difference in size of the objects presented. The draped marble statue of Augustus is over 6 feet tall, while the heads of the statuettes are mostly under 2 inches in diameter and the coins mostly under 1 inch. Even the smaller objects, however,are rich in detail.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
Thisportraitof anelderlymanis thought to datefromsoonafterCorinth'sreHis partly bald head founding in 44 B.C.E.
is adornedbya wreath,whichforthe actualmanwasprobablymadeof goldor bronze.Thelong,slenderleavesreach fromhis left templeto nearthe centerof his highforehead.Therearetracesof a leavesremaining pairof corresponding on the damagedrightsideof the head. Lowon the backof his heada narrow circletholdsthe leavesin placefromear to ear. Comment:This headmayresembleportraitsof the man'scontemporary, Julius Caesar.He meriteda laurelwreathfor his militaryachievements(although Caesar,who wassaidto combhis thin hairforwardto disguisehis baldness, welcomedthe privilegevotedhim bythe Romansenateof wearinga laurelcrown at all times-Suetonius, The Lives of the Caesars,Book I, The Deified Julius,
45;see Rolfe1960:63).For paragraph Caesarthe laurelwreathwasthe type usedin triumphscelebratingmilitary victories,whenthe victoriousgeneral wouldclimbthe Capitolin Rometo dedicatehis crownto Jupiter.A more simplereligioususe of wreathsis shown bymen'swearingof themforthe sacrifice depictedon the Altarof Peace,a monumentalaltarwith marblefriezes, dedicatedby Augustus in 9 B.C.E.(see Brilliant1974:168).InGreekreligious contexts,wreathsfashionedout of precious metals,particularly gold,arefrequentlylistedin inventoriesof objects dedicatedat shrines.
Men'sHead-coveringsand Hairstylesat Roman Corinth
*
This bronze coin, which was manufacturedin Corinth around the beginningof the common era,featuresthe head of Augustus, the first Romanemperor (who ruled from 27 B.C.E.to 14 C.E.). His head is uncovered,with locks in a regularindented pattern abovehis forehead,overhis head, and resting in short curls along the naturalhairline at the back of the neck. Comment: Suetonius says Augustus had slightly curly hair (TheLives of the Caesars, Book II, the Deified Augustus, paragraph79; see Rolfe 1960:245). Many coins of Corinth representAugustus in similar fashion with no distinguishing ornament on his head. This is in keeping with his policy of acting primus inter pares ("firstamong equals"),as if he were not significantly distinguished from other Romans.After the battle in which he defeatedMarkAntony in 31 B.C.E.,however, he was voted the privilege of wearing a triumphal crown of leaves at all festivals. Accordingly,other coins show Augustus as triumphant, crownedwith a wreath. This larger-than-lifestatue of Augustus making a sacrifice accordingto the Roman rite was displayedprominently in a large civic building at the end of the forum of Roman Corinth, called the JulianBasilica (F.P.Johnson 1931:70-72; Swift 1921a).The statue is reconstructedfrom four pieces and is preservedas a standing figure extending from the head to ankle level of the left leg. His toga, the drapedouter garment of the Roman citizen, is worn overthe head, as it was characteristically in a Roman religious sacrifice, which would have been performedwith the two arms that are missing (Swift 1921a;F.P.Johnson 1931:72). Augustus'head looks slightly to his right. His toga, resting in folds on the left shoulder,rises to coverthe back half of the head and continues in folds over to the right and downward.Partof this head-coveringhas broken off, yet it clearly frames the face, leaving visible a fringe of curled locks falling forwardon the forehead.There is a less conspicuous row of locks higher on the head. The hair in front of the ears curls slightly forward,cut where a boy's hair would be. The face is clean shaven. Comment: Although this statue was erected severaldecades after Augustus'death, the likeness to him is acknowledged. The copying of lifetime models for portraitsof the emperor, which were sent out from Rome throughout the empire, was a customary part of official policy. The religious symbolism of Augustus'coveredhead would have been unmistakable and quite appropriate,since Augustus had become pontifex maximus, the chief priest of Rome, in 13 B.C.E., and since as emperorhe was intent on restoringtraditional piety.
to.a
y
2
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/
"t"
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
101
!V
W
An older man'shead is representedin this clay miniature. The hair abovehis foreheadis combed forwardin short locks, roughly like that of Augustus. While the date of this piece cannot be ascertainedprecisely, it was found in a Roman context (Davidson 1952:59; see also plate 38, number 425).
ra'.. k.?
4
Dated to the early Augustanperiod, this marble portraithead of an unidentified man reflects the hairstyles of his age. Its artistic style is similar to portraitsof the emperor.The man's hair is combed forwardto form slightly uneven locks on his forehead.It is brushedback over the temples and forwardin short sideburnsin front of the ears.The hair is cut so as to bulge slightly abovethe ears, accentuating the geometrical proportionsof the face itself, leaving a youthful cap of hair, although the man'sforeheadis lined. The jaw is clean shaven. See F.P.Johnson 1931:85-86, number 159.)
102
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
The marble head of a boy with a cloth headband,a fillet, is dated by style to the reign of Claudius (41-54 C.E.). Slightly curved locks are combed forwardto framehis forehead, temple to temple. Locks combed into a comma-shapepoint forwardin front of the ear.The fillet runs from abovethe foreheadto the back of the head and is markedby incisions on both sides. The rest of the hair is only vaguely indicatedby a mottled surface.The fillet, keeping his hair in place, probably suggests that the boy is an athlete.
'~*
''~
This bronze coin features the head of the emperorNero (who reigned from 54 to 68 C.E.) looking to the viewer'sright and wearing a laurel crown. His hair is combed forwardin locks that form a fringe aroundhis face. A crown of pairedlaurel leaves runs from the back of and over the head. The supporting ribbon is tied in a bow at the hairline on the back of the neck, and loose ends flow down. The hair encircled by the wreath is shown in slightly curling horizontal locks. Comment: By Nero'stime the laurel wreath had become a conventional attribute of the emperor,as well as being a frequent awardfor victory in athletic and performingcompetitions. Earlyin his reign, Nero learned to play the lyre and sing. He instituted contests in Rome and travelledthroughout the empire competing and winning wreaths, although he sometimes had to reschedule the contests in orderto make personal appearances(Suetonius,The Lives of the Caesars, Book VI,Nero, paragraphs22 and 23; see Rolfe 1970: 119-25). During a stay in Corinth he competed in the Isthmian games, broke groundfor a canal that was to be built overthe isthmus between the Cornithian and Saronicgulfs, and remitted taxes for Corinth (Broneer1962;Wiseman 1979).
(
;
K
,;;
~-
tA~
In this coin issued from Corinth, Hadrian(who reignedfrom 117 to 138 C.E.) is looking to the viewer'sright. He is wearing a laurel wreath and his characteristicbeard-the latter, according to Spartianus(26),to conceal scars on his face. Hair fringes his foreheadin front of the wreath, which runs from projections at the top of the head to tied ribbons at the back hairline. A bow is indicated, and loose ends dangle down his neck. The hair encircled by the wreath is lightly indicatedby short lines, suggesting locks. Emperorssucceeding Hadrian copied his beard.
This over-life-sizedmarble head of Nero was also found in the JulianBasilica. Like Augustus, the emperoris shown with his toga pulled up over the back of his head. Three folds of the toga, drapedoverhis head, are well preserved.Below the folds, which exhibit a small rectangularrise accentuating the lines of the face, Nero'sthick hair falls forward,ending at about mid-ear.At the back the hair continues full to the hairline on the neck. The young man wears a wispy beardbelow his sideburns and beneath his chin. He is apparentlyclean shaven on the lips and aroundthe mouth. Comment: This piece was originally interpretedas Tiberius (Swift 1921b)and later-correctly-as Nero (F.P.Johnson 1926: 169).The beard,unusual for this period, may be a sign of dandyism or a symbol of mourning, possibly at the death of Claudius,his predecessor,or Livia,Augustus'wife (EP.Johnson 1931:76-77).
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
103
Commentaryon Men'sHead-coverings and Hairstyles These examples suggest that men's head-coveringssometimes had religious significance. Paul'scongregation in Corinth would have been familiar with the symbolism of the cloth coveringfrom a toga associated with pagansacrifice or the more vestigial religious meaning of wreaths. Paul himself shows awarenessof prize wreaths and may have a crown from the Isthmian games near Corinth in mind when he compares the perishablewreaths won in athletic contests with the imperishable wreaths Christians are to receive (1 Corinthians 9:25;Broneer 1962). Wreathsfor victory in the athletic and artistic contests held at various Greek religious shrines maintained some religious significance into Roman times. The games nearest Corinthawardedcrownsof (withered) celery or pine. Variousplants were used for prize wreaths: wild olive at Olympia; at Nemea, south of Corinth, wild celery was awarded;and at Delphi the Pythian games offered laurel (Broneer1962, 1971).Wreaths for civic or military distinction had only vestigial religious associations. Also religious was the custom of wearing the toga over the head at sacrifices accordingto the Roman rite. The toga normally rested on the shoulders. So when Paul reminds Christian men to prayand prophesy with head uncovered,the recommendation fits the context of shunning the worship of idols. Paul, with his Jewishbackground,would have experiencedno conflict at men's bareheadedness in prayer; the custom of head-covering by Jewish men, seen in its minimal form in the yarmulke (skull cap) worn by men of the modern orthodox faith, did not develop until long after Paul's time. With respect to the question of hairstyles, it should first be pointed out that Roman men, according to Pliny in his Natural History (book 7, paragraph 59; see Rackham 1961: 649), had adopted the custom of bar-
104
bering-shaving off their beardsand
wars along Rome'seastern frontiers
Scipio Africanus, who lived in the late third and early second century
their hair long within the past remembered in Greek literature. Homer's heroes, about whom Paul probablyread early in his education, are often said to be "long-haired." Statues from the archaic period into classical times (until about 450
wearing short hair-around 300 B.C.E. (Vermeule1986).Men had worn
B.C.E.,
was said to be the first Roman
to shave every day.He was an admirer of culture in Greece, where men's shaving had been fashionable since the time of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E.Accord-
ingly, the portraitsculpture of Rome in the republicanperiod (before31 B.C.E.)
illustrates the kind of men's
short, that Paul hairstyles, trinummed recommends. Thus, it would seem that concerning men's short hair, Paul was in harmony with general Greco-Roman customs as observedin iconography. His argument that "nature,"with its universal implications, teaches men to have short hair, however,ignores important exceptions that, as a Roman citizen with claims to literacy in Greek, should have been known to him. Philosophers, priests, peasants, and barbariansare mentioned as exceptions to the rule of men's short hair by Dio Chrysostom, who criticizes philosophers for making a connection between their long hair and moral superiority: I still maintain that long hair [koman]must not by any means be taken as a mark of virtue. For many human beings wear it long because of some deity; and farmers wear long hair, without ever having even heard the word philosophy; and, by Zeus, most barbarians also wear long hair, some for a coveringand some because they believe it to be becoming. In none of these cases is a man subjected to odium or ridicule (The Thirty-fifth Discourse, Delivered in Celaenae in Phrygia; see Cohoon and Crosby
1961:401). Such long-haired "barbarians"(people outside the Roman Empire) can be seen on a facade built after Paul's time in Corinth (probably during the late second or early third century C.E.) that shows men captured in
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
B.C.E.)
often portray long-haired men.
Such fashions persisted in the depiction of Greek gods, such as Zeus, Dionysus, and Apollo. Statues of archaic men and gods would have been visible to Paul in his travels aroundGreece, for they were seen by the writer Pausaniasover a century later. Paul also leaves aside Samson, the long-hairedhero of the Hebrews (Judges13-16). Why does Paul neglect these exceptions to the custom of men's short hair?He clearly wants to mark the distinction between men and women by the contrast of hairstyles. Paul'szeal for this distinction is illuminated by a parallel passage from Plutarchthat deals with head-covering and hair length. In The Roman Questions (see Babbitt 1962: 25-27) Plutarch contrasts Roman and Greek practices during mourning rites for a person'sfather.Romans grieveby the men coveringtheir heads and the women letting their hair down without any covering.When Greeks mourn, men let their hair grow long whereas women cut theirs short. This, accordingto Plutarch, reverses the usual Greek practice; ordinarily (syne-thes)women have long hair and men have theirs cut. Likewise, Plutarch speculates that the Romans, too, may be reversingnormal custom and that women usually appear in public with head-coverings. This speculative explanation concerning the customs of Roman women, however, is frequently quoted out of context as evidence that Corinthian women regularly wore veils! This is the only significant literary evidence for a general custom of women's wearing head-coverings in Greece in the first century C.E. Interestingly,
Paul and Plutarch independently use ing conviction that in hairstyle and similar terminology, which may sug- head-coveringwomen and men must be different. Paul, too, is anxious to gest that this discussion was somewhat conventional. Both use variants maintain distinctions. of kalyptein for "cover"and contrast Paul is not entirely consistent, koman "havelong hair"with keires- however.It would have been logical, thai "tobe cut."The true importance in his insisting on hair fashions that of Plutarch'spassage is the underlydifferentiate women and men, to
Ancient
recommend that men wear beards. This would certainly have emphasized the contrast between the two sexes. It is interesting that in the next century Hadrianmade beards fashionable once again.
Authors
Apuleius:Bornin Madurain Africain
123 C.E.,Apuleius studied in Carthage, Athens, and Rome. Among his inter-
ests were eastern mysteryreligions, magic,andphilosophy.Afterspending some time in Rome as a rhetorician,
Apuleiusreturnedto his hometownin
Africa. There, like his father before him, he servedas chief magistrate.His extant writings include Metamorphoses (also called The Golden Ass), which is the only novel in Latin that has survived from antiquity (MurphyO'Connor1984);the Apologia; and the Florida, a collection of excerpts from his lectures and orations. See Adlington (1969). Dio Chrysostom: Dio Cocceianus Chrysostomus, the son of a wealthy landowner in Bythinia, was born in Prusa in 40 C.E. Dio was educated in literary,philosophical, and rhetorical studies, and after moving to Rome became a Stoic-Cynic philosopher (Murphy-O'Connor 1984). In 82 C.E. he
History covers the period from the founding of Rome in the eighth century B.C.E.to the turn of the eras. For the work, Livy drew-sometimes too uncritically-on the literary and historical sources that were available to him. His was an interpretativehistory, one which was concerned as much with the cause of events as the events themselves. See Sage (1965). Lucian:Lucian was born in Samosata, a town situated on the Euphrates River,sometime between 120 and 125 C.E. to relatively poor parents.After an apprenticeship to a sculptor, he later studiedrhetoricin Asia Minor.Though his mother tongue was probablyAramaic (Grant1980:260), he learnedand perfectedGreek duringa stay in Ionia. After practicing law, he began lecturing and teaching and spent time in Gaul and Athens. Laterin life he was given an administrativepost in Egypt. Noted for his satirical attacks on Stoicism and Cynics, he wrote over seventy prose works. See Harmon (1961b: vii-xiv). Ovid: Publius Ovidius Naso was born
was banished from Italy and Bythinia, duringthe reign of the emperorDomitian. AfterDomitian'sdeathhis 14-year exile ended and he is reportedto have in 43 B.C.E.of wealthy parents. He was become friends with the emperorTra- trained as a lawyer in Rome but practiced only for a brief time. Ovid turned jan (98-117 C.E.), tOwhom he addressed his four discourses "On Kingship" instead to poetry, where his genius (Mussies 1972: xi). Dio returned to soon became apparent. Among his Prusa in 102 C.E., where he was involved many works are the Amores, the in public life andcontinued to promote Heroides, and the Art of Loveand subhis philosophy (Grant 1980: 129-30). sequent Cure of Love. It is the Art of He died in about 120 C.E. See Cohoon Love,written near the turn of the eras, that may have been the cause of his (1961:ix-xvi) and Mussies (1972). Titus in Livius was born 59 B.C.E. exile, which began in 8 C.E. by orderof Livy: in Pataviumin northern Italy and was Caesar Augustus. He died in exile in the authorof a multivolume work, the Tomis on the Black Sea, in 18 C.E. History of Rome (fourteenvolumes in Perhaps the most significant of his the LoebClassical Library).Of the 135 works is his Metamorphoses, which books which comprise the work, contains many classical myths (re35 havesurvived(Grant1980:254). His workedby Ovid) that would have been
otherwise lost, and which deeply influenced Europeanliteratureandart in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Grant 1980: 303). See W. R. Johnson (1982),Miller (1966, 1967),and Mozley (1979). Pausanias: All that is known about Pausanias is the little that can be inferredfrom occasional remarks in his Description of Greece. He was apparently a native of western Asia Minor and may have turned to medicine after being forced to abandon his study of Homer. The fifth volume of this book, which includes ten volumes in all, was being written in 174 C.E.,and the work was finished, or the author had died, before 180 C.E. Pliny:Bornin northernItaly in 23 C.E., Gaius Plinius Secundus (also called Pliny the Elder)was educatedin Rome. At the age of twenty-threehe beganhis public career in the military in Germany, where he eventually became commander of a cavalry division. He then returned to Rome to study, and later to practice law. During the reign of Nero he became procuratorin Spain, and under Vespasian he assumed various official posts including a command in the navy. He studied and wrote tirelessly and is quoted often by Tacitus and Suetonius. While only his Natural History has survived, he also wrote about military history and weaponry, grammar, Rome's history, and science. Natural History, comprised of thirty-seven books, was the basis for scientific inquiry until the Enlightenment. Pliny died in 79 C.E., evidently from toxic fumes to which he was exposedwhen investigatingthe ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum afterthe eruption of Mount Vesusvius. See Rackham (1967:vii-xiv).
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Plutarch:Borninto a wealthy family in Chaeroneia, a town roughly 65 kilometers from Corinth, in 46 or 47 C.E., Plutarch'slife spanned emperorsfrom Claudius to Hadrian.After being educated in Athens, he spent the rest of his life lecturing, teaching, and writing. Plutarch travelled widely throughout Greece, to Asia Minor, and Egypt and lived in Rome from 75 until 90 C.E.In 95 he became a priest of Apollo at Delphi, a position he held until his death in 120 C.E.His chief works are the Moralia and Lives. Both are concerned with ethical conduct and cover a wide variety of subjects in the sciences and humanities. See Babbitt (1969:ix-xxxvii). Spartianus:Aelius Spartianuswas one of the six putative authors of the Historia Augusta, a history of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (whose reign began in 117C.E.)to Carnius (who died in 285 C.E.).This work is now thought to be the result of one writer'scollation andexpansion of sources.The first section, dealing with Hadrianto Carcalla (who ruled 211-217) is consideredfairly reliable, but the second segment in highly suspect. While the Historia claims to be written in the reigns of Diocletian (284-305) and Constantine I (306-317), it was more likely composed near the end of the fourth century C.E.See Barnes(1978). Suetonius: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was born in about 70 C.E., possibly in Hippo Regius in North Africa. He practiced law briefly and may have taught literature (both in Rome), after which he received a military tribuneship and subsequently served as a sec-
retary to the emperor Hadrian (Grant 1980: 409). Suetonius wrote in both Greek and Latin,on subjects as diverse as history (as in the Lives of the Caesars), grammar,and antiquities. Most complete of his writings is the Lives, which covers the reigns of twelve emperorsfromJuliusCaesarto Domitian, and which servedas a model of history writing in antiquity and even in the Middle Ages. See Rolfe (1960:ix-xiv). Tbrtullian:Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianwas born in Carthagein 160 C.E. and has traditionallybeen equated with the RomanlawyerTertullianus.It now appearsthat this and many other traditions about Tertullian are not accurate. Some were based on incorrect information,otherson the earlychurch historians' mistranslation of their sources. Contraryto these early traditions, Tertullian's father was not a Romancenturian, Tertullianwas not a lawyer, probablydid not live in Rome, and was not ordained.Tertullian,who convertedto Christianity at fortyyears of age, was among the first church theologians to write in Latin and introduced much of the terminology common to theological discourse in the Westernchurch. Among the most important of his works are his Apologeticum, a defense of Christianity; Adversus Praxeas;Adversus Marcion; and De PraescriptioneHaereticorum. In later life Tertullianbecame a member of the Montanist sect, an apocalyptic, ascetic group that emphasized the imminent outpouringof the Holy Spirit. Tertulliandied in about 220 C.E. See Barnes (1985). C. E. Carter
This bronze coin with a portraitof Augustus'wife Livia (58 B.C.E.-29
C.E.)
shows the basic women's hairstyle within the
Roman Empire:Longhair is partedin the middle and wound into a knot at the back of the head. Hairpinswould have kept the knot in place. The coin portraysLivia looking to the viewer'sleft, with her hair partedin the center and combed down in horizontal waves.Her hair frames her face, covers most of the ear,and is drawntogether in a chignon at the hairline in back. Other portraitsof Livia suggest that she wore this hairstyle in the later part of her life.
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I Hundredsof women'shairpins have been found at Corinth, most of them plain shafts severalinches long, in bone or the more expensive ivory.Yetsome, as shown here, have carefully carvedor lathed heads (Davidson 1952:283, plate 118).
Women's
and Head-coverings
Hairstyles
at
Roman
Corinth
This clay miniature also depicts the basic women'shairstyle. The hair is partedin the middle and drawndown towardthe ears in waves.The head shows paint on the eyebrows,dark eyelids, and pupils. The mold into which clay was pressed to make this figurine made no allowance to show the back of the head, and this was often finished by hand. It is likely that a chignon would have completed the portrayalof the hairstyle. This piece may be an Egyptianimport (Davidson 1952:57, plate 37, number 409).
A marble face of a woman, recently discovered,illustrates a common hairstyle from around the turn of the era (B.C.E.to C.E.). In general this
Livia is probablydepicted on this coin. The woman is wearing a stephane and a drapedcloth, a veil. (A stephane was an arc of metal, higher in the center, abovethe forehead,than along the sides, which ran behind the ears.)She looks to the viewer's right and has waves of hair framingher foreheadand temples. The stephane, visible abovethe waves,emerges from the veil, which covers the back half of the head. The cloth is gathered in folds below the ear at the base of the neck and also falls vertically at the back of the head. Lightly incised lines indicate the presence of the veil on the far side of the neck, below the chin.
style featureda prominent bulge or knot of hair right abovethe forehead.In this case the hair is twisted into a roll at the top of the head, comes forwardto the forehead, and then doubles back, forming a raised, looped ridge. On each side, hair is combed gently back in an S-curve.On the better preservedside it is tucked into a roll behind an encircling striatedband of cloth or hair. Comment: The poet Ovid, writing at aroundthe turn of the era, advises women to choose carefully among this and other hairstyles:"Noris there but one form of adornment;let each choose what becomes her, and take counsel beforeher own mirror.An oval face prefersa partingupon the head left unadorned.... Roundfaces would fain have a small knot [nodusjleft on the top of the head, so that the ears show" (Artof Love,book 3, lines 135-40; see Mozley 1979: 127).
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On this marble portraitof an Augustan woman a central portion of hair at the top of the head is braided,and a roll (nodus) is formed in front over the forehead.It is then pulled back over the central partingtowardthe back of the head. The manner in which it was fastened to the chignon cannot be discerned because of breakage.The other hair was collected and combed down from the part on both sides in shallow waves over the ears. The hairstyle probably"indicatesa date at the beginning of the empire"(F.P.Johnson 1931:86, number 160;see also Steiniger 1912:columns 2135 and following). On this bronze coin of Corinth, Agrippinathe elder faces to the viewer'sright. The granddaughterof Augustus and mother of the emperorCaligula, she lived from 14 B.C.E. to 33 C.E. Her hairstyle differsfrom Livia's(see above)primarily in the front. While Livia has smooth horizontal waves drawnback, Agrippina has looser curls running down along her temple to the ear. These curls are distinguished from the top and back of the head by light lines. Such curls running along the side of the face can be seen more clearly on life-sized marble portraits of both the elder Agrippina(see Fittschen and Zanker 1983: III.4)and her daughter,the youngerAgrippina(see Fittschen and Zanker 1983:111 .5). On the present coin the elder Agrippina wears a small knot or chignon, indicated by three curved lines, at the back of the neck. Comment: In the course of the first century C.E.a series of more elaboratehairstyles developed.Women,of the upper classes at least, wore increasingly complex and higher curls aroundthe face. These coiffures requiredleisure to construct them, sometimes by means of a curling iron and often with
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the help of a slave. Wigs might be used, or a high construction of a woman'sown hair might be held up by a wire or lacquer. Twopassagesfrom the later writings of the New Testament probablyreflect concerns about such elaboratehairstyles. Someone writing in the name of Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:9 "Womenshould adornthemselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel,not with braidedhair [plegmata]or gold or pearls or costly attire."Similarly,the writer of 1 Peter3:3 addresseswomen, saying, "Letnot yours be the outward adorningwith braidingof hair [emploke-trich6n],decoration of gold, and wearingof robes."
On this latercoin of Corinth,the youngerAgrippinaalso facesto the viewer'sright.(Thiswoman,who livedfrom15to 59 C.E.,wasthe wife of the emperorClaudiusandthe mother of Nero.)Curlsriseat herforeheadandcontinuedownalong the faceto the ear.Thebackof the hairis wavedin horizontal striationsandbroughttogetherin a smallchignonat the back of the neck.
This statuette head features eight twisted or braidedstrands on each side of a strong central parting.The strandsradiate from the face and are pulled back. On the top of the head is a mass of hair narrowerthan the frontal fan, which itself bears severalvertical incisions. Because the back of the head is not completed, it is not clear where the probablyknotting of the strandswould have been depicted (see Davidson 1952:58, plate 37, number 414). Comment: Hairstyles typical of the later first century and early second century may be reflected in this and other clay figurines that portraycoiffures with a mass of curls or braids rising abovethe forehead.A number of such heads with high facadesof hair have been found at Corinth. They may actually be importedfrom Alexandria,in Egypt,or have been made in Greece to imitate a style identified with Alexandria (Davidson 1952:57-58). Twoclay figurines of the goddess Aphroditewith similar hairstyles have also been excavatedat RomanCorinth.
Another elaboratehairstyle is shown by this statuette head. Above the face in roughly horizontal strips lie alternatebands of twisted (orbraided)hair and smooth bands,evidently of cloth. The hair is apparentlypulled back in a roughly modeled chignon at the rear.Immediately abovethe forehead and temples runs a twisted band of cloth or braid.Above the center of the foreheadis a circularornament, from which a smooth band leads up (andprobablyback).
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This clay figurine has a braidrising from the center of the forehead.On both sides are tiers of four braidsextending in an arc aroundthe face towardthe ears.Twobraidsextend on each side beyond the earringsdown the side of the neck. Behind the mass of braidsa representationof a stephane has been addedby hand. Comment: This and the previous terra-cottawere found in fill deposited duringthe remodelling of the "SouthBasilica," which was probablybuilt in the first and renovatedin the second century C.E.,aroundthe time of Hadrian'srule. Both are interpretedby Davidson (1952:57-58, plate 37, numbers 410-11) as possibly Egyptianimports. Many other figurines were also found in this soil, which has been labelled "Basilica fill" (Davidson 1952:21-22).
More of the braidingand coiling characteristicof the second century can be seen on this marble portraithead of a young girl, which was found at the base of a well in the sanctuaryof Demeter on Acrocorinth.The long hair is worn with a fillet, a variantof the cloth headbandsthat were extremely common, being inherently inexpensive and useful in tying up long hair. A row of bangs is combed forwardover the forehead.The rest of the hair is combed awayfrom the face in sections and is braidedto form a double coil that sits on the back of the head. The short hair between the fillet and the base of the neck and may be either drawnup into the braidor cut short.
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This marble portraitof a girl depicts braidingcharacteristicof the period after the beginning of Hadrian'sreign in 117C.E., when coiffures with elaboratefacadesyielded to styles that featuredcoils of braidedor twisted hair. Here, the hair is partedin the middle and from there forms intertwining S-shapedcurls that frame the face on both sides as far as the ears.Above the ears a coil of four narrowbraidsis wound; these rise only slightly abovethe hair on the crown of the head. The braidsmay have been drawninto a chignon at the back of the head, but this cannot be determinedfor certain because the marble is broken there. a$.
On this marble portraithead, found along with the previous example, scalloped curves from a central part frame the face and continue aroundthe head. These strandsare drawnup past a fillet to form a braideddouble coil on the back crown of the head. The fillet is tied on the back of the head and its streamersflow down the neck.
A new style, in which the hair lies flatter over the head and frames the face in waves, is representedon a marble portrait head of Faustinathe younger (125/130-175C.E.).Her hair is partedin the middle and frames the face closely in scalloped waves, held in place by a fillet seen only abovethe face. Behind the fillet the hair is arrangedin wide waves pulled to the back of the head and fastened in a largeoval-shapedbun. Some strandsof hair fall below the main mass onto the sides of the neck. The texture of the hair in front and back is shown by shallowly curving parallel lines. Similar portraitsof Faustina,the wife of the emperorMarcusAurelius, are dated between 147 and the 160s C.E.
This clay figurine, perhapsof a peasant woman, is datedby style to the second century C.E.(Davidson 1952:56, plate 35, number396). Her head is tied in a capwith a bandpassingunder the chin. She is seen sitting or reclining, with her right arm bent against the body and the left extended. This figure is of the type often called grotesques, which depict people without the customaryidealizing. Consequently,these figuresareoften realistic and may representpeople of the lower classes, particularly as known through caricaturesin comedy or mime (Biers1986).The capon the present figurineassociates her with a conventional type of a female household servant, or "nurse."
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whether or not to cover their heads may well typify Greco-Roman women of the first century C.E. These are the women that Paul thought needed his advice. This choice of hairstyle, then, would have extended beyond ornamental decorations such as a stephane or fillet to the type of veil seen on the coin porthis trait identified with Livia, which is with be bangs-and may girl the type of coveringPaul probably more broadlyrepresentativeof children'shairstyles. recommended. Paul also representedGrecoWithin a few Greco-RomanreliRoman conventions when he suggious contexts head-coveringfor women may have been customary. that hair be a gested women's long 1 CorinSacrifice accordingto Roman rites "wrapping"(peribolaion; thians 11:15)-that is, fastened up, as requiredthat women, like men, cover their heads (as Augustus and contrastedto being allowed to flow Nero in the examples shown here). the around shoulders. unimpeded Such flowing hair is sometimes sug- Special head-coveringswere required of Romanbrides for weddings (which gested by the wordkoman, which, were religious ceremonies) and of however,predominantly means to wear long hair, whether up or down. some priestesses, such as the vestal Greco-Romanwomen seem to have virgins. Apuleius mentions women's let down their hair publicly only on head-coveringsin the worship of the special occasions, such as mourning, Egyptiangoddess Isis near Corinth some Greek wedding ceremonies, or (The Golden Ass, book 11 section 10;see Adlington 1965: 555). These religious rites. Conventional decircumstances would have been seen scriptions of the worship of Dionysus referto women'shair as unbound as unusual, however. Because most of the women's (see Livy,From the Founding of the City, book 39, paragraph13;see Sage portraitspresented here portray women with uncoveredheads, one 1965:255). In the Dionysiac rites portrayedin the Villa of the Myster- may infer that bareheadednessin ies discoveredat Pompeii, neverthe- itself was not a sign of a socially less, most of the women portrayed disapprovedlifestyle. These women have their hair tied up and one certainly wished to be seen as reseems to be wearing a headcloth. spectable. The wall-paintingsof One woman, however,is being struck Pompeii buried in 79 C.E., suggest that for Hellenistic and Roman and has dishevelled and uncovered hair (Brilliant1979:237-44; Wardwomen a veil was a possible choice Perkins and Claridge 1978: 183-84). but not a requirement. In contrast, women in late antiquity are shown Inscriptions dealing with cultic much more frequently wearing regulations from the third and first Commentary on Women'sHairstyles and Head-coverings The artifacts from Corinth that portraywomen suggest that Paul's advice that women wear their hair long was in harmonywith GrecoRoman customs. Of the examples presented here, only one sculpture depicted hair cut short-on a young
centuries B.C.E.,from Lykosoura and Andania in Greece south of Corinth, require that women not wear hair that is "braided."This probably means their hair was to be loose and down, but might merely forbid some kind of fancy twisting or braiding. Head-coverings, choice, and authority. The evidence reviewed suggests that the Christian women of Corinth who felt that they could choose
112
or "authority"(Foerster1964;Hooker 1963-1964). Paul uses exousia earlier in the first letter to the Corinthians regardingissues about which people may choose between two morally acceptable alternatives. He characteristically recommends the choice of one alternative, usually out of consideration for other people. Forexample, regardingthe issue of whether the Christian should marry, Paul recognizes that both alternatives are good but recommends refraining from marriage(1 Corinthians 7:37). On the issue of whether to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols, Paul accepts either alternative but recommends that Christians choose not to eat such meat so that others would not be harmed by their example (1 Corinthians 8:9).In chapter 9 the issue is whether Paul is entitled to a wage (misthos; verses 17 and 18)for his work in preachingthe gospel. He asks if he does not have the right (exousia)to nourishment, to support a wife, and to be free from earning a living by other means. He says he does not make full use of his right (exousia)in orderto make the gospel free of charge.Similarly,then, in chapter 11, a woman'sexousia involves her ability to choose among two acceptable alternatives. Though Paul recognizes the right of women to choose for themselves, he recommends that they cover their heads. "Becauseof the angels"probablyrefers to angels as observersof human events (Hooker 1963-1964; Foerster 1964;see also Fitzmyer 1957-1958), here of prayingand prophesying decently and in order. Such an interpretationof exousia
as freedom of choice in Paul's discushead-coverings such as Livia's veil. It is likely that Paul himself acsion of head-covering is acknowknowledges the Corinthian women's ledged, although disparagingly, by Tertullian. He says that until close right to make choices about headto his time the matter of women's coverings. At the core of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is verse 10, which wearing veils was left to free choice says, "That is why a woman ought to (arbitrio permissa res erat), like the have exousia over her head, because question of whether to marry (On of the angels." Exousia has traditionVeiling of Virgins, section 3). If women of Corinth did have ally been translated as "aveil," but its ordinary sense in Greek is "power" "authority over their heads," then,
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why did Paul insist on coveringand say,"Ifanyone is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16)?The explanation of this may lie in differences of customs between Greco-Roman Corinth and the communities Paul was most familiar with, in southern Asia Minor, Syria, and Arabia.At Paul'stime even more complete veiling of women was apparently"respectable"in Tarsus,Paul'snative city. Dio Chrysostom in an oration to the people of Tarsus(The Thirtythird, or First Tarsic,Discourse, section 48; see Cohoon and Crosby 1961:319)praises the modest attire of the women of the city and notes that when they walk in public no one can see any part of their face or the rest of their bodies. Dio, probably
head uncovereddishonors her headit is the same as if her head were shaven. Forif a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair;but if it is disgracefulfor a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered"(1 Corinthians 11:5-6). Lucian reports a custom in Syria of women'shair being shaved in circumstances Paul would have considered disgraceful.Lucian reports that in the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Byblos in the rites of mourning Adonis (the goddess'syoung lover who dies), "thewomen who refuse to shave [their heads] pay this penalty: Fora single day they stand offering their beauty for sale [to strangers] ... and their payment becomes an
offering to Aphrodite"(SyrianGoddess, paragraph6; see Attridge and Oden 1976: 13,15). that around 100 Judaismis another element of implies speaking c.E., Paul'sexperience that was influenced this custom had continued from the time of Augustus to his own day. by customs of the eastern MediterSimilar veils coveringalmost all of a ranean.The evidence of Jewishrabbis (fromPalestine and Babylonia), woman'sface (not just the hair and who wrote considerablylater than in to Arabia attested are among neck) non-Christian women by Tertullian Paul, suggests that Jewishwomen were expectedto wearhead-coverings, (On Veilingof Virgins,section 17). some even within their own homes. Paul might have observedsuch veilIt is possible that these Jewishcusthat is Arabia his in stay during ing toms originated earlier and were mentioned in Galatians 1:17,after his conversion and before his preach- part of Paul'sbackgroundin writing to the Corinthians, but the coming journeyswestward. plexities of rabbinic custom would Archaeological evidence of women's veils (not coveringthe nose take us farbeyond the scope of this and mouth) during the first two cen- article on Greco-Romanrepresentations of hairstyles. turies C.E.also comes from areas on the eastern fringes of the Mediterranean. Veiled women are shown on a Conclusion religious relief of the first century C.E. Paul and Christian converts at from Palmyrain Syria (De Vaux 1935) Corinth are too often considered as and are characteristic of the women theological abstractions.Portraits depicted on the walls of the synagogue at Dura-Europos, which was decorated after 165 C.E.,when this town on the Euphrates River was a Roman frontier post (Kraeling 1956: plates LXIII,LXV,LXVII, and LXVIII). Paul's familiarity with Syrian custom may also be reflected in his strong denunciation of a woman's hair being shaved: "But any woman who prays or prophesies with her
from the time of Christian beginnings may show how people made choices influenced by custom in dressing to please themselves and be accepted by others. Acknowledgments The writer is deeply indebted to the generosity and wisdom of the staff of the Corinth excavations: Charles K. Williams II, Nancy Bookides, and
Orestes Zervos. Thanks are also due to biblical scholars Philip King, Helmut Koester,WayneMeeks, and Lucetta Mowry,and to art historian Elizabeth Bartmanfor advice and encouragement. Photographsare published courtesy of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens unless otherwise noted. Bibliography Barnes,T. D. 1978 Sourcesof the Historia Augusta.
Series:CollectionLatomus155. Bruxelles:Latomus.
1985 Tertullian.A Historical and Literary
Study,secondedition.Oxford: Clarendon Press. Biers,W R.
1986 A Note on a Grotesquefrom Corinth. Pp. 178-80 in Corinthiaca. Studies in Honor of DarrellA. Amyx, edited
byM. A. Del Chiaro.Columbia,
MO: University of Missouri Press.
Brilliant,R.
1974 RomanArt from the Republic to Constantine. London:Phaidon. 1979 PompeiiA.D. 79: ThIeTeasure of
NewYork:ClarksonN. Rediscovery. Potter,Inc. Broneer,O. 1962 The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games. The Biblical Archaeologist
25: 1-31.
1971 Paul and the PaganCults at Isthmia. HarvardTheological Review 64:
169-87. Clark,G.
1982 The Womenat Corinth. Theology
85:256-62.
Davidson, G. R. 1952 CorinthXII:The Minor Objects.
Princeton,NJ:TheAmericanSchool of ClassicalStudiesat Athens. De Grazia,C. E. 1973 Excavationsof the American School of Classical Studies at Corinth:The Roman PortraitSculpture.Ph.D.
Dissertation.NewYork:Columbia University. De Vaux,R. 1935 Surle voiledesfemmesdansl'orient ancien. Revue Biblique 44:397-412. Edwards,K. M. 1933 Corinth VI:Coins 1896-1929.
AmericanSchoolof Classical Studiesat Athens.Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress. E. Egger,E.,andFournier, 1887 Corona.Pp.1520-37in volume1,
part2, of Dictionnaire desAntiquit6s grecques et romaines, edited by
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C. Darembergand E. Saglio.Paris: Hachette. Fittschen, K., and Zanker,P. in 1983 Katalogderr6mischen Portrdats den CapitolinischenMuseen und den anderenkommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, Band III, Kaiserinnenund Prinzissinnenbildnisse Frauenportrats.Mainz: Philip VonZabern. Fitzmyer,J.A., S.J. 1957- A Featureof QumranAngelology 1958 and the Angels of I Cor. XI.10.New TestamentStudies 4: 48-58. Foerster,W 1964 Exousia.Pp. 562-74 in volume 2 of TheologicalDictionary of the New Testament,edited by G. Kittel and editedandtranslatedby G. W Bromiley. GrandRapids,MI:Eerdmans. Graillot,H. 1919 Velamen,Velamentum.Pp.670-71 in volume 5 of Dictionnaire des Antiquitis grecqueset romaines, edited by C. Darembergand E. Saglio.Paris: Hachette. Grant,M. 1980 Greekand Latin Authors 800 B.C.A.D. 1000 New York:H. W.Wilson. Hooker,M. D. 1963- Authority on Her Head:An 1964 Examinationof I Cor.XI.10.New TestamentStudies 10:410-16. Inan,J.and Rosenbaum,E. 1966 Roman and EarlyByzantine Sculpture in Asia Minor.London:Oxford University Press. Johnson,E P. 1926 The ImperialPortraitsat Corinth. American Journalof Archaeology 30: 158-76. 1931 CorinthIX, 1. The Sculpture18961923. Cambridge,MA:The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Johnson,M., editor 1964 Ancient GreekDress, with E. Abrahams,"GreekDress,"andM. M. Evans, "Chapterson Greek Dress."Chicago: Argonaut. Johnson,W.R. 1982 Ovid.Pp.783-806 in Ancient Writers, Greece and Roman. Volume II, edited by T. J. Luce. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Kent,J.H.
Corinth VIII, 3. The Inscriptions 1926-1950. Princeton, NJ: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Kraeling, C. H. 1956 The Synagogue. The Excavations at Dura-Europos, augmented edition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1966
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VII/1,edited by H. Temporini.Berlin: MacMullen,R. De Gruyter. 1980 Womenin Public in the Roman Empire.Historia 29: 208-18. Ancient Texts in 'Trianslation 1983 The First Urban Christians:The Social Worldof the Apostle Paul. Adlington,J.W, translator 1965 Apuleius: The Golden Ass, Being New Haven:YaleUniversity Press. the Metamorphosesof LuciusApuJ. Murphy-O'Connor, 1980 SexandLogicin 1 Corinthians11:2-16. leius, revisedby S. Gaselee. Series: LoebClassical Library.Londonand Catholic Biblical Quarterly42: 482-500. Cambridge,MA:Heinemann and HarvardUniversity Press. 1983 St. Paul'sCorinth:Textsand ArchaeAttridge,H. W, and Oden, R. A. translators ology. Wilmington, DE:Glazier. 1976 The SyrianGoddess. Series:Texts 1984 The Corinth that Saint Paul Saw. and Translations9. Missoula, MT: Biblical Archaeologist. 47: ScholarsPress. 147-59. Babbitt,E C., translator Mussies, G. 1962 Plutarch'sMoraliaIV Series:Loeb 1972 Dio Chrysostomand the New TestaClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, ment. Leiden:E. J.Brill. and London:HarvardUniversity Saglio,E. Press and Heinemann. 1877 Barba.Pp. 667-70 of volume 1, part 1969 Plutarch'sMoraliaI. Series:Loeb 1, in Dictionnaire des Antiquitis Classical Library.Cambridge,MA, grecqueset romaines, edited by E. and London:HarvardUniversity Saglioand C. Daremberg.Paris: Press and Heinemann. Hachette. Cohoon, J.W.,translator Schiissler-Fiorenza,E. 1961 Dio ChrysostomI. Discourses I-XI. 1983 In Memoryof Her:A Feminist Series:LoebClassical Library.CamTheologicalReconstructionof Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad. bridge,MA, and London:Harvard University Press and Heinemann. Steiniger,R. 1912 Haartrachtund Haarschmuck.ColCohoon, J.W, and CrosbyH. L., translators 1961 Dio ChrysostomIII. Discourse umns 2109-50 of Teil 2, Band7, XXXI-XXXVI.Series:LoebClassical in Paulys Real-Encyclopadieder classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Library.Cambridge,MA, and London: HarvardUniversity Press and Stuttgart:Metzler. Heinemann. Stephan,M. 1935 Haartracht.Columns 90-102 of Harmon,A. M., translator 1961a LucianIV Series:LoebClassical Supplementband 6 in PaulysRealAlterder classischen Library.Cambridge,MA, and encyclopadie London:HarvardUniversity Press tumswissenschaft, edited by A. F. and Heinemann. von Pauly and G. Wissowa.Stuttgart: 1961b LucianI. Series:LoebClassical Metzler. Library.Cambridge,MA, and Swift, E. H. London:HarvardUniversity Press 1921a A Groupof RomanImperialPortraits and Heinemann. at Corinth.American Journalof Miller, E J.,translator Archaeology25: 142-57. 1966 Ovid. The MetamorphosesI, Books 1921b A Groupof RomanImperialPortraits I-VIII.Series:LoebClassical Library. at Corinth, II.American Journalof Cambridge,MA, andLondon:Harvard Archaeology 25: 248-65. University Press and Heinemann. Vermeule,C. C., III 1967 Ovid. The MetamorphosesII, Books 1986 FiguralPillars:FromAsia Minor to IX-XV Series:LoebClassical Library. Corinth to Rome. Pp. 71-80 in Corinthiaca,Studies in Honor of Cambridge,MA, London:Harvard Darrell A. Amyx, edited by M. A. University Press and Heinemann. Del Chiaro. Columbia, MO: UniverMozley,J.H., translator 1979 Ovid. The Art of Loveand Other sity of Missouri Press. Poems. Series:LoebClassical LiJ.,and Claridge,A. Ward-Perkins, 1978
Pompeii A. D. 79. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Wiseman,J. The Land of the Ancient Corinthians. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 50. G6teborg: Astrom. 1979 Corinth and Rome I: 228 B.C.-A.D. 267. Pp. 438-548 in Aufstieg und Niedergang der rbmischen Welt 1978
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
brary. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press and Heinemann. Rackham, H. translator 1961 Pliny Natural History II, Libri IIIVII. Series: Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press and Heinemann.
1967 Pliny Natural History I, LibriI-II. Series:LoebClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, and London:Harvard University Press and Heinemann. Rolfe, J.C., translator 1964 Suetonius I. Series:LoebClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, and London: HarvardUniversity Press and Heinemann. 1970 Suetonius II. Series:LoebClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, and London: HarvardUniversity Press and Heinemann. Sage,E. T, translator 1965 Livy XI, Fromthe Foundingof the City, Books XXXVIII-XXXIX. Series:LoebClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, and London:Harvard University Press and Heinemann. Thelwall, S., translator 1885 On Veilingof Virgins.In The AnteNicene Fathers,edited by A. Roberts and J.Donaldson. Edinburghand GrandRapids,MI:T&TClark and Eerdmans.
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115
Synagogue by
Zvi
Uri
Macoz
thepasteleven uring
years I have made an extensive study of ancient synagoguesin the Golan, and surveying recordingwith photographs,groundplans, and architectural drawingsall remains known to date' as well as conducting excavations at four sites (Kanaf,CEn Nashut, Dabiya, and Qasrin-see MaCozand Killebrew 1988).The following is a summary of what has been learned in this study. At present we know of twentyfive sites at which ancient synagogues or fragments of ancient synagogues have been found. All of these are in the central Golan, in a small areano more than 25 kilometers in
116
Of the
Golan
length (fromNahal Gilbon in the north to Nahal Samak in the south) and approximately 10 kilometers wide (fromthe JordanRivereastwards).At seventeen sites the structure itself was found-in some cases with several courses of stone walls still standing and in others with only a foundation discernible. The rest yielded only scattered architectural fragments.At all sites, fragments such as ashlar stones, columns, and molded and decorated stones were found widely dispersed in secondary use in recently built houses. Architecturally,the Golan synagogues were influenced by,but distinct from, those in neighboring
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
Galilee (to the west). Many of the elements of the Galilean synagogues were adapted:the spacious hall with benches along the walls, the stone columns and beams that support a roof constructed of wooden trussbeams and coveredwith clay tiles, and the sculptured limestone moldings. These elements, however,were executed with basalt stone, which is an abundantraw material in the Golan. In addition the syngogues were influenced by the Hauran (the neighboring territoryto the east). The Haurancontributed the finer details of construction technique, a tradition of handling basalt stones, sculptured architecturaldecoration, and, last but not least, some of the ar-
Ancient Synagogues: A Selected Architectural Glossary Arch and Entry Extrados~
/
Order
oThe
Cornice Frieze
Archivolt Extrados
Keystone
Cornice Entablature
Intrados- Voussoir
Frieze
RlenLArchitrave Relieving
,IntradosCapital Springer Springingpoint
Cornice
Frieze(X Lintel
Column
Shaft
Jamb
Base Plinth
Threshold
Capitals Ionic
Corinthian
Abacus Abacusflower
Abacus
DiagonalIonic
bcsfoe
Aau
SVolute
Abacus
Side view
-Helix Secunda folia
baluster
, Pulvinus
Echinus
Cauliculus
-
Volute
Ionic
-
Echinus
.
Abacus Doric
---
F SiAnnulet
View from
Z
Volute
-Pulvinus -- baluster
Volute
Prima folia
III.
Y.i
Abacus Echinus
'
FrontviewSievw
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
117
Entablatures Frieze
Cornice _
-.
,...
Front view
7
Crnyma: /Cyma Corona,-
2"-~_
:Bed-molding
Frontview
Coffers
"
Section
Section os Console
View frombelow
Architrave Taenia:
\X
----
///
--Fascia'" /
...
...
......
.... //
Decorative
Acanthus Stylized reproductionof the spiny leavesof the acanthusplant on Corinthiancapitals,friezes, cornices,and so on.
Frontview Section
Pedestal
1
Base
and
Terms
......
X
Pedestaland Attic base
Aedicula(-ae) Small shrine composedof columns supportinga pediment, sometimes with a conch.
I Ionic base
Drum Shaft --
/ ../ .. ii. !.:i::i!i~ii~! StAnnulet ;;: /'Bead-and-reel..
,.
:.
Torus ' Scotia Attic base .,. -T rus / i
<
/ ' "; ----Dado
Pedestal
\ /
118
/
_
.
Torus
Scotia .; Plinth
-
J~i~i~ii One of the ornaments employed for astragal molding. The illustrations and definitions used in this sidebar are from the Architectural Glossary of ancient Jewish synagogues by Ruth Jacoby and
Rina Talgam, with drawings by Tania Slutsky-
The glossary is part of the Jerusalem Gorenstein. Index of Jewish Art and was published in May of this year by the Centre for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It can be ordered by writing to the U.S. distributor, Ita Aber, at 162 West 83rd Street, New York, NY 10024. Cost of the publication is $10.00, which includes the
cost of shipping.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
(_____
_[(__
Conch Shell pattern; often used as a top in a niche.
Dentils Decorativemotif of "toothing";commonly used at base of the cornice mold.
1LJLJLJELEJ Egg-and-dart Ornamentemployedforovolo molding;also known as egg-and-tongue.
(O)[OXO
OTO)
Guilloche Continuous plaitedpatternof two loosely twisted fillets, enclosing circularcenters.
Herculeanknot A wreathknot.
Meander A winding,geometricpattern;also runningfret.
Double Meander TWointertwined,winding geometricpatterns.
Peopledscrolls Scrollscontainingfiguralmotifs;also termed inhabited scrolls.
Rosette A geometricfloralornamentstylized froma composite flowerviewed fromabove;includes at least four leaves and sometimes petals.
Victory Romangoddessor personificationof victory, commonly with wings;also known by her Greek name Nike.
tistic motifs that have a long history in Syria.Thus, the "Golantype"synagogue is a special blend of architectural styles taken from nearby areas. These synagogues sharedseveral architectural features. First, all were located at a favorablespot in their town or village. Because of the typographyand the prevailingweather conditions in the Golan, this was not always the geometrical center of the settlement or the summit of a hill. Instead they were often at the edge of a village, near a spring, on a slope overlooking open landscape and protected from winter winds, which could have easily blown the clay roof tiles off the buildings. Second, the masonry techniques are consistent. Nearly all had exterior-wallfaces of smoothly dressed and meticulously joined ashlar stones that were cut into very accurate rectangles. Walls that were hidden in adjacent structures and interior-wallfaces were made of roughly cut stones, plasteredoverand whitewashed. Rarely do we find that the use of ashlar stones was limited to the facade (the front of the building) while the other walls were of inferior quality. The structural walls were also usually very thick (0.7 to 1.0 meter) and built without mortar. Third, the facades were always oriented towardsthe qodesh, the place of the Shekhina (the presence of God). In the Golan, however,there were two conflicting traditions about its location: One, which was the prevailingtradition in nearby Galilee, was that it was south, towards Jerusalem;Golan synagogues oriented to the south included those
about the location of the Shekhina, also echoed in talmudic sources, were operating here. Fourth, the facade, always on one of the short sides of the rectangular building, usually had a single portal with a molded and adorned frame.s(This contrasts with the three entrances usually found in Galilean synagogues.)Sometimes, as at Umm el-Kanatir,there was a portico in front of the entrance. There was always a town square in front of the building, and it was sometimes paved (as at ed-Dikke, Zumimra, and Qasrin). Fifth, the interior featured a hall divided by two rows of columns into a central nave with an aisle on each side. On occasion there was a doorway in one of the long walls of the rectangularbuilding for access to a street or court (as at Qasrin, Kanaf, and Umm el-Kanatir)or to an annex room (as at CEnNashut, Dabiya, and Qasrin).There were stepped benches along all the walls, sometimes molded with a recess for the legs. Sixth, all had roofs made of clay tiles covering a wooden truss-beam support-a method, by the way, that has been found only in public buildings. Seventh, the floors were usually made of hardwhite plaster. Sometimes a stone pavement is found; traces of a mosaic floor have been found only in the later synagogue at Qasrin. Within the "Golantype"synagogue, as defined by these common architectural features, two major groups can be discerned, each of which can be further subdivided
at CEnNashut, Dabiya, cAssalieh, Beit Lavi, and Umm el-Kanatir. The other was that it was west; these included synagogues at Kanaf, Deir Aziz, Zumimra, ed-Dikke, Batra, Zavitan, and Salabe3 There are chronological and stylistic differences among the buildings of each group, so chronology and regionalism cannot explain the different traditions. Apparently religious controversies
into family styles. The first group consists of synagogues erected in the fifth century c.E., and the second of synagogues built in the beginning of the sixth century C.E.In the remainder of this article I shall present and comment on two representative synagogues from each group? These examples will be presented in chronological order, from earliest to latest.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
119
prayerhall was divided into a nave and two aisles by two rows of fifth century C.E.are characterized columns, three to a row,plus two by rich architecturaldecorations engagedpillars on the west wall. The two sets of columns and capitals that ornamented the facades and found at the site indicate that there interiors and by the abundanceof were two stories, with a Corinthian animal sculptures. orderof columns set on top of a ed-Dikke. The synagogueat edDoric order.The hall was pavedwith Dikke (3 kilometers north of where stone slabs, and a pair of benches ran the JordanRiver empties into the Sea of Galilee) was among the first along the walls. discoveredin the Golan by Gottlieb The most notable feature of the Schumacher (1889: 120-23), and in building was its elaborately deco1905 it was partially unearthedby rated facade (ourreconstruction is Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger somewhat different in detail from The that of Kohl and Watzinger).It conground plan (1916:112-14). indicates a rectangularstructure tained three entrances, with the cen10.4 by 13.8 meters, with its facade tral one higher and wider than the and a narrowplatform that fronted it ones on the sides. The main portalon the short side to the west. The a three-sidedframe composed of lintel and jambs-had a continuous Above: Groundplan of the synagogueat ed-Dikke. Measuring10.4 by 13.8meters, with its molding with a profile consisting of facade (and the narrowplatform that frontedit) facing west, the building featured two rows of severalnarrowconcave and convex columns that divided the interiorinto a central hall (nave)and two aisles; a pair of benches the lintel there ran along the walls. Thepresence of three entrances in the facade, common in ancient Galibands.6Surmounting lean synagogues, was unusual in the Golan, where a single entrance was the rule. Drawing is was a convex frieze sculpturedwith by L. Ritmeyerusing preliminarydata from Kohland Watzinger(1916).Below: The most leaves arrangedin circles with ronotable feature of the synagogueat ed-Dikke was its elaborately decoratedfacade. This resettes at their centers. Above this construction by Kohland Watzinger,although differingsomewhat in detail from that of the author,does suggest something of this, including the decoration associated with the three frieze there was a protrudingcornice entrances and the windows, and the flat pilasters with diagonal Ionic capitals on either end (geison)molded with narrowbands of the facade. and adornedwith various patterns such as sprigs, astragal,egg-and-dart, and a cymation carryinga relief of populated meander.A relieving arch with a molding of a cornice was superimposed over the lintel. Eachof the two smallerentrances had a molded frame with a profile of narrowconcave and convex bands crowned by a frieze, over which was a flat relief of a vine scroll7 On each end of the facadethere was a flat pilaster crowned by a diagonal Ionic capital8 These pilasters supporteda protrudingcornice that Synagoguesof the Fifth Century The Golan synagoguesbuilt in the
spanned the entire width of the building and which also marked the top of the lower story. The facade wall of the second level was fenestrated by two or three tall, narrow windows, the frames of which were also molded and sculptured. (The fragments of three such windows were found?) The jambs were made of two pairs of columnettes that supported a "Syrian
120
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
gable"- a triangularpediment with an arch in the base; a shell-like groovedconch was sometimes placed within the arch. Similar to that on the doors, the molding of the gable consisted of narrowbands adorned with guilloche, astragal,egg-anddart, acanthus leaves, ivy scroll, and meanders. In addition to these, there were reliefs of rosettes and miniature reliefs of lions and eagles inside the triangularpediment and above its raking cornices. The upper story of the facade was crowned by another cornice, abovewhich was the main pediment. It spanned the entire width of the building and concealed the sides of the sloping roof. This synagoguewas excavatedat the beginning of this century, when the method of dating by stratigraphy and ceramics had not yet been developed. Thus, we do not have an archaeological date for the building in the true sense. A stylistic analysis of its art, however,suggests a date in the first half of the fifth century C.E. (Forinstance, the lintel with winged victories and the floral convex friezes and other decorative features popular in the Late Roman period can be contrasted with other elements characteristic of a later period such as geometric patterns and the miniature sculptures of animals.) Its artistic style may reflect the so-called Theodosian renaissance, a reemergence of classical trends in the last quarter of the fourth century C.E.If
this is so, the synagogue at ed-Dikke is the earliest synagoguethus far known in the Golan. The rich architectural decorations on the facade of this synagogue are typical of the first group of Golan synagogues: molded lintels with artistic reliefs, lavish geisons consisting of narrow bands sculptured with various formal GrecoRoman moldings interspersed with scrolling vine and ivy, windows in the shape of "Syrian gables" and conches, concave friezes with floral rinceaux (scroll decorations) and
.Opp
rr
Dr
alp .4 "
'"U
Above: Visible among the remains of the synagogue at cEnNashut, here viewed from the east, arepieces of columns, column bases, and the stepped benches that ran along each of its walls. The site, which is located on the bank of Nahal Meshushim about 2 kilometers north of the modern village of Katzrin,was excavated in 1981. Unless otherwise stated, all photographsin this article are by the author and used courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. Right: Measuring11.3 by 12.5 meters, the synagogue at cEn Nashut had a single entrance that was shifted somewhat off-centerto accommodate construction of the Torahshrine inside the base of the southern wall. Note the small annex room, on the eastern wall, which could also be accessed from the front of the building. Alongside the northernoutside wall was a stairway that led to the upstairsgallery Drawing by Zvi MaCozand L. Ritmeyer.
were apparentlya local fashion since no exact parallels have been found. It is a fashion where the animals in some cases are sculpted as threedimensional engagedstatues, in other cases in high relief on door lintels, and, in perhapsthe most typical cases, as miniature reliefs C.E.), the "palace"at Inlhil, the spacious villas at Nawa (fromthe fourth attached to secondary architectural century), and a few fourth- and fifth- pieces. Another example of this new century churches in the Hauranand fashion is found at the somewhat later synagogueat CEnNashut.10 Bostra. into the more CEnNashut. The site of CEnNashut Interjected is on the bank of Nahal Meshushim, common Greco-Romanmoldings some 2 kilometers north of the are the animal sculptures, which
rosettes, pilasters with capitals in the diagonal Ionic order,and more. This style parallels that found in the Hauranand, especially, in Batanaeafor instance, at the "palace"in Shakka, the tomb at Rimet el-Lohf (from the second half of the third century
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
121
modem town of Katzrin.The synagogue was rectangularin plan (11.3 by 12.5 meters) with the facadeon the short side on the south. The single entrance was shifted somewhat from center towardsthe west in orderto accommodate the construction of the Torahshrine inside at the base of the southern wall. The lintel for this entrance carrieda relief of a wreath and other floral designs; above this was a convex frieze
decoratedwith sprigs. Other fragments of the facadethat have been found include cornices, arch stones, and various ornamented pieces. The interior of the synagogue was divided into a naveand two flanking aisles by two rows of columns with three columns to a row.There Below:In the earlygroupofGolan synagogues, which consists of buildings dating to the fifth century c.E.,only CEnNashut featured lewish symbols, such as the seven-branched menorah shown here on one of the pedestals that supportedthe columns of the first story. Below right: Reconstructionof the interiorof the synagogue at cEn Nashut. Note the Torah shrine, the benches runningalong the walls. and the two rows of three columns. The columns of the lower story stood on pedestals and were crowned by diagonal Ionic capitals, while those of the second story had capitals of the Corinthianorder.Thegabled roof was supportedby wooden beams and covered with clay tiles. Drawing by Zvi Macoz, B. Wool,and LI.Ritmeyer.
Historical
W
Background
e hearforthe firsttime aboutJewishsettlementsin northernTrans-
jordan in the days of JudasMaccabeus,around 164 B.C.. He and his brother Jonathan set out to rescue the Jewish population in the Bashan (Batanaea)from attacks by gentiles following the Hasmonean revolt. After winning some campaigns, they escorted the Jewish refugees back to the shelter of Jerusalem 1 Maccabees 5:9-29). The majorphase of Jewishsettlement in the Golan and Bashan,however, appearsto have started only after the conquest of these areas by Alexander Jannaeus,around81 B.C.E.(book 13,chapter 15,paragraph3 1393-94]of Jewish Antiquities by Josephus;see Marcus 1966:424-25). JannaeusturnedGamla,a fortressthat was probablybuilt by the Greek tyrantDemetrius nearthe end of the second century B.c.E., into the capital of Jewish Golan. Facing the Nabataeans and the Syrians, Gamla served as a defensive fortress on the borderof his kingdom,andalso as a center of administrationandculture.This is why it is mentioned in the Mishnah (chapter 9, mishnah 6, of tractate Arachin;see Blackman 1964)as one of the "walled"cities of EretzIsrael- in a list of cities allegedly from the time of Joshuabut probablyreflecting the Hasmonean period. Around the turn of the eras, in the days of Herod the Great and his descendants (Philip, Agrippa I, and Agrippa II), Jewish settlement gained momentum and reached its highest level of material and cultural achievement. This is evident in the finds from the excavations at Gamla, especially its synagogue,which is the earliest structureof its kind found to date in Israel (see Gutman 1981;Macoz 1981a, 1981b). The active part taken by the Golan Jewryduring the FirstRevoltagainst the Romans,its cruel suppressionby the Romanarmy,and the destruction of the majorcity of Gamla in the autumn of 67 c.E.seems to havebroughtabout the desertion of most Jewish villages in central and southern Golan and the severedepopulationof those villages that remained(book4, chapter1 [1-81Jof the The Jewish Warby Josephus,see Thackeray 1968:3-271. The disastrous outcome of the waris echoed in a redemptivemidrashfrom the daysfollowing the revolt: "Rabbi Eleazer the Great says: . . . on the heels of the Messiah. . .
-'?. =m__n,-...
122
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
" "
Galilee will be destroyed,the Golan desolate, and the frontier people will wanderfrom town to town and will be shown no mercy"(chapter9, mishnah 15, of tractate Sotah; see Blackman 1963). The results of the surveys and excavations conducted in the central Golan in recent years confirm the evidence of the literary sources that the Golan steps down from the stage of Jewishhistory in the Mishnaic period (the second and third centuries C.E.). The revival of Jewishvillage life in the Golan came, so it seems at this stage in research,as a result of the political stabilization and the economic recoveryof EretzIsraelduringthe reigns of Diocletian andConstantine, at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth century C.E.The resettlement of Jewish villages in the central Golan is evident in the coins and pottery retrievedin the excavationsat severalsynagoguesites. It is likely that several generationselapsedbeforethe lavish synagogueswere erected -probably the fruit of decades of producingand marketingolive oil. The first synagogues,accordingto currentevidence, werebuilt in the late fourth and early fifth centuries c.E. A century later, at the beginning of the sixth century, several synagogues were reconstructed on a larger scale and more were built. The Golan appears,after several centuries absence, in a written document: an administrative list of the Byzantine Empire(Giorgius Cyprios,Descriptio Orbis Romanii, 1041).The heading"KLIMAGAULANES" indicates a ruralareawithout a central city. Cumulative data of excavations and surveys indicate that most sites in the Golan, including the Jewishsettlements, were abandonedat the end of the sixth andthe beginning of the seventh century as a result of military invasions and the collapse of law and orderand the economy broughton by the weakening of the Byzantine regime. Some habitations continued through the end of the Umayyadperiod(aboutthe mid-eighthcentury).These were mostly in the southern Golan, a fertile agriculturalarea,but some were also in the central region, including the Jewishvillage of Qasrin. At Qasrin, evidence suggests the village was destroyed in the earthquake of 746 C.E. (see Macoz and Kilrebrew1988). Subsequently, a much reduced occupation occurred for a short time in the Abassid period (approximately 750-878). The Jewish communities in the town of Fiq in the southern Golan, and likewise in the town of Nawa in Batanaea,continued at least until the Middle Ages.
4r': An abunmance of animal sculptures was a distinctive feature of the early group of Golan synagogues. Most of the animal motifs that were used-images of eagles, lions, and bullswere common in the ancient Near East. In contrast, the snake here on a motif, represented stone beam that spanrwedthe space between t1wvo columns at cEn Nashut, was largely confined to the art of the Golan.. Thel inscription below the snakes says Abun bar Yoseh."
were two stories. The columns of the lower story stood on pedestals, some richly decorated, and were crowned by capitals of the diagonal Ionic order; on top of these, the columns of the second story had capitals of the Corinthian order. The intercolumniation (the space between the shafts of two adjacent columns)
was spanned by 2.5-meter-long stone beams. One of these, found broken into two parts, carried a relief decoration and inscription mentioning the donor "Abun bar Yoseh." A pair of benches ran along the walls on four sides, broken only by the entrances and the base of the Torah shrine. There was a secondary door that led
to a small annex room on the east, which could also be accessed from the front of the building. This synagogue featured numerous animal sculptures, including two engaged statues of eagles, perhaps ornaments from the pediment outside, and three sculptures of lions and a lioness, the placement of which is uncertain. In addition, there was a unique orthostat of a lion that had on its side a relief of Daniel in the lion's den flanked by a lion, a pair of eagles, and a lioness suckling her cub. This stone, which was not found on site but at nearby CEnSamsam, was probably part of a socle at the bottom of the base of the Torah shrine. Several more small reliefs of lions, eagles, and birds were found on windows, capitals, and undefined fragments. One stone, perhaps also from the decoration of the Torah shrine, has a flat relief of a bird pecking at grapes. On a diagonal Ionic capital, decorated by symbols on all four sides, another pair of eagles is found. And on one of the stone beams that spanned the space between two columns there is a relief of two snakes. In this synagogue we know of more than sixteen animal reliefs or sculptures. It is likely there were others, destroyed or removed by robbers. At CEnNashut we have the only example in the first group of Jewish symbols, notably the seven-branched menorah. Here, and at several sites from the second group (Ghadriyya, Dabiya, and Ahmadiyye), we find a distinct composition of the popular emblem-a pair of menorahs, one always with a base, the other without. No doubt this double symbol had a certain, as yet unknown, spiritual meaning. Perhaps the most typical, and most moving, artistic creation from this synagogue is a diagonal Ionic capital, which we call the menorah capital. The four protruding volutes (scrolls) of the capital are decorated with floral motifs, including perhaps olive leaves and a pomegranate. Be-
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
123
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-Ampp"
aw
This relief of Daniel in the lion's den was probablypart of the socle at the bottom of the base of the Torahshrine at CEnNashut. It was found in secondary use at nearby cEnSamsam.
tween the volutes are various decorations: on one side, a nine-branched menorah flankedby a pair of shofroth (ram'shorn trumpets);on the second side, the central "egg"characteristic of capitals of the Ionic orderflanked by a seven-branchedmenorah and an altar and perhapsa flower;on the third side, an "egg"flanked by an amphoraand a flower;and on the fourth side, a pair of eagles. This combination of classical moldings and Jewishsymbols, which is common in art of the Golan, is beautifully executed here. The date of this synagoguehas been established stratigraphically. Based on several coin deposits, some stray coins found buried beneath the floor, and ceramics, we have determined that it was built in the second quarterof the fifth century C.E. Remains of some walls beneath the floor suggest there might have been an earlier synagogueat the site and that it was completely dismantled. The date of that synagogue cannot be earlierthan the fourth century C.E. Comments. In looking at the Golan synagoguesof the first group,I would emphasize three points about their architecture:the use of capitals, artistic motifs, and Jewish symbols. Inside, we can see capitals of two scales (one for the upper story and another for the lower)and three orders(Corinthian,Ionic, and Doric). At ed-Dikke the lower story had Doric capitals and the upper story Corinthian, whereas at cEn Nashut the capitals of the lower story were diagonal Ionic and those of the upper story were Corinthian.
124
The Corinthian capitals were sculpted in a way characteristic of the Byzantine period, with the deeply cut and shaded hollows between the leaves emphasized. These form intricate patterns of lozenges and triangles that create a very effective play of light and shade. The leaves themselves are of a far more inferior quality. In the Hauran,and likewise in the Golan, one of the signs of the Byzantine period is the reemergence of Ionic capitals, which were almost completely absent in the architecture of the second and third centuries C.E. In the first group,Ionic capitals were found at er-Rafid,Beit Lavi, and Khawkha.They became almost dominant in the second group. Similarly,the use of Doric capitals became widespreadin the Golan and the Hauranat the start of the Byzantine period;such capitals are found in many synagoguesbuilt between the fifth and sixth centuries C.E.
The motifs used in the art of the Golan synagogueshave many sources. Forinstance, with respect to the depiction of animals, a distinctive feature in the first group, the images of eagles, lions, and bulls are well-known in the ancient Near East, where they are often seen escorting or even representingthe main figures in the pantheon of Canaanite gods. In addition, during the EarlyRoman period they were frequently employed in the art of Syria.In the Late Roman period, however,their distribution in Syria diminished drastically,and likewise
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
This diagonal Ionic capital from cEnNashut combines classical moldings and Jewish symbols, an approachthat is common in the art of the Golan. It features fourprotruding volutes, or scrolls, each decorated with floral motifs. Between the volutes are various decorations,including the central "egg" characteristicof the Ionic orderflanked on one side by a seven-branchedmenorah and on the other by an altar and perhapsa flower, and a nine-branchedmenorahflanked by a pair of shofroth(ram'shorn trumpets). Photographby Zev Radovan.
in Galilean synagogues they were used in this period in only a few cases. Forreasons unknown to us, at the same time there was a marked increase in the use of these symbolic motifs in Golan synagogues.Perhaps this was a local Byzantine renaissance of an earlier tradition. In contrast, there is the snake motif-where in some cases the snakes form ribbons joined into a Herculean knot, and in others they are held in the beaks of birds of prey. This motif is largely confined to the art of the Golan. Rareanywhere is the peacock image found at Qasrin (see Macoz and Killebrew 1988). A motif that is very abundantin the repertoireof the Golan synagogue is the double interwoven meander,which often includes symbols in the hollow rectangles that break the pattern. This motif is characteristicallyfound in the art of the Hauranfrom the first century B.C.E.It was also very popular in
Batanaeain the fourth century C.E.
ond story,and the whole structure was coveredby a pedimented roof. The apex of the pediment was probably decoratedby an engagedstatue of an eagle found in the destruction debris in front of the building. The interior was divided into a nave and aisles by two, or perhaps three (the evidence is not clear),rows of columns. These were crowned by very unusual capitals, each somewhat different from the rest, of various geometric forms.11There
Unlike the others, this motif also appears in the second group of Golan synagogues. Finally, it should be stressed that at ed-Dikke and at several other sites belonging to the same stylistic subgroup(forinstance, er-Rafid,elHuseiniyye, and Khawkha)no specific Jewish symbols, such as a menorah, were ever found. This is one reason why we date this subgroup as the earliest in the sequence. From the fifth century onward,starting at CEnNashut, we find more and more Jewish symbols in the art of Golan synagogues.
were benches along the walls-not
Synagoguesof the Sixth Century We have seen that the Golan synagogues of the late fourth and early fifth centuries can be characterized by an almost "baroque"richness of The synagogueat Umm el-Kanatiris a architecturaldecoration of facades member of the second groupof Golan and interiors, including an abundant synagogues, a groupconsisting of buildings constructed in the beginningof the sixth use of animal sculptures. This tencentury C.E.Measuring18.8 by 13.3 meters, it main entrance that was offset had a single dency virtually disappearsin the from the center in orderto accommodate a synagogues of the sixth century. shrine inside. In front of the entrance Umm El-Kanatir.The southernmost Torah was a small paved portico that was covered ancient synagogue in the Golan, by a gabled roof supportedby columns. The interior of the synagoguemay have been Umm el-Kanatiris located on a divided, as shown here,into a nave and three natural terrace overlooking Nahal aisles by three rows of columns. (It'spossible Samak. (The name derives from two there were only two rows; the evidence is arches-kanatir in Arabic-that unclear.)Although not indicated here, there were also benches along the walls. were built in antiquity to protect access to a spring.)The site was dislief consisting of successive narrow coveredby Oliphant (1885)and Schumacher (1889:260-65), and was bands, each making use of a single pattern-circles, triangles, and unpartly uncoveredby Kohl and defined geometric motifs. In front of Our recent 1916: Watzinger 125-34). the of has the gate was a small pavedportico investigation synagogue that was coveredby a gabled roof shown that though the field plan of the synagogue made by the latter supportedby columns. The columns stood on attic bases and were two is reasonably accurate, their crowned by "basketcapitals"covered restored plan is entirely wrong. The building was rectangular by a low relief of a net. (This is the (18.8 by 13.3 meters), with the facade only appearanceof such capitals, on the short side on the south. The very popular in Constantinople in single entrance, which had a molded but otherwise undecorated frame, was offset toward the east in order to make room for the Torah shrine on the inside southern wall; the remains of the shrine are probably still covered with debris. Above the gate there was a relieving arch with a re-
the sixth century C.E.,in synagogue
art.) Fragmentsof archedand gabled windows were found in the ruins; of a much less decoratedstyle than those at ed-Dikke, these also seem to have belonged to one of the two stories of the facade. Simple cornices marked the change from first to sec-
discerned by Kohl and Watzinger because their work at the site was limited. Worthyof mention are some decoratedstones that belonged to the synagogue.The exact placement of these is not certain, however.Two capitals for window jambs are decoratedwith a molding of successive bands of motifs including a double meander and acanthus leaves. Two engaged statues, one depicting the front half of a lion and the other depicting a lioness, were also found. Unfortunately broken, these lion statues may have been part of the Torahshrine.12Another stone that probablybelonged to the Torah shrine is a fragment that has two small columns molded at its bottom; these carrya joint Ionic capital. The side of the capital has a relief of an eagle with outstretched wings. Yet another stone, elongated, has a low relief of a vine scroll and a bird pecking at the grapes. On stylistic grounds only, in the absence of an archaeologically determined date, we date this synagogue, tentatively, to the late fifth or early sixth century. The general impression of its art is that it continues the artistic tradition of the Golan synagogues, but one can note a tendency towards simplification, as well as the appearance of many new features such as the unusual capitals. Kanaf. Located on a high ridge northeast of the Sea of Galilee, Kanaf was discovered by Oliphant (1886) and Schumacher and surveyed by Sukenik
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
125
(1935:87-91). I conducted excavations at the site in 1979-1981. Only part of the exterior walls of the synagoguesurvived the construction of a vaulted granaryat the end of the nineteenth century. The plan of the synagoguewas an irregular rectangle (16by 13.25 meters) with the facade on the short side on the west. The lintel and jamb stones of the beautifully decoratedmain portal were found lying in front of the west wall, probablydislodged by an earthquake.The frame of the portal was decoratedwith molded bands of reliefs, including a vine scroll emerging from an amphora, astragal,egg-and-dart,acanthus leaves, and guilloche. The lintel stone carries an Aramaic inscription naming the donor:"Yosehbar Halfo bar Honio."On each side of the entrance there was a medallion done in sunken relief. The one on the left shows a star encircled by entwined polygons; the one on the right shows a conch surroundedby a populated meander band. Because such medallions are typical of churches of Syria, the origin of the artisans working at Kanafis obvious. The only other fragments of the facade that were found are part of a small circularwindow (a feature very popularin the houses of the HauranandBashanduringthe Byzantine period)and broken pieces of a cyma-shapedcornice decoratedwith a shallow relief of double meanders. The remains of a side entrance still stand in the north wall. A lintel found in secondary use in a recent building, and carryinga bas-reliefof a vine scroll with four birds pecking at the grapes, may belong to this door. The interior of the synagogue was completely destroyed by the new construction. Probes below the recent floor revealed the remains of column footings, eight in all, in two rows. The shafts of the columns and the Doric capitals of both lower and upper stories were found in secondary use nearby. The windows were set along the walls of the galleries
126
(the second-storyfloors abovethe aisles along each long side of the main hall). Between the windows there were semicolumns attached to the outside wall, each with a diagonal Ionic half-capital;one of these had a small three-branched menorah engravedon it. The date of the synagoguehas been determined by the coins found in its foundation fill. The latest are coins of EmperorAnastasius I, which were issued from 498 until 518 C.E. Thus, a date at the beginning of the sixth century is indicated. Comments. Many new synagogues were built in the Golan during the
with rinceaux, the rich geisons, the molded windows, and most of the animal sculptures. All we have of the last are eagles, lions, and a few birds,posed on the apex of pediments (as at Kasabiyye)or in relief on lintels (Dabbura),or crowning the Torahshrine (Umm el-Kanatir). The ornaments in this groupwere The plan of the synagogueat Kanaf was an irregularrectanglemeasuring 16 by 13.25 meters. Although the interiorhad been completely destroyed,probes beneath the recent floor revealedthe remains of column footings, making it possible to reconstruct the two rows of fourcolumns each shown here.
sixth century C.E.Some replaced
structures ruined or out of use (for instance, Qasrin and possibly Yahudiyya),while others were original structures reflecting economic prosperity (forinstance, Kanaf).These synagogues can be put into several families accordingto their architectural style and decoration. In the "Qasrinfamily"and the "Kanaf family"the resemblance among individual members is close.'3 On the other hand, the structures at etTaiyibe and Umm el-Kanatirare difficult to assign to subgroups. All the synagogues of the sixth century show a comparativesimplicity and a markeddecline in the amount of architecturaldecoration. Gone are the pedestals, the friezes Reconstructionof the main portal of the synagogueat Kanaf Note the multiple bands of molded relief displaying a wide varietyof decorativestyles, including vine and scroll, eggand-dart,acanthus leaves, and guilloche. The two medallions flanking the portal are carvedin sunken relief TheAramaic inscription above the lintel names the donor:"Yosehbar Halfo bar Honio."Drawing by B. Wool.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
t/4
NL
stylistic analysis to be carriedout that has, in addition to its value to art history, important implications for the study of the history and culture of the Jewsin the Holy Land.These observationswill be especiallyworthwhile in the absence of literary sources. Thus, we might ask such questions as: Does the art and architectural style of the synagogues reflect the origin of the Jewish communities that came to settle in the Golan in the fourth century C.E.?
le -NA-
?
Above: This reconstructionof the synagogue at Kanafreveals the simplicity and sparse architecturaldecoration characteristicof Golan synagogues of the second group(built in the early sixth century Note that the decoration was limited toC.E.). the main portal and that Doric capitals were the rule. Right: This fragmentof a semicolumn is one of several that were attached to the exterior side walls at Kanaf,placed between the windows on the upperstory Each of the columns had a diagonal Ionic capital. This one has a small three-branchedmenorah engravedbetween two of the order'scharacteristic egg shapes.
confined to the main entrance and to lintels and capitals, and the repertoire of moldings and motifs is relatively poor. Some buildings carried no decoration (forinstance, Salabe, el-Khasha,and Zavitan) or only a very simple one. This artistic trend is similar to what was happening in architectural decoration at the same time in the Hauran.The ornamentation of churches in the fifth and sixth centuries was concise, and the few motifs were simply executed. Jewish symbols, however,appear to have been more abundantin the sixth century. Addedto the emblem of the menorah was the symbol of
the Torahshrine: It was usually a concise symbol-two columns supporting an arch, sometimes with a menorah on either side (forinstance, CAssalieh).From Ghadriyyawe have a lintel with a relief of an aedicula circled with a geometric design.'4 Conclusion The finds from the synagogues of the Golan are of exceptional quantity and artistic richness. We therefore have before us a situation in which diversifiedartistic currents, colored with spiritual and religious notions, occurredwithin a very limited region. This will make it possible for a
Does their style show a continuous source of influence? What sort of cultural and spiritual backgroundis indicated by the choice of symbols? Do the differences among various buildings suggest ties with neighboring communities? Do the synagogues reveal a chronological change or only a social and economic difference?These and other questions await further work, both new research and continued assessments of presently known material. One thing, however,is clear alreadyfrom the wealth of materials we now have at hand. The geographical position of the Golan, between the Galilee and the Hauran,gave the artisans of the region the opportunity to draw on influences and traditions of decoration from both areas,and in doing this they left us a distinct creation. The synagogues of the Golan thus speak to us as nothing else from their time can. Notes
'Inadditionto identifyingnew sites, the surveyrecordedall previously knownones.The synagoguesof the Golanwerediscoveredforthe firsttime in the 1880sbyLaurenceOliphantand GottliebSchumacher, bothof whom their recognized similarityto the Galilean synagogues, alreadywell known,recordedbythe SurveyofWesternPalestine. Thesepioneerswerefollowedin 1905by HeinrichKohlandCarlWatzinger, who, within the frameworkof theirresearch on Galilee,unearthedsynagoguesat edDikkeandUmmel-Kanatir in the Golan. In 1932 a team from the HebrewUniver-
sity,on a horsebackexcursionto the
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
127
Golan led by EleazarL. Sukenik and carried out after the completion of the excavation of the Hammath Gadersynagogue, documented and photographedseveral synagogues.Until that time, the remains of synagogueswere known at only six sites: er-Rafid,ed-Dikke, el-Huseiniyye, Kanaf,Umm el-Kanatir,and Ahmadiyye. Synagogueresearchpracticallydied out duringthe Frenchmandate and the Syrian state-the last visit to the synagogue at Kanafwas made in 1942by M. Neistat. It was, however,vigorously revived following the Six-dayWarby surveyorsof the Golan Heights such as C. Epstein, ShemaryahuGutman, Danny Urman, Shmuel Bar-Lev,and M. Ben-Ari. Dozens of sites were discoveredthat featureddecoratedstones, many with Jewishsymbols, that may have belonged to ruined synagogues.My surveywas begun in 1977. The fieldwork for this intensive, problem-orientedstudy was essentially completed in 1981,and since that time finds havt been processedand limited excavationsconducted to clarify definite points, chief among which is the question of chronology.A field survey alone cannot supply the data for a chronology of these synagogues. 2In fact, the "Golantype"synagogue is not confined to the Golan but can also be found in the basalt-coveredareaswest of it, such as the Chorazin-RoshPina plateau and RamatIssachar. In Galilee, synagoguesat Yafiaand Sumakawere also oriented towardsthe west. 41nmany synagoguegroundplans, recordedby excavationor survey,it was found that the main portal of the facade was, surprisingly,not located in the center of the wall on the axis of symmetry. This was the case both in structures oriented to the south (CEnNashut, Umm el-Kanatir,and Beit Lavi)and to the west (Zumimra,Zavitan, and perhaps Batra). The excavation at cEn Nashut provided us with an explanation. The shifting of the portal to a position off-center was meant to make room for a Torah shrine, which would then be on the inside of the qodesh wall and of equal status to the portal. Thus, in a manner unique to the Golan, was the problem solved of locating both the portal and the Torah shrine on the same wall. In Galilee this problem was sometimes resolved by building two shrines flanking the central portal.
128
5Eachof these examples, typical of a family, has been excavated;the other members of the family are known only from the survey. 6Similarprofiles were found at elHuseiniyye and er-Rafid,which belong to the same stylistic family. 7Themost important lintel found at the site, one that is coveredwith a relief of a wreath held by two winged victories, does not fit into the main portal sequence of formal entablature.It may have belonged to a side door. 8Similarcapitals were found at Zumimra and Chorazin. 9Becausesimilar fragments of such windows have been found at other sites (threeat er-Rafidand two at Ghadriyya), we cannot assume, as some scholars have, that the fragments servedas parts of the Torahshrine. 'oSchumachercalled this site Deir Rahib. "ISimilarrude and nonclassical capitals are found in some churches of the fifth and sixth centuries C.E.in Syria, notably those at Qanawatand Bostra. 12Lions ornamenting the shrine are known from the mosaic floor of the synagogueat Beth Alfa and the rock carvings in the cemetery at Beth Shecarim and elsewhere. 13Tothe "Qasrinfamily"belong four buildings in the same vicinity: Yahudiyya, Qusbiya, cAssalieh, and, of course, Qasrin. Accordingto the excavationsat Qasrin, there is no doubt that this group dates to the beginning of the sixth century C.E.The architecturalfragmentsof these four sites are identical in their molding, and this is an unusual phenomenon. Identical moldings appearon bases, capitals, and frames aroundthe main entrance. The ornamentation is limited to only these items, and symbols appearonly overthe portal (see the detailed description of Qasrin in MaCoz
and Killebrew 1988). They reveal an entirely new architectural concept in the Golan synagogues. 14This pattern has an exact parallel in the lintel of the church at Mallah in the Hauran; there it encircles a cross.
Bibliography Blackman,P.,translator
1963 TractateSotah.Pp.335-87 in Mishnayoth:PointedHebrew Text,English Translation,Introductions,Notes
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1988
Supplement,Appendix, Indexes, Addenda, Corrigenda.VolumeIII: OrderNashim, second edition. New York:The JudaicaPress. 1964 TractateArachin.Pp.301-48 in Mishnayoth:PointedHebrew Text, Introductions, English 7Translation, Notes Supplement,Appendix, Indexes, Addenda, Corrigenda,Volume V:OrderKodashim,second edition. New York:The JudaicaPress. Gutman, S. 1981 The Synagogueat Gamla. Pp.30-34 in Ancient SynagoguesRevealed, edited by L. I. Levine.Jerusalem: IsraelExplorationSociety. Kohl, H., and Watzinger,C. 1916 Antike Synagogenin Galilaea. Leipzig:J.C. Hinrichs. Macoz,Z. U. 1981a The Synagogueof Gamla and the Typologyof SecondTempleSynagogues. Pp.35-41 in Ancient Synagogues Revealed,edited by L. I. Levine.Jerusalem:IsraelExploration Society. 1981b The Art and Architectureof the Synagoguesof the Golan. Pp.98-115 in Ancient SynagoguesRevealed, edited by L. I. Levine.Jerusalem: IsraelExplorationSociety. 1987 Synagoguesof the Golan. Pp. 13-20 in JewishArt in the Golan. Series:Catalogue3 of Reubenand EdithHecht Museum. Haifa:University of Haifa. MaCoz,Z. U., and Killebrew,A. 1988 Ancient Qasrin:SynagogueandVillage. Biblical Archaeologist 51: 5-19. Marcus,R., translator 1966 JosephusVII.JewishAntiquities, Books XII-XIV Cambridge,MA, and London:Harvardand Heinemann. Oliphant, L. 1885 ExplorationsNorth-eastof Lake Tiberias,and in Jaulan.Palestine ExplorationFund. QuarterlyStatement for 1885:82-93. 1886 New Discoveries. Palestine Exploration Fund. QuarterlyStatement for 1886:73-81. Schumacher, G. 1889 The Jaulan. London. Sukenik, E. L. 1935 The Ancient Synagogue of ElHammeh (Hammath-Gedara). Jerusalem: Rubin Mass. Thackeray, H. St. J., translator 1968 Josephus III. The Jewish War, Books IV-VII. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard and Heinemann. Urman, D. 1985 The Golan, A Profile of a Region During the Roman and Byzantine Periods. Series: BAR International Series 269. Oxford: BAR.
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