MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School

Certificate for Approving the Dissertation

We hereby approve the Dissertation of Adam C. Chambers

Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

_____________________________________ Edwin Yamauchi

_____________________________________ Charlotte Newman Goldy

_____________________________________ Mary Kupeic Cayton

_____________________________________ Steven L. Tuck

____________________________________ Graduate School Representative James C. Hanges

ABSTRACT

RE-CENTERING THE TEMPLE: THE ORIGIN AND EXPANSION OF THE DECAPOLIS CHURCHES, 4TH TO 7TH c. CE

by Adam C. Chambers

This study examines the emergence and expansion of church construction in the Decapolis from the fourth to the seventh centuries. The number of churches in these communities during the Byzantine period suggests a significant Christian presence in cities on the fringes of the eastern provinces. The understanding of the development of Christianity in these cities has been limited to brief analyses in the discussion of archaeological remains, and historical assessments have tended to overstate the conflict between pagans and Christians until the traditional cult were eventually defeated as a predominant theme of the fourth century. More recent research has challenged this concept, arguing that it relies on the biased accounts of Christian writers and indicating that older cults survived well into the fifth and sixth century in the eastern provinces, particularly within the countryside. While edicts issued by Constantine began the process by which traditional Roman cults were directly challenged, the Theodosian mandates created an atmosphere in the East that became intolerant of residual paganism. In the Decapolis cities, this ushered in a period that would bring about a large expansion of churches. This study argues that the churches of the Decapolis from the fourth to the seventh century were at the center of discourse between Christian authorities and non-Christians on the periphery that focused on the continuities and discontinuities with classical culture as a process of re-sacralizing religious and civic spaces within the city. They were also essential in redefining group identities of the community. Theoretical perspectives addressing sacred space and postcolonial perspectives of group identity formation provide insight into this process that reshaped these communities into Byzantine cities, reflecting the complex relationships between church and state that had developed in the postConstantinian period. While it may be suggested that the church construction in these cities was related to the Christianization of the region, often understood to mean the conversion of its inhabitants, a more significant factor was their continuity with classical society suggesting the necessity of a more nuanced understanding of the origin of the churches in these communities. The churches in the Decapolis emerged and expanded, in part, because of their capacity to fulfill certain civic functions once the province of the local temple that were necessary for the religious and social cohesion of eastern cities.

RE-CENTERING THE TEMPLE: THE ORIGIN AND EXPANSION OF THE DECAPOLIS CHURCHES, 4TH TO 7TH c. CE

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History

by

Adam C. Chambers Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2009

Dissertation Director: Dr. Edwin Yamauchi

 Adam C. Chambers 2009

Table of Contents

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v. vi. viii. xi.

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Background of the Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theory and Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contribution of the Present Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary of Chapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 1 Temples and Churches in the East before Constantine . . . . . . . . . . . . . Temples in Eastern Civic Life: Greek and Hellenistic Periods. . Temples in Eastern Civic Life: Roman Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Churches in the East: Pre-Constantinian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 2

1 3 10 15 16 20 21 25 33

Temple to Church in Eastern Cities: 4th to 7th c. CE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Constantinian Period: Challenges to Church Construction in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodosian Period: Christianization and Church Construction in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48

63

The Period of Justinian: Golden Age of Church Expansion in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Chapter 3 Churches of the Decapolis: 5th to 7th c. CE: Central-plan Churches . . Background of the Decapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 90

Churches of the Decapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

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Spaces of Contested Meanings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Central-plan and Cruciform Churches in the Decapolis. . . . . . . . . 113 Abila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Gadara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Scythopolis-Beth Shean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Gerasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 4

Churches of the Decapolis: 5th to 7th c. CE: Basilica-plan Churches . . . 147 Heliopolis-Baalbek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Hippos-Sussita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Abila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Gadara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scythopolis-Beth Shean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 182 187 209

Philadelphia-Amman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Other Decapolis Cities and Regional Cities . . . . . . . . . Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 229

Appendix: Synagogues in the Decapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

239 246 249

iv

List of Tables

Tab. 4.1 Tab. 4.2 Tab. 4.3

General Church Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notable Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Furniture and Associated Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

105 106 107

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1. Fig. 1.2. Fig. 1.3. Fig. 1.4. Fig. 3.1. Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3. Fig. 3.4. Fig. 3.5. Fig. 3.6. Fig. 3.7. Fig. 3.8. Fig. 3.9 Fig. 3.10. Fig. 3.11. Fig. 3.12. Fig. 3.13. Fig. 3.14. Fig. 3.15. Fig. 3.16. Fig. 3.17. Fig. 3.18. Fig. 3.19. Fig. 4.1. Fig. 4.2. Fig. 4.3. Fig. 4.4. Fig. 4.5. Fig. 4.6. Fig. 4.7 Fig. 4.8. Fig. 4.9. Fig. 4.10. Fig. 4.11. Fig. 4.12. Fig. 4.13. Fig. 4.14. Fig. 4.15. Fig. 4.16. Fig. 4.17. Fig. 4.18. Fig. 4.19.

Top plan of the domus ecclesiae at Dura-Europos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Isometric drawing of the domus ecclesiae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Stages (isometric) of the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum . . . . . . . . . 41 Phases of the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Map of the Decapolis in Byzantine period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Antiochene civic life around the Workshops of the Martyrion. . . . . . 99 Reliquary, Qalat Seman, 5th-6th c. CE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Water tunnel inscription mentioning the name of the city . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Proposed plan of Abila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Top plan of Area E church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Reliquary recovered from south room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Map of Gadara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Top plan of Octagonal Church and southern chapel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Topographical map of Scythopolis-Beth Shean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Top plan of the Church of the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs. . . . . . . . . 131 Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs mosaic floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Top plan of the Church of St. John the Baptist complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Baptistery of Church of St. John Baptist complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Mosaics of Church of St. John Baptist featuring Nilotic motifs . . . . . . . . . 138 Theodore and his wife at the Cosmas and Damianus church at Gerasa . . . . 139 Top plan of the Mortuary Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Topographical map of the citadel of Philadelphia-Amman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Top plan of the Church of St. George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Drawing of the basilica at Baalbek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Map of Hippos-Sussita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Citys center including the Northwest Church and forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Top plan of Northwest Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Lower reliquary in the martyrion chapel of Northwest Church . . . . . . . . . . 158 Restored chancel screens and posts in Northwest Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Mosaics depicting a screw press in church at Umm al-Rasas . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Mosaic of press with workmen at a church in Madaba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 A bronze polykandelon also found in the diaconicon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Inscription commemorating donation of Hedora (Heliodora?) . . . . . . . . . 161 Inscription in the Northwest Church mentioning benefactor Petros . . . . . . . 161 Inscription for deaconess Antona (Antonia?), Northwest Church . . . . . . . . 162 Plan of the Northeast Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Northeast Church viewed from the southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Top plan of the Area A church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Statuary of Artemis in remains of Area A church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Top plan of Area D church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Red marble colonnette found in the remains of the Area D Church . . . . . . 176 Opus sectile flooring of Area D churchs nave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

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Fig. 4.20 Fig. 4.21. Fig. 4.22. Fig. 4.23. Fig. 4.24. Fig. 4.25. Fig. 4.26. Fig. 4.27. Fig. 4.28. Fig. 4.29. Fig. 4.30. Fig. 4.31. Fig. 4.32. Fig. 4.33. Fig. 4.34. Fig. 4.35. Fig. 4.36. Fig. 4.37. Fig. 4.38. Fig. 4.39. Fig. 4.40. Fig. 4.41. Fig. 4.42. Fig. 4.43.

Opus tessalatum flooring border pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosaics featuring various vegetal motifs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conversion of five-aisled church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fragmentary mosaic inscription from nave of five-aisled church . . . . . Top plan of the chapel G in the monastery of Kuria Maria . . . . . . . . . . Overhead view of mosaic floors of Chapel G of the monastery . . . . . . . Top plan of the Cathedral at Gerasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cross-section of the Church of St. Theodore from south . . . . . . . . . . . . Southwest baptistery of Church of St. Theodore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Procopius Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inscription of dedication mentioning an official, Procopius . . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Synagogue Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jewish motifs featured in mosaics of the Synagogue Church . . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Northern aisle inscription of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Propylaea Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosaic medallion of the diaconicon of the Propylaea Church . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Church of St. Genesius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . West Church reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phases of Civic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Column inscription found in the church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of Cathedral at Philadelphia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cathedrals chancel from the west . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Top plan of the Church of St. Elianos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

176 176 179 181 183 184 188 191 191 193 194 195 196 198 199 203 204 207 212 215 216 220 220 224

vii

List of Abbreviations ADAJ AJA Anec Antiq. BA BAR BASOR Build. Chron. CIL CTh DOP ECA Eus. EH Eus. Life Eus. On. Ep. Pan. Ev. EH Geog. HTR Hist. Idyll. ILS JSAH LibAnn Mal. Chron. NEA NEAEHL NEASB NPNF 1 Annual of the Department of Antiquities, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan American Journal of Archaeology Procopius, Anecdota, trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 6, London and Cambridge 1993 Josephus, Flavius. Jewish Antiquities, trans. H. Thackeray and R. Marcus, Cambridge, Mass. and London 1998 Biblical Archaeologist Biblical Archaeological Review Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Procopius, Buildings, trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 7, London and Cambridge 1993 George Synkellos. Chronographica, trans. W. Adler and P. Tuffin, Oxford 2002 Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum Codex Theodosianus, The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions, trans. C. Pharr, Princeton 1952 Dumbarton Oak Papers Eastern Christian Art Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, trans. K. Lake, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass. 2001 Eusebius of Caesarea. Life of Constantine, trans. Averil Cameron and Stuart George Hall, Oxford and New York 1999 Eusebius of Caesarea. Onomasticon, trans. R. S. Notley and Z. Safrai, Boston 2005 Epiphanius, Panarion, trans. F. Williams, New York 1987 Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, trans. M. Whitby, Liverpool 2000 Ptolemy, Claudius. Geographia, trans. E. L. Stevenson, New York and Toronto 1991 Harvard Theological Review Polybius. The Histories, trans. W. R. Paton. The Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge 2000 Theocritus, Idylliums, trans. F. Fawkes, London 1767 Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians Liber annuus John Malalas, Chronographia, trans. E. Jeffrey, et al., Melbourne 1986 Near Eastern Archaeology The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavation in the Holy Land, eds. E. Stern, A. Levinson-Gilboa, and J. Aviram, Jerusalem 1993 Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, ed. P. Schaff, Christian Literature Publishing Company 1890; reprint, Peabody, Mass. 1994

viii

NPNF 2 OEANE PEFQS Pers. PG PL Plut. Mor RB Soc. HE Soz. HE SHAJ Syn. Theoc. Theod. HE Vitruv. Arch. War

Nicene and post-Nicene Fathers, second series, eds. P. Schaff and H. Wace, Christian Literature Publishing Company 1890; reprint, Peabody, Mass. 1994 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, ed. E. M. Meyers, New York 1997. Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement Procopius, Persian Wars, trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 1, London and Cambridge 1993 Patrologia Graeca, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, ed. J. G. Migne. Paris 1844 Patrologia Latina, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, ed. J. G. Migne. Paris 1844 Plutarch. Moralia, trans. F. C. Babbitt, Cambridge 2005 Revue Biblique Socrates, Scholasticas. Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. J. G. Migne, PG vol. l xvii; Ecclesiastica Historia, ed. R. Hussey, New York 1992 Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. J. G. Migne, PG vol. l, xvii; NPNF 2, vol. 2 Grand Rapids 1982 Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan Hierocles. Synecdemus, trans. E. Honigmann, Brussels 1939 Theocritus, Greek Bucolic Poets, trans. J. M. Edmonds, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge and London 1991. Theodoret, Historia Ecclesiastica, trans. R. M. Price, Kalamazoo, Mich. 1985 Vitruvius. De architectura, trans. I. D. Rowland, New York 2001 Josephus, Flavius. The Jewish War, trans. H. St. J. Thackeray, Loeb Classical History, Cambridge, Mass. 1997

ix

To Patricia

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my advisor, Edwin Yamauchi, for his encouragement and support of my research. His commitment to scholarly excellence has been a source of inspiration to me in my work dealing with the history of the church in the Decapolis region. This study was enriched by the involvement of James C. Hanges and Steven L. Tuck, both of whom provided guidance and insights that enhanced the clarity and focus of my discussion. I am also grateful to Charlotte Newman Goldy and Mary Kupeic Cayton for their contributions in the fine-tuning of the argument and the editing process. I owe much to the late W. Harold Mare, the fomer director of excavations at Abila of the Decapolis, and to Covenant Theological Seminary, for the opportunity to be involved in the excavation of the churches at Abila. Dr. Mares successor, David Chapman, continued to provide much appreciated interest and encouragement for my research. Through the Abila excavation, I have had the opportunity to work with fine scholars, including Reuben Bullard, W. W. Winter, and Bastiaan Van Elderen. Finally, I am thankful for my family and friends who have never wavered in their support of me during this project. My father, Roger Chambers, demonstrated what it meant to be an excellent scholar and a man of character and integrity. I will always be grateful for having had his example to follow. I have also been blessed by the love and support of my mother, Linda Chambers, and my sisters and brother, their families, and my wifes family, all of whom have been a source of encouragement during my years of study. Above all, this work is dedicated to my wife and best friend, Patricia, without whom this would have remained a dream.

xi

Introduction

In the sixth-century CE, the Byzantine writer Choricius described his visit to the Church of St. Sergius in the city of Gaza in Palestine where he was captivated by a wall mosaic that provided a backdrop for the chancel in the eastern end, the center of ritual space.1 After describing certain outstanding interior features, he turned his attention to the central apse over the altar, which was decorated with a colorful mosaic depicting a pious assembly. At the center sat the Virgin Mary and Child against a background of gold and silver mosaic surrounded by a noteworthy group of local religious and political officials. On the extreme right was the figure of Stephen, the provincial governor and founder of the church, standing over the gathering with his right hand resting on the shoulder of the bishop, the citys chief religious official, positioned next to the Virgin and the Christ-child. The image is intriguing not only as a decorative feature of the churchs interior, but also for the insight it provides into the role of church buildings for communities in the region of Palestine during the Byzantine period. The depiction of Jesus and his mother Mary at the center of the mosaic was common in church decorations as an expression of the theological perspectives of the day. The image of the provincial governor was a reminder of the complex political relationship that the church had with the state after the fourth century. He rested his hand on the local bishop who was positioned between the governor and the Savior. The glittering image had been created with gold and silver mosaics, suggesting the considerable resources invested for this embellishment of the church. The mosaic highlighted the prominently positioned governor and the bishop. Centered over the altar where attention was focused during the holy rites, it reminded celebrants of the piety of the benefactors who had provided the house of worship. The mosaic of the Church of St. Sergius at Gaza provides insight into the complex social and political meanings that had developed around church buildings in eastern cities after the reign of Theodosius I at the end of the fourth century. It represents a striking contrast to the churches founded from private residences and structures outside of the sphere of legalized

J. W. Crowfoot, Early Churches in Palestine (College Park, MD: McGrath, 1971, c. 1941), 112. Cf. R W. Hamilton in PEFQS, 1930, 181 ff.

religions of the Roman Empire. Within a short span of time, churches had not only become legalized, but were decorated with such images that featured a Roman provincial official in an intimate pose with a bishop and the founder of Christianity. It highlights not only the emergence of physical structures that came to represent the Christian faith, but how these structures could, at the same time, embody the political weight of the Roman government. Constantine had set in motion the events that would lead to Christianity becoming the state religion of the empire. Eusebius would have us believe that paganism was overthrown with the Christians change of fortune that brought about the dramatic defeat of old cults. Despite this narrative, the traditional cults of the empire continued to persist especially among the elites in the government and in the provinces, and in rural regions of the empire. While some imperial churches were built primarily at certain Christian centers in the East, they were not prevalent in many smaller cities, like those of the Decapolis. After Theodosius, the pressures of edicts against residual paganism forced non-Christians to engage churches and their potential for meeting the social and religious needs that had once been the province of the local temple. This discourse, at first between Christians and non-Christians, and later among Christianized Romans brought about a natural transition of shared meanings from one religious structure to another. This study argues that the origin and expansion of the churches in the Decapolis after the fourth century can be explained in part because of their capacity to embody certain meanings and functions once held by classical temples that were necessary for the religious and social cohesion of eastern communities. In the pre-Constantinian period, temples were the central structures in most cities in the east, serving not only ritual functions for the welfare of the community, but also a variety of political and religious functions. During the Roman period, their relationship with the state deepened with the emperors role, after Augustus assumed the title of pontifex maximus, expanding the emperors role to include the chief priest of the state. When Christianity came on the scene in the first century, the followers of the new religion organized with little need or desire, for distinguishable public structures, such as temples. After Constantine, churches came under the direct sponsorship of the emperor in some cases, and came to assume many of the roles once held by temples. But still they were not built in many eastern cities From the fourth to the seventh century, the region of the Decapolis (Ten Cities), a collection of cities in the region of Palestine and the Transjordan which shared a common classical heritage, experienced the emergence of significance church construction that, at times involved the direct

supplanting of Roman shrines. The significant number of churches and their various features suggest that these structures were central to these communities, but in many cases the quantity and quality of construction seems to be more than a matter of providing sufficient assembly space. It suggests other factors, along with the effects of Christianization, that were driving these building of churches in these communities. This study seeks to address several key questions: What led to the origin and expansion of churches in the Decapolis cities from the fifth to the seventh c. CE? Was it simply a reflection of large Christian communities, or were there other reasons for their quantity and quality? Who was building these churches and for whom? What purpose or functions did they serve in these communities? What needs were they designed to meet? Finally, how were these related to the Christianization of these communities, and more importantly, what was the nature of this Christianization?

Background of the Research This study seeks to address these questions from a perspective that has thus far been either limited or missing in scholarly analysis. In some cases, the analysis of the physical and literary evidence has been hampered by certain biases that remain resilient in the scholarship of this period. In particular, my study questions the school of thought that downplays the idea of continuity between the Greek and Roman world and Byzantine society, which has led to underestimating, or understating, the continuing presence and influence of traditional cults and their shrines in the post-Constantinian period in eastern communities. This study instead suggests that the persistence of classical religion played a major role in the limitation of church construction in the fourth century, despite the position of Christianity as the favored religion of the empire. It also seeks not only to discuss the physical remains of church buildings, but to

attempt to explain their meaning for the communities where they were constructed. Studies of Christian architecture of the Byzantine East, and of the Decapolis cities in particular, have long followed a pattern of technical discussions of the architecture and features, but rarely have engaged in analysis of their meaning in the historical context in which they emerged. This study contests a scholarly perspective that objects to the idea of continuities existing between classical society and the Christian world. Scholarship of the early Byzantine era, especially of the western empire, has often downplayed the impact of classical cults as an

influential factor shaping society after Constantine took over control of the empire and its religious life at the beginning of the fourth century CE. Some schools of thought about traditional Roman cults in the fourth century include the perspective that assumes that classical religions as having little significance in the social scene after Constantine. Scholars favoring this approach set the expansion of Christianity against the decline of pure Roman society and religion. In this sense, the underlying, value-ladened motif ( la Edward Gibbon or Voltaire) sets in stark contrast the decline of the noble, traditions of Roman religion with the rise of Christianity (the narrow, unsophisticated usurper cult). To some extent this mindset persists in the scholarship of this period. Peter Brown in his study of the cult of the saints minimizes the connection between Roman antecedents in ritual and structure and later Christian practices.2 While John Liebeschuetz acknowledges that Christianity was Romanized, his study indicates that
this involved essentially a rejection of the ancestral religion of Rome.3

In the history of archaeology, this perspective has manifested itself in some unfortunate ways. A significant Constantinian church that this study considers had been located in the courtyard of the largest temple in the East, the temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus at HeliopolisBaalbek. German excavations in the late nineteenth century, particularly after the visit of the German emperor Wilhelm II in 1898, were carried out on the temple precinct under the direction of Otto Puchstein.4 Excavations, encouraged by the enthusiastic emperor, proceeded to remove Byzantine remains in order to unearth the Roman temple precinct. In the process, little was left remaining of the church or associated structures for analysis. This slight tone of disdain for Byzantine remains could be sensed even in the more scientific approach of the excavation of Gerasa by the American teams later in the early twentieth century, reflected in the limited discussion of the churches and their related structures in excavation reports despite their primary position among the physical remains.5 The most persistent elements of classical culture during the post-Constantinian period, much to chagrin of eastern bishops, were the traditional cults and their shrines. While ecclesiastical sources were apt to celebrate the victory of the Christian faith, even in the fourth
Peter Brown, The Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981), 6. 3 John H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, Continuity and Change in Roman Religion (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), 305. 4 Theodor Wiegand, Baalbek: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen und Untersuchungen in den Jahren 1898 bis 1905 (Berlin: Leipzig, W. de Gruyter, 1921-1925). 5 J. W. Crowfoot, "The Christian Churches" in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. Carl Kraeling (New Haven, Conn.: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 171-264.
2

century, recent studies have shed light on the complexity of the cultural transitions during this period indicating that the religious traditionalists remained viable in a number of eastern cities and their vicinities. Frank R. Trombley stresses that the persistence of traditional cults in eastern provinces is reflected by the fact that despite the pressures of Theodosius and his successors to bring an end to these practices, they still were surviving in certain contexts.6 He contends that, although pressured out of municipal centers, shrines continued to be visited in rural locations. Trombley notes that missionaries and monks who sought to spread Christianity in the Greek mainland often faced fierce opposition from rural populations who remained dedicated to the local pagan temples. He writes, Greek urban religious life had strong ties to the local and rural temples. This allegiance was transferred to the basilicas as more citizens became Christian.7 His findings coincides with the research of M. Alison Frantz, who notes that at Athens, Christianity and traditional cults were known to coexist, remaining in different parts of the city, well into the fifth and early sixth century.8 This research, which highlights the persistence of traditional religions long after Christianity had became the official religion of the empire in the fourth-century CE, is useful to our study of the Decapolis region. It provides further insight into the role of traditionalist resistance, especially among the local elite and rural inhabitants, that certainly hindered the construction of churches. In the research of the period of transition between late Roman and Byzantine society, terminology such as end, fall, or rise is problematic in that it does not go far enough in recognizing the inherent complexity of social change. The concept of culture in itself is difficult to define because by its very essence it was always in flux. In speaking of pagan or Christian culture, one quickly realizes the problems not only in fixing a definition of these concepts, but also in determining where one culture ends and the other begins. Scholars recognizing these problems have sought instead to understand the changes occurring during the early Byzantine era as cultural transitions, or processes of change. Despite the enthusiastic accounts of Christians depicting the destruction of traditional Roman cults and their shrines,
Frank R. Trombley, Hellenic Religion and Christianization, c. 370-529 CE. (Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1993), 1:94. 7 Frank R. Trombley, Paganism in the Greek World at the End of Antiquity: The Case of Rural Anatolia and Greece. HTR 78, no. 3, 4 (Jul.-Oct., 1985): 345. 8 M. Alison Frantz, "From Paganism to Christianity in the Temples of Athens," DOP 19 (1965) 197; J. M. Spieser, La christianisation des sanctuaires paens en Grce," in Ulf Jantzen, ed., Neue Forschungen in griechischen Heiligtiimern (Tbingen 1976): 309-10, notes that at Athens temples were occasionally reused for churches, but there was little evidence of antagonism or hostility associated with the reuse of these structures.
6

these institutions continued to exist, changed and redefined within the context of churches and their associated practices. Vasiliki Limberis highlights this type of continuity in her discussion of traditional rituals of the Roman state religion practice by the Theodosian imperial household at Constantinople.9 This study also advocates a similar continuity with classical culture as evident in the churches reflecting the nature of the transition between the traditional religious cults and Christianity in the Decapolis cities. Another problematic element in the discussion that must be addressed is the ambiguous term pagan used to describe traditional cults of the post-Constantine period. While scholars continue to employ this term to refer to the non-Christian adherent to the old Roman cults, the word is not very accurate or adequate to encompass the nuances of the traditional Roman religionists of the period. A. D. Lee notes these limitations, stating that it implies a degree of coherence belied by the sheer diversity of the phenomena the term is supposed to encompass. 10 He notes that the term was used by Christian sources in the fourth century as a means of demeaning their opponents, as country bumpkins from paganus meaning belonging to the country or peasant. Non-Christians who continued to honor the old Roman cults and rituals referred to themselves as traditionalists or vetus religio.11 While this study will occasionally use the generic term pagan, it will typically employ more neutral and descriptive terms to designate those who remained devoted to the Roman gods during this period. This study also seeks to address a weakness in the research of church architecture that has generally limited analysis of the development of the physical structures in relationship to their historical context. Much of the research on church architecture of the Byzantine period reflects a tendency to narrow in on prominent locations in the empire providing a technical treatment of the evidence. Interest in Christian architecture was fueled by the rediscovery of biblical lands by Europeans in the eighteenth century. At this time, subterranean levels, which were discovered beneath the churches in Rome, led to an intensification of interest in early church architecture and its relation to the history of the church. While scholars including Adolf von Harnack in the early twentieth century were instrumental in research and the analysis of these remains, their efforts were hindered by the limited development of archaeological research at this
9

Vasiliki Limberis, Divine Heiress: the Virgin Mary and the Creation of Christian Constantinople (London; New York: Routledge, 1994), 52ff. Cf. S. G. MacCormack, Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity (Berkeley, 1981). 10 A. D. Lee, Traditional Religions, in The Age of Constantine, ed. N. Lenski, 14-31 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 164. 11 Ibid.

early date.12 The uncovering of the remains in Rome kindled interest in the question of the origin and development of church building, a topic which has led to a large body of research on churches over the past century. While the range of literature on the history of churches is extensive, most of these have focused on the development of churches in the western Roman provinces, or at major Christian centers in the East. A preeminent example of this perspective of the history of churches is the work of Richard Krautheimer, who discusses the development of church building, especially in the Byzantine period from Constantine to the Early Middle Ages, describing early churches found in Rome and other prominent cities in the West.13 His research addresses some of the key architectural features of churches and their function in the state and society in late antiquity. While his work provides an important foundational understanding of church architecture by addressing its heritage in the Roman period, Krautheimers discussion comes from a perspective that tends to emphasize the primacy of western provinces in the development of church architecture.14 His study Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture provides a catalogue of prominent western churches and identifies the origins of the basilica church, the predominant style in the early Byzantine period, as evolving from the design of the early house church. In the case of specific cities in the eastern provinces, such as those in the Decapolis, the study of the churches has been limited to archaeological surveys and reports. Exploration of the Holy Land, including Palestine and the Transjordan regions, in the nineteenth century brought about the discovery of numerous churches, many of which had not been disturbed since their abandonment. Early European visitors to the cities of the Decapolis region often surveyed the sites, providing descriptions of their findings. Ulrich J. Seetzen, who traveled throughout region of Palestine, the Transjordan, and Syria in 1806, famously discovered the city of Gerasa in his ventures. 15 He was followed by others, including Gottlieb Schumacher, who provided an

12 13

White, Social, 6. This followed his earlier Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae. The Early Christian Basilicas of Rome (Iv-Ix Cent.), Monumenti di Antichit Cristiana; 2, Ser. 2. Citt del Vaticano: Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1937, an early catalogue of Christian architecture discovered in Rome. 14 Richard Krautheimer and Slobodan Curcic, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, 4th ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986, c. 1965), 66. 15 Ulrich J. Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien, Palstina, Phnicien, die Transjordan-Lnder, Arabia Petraea und UnterAegypten, vol. 1, ed. F. Kruse (Olms; Auflage: Nachdr. d. Ausg. Berlin, 1854-59), vol. 1, 371; vol. 4, 190-1.

extensive survey of these regions and produced maps identifying key sites and their remains.16 As early field archaeology developed in the first half of the twentieth century, a number of sites were excavated by pioneers in the field like William F. Albright and Nelson Glueck.17 One of the early excavations of Byzantine remains in Palestine occurred at Scythopolis-Beth Shean by the University of Pennsylvania Museum from 1921 to 1923. This expedition excavated two churches: a round church at the summit of Tel el- u n and a monastery chapel. In the Transjordan, the extensive remains of the ancient Greco-Roman city of Gerasa (modern Jerash) drew the attention of western scholars, including a joint expedition of Yale University and the British School of Archaeology directed by a number of prominent scholars, including J. W. Crowfoot, Clarence S. Fisher, and Nelson Glueck.18 This excavation, although limited in its analysis of Byzantine and Islamic levels, brought to light the vitality of the Christian communities that inhabited this region, historically identified as the Decapolis. J. W. Crowfoot led the excavation of the churches at this site and later published the results, as well as an extensive study of churches in Palestine. Excavations of the Byzantine churches were initiated at other cities of the Decapolis that were located primarily within the province of Palestina Secunda. These included the single site in the Cisjordan, Scythopolis-Beth Shean, and those of the Transjordan, including Pella (Kh. Fa il), Gadara (Umm Qais), Abila, Capitolias (Beit Ras), and Hippos-Sussita. Some of these excavations continue to the present day.19 Other studies served to catalogue the various features of these churches, such as Bellarmino Bagattis work which identified and mapped churches in Palestine.20 A similar study produced by Asher Ovadiah provided a list and description of churches throughout the region of Palestine.21 While earlier explorations of the region of the Transjordan produced such catalogues and maps of classical structures, often including Christian basilicas, more recently a

Gottlieb Schumacher, Across the Jordan: Being an Exploration and Survey of Part of Hauran and Jaulan (London: A. P. Watt, 1889). Cf. S. Merrill, East of Jordan: A Record of Travel and Observation in the Countries of Moab, Gilead, and Bashan (London and New York, 1881). 17 Nelson Glueck, Explorations in Eastern Palestine (New Haven, CT: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1934-51). 18 William F. Stinespring, The History of Excavation at Jerash, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. C. H. Kraeling, (New Haven, Connecticut: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 1-10, 19 These excavations are discussed in below. 20 Bellarmino Bagatti, Larcheologia cristiana in Palestina (Firenze, Sansoni, 1962). 21 A. Ovadiah, Corpus of the Byzantine Churches in the Holy Land, trans. from the Hebrew by Rose Kirson (Bonn: P. Hanstein, 1970).

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comprehensive study of the churches in the region has been produced by Anne Michel. 22 Her research attempts to identify and describe the known corpus of Byzantine churches located in the Transjordan. These works have been extremely useful sources of information in providing rather exhaustive lists of churches in the region, but they limit themselves to providing data with little analysis of their significance. Among the archaeological reports and surveys of the Decapolis, a few have attempted to explain the expansion of churches and their meaning for these communities during the Byzantine period. One suggestion has been that the number of churches reflects the presence of various factions of Christians, each needing its own church building.23 Following the analysis of Robert Coughenour of the archaeological remains at Umm al-Jimal, where fifteen churches were identified, John Wineland suggests that churches were built for individual clans that formed the basic social structure in the region of the Decapolis.24 The number of churches reflected the presence of multiple affluent clans who built their own churches to demonstrate their identity within the community.25 While the clan or family social structure in the eastern provinces was certainly an important factor in the expansion of churches, their involvement in constructing churches does not fully explicate the mechanisms at work within these families and their communities that led to this phenomenon. Another significant area of research in understanding the role and meaning of Christian architecture that has been, in the case of the Decapolis, missing altogether is the analysis of the architecture through the lens of theory as a means of approaching the material remains. My study will utilize several theoretical perspectives described below to explain how these structures functioned in generating sacred spatial meaning and forming communal identity. This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature of church architecture of the wider Byzantine East and that of smaller communities like the Decapolis, a body of scholarship which has been limited to the discussion of architectural features of churches, but not the interpretation of that architecture. Its focus is to use the physical remains of churches as a starting point for understanding not only the history of churches in the region, but also the complex meanings they came to embody to serve the needs of local communities.
Anne Michel, Les glises d'poque Byzantine et Umayyade de Jordanie 2 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001). Geoffrey R. D. King, Some Churches of the Byzantine Period in the Jordanian Hawran, Damaszener Mitteilungen 3 (1988): 35-74, cited in Wineland, 111-12. 24 Wineland, 112. See R. A. Coughenour, The Fifteen Churches of Umm al-Jimal, An Unpublished Manuscript. 25 Ibid.
23 22

Theory and Methodology While the location and physical remains of churches of eastern cities may appear to have certain self-evident meanings, these prove difficult, if not impossible, to identify with certitude. Neither literary nor archaeological remains are capable of providing unbiased glimpses or defining the true meaning of religious structures as they were perceived by ancient onlookers. Despite these limitations, certain theoretical tools emerging in the scholarly discourse over the past century allow insights into nuanced understandings of religious buildings. In particular, theories of sacred space and architecture provide some direction in speculating about the complex meanings of churches in the Decapolis cities. At the turn of the twentieth century, the study of religion was moved in some new directions by scholarship that sought to broaden the traditional boundaries of analysis of the origins and development of religious communities. Drawing from the scientific approach to religious beliefs and practices, Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of Religious Life laid the groundwork for understanding certain global elements of belief and ritual. He concluded that religion is essentially a social product, and therefore the space associated with its expression is also of social origin.26 One of the hallmarks of religious thought is a separation, or division, between the sacred and profane worlds.27 These categories define each other by their opposition and are not limited to personal deities, gods, or spirits, but can also be reflected in elements of the natural world, rituals, and even words and chants.28 Yet essentially the distinctions between sacred and profane are of social origin, reflecting the religious system of an individual culture. Durkheims research inspired further exploration of how these categories played out within various local contexts. Mircea Eliade expanded upon these concepts, noting that the sacred and profane were two separate worlds that distinguished and defined the other for the religious man. In The Sacred and the Profane, he moved beyond the notions of sacrality and non-sacrality in the abstract and attempted to make these more concrete through the idea of sacred space.29 Unlike the secular perspective that understands all space to be homogenous and neutral, the religious
26

Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, translated by and with an introduction by Karen E. Fields (New York: Free Press, 1995, c.1915), 11, 14. 27 Ibid., 36. 28 Ibid., 37. 29 Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, translated by Willard R. Trask. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959), 10, echoes Durkheims view of the sacred and profane as polar opposites that define each other.

10

man sees interruptions of the sacred in the form of a hierophany, or the act of manifestation of the sacred, which often is a point of interaction and communication with the divine (i.e. Jacobs vision of stairway at Bethel, Gen. 29.10-22). 30 Along with marking a break in the homogeneity of profane space, sacred space provides a means of horizontal orientation by marking the symbolic Center, or navel of the world, where the hierophany occurs and the religious man seeks to dwell.31 This center is also the axis mundi, the universal pillar that stretches vertically joins the earthly realm with that of both the underworld below, and the heavenly dwellings above.32 The sacred space then is marked as a point of junction between two worlds that becomes a symbolic world itself, or an imago mundi, an image of the universe. The architecture at the sacred Center often reflects the re-creation of the universe. For example, the Temple in Jerusalem, thought to symbolically represent the navel of the world, re-created the universe by its interior design, the outer courts representing the sea (or the lower region), the Holy Place the earth, and the Holy of Holies the heavenly dwellings.33 Later the church assimilated these same symbolic representations. Eventually replacing the private dwellings as religious centers, the temple and later church building became symbols by which the world is resanctified in every part because they were images of the cosmos, which is the work of the gods, and a houses of god themselves, thereby both represented and contained the world.34 Understanding of sacred space as distinguished from profane provides orientation for the current discussion, but it does not completely address the complexities of spatial identity. Some scholars have questioned the sharp dichotomy of the concepts of profane and sacred space as suggested by Durkheim and Eliade but indicate that the concept of sacred space is more nuanced in its meaning. Larry Shiner notes that Eliades separation of the modern, homogenous, functional space and the spiritual, heterogeneous space does not adequately address the heterogeneity found in profane space as well. He identified another category of lived space, the realm of human experience, as bridging the profane and the sacred.35 Although both profane space and sacred space do exist as polar opposites, the extreme ends of these categories are not

30 31

Ibid., 11. Ibid., 33. 32 Ibid., 36. 33 Ibid., 42, 42; cf. Josephus, Ant. Jud. 3.7.7. 34 Ibid., 58. 35 Larry E. Shiner,"Sacred Space, Profane Space, Human Space." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 40, no. 4 (1972): 429.

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very common and still fall under the concept of lived space, or human space.36 Henri Lefebvres The Production of Space argued that space is not simply inherited from nature but is socially produced and reproduced, and is indistinguishable from physical and mental space.37 The production of space entails conflictual unity of a spatial triad: the perceived space (absolute space corresponding to natural, physical, and material spatiality), the conceived space (spatial knowledge produced through mental discourse), and the directly experienced, or lived, space (between the other two poles of material and ideational).38 While finding value in Eliades conception of a sacred Center,39 Jonathan Z. Smith challenged the concept of sacred meaning being an innate quality, but instead argued that sacred space was produced space. In To Take Place, he moves away from the notion of sacred as associated with a particular rupture in space, as Eliade proposed, but suggests that spatial sacrality instead emerges out of the contexts of ritual gesture, time, and location (topos).40 Instead of a sacred space being a Center, or a substantive entity in and of itself, it is created through the acts or rituals that make a space sacred. For Smith, ritual is a mode of paying attention, and place as an essential element of ritual as it directs attention.41 For example, a temple is a segmented space designed in its most intricate features to be a lens which focuses attention on whatever is within that is separate from the space without. Sacrality was not limited to religious ritual and structures, but extended to the complex interactions occurring at all levels of society. Smith emphasizes the convergence of several elements, including ritual and location, as factors contributing to the creation of sacred space. Eliades notion of an axis mundi, a rupture of the sacred into the profane, may be viewed in conjunction with Smiths theory of emplacement as a result of the process of sacralization of space through ritual. Thomas Barrie states it in this way: Rituals serve as a means of perpetuating the connection between the earthly

Ibid., 436. Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, trans. D. Nicholson-Smith (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1991), 235-6. 38 Ibid., 246. 39 Jonathan Z. Smith, To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual, Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) 14, 15. Smith indicates that Eliades view, which borrows heavily from the Pan-Babylonian school, is too limiting to account for all religious rituals. For example, the Tijlpa people did not have buildings, or any single sacred location, so the symbolism of the cosmological world-mountain that linked heaven, earth, and underworld did not exist in Aboriginal cosmology 40 Ibid., 103. 41 Ibid., 104.
37

36

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and divine realms, thus they need to be performed within the sacred space to be effective.42 Church buildings are made sacred by the convergence of ritual gestures, time, and location, hence the location once considered sacred may be viewed as a Center. Smith illustrates this concept with the example of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Before the fourth century, the associations between Christian sacred locations and sacred texts had not been clearly established. This changed with the pilgrimage of Helena in the fourth century, who rediscovered of the tomb of Jesus and the True Cross. This discovery marked a transition point for Christian ritual, having been connected to the loca sancta of Palestine, Christian structures accompanied a transition from the vertical dimension of the associative to the linear dimension of narrative and temporal relations.43 The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the most famous and important church buildings in the East, was constructed at a location that had only vaguely Christian associations. The founding of the church gave the location concrete meaning for Christians. Smith notes that through its religious associations and the rituals that developed around it, the Holy Sepulcher became a sacred space (Eliades Center). The church was generated as a sacred space, an axis mundi, for Christianity. While not privileged with the same built in advantages in meaning as Holy Sepulcher, church buildings in eastern cities also became Centers for local Christian communities by a variety of rituals of demarcation. Concepts of spatial sacrality extend also to architecture. While physical structures are limited at providing access to the concrete intentions of their builders, scholars have suggested that sacred architecture can be understood through certain hermeneutics that gives insight into religious and social meaning for the communities where they take center stage. 44 Hermeneutics, the science of interpretation of meaning for understanding textual sources was founded in the eighteenth century by scholars such as Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) as a means of approaching the study of ancient texts in response to the emergence of higher criticism.45 Martin Heidegger later rejected the objectivistic and positivistic view of unprejudiced hermeneutics, but
Thomas Barrie, Spiritual Path, Sacred Place: Myth, Ritual, and Meaning, in Architecture (Boston: Shambhala, 1996), 73. 43 Smith, 88. 44 Lindsay Jones, The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison, v. 1 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000), XXVII, rejects the notion of a one-to-one relationship between built forms and religious meaning. 45 Ibid., 5-19. Cf. Friederich Schleiermacher, The Christian Faith (1830); in David E. Klemm, Hermeneutical Inquiry, 2 vols. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986), 1:13-24.
42

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instead argued that it provided insight not into being (the object), but how understanding was being.46 This concept follows a general framework, a hermeneutics of suspicion, that has served as a basis for a variety of theoretical perspectives.47 Lindsay Jones, influenced by the ideas of Hans-Georg Gadamer, favored other more promising approaches to accessing, or retrieving, certain meanings.48 He indicates that structures have a superabundance of meanings that can be accessed through understanding the succession of ritual-architectural events that reveal what is really significant, the human experience of architecture. The locus of meaning resides neither in the building itself (a physical object) nor in the mind of the beholder (a human subject), but rather in the negotiation or the interactive relation that subsumes both building and beholderin the ritual-architectural event in which buildings and human participants alike are involved.49 The focus is not to interpret the meaning of buildings, which is never motionless or fixed, but to consider the events or occasions as a game play, or conversations, between worshipers and the structure.50 This idea coincides with Smiths understanding of sacrality as related gesture and ritual. Space is not only created through location and ritual, but it can also be generated through the contestation of meaning between the Center and periphery. This study seeks to address not only how sacred space is created and perpetuated, but also its relationship to identity formation. In particular, it seeks to explore the ways that churches in the Decapolis were central players in the process by which the Christianization of eastern cities was accomplished, as spaces of exchange and interaction between the centered and the non-centered on the fringes of Byzantine society. Specific postcolonial theoretical perspectives provide insight for understanding the process of group identity formation that was occurring in these communities. In his influential work Orientalism, Edward Said brought to the forefront important questions about the relationships between power and perspective, particularly through the examination of how European intellectual constructs that distinguished between the West (us) and the Orient

Ibid. 9. Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. John Macquarrie, Edward Robinson (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). 47 Some important figures favoring this perspective were Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and more recently, Jacques Derrida and Michael Foucault. Cf. Jones, 18. 48 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Wahrheit und Methode: Truth and Method (London; New York : Continuum, 2004). 49 Jones, 41. 50 Ibid., 47-8.

4646

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(Others).51 While his discussion addresses issues more specific to the context of modern academic and cultural trends, his insights about identity formation are particularly useful for this study.52 Said indicates that the contest of meaning between those at the center and those on the

periphery is both a producer and a by-product of religious and social identity. The construction of identityfor identity, whether of Orient or Occident, France or Britain, while obviously a repository of distinct collective experiences, is finally a construction in my opinioninvolves the construction of opposites and others whose actuality is always subject to the continuous interpretation and re-interpretation of their differences from us. Each age and society recreates its Others. Far from a static thing then, identity of self or of other is a much worked-over historical, social, intellectual, and political process that takes place as a contest involving individuals and institutions m all societiesIn short, the construction of identity is bound up with the disposition of power and powerlessness in each society, and is therefore anything but mere academic woolgathering. While the interactions between the binaries he puts forth are more complex than he indicates, involving compromise and exchange, Saids conception of identity formation through opposition and discourse provides a means of further understanding the process of Christianization in the Decapolis. 53 Initially this process involved the generation of a Christian identity initially through the interaction and exchange between the center (Christians), including their spaces as symbols of sacrality and power, and the others (pagans), later the discourse continued between the centered and non-centered amongst Christians with regards to their relationship with Roman identity.

Contribution of the Present Study This study seeks to address the question of why church construction became a priority for the communities of the Decapolis region, leading to an extensive number of structures from the beginning of the fifth-century through the seventh-century CE, by considering the textual and archaeological evidence through theory to understand the meaning of churches for smaller cities
51 52

Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1994), 40. Ibid., 3. Saids addressing more specifically the disenfranchisement of non-European, colonized societies through the control of discourse by Western culture. While the complex modern binaries he addresses do not correspond to exactly to the context of the ancient Byzantine East, the general binary of center and fringe provide enough theoretical traction for our purposes. 53 Hami Bhabha, Location of Culture (London; New York: Routledge, 1994), 38-39. Bhabha indicates that the meaning of culture is located in the in-between the hegemonic command of colonial authority and the silent repression of native traditions.

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in the eastern provinces with classical cultural legacies. I suggest that at the end of fourthcentury, when support of traditional Roman cults was severely undermined, the role of church buildings intensified in the eastern provinces by physically and symbolically replacing former pagan sacred spaces with their complex political, religious, and social associations, thereby appropriating, in varying degrees, the cultural values of Greco-Roman public and religious structures. This work expands upon other studies of the Decapolis churches that have largely been technical in nature focusing on remains recovered from excavation, while not giving as much attention to the meaning of these structures for those living in these cities. In the body of historical research of churches, attention has been given primarily to prominent churches in western cities or those at key centers in the east, like Constantinople, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The following study instead focuses on less prominent cities in the region of the Decapolis, on the periphery of the Byzantine world, bringing together textual and archaeological evidence to offer historical discussion of the origin of their churches. It also seeks to contribute to the on-going discussion of the church building as a complex space embodying various meanings for the Christian communities during a crucial period of transition. While employing archaeological data, this study does not attempt an exhaustive technical discussion of the material remains of churches in the region, which would be redundant,54 nor does it seek to provide a comprehensive analysis of all textual evidence dealing with churches in the Roman East, but rather it seeks to approach a specific set of questions by using a sampling of pertinent material and textual evidence. This study hopes to shed some light on the expansion of church construction after the fifth century in the Decapolis, seeking to understand the role of these structures in the Christianization of the region, an area of analysis that has been lagging behind the archaeological surveys and reports. While this discussion is certain to produce more questions than answers, ideally I hope that it serves as a catalyst for further inquiries and analysis of the meaning of churches as sacred spaces in the larger context of the ancient world.

Summary of Chapters The first chapter considers the role of temples in the Greco-Roman society and the development of church building in the eastern provinces during the Roman period. Temples
54

Cf. Michel.

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were central structures in the Greek polis serving as physical expressions of civic and religious piety. With the spread of Hellenic culture in the lands of the East, beginning with the Macedonian conquests in the fourth-century BCE, these structures became common features in cities of the region. Under the Romans, who appropriated much of Greek culture, temples remained fixtures of many cities central to the urban landscape. As cities were re-founded as Greco-Roman colonies in the eastern provinces, such as those of the Decapolis, they were equipped with temples that reflected both Hellenic and indigenous cultural influence. The rituals of the temple and the state eventually became blended following the Augustan Age, which saw the introduction of emperor worship and which further heightened the social and religious meaning of temples. In contrast to the centrality and high-profile of Roman temples, Christian churches emerged in communities that emphasized meeting in private venues. The Christian movement developed as a minor movement from the land of Palestine but quickly expanded throughout the empire and was eventually seen as a threat to the traditional Roman cults. Although it is likely that the Christians met in a variety of spaces in the first few centuries, archaeological remains indicate that until the third-century the most common places for the assembly were private residences adapted for the needs of individual congregations. This practice was different from the public nature of traditional Roman cults and Jewish religious communities, which typically met in temples and other public structures. Even after the thirdcentury, when designated church buildings began to emerge, private residences, usually of wealthy members, continued to serve as the primary location for Christians to gather for the reading of scriptures, prayer, and the celebration of the Eucharist. This section will trace the development of temples in the eastern cities and their role in the civic life of these communities. This overview of traditional temples is followed by a discussion of the early history of churches during the Roman period. The section concludes with the discussion the Diocletian period at the end of the third-century and the status of church buildings at the time before the rule of Constantine. The aim of this discussion is to demonstrate the distinct differences in the view of

religious structures held by religious traditionalists and Christians. The second chapter considers the development of church construction in eastern cities beginning with Constantine and continuing through the seventh-century. While the exact process and timing of Constantines conversion is uncertain, the defeat of Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312 marked a dramatic turn in the emperors favor toward the Christian faith,

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setting the course that would transform Roman society.55 Fresh from a final period of harsh persecution under Diocletian, which involved the destruction of churches, Christians welcomed the changes under Constantine that included bishops and church officials being given a role in the administration of the empire and imperial sponsorship of church buildings. This section discusses the period of the fourth-century as a time of some church construction particularly at larger centers in the East, and also considers more closely some of the challenges to the spread of churches in many locations, particularly the conflicts within the church and the persistence of paganism outside the church. It then analyzes the impact of the Theodosian edicts at the end of the century, which was crucial for the Christianization of eastern cities by pressuring remaining shrines and cults out of public view. This process encouraged the adoption of church buildings as the primary religious structures of the city, appropriating the position of temples both physically and symbolically. It concludes with a discussion of the height of church construction during the period from the fifth to the sixth century CE. The Muslim conquest of the region in the seventh-century introduced a period of general decline and abandonment of churches in the region. This period of dramatic change in the political and religious makeup of the empire brought about realities that would transform how church buildings were viewed in eastern cities. Having analyzed the broader context of churches in the eastern provinces, the third chapter looks more closely at churches in the region of the Decapolis, particularly focusing on those having central-plan and cruciform designs. After a brief discussion of the background of the region and an overview of the archaeological research, the chapter will focus on the analysis of the physical remains of central-plan and cruciform churches from the period of the fourth to the seventh-century CE. These churches, which are less common among the archaeological remains, were often designed to highlight an object of special religious significance, whether it was a tomb, a relic, or an altar. Central-plan churches in particular had a design distinct from the basilica-plan church, which was organized along a longitudinal axis leading to a chancel in the eastern end. Central-plan and cruciform churches had a pattern that emphasized a central space that designated a point of sacrality in the city and the region. But this also fostered their role as political structures, as spaces of competition between various Christian groups, as well as with
Eus. Life 1.26-32, 37, famously attributes this conversion to a miraculous vision which led the emperor to mark the shields with a chi-rho monogram, symbolizng the Christian faith. Hartmut Leppin, Old Religions Transformed: Religions and Religious Policy from Decius to Constantine, in A Companion to Roman Religion, ed. Jrg Rpke, 104 (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007), notes that while the story fits the typical panegyric of the period, the emperors favor of Christianity does become clear after this victory in 312.
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non-Christians, in the community. This chapter will consider the physical remains of these churches in light of certain theoretical frameworks to attempt to understand the process by which their role and function came to embody those of the traditional temples and shrines. The fourth chapter will look at the more common basilica-plan churches in the Decapolis cities. These churches which were fashioned in the pattern of the traditional Roman basilica, a common civic structure imbued with complex social and political meaning in the Roman city. After Constantine, the basilica was adopted for the construction of churches, eventually becoming the predominant design for churches in the Byzantine world. The chapter will consider the remains of basilicas in the Decapolis cities in order to gain some insight into the role these structures played in the defining Christian community and the non-Christians. The intent of this section is to analyze the archaeological data related to the basilicas in light of spatial and social theory in order to shed light, or at least provoke further query, on how these structures functioned as sacred and socio-political spaces in eastern cities. These chapters are not intended to be a comprehensive technical discussion of the physical remains of churches, which are readily available. Instead the discussion of the physical remains of church buildings focuses on the way these religious structures came to have certain continuities and discontinuities with classical religious structures that had once dominated the city. The image greeting Choricius in Gaza featuring a provincial official and bishop in the company of the divine suggests the complex interaction of political and religious functions that churches came to embody in the Byzantine period. It is this interaction between Christianity and its classical past that provides a means to understand the expansion of churches in the cities of the Decapolis. The conversations that were generated amongst the inhabitants of these cities about the meaning and function of church buildings brought about the re-centering of the classical world with the development of new definitions of sacred space and communal identity that were distinctly Byzantine.

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Chapter 1

Temples and Churches in the East before Constantine Churches built in the Decapolis in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire did not emerge in a cultural vacuum but in a world that had long been dominated by a variety of local societies. While the region had been subjected to Greek cultural influence in the fourth century BCE, most of the Decapolis cities would flourish in the Roman period. While reflecting elements of Greek and Roman society in the eastern frontier, they were in reality an amalgamation of Greek, Roman, and local indigenous cultural traditions creating a syncretistic form of cultural expression. After the death of his father, Philip II in 336 BCE, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great initiated a military campaign to subdue the Greek mainland and then conquered much of the Near East, including Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, reaching as far as the Indus River Valley. As a student of Aristotle and a true philhellene, Alexander saw his mission in some degree as spreading Hellenism to the rest of the world. Various cities were established in the east with this goal in mind, including the prominent cities of Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt, both of which eventually became the capitals of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms respectively. In the region of Palestine and the Transjordan, a number of cities during the Roman period, including most of the cities in the Decapolis region, actively sought to identify themselves with Roman society.56 The Romans established control over the region with the campaign of Pompey from 64 to 63 BCE. Having conquered the Mediterranean world, Romans considered themselves the successors and inheritors of Greek culture, especially as reflected in the adoption of certain social and religious institutions. These attitudes were passed along to the local rulers, administrative officials, and leading families in eastern cities.57 Local elites, educated in the finer points of Hellenic culture, adopted certain aspects of the traditional Greek polis, although always identifying themselves primarily as Roman cities.58 The polis-like
David F. Graf, Hellenisation and the Decapolis. The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, vol. 4 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, 1992), 34, notes that these cities were not ever truly poleis in the classical sense. 57 Ibid., 27. 58 The Decapolis was not technically a league of cities in the fashion of the older Delian League of the Aegean, but Decapolis cities were probably allowed some independence under their Hellenistic and Roman rulers.
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association was fostered by the limited independence granted to the Decapolis cities by the Romans, which included limited allowances for the minting of coins. Among the practices passed along from Hellenic society was the private patronage of public religious festivals. Wealthy families communicated social standing through sponsoring construction projects, especially temples, for the public benefit. 59 These structures were political and religious institutions which communicated loyalty to the state and expressed the piety of their donors. The Emperor Augustus was a model benefactor who recognized the opportunity to accomplish both religious and political objectives through the sponsorship of temples in prominent locations in the city of Rome, while further enhancing his own image as a divinely appointed ruler.60 In the centuries leading up to the time of Constantine, patronage for the construction of temples continued to be practiced among wealthy Romans.61 The lack of dedicated physical structures did little to hinder the expansion of the Christian movement in the early centuries. In this period, Christians thought little about buildings or temples, but used what spaces were available to them under the circumstances. This fit within their theological framework which understood the church (ekklesia) not as a physical structure, but as the community of believers.62 It was several centuries before churches would come to be identified as physical places of worship.

Temples in Eastern Civic Life: Greek and Hellenistic Periods Temples were an intricate part of Hellenic society from its earliest history. Shrines dedicated to the gods date back to the Late Bronze Age Greece (1550-1100 BCE).63 Later temples were built throughout the Aegean reflecting the role of the gods in the daily lives of

A. R. Hands, Charities and Social Aid in Greece and Rome (London: Thames and Hudson, 1968), 13, 24, 26, indicates that civic benefaction, which was often manifested in physical structures, was expected of the wealthy as an important factor in maintaining social relations. 60 John Carter, Civic and Other Buildings in Roman Public Buildings, in Roman Public Buildings, ed. Ian Barton (Exeter, Great Britain: University of Exeter, 1995), 76, notes that Augustus claims have restored 83 temples of the gods (templa deum) in his Res Gestae. 61 Richard P. Saller, Personal Patronage Under the Early Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982). 5. The dependence of subordinates on the generosity of the wealthy patron that developed in the republican period remained a central factor in benefaction in the imperial period. 62 See below for discussion of New Testament references. 63 John Pedley. Sanctuaries and the Sacred in the Ancient Greek World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 23. Cf. E. Yamauchi, Homer and Archaeology, in The Future of Biblical Archaeology, eds. J. K. Hoffmeier, A. Millard (Grand Rapids; Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2004), 79, notes that archaeological discoveries have confirmed that temples were not Homeric anachronisms, but existed well before the Greek Dark Ages.

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Greeks.64 For the Greeks, every aspect of society was infused with religious meaning, including politics and civic activity. At the center of traditional Roman religion was the worship and veneration of the gods, in part to avert or minimize disaster which might occur either from their anger or their neglect.65 The temple spaces were thought to have progressive levels of sacrality from the temple precinct (temenos), the temple (naos) to the gods seat (hedos).66 Although the presence of a temple was not essential for the performance of sacrificial rituals, which normally took place outdoors, it was thought to be the dwelling place of the patron gods.67 The temple was the earthly abode of the gods, housing a physical image of the deity, usually a statue of bronze or marble, along with valuable gifts and donations made to the god. As an offering itself, the temple was a costly addition to the temenos and a matter of pride and status for the polis.68 Temples varied in shape and size, but generally shared certain features, such as the propylaion, the gateway that marked the transition point from the profane to the sacred, and the altar located in the eastern end.69 Another distinctive feature of Greek temples were the columns which represented a permeable boundary between sacred and profane space.70 Ritual purification was usually required for entrance into the sanctuary. At Delphi, a processional path, or Sacred Way, led from the sanctuary up to the temple that was lined with monuments as spoils of battle dedicated to the god Pythian Apollo.71 While certain rituals took place in the open-air precinct of the temenos, others were held within the temple itself, including consultations with the oracle and the offering of certain sacrifices. Temple complexes in Hellenic society were thought to have special significance as the places where the spiritual world intersected with physical world. They offered worshipers the opportunity to benefit from divine interaction to help with everything from public business and political matters to the private issues, such as sexual and reproductive problems. Certain temples

Richard A. Tomlinson, Greek and Roman Architecture (London: British Museum Press, 1995), 13. Robin L. Fox, Pagans and Christians (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986), 33. 66 Walter Burkert, The Meaning of Function of the Temple in Classical Greece, in Temple in Society, ed. Michael V. Fox, 27-48 (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1988), 35. 67 Ibid., 36. The main rituals, which included prayer (euchai), sacrifice (thysiai), and the setting up of votives (anathemata), did not require the temple to be performed. 68 Ibid., 21. 69 Pedley, 58-62. 70 Burkert, 35, notes that what columns in fact do is to provide permeable boundaries: you are invited, even attracted to pass through the interstice, but there is an unmistakable distinction between outside and inside. 71 Hugh Bowden, Classical Athens and the Delphic Oracle (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 19.
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were associated with supernatural healing. Individuals suffering from a variety of ailments would make pilgrimages to temples to seek divine aid. The sick, or their close-ones, could visit the shrine of Asclepius, the god of healing, at Epidauros and on the island of Kos, to seek divine aid.72 After performing certain rituals and sacrifices, the person would then sleep within the temple in hope of receiving a divine message in the form of a dream. Temples offered hope of the gods direct intervention into human affairs to meet various needs, such as the protection of life, advice with problems, the promise of military victory, productive marriages and crops, and for worshippers to give thanks for blessings received. The oracle at the temple of Delphi was famous for its divine messages, delivered by the Pythia, a priestess or prophetess.73 Gifts were often offered as thank offerings to the gods for answered prayers.74 Ephesus.75 Central to the life of the polis, temples were often located in or near the city.76 As houses of the gods, temples were not designed to facilitate the assembly of worshipers, but associated rooms, however, were used for various gatherings and festivals. 77 Special banquet halls (leschai) were added to major sanctuaries, providing an opportunity for members of the community to fellowship with each other and the gods.78 Sacral activities included divination, sacrifice, and the offering of prayers and hymns of praise. Temples were sometimes built over places believed to have some magical potency, usually by association with some supernatural event or an epiphany, as in the case of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens, which was placed over a gash in the earth created by Poseidons trident.79 Many were located in the agora, or at a high place that overlooked the city, such as the acropolis. An elevated location would be
An key treatment of the cult of Asclepius is Emma J. and Ludwig Edelstein, Asclepius: A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies (Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1945). More recently the study of the cult was addressed by a medical professional. Gerald D. Hart, Asclepius the God of Medicine, ed. M. Forrest (London: The Royal Society of Medicine, 1999), 196, notes the popularity of the cult persisted well into the third century, so that churches were positioned over former Asclepieia as a means of Christianizing the sites. 73 Bowden, 15-21. 74 Ibid., 10. 75 Tony Spawforth, The Complete Greek Temples (London: Thames and Hudson, 2006), 20. 76 Burkert, 42, notes the three favorite sites for temples included the height (akra), the center (agora), and the marginal zones near the city. 77 Vincent Scully, The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods: Greek Sacred Architecture (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1962), 1, 2. He notes that the local landscape was an essential component of the temples design and meaning. 78 Burket, 37. 79 Pedley, 49.
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The sanctity of temples was

enhanced by the display of donated objects and sacred images as in the case of the temple at

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favored because it provided a religious focal point for the community, it was more secure for housing costly goods, but most significantly, it was closer to the heavens, as the gods were thought to prefer higher locales for their dwellings.80 The location was made sacred through the presence of the temple, so that successive shrines would often be erected in the same spot, as in the case of the Parthenon which in its present state is thought to be the third one built at that location.81 For Greeks who recognized the activity of the gods in every aspect of life, the temple complex was a place where the religious, political, and social worlds came together.82 The inviolable sacrality of its interior spaces were used for asylum for those seeking refuge or protection, especially involving political matters.83 Due to the prominent role of the temple in the life of Greek community, its sponsorship and care was a matter of civic pride not only for the polis, but also for those who provided the resources for its construction and upkeep. Temples were closely tied to the very structure of the polis being constructed under the supervision of local authorities, as was the Parthenon and related structures in Athens.84 Individuals, such as tyrants, were involved with temple sponsorship as a means of identifying with the city-state.85 In Classical Greece, the sponsorship of public needs, such as choruses for the theater, naval ships, and various public structures, was not only the responsibility of wealthy citizens or families, but also an opportunity for them to acquire status and political advantages.86 This tradition based on the Greek concept of euergeia involved competition between wealthy families in showing good for their community.87 Temple benefaction was a way for the affluent to demonstrate their position and piety. This practice fostered the confluence of religious, political, and social meaning within the temple complex, which became a persistent feature that was passed along to Roman society. The expansion of Greek cultural influence in the East, especially with the campaign of Alexander the Great, manifested itself in various aspects of eastern society including physical

Ibid., 48-49. Ibid., 50. 82 Ibid., 11. 83 Burket, 35. 84 Ibid., 40. 85 Ibid. 86 Burkert, 42, notes that, while temples were political in nature, for the classical city-state their presence actually reflected a rejection of monarchy as they superceded the significance of any other structure including palaces and monumental tombs. 87 Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Muhammad (London: Thames and Hudson, 1971), 43-4.
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structures, like temples.88

The Macedonians campaigns established contact and trade between

the Mediterranean and the rich lands of the East, which was aided by the spread of a common form of Greek language (koine). Certain eastern cities were influenced with an influx of Hellenized populations during this period.89 Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt became important cosmopolitan centers acquiring considerable wealth and status through their advantageous positions on the major trade networks that spanned the region. They were able to build and expand their civic structures patterned on the Greek polis. Gymnasia, baths, agorai, theaters, and temples, became common features at larger cities of the East. At Miletos in Asia Minor the agora became the focal point of the city with structures like temples being built up around them.90 The construction of temples, along with other civic structures, was a way for the eastern city to lay claim to Greek identity. Temple precincts were distinctive Hellenic features of these cities that embodied religious and social significance for these cities, although they played different roles than in classical Greek city-states.91 Colonnaded temples, which were adopted by the Romans, 92 were the architectural flag of the Greek polis. 93 When the Romans established their control over the Mediterranean, their temples embraced a number of religious and sociopolitical functions of Greek temples, while establishing their own distinct features. Temples in Eastern Civic Life: Roman Period When the Romans established their rule over the Mediterranean world, they appropriated aspects of Greek culture 94 to their own traditions,95 including the understanding of the function and meaning of temples in the civic life of the city. Romans were enamored with the Greeks, particularly in the area of arts and religion, and most evidently with traditional Greek civic

Tomlinson, 12, notes that a third of temples can be dated belong to the period roughly 300 B.C. to A.D. 200, which refutes the notion that Greeks essentially lost faith in traditional gods after fourth-century B.C. 89 As the capital of the Ptolemaic empire, strategically positioned at Niles northern delta, Alexandria grew into a thriving metropolis with a large populace occupying five districts 90 Tomlinson, 51. 91 Spawforth, 12, notes, Greek temples offered a means for the assertion of Greek religious identity. No other Greek building had the unique feature of a surrounding colonnade, which at once identified a temple for what it was. 92 Spawforth, 12. 93 Hellenistic temples had developed features that were unique from their earlier counterparts. Beginning in the fourth-century BCE, temples were constructed with a greater concern for symmetry and axiality than in classical temples, a pattern that continued with the Romans, cf. Ian Barton, Religious Buildings, in Roman Public Buildings (Exeter, Great Britain: University of Exeter, 1995), 68. 94 Pedley, 205, 206. Famous cities like Olympia, Athens, and Delphi received buildings. 95 Barton, 68, the earliest temples in Rome developed from the Etruscans

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structures and institutions.96 In the eastern provinces, cities re-founded by the Romans to serve important political and military functions were also given a Greek makeover, resulting in the addition of a variety of classical civic and religious structures. Hellenic culture was very important to Roman cities in the East, suggested by the inscription in front of a temple honoring Marcus Aurelius at Scythopolis (Beth-Shean) which states, a Greek city of Coele Syria.97 The international trade routes that connected the Roman world with affluent eastern cultures had enabled many Greco-Roman cities to become prosperous. Cities established, or re-established, by the Romans served as buffers against rebellion in Arabia and further east. They in turn were allowed some measure of independence, as in the case of certain Decapolis cities, which were allowed limited local administrative authority and the right to mint their own coins. While these cities shared certain elements of the Hellenic culture, they were not poleis in the classical sense.98 They may have been allowed a general assembly (ecclesia) and city council (boul or gerousia), but their power was limited and they apparently were not a league, in the same sense as the Athenian League of an earlier era. 99 Hellenic cultural influence was particularly evident in the material remains of architecture, including theaters, baths, nymphaeums, odeums,100 hippodromes, agoras, triumphal arches, bouletrion, and other public buildings. Under the Romans, the construction of public structures in cities came to have a combination of social and political meaning by expressing the citys pride as well as loyalty to Rome.101 Basilicas served as administrative and communal structures in eastern Roman cities. They were often centrally located, like the basilica at Scythopolis-Beth Shean that had market shops built beneath.102 But along with their social function, basilicas were also associated with the patron gods of the city. At Scythopolis-Beth Shean the basilica featured a hexagonal limestone altar with a dedicatory inscription to the god Dionysus, the Lord founder (of the city), provided by a benefactor, Seleucos, son of Ariston, in

Pedley, 205. Gideon Foerster and Yoram Tsafrir, Nysa-Scythopolis in the Roman Period: A Greek City of Coele Syria Evidence from the Excavations at Beth Shean, The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, v. 1 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, 1992), 121. 98 Graf, 1-48, indicates that these cities featured Greek structures, including temples, these developed in the context of the Roman world which emulated Greek culture. 99 Arthur Segal and Michael Eisenberg, The Spade Hits Sussita, BAR, 32:2 (May/June 2006): 44. 100 Foerster and Tsafrir, 119. These often also served as the citys bouleterion (council house). 101 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 45. 102 Foerster and Tsafrir, 119.
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the year 141/2 CE.103 Temples were also prominent public structures in Roman cities. They were the primary religious structures not only for the urban inhabitants of Arabian cities, but also for the larger population that lived beyond its walls.104 The gods played an important role in the daily lives of Romans, and the local temple provided a place for human and divine interaction. Certain elements of Greek religion, like the centrality of temples to the religious and social life of cities, were shared by the Romans. Roman temples, while sharing certain functions and features with their Greek counterparts, differed in some fundamental ways in their architecture, reflecting the influence of the Etruscans. In eastern cities, Roman temples reflected clear Hellenic influence, but also featured distinct local flavor. In Syria, certain features distinguished the manifestation of the Roman cults, such as the characteristic staircases of their temples, the prominent role of processions with the deitys image, the sacrality of fish, and the use of rituals like the tattooing of the wrists and hands of celebrants as a part of vow-taking to a particular deity.105 Various cults found physical expression in the myriad of temples found throughout the Roman world from urban centers to smaller cities and villages. The temple precinct was typically the largest and most important part of the Roman city where important civic functions like religious festivals and sacrifices took place.106 The Romans shared a number of beliefs held by the Greeks, such as the activity of the gods interacting with the natural world and with humans, averting various disasters or bringing fertile harvests with proper formula of sacrifices and invocations. Temples at certain locations continued to have reputations for providing magical or divine aide, as in the case of the famous oracle at Delphi107 that continued to be visited during the Roman period.108 The popular cult of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, continued to thrive during the Roman period. The religious center of Heliopolis-Baalbek in Syria drew pilgrims from other regions who sought a divine message from the chief god of the city. A dedicatory inscription by a pilgrim from Phoenicia named Apollonarius, son of Segnas of Aradus was addressed to lord Zeus of Heliopolis, along

Ibid., 122. Arthur Segal, Roman Cities in the Province of Arabia. JSAH 40, no. 2 (May 1981): 121. 105 Fox, 33-4. 106 At Gerasa, the Aphrodite temple precinct was the largest temple complex of the city. 107 Theoc. 7; cf. Fox, 41. 108 Plutarch (45-120 CE.) who even served as one of its priests, discussing its sacred legacy in two works, The Oracles at Delphi No Longer Given in Verse and The Obsolescence of Oracles.
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with a donation of a statue on behalf of his family in fulfillment of a vow after consulting a oracle.109 Romans shared the Greek view of the temple as primarily a structure for religious functions while at the same serving a role in civic life. Religious structures were essential for a city to be identified as a proper Roman city.110 The first century BCE Greek architect, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio indicated that the temple should be built at an elevation with the widest view of the city available from the sanctuary of the gods,111 which appears to have been a standard followed by most Greek and Roman cities, including the Decapolis cities. It was important that the temple and its precinct were visible to the whole city as the sacred point of interaction between the citys inhabitants and the local deities. As the Roman counterpart to the Greek temenos, the templum, the area of the city set apart for sacred purposes, would have a prominent place in the public sphere. Vitruvius indicates that temples (Latin aedes), enclosed within the templum, should serve as the focal point of the sacred precinct. Like its Greek counterpart, the Roman temple also featured an altar (ara) where sacrifices were made to the divinity, located at a prominent place directly in front of the steps leading up to the temples faade. Roman temples were religiously significant primarily as the location of the statue of the god and a place for sacrifice, but not as a gathering place for worshippers, as would be true for later churches.112 Roman temples were associated with both religious and political functions, which were often indistinguishable in the Roman period. This close relationship between the Roman temple and the state was enhanced by the Emperor Augustus, who assumed the title of pontifex maximu, asserting his divinely appointed role as maintainer of the traditional religion. As time passed, the development of emperor veneration may have enhanced the political associations with certain temples. S. R. F. Price, in his study of the Roman imperial cult in Asia Minor, notes that in certain eastern cities, the veneration of the emperor had a tremendous influence on everything from the design and decoration of temples to the very organization of the city in relation to the prominently positioned of temples or other structures dedicated to the emperor.113 Evidence of the imperial cult was found at the Decapolis city of Hippos-Sussita, where a kalybe ( )
Jean-Paul Rey-Coquais, B.A.H. LXXVIII (1967), Inscription No. 2729, 60-62, cited in Nina Jidejian, Baalbek Heliopolis City of the Sun (Beirut: Dar El-Machreq, 1975), 56. 110 William L. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, 2 vols. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1982), 111. 111 Vitruv. Arch. 4.5.2. 112 Barton, 68. 113 S. R. F. Price, Rituals and Power (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 133-5.
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was identified south of the forum at the citys center.114 The political role of other temples was suggested by their involvement in certain secular functions. The Artemision at Ephesus provided a secure location for deposit for monies, which stabilized trade with the harbor city, and offered asylum for those seeking political protection.115 In Roman cities in the East, temples and religious structures were not only dedicated to the gods, but also for distinguished individuals whose remains were incorporated in a burial chamber or crypt. Temples identified as a heron were known in many Greek cities, such as Delphi, where a subterranean chamber contained the sarcophagi of prominent individuals whom the city honored by enshrining them with the great heroes of myth and history.116 Eastern cities during the Roman period were also known to have constructed similar temples. At Gerasa, a temple dating to the second-century located in direct vicinity of the Temple of Artemis117 featured a temenos in the east and a cella with an inverted T shape, but beneath the naos was a crypt with a barrel vault with arched doorways set in the podium wall granting access from the outside.118 Inscriptions discovered in the vicinity of the temple made reference to benefactors of several unidentified shrines in the city, along with the presence of a crypt, led excavators to suggest that the temple was a heron, celebrating a prestigious contributor to one of Gerasas large temples, possibly the nearby Temple of Artemis.119 A burial chamber complex at Gadara, identified as a Roman hypogeum, may have served a similar function as it was used for a memorial crypt of prominent individuals of the city. This is further suggested by its later appropriation by Christians for a memorial church. The political, social, and religious function of the temple in the daily lives of Romans enhanced its significance for local communities and their benefaction by affluent ruling classes. While the sponsorship of temples has its origin in ancient Greece, the Roman period saw a flourishing of public benefaction for religious structures. Imperial sponsorship of religious

A. Segal, et al. Hippos-Sussita Fifth Season of Excavations (September October 2004) and Summary of All Five Seasons (2000 2004) (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2004), 14. 115 Christine M. Thomas, At Home in the City of Artemis, in Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia, ed. H. Koester (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press, 1995), 98-106, 116 Clarence S. Fisher and Carl H. Kraeling, Temple C, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. C. H. Kraeling (New Haven, Connecticut: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 148. 117 Ibid., 147, identify this as a shrine dedicated to the three deities, Zeus Helios Serapis, Isis, and the younger goddess mentioned in inscriptions found nearby. 118 Ibid., 141. 119 Ibid., 148. Excavators note that inscriptions of the period praised contributions of individuals to monumental structures, like Theon to the Temple of Zeus and Flavius Agrippa to the Triumphal Arch.

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structures, like temples, was a common practice following the Augustan model and provided emperors another opportunity to associate themselves with popular gods.120 In Roman cities temples and other civic structures were commonly built at the expense of wealthy individuals or families and often imitated temples of Rome and other large centers of the empire.121 Prominent landowners, usually three or four families in provincial cities, 122 and administrative officials in Roman cities all over the empire were obligated to provide for their local communities, including the construction of civic structures and the provision for religious rituals and festivals.123 Sponsoring the construction and maintenance of aqueducts, baths, theaters, gymnasia, agoras, odeons, and public fountains, like nymphaea, was expected of the ruling elite. The benefaction of these structures, along with temples to local deities, was a means for the affluent to express their civic and religious piety,124 and gain status in their communities.125 While temples provided a public display of religious and civic piety for individuals and families, pagans also honored the gods by privately performing cult rituals at their homes and their tombs, where affluent families went to great lengths to honor the dead with elaborate ceremonies and rituals for the gods.126 In the cities of the Decapolis, temples reflected the influence of local culture and trends. As Greco-Roman religion was adapted to local cultural influences, temples came to reflect classical elements along with eastern traditions and tastes. Two types of temples common in eastern cities like those of the Decapolis are the traditional Roman temple and the stylized Baroque temple, which had irregular cella unlike the traditional rectangular layout.127 At cities with strong ties to Hellenistic culture, the traditional type was more common, such as the Temple of Zeus and Temple of Artemis at Gerasa. Other temples reflected local influence, such as the hexastyle temple of Philippopolis.128 Another feature of eastern temples was the raised adytum
120 121

Price, 146-56. Plut. Mor., 821F, 822A-B, indicated that public benefaction was expected of the affluent in Roman society, particularly on some occasion which offers a good and excellent pretext, one which is connected with the worship of a god and leads the people to piety. 122 Fox, 55. 123 Ibid., 53. 124 Ibid., 79, notes that temples were often the preferred donation as there were never too many of them and they were never unwelcome. 125 Ibid., 54, notes that rivalries often existed among benefactors in the city and with other cities as to the size and scope of civic donations. 126 Ibid., 83-84. 127 Segal, Roman, 116. 128 Ibid.

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in the rear of the cella reflecting a regional, Semitic tradition of emphasizing a sacred space through its elevation, such as is found at the Temple of Bacchus at Heliopolis-Baalbek. 129 In eastern cities, temples generally followed the Roman pattern, being built on a grand scale with rich adornment in a prominent location visible from most places in the city to serve as its focal point.130 Their role in civic life extended beyond religious rituals, as they also served as centers of commerce, administration, and cultural functions.131 Due to their prominence as religious and social structure in the Decapolis, the benefaction of temples was of utmost importance for leading citizens and affluent families who often played critical roles in the administration of the provinces.132 These influential members of the city constructed religious structures as an expression of piety and status. Local communities in the eastern provinces were often organized around the several large households (oikonomia) headed by the elder father (pater familias). This familial hierarchy was characteristic of agricultural communities like the Decapolis city of Abila that was centered around several large prosperous households.133 The size and style of temples were often a source of social competition among elites, while at other times they were a communal project.134 At Gerasa, numerous inscriptions testify to the importance of the benefaction of temples and altars by citizens135 as an expression of their wealth and piety,136 such as the inscription celebrating the rebuilding of the Temple of Zeus Epicarpius by a centurion.137 At Heliopolis-Baalbek a number of inscriptions honored priests of Jupiter Heliopolitanus. Dedications were made on their behalf in support of the citys

Leile Badre, Baalbek, OEANE 1, 248. Segal, Roman, 118. Cf. Price, 136-46. He discusses the positioning of the temple in prominent locales served a socio-political function. 131 Ibid. 132 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50, note, Roman administration in the eastern provinces of the empire rested upon urban nobility in hundreds of poleis that fostered Greek cultural identity but that also saw themselves as an inseparable part of the Roman Empire. Cf. Segal, et al. A. Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth Season (2004), 10, 11, for a discussion of the prominent official, Aelius Kalpournianus, who was a prominent administrative official in the eastern provinces mentioned in inscriptional evidence at Hippos-Sussita. 133 W. Harold Mare, Abila: A Thriving Greco-Roman City of the Decapolis, The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, v. 1 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, 1992), 68. 134 Segal, Roman, 118. 135 Fisher and Kraeling, 147. Inscriptions discovered near the Church of St. Theodore and the Propylaea praise benefactors of shrines of in the city, like one dedicated to Hera, consort of the god Pakidas, and another to the three deities, Zeus Helios Serapis, Isis, and the younger goddess, 136 Carl H. Kraeling, History of Gerasa, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. C. H. Kraeling (New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 55. Inscriptions record the dedication of altars, pedestals, stelae by such individuals as Ariston the rhetor, Kerykos the Sophist, and Plato the advocate. 137 Ibid., 55. Possibly the centurion mentioned on a column on the cardo, one Aelius Germanus.
130

129

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primary temple, such as a dedication to Titus Afius Maximus Modestus Sentianus, son of Marcus of the Fabia tribe, who was a priest of Jupiter the Most Great, the Most High, which was made by his daughter Alfia.138 A skilled metal worker, Caius Tittius Carmaeus, made a dedication to the temple reflected in an inscription to Jupiter the Most High, the Most Great of Heliopolis.139 The dedication of temples and other religious structures was carried out not only by citizens of the city, by also by prominent leaders in the community like priests and politicians.140 Along with their religious function, donations to Roman temples in the Decapolis cities also had a significant role in the social and political life of the community. Due to their prominence in social life, the construction of temples provided an opportunity for prominent political figures and elites to express civic loyalty and their status in society. 141 Religious and socio-political meanings converged in certain inscriptions, such as the one from Gerasa reflecting local emperor worship, which states, To Good Fortune. To Olympian Zeus for the safety of the Sebastoi (that is Augusti) and the harmony of the demos, Zabdion son of Aristomachos, having been priest of Tiberius Caesar in year 85 (AD 22/23), gave from his own property for the construction of the temple 1000 drachmai out of piety.142 The dedication invoked divine blessing for the community due to the gifts made as an expression of political and religious piety. Another inscription recovered from the Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus at Heliopolis-Baalbek celebrates the contribution of a votive altar to honor the gods of the city by a prominent individual by the name of Samsigeramus, son of Sohaemus,143 while another inscription at the base of an altar with the statue of the Emperor Vespasian was donated by one Antonia Pacata, daughter of Tiberius and Priscilla. 144 Inscriptions such as these provide further insight into the religious and social role that temples played for eastern cities, like those of the Decapolis.145

Rey-Coquais, ins. 2780, 98-9, cited in Jidejian, 56. Ibid., ins. 2723, 56-7. 140 Kraeling, History, 56. At Gerasa dedications were made by priests of emperors and by provincial governors, certain procurators, and other fiscal officials. 141 Jidejian, 23. Cf. Rey-Coquais, ins. 2762, 2763, 2765, 85-7 cited in Jidejian, 58, which provides examples of inscriptional dedications made by private individuals to Roman emperors. 142 Welles, Gerasa, ins. no. 2, cited in Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 B.C. A.D. 337 (Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press, 1993), 412. 143 Jidejian, 57. 144 Rey-Coquais, ins. 2761, 84-5, cited in Jidejian, 58 . 145 See Millar, 408-14, for further discussion.
139

138

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This heightened meaning of temples as religious and social structures within eastern communities resulted in competition and rivalries both internally, among clans and leading families of a particular city, and externally between neighboring cities. Competition between local tribal or civic groups of Gerasa involved a dramatic reorientation of the city during the Roman period. Jacques Seigne indicates that the construction of the Temple of Artemis and its associated structures occasioned the transference of the religious and social center of Gerasa from its previous focus on the Temple of Zeus to the new temple precinct.146 The re-centering

of the sacred space of the city with the construction of a massive temple complex was brought about by powerful local tribes or clans favoring one deity over another during the Roman period. Not only was there internal rivalry involving the construction of civic structures, but there may have also been competition between cities of the Decapolis seeking to enhance their status as Roman cities in the region.147 Traditional shrines remained a viable part of Roman society. In eastern cities, the old cults continued to be a central part of civic life well into the Byzantine period as recent studies have demonstrated. While Christians had long contended against pagans and their temples, their influence was deeply ingrained in the fabric of Roman society. In the first few centuries, Christianity was an illegitimate and disenfranchised religion of the Roman Empire, during which time paganism in its many forms flourished with the blessing of the state and popular sentiment. While temples saw their Golden Age constructed on a grand scale in cities all over Roman world, including the eastern provinces, Christianity remained on the fringes with little physical evidence of their existence. The differences between the form and function of civic temple of the traditional cults and the private structures of early Christian were quite dramatic, especially in light of the transformation of churches to be comparable to any local temple after Constantine. Churches in the East: Pre-Constantinian Period In the first few centuries of Christianitys existence, physical structures played a remarkably minor role in the practice of religious celebrations and rituals. A number of reasons have been suggested for why Christians were not building structures for meeting and celebration of their rituals in the first few centuries. The scope of this study does not permit an involved discussion on the various arguments on this question, suffice it to say that it likely had to do with
146 147

Jacques Seigne, lombre de Zeus et dArtemis: Gerasa de la Dcapole, Aram 4 (1992): 185-95. Sartre, 204.

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practical realities of an illegal religious movement forced to exist on the periphery of Roman society in the first few centuries CE without having the benefit of resources or social standing that would come later. In the early centuries, Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean world, and beyond, utilizing a variety of venues, but the locales that most effectively served the needs of the church were private residences of members of the community. The pragmatic needs for assembly were met with this arrangement, but it also encouraged a familial environment that was fostered among early believers. This also fit into the early theological understanding of the ekklesia which appears to be limited to Christian community itself. While Christians did use physical structures, like private residences adapted to serve as churches as in the case of Dura-Europos, it was not until the third century CE that there is any mention of designated church buildings being constructed for Christian gatherings. This would change after Constantine became emperor in the early fourth-century bringing about the construction of churches at larger Christian centers in the East with the support of the state. This was accompanied by a general decline in the status of traditional Roman cults and temples, particularly at cities with significant Christian populations, like Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. Despite this development, pagan cults remained resilient, especially in smaller cities and villages in the periphery of the eastern empire, which resulted in fewer churches being built in rural locales during the fourth-century. The earliest traditions having to do with Jesus ministry and his followers reflect a religious movement based in and expanding from either private dwellings or existing public and religious facilities. New Testament accounts describe the activity of Jesus and his followers generally among villages and the countryside148 in Palestine149 and the Transjordan,150 occasionally visiting synagogues151 and even the Temple in Jerusalem.152 But narratives depicting Jesus gathering with his closest followers almost always occur within the context of a private residence, or other private locale,153 including the significant story of Jesus sharing the Passover meal with his disciples in the upper room of a privately-owned location before his

Pliny, Letters, 117. Matt. 9:35; 14:14-16; Mark 1:38; 6:35-37, 55-56; 8:26-28; Luke 13:21-23. 150 Matt. 4:24-25; Mark 5:19-21 7:30-32, describe Jesus activity in the region of the Decapolis. 151 Matt. 4:23-24; 9:34-36; 12:8-10; 13:53-55; Mark 1:20-22, 29, 38-40; 3:1-3; 6:1-3; Luke 4:14-30. 152 Matt. 21:12-17, 23-27; Mark 11:12-19, 27; 12:35-44. 153 Matt. 8:14-16; 26:6; Mark 14 1-11. Matt. 10:11-15, describes Jesus sending out his disciples and indicates that private residences were essential for their ministry.
149

148

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death.154 The context of private homes, and similar spaces, continued to serve as the primary gathering location of Christians as they spread their faith throughout the Roman world in the centuries that followed. 155 Recent studies have confirmed that the custom of using private residences, or house churches ( ), stretches back even to Jesus ministry, when his followers made a practice of meeting in homes in addition to their regular attendance of the synagogue.156 After examining textual references in the New Testament and other sources to churches, Roger Gehring concludes that a reliable tradition of the house church model for the early Christian community can be traced through the Gospels. He notes that most textual scholarship agrees that Jesus itinerant ministry, which used private homes as stopping points corresponds with Jewish, Christian, and Hellenistic patterns of private residences for religious and intellectual discourse. The house church model also can be traced in texts considered historically reliable in Acts and some of the Pauline letters. For early Christians, the church (Greek kuriakos of the Lord) was not a building, but a theological concept referring to the community of believers using a variety of metaphors, including: a human body (Rom. 12:3-5; 1 Cor.12:12-14; Eph. 4:16), a bride (Eph. 5:22-32; Rev. 22:17), a wife (Rev. 19:7-9;21:9), a vineyard (Mt. 21:41; Jn. 15:1-5), a flock of sheep (Jn. 10:16; 1 Pet. 5:2), a farm (1 Cor. 3:9); a kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 5:3,10,19,20; 6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 16:28; Lk. 1:33), a mountain (Heb. 12:22), a city (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 21:2). Another prominent metaphor was the church as a spiritual building composed of the faithful, usually described as a sacred structure familiar to Jews and Christians in that day, such as a temple, a sanctuary, or a house of God. In the letter to the Christians in Corinth, the church is described as a holy building ().157 Not only were they collectively to think of themselves as a sacred structure, but believers are also reminded that their individual bodies are Gods temple ( )158 and a temple of the Holy Spirit.159 In the letter to the Ephesians, those within the Christians community are depicted as being a part of a spiritual building of God, which provides a sense of belonging, identity, and meaning.

Matt. 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26. Cf. Acts 1.12-15; 12.10b-17; Acts 2.42-47; 5.42. For the Pauline references, see 1 Cor. 16.19; Rom. 16.3, 5; 16.14-15, 23; Phil. 1-2, 21-22; Col. 4.15, along with Acts ref. 16.14-15; 29-34; 17.1-9; 18.1-4, 7-8. 156 Gehring, 1-48. 157 1 Cor. 1:5-9. 158 1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 2 Cor. 6:16. 159 1 Cor. 6:19.
155

154

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Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.160 Merging the spiritual concepts of citizenship and architecture, Paul describes community of Christians in Ephesus as belonging to Gods kingdom, and being included in a spiritual building. It pictures the actual process of construction, allowing the minds of faithful to see themselves as part of a great edifice rising from the ground founded on the authoritative teaching of the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Jesus Christ. Certainly such imagery of non-Jewish converts being incorporated into a spiritual structure being built by God was an exciting, albeit controversial prospect. It indicated a theological shift from the focal point of Jewish worship, the physical Temple in Jerusalem, to a spiritual temple constructed of Christian believers. Along with the temple symbolism in Ephesians, the structural imagery of divine households ( ) was also used to describe the church. The letter addressed to Timothy describes the church as the Gods private household. If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth ( ).161 The significance of the Christians place in the spiritual structure is made clear in the description of Gods house in 1 Peter, And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up () as a spiritual house ( ) for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.162 Believers are described as living stones used to construct Gods spiritual house, modeled after the Jewish Temple, where Christians function as priests. Christians share a crucial relationship to Jesus Christ, described as the cornerstone of the structure (vss. 6-8), as building stones in a larger spiritual edifice that comprises the Church. The idea of the house () is

160 161

Ephesians 2:19 21 1 Tim. 3:15. 162 1 Pet. 3:4, 5.

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also found in the letter to the Hebrews describing the Gods building made of the all believers, of which Christ is the builder. He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.163 In this sense, the sacred house, which belongs to Christ, is made of all believers, including even the prophets of the Old Testament. Again in Hebrews 10:21, Jesus Christ is described as the High Priest over the house of God, indicating the body of Christian believers. These references are suggestive, not only of the organization of the community of Gods people, but also of the intimacy Christians could experience as a part of his household. The metaphor of the Church as a spiritual edifice plays an important role in defining the early Christian movement, reassuring believers of their place within Gods plan. While an unusual idea for converts coming from a cultural background that associated religion with a central structure, whether a Jewish temple or synagogue, or pagan shrine, it was likely encouraging for Christians dispersed throughout a hostile Roman world to be able to identify with the wider community of believers. For the Jewish believer, the spiritual church replaced a

physical temple as a sacred structure which could not be desecrated, taken, or destroyed, which had particular significance after 70 CE. Gentile converts, on the other hand, could draw confidence from belonging to an eternal, spiritual structure that could not be overshadowed by massive pagan edifices found in Roman cities.164 Eventually in later centuries the symbolic structure would be joined to a physical building, as Christianity continued to expand in size and influence. Archaeological evidence has provided further insight into the nature of the structures used by early Christians. 165 Earlier studies based on the limited remains of later churches,166
163 164

Heb. 3:2-6. Mark 13:1, 2. An interesting account in the Gospel narrative, when his disciples praise the monumental Roman buildings of Jerusalem, Jesus uses an apocalyptic tone to warn against putting hope in such physical structures. 165 Gehring, 1-48, provides an overview of the scholarship to the present on the evidence of pre-Constantinian architecture. 166 Graydon Snyder, Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life before Constantine (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985), 67.

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naturally sought the origin of the church building in the Roman basilica, a common public structure that was adopted as the preferred structural form for churches after Constantine.167 Recent archaeological discoveries have yielded several examples of pre-Constantinian churches at certain locations in the East. Yet none of these were constructed as churches, but were converted for use by Christians. Current research suggests that the present material evidence tends to confirm the testimony of early Christian sources that the predominant location utilized for assembly was the private residence, probably of an affluent member. From this several developmental phases168 of Christian buildings in the eastern provinces can be identified: the first period from ca. A.D. 50-150 when Christians met in private homes of wealthier individuals in their community, the second phase from ca. 150-250 when more affluent Christian communities began to structurally alter private dwellings, termed as house of the church (domus ecclesiae) by Krautheimer, using them partially or exclusively for assembly and worship, the third phase from ca. 250-313 when churches as separate structures began to be constructed, predominantly through the benefaction of private individuals or communities, and the fourth phase from 313 to the fall of Constantinople in the 15th c. in some locations (to ca. mid-eighth century CE in Decapolis cities) when church complexes were built in greater quantity, quality and scale, through a combination of private, community, or imperial resources.169 While it is not the objective of this study to examine in detail early Christian meeting places and how they were perceived in the first few centuries, it is important to briefly discuss the few examples of early churches discovered at eastern sites to illustrate the drastic change in their significance to the later church as they became critical components of Christian communities in the East. The Dura-Europos church is one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made for understanding the early church.170 Located in modern Syria, the site was excavated in 1928 by the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters and Yale University.171 L. Michael White has recently focused on the site of Dura-Europos in order to

See discussion of Krauthmeier above. White, Social, 5, distinguishes only two distinctive phases, or architectural landmarks, in church buildings: the house church of the Pauline period and the basilica of the Constantinian age. 169 Gehring, 12 ff. My phasing follows the periodization used by Krautheimer, White, and Gehring with few exceptions. Eventually, private assemblies outside the public church building would be forbidden by ecclesiastical authorities. 170 Carl H. Kraeling, The Christian Building. Excavations at Dura-Europos 8, part 2 (Locust Valley, NY: J. J. Augustin, 1967). 171 Ibid., 101-55.
168

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understand the nature of early Christian communities. He suggests that the basilica-plan church emerged independently of the early forms of the house church (domus ecclesia). 172 Among the ruins of the city was a structure identified as a private dwelling with eight rooms and a courtyard that had been modified structurally in several stages: from an earlier dwelling, to a private residence, and then to a domus ecclesiae.173 Based on fragmentary graffito found in a room off the central courtyard, the final conversion took place sometime between 2323 and 256 CE.174 The conversion to a Christian assembly space included the expansion of the central living area, with the destruction of walls between adjacent rooms, leaving an assembly hall (5.15 m x 12.9 m) to accommodate a group of about 65 to 75 persons (Fig. 1.1). The most remarkable change was the conversion of the west room into a baptistery, including the insertion of a baptismal font featuring a basin accessed by steps and canopy supported by two columns (Fig. 1.2). The canopy vault and baptistery ceiling were decorated with murals depicting various biblical scenes, including distinctively Christian images, such as the Good Shepherd with Adam and Eve positioned below,175 the Woman at the Well,176 the Healing of the Paralytic,177 and Peter and Jesus Walking on Water.178

Figs. 1.1, 2. Top plan of the domus ecclesiae at Dura-Europos (left), isometric drawing of the domus ecclesiae (right) (Smith [1996]).

L. Michael White, Building God's House in the Roman World: Architectural Adaptation Among Pagans, Jews, and Christians (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), 7. 173 Snyder, 68. 174 Kraeling, Christian, 38. 175 Ibid., 49-57 176 Ibid., 67-9. 177 Ibid., 57-61. 178 Ibid., 61-5.

172

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Another early church developing from a residential structure was the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum, a fifth-century church having a central design of two concentric octagons, which is thought to have been constructed over a house church dating back to the first century CE. Located at a site venerated by Christians since the first century179 as the residence of the famous apostle, 180 excavation revealed that the church had been rebuilt in several phases from its original form as a private home. Initially discovered in 1921, excavation of the octagonal structures resumed in 1968 under Fathers Corbo and Loffreda for the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem. In its first phase, one room set apart with its walls plastered and marked with religious graffiti was joined to several others with the removal of several walls. Later in the fourth-century, an insula was constructed around this hall, further delineating it from nearby structures and making it more conducive for use a church (Fig. 1.3). Pilgrims continued to decorate the walls with graffiti. An octagonal church was built in the fifth-century along with a portico having five sides (Fig. 1.4). Unfortunately, little else remains to provide more specific insight into the early Christian gatherings at the site, such as inscriptions, frescoes, or furniture, except for the structural remains that indicate the development of the church from a domus ecclesiae.181 Gehring suggests that the house church at Capernaum may have served as prototype even during the pre-Easter period for the earliest Christian communities.182

Virgilio Corbo, The Church of the House of St. Peter, in Ancient Churches Revealed (Jerusalem: IES; Washington D.C.: BAS, 1993), 72, notes that among the remains were thousands of decorated plaster wall fragments with religious graffiti written in Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and Syriac that point to the site being revered as early as the first century CE. 180 Gehring., 31, notes that the Capernaum tradition is also embedded in three different streams of tradition, including the Q sources (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10; Matt. 11:20-24; Luke 10:13-15), the Gospel of Mark (Mark 1:12; 2:1); and the pre-Johannine tradition (Jn 2:12; 4:46; 6:17). Of twenty-nine references in Mark, several make direct reference to the house of Peter (Mark 1:29, 33; 2:1;3.20; 9:33), lending credibility to the tradition of the house church in Capernaum serving as a base for Jesus ministry in the region. 181 Ibid. 182 Gehring, 46.

179

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a.

b.

c.

Fig. 1.3. Stages (isometric) of the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum (a. 1st c. CE, b. 4th c. CE, c. 5th c. CE, L. Hoppe, 82-5)

Fig. 1.4. Phases of the Church of St. Peter at Capernaum (White, Social, 156, fig. 8).

The private home continued to be used as a model throughout the first century183 and after, as it proved a pragmatic and beneficial meeting place to foster community and to encourage a family-like environment that proved useful for developing leaders within a closeknit group.184 Several factors played a likely role in keeping early Christian congregations in a

Ibid., 229-88, discusses Col. 3:18-4:1 and Eph. 5:21-6:9 as examples of the continuity of house churches. Ibid., 117. Jerome Murphy-OConnor, St. Pauls Corinth: Texts and Archaeology (Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1983), 153-61, notes that house church arrangement was not always productive. The confining nature of house-plans of the first century CE suggests that the complaints addressed in the First Corinthian letter about
184

183

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variety of smaller venues, as well as hindering the construction of larger edifices for the express purpose of Christian meetings in the first two centuries. The ritual needs of the early church were much simpler, requiring little more than a dining space for celebrating the Lords Supper. Certainly the unfavorable reputation of Christians at the height of the empire made them unpopular. At best, Christians were thought by many to belong to a Jewish sect with questionable loyalty to Rome; at worst, they were immoral cultists who participated in despicable rituals such as cannibalism and incest in secretive night meetings. Fortunately for the movement, the negative opinion of Christians was not ubiquitous and outright persecution was a relatively rare occurrence. Regardless, Christianity was not a legitimate religion and the construction of church buildings would not have been welcomed. Also Christians appeared to have little need for such facilities because they had a variety of options that better served their needs.185 It was also likely that there were a limited number of members with sufficient means to fund the construction of churches. Another factor that may have kept many Christians from engaging in the construction of churches in the first few centuries probably had much to do with the associations that public buildings had with traditional cults in the Roman world. Like their Greek cultural predecessors, Romans recognized the confluence of political and religious symbolism in temples and public buildings of the city, as extensions of the dominant imperial cult. Krauthmeier states: Christianity thought of its practical needs along purely utilitarian and private lines. It shied away from the official sphere and from official and religious architecture, which was nearly all loaded with pagan connotations in third-century Rome. Temples were dedicated to the gods of the State; sanctuaries were sacred to pagan saviour gods; and public assembly halls were linked to the worship of the Emperor or the Welfare of the State.186 Christians would have certainly shied away from such associations, but would have also wanted to avoid drawing further negative attention of the religiously conservative communities in which they lived. This concern would diminish after the reign of Constantine, but even more dramatically after Theodosius I at the end of the fourth-century CE.

favoritism and ill-manners may be a reflection of the lower members of the congregation being excluded from the dining hall (triclinium) and being relegated to the atrium. 185 Krauthmeier and Curcic, 24. It is difficult to imagine the early Church not needing such facilities while growing exponentially during this period. 186 Ibid., 27.

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The third-century saw the further expansion of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean, but for Roman society this was a period of general instability and decline. Although generally despised by adherents to the traditional cults and Jews, Christians had been generally tolerated, except for several periods of persecution. In the second half of the thirdcentury, two great persecutions broke out under the emperors Decius (250-1) and Valerian (25760), during which Christians were expected to offer sacrifices to the emperor. A number of famous martyrdoms from this period would be remembered in the dedications of later centuries. After Gallienus came to power in 260, he established a policy of toleration for Christians until the last major persecution under the rule of Diocletian from 305 to 311. By the third-century, the factors hindering church construction began to be overcome by the Christian community. As the number of faithful swelled, affluent members could be recruited to contribute to the construction of church buildings. It was during this period that larger churches, or church halls (aura ecclesiae), were found at some location, possibly built by an increasing affluent Christian community. Robert Smith indicates that the structure discovered at Aila (Aquaba, Jordan) in 1998 by S. Thomas Parker that was identified by excavators as the oldest purpose-built Christian church, provides one of several example of ante-pacem church halls found in the Levant.187 According to Eusebius, during the period preceding the persecutions under

Diocletian, beginning in 303, churches had become more numerous. As a preface to his account of Diocletians persecution, Eusebius emphasized the prosperity and health of Christian communities. He noted that even older church buildings were no longer adequate for the needs of the congregations. How could one describe those mass meetings, the enormous gatherings in every city, and the remarkable congregations in places of worship? No longer satisfied with the old buildings, they raised from the foundations in all the cities churches spacious in plan.188 Eusebius praised Constantius for his refusal to be involved with the destruction of churches that occurred during the persecutions of the early fourth-century.189 For while they besieged and wasted the churches of God, leveling them to the ground, and obliterating the very foundations of the houses of prayer, he kept his hands pure from their abominable impiety, and never in any respect resembled them.190
Robert W. Smith, Ante-Pacem Christian Structures in the Levant, in The Light of Discovery, ed. J. D. Wineland (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2007), 93-105. 188 Eus. Hist. 8.1.4. 189 Eus. Life 1.13.2-3. Although Lactantius (De Mortibus Persecutorem 15) indicated that Constantius, while lenient with Christian lives, was involved in the destruction of churches.
187

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The famous Christian critic of the third-century, Porphyry, found the spread of church building a disturbing trend as Christianity gained followers. He indicates that Christians were building up great houses where they could assemble for prayerand the whole world had heard of the fame of the Gospels.191 While certain questions remain about how these accounts can be reconciled with the archaeological record, which has produced few pre-fourth-century remains of churches, it is clear that church buildings had come to have great meaning for Christians, in contrast to an earlier era. At the turn of the fourth-century, the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305) stabilized the empire through a number of reforms, spreading the administrative responsibilities of the empire among four tetrarchs. At this time he reorganized the provinces of the Empire, doubling their number and organizing them under separate dioceses for more efficient tax collection. The region of Palestine in the east was organized into three separate provinces under the Oriens diocese with its capital at Antioch. The province of Palestina Secunda, with its capital at Scythopolis-Beth Shean, incorporated the region of northern Transjordan and most the cities of the Decapolis. Diocletian instigated the last major persecution of the church in 303, which resulted in the destruction of a large number of churches including the cathedral at Nicomedia.192 The persecution ended in 311 with Galerius edict granting toleration of all religions in the empire including Christianity. The Tetrarchy soon devolved into a power struggle following Diocletians retirement in 305. Constantine, son of Constantius, a member of the Tetrarchy, was proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers in Britain in 306 after the death of his father. An effective military commander and ambitious politician, Constantine eventually was able to consolidate his control over the empire after defeating his co-rulers; first Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312 and then Licinius at Adrianople in 324. For Christians, his victories were celebrated as the beginning of a new period of peace and prosperity. Although the timing and circumstances of his conversion are not clear, it appears that Constantine began to favor the Christian faith around the time of his defeat of Maxentius.193
Eus. Life 1.13.2-3. Macarius Magnes Apocriticus 4.21, cited in W. H. C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 443. 192 Eus. Hist. 7.30.22, 32.4; 8.1.8, 2.1-5. 193 Eusebius (Life 1.28-32) famously accounts for the emperors conversion by a dramatic vision of a cross of light in the sky with the message By this conquer as he prepared to march on Rome against Maxentius. It was this event that led Constantine to recognize the superiority of the Christian God. Some critics, like John J. Norwich,
191 190

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By the turn of the fourth-century, it is clear that church buildings had already become recognized symbols of the Christian faith, so much so that they were often the target of political and physical attack. The Diocletian persecution initiated in 303 brought about the destruction of the cathedral at Nicomedia. When Maximinus established control over Asia Minor in 311, after the death of Galerius, he exempted Christians from a policy promoting pagan sacrifices, but did not allow them to assemble or build churches. After his death, churches began to be built again and property was restored to Christians.194 The Edict of Milan in 313 issued by Constantine and Licinius granted toleration of Christians and allowed the construction of new churches.195 Later Licinius would reverse his position and once again be involved in the destruction of churches until his defeat by Constantine.196 Attacks on Christians through the closing or destruction of churches would reemerge again in the fourth-century when the pagan emperor Julian in 363, shortly before his death on campaign in Persia, 197 closed the cathedral at Antioch, which in turn provoked the destruction of a church building at Emesa,198 while at the same time he reopened pagan temples. These accounts provide insight into the development of the meaning and significance of church buildings as representations of the Christian faith by third-century so that they were targeted for destruction by these pagan emperors, often with the full support of the local populace. One of the most dramatic changes can be distinguished during the transition to the fourth century that corresponds to Christianitys expanding influence is how churches were perceived. Up to that time, church space had been primarily extensions of, or emerging from, the private residence, which fostered the familial culture of the early church. In this residential-model, there was a blurring of spatial organization between centered authority and the peripheral laity. This model was distinct from the traditional cults of the empire having temple precincts with delineated spaces for both religious and political functions. With the establishment of a direct relationship between church and state, including administrative responsibilities assigned to

Byzantium: The Early Centuries (London: Viking, 1988), 41 have discounted the account as having hagiographic elements with limited historic value. Yet the story of the Chi Rho vision was corroborated by the teacher of rhetorics , Lactantius (Lucii Caecilii liber ad Donatum Confessorem de Mortibus Persecutorium). 194 Eus. Hist. 9.10.10-11, 11.1. 195 Eus. Hist.10:1-4. It is interesting to note that following this event, Eusebius gives much of his attention to the construction of churches. 196 Eus. Life 2.2. 197 Theod. HE 3.6. 198 Theod. HE 3.7.

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bishops, the church building came to function in similar ways as the temple embodying both religious and political functions. The architecture reflected this association with the state in the adoption of the basilica-plan church, and the strict delineations of interior space separating the central authority from the masses in the periphery. As Christianity made the next transition, the earlier understanding and manifestation of the church building would be replaced by structures that increasingly resembled the Roman public buildings and temples, which had long dominated the civic landscape of eastern cities.

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Chapter 2

Temple to Church in Eastern Cities: 4th to 7th c. CE The replacement of pagan temples both physically and symbolically in eastern communities during the early Byzantine period did not result primarily from edicts introduced by Constantine in the early fourth-century, but resulted in the period following Theodosius I at the end of the century during which paganism was suppressed and Christianity further promoted as the civic religion of the empire, leading to the expansion of churches in eastern cities. Although the conversion of Constantine and his consolidation of power as sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324 CE was significant for Christianity becoming the religion of the empire during the fourth century CE this had little impact on church construction for many eastern cities. Traditional pagan cults continued to have considerable influence, particularly in rural communities, in the eastern provinces even after Christianity had made headway in the cities. The legacy of Roman religion remained with the presence of temples and shrines, and in certain cases the continuation of certain cultic rituals, throughout the fourth-century. Temples had for many centuries served as the focal point for religious, political, and social life for Romans, and while in some larger cities churches came more quickly to assume this role, it would take more time for other communities. The edicts issued by Theodosius I at the end of the fourth-century intensified restrictions on paganism while at the same time providing incentives for church construction. As vestiges of traditional cults became less and less tolerated, Christian buildings expanded to locations where they had previously been absent. From the time of Theodosius to Justinian, churches increasingly came to both physically and symbolically appropriate the place of temples and shrines in eastern cities, reflecting the ascendancy of Christianity as the civic religion of the empire. The development reflects the interaction and exchange that was occurring in eastern communities regarding the definition of sacred space and the identity of community. A discourse was generated over the meaning of space as a religious and social structure between the Christian authority as the center, including leading clergy and elites, and those on the periphery, including adherents to older cults and others outside of positions of influence. The sharp antagonisms of the fourth century between pagans and Christians over church buildings, as a result of the Theodosian legislation, gave way to wider interactions between the sacred and profane and between centered and non-centered, which generated new associations for church

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buildings. These new in-between meanings happened at the points of continuity and differentiation with the traditional Roman religion and its temples. This section analyzes a selection of eastern sources from the fourth to the seventhcentruy CE that provide insight into development in the views of church buildings, particularly in light of the complex relationship between Christianity and the traditional Roman religions in fourth century to the post-Theodosian periods. These sources indicate how the suppression of traditional cults and shrines was instrumental in church buildings appropriating the position and function that temples had in eastern cities. The discourse over Christian churches by the inhabitants of eastern provinces changed dramatically from one of antagonism in the fourth century that was prohibitive for church construction, to one of adaptation and appropriation of the Justinian period when churches flourished.

Constantinian Period: Challenges to Church Construction in the East The legalization of Christianity in the early fourth-century CE was preceded by the last major persecution of Christians under Diocletian from 303 to 311 CE. These events were formative for believers in the fourth-century. Christians experienced various attacks during this time including the damaging or destruction of church buildings. Eusebius indicates that Constantines predecessors completely destroyed places of worship demolishing them from roof to floor, while constructing or embellishing temples. 1 Incidents of attacks against churches like the burning of the new cathedral at Nicomedia in full view of Diocletians palace and headquarters2 remained fresh in the minds of Christians for many years following the collapse of the Tetrarchy. The pagan emperor recognized, as did the Christians of the empire, that church buildings had already attained a certain symbolic value by the end of the third-century. Therefore, it was not surprising that ecclesiastical officials became greatly interested in the reconstruction and erection of churches after the issuing of the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, which legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.3

1 2

Eus. Life 3.1.4. Eus. Life 1.13; 2.2 3 Eus. Life 10:1-4.

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While the exact nature of Constantines conversion4 has long been a matter of controversy,5 most present day scholars agree that the emperor had shifted in his favor for the Christian faith some time after the issuance of the Edict of Milan in 313. The most dramatic result of the Constantines consolidation of control over the empire his Christianity becoming the favored religion of the empire. Eusebius of Caesarea indicates that the emperor had an agenda for the repair and expansion of existing churches, along with the building of new ones on a larger scale.6 Constantines position as emperor encompassed the role of pontifex maximus allowing him to promote the Christian faith as the civic religion.7 He initiated legislative measures granting tolerance for Christianity, which profoundly influenced the religions influence in the Roman world. Along with the religious advantages afforded to Christians, the members of the clergy were given the opportunity to fill roles of administrative authority. Constantine returned to the Christians the possession of property, including land, homes, and cemeteries, confiscated during the persecutions.8 One of the most dramatic developments was the emperors extension of state powers to local clergy. Not only were church officials exempted from certain taxes and civic responsibilities, they were also appointed to administrative positions in the empire, enhancing their status of bishops and priests.9
For example, the dedication on the emperors triumphal arch in Rome in c. 315 indicated his victory over Maxentius was achieved by the inspiration of divinity and by greatness of mind (instinctu divinitatis mentis magnitudine) (CIL 6.1139 [ILS 694]). 5 Three perspectives of Constantines relationship to the Christian faith and his role as Roman emperor have been most prevalent in the scholarship of this period. Charles M. Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire (2004), 23, identified these as the political pragmatist viewpoint, the religious syncretist viewpoint, and the genuine conversion viewpoint. Scholars of the early twentieth century, such as Jacob Burckhardt and Henri Gregoire, generally adhered to the perspective of the emperor as a pragmatist who feigned conversion as a means of achieving his political ambitions. The second proposed by Andr Piganiol and Jacques Moreau, interpret Constantine as navigating his role as emperor and that of pontifex maximus by adding the Christian god to the Roman pantheon, reflected in his continued use of the Solar deity on coinage, as a form of enlightened syncretism for the good of society. Later mid-twentieth century scholars like Norman Baynes, A. H. M. Jones, Hermann Drries, and Ramsay MacMullen moved away from the hypercritical view of earlier schools of thought about the authenticity. More recently, the primary question has shifted away from the nature of Constantines conversion to the nature of his Christianity. H. A. Drake (The Impact of Constantine on Christianity, in The Age of Constantine, ed. N. Lenski, [New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006], 111), notes the question is more complicated, not only because there were several Christianities vying for the emperors loyalty, but also because scholarship had become more comfortable with the complexity with the emperor as a man of faith who was dedicated to the interest of the empire. 6 Eus. Life 1.46, 47.4; 2.46. 7 Vasliliki Limberis, Divine Heiress: The Virgin Mary and the Creation of Christian Constantinople (London, New York: Routledge, 1994), 27, suggests that Constantines recognized his political role as pontifex maximus. She notes that while he promoted his image as a Christian emperor, he maintained the pagan temples to Tyche and Rhea and issued coinage with his image with Helios at Constantinople, where much of the population remained pagan. 8 Eus. Life 2.21, 36, 39-41. 9 Eus. Life 1.42. H. A. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance (Baltimore; London: The John Hopkins University Press, 2000), 30, notes that, while most studies focus on Constantine and the nature of his
4

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The emperor also built, expanded, and embellished churches from the resources of the imperial treasury.10 He also supplied rich help from his own resources to the churches of God, enlarging and elevating the places of worship, while beautifying the grander ecclesiastical sacred buildings with many dedications.11 While church buildings a century earlier were privately owned and supported, under Constantine they came under the benefaction of the state. 12 It is not clear if the emperor intended church buildings to be political symbols as reflected in their state-sponsorship, nevertheless the basilica, the standard Roman administrative structure, was soon adopted as the normative design for Christian structures in the fourth century. 13 Unlike the private church buildings an illegal religion of a previous generation, the Constantinian church came to have complex meaning representing the church and the state. While the earlier residence-plan church was a space that excluded the secular realm, the state-supported church necessarily embodied a blend of sacred/profane elements. Constantine encouraged this relationship between church and state through his direct involvement in church matters, such as the imperial oversight of ecumenical councils; an association that became a defining feature of Byzantine society.14 Church construction as encouraged by the imperial government reflected the transcending of boundaries that once physically and symbolically divided the Christian church from the state, This was manifested not only form of the church, but also in the selection of locations for early, imperially-sponsored churches in politically significant cities. These included Rome, Constantinople, and the tetrarchal capitals of Nicomedia and Antioch, and the most sacred locations in and around Jerusalem, such as the churches at the traditional burial spot of Jesus (Holy Sepulcher), at Bethlehem, at the Mount of Olives, and at Mamre near Hebron.15 This

rule, the role of bishops were much more significant during this period, as they were particularly crucial in the societal changes that were set in motion. 10 Eus. Life 3.2.4. Theodoret, EH 1.11. 11 Eus. Life 1.42. 1,2. 12 Eus. Life 2.45.2-46. In his correspondence with Eusebius and the bishops of the East, Constantine indicated that church construction had his direct political backing. Despite this, the examples of this type of sole imperial sponsorship appears to have been reserved for a relatively limited number of churches in the East. 13 The basilica was archetype of Roman public architecture having long been used in various administrative and judicial roles. The first basilica church, St. John Lateran, was constructed in Rome in 313 at the behest of Constantines wife, Fausta. 14 Eus. Life 4.17, and others would go as far as to remark how he modeled as it were his very palace into a church of God. 15 Millar, 215, 16.

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blending of religious and political agendas behind the construction of churches was brought to bear on the issue of traditional Roman cults and temples in eastern cities. Constantines support of church construction appears to have been a part of a larger, albeit unofficial, agenda to undermine paganism. According to Eusebius, the emperor recognized the symbolic potential of a church building as a reminder of the ascendancy of the Christian faith in the empire, such as the church he built in Bithynia as a monument of victory over his enemies and the foes of God. 16 Eusebius suggests that the emperor from the beginning saw church construction as a means of both undermining the practice of pagan rituals while encouraging conversions. Two laws were simultaneously issued. One restricted the pollutions of idolatry which had for a long time been practiced in every city and country district, so that no one should presume to set up cult-objects, or practice divination or other occult arts, or even to sacrifice at all. The other dealt with erecting buildings as places of worship and extending in breadth and length the churches of God, as if almost everybody would in future belong to God, once the obstacle of polytheistic madness had been removed.17 While not officially initiating an organized agenda against temples, Constantine did at times replace pagan temples with churches, including ones in certain eastern cities that memorialized saintly relics, or sacred locations, which served to curtail or eliminate pagan rituals. In his new capital of Constantinople, he built the Church of the Martyrs and the Church of St. Eirene, or Holy Peace of God, on the site of the former shrine of Aphrodite, while attempting to bring an end to idol worship. 18 This policy was enacted elsewhere, particularly at locations with notable pagan shrines. Outside of Constantinople, no other location in the East received so much of his attention as the city of Jerusalem and its nearby holy sites in Palestine. Eusebius celebrated the cleansing of the Holy Land that was initiated with a famous traveler to the region. In 327, Constantines Christian mother Helena made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the nearby region.19 Eusebius recorded that the tomb of Jesus was discovered at this time, along with the True Cross, hidden under a gloomy sanctuary to the impure demon Aphrodite, which was destroyed, along with other contrivances of fraud and houses of error.20 The profane
16 17

Eus. Life 3.47.50. Eus. Life 2.44-45.1. 18 Norwich, 65. 19 Soc. HE 1.17. 20 Eus. Life 3.26.1-7.

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material, according to his account, was thoroughly removed from the sacred location. Constantine ordered that even the foundation of the pagan shrine, which covered the sacred cave, be excavated and all the material removed to a great distance.21 Only after this physical removal of profane material could the church be established and constructed.22 Constantine soon set upon the task of constructing churches to consecrate other Christian holy sites. 23 He ordered Macarius, the bishop of Palestine, to completely clear the Aphrodite temple down to the foundation in order to build the famous Church of the Holy Sepulcher, along with several other churches at Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity),24 at the Mt. of Olives (The Eleona),25 and a church at Mamre near Hebron. 26 According to Eusebius, Constantine also sponsored churches in other eastern cities with significant pagan populations, like those of Phoenicia, often at the expense of their temples. This was interpreted as a means of supplanting the temple with a Christian counterpart, while bringing eastern communities into line with the new state religion.27 Eusebius indicates that this was

welcomed at some locations, remarking, Temples and built-up precincts they demolished without orders from anyone, and buildings churches on their foundations they changed from their former error.28 Constantine ordered the destruction of a number of temples and shrines, along with the confiscation of cultic instruments and furniture, at several pagan centers, including the shrine to the temple of Asclepius in Cilicia, and the shrine to Aphrodite at Aphaca.29 Eusebius also describes Constantines construction of churches at Nicomedia and Antioch, cities with a significant pagan presence.30 Constantine ordered the construction of a church in HeliopolisBaalbek, in Lebanon, in the temple precinct not only to bring the city into alignment with his religious and political agenda,31 which was emphasized by his placement of a bishop over the

Eus. Life 3.27 Eus. Life 3.30-40. See also 3.54, the any material used in pagan worship was considered in itself innately corrupt. 23 Eus. Life 3.25-50. 24 Jack Finegan, The Archeology of the New Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992), 36, notes that the building of the Church of Nativity involved the removal of a sacred grove erected by Hadrian dedicated to the Babylonian god, Tammuz (Paulinus of Nola, Epistle 31.3). 25 Eus. Life, 3.46. The churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives were attributed to influence of Helena. Cf. Jack Finegan, The Archeology of the New Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992), 30. 26 Eus. Life 3.51.1-3. 27 Limberis, 23. 28 Eus. Life 3.39.2. 29 Eus. Life 3.55-58 30 Eus. Life 3.41-46. 31 Soc. HE 1.18.
22

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city, but also as means of winning its populace to the Christian faith. 32 One of the few examples of non-Constantinian fourth-century churches in the Decapolis was built over an earlier temple at the city of Hippos-Sussita. This led excavators to the same conclusion reached by Eusebius with regard to other churches of the period that it was intended to symbolize Christianitys victory over paganism.33 The accounts of Eusebius provide insight into the conflict of the fourth century between the church authorities and pagans that often involved church buildings. Constantine certainly built churches over former temples, in part to replace them whether for symbolic or pragmatic reasons, but there were other aspects with regards to his intention that need to be addressed. Certain theoretical models provide insight into the dynamics of his actions that were later emulated by local church and community leaders in the eastern cities. In particular, the discussion of sacred/profane meaning as expanded by Jonathan Smith and Lindsay Jones that is generated in the interaction of ritual and architecture, and the postcolonial concept of identity formation through the discourse between the center and fringes as articulated by Said and Bhabha, are useful perspectives to view the dynamics of church buildings for Constantine and later church authorites. While it is certain that Constantine favored the Christian faith and acted as a benefactor for the church during his rule, he remained somewhat ambiguous about what to do about paganism. In fact, it appears that the emperor sought to engage pagans possibly to convert them, but at least to educate them about the Christian faith. Upon closer inspection, the evidence of antagonistic assaults on temples and widespread construction of churches as suggested by Eusebius was rather limited. Instead it appears that Constantine was interested in engaging and interacting with traditional Roman religion by means of churches, emphasizing continuities, while introducing new associations. Constantines faith life and his attitude toward religious traditionalists is a complex matter While it is clear the Constantine supported the Christian faith, there remains questions about the reality of how that impacted the practice of traditional cults, particularly as many of the influential intellectuals and ruling elite continued to adhere to the old Roman religions.34 While Constantine did replace certain temples with churches, he never articulated a clear imperial
Eus. Life 3.58.2,3. Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50. 34 Eunapius of Sardis (Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists 6.2.1-12 [462-3]), a late fourth century intellectual, indicated that Constantine retained Sopatros, a pagan philosopher, as an advisor to his court.
33 32

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policy, or introduced edicts, for the systematic destruction of pagan structures. 35 In the early part of the fourth-century, temples were still functioning at Rome and other cities in the empire.36 In 320, Constantine appeared tolerant of certain cultic practices such as oracles, but not for sacrifices that might be used for subversive purposes.37 Constantine was pontifex maximus which involved the maintenance of the temples as one of his responsibilities,38 but he also certainly recognized the politicial challenges in attempting to aggressively replace temples with churches on a widescale level. He was able to accomplish this at his new capital of Constantinople by re-founding the older Byzantium, introducing rituals associated with the new state religion. This was accomplished, not by the direct removal, but the appropriation of the old gods of the city and their rituals.39 At a dedication of the Tyche Constantinopolis, he made a statue of himself with a Tyche in his right hand and made obeisance to his statue an annual event.40 This ambiguity toward paganism was continued by Constantines successors. While traditional pagan cults and their temples were in decline during this period, the Constantinian emperors recognized that old Roman religion was still influential among segments of the population. In 341, Constantius II (r. 337-361) issued the following edict, Superstition shall cease; the madness of sacrifices shall be abolished. For if any man in violation of the law of the sainted Emperor, Our father, and in violation of this command of Our Clemency, should dare to perform sacrifices, he shall suffer the infliction of a suitable punishment and the effect of an immediate sentence.41 Several years later in 346 Constantius issued another imperial edict, ordering the closing of temples in all places and all cities and ordered that sacrifices should end.42 Yet Ammianus Marcellinus noted that when the emperors visited Rome in 357 CE to celebrate his vicennalia,
Helen Saradi-Mendelovici, "Christian Attitudes toward Pagan Monuments in Late Antiquity and Their Legacy in Later Byzantine Centuries," DOP, vol. 44 (1990), 49. 36 Michele R. Salzman, Religious Koine and Religious Dissent in the Fourth Century, in A Companion to Roman Religion, ed. Jrg Rpke, 109-25 (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007), notes that paganism and Christianity coexisted as the religious koine for much of the fourth century. While the more contentious elements of pagan rituals, like blood sacrifices, were prohibited, the imperial cult and certain public rituals and festivals remained popular among most of the population. 37 CTh 16.10.1. 38 Libanius, Pro templis 30, noted how Julian demonstrated his piety in fulfilling these duties. Cf. Trombley, Hellenic, 6 39 Limberis, 9-20. 40 Mal. Chron. 13.8. Cf. Limberis, 19-20, notes that Constantine also merged his own image with the god Helios on numerous coins. 41 CTh 16.10.2. 42 CTh 16.10.4.
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he expressed great admiration for the pagan shrines and monuments of the city and assigned benefaction for pagan ceremonies and games.43 In the 360s bishops were still being exempted from oversight of the pagan temples at the western city of Milan.44 Not only were there questions about the efforts made to get rid of paganism, but there were elements emerging that provided elements of continuity with traditional Roman cults. One of these was the development of the cult of saints, which was not comparable to the cults of heroes of Roman tradition, but still offered opportunities for seeking divine aid. Christian pilgrimage sites arose in the form of memorial shrines venerating the tombs and relics of famous saints, particularly those martyrs of the Diocletian persecution. While the veneration of relics and tombs of revered individuals had been practiced to some extent by Christians since the second-century, the cult of the saints developed significantly from the third-century to the sixth-century. This was different from Roman counterparts, especially in the custom of distancing burials and cemeteries from cities. Yet the Christian rituals involving the veneration of the saints invited comparisons with certain points of continuity for pagans who honored deceased heroic figures, while introducing different and new customs that promised help in this world from those who had passed to the next. 45 It was Constantine who began this trend of building churches as memorial shrines at certain sites in Palestine, or the Holy Land, that became sacred pilgrimage locations for Christians, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the venerated the site of tomb of Jesus. Like various pagan shrines, Christian sites became popular destinations for visitors all over the Roman world. Eusebius suggested that building of churches to honor saints was part of the wider effort to bring an end to idolatry at Constantinople. In honoring with exceptional distinction the city which bears his name, he embellished it with very many places of worship, very large martyr-shrines, and splendid houses, same standing before the city and others in it. By these he at the same time honored the tombs of the martyrs and consecrated the city to the martyrs God.46

43 44

Amm. 16.10. Symmachus, Relatio 3.7. CTh 16.1.1. 45 Peter R. L. Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (University of Chicago Press, 1981), 5-6, notes one fundamental difference between the pagan cults for the dead and the cult of saints was the conviction that the dead saint dwelt in the presence of God and could therefore directly intercede on behalf of the living. 46 Eus., Life 3.48.1.

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While it is not completely certain that one of Constantines intentions in building memorial churches was to appropriate similar Roman religious customs, it does suggest that Constantine felt little compunction in bridging the two worlds of the late Roman traditional culture and the Christian society that was emerging. This is reflected in his placement of church leaders in positions of authority over secular matters. In this light, church construction provided another means of establishing points of continuity between the old Roman world and Christianity. Churches could serve to facilitate intercourse between these two communities. Although the number of churches sponsored by the emperor and his successors in the fourth century was limited to more prominent centers in the empire, 47 these structures incorporated elements of classical society and reflected similar associations between the rituals of church and state. It appears that the emperor considered the presence of churches as beneficial for the larger Christian cause by impressing, educating, and possibly converting, the pagan populace. Trombley states, The splendor of such imperial structures aimed not only at showing up the Hellenes traditional cultic architecture, but also at getting prospective converts to tour the buildings and thereby to learn the humane character of the new religion.48 Even Eusebius accounts reflect the complex meaning of church buildings as locations of discourse. While he emphasized the role of church buildings as physical symbols of the triumph of Christianity over paganism, reflecting the fierce antagonisms of the period, he was aware of the interactions that church buildings encouraged and the possibilities they represented for providing a means of exchange. In his description of the cathedral at Tyre he emphasized certain continuities the church had with the older temple it displaced. Its various features, like its altar, its decorations, and its prominent location in the city communicated to the pagan populace and educated them about the Christian faith. He noted that its prominent height and the spectacle of its porch commanded a response of amazement even from strangers to the faith.49 As one passed through the colonnaded portico, a large space that leads up to the main entrance to the church, he was forced to contemplate his sinful state symbolized by the physical impurity of his

R. MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 49. Constantine built churches at Rome, Aquileia, Trier, Antioch, Nicomedia, Jerusalem, Cirta, Savaria, and Constantinople. 48 Eus. Life 3.29, cited in Trombley, Hellenic, 115. 49 Eus. HE 10.4.38.

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feet.50 Eusebius also recognized the churchs potential in articulating and defining the identity of Christian authority as it related to non-Christian outsiders. Its architectural form and decoration was a reminder that the church was a small heavenly kingdom corresponding to an earthly one. The support of the emperor and beneficence of donors foreshadowed the Kingdom of Heaven above. The faithful are described as crossing the threshold into the royal house, the basilica or main sanctuary. The structure was a testimony to the power of the centered. One could not help but feel a sense of awe at the scale of the building with its lofty pinnacles reaching to the heavens and its splendor and its majesty surpassing description.51 Further within, one found other adornments like rich decorations and marble flooring; and at the center, thrones for the church leaders (the synthronon), and the holy of holies, the altar, which was surrounded by wooden lattice fencing so that it might be inaccessible to the multitudes.52 This temple of God built by our most peaceful Solomon, the bishop Paulinus, was meant to inspire the beholder within the main sanctuary just by being present in the sacred space. Its interior was space reflecting

the hierarchy of religious and political power with its areas delineated in order of their sacrality; the highest being reserved for the place where the Eucharist was celebrated behind the wooden curtain of the lattice altar screen, in this case made of intricately carved wood.53 While Constantinian churches and others built in the fourth century may have invited discourse with those on the outside, there is little to indicate that they initially encouraged any type of convergence. In fact, much of the evidence of this period suggests that the traditional Roman cults and shrines were still in use. The persistence of pagans, especially among the upper classes in eastern cities, in resisting conversion was a significant factor that limited church construction in many of these locations.54 In the eastern region of Palestine and the Transjordan, many of the smaller cities and villages were agrarian centers dominated by wealthy landowners who maintained a strong attachment to both the traditional Roman gods and to the local gods.55
Eus. HE 10.4.40. Eus. HE 10.4.43. 52 Eus. HE 10.4.44. 53 Eus. HE 10.4.44) 54 A. H. M. Jones, The Social Background of the Struggle between Paganism and Christianity, in The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century, ed. Arnaldo Momigliano (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), 18-19. Christianity was considered a predominantly urban religion, which made little progress among the aristocracy and educated upper classes. 55 Saradi-Mendelovici, 47, argues that the antagonism of Christians against pagan monuments has been overstated and was not evident until after the Theodosian legislation.
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Ever since Diocletians expansion of government at the end of the third-century which enhanced the status of Greek cities in the East and gave significant power to local elites,56 affluent landowners and local administrators remained vital to the functioning of the empire during the early Byzantine period, particularly for collecting taxes. Jones states, The essential point in the foundation of any city was in the Byzantine period the creation of a council of decurions, numerous and wealthy enough to guarantee its taxes to the central government.57 The position and influence of affluent officials and landowners created an obstacle to Christian inroads that was difficult to overcome. Inhabitants in rural communities and those outside the vicinity of the principal Christian centers in the East also remained predominantly pagan during the fourth-century, most seeing little advantage in converting and supporting the construction of churches.58 Pagan temples and shrines, which had long served as centers of religious, political, and social life in Roman society, continued to be an obstacle for the conversion of the eastern populace to the consternation of clergy and monks who at times clashed with pagans. Frank Trombley indicates that paganism was alive and well in these regions well into the sixth-century in certain rural locations for several reasons. The enforcement of laws against pagan sacrifice was more difficult than in larger cities. 59 Also the penetration of Christianity was more of a challenge away from larger cities. The populations of rural eastern cities in region of Syria, the Transjordan, and Palestine were especially resistant to conversion and to the construction of churches. The influence of Arab tribal groups who worshiped a variety of Semitic deities was strong in the region. They had especially close trade relationship with the peasants, which further strengthened the influence of pagan cults.60 As late as 386, Libanius, the rhetor of Antioch, describes the attacks made against temples still visited by pious pagans offering sacrifices to tutelary gods.61 Inscriptional evidence from the region of the Transjordan in the region of the Hauran plain

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A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940), 85, 86. Ibid., 87, 88. 58 Saradi-Mendelovici, 48. 59 Trombley, Hellenic, 9. 60 Ibid. 173. 61 Libanius, Oration 30, Pro templis. Cf. Trombley, Hellenic, 6.

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suggests that Christianity was resisted in the countryside until the fifth-century.62 While the city of Bostra had a bishop at the Council of Nicea in 325, epigraphic evidence suggests that paganism remained strong in the villages in its vicinity. Churches were also resisted by Jews in the region of Palestine. Epiphanius, the bishop of Salamis, described the resistance met by Josephus, a wealthy Jewish convert of Tiberias, who was given permission and funding by Constantine to build a church over a temple that was being restored as a public bath in the city.63 The Jewish population of the city attacked him, forcing him to flee to Scythopolis.64 The resistance of pagans continued in certain regions of the Transjordan through the Byzantine period. Excavators at Abila suggest that the absence of churches, along with the presence of a pagan altar, in a northern suburb of the city could be explained by the resistance of some of the citys inhabitants to conversion.65 At the village of Salkhad, east of Bostra, there was no evidence of Christian influence before 497.66 In light of this persistence of paganism in the Transjordanian countryside, local elites certainly felt little compulsion to convert and sponsor churches in the fourth-century particularly when it risked alienating the pagan, rural populace.67 Temple precincts also remained important for the social life of certain eastern cities. They often held a central position in the city in direct association with areas of commerce, social gathering locations, and political meetings.68 Temples were preserved in some cities by local elites who recognized the value of the structures for the citys identity, but also for the remnant of devoted pagans, particularly the rural agriculturalists who remained committed to fertility cults.69 The pagan official Sampsychos fought the oikonomos, the administrator of church lands, at Gaza probably due to the latters efforts to proselytize the large number of pagans on his lands,

Trombley, Hellenic, 316. Cf. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section A: Southem Syria, Parts 2-7, edd. Enno Littmann, David Magie and D.R. Stuart (Leiden: Brill, 1921). 63 Epiphanius of Salamis, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I (Sects 1-46), trans. Frank Williams (E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1987), 1.12.1-9. 64 Epiphanius, 1.12.9. 65 Michael and Neathery Fuller, Regional Survey at Abila, The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, v. 1 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of SyroMesopotamian Studies, 1992), 160. 66 Trombley, Hellenic, 318-324. 67 Ibid., 204. Trombley attributes the resistance to Christianization to the constant influx of Arab tribes in the region with their polytheistic religions. 68 Saradi-Mendelovici, 49. Cf. R. MacMullen, Christianizing, 96-97. 69 Trombley, Hellenic, 147.

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which he feared would upset the fertility gods.70 Even leading clergy occasionally were involved in the preservation of pagan art and temples. The Emperor Julian (361-63) indicated that the pagan temples had been preserved by the bishop of Ilion, Pegasius.71 Julian brought about a final resurgence of paganism, reflecting the problem of residual resistance to Christianity at the highest levels of Roman government. The emperor attempted to reinstitute the tradition cults and their rituals,72 while at the same time undermining the position of Christians in eastern cities. Although his reign as emperor was brief, his edicts brought challenges to the sanctity of church buildings and encouraged direct attacks by pagans. Theodoret (ca. 387- ca. 458), the bishop of Antioch, recounts with disdain the acts of the Emperor Julian at the church of Daphne sometime around 362, in retaliation against the Christians whom he accused of burning the temple of Apollo.73 These actions were in line with his efforts to reopen temples in order to revitalize paganism in the East.74 Theodoret indicates that he directly profaned the church building at Antioch by committing an act of indecency by the holy altar in order to antagonize the Christians.75 He goes on to describe other crimes carried out against Christians involving the church, noting: The impious people did that upon the altar which, as the Scripture says, was not done nor heard of in the days of our fathers. A young man who had abjured his own sex, and had assumed the dress of a female, danced upon the holy altar where we invoke the Holy Ghost, as though it had been a public theater. 76 He continues by bemoaning how another youth stripped naked and sat in the episcopal chair, as an act of defiance and insult to the church officials.77 At Emesa, the pagans were emboldened by Julians example to desecrate the church building.78 As a remarkable contrast these attacks on Christian structures, Julian embarked on an ambitious, but ultimately fruitless, effort to rebuild of

Marc le Diacre Vie de Porphyre, vque de Gaza, ed. tr. Henri Grgoire and M. A. Kugener (Paris 1930). Marci Diaconi Vita Porphyrii Gazensis, ed. Societatis Philologae Bonnensis Sodales (Leipzig 1895). 71 Julian the Apostate Epistula 79. 72 Saturninius Secundus Salustius (On the Gods and the Universe 14-16) records the emperors defense of sacrifice and desire for it to be handled with the utmost respect by priests. 73 Theod. EH 3.1. 74 Theod. EH 3.6,7. 75 Theod. EH 3.12. 76 Theod. EH 4.1.22. 77 Theod. EH. (ibid.). 78 Theod. EH 3.7.

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the Jewish temple in Jerusalem,79 where Constantine had built his most impressive churches. 80 Despite this final revival of paganism as the official religion of the empire, it came to an abrupt end in 363 with the death of Julian. Yet even after the reassertion of imperial support for Christianity, imperial and regional officials continued to tolerate pagans and their shrines. While Theodosius I would eventually take a firm stance against paganism, his earlier attitudes were more tolerant, if not accepting, of the old Roman gods. His statue, along with his wife and Arcadius, were grouped around the statue of the goddess Artemis.81 Not only was there resistance among pagans toward churches, but they were also at the center of conflict between various parties of Christians. Violence often resulted between the different parties whose claim to political support and legitimacy often hinged on the possession of churches. As a consequence, Christian buildings were frequently seized or destroyed in the conflicts that flared up in the fourth century.82 Constantines concern in attempting to resolve ecclesiastical disputes earlier in the century had set a precedent of imperial involvement in further church councils. While various theological conflicts raged in the fourth-century, the Arian controversy highlighted the role that churches had come to play as markers of legitimacy both religiously and politically. Constantine was engaged in these conflicts and recognized early the importance that control of the church building played in the issue of the legitimacy of contending groups.83 The period following Constantines death was characterized by increased conflict over the nature of Christ in relation to the Father between the factions of Arius and the Orthodox position reflected in the Nicene Creed at the Council of Constantinople in 381. Clashes between these groups, and others, often broke out over the control of church buildings. Like Constantine, later emperors were often at the center of controversy by using their political power to give church buildings to one group or the other. The succession of emperors who
Ammianus Marcellinus, 23.1. B. Mazar, The Mountain of the Lord, asst. Gaalyah Cornfeld, cons. D. N. Freedman (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1975), 94, uncovered an inscription near the Western Wall citing Isaiah 66:14 celebrating the initial reconstruction. 80 G. W. Bowersock, Julian the Apostate (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978), 88-9, notes that this act, which borrowed upon a shared hostility toward Christians, would have also clear symbolic function by undermining Christian claims to religious legitimacy in the sacred city. 81 Garth Fowden, Bishops and Temples in the Eastern Roman Empire A.D. 320-435, Journal of Theological Studies 29:1 (1978), 62. 82 Theod. EH 2.5, describes the destruction of churches in the Arian conflict. When Gregory Nazianzus was elected bishop of Constantinople in 379, he noted there was more concern over defeating heresy rather than paganism (Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 33). 83 Eus. Life 3.65, indicates that Constantine turned over churches, or places of assembly, of various heretic groups of Antioch to the Catholic Church. Soz. HE 2.32, indicates that the emperor sought to prevent the Novatians, Phrygians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulianians, and others, from having churches.
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followed were forced to respond to the issue of the ownership and control of church buildings by competing groups, while at the same time facing new challenges from foreign invasion. An early incident in the Arian controversy illustrates the role of the church building in the religious politics of the Constantinian period. Athanasius (c.296-373), bishop of Alexandria and prominent figure in the Arian conflict in Egypt provides some insight into the critical role that churches played as potent religious and political symbols in the conflicts between those of the Orthodox position and the followers of Arius. In 339, he was removed from his patriarchate by Constantius II in Alexandria and replaced by the pro-Arian Gregory of Cappadocia.84 The atrocities and mayhem which preceded Gregory arrival, included even the assaulting of the virgins and monks who served in the church and the ransacking of the structure itself along with its various sacred parts.85 Athanasius wrote scathing condemnations of the emperor Constantius, the only remaining son of Constantine, for his giving the Alexandrian churches to the Arians. These churches would later be restored to the pro-Nicene Christians.86 Athanasius, bemoaning the impious acts committed to the altar and furnishing of the citys main church, revealed the deep religious sentiment church buildings evoked from Christians, which had the effect of putting these structures at the center of theological conflict. And, oh, what deeds of impiety and iniquity have been committed upon the Holy Table! They were offering birds and pine cones in sacrifice, singing the praises of their idols, and blaspheming even in the very churches our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.87 Churches also came to have the center stage in local and state politics, particularly with the claims made by competing parties of Christians, not only for control of the buildings, but more importantly for the patriarchate and the legitimacy of his rule. Athanasius acknowledged that his Arian opponents upon the arrival of Gregory secured control of the church building in order to strengthen their claim to patriarchal authority in the city, but also to appear legitimate religiously.88 He reported, They have employed extraneous force against me in order that, having obtained possession of the Churches, they may seem to have escaped all suspicion of

Soc. HE 1.37, Athanasius, Life of Antony, 3; 6; 7.54. Soc. HE 1.37. 86 Athanasius, History of the Arians 7.4. 87 Athanasius, Encyclical Epistle to the Bishops, 3. 88 Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 18.26, warns against attending the churches of heretics so as not to give them legitimacy.
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being Arians.89 The type of conflict between competing Christian parties that centered on control of the church building as a means of establishing their claim to the religious and political authority repeated itself on numerous occasions in the fourth-century CE.90 The church buildings political significance in eastern cities was reinforced by its use as an asylum for those seeking refuge from reprisals by their opponents. Socrates indicates that Athanasius at one point took political asylum from his Arian opponents beneath a churchs altar.91 The socio-political role of church buildings was also reinforced by the administrative and civic responsibilities extended to the clergy at this time.92 Church buildings were an extension of the states authority, which raised the stakes of their significance for Christians and nonChristians alike. The political associations between Roman government and Christian structures which continued to increase over time, eventually contributed to their expansion of in number and size. Conflicts over church buildings often led to their destruction, reflecting not only the deep divisions that existed between Christians but also their religious and political significance in larger eastern cities. The conflict over church buildings also highlights how quickly that churches came to be viewed as spaces that were particularly sacred, making offenses against them by opponents even more grievous. The notion of the sanctity of the church interior would only increase in the next few centuries. While Constantine appeared to recognize the potential of church buildings, along with other rituals and practices, to encourage continuity between the traditional Roman cults and Christian worlds of the fourth century, both of which he never really forsook, various factors limited the potential discourse. Along with imperial ambiguity towards paganism, the persistence of old cults and shrines in eastern communities, especially among elites, was a stumbling block not only for wider church construction, but also for productive discourse leading to convergence of these two cultures. It would not be until pressure was applied to bring an end to traditional cults and their sacred spaces and the position of Christians as the center was solidified, that discourse and interaction was forced upon eastern communities.

Athanasius, Encyclical Epistle to the Bishops, 6. Synod of Laodicea, Canon 6, ruled in mid-fourth c. that heretics in should not be permitted in the churches of the city. 91 Soc. HE 1.37 92 Second Ecumenical Council, Canon II, issued in 381 forbade bishops from going to churches beyond their diocese, reflecting the concern about church officials overstepping their authority.
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Theodosian Period: Christianization and Church Construction in the East The last part of the fourth-century marked a dramatic change in the official policy of government toward paganism in Byzantine society, further enhancing the position of churches in eastern cities. Pagan temples still remained in most of the larger cities, along with shrines in some rural locations. Despite warnings by clergy and monks of their infestation with demons, pagans and Christians alike still visited the great public monuments.93 During the reign of Theodosius I (r. 378-394 CE), imperial policies were directed toward tightening control over older cults and their sanctuaries. The remnants of pagan cults began to be systematically eliminated from the public sphere, although paganism still persisted in some locations.94 From Theodosius to the time of Justinian, churches came to both physically and symbolically replace the local temples. Sources from the end of the fourth to the mid-seventh-century provide insight into this development that left church buildings as the central religious structures in eastern communities. By the time Theodosius came to power, the traditional Roman cults had almost entirely disappeared from public life in most cities, yet many in the upper classes and rural villages still adhered to the old religions. The Theodosian period would bring an end to this residual paganism as the weight of the government was brought to bear on this issue. In the earlier part of his reign, the emperor had followed the precedent set by his forbearers of ambivalence toward the old Roman cults and their structures. While the confrontation of heresy remained an important religious issue for Christian officials, paganisms persistence in the eastern provinces even among administrators and the ruling remained very strong.95 Gregory Nazianzus bemoaned the fact that pagan philosophers were still influential in the imperial court.96 It was still necessary to legally restrict by an imperial edict of 381 the practice of forbidden sacrifices and punish those approaching a shrine or a temple for the commission of such a crime. 97 Yet the official position remained relatively tolerant towards older shrines, even allowing them to

Brown, World, 103. Trombley, Hellenic, xii, states, The real work of Christianization, the great transformation, took place between 363-529. At the beginning of this period most cities were perhaps half-Christian and their territoria mostly pagan (with some notable exceptions). By the end, Hellenic cult and belief had become a broken reed, the religion of a substantial minority with any village societies. 95 Inscriptional remain dating to ca. 387 indicate that some among the senatorial class continued to partake in wide range of traditional cults (CIL 6.510 [=ILS 4152); CIL 6.1779 (= ILS 1259). 96 Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 33, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first and second series, vol. 7, 1-3, PG 37, 377. 97 CTh 16.10.7.
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continue to be accessible. An edict in 382 to the eastern province of Osrhoene stated that the local temple, probably at the principal city of Edessa, was to remain open for visitors as long as sacrifices were not performed.98 Theodosius relative patience shown toward paganism, especially evident toward the elites whose support he needed, would eventually change. This development was likely due to a famous confrontation with Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, in 390 regarding Theodosius mishandling of a revolt in his army,99 which had led emperors rash slaughtering of seven thousand Thessalonian rioters. In a remarkable episode, the penitent emperor came to the bishop humbled in sackcloth to the cathedral of Milan.100 The emperor submitted to the spiritual authority of the bishop and brought about sweeping decrees outlawing pagan sacrifice and assembly, and in effect further solidifying the position of Nicene Christianity as the official religion of the empire. Two separate imperial edicts in 391 stated that no person shall approach the shrines, shall wander through the temples101 and that judges, or provincial governors, would be forced to pay fines for their involvement in, or allowance of, sacrifices.102 Again in 392, Theodosius issued edicts that forbade sacrifices and confiscated properties that were used for such purposes.103 Another brief attempt at revival of the older cults was attempted in 392 by Eugenius, the schoolteacher who was placed into power by the Frankish general Arbogast after the death of Valentinian II. Despite this futile effort, Theodosian decrees had increased pressure against the public expressions of traditional cults, so that by the emperors death in 394, the church was left in a more advantageous position than before to address the problems of pagan resistance. Following Theodosius death decrees became even more restrictive against temples and rituals. An edict of 395 issued fromt the emperor Arcadius (r. 395-408) stated that no person shall have the right to approach any shrine or temple whatever, or to perform abominable

CTh 16.10.8. Two years earlier in 388, the Christians of Callinicum burnt its synagogue. When Theodosius ordered the local bishop to rebuild the synagogue, Ambrose pressured the emperor to revoke his decision, because rebuilding the synagogue would be tantamount to promoting the Jewish faith. Cf. E. Ferguson, ed. Ambrose,in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New York; London: Garland Publishing, 1990), 31. 100 Theodoret EH 5.18. 101 CTh 16.10.10. This was reiterated, along with the prohibiting of sacrifices, by an imperial edict issued in 395 by Arcadius and Honorius (CTh 16.10.13). 102 CTh 16.10.11. 103 CTh 16.10.12.
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sacrifices at any place or time whatever.104 The continuing use of temples and shrines in rural regions of the eastern provinces necessitated an edict to be posted in Damascus in 399 which stated, If there should be any temples in the country districts, they shall be torn down without disturbance or tumult. For when they are torn down and removed, the material basis for all superstition will be destroyed.105 In the early fifth-century, the issuance of certain decrees provides some indication of continuation and even an elevation of religious antagonism against the remaining pagan temples. 106 In 407 several edicts were issued redirecting tax revenue from

temples to cover military expenses, ordering the destruction of pagan images in temples and shrines to be ripped from their foundations, and outlawing pagan rituals.107 Temples in cities in the countryside were to be turned over for public use.108 Trombley argues that the Theodosian Code of 438, which was a compilation of laws from the time of Constantine, was intended to bring an end to the practice of Hellenic religion. Many of its laws focused on the punishment of pagans who had consistently flaunted previous imperial edicts against the practice of the older Roman cults.109 Despite these tougher measures, paganism continued to be a problem even until the reign of Justinian. The first copies of the Justinian Code issued in sixth-century were compilations of earlier legislation and included laws of Marcian (r. 450-457) still prohibiting sacrifices as late as 451.110 While Constantine had been involved in the destruction of pagan temples in Palestine in order to replace them with churches,111 there is little evidence of an official policy or authorization for such activity before Theodosius. The imperial suppression of older cults and shrines accompanied an increase in the influence of local bishops, similar to that of Ambrose, and Christian elites, which emboldened their efforts to assert control over older shrines. 112 This also brought greater support for church construction. At Palmyra in northern Syria113 in the

CTh 16.10.13. CTh 16.l0.16 (a. 399); 15.1.36 (a. 397); 16.10.19.1-2 (a. 407). 106 Trombley, 147, indicates that paganism persisted in villages and rural locations well into the fifth-century. 107 CTh 16.10.19. 108 CTh 16.10.19. 109 CTh 16.10.25, issued in 435, prescribed the death penalty for anybody flouting legislation. 110 Trombley, 78. 111 Eus. Life 3.52-53, 58, indicates Constantine replaced temples with churches at Mamre and Heliopolis. 112 Theod. HE 5.18, records the humbling of Emperor Theodosius befpre Ambrose of Milan at the church building illustrating the development of the political position of clergy in relationship to the state. 113 Barbara Gassowska, Maternus Cynegius, Praefectus Praetorio Orientis and the Destruction of the Allat Temple in Palmyra, Archeologia 33 (1982), 121ff.
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Provincia Arabia the temple of Allat-Athena remained active until 386,114 when the temple was converted to a church under the Praetorian Prefect of Oriens, Cynegius, who zealously campaigned against paganism from 385 to 388.115 Bishops like Basil of Caesarea (370-9) and John Chrysostom at Antioch and Constantinople (398-407) were instrumental in encouraging church expansion at the expense of pagan temples. Gregory of Nazianzus converted a temple into a church in his bishropic.116 While bishops had certainly been engaged in attacks against temples, they were authorized in 407/408 to prohibit convivial activities.117 Local bishops, although not having legislative authorization to destroy temples, exercised their political influence to do this along with facilitating the construction of churches.118 At Gaza, bishop Porphyrius exercised considerable political influence to overthrow the Marneion and other temples against the will of the affluent, land-owning officials and a sizeable pagan community. Trombley notes that this demonstrates how the Christian episcopal infrastructure manipulated the social hierarchy of the cities in the interest of accelerating Christianization.119 Many of these same events were being carried out in the cities of the Decapolis. Local bishops were involved in the development of civic structures, such as the major renovation to the two main streets at Sepphoris accomplished by the most saintly father Eutropius the Episcopus.120 They were also active in constructing churches over former temples at cities in the region. This appeared to be part of a wider agenda of church officials, which was thought to hasten the Christianization of rural villages.121 In the regions of Palestine, Syria and the Transjordan, a number of churches were built over older pagan foundations. Deichmann catalogued a large number of examples of churches that were built over or in close proximity to earlier pagan structures, including the cities in the region of the Decapolis.122

Trombley, Hellenic, based on objects found objects recovered from the temples adyton. Ibid., 145. Cf. Gassowska, 121ff. Conversion dated to 386 based on effigy of the wife of Theodosius I. 116 PG 38, col. 99 (Epigrammata, 30). 117 CTh XVI. 10.19.3; cf. Fowden, "Bishops," 53. 118 Fowden, 57-8. 119 Trombley, Hellenic, 243. 120 Ehud Netzer and Zeev Weiss, New Evidence for Late-Roman and Byzantine Sepphoris, in The Roman and Byzantine East: Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J. H. Humphrey, v. 1, (Ann Harbor, MI: CushingMalloy, 1995), 172. 121 Trombley, Hellenic, 144. 122 Friedrich W. Deichmann, Einfhrung in die christliche Archologie (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1983), 115-122.
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Local bishops would often draw on the fanaticism of monks and local clergy to attack temples and shrines, while advocating the construction of churches over their remains.123 Libanius indicates that rural pagan shrines were destroyed down to their foundations along with their statues.124 These efforts were considered of dire importance as older shrines were considered hotbeds of daimones. Monks were sent out by John Chrysostom to attack temples in Phoenicia in 399.125 In Syria between 380 and 420, monks aggressively targeted shrines for destruction, along with taking up residence in temples in order to exorcise any remaining daimones. They also acquired building material and spoila from temples for basilicas and churches. Some churches were constructed over profane spaces as a means of purifying them. Libanius indicated that churches were thought purify polluted places.126 One monk, Maro, constructed a small church in a temple temenos in order to convert the site. Later a basilica was constructed in memory of the monk.127 Even the architectural materials of temples were potentially dangerous, so that their reuse in church buildings was in part to neutralize their negative power.128 After destroying the Marneion at Gaza in 391, the bishop Porphyrius (395420) ordered that stones from the destroyed temple be used to pave in the front yard of the new church, so as to be trod upon by men and animals.129 Christians had genuine concerns about the activity of the old gods, which they thought manifested themselves as demons, and took seriously the subjugating of their physical spaces by building churches over them.130 Christian sources reflect a fascination with the powers of darkness abiding in pagan temples. The triumph of the bishop over demonic forces was a popular theme, indicating the influence that pagan structures had on the imagination of Christians at this time. In a particularly dramatic account, Theodoret of Cyrrhus describes the spiritual conflict at Apamea in western Syria. Bishop Marcellus was hindered from destroying the temple of Jupiter by a demon who
Theod. HE, 5.29, indicates that John Chrysostom, who was appointed bishop of Constantinople in 398, made use of zealous ascetics to destroy pagan temples in Phoenicia. 124 Libanius, Pro templis. 30.8 125 Theodoret HE, 5.29; John Chrysostom, PG 52, cols. 676-78,685-87. Cf. also Libanius, Pro templis, 8 126 Libanius, Pro templis 27.7. Cf. Theodoret, Graecarum affection curatio, 8.68, states the cleansing effect of a church building. 127 Theod. HE 16.2. 128 Saradi-Mendelovici, 53. Cf. Cyril Mango, Statuary, 63-64, interprets the incorporation of ancient marble from temples in conspicuous places in churches of the Byzantine period as having an apotropaic function, to ward off evil spiritual forces. 129 Marc le Diacre 76. 130 Saradi-Mendelovici, 55, notes that the belief that temples and statues were inhabited by demons was a general believed by Christians, especially the uneducated.
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kept the structure from burning. The bishop then proceeded to the church where he blessed the holy water; and had one of his deacons pour water on the fire, causing the demon to flee and the temple to be engulfed. 131 He then engaged the destruction of temples both in the city and its surrounding countryside, so that the enraged pagan inhabitants rose up and killed the bishop.132 Even by the sixth-century, the concern for countering effects of demonic powers through the use of churches still carried weight for Christians. At the eastern city Zorava (modern Zorah), located west of Djebel Hauran, the replacement of pagan structures with a church was accompanied by the re-categorization of a local deity according to inscriptions found at the martyrion of St. George dating to 515 CE. These provide some indication of the profound influence paganism had in the region and also the sanctifying role of the church building in countering its effects. The abode of daimones has become the house of God. The light of salvation shines where darkness caused concealment. Where sacrifices to idols occurred, there are now choirs of angels. Where God was provoked, now He is propitiated. A certain Christloving man, the town-councillor John, son of Diomedes, offered a gift to God from his own property, a beautiful building, after having installed within it the worthy body of the martyr George, who appeared to this John not in a dream, but manifestly. 133 The presence of the church was thought to have a purifying effect on former pagan structures and spaces. For this reason, they came to be viewed as essential for sanctifying a city and its temple spaces. The effects of demonic forces were thought to be countered not only by churches, but

also by Christian symbols. The edict issued in 435 by Theodosius II (r. 408-450) prohibited sacrifices, and stated, We command that all their fanes, temples, and shrines, if even now any remain entire, shall be destroyed by the command of the magistrates, and shall be purified by the erection of the sign of the venerable Christian religion [the cross].134 While it is clear that Christian accounts of this period stressed the dangers represented by shrines and associated demonic forces, this was certainly in part to justify their destruction and the construction of churches. They were part of the discourse with non-Christians that further empowered Christian authority to take such actions and established new spatial meanings. It was

Theod. HE 5.21, described how the firing of the temple was thwarted by a black daimon. Soz. HE 7.15 (trans. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Ser. 2, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, 1982), 386). 133 Publications of an American Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900, Part III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, ed. W. K. Prentice (New York 1908), no. 437a. cited in Trombley, Hellenic, 104. 134 CTh 16.10.25.
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not only a statement of worldly power, but more importantly it was a moral imperative derived from divine favor. Yet even now the discourse was not one-sided, but pagans resisted these efforts in a variety of ways. The efforts of Theodosius and local church authorities to eradicate shrines and rituals was, in part, a discourse that Constantine had provoked with local pagan elites in eastern communities about the meaning of church buildings. In the early period of Theodosian edicts at the end of the fourth century and beginning of the fifth, and in some cases long after this time, the interaction between the Christian authorities and the pagan outsiders over churches remained antagonistic and generated little positive or productive interaction. At Heliopolis-Baalbek in Lebanon, one of the cities of the Decapolis, pagan elites resisted conversion well into fifth century, and in certain cases much longer,135 so that it was necessary for Theodosius to destroy two great altars in the courtyard of the Temple of Jupiter-Heliopolitan to build a church there.136 Despite the emperors efforts, the pagan populace proved particularly resilient in the region. Even as late as 540, an altar inscription found at a nearby village of Muallaqat-Zakhleh described offerings of incense and animal sacrifices to a local deity.137 At Alexandria, the Christians continued to face challenges by pagan resistance well into the fourth-century. In 391, Theophilus, the patriarch of the city, called for the purging of the temple of Serapis, the Serapeum, from the city, which led to a violent reaction from the pagan population of the city.138 Along with public shrines, the private altars and idols on the estates of the pagan landowners were targeted in areas of the East and North Africa.139 The conversion of a temple to a church at Gaza involved a violent conflict between a largely pagan populace and the Christians, highlighting the interaction of religious, political, and economic factors that were often involved in the transition from a pagan to Christian society in the eastern provinces.140 While the pagan inhabitants remained vibrant throughout the fourthcentury due to the trade in luxury goods that passed through the region,141 the Christian
Trombley, 154, indicates pagan magistrates remained in power until 579/80. Ibid. 137 Ibid., 156. 138 Soz. HE, 7.15; Soc HE, 5.16; Alexandrine Chronicle, A. Bauer and J. Strzygowski, Eine elexandrinische Weltchronik (Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Wien 5/2, Vienna 1906), 1-204. 139 Brown, World 104. 140 Ibid., 243. Brown remarks on the complex meaning of church construction, Christianization was not a hermetic phenomenon. Its progress was closely linked to social structure, economic interests, and cultural pretensions of the cities, and thus varied in duration from place to place. 141 Ibid., 188.
136 135

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community had grown and gained control of the seaport town of Constantia Maiuma,142 which allowed them to control the trade traffic. The pagan elite were left in control of the traditional market areas near the temple precinct of the old city away from the coast.143 After Porphyrius (395-420) became the bishop of the city at the end of the fourth-century,144 the conflict between pagans and Christians intensified leading to the destruction of the Marneion and other temples at Gaza in 402, which was preceded by the destruction of the statue of Aphrodite.145 A large church, the Eudoxiaina basilica, was commissioned at the center of the city in the former temple precinct using gold bullion from the temple.146 The construction of the basilica replaced the central pagan structure of the city within its precinct, but also emphasized the socio-economic and political position of Christians in the city, the new beneficiaries of the state religion.147 The conflict in Gaza reflects the significance of the conversion of the wealthy individuals and families in eastern cities for the spread of churches. The pagan officials of the decurion class asserted political influence, seeking to preserve their temples, but were eventually overcome by Christians at Maiuma. This resistance was often stronger in the rural neighboring countryside of cities like Gaza and smaller cities, which hampered the widespread church construction in the fourth-century. Despite such instances of resistance, in much of the eastern empire temples were for the most part abandoned, providing greater opportunity for the introduction of alternatives that were used to engage the unconverted populations in the discourse with Christians. The decline and ambandoment of temples and shrines had become a universal reality at the end of the fourth century, this had begun much earlier. Pliny had already in the early second century noted declining temple attendance and rituals, but indicated that this trend was reversing and could be aided with the re-conversion of Christians.148 By the end of fourth-century, few temples still
142

Ibid., 192. Brown notes that Constantine had granted a separate urban status to this community ca. 324, but Julian had deprived them of this status due to the influence of pagan elite of the old city who had lost income from the tolls and tariffs of caravan and maritime trade. 143 Julian deprived Maiuma of separate status with its benefits of maritime commerce and trade profits to appease influential pagans of the old city. 144 Fowden, 72, suggests this account was somewhat of an archetypal narrative of the early fifth-century bishop, the father of a small but growing community, which he must protect against pagans, Manicheans, Arians, and all other threats to purity and unity. 145 Marc le Diacre, Vie de Porphyre, vque de Gaza, ed. tr. Henri Grgoire and M. A. Kugener (Paris 1930), cap. 64, 65. Marci Diaconi Vita Porphyrii Gazensis, ed. Societatis Philologae Bonnensis Sodales (Leipzig 1895). 146 V. Porphyrii, cap. 65 147 Trombley, Hellenic, 216. 148 Pliny the Younger, Epistulae 10.96.

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standing was being used, except in rural locations. Theodosian edicts issued in 391 and 392 encouraged the reuse of spoila from older sacred buildings, of which there was a great quantity.149 These structures were often plundered for valuable architectural elements and building material that were then reused in the churches and other civic structures during the Byzantine period. As early as the fourth century, Emperor Constantius had donated a temple in Alexandria to the Christians in the city to be plundered for their needs.150 Conversion of temples often had a pragmatic value for their advantageous location. Local bishops in the eastern provinces recognized the value of the temples location in the community in key public areas, often near administrative buildings, council chambers, and agoras, and placed churches there also. In some cities, the limited availability of space within the city walls made the conversion of the temple an advantageous for the churchs position in the city. 151 There was also a competitive element evident with the construction of churches in former temple precincts.152 As a result of the factors discussed above, churches not only became more common in eastern cities, but they also generated discourse with non-Christians, especially as they took over certain roles once fulfilled by temples. The result of this interaction was the emphasis by centered-Christians of the features and meanings that churches shared with classical temples, such as the civic functions, which invited non-Christians to be educated about the faith and even be converted. The capacity for church buildings to embody both religious and political meanings was clearly evident in the churches of Constantinople, where the imperial household was influential in establishing these complex associations. Limberis goes so far as to suggest that the pagan cults were in a sense Christianized in the period following Theodosius in order to facilitate the transition into the role of civic religion that had for centuries been held by pagan cults. These cults which were central to the social religious expression in Greco-Roman culture, involved songs, processions, libations, and often sacrifice, ending with a communal meal and entertainment, such as dances, games, or theater.153 Limberis argues that the cult of Mary that emerged in the fifth-century at Constantinople appropriated the rituals and position of the cults venerating various goddesses, including Rhea and Tyche, which had long been associated with the city. This process culminated under
149 150

CTh 16.10.10-12. Socrates, HE 3.2. Cf. Libanius, Pro templis. 28.23. 151 Trombley, Hellenic, 109. 152 Ibid. 119. 153 Limberis, 2.

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Empress Pulcheria, who understood the importance of cultivating associations between the Roman imperial traditions and Christianity. At the height of her influence in the fifth-century, church buildings came to appropriate the place of pagan structures as the centers of the social and political rituals of the eastern city. Pulcheria was ardently Christian, but she was equally steeped in the Roman imperial traditions of the court which had instilled in her the cultural modes of religious expression: as empress she and her image were to be venerated in panegyric and ritual behavior. She could dictate on religious matters. And finally she could turn churches into spaces of public civic ceremonies, on the model of the Hippodrome, in order to properly venerate the Theotokos, on whom she had patterned her life.154 These developments in Constantinople, in which the popular goddesses of the city were Christianized, were repeated in other cities of the eastern empire, resulting in the construction of churches at their social and political centers. The changes that occurred in the transition at the end of the fourth-century and into the fifth-century in which church buildings took center stage in the religious, political, and social life of eastern cities, further encouraged local elites to invest in their construction and embellishment as a means of expressing their religious and social piety. This phenomenon of churches assuming the position of former temples may be understood through the insight provided by the theoretical analysis articulated by Smith and Jones about the generation of sacred spatial meaning through the engagement of the onlooker in the ritual-architectural moment. The rituals that developed around the church, whether religious or political, were a means of luring those on the outside to engage the structure. It was at this point of interaction that an opportunity was created for integration (along with conversion) by introducing continuities, familiar features and meanings, and discontinuities, or differentiations, of new associations embodied by the church building. The rituals of church and state were incorporated in the church as the temple once had, creating challenges to the notions of sacred and profane, while also offering a solution in the Christian structure. These associations, and subsequent discourses, were further encouraged through a similar delineation of sacred spaces within the church building. A hierarchy of sacrality was emphasized culminating in the altar at the eastern end of the sanctuary. The Syriac Testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi provides a description of the interior of the fifth-century church in the East with its various areas of sanctity. It is helpful for identifying some of the normative
154

Ibid. 145.

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features in churches of the period, some of which had been introduced after the time of Theodosius. But even more significant is its emphasis on each part of the church having certain significance as different level of sacrality in relation to the altar and the practice of Christian rituals. Let a church then be thus: with three Entries in type of the Trinity. And let the Diakonikon be to the right of the right hand entry, to the purpose that the Eucharists, or offerings that are offered, may be seen. Let there be a Forecourt, with a portico running round, to this Diakonikon. And within from the Forecourt let it have a house for a Baptistery, with its length twenty-one cubits for a type of the total number of the prophets, and its breadth twelve cubits for a type of those who were appointed to preach the Gospel; one entry; three exits. Let the church have a house for the catechumens, which shall also be an Exorcisterium,155 but let it not be separated from the church, but so that when they enter and are in it they may hear the readings and spiritual doxologies and psalms. Then let there be the Throne towards the east; to the right and to left places of the presbyters, so that on the right those who are more exalted and more honored may be seated, and those who toil in the word, but those of moderate stature on the left side. And let this place of the Throne be raised three steps up, for the Altar also ought to be there. Now let this house have two porticoes to right and to left, for men and for women. And let all the places be lit, both for a type and for reading. Let the Altar have a veil of pure linen, because it is without spot. Let the Baptistery also in like manner be under a veil. And as for the Commemoration let a place be built so that a priest may sit, and the archdeacon with readers, and write the names of those who are offering oblations, or of those on whose behalf they offer, so that when the holy things are being offered by the bishop, a reader or the archdeacon may name them in this commemoration which priests and people offer with supplication on their behalf. For this type is also in the heavens. And let the place of the priests be within a veil near the place of commemoration. Let the House of Oblation () and Treasury all be near the Baptistery. And let the place of reading be a little outside the Altar. And let the house of the bishop be near the place that is called the Forecourt. Also that of those widows who are called first in standing. That of the priests and deacons also behind the Baptistery. And let the deaconesses remain by the door of the Lords House. And let the church have a Hostel near by, where the archdeacon may be receiving strangers.156 This description of the church from the Theodosian period is helpful in mapping the churchs interior, and also conveys how these structures developed various levels of religious and social meaning. The design of the church was meant to reflect deeper points of Christian theology, while at the same time marking and distinguishing the sacred spaces from the non-sacred spaces. While the building was a place of assembly, it more importantly communicated the position and
155 156

Lit. house of exorcism. Crowfoot, Christian, 175.

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authority of the clergy both within its walls and in the community itself. Church buildings, with their capacity to blend religious, political, and social rituals within their walls, could offer an alternative to the local temple precinct as the sacred centers of eastern cities. Another appeal of the architecture of the church with its various levels of sacrality was the hope of divine intercession through the participation in the rituals of the interior space. The late fourth-century theologian John Cassian notes an example of a monk who sought pardon for sin by prostrating himself at the threshold of the church.157 Basil, the bishop of Caesarea (ca. 329-379), pronounced that fornicators were to be excluded from the church building, but must weep at the door for the first of four years of punishment.158 Gregory of Nazianzus, (ca. 325389), bishop of Constantinople, in his funeral for Basil described the heavenly atmosphere which the emperor Valens (r. 364-378) experienced when he entered the church of his critic, Basil of Caesarea. According to Gregory, Upon his entrance he was struck by the thundering roll of the Psalms, by the sea of heads of the congregation, and by the angelic rather than human order which pervaded the sanctuary and its precincts: while Basil presided over his people, standing erect with body and eyes and mind undisturbedbut fixed upon God and the sanctuary.159 Describing the baptism of a convert, Gregory pronounced, the Station [literally bema, the raised altar space at the east end of the basilica] in which you shall presently stand after your Baptism before the Great Sanctuary is a foretype of the future glory.160 Christian sources emphasized church buildings capacity to embody a wide range of functions in the city from the spiritual to the practical. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, in a number of sermons compared the church as an almost otherworldly space. He contrasted earthly palaces of wealthy and powerful men with church buildings, the real palaces that were meeting the needs of the poor and suffering.161 Like the imperial palace, the church was the palace of Christ, but it was more valuable as it was built for the cultivation of lost souls.162 Church buildings were needed in rural areas that had yet to be converted to benefit
John Cassian, Conferences 2.15. Basil the Great. Letters, in NPNF 2, vol. 8, eds. P. Schaff and H. Wace (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 187.22. 159 Gregory Nazianzen. Or. 43.52. 160 Gregory Nazianzen. Or. 40.46. 161 John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Thessalonians, in NPNF 1, ed. P. Schaff (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 11, discussing 1 Thess. 5:28. 162 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, in NPNF 1, ed. P. Schaff (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 18, discussing Acts 7:54.
158 157

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lost souls, but also the clergy. He remarked, The country with a Church is like the Paradise of God. No clamor there, no turmoil, no enemies at variance, no heresies.163 Churches benefited the local community in a variety of ways. They were places of retreat where the priest could draw close to God in prayer for the village and for the landowner.164 He chastised wealthy landowners who had sponsored certain public facilities, like markets and baths, but had yet to provide a church building.165 But at the same time Chrysostom warned against being too proud of man-made buildings that were subject to the effects of time and nature, like earthquakes and lightning.166 In the architectural discourse centered on churches, continuities were emphasized, as were discontinuities. The sacrality of its interior was being negotiated through what was allowed in its interior, and what was excluded. Even by the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325, the idea that certain behaviors and moral failures should exclude one from the church building was well established.167 Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria (ca. 296-373), in defending the use of an undedicated church building for prayer, indicated that even the congregation understood the sanctity of the church as being greater than that of the desert locations, because the desert has no doors, and all who choose may pass through it, but the Lords house is enclosed with walls and doors, and marks the difference between the pious and the profane.168 Gregory of Nazianzus preached that the behavior acceptable at the local pagan festival was not acceptable in the church building, as it was a sacred place unlike the marketplace.169 John Chrysostom criticized disorderly behavior that had been occurring within the church building by noting, our assemblies differ nothing from a vintners shop, so loud is the laughter, so great the disturbancethe church is no barbers or perfumers shop, nor any other merchants warehouse in the marketplace, but a place of angels, a place of archangels, a palace of God, heaven

Ibid. Ibid. 165 Ibid. 166 John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Timothy, in NPNF 1, ed. P. Schaff (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 14, discussing 1 Timothy 5:20. 167 The Seven Ecumenical Councils, in NPNF 2, vol. 14, eds. P. Schaff and H. Wace (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), Can. 66. 168 Athanasius, Apologia Ad Constantium, 17. 169 Gregory Nazianzen. Or. 41.10.
164

163

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itself.170 In a sermon delivered to the Christians of Antioch in 388, he stated that the church was not a theater for the amusement of the congregation.171 One of most significant developments in eastern cities resulting from the removal of vestiges of the traditional Roman cults, was the influence that Christianity was able to gain over non-Christian elites in these communities. While it is not clear to what extent the upper classes were faithful devotees to the gods and their cults, most were conservative in the civic and religious rituals expected of them in their communities. It was this group for whom churches were particularly important centers of discourse as they held much influence in local cities to provide for and promote the Christian faith. As the benefactors of civic structures, they understood the continuities and discontinuities between churches and classical temples. With their conversion, they became critical to the expansion of church buildings. Churches eventually became the central structures of eastern cities enhancing the status of their sponsors. Gregory of Nazianzen praised the church that his father had built as an expenditure of his private fortune. Unlike the dark temple, the church was a dwelling place of light. Gregory noted that building was decorated and embellished so that amid all the works, private and public, which adorn other cities, this has of itself been able to secure us celebrity among the majority of mankind.172 John Chrysostom indicated that those who had the resources to fund public buildings would do better to build churches and to support the clergy that there be no estate to be seen destitute of a Church.173 He later criticized those who left the responsibility of caring for the needs of the poor to the wealth of the church, in lieu of opening their own homes.174 Another topic of discourse involved the continuities and discontinuities of the cult of martyrs as it related to memorial churches found in many cities. While most characteristics of the veneration of saints differed from the traditional Roman hero worship,175 the traditionalists in the community would have recognized familiar elements in the memorial churches that honored prominent Christians and their great feats of piety.176 These may have served as lures to the
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians, in NPNF 1, ed. P. Schaff NPNF 1, ed. P. Schaff (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 14.8. 171 John Chrysostom, Homilies to the People of Antioch, 2.11. 172 Gregory Nazianzen. Or. 18.39. 173 John Chrysostom, Hom. Acts 18, discussing Acts 7:54. 174 John Chrysostom, Hom. Acts 45, discussing Acts 20:32. 175 A number of important distinctions existed between traditional Roman and Christian burial practices. Romans cremated their dead and buried the ashes outside the city walls, which was unlike its Christian counterparts. 176 Brown, World, 102-3. Brown goes as far as to state, the emergence of the holy man at the expense of the temple marks the end of the classical world.
170

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outsider to engage in discourse of the architecture, providing the opportunity for education about the Christian faith along with new associations to be made, particularly the potential for otherworldly aid. Pagan elites soon recognized how the sponsorship of such structures could enhance their standing. The acquisition and entombment of a saints remains became a marker of social status and prestige among wealthy Christian families.177 The expenditures on lavish church construction celebrating the burial of a martyr or saint was a means of expressing wealth and social standing in the same manner as structures of the late-Roman patron.178 Like the temples dedicated to Asclepius, martyr shrines were thought to bring about miraculous healings by the presence of a relic or the saints remains. Lucianius account of the discovery of the body of St. Stephen in 415 near the village of Caphargamala in the vicinity of Jerusalem describes miraculous events associated with the holy mans relics. At that instant the earth trembled and a smell of sweet perfume came from the place such as no man had ever known of, so much that we thought that we were standing in the sweet garden of Paradise. And at that very hour, from the smell of that perfume, seventy-three persons were healed.179 The remains of martyrs, saints, or important individuals gave churches special sacrality. These were placed in reliquaries, or burial boxes, that often had holes drilled in the lid and on the side or bottom so that oil could be poured over the bones. This oil, thought to be infused with miraculous power by contact with the holy remains, would then be collected to heal believers of various ailments. A striking point of discontinuity, or differentiation, from classical culture regarding the honoring of the dead was the burial of the dead, or transference of remains, to the center of cities with their interment in churches. Sarcophagi, like reliquary, were at times placed in a prominent location in the church, usually under or near the altar. But these also provided the opportunity for miraculous intervention, which provided an incentive for discourse. The sixth-century historian Evagius Scholasticus (c. 536-c. 595) indicated that the empress Eudocia built a large church at Jerusalem in honor of the martyr Stephen and had her own remains deposited there upon her death.180 He also identified the church dedicated to St. Euphemia, a martyr from the

Brown, Cult, 34. Even the proximity of an individuals own tomb to that of the saint became a marker of social standing. 178 Ibid., 41. 179 Epistula Luciani 8:815, PL 41:809, cited in Brown, Cult, 91-2. 180 Ev. EH 1.22.

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time of Diocletian, as the site of a miraculous event associated with the martyrs sarcophagus. A sponge was inserted in a hole cut in the side of the sarcophagus and came out covered with blood, an event witnessed even by the emperor and his entourage. The sarcophagus was thought to have other miraculous properties that made the church sacred. Evagrius notes, Whenever anyone comes here to the place where there is the precious coffin in which are the all-holy remains, he is filled with a fragrant odour beyond any familiar to men . . . it is strange and extraordinary, presenting through itself the power of its origins.181 Another area of continuity inviting the outsider to discourse was the church buildings capacity to provide political asylum, although this proved to be problematic when religious and political agendas were at odds. The sacrality of the altar where the Eucharist was performed was considered inviolable, which made it an optimal place for the outcast to seek protection. As the churches grew in size, adding adjacent rooms for the use of the clergy to extend the rituals and services offered by the church, the religious and political sanctity of the structure also expanded to include these various parts. This was reflected in the areas of the church where asylum was sought. Proterius, the bishop of Alexandria, took refuge from a mob in Alexandria around 460 in the baptistery of the church.182 The bapisterium was particularly popular area for those seeking political asylum.183 The usurper Basiliscus (r. 475-476) fled the emperor Zeno (r. 474-475, 476491) in 476/7, taking refuge with his family in the baptistery of the Great Church of Constantinople.184 The violation of the churchs sanctity by officials seeking to retrieve offenders often met resistance, such as the displeasure expressed by the citizens of Constantinople over Theodoras indiscretion in pursuing an opponent who had taken refuge in the Church of the Archangel.185 The expansion of churches at the expense of pagan temples during the Theodosian period coincided with the general solidification of the Orthodox position and the surrendering of churches to their adherents. This was often encouraged through political intervention. A strongly pro-Nicene emperor, Theodosius, issued decrees in 381 at the Council of Constantinople held at the Church of St. Eirene which restored all churches taken by the Arians to those of the
Ev. EH 2.3. Ev. EH 2.8. 183 Anec. 3:23-25. 184 John Malalas, Chronographia, trans. E. Jeffreys, et al. (Melbourne: Australian of Byzantine Studies; University of Syndney, 1986), 15.5. 185 Anec. 16.18ff.
182 181

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orthodox faith.186 According to the Sirmondian Constitutions (Constitutiones Sirmondianae), a body of edicts that antedate the Codex Theodosianus, an edict was issued in Carthage in the same year that pagan temples and churches controlled by heretical groups be turned over to imperial control and the pagan images torn down.187 While the church building was primarily a religious structure, it became an increasingly politicized space with the close involvement of the state in ecclesiastical conflicts. As costly expenditures, church buildings were requested as rewards for services rendered to the empire. The general Terentius, upon returning from a military campaign in Armenia, requested a church to be built for the orthodox community in lieu of treasures, land, or houses from Valens.188 After successfully leading the Roman legions in battle in 401, the Scythian general Gainas, who was also an Arian, appealed to John Chrysostom for a church to be built for his community as payment for services rendered. Chrysostoms response, that it was not permitted to the emperor to do anything against the interests of the religion which he professed,189 suggests not only the significance of control over church buildings in the conflict over religious legitimacy, but also the complex role that churches played under the authority of the bishops. In the centuries after Theodosius, controversies between various groups that resulted in the seizure or destruction of churches became began to die down with fewer incidents. The cathedral, often positioned prominently in the city, conveyed political significance as the seat of the local bishop. As Christianity developed as the primary religion of the empire, the position and influence of the bishop continued to increase. The Theodosian Code, issued at the end of the fourth-century, further enhanced the political significance of churches by throwing imperial support behind the ending of pagan rituals and the closing of temples, and by enhancing the role of bishops as enforcers of religious purity. The following period was characterized by increasing suppression of residual paganism, so as to completely remove challenges to churches even at rural cities. One of the effects of this development was to pressure pagan outsiders, especially among the elite, to come to terms with the Christian culture that was expanding its influence and visibility. This was a much different reality from that earlier in the fourth century when the

Soz. HE 7.7-9; Theod. HE 8 Constitutiones Sirmondianae, in The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions, trans. C. Pharr (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952), 12. 188 Theod. HE 4.32. 189 Theod. HE 5.33.
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186

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traditional cults and temples were generally left alone outside of the major Christian centers in the East. From a theoretical perspective, the church building during this transition became a focal point of discourse in which its spatial meaning and role in defining local Christian identity was being negotiated between the centered, Christian authorities and elites, and the non-Christians on the periphery. The dichotomies of Eliade between sacred and profane space, and Said between the centered and the Other are useful here, but only with the additional perspectives of later theorist, like Smith, Jones, and Bhabha, who recognize that meanings were generated through the discourse between these poles. This in-between place was where the continuities and differentiations between churches and temples, or the Christian society and old Roman society, were being negotiated. The continuities in the architecture, rituals, and civic functions, lured outsiders to the game, the engagement of the structure and its faith, but then introduced discontinuities that assigned new meanings and values to these features. But it was not a oneway street since both parties were shaped in the process. In this sense, the discourse that developed in the Theodosian period was generally different from earlier exchanges between Christians and non-Christians which only resulted in non-productive antagonism that hindered any possibility of integration and collaboration.

The Period of Justinian: Golden Age of Church Expansion in the East In the sixth and seventh-century CE, traditional Roman cults had largely disappeared in the Roman Empire and eastern cities along with the use of temples. By this time, temples had been completely replaced both symbolically and physically by local churches. Procopius indicated that by his day remaining vestiges of paganism had been removed from public view190 leaving the church building at the center of the religious and social world of the cities in the eastern provinces. Despite this, in the region of the Transjordan, there still remained vestiges of paganism up to the sixth-century. As mentioned above, an inscription at the eastern city of Zorava dating to 515 indicates that a martyrion dedicated to St. George was built over a pagan shrine.191 There remained a concern over the residual influences of paganism seeping into the church in various ways. In correspondence with Olympiadorus regarding appropriate church
Pers. 1.19.37, notes that under Justinian remaining temples were destroyed and their art sent to Constantinople. Publications of an American Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900, Part III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, ed. W. K. Prentice (New York 1908), no. 437a., cited in Trombley, Hellenic, 1:104.
191 190

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decoration, St. Nilus indicated that hunting and fishing scenes common in pagan venues were to be avoided, but instead themes from the Old and New Testament were to be preferred.192 Choricius discussion of churches of SS. Stephen and Sergius at Gaza, indicated that birds used by pagan poets such as nightingales and cicadas should be avoided in church decorations lest even the memory of those fables intrude upon the sacred place.193 While there were still traces of the old cults around, Christianity had by this time become the dominant religion in eastern cities, which is suggested by the number of churches in the cities of Palestine and the Transjordan. This was a result in part to the continued discourse of continuity and discontinuity with their classical heritage, such as the social expectations required of local administrators and affluent families for the sponsorship of civic and religious structures in the city. But by this time, the antagonism and conflict had been almost entirely replaced by adoption and adaption. At Scythopolis, sixth-century inscriptional evidence attributes the public works project of street construction to a wealthy benefactor, Sylvanus.194 Church buildings at this time had fully taken the place of temples as political and civic centers of the city. This was reflected in a variety of ways. One was the major expansion of church construction in the eastern provinces, resulting in two distinguishable types: the monumental, imperial churches and the municipal and rural churches. The former were large scale structures constructed through the beneficence of Justinian particularly at Christian holy sites in the East, like Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Like those constructed by Constantine, these churches were opulent and imbued with political significance, reflecting the full weight of imperial support for the state religion. In the period of Justinian to the time of the Muslim conquest of the eastern provinces in the seventh-century, churches remained the religious, social and political centers of the city. One of the defining aspects of Byzantine culture, the integration of the rituals of church and state, had come a long way since the time of Constantine. The Emperor Justinian (r. 527565) was very proficient at melding these two worlds. Along with his numerous construction projects, the emperor was a prolific church builder. Churches by this time had fully co-opted the place of temples as political and religious structures in most eastern cities, whether large or small. In the same way as his predecessors, Justinian built churches as testimony to his religious piety, but also to assert his power. He built and dedicated a large basilica to the Mother of God
192 193

Biebel, 304. R. W. Hamilton, PEFQS (1930), 178-91. 194 Lewin, 97.

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in Jerusalem, the relgious center of the Byzantine world, and endowed it with a generous income.195 He built and rebuilt a large number of churches in the Holy Land, including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,196 which had probably been damaged during the revolt of the Samaritans against the Byzantines.197 Procopius, the primary sixth-century source on the imperial household, devoted a great deal of attention to the emperors construction projects. Procopius indicated that the emperor was devoted to the construction of churches both at his capital and throughout the empire. The Emperor Justinian built many churches to the Mother of God in all parts of the Roman Empire, churches of magnificence and so huge and erected with such a lavish outlay of money, that if one should see one of them by itself, he would suppose that the Emperor had built this work only and had spent the whole time of his reign occupied with this alone.198 His most active church construction took place in Constantinople. Churches like the one dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul built next to his palace reflect the confluence of politics and religion that defined the Justinian era.199 The great Church of Hagia Sophia was originally built by Constantine, but it had been burned down during the Nika Revolt, a highly charged political riot led by the Green and Blue factions.200 Procopius described the reconstruction of the church as an act of religious piety by Justinian, suggesting that the events leading up to the destruction of the church was permitted by God so that it could be rebuilt in grand fashion.201 The structure was meant to awe and inspire, testifying not only to the power of God, but also the power of the emperor. So the church has become a spectacle of marvelous beauty, Procopius relates, overwhelming to those who see it, but to see who know it by hearsay altogether incredible.202 Its design suggested a divine origin, And whenever anyone enters the church to pray, he understands at once that it is not by any human power or skill, but by the influence of God, that this work has been so finely turned.203

195 196

Build. V.6.1-26. Finegan, 37. 197 These took place in 529, 556, and 578 CE. 198 Build. 1.3.1. 199 Build. 1.4.1. The second greatest church after the Hagia Sophia was the church in Ravenna, Italy. 200 The Latin factio refers to Roman political associatiosns or parties that were at times related to contending teams in the games and chariot races In Byzantine Constantinople, these two groups dominated the politics of the city. 201 Build. 1.1.20, Ev. HE 4.31. 202 Build. 1.1.27; 47, describes how the golden dome appeared to be suspended from Heaven. 203 Build. 1.1, 61.

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The description of the rebuilt Church of Hagia Sophia provided by the sixth-century poet Paul the Silentiary hints at the way church buildings in the Justinian era remained at the center of discourse as inheritors of legacy of classical religious structures, yet introducing different meanings for these elements.204 He indicated that the temple inspired the admiration of onlookers having been rebuilt by Divine counsel, while angels watched.205 Its sacred interior, like the iconostasis, was thought to inspire deep religious sentiment through its magnificent design decorated with material from the whole earthfor the divine, eternal temple.206 Through its rich decoration, the church was comparable to the beauty of the natural world, acting as a lighthouse to the world expelling clouds of care, and filling the mind with joy.207 Like the famous Pharos of Alexandria, the church building, which could be seen from the Bosphorus, was said to provide a sacred light both in a literal and figurative sense that shows the way to the living God.208 The emperor, who was responsible for its beauty having been aided by divine blessings from God, was at home here. His seat was found in the south aisle where he oversaw solemn festivals and listened to the reading of the sacred books.209 The structure was also an expression of wealth; a model of appropriate benefaction for affluent Christians. The interior ceilings and domes sparkled with glittering gold and glass mosaics,210 including the great central dome that appeared to crown not only the church but also the city.211 Its decoration proclaimed the prominent position of the city in the empire, which drew upon the wealth of the Mediterranean world for its embellishments. Exotic marbles streaked with green, blue, and red from regions like Phrygia and Lydia, and porphyry from Egypt were used for its various architectural features.212 Silver and gold covered ecclesiastical furnishings, like the ciborium and the altar, which had become essential for Christian worship and rituals by the time of Justinian.213 The Church of Hagia Sophia, like many churches in the

Paulus Silentiarius, as cited in W. R. Lethaby and Harold Swainson, The Church of Sancta Sophia Constantinople A Study of Byzantine Building (1894), 35-52. 205 Ibid., 36. 206 Ibid., 46. 207 Ibid., 52. 208 Ibid. 209 Ibid., 44. 210 Ibid., 40. 211 Ibid., 42. 212 Ibid., 45. 213 Ibid., 47.

204

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eastern cities of the Justinian era, encompassed a variety of values reflecting the blended interests of the Church, the state, and local elites who recognized its symbolic potential.214 Giving for the construction, expansion, and embellishment of churches had by the age of Justinian become a standard part of civic benefaction in eastern cities, practiced from the emperor down to local officials. Churches were sacred spaces, but were often expanded to serve a variety of social functions, which enhanced the status of their benefactors. The Church of St. Eirene, which had also been destroyed in the riots, was also rebuilt with a hospice to care for the poor and sick and was endowed with imperial funding.215 The benefits provided to eastern cities by the church under Justinian often coincided with the expansion of church buildings. Justinian at times joined churches to fortifications in eastern cities as a means of projecting, not only his generosity and religious piety, but also his economic and military strength. The emperors benefaction of the Church of St. Sergius at Euphratesia near Damascus, a critical city on the eastern frontier, included not only municipal services but also a defensive wall. At a later time, however, this church, through its acquisition of treasures, came to be powerful and celebrated. And the Emperor Justinian, upon considering this situation, at once gave it careful attention, and he surrounded the church with a most remarkable wall, and he stored up a great quantity of water and thus provided the inhabitants with a bountiful supply.216 Interestingly, Procopius noted that a number of these churches in close proximity to defensive structures were dedicated to Mary, like the one adjoining the Blachernae, a fortification on the western wall of Constantinople.217 The Church of the Mother of God (Theotokos) was a church fortified by a defensive wall and turrets on Mt. Gerizim, which was built by Emperor Zeno after crushing a revolt by the Samaritans in 484.218 Justinian later restored the church adding four chapels and further fortifying it after another revolt of the Samaritans in 529.219 Although Procopius provides little explanation, it is likely that Justinian was invoking the divine protection

214

The structures potency as a political symbol was recognized even later when a delegation from the Prince of Kiev (Ukraine), so impressed by the churchs splendor, that his kingdom and later Russia decided to ally with the Greek Orthodox Church. 215 Build. 1.2.13. 216 Build. 2.9.3ff., indicates that the church was even garrisoned with soldiers against the threat of the Persians under Chosroes. 217 Build. 1.3.1. 218 Build. 5.7.7. 8. 219 Build. 5.7.16-17.

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of his empire through the construction of the churches dedicated to Mary at critical locations in the East. Justinian was the archetype of church benefaction for church authorities and elites in eastern cities. His attitude provides insight into the continuities of attitudes about relgious structures from classical culture. For the emperor, the local church was as essential to the city as any other civic structure or service. For example, he supplied Antioch with a sewage system, theaters, stoas, fountains, and private residences, as well as two churches and a regular imperial stipend.220 In the region of Asia Minor, he built a church to replace one dedicated to the apostle John at Ephesus,221 and others dedicated to the Virgin Mother in the Armenian cities of Sebasteia, Nicopolis, and Theodosiopolis.222 Local bishops and other prominent citizens followed his lead, building churches with the aid of contributions from members of eastern communities. Inscriptions at Gerasa record the involvement of influential bishops, clergymen, and laity in fund-raising for churches in the city, as well as their own direct funding of churches, as in the case of Bishop Paul and the deacon Theodore, who is even pictured with his wife, Georgia, in the mosaics of the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian.223 Not only did pious donors give for the construction of churches, but they also gave gifts to embellish and enrich the church. Glass chalices and lamps as well as precious metals, jewelry, and other valuables have been found in the remains of churches, at times in safes in the floor.224 The social meaning of the church was further enhanced by the presence of markets, like the series of shops that sold religious merchandise around the Church of St. Theodore at Gerasa.225 Churches were frequently found in close proximity to the social centers of the city, like agoras, theaters, and bath complexes, taking advantage of the focal point for activity in the city. The church buildings significance as a sacred space remained intimately tied to its capacity to provide a divine connection, reflecting the long legacy of similar hopes placed in certain temples and shrines in the Roman world. The church offered the hope of mystical
Build. 2.10.23-25. Build. 5.1.4-6. 222 Build. 3.4.11-14. 223 C. H. Kraeling, History of Gerasa, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis (New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 66. Cf. Jerry Pattengale, Benevolent Physicians in Late Antiquity: The Multifaceted Appeal of the Anargyroi, in The Light of Discovery, ed. J. D. Wineland (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2007), 127-47, discusses the important role of Christian physicians in Byzantine society. 224 Ibid. 67. The so-called Clergy House associated with the Church of St. Theodore had a variety of items of value that were donated to the church. 225 Ibid.
221 220

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interaction within its sacred precincts. John of Damascus in the seventh-century describes the church as a place where one could meet and converse with God and where his power was manifested.226 In the fourth-century, the water of the fountain in the western atrium of the cathedral at Gerasa was thought to be miraculously turned into wine in commemoration of Jesus miracle at Cana.227 Even ancient methods of magic were sought by some in the church, as at the Northeast Church at Hippos-Sussita where a magical amulet for invoking good digestion with the inscribed word pepte (digest) was found.228 During the age of Justinian, churches continued to be constructed as memorial chapels for the housing of saints remains or other relics. The sixth-century historian Evagrius Scholasticus (c. 536-c. 595) suggested that churches dedicated to saints and martyrs had miraculous healing powers. He recounted that at the eastern city of Theopolis, a cruciform church was built around a column where the face of the famous saint Symeon Stylite appeared nearby.229 He later described a church built for the martyr Babylas where the bones of the saint were laid. The presence of these remains was thought to have spiritual power over demons. Procopius describes Justinians healing by saints Cosmas and Damian, famous Syrian brothers who offered medical services for free to the poor until their martyrdom under Diocletian, whose church stood near the capital of Constantinople. While deathly ill, he was visited by the holy men in a vision and was healed of his sickness. After which, the church came to be endued with healing powers for those who were beyond the help of physicians.230 By the Justinian age, it appears that most of the upper classes in eastern cities had been converted, and the economic stability created by the emperors reinforcement of the frontiers, allowed the local elites to grow even more prosperus. Among his many construction projects, Justinian built forts throughout the eastern provinces that helped secure these regions from outside invasion. As a result agricultural production flourished while trade was stimulated between eastern cities and the rest of the Mediterranean world, bringing wealth to eastern cities

226

John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, in NPNF 2, eds. P. Schaff and H. Wace (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994) 1.13. 227 Epiphanius, Panarion, 51.30, 1, 2. 228 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 78. 229 Ev. EH 1.14. 230 Build. 1.4.5-8.

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that enabled their populations to expand. Even smaller cities and villages came to have their own churches provided through the benefaction of private individuals, or the clergy.231 Elite families continued to play a primary role in the discourse over the meaning of churches as sacred spaces and as spaces for the generating of communal identity in eastern cities. The Decapolis cities were predominantly organized around family units, or clan networks, that were based in agricultural and trade activities. At the city of Abila, which long had an economy based in agriculture, churches were founded throughout this period by the sponsorship of several affluent families.232 At other cities, inscriptional evidence provides abundant testimony to the benefaction of private donors in the construction and embellishment of churches during this period. From the time of Justinians dynasty until the coming of the Muslim conquests of the region in the seventh-century, churches expanded in their significance for local communities in the East. Churches continued to be constructed at cities in the Levant, including the Decapolis cities through the eighth-century CE, although the Muslim conquest of the region, which had been completed by the mid-seventh-century, marked the beginning of the end for church construction. While churches continued to be used, and even constructed, at certain locales and Christian communities persisted under a relatively tolerant Muslim rule, the spread of Islam would eventually lead to a decline of churches in the region, as many Christians began to migrate out of the area. In regions like the Decapolis in the Transjordan region some churches continued to be used, along with the few that were constructed after the Muslim conquest. These would eventually be destroyed by massive earthquakes that struck the region from around 635233 to 747/48 CE.234 The discourse reflected in the selection of sources from the fourth to the seventh century addressed above centered on churches in eastern communities. As these sources reflect, it had taken on a new dynamic with the decline of most pagan resistence among the elites. The continuities and discontinuities had in many ways come to be resolved and generated a new set of values that would be passed along to the Eastern Byzantine church. The church building
Asher Ovadiah, Art and Archaeology in Israel and Neighbouring Countries (London: Pindar Press, 2002), 124. W. H. Mare, Abila: A Thriving Greco-Roman City of the Decapolis, The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, v. 1 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of Syro-Mesopotamian Studies, 1992), 68. 233 Robert H. Smith and Leslie P. Day, Pella of the Decapolis (Wooster, OH: College of Wooster, 1989), 2:90. 234 Wineland, 39. For more on earthquakes in the Levant see, Kenneth W. Russell, "The Earthquake Chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd through the Mid-8th Century A.D." BASOR 260 (1982): 37-53.
232 231

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became a space of discourse, of interaction and exchange, over the meaning of sacred and profane and the nature of communal identity in the new Christian society. The antagonism and conflict that characterized fourth-century discourses between centered Christians and pagan outsiders, which hindered intercourse and negotiations over the meaning of churches, had by the seventh century been replaced by a space that reflected many years of productive interaction and integration. These same developments in the discourse were also reflected in the material remains of the churches.

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Chapter 3

Churches of the Decapolis: 5th to 7th c. CE: Central-plan and Cruciform Churches

The archaeological remains of churches in the Decapolis provide evidence of a transition of certain religious and social functions from temples to churches, beginning at the end of the fourth-century. The strengthening of Christianitys claim to legitimacy in the late fourth-century through the tightening of laws against residual paganism in eastern cities corresponded to the development of the significance of churches for these communities. Churches were known to be at the center of conflict between different Christian groups with competing theologies and claims to legitimacy, but unfortunately little in the physical remains gives insight into this conflict.1 On the other hand, certain features and characteristics of church buildings do indicate how they had assumed the place of pagan structures in certain eastern cities. The churches of the Decapolis were constructed in the cities with long traditions as Greco-Roman centers. While not the only cities in the Transjordan with significant Christian communities during the Byzantine period, they serve as the focus of this study as they provide insight into the Christianization of eastern communities having ties to a Hellenic cultural heritage. The physical remains of churches in the Decapolis cities provides insight into how churches came to appropriate the position of pagan structures from the early fifth to the seventh centuries CE with the Christianization of former pagan communities.

Background of the Decapolis The Decapolis is mentioned in ancient sources as referring to a group of cities, or the region where these cities were located, 2 in Palestine, the Transjordan, and southern Syria. While the relationship between the collection of cities identified as belonging to the Decapolis may or may not have resembled a league at some point in their history,3 they certainly shared a
1 2

Michel, 5. It also referred to the region where these cities were located, in Palestine, the Transjordan, and southern Syria, cf. Mark 7:31. 3 See Wineland, 105ff. for a discussion of the controversy over the identification of the Decapolis as a league.

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common exposure to Hellenic influence after the entrance of the Macedonians, the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid rulers, and finally the Romans into the region. Greek culture penetrated the Levant, but its impact was tempered by the residual local cultural influences that remained a constant factor in shaping eastern communities.4 While the process by which this infusion of Greek culture occurred in these cities remains obscure, what is certain is the inhabitants of these cities and the Romans understood the identity to be closely related to those Hellenized communities in other parts of the Mediterranean world. 5 Recent scholarship has shed light on the particular geographic factors that contributed to the close regional association the cities which influenced their cultural and social development. 6 Their geographic position contributed to their

development as significant urban centers (Fig. 3.1). The natural features of the region, the Yarmuk Valley in the north, the Jordan Valley in the west, the Wadi Mujib to the south of Amman, and the desert stretching to the east, while not isolating the Decapolis cities from outside contact, did encouraged a certain level of cultural introversion.7

Millar, 398-400, notes that the influence of the Nabateans and Saraceni as powers in the region is visible in the epigraphic remains of the Decapolis cities, which show a mixture of Semitic, Greek, and Latin in the personal names, as well as in other remains. 5 Millar, 391, indicates that these cities were accorded special status in relation to the Roman province based on their claims to be Greek cities of the Hellenistic period. 6 David Kennedy, Gerasa and the Decapolis: A Virtual Island in Northwest Jordan (London: Duckworth, 2007), 50-55, describes this region in the Northwest Jordan as a vertical island, or type of micro-region, in the Northwest Jordan. He derived this concept from Horden and Purcell to describe a region isolated by its geography and environment contributing to a highly distinctive identity (P. Horden and N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea. A Study of Mediterranean History [Oxford; Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2000]); Graf, Hellenisation, 35, emphasizes that these cities were never true poleis in the classic Greek model. 7 Kennedy, 50-5.

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Fig. 3.1. Map of the Decapolis in Byzantine period (A. Northedge, Studies).

While it is possible that certain Decapolis cities were re-founded as Greek outposts around the time of Alexanders campaign in the fourth-century BCE or shortly thereafter, the limited amount of physical remains dating to the Hellenistic period at most sites suggests that this region was not significant at this time.8 Josephus mentions that the Decapolis was seized by the Hasmoneans in the second-century BCE.9 The Decapolis came under Roman control by 63

Graf, 34, indicates that these cities were not significant Hellenistic sites, but consisted mainly of fortified villages garrisoned by Greeks and Macedonians for administrative and military purposes. 9 Antiq. 12.3.136.

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BCE after Pompey marched into the region. For a time, this area was placed under the direct control of the Judean king, Herod, who was strategos of Coele Syria, but later it was incorporated into the Roman province of Syria.10 It was during this period that the Decapolis cities were re-founded by the Romans in the fashion of Hellenized centers. Pliny the Elder was the first to provide a list of Decapolis cities in his Natural History, 11 dating to the first century CE. Later in the second-century, the geographer Ptolemy provided a list of cities, nine more than Plinys list, scattered from Heliopolis-Baalbek near the Lebanon mountain range in Syria down to Philadelphia (modern Amman) in the Transjordan.12 At the beginning of the fourth-century CE, the region of Palestine was divided into three districtsPalestina Prima, Palestina Secunda, and Palestina Tertia. Most of the Decapolis cities belonged to Palestina Secunda, with its chief city Scythopolis-Beth Shean being the only city west of the Jordan River. Many of the Decapolis cities were strategically located on major trade routes through the region, and benefited from the construction of roads for military use by the Romans.13 In the custom of Hellenized communities in the Roman world, the cities of the Decapolis developed a distinctive identity that reflected a synthesis of Greek and local cultural influences. The association with the Greek and Roman societies was highly valued by their inhabitants, especially the local elites, as is evident in the omnipresence of Greek inscriptions and coinage. During the Roman period, the most visible expressions of Greek culture came to dominate the civic centers of the Decapolis cities. These include centers of commerce like agoras, recreational venues such as theaters,14 an odeion, a hippodrome, and baths, and religious structures like temples, and other structures like colonnaded streets, triumphal arches, and towers. While these were not always represented, there was at least one or two of these structures at each city. The height of civic expansion occurred during the first three centuries of Roman rule. For example, Gerasa was embellished in the second-century with the construction of the Triumphal Arch, which celebrated the Emperor Hadrians visit in 129/130, the massive Propylaea, the Temple of

Wars 1.10.8. Cf. Josephus, Antiq. 15.10.2-3, indicates the peoples of Gadara and Hippos protested being placed under Herods jurisdiction. 11 Pliny Naturalis historia, translated by H. Rackham, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), 5.16. 12 Ptolemy Geographia, trans. E. L. Stevenson (New York; Toronto: General Pub. Co.; London: Constable, 1991), 5.14.22. Ptolemy adds to list of cities: Heliopolis (Baalbak), Abila (Quailibah), Saana (Janamyn), Ina, Abila of Lysanias, Capitolias (Beit Ras), Adra, Gadora (Umm Qeis), and Samoulis 13 Kennedy, 88-95. 14 Graf, 29. All the theaters of the Decapolis date to the Roman period.

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Aphrodite, Temple of Zeus, and the Nymphaeum in 191.15 While this period was significant, most Decapolis cities remained vibrant well into the Byzantine period as reflected in the construction of numerous churches. Christianity had a long association with the Decapolis in ancient sources. The region of the Decapolis was mentioned in the Gospel accounts as a region visited by Jesus in his ministry.
16

Eusebius indicated that during the period of the first Jewish revolt ca. 67 A.D., Christians fled

to the city of Pella on the direction of a prophet who warned of the coming destruction.17 But it was not until the third century that Christianity expanded its influence into the hinterlands of the empire, particularly with the work of Christian missionaries. Christianity offered an appealing alternative belief system which promoted the hope of salvation during uncertain times.18 After the transformation of the empire under Constantine, the cities of the Decapolis region became vibrant Christian communities. Eusebius Onomasticon, which catalogued sacred sites associated with the life of Christ, mentioned the cities of the Decapolis. During this period, the position of these cities was enhanced as the location of bishoprics. Most of the bishops sees were placed in Palaestina Secunda under the jurisdiction of Scythopolis-Beth Shean. Having a bishop added to the citys local status and authority, as well as eventually encouraging the construction of churches, the physical markers of the empires newly dominant religion. In the Transjordan, where most of the Decapolis cities are located, there have been as many as 160 churches and chapels identified and catalogued.19 While many were located at urban centers in the region, numerous churches were also constructed in villages that sprang up in rural regions of the Transjordan during the Byzantine period.20 The conquest of the region by Muslim armies in the seventh-century CE impacted the Decapolis cities in a variety of ways. While it is clear that a number of Christian communities persisted, with some even flourishing during this period, other sites were abandoned altogether at
Mal. Chron. 11.14 (277-8); cf. Kraeling, History, 49. Matthew 4:25, Mark 5:20; 7:31; Eusebius (EH 3.5.3-4) indicates that a group of Christians sought refuge at Pella after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem 70 CE. 17 Eus. Hist. 3.5.3-4. G. F. Brandon, Jesus and the Zealots: Aftermath, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 54 (1971): 57-8, discounted the accounts of the Jewish-Christians fleeing to Pella, but argues instead that they stayed to fight with other Jews at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Brandons thesis has been critically examined through further analysis of relevant textual evidence and archaeological research of the site of Pella, cf. E. Yamauchi, Christians and the Jewish Revolts against Rome, Fides et Historia 23.2 (1991): 18-21. 18 Brown, World, 64-5. 19 Michel, 13. 20 Kennedy, 95, for example, notes that at least 700 villages have been identified in the region of the limestone massif of northern Syria dating to this period.
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this time leaving their Byzantine remains completely intact. In either case, there began a general migration of the larger Christian population out of the region after the Islamic conquest. By the end of the seventh-century, Christian communities of the Decapolis that remained were in a weakened state, which is reflected by the fact that most churches destroyed by the earthquakes of the eighth-century were not rebuilt.21 Occupation of the cities continued during the Islamic period, often by small nomadic communities or squatters, but the thriving Christian communities of an earlier generation eventually disappeared. This study seeks to provide insight into the complex interactions that were involved during the period when Christianity was having a significant impact in eastern provinces after the time of Theodosius I at the expense of remaining adherents to the traditional Roman cults. It will particularly focus on how this process occurred in the space of Decapolis churches. This task is complicated by the fact that the region reflects an intermingling of numerous influences, and the process of cultural interaction and exchange always is a matter of give and take between local societies and the Roman-Byzantine empire.22 Certain elements of Hellenic culture were shared by these cities that were joined to each other geographically and environmentally as islands of urbanism, isolated to some degree by natural barriers that surrounded the Ajlun Highlands. Roman highways linked these cities to the larger trade networks of the Mediterranean and the Near East, but their closest connections were with each other. The Decapolis cities are only a few of the many thriving Christian communities in the Transjordan, but they provide a manageable sampling of related communities where churches emerged in significant numbers during the Byzantine period.

Churches of the Decapolis Churches were well-represented among the archaeological remains at the sites of the cities of the Decapolis. Beginning in the eighteenth century, these cities were rediscovered by Europeans who set out to systematically map and identify sites in Palestine and the Transjordan. Surveys of the region conducted by the German scholar, Ulrich Seetzen, in 1806 23 were
Most notable was the earthquake of 749 CE, which devastated many cities of the Decapolis. Antonio Gramscis (Letter from Prison) discussion of hegemony highlights the complexities of cultural exchange between the center and the periphery. Michel, 15, notes that various Aramaic inscriptions from the Hauran provide examples of how Arab populations assimilated certain aspects of Greek culture, revealing an indigenous tradition under a superficial Hellenism. 23 Ulrich Seetzen, Reisen, ed. Kruse, 4 vols, Berlin, 1854.
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followed by a procession of similar scholars and explorers who sought to locate biblical and other ancient sites, such as John L. Burckhardt, 24 James S. Buckingham,25 and F. de Saulcy. 26 Later at the end of the nineteenth century, Gottlieb Schumacher surveyed the region of the Decapolis in Palestine and the Transjordan as a part of an expedition of the German Society for the Exploration of Palestine.27 In 1904, the American, Howard C. Butler of the Princeton Archaeological Expedition, surveyed the Transjordan and Syria,28 and Nelson Glueck in the 1930s surveyed the region of the Transjordan. Archaeological excavation, as a systematic science, began during this period at numerous sites in Palestine and the Transjordan and continues to the present day.29 Churches in the Decapolis cities were generally similar in design and construction sharing certain stylistic and architectural features, although different patterns emerged based on the varying needs or preferences of the Christian communities. Christian architects were deeply influenced by classical traditions, whether this was borrowing decorative techniques, like the use of colored marbles and glass for interior architecture, or the direct borrowing of classical material, such as the reuse of Corinthian capitals, door frames, or niches from abandoned buildings.30 These classical traditions were also passed along in the design of church buildings. In her survey of churches in the Transjordan, Anne Michel identified several types of churches based on their function: the episcopal, or community church used for normal gatherings of the faithful for the celebration of Christian rituals; the memorial, or pilgrimage, church which housed the burial or relics of a saint or prominent individual, and the private chapel, or secondary devotional structure.31 There were three architectural patterns utilized for the construction of churches in this region: the basilica-plan, the central-plan structure, and the cruciform structure. The most common style of church was the basilica-plan, which was oriented longitudinally from east to
John L. Burckhardt, Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (London: J. Murray 1822). John Silk Buckingham, Travels Among the Arab Tribes Tribes Inhabiting the Countries East of Syria and Palestine (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1825). 26 F. de Saulcy, Narrative of a Journey Round the Dead Sea and in the Bible Lands in 1850 and 1851 (London: Richard Bentley, 1853). 27 Gottlieb Schumacher, Across the Jordan: Being an Exploration and Survey of Part of Hauran and Jaulan (London: A. P. Watt, 1889). 28 Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, in 1904-1905 and 1909 (Leyden: Brill, 1921). 29 Glueck, Explorations. 30 Crowfoot, Churches, 195. 31 Michel, 13.
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west. Taken from the common administrative building of the Roman period, the church basilica became the standard structure of churches after Constantine as it provided a large space for assembly, while at the same time being well-designed for processional rituals of the Christian liturgy. The basilica-plan churches of the Decapolis had a number of shared features, such as a main hall divided by two or four sets of colonnades, which separated the outer aisles from the central nave.32 The eastern end was the ritual focal point of the structure with the sanctuary that might feature an altar table, a reliquarium, and a synthronon in the central apse for the church officials. Central-plan and cruciform churches were less common in the Decapolis communities. While the cruciform church was essentially basilica-plan churches with altered eastern ends with extended apses, or arms, extending from the chancel space, the central-plan churches were centered on a certain shape design, usually an octagonal pattern. Church buildings built in eastern cities beginning in the fourth-century regardless of their design shared certain features which enhanced their sacrality and their function in the community. Many of the Decapolis churches were expanded to accommodate larger numbers of faithful and to facilitate developments in scope of the liturgy and rituals. The church was typically entered from the western end, usually by doorways accessing the central nave and each of the side aisles. The western entrance was at times preceded by an atrium, or porticoed courtyard, and a narthex as an intermediate area leading up to the doors. While not a common feature of Transjordanian churches, atriums were found incorporated into a large number of church complexes of the Decapolis cities.33 They served as a transition point from the profane space outside of the church building to the sacred area inside its doors.34 Churches often featured an altar table at times protected by a ciborium, or baldachino, for the Eucharist. Reliquaries, with the remains of saints or prominent members of the community, were commonly placed before the synthronon, or under the altar.35 In central-plan churches, the reliquary or tomb would have a central position, often enclosed by an ambulatory. Rooms were at times found adjoined to the main hall of the church accessible from either the north or south

These areas of the main hall have been grouped together under the term nave by some, but this study will distinguish the central nave, the space between the middle colonnades, from the side aisles, the space from the middle colonnades to the outer wall. 33 Michel, 18. 34 Ibid., 19. 35 Crowfoot, Churches, 183, notes examples of the reliquary under the altar at the Church of St. Peter and Church of St. George at Gerasa.

32

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aisle, particularly during the Justinian age.36 Small rooms flanked the central apse in the eastern end of some churches. These were identified as sacristies (pastophoria) were utilized for various rituals by clergy.37 The church building was sacralized by the location of the altar where the Eucharist was enacted and by the presence of relics of saints or prominent Christians. As such, its spaces were considered to be inviolate in direct association with the divine. The altar could be sought for as an asylum for those being pursued. The building itself was thought to invoke divine favor and protection from attack whether demonic forces or from invasion of foreign armies. Along with the presence of city walls, church buildings were considered to be potent antidotes to ward off the evils that might attack a community. This may in part explain the construction of a number of churches at Gerasa near the city wall. The church in a sense served as a spiritual wall that defended the city.38 This sentiment was expressed in a one-lined Greek inscription along the step of the chancel in the Lower Church of al-Quwaysmah near Philadelphia-Amman that read simply, O God help this village.39 The central function of church buildings and related structures was to serve as a sacred center, but these structures also served a variety of other social functions. Churches were known to function as hospitals, places of welfare distributions, and hostels to provide lodging at times. The church structure might also provide residential quarters for clergy, such as those adjoining the St. Theodore complex at Gerasa. This same complex was also associated with public baths as well. Churches were often located at the centers of social life in the city, at times even being involved in business ventures as well. Further insight into the social functions of churches in local communities of the East is evident in mosaics from the Byzantine period. The Megalopsychia (Greatness of Soul) mosaic, which comes from a private dwelling at the Yakto district near Daphne, features a topographical border thought to represent civic structures in Antioch (Fig. 3.2)40 Among the other civic images of vendors, men playing dice, local elites at their villas, and statuary of benefactors fronting their sponsored public baths., there is a building
FitzGerald, Beth-Shean, 20. A. Segal, Hippos Fifth Season (2004), 68. Rectangular rooms attached to the apse of the Northwest Church were identified as such by excavators. 38 Robert W. Smith, Walls of the Decapolis. Paper delivered at the ARAM conference, Oxford, England (2008), 11. 39 Michele Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, ed. P. M. Bikai and T. A. Dailey (Amman, Jordan: American Center of Oriental Research, 1993), 266. 40 Faith Cimok, Antioch Mosaics (Istanbul : A Turizm Yayinlari, 2000), 245.
37 36

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with the inscribed title, Workshops of the Martyrion. It depicts a souvenir shop for pilgrims to the martyrium with a beggar (suggested by the motif of the reclining man taking a handout with a dog to his side) and a small group of a man and two women in conversation. They are all

dressed in long tunics, one woman with a mantle covering her head and other women with her hair in a tight cap.

Fig. 3.2. Antiochene civic life around the Workshops of the Martyrion. (Cimok [2000], 271).

The depiction provides insight into some of the social functions of the churches and associated structures in providing aid in the local community and serving the needs of the homeless. But its close relationship with businesses of the city with men playing dice and a vendor selling his goods nearby is suggestive of the martyrions centrality to the social life of the city. As a business, it generated revenues to support its charities through the selling of various memorabilia and relics to those visiting the shrine. Martyrions were thought to be places of supernatural healing through proximity with a saints remains, so the reclining man named Chalkomas, could have been seeking this type of aid. Small scale industrial complexes for agricultural production have also been found adjoined to church buildings, providing further indication of the complex social roles served by church buildings. The materials used in the construction and furnishing of the churches in the Decapolis could be acquired from both local and more distant sources. The expense of importing material, such as exotic stones, represented a considerable investment in the construction of these churches.41 Local limestone was the predominant material used for construction of the walls,
41

R. G. Bullard, The Berbers of the Maghreb and Ancient Carthage, in Africa and Africans in Antiquity, ed. E. Yamauchi (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2001), 202-4. A number of prominent regions of the

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with ashlar masonry in a header and stretcher fashion (for added stability) having two faces with a rubble core at the center, and held together with mortar composed of lime, sand, and crumbled stone.42 Basalt was also locally available and was used to build several churches. More ornate stones such as costly red granite (porphyry) and grey granite both imported from Egypt, as well as green marble (cipollino) were utilized in various ways, but most notably for columns, for floor paving, and as wall covering.43 Other colored marble, such as green, yellow, and ivory, were imported from Laconia, Tunisia, and Phrygia. Most churches in the Decapolis had roofs of timber, which was a sign of wealth.44 The roof and upper galleries were supported by two or four colonnades of varying number of columns based on the size of the church. Roofs were generally gabled covered with terracotta tiles with flat tiles (tegulae) connected together by halfbarrel clay joints (imbrices).45 During the Byzantine period decoration and ornamentation was

almost always relegated to the interior of the building, while the outside was typically unadorned. The interior wall facing (dado) and furniture, like altar tables, ciboriums, reliquaries, chancel screens, and ambos, were often made of costly marble, either from local sources or imported from afar. Mosaics of various materials and colors, including gold-leaf, were another opulent decoration for the inner walls of the church. Marble was used for furnishings in the church like the altar table, reliquaries, and utensils used for rituals. Chancel screens, used to separate the altar from the nave in the eastern end, were also made of marble, limestone, or schist and decorated with various designs like a cross encircled with a vegetal crown or interlacing rings, and a shepherd motif. A synthronon for officiating clergy could often be found in the central apse behind the altar at episcopal sites in the Decapolis region. Their presence sometimes indicates the identification of a church as the citys cathedral.46 The floors of churches were often the most prominent decorative features of churches laid with ornate material and mosaics, at times with inscriptional messages. Limestone was generally the material used for flooring in most churches, usually in the form of opus sectile
ancient Roman world continued to be known for their high quality lithic construction material during the Byzantine era. Exotic marbles varieties included the Naxian, Parian, and Euboean from the Greek isles, and different types of marble breccias from western Asia Minor. 42 Ibid., 185. 43 Arthur Segal, The Churches of Sussita: Interim Report at the End of Seven Excavation Seasons (2000-2006), Hippos (Sussita) Excavation Report, http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/hipposchurches.htm. Notes all three were found in the cathedral at Hippos-Sussita. 44 Crowfoot, Churches, 185. 45 Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 41, provide an example of standard basilica roofing. 46 Michel, 58.

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(pavement of cut stone) or opus tessalatum (pavement of small cut squares). Marble of a variety of colors, often imported from around the Mediterranean, was a more costly material used for opus sectile flooring in Decapolis churches. Intricate mosaics were another commonly used flooring from the classical period47 used to decorate the interior of churches.48 But unlike Byzantine architecture which remained the classical tradition, mosaics of this period were innovative in their designs.49 These usually featured borders and fields of geometric or floral patterns, images of various pastoral or hunting themes,50 exotic plants,51 animals, and birds.52 Occasionally portraits of prominent individuals were preserved in church floors that fortuitously escaped later iconoclasts.53 At times unusual images decorated mosaic floors of churches, like those at Gerasa that depicted walled cities which excavators identified as Egyptian indicating possible contact between the Christians of both regions.54 The use of mosaic floors provides a particularly significant indicator of financial investment during this period as it was one of the few remaining architectural features requiring the skill of artisans.55 Mosaic flooring became increasingly intricate and elaborate, as well as more common. In the churches of the Decapolis, it was used in a wide variety of areas including chancels, naves and aisles, atriums, passageways, and adjacent structures, including chapels, sacristries, baptistries, preparation rooms, and residential spaces.56 Mosaics were useful for creating inscriptions, which became more common in churches beginning in the sixth-century. Mosaic dedications were usually placed in a tabula ansata before the chancel rail, oriented to be read by worshipers facing the altar. These would often commemorate the date of churchs foundation, expansion, or renovation, and would mention its founder or benefactor, along with those to whom the dedication was made.57 As markers of
47 F. M. Biebel, Mosaics, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. C. H. Kraeling (New Haven, Connecticut: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 304, notes that pagan images were avoided in churches. 48 Ibid., 297. 49 Ibid., 305; 315, indicates that earlier church mosaics imitated later Roman patterns, while later Byzantine mosaics were innovative and utilized vivid colors. 50 Michel, 51-55. 51 Biebel, 302. Pomegranate plants and grape vines, particularly in the form of a vine-trellis sprouting from amphorae, were common in church mosaic motifs. 52 Ibid., 301. These were more common being less offensive to Christian sensibilities. 53 Ibid., 299. The most significant example being depictions of donors at the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus at Gerasa. 54 Ibid., 341. These were found in the Church of St. John the Baptist and Church of SS. Peter and Paul at Gerasa. 55 Ibid., 297. 56 Ibid. 57 Ibid., 298.

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religious and civic benefaction, they were conspicuous within the church, often facing west for celebrants to read as they approached the altar, or chancel. The audience included predominantly male, educated members of the upper class and clergy members who could read the pious dedications. This message served as a reminder of those at the center of authority in the local community, but was also didactic as illustrations of appropriate benefaction. Inscriptions were sometimes preceded by a cross and another symbol that may have been intended to indicate an offering or benefaction, such as a mosaic floors, for offerings or masses in honor of the dead.58 The mosaic dedications provide insight into the identity of those who were sponsoring the construction or embellishment of churches in the Decapolis. Typically those who were mentioned were male, either members of the local elite or members of the clergy. At times, there were administrative officials in the province or local municipality, and occasionally there were military officers mentioned in these inscriptions. The mosaics represented in these

churches have a long tradition in classical culture of praising prominent individuals who contributed for the public good through the sponsorship of civic structures. Another area of

continuity with classical cultures was the benefaction of public structures by women, which included churches during the Byzantine period. Women had long played a prominent role from the earliest history of the church, and they continued to have an honored place within Christian communities in the East. Affluent women during the Byzantine period often held a prominent position as promoters of religious and social cohesion. A Greek inscription from the Roman period in the Forum Area (FRM) at HipposSussita mentions the contribution by a noblewoman of the city (Fig. 5.1). It states: ( ) () ( ) ( ) [ ]

12
58

Fitzgerald, Sixth-century, 14.

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 8. 11. 13.

Good luck. Aelius Calpurnianus, the former cornicularius (in the office) of the procurator summarum rationum, and Domitia Ulpia, matrona stolata, his wife, (erected the statue of) the ambassador, to the native city. In the year 302, (in the month of) Dios (day) 8.59 Domitia Ulpia was the wife of a high administrative official in the province. Although the exact meaning of the title matrona stolata is not clear,60 it appears that she was a Roman woman of long-held senatorial rank61 and that she was afforded independence in legal and financial affairs without needing her husbands name or assent. It provides some indication of not only her husbands and her citys status in the province, but of her own position in the local administration.62 Numerous inscriptions from the Decapolis cities during the Byzantine period testify to the important position of affluent women in the sponsorship and benefaction of churches, such as the prominent figure of Lady Mary in the Christian community at Scythopolis-Beth Shean. When it came to the building or embellishment of churches, women were some of the primary contributors of resources and were often honored by the benefaction of others. Not far from the forum at Hippos-Sussita, where the above inscription was located was the Northeast Church. It was built around a sarcophagus which housed the remains of a revered woman who had died in her fifties.63 In the southern portico of the same church, an inscription praised the offering of the deaconess Antona.64 At the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian at Gerasa, the images of Theodore and his wife Georgia were preserved in a mosaic dedication suggesting the shared importance of both husband and wife in the benefaction of the church in the post-Theodosian period. While this only touches on the important issue of gender in Christian benefaction in eastern cities, a topic beyond the scope of this study, it is important to note that the continuity (even expansion) of opportunities for female benefaction had a significant impact on the expansion of church construction and benefaction during the Byzantine period in the Decapolis.
A. Segal, et al. Hippos Fifth Season (2004), 43-4. Authors translation. The term stolata refers to the typical dress of the Roman matron. 61 Ibid., 44-5. Segal discusses the nomen gentilia of Domitia Ulpia, which suggests her familys Roman citizenship possibly dates back to Hadrians visit to the region in 130 CE.. 62 Ibid., 11. 63 Ibid., 92. 64 Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 43.
60 59

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Apart from the esteem and honor associated with such benefaction, the construction or embellishment of churches in eastern cities was further facilitated by the wealth of the period. The period of Byzantine history, particularly the reign of Justinian in the sixth-century, leading up to the conquest of the Muslims in the mid-seventh-century was a period of prosperity for Christian communities in the East. The relative security of the eastern frontier of Justinians rule provided stability to the region and encouraged trade and commerce in Transjordan. This also fostered Byzantine cultural expression reflected in the mosaics of the region. Wealthy Christians in Decapolis cities were able to invest in the construction and renovation of churches in the city. Architectural materials were taken from remaining temples to be reused for churches. Churches now received the attention once reserved for temples from the affluent for many of the same reasons. In Decapolis cities, they became expressions of the civic and religious status for Christians. While some material was reused from abandoned temples and other structures, other architectural features were made during this period reflecting a considerable investment by donors. Inscriptions in the Northwest Church at Hippos-Sussita provide an idea of the size of such contributions. Two inscriptions celebrate the gifts of Petros and Hedora (or Heliodora) using the term nomisma, which is related to the Latin solidus, a gold coin that in the sixth-century CE equaled about a half a years wages.65

Adam Lajtar, Two Mosaic Inscriptions from the Northwest Church in Hippos, in Hippos [Sussita] Third Season of Excavations, July 2002, Segal, et. al. (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2002), 61.

65

104

Site/Church Heliopolis-Baalbek Temple Court Church Hippos-Sussita Northwest Church Northeast Church Southeast Church Southwest Church Abila Area A Church Area B Church Area D Church Area E Church Gadara Five-aisled Church Octagonal Church Scythopolis-Beth Shean Round Church Monastery Chapel Gerasa Cathedral Ch. St. Theodore Ch. Proph., Apost, Mart. Ch. St. George Ch. St. John Baptist Ch. Cosmas and Damian. Mortuary Church Octagonal Church Procopius Church Synagogue Church Ch. Peter and Paul Ch. Isaiah Propylaea Church Ch. Bishop Marianos Ch. Terrace Artemis Ch. St. Genesius Ch. Elias, Maria, Soreg Pella West Church Civic Complex Church Philadelphia-Amman Cathedral Citadel Church Lower Terrace Chapel Church St. Elianos Church Jabal al-Akdar Church St. George

Date

Type and function

City orientation

c. 440 CE

basilica, cathedral

temple precinct

5 -6 c. CE --591 CE ---

th

th

basilica basilica basilica, cathedral basilica, memorial ?

temple precinct, agora, nymphaeum agora agora forum, residential

6th c. CE (latest) post-4 c. CE 6th-7th c.? 5th 6th (latest)

th

triapsidal basilica basilica, memorial? triapsidal basilica cruciform, five-aisled

temple baths, theater? summit above temple

4th-7th c. CE ---

basilica, memorial central-plan, memorial

Roman crypt, city wall agora precinct

6th c. CE 6th c. CE

central-plan, memorial basilica chapel

temple monastery

4th-5th c. CE 494-6 CE 464/5 CE 529-530 CE 531 CE 529-533 CE 565 CE --526/7 CE 530/1 CE ca. 540 CE 6th c. CE 565 CE 570 CE 6 -7 c. CE 611 CE --th th

basilica, cathedral basilica cruciform basilica central with rotunda basilica central, burial cave central basilica basilica basilica basilica basilica basilica basilica basilica basilica

temple precinct temple, baths --temple precinct temple precinct temple precinct city walls city walls (outside) city wall synagog., city wall abutting city wall theater temple propylaea cemetery, hippodrome temple terrace temple vicinity ---

5 -6 c. CE early-5th c. CE

th

th

basilica basilica, cathedral

--temple precinct

--5 c. CE ------6th c. CE
th

basilica, cathedral? basilica basilica basilica, memorial? basilica, memorial? cruciform?, memorial

citadel, nymphaeum temple vicinity domestic area citadel base of citadel west of citadel

Tab. 4.1. General Church Data.

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Site/Church Heliopolis-Baalbek Temple Court Church Hippos-Sussita Northwest Church Northeast Church Southeast Church Southwest Church Abila Area A Church Area B Church Area D Church Area E Church Gadara Five-aisled Church Octagonal Church Scythopolis-Beth Shean Round Church Monastery Chapel Gerasa Cathedral Church of St. Theodore Ch. Proph., Apost., Mart. Ch. St. George Ch. St. John Baptist Ch. Cosmas, Damian. Mortuary Church Octagonal Church Procopius Church Synagogue Church Ch. Peter and Paul Ch. of Isaiah Propylaea Church Ch. Bishop Marianos Ch. Terrace Artemis Ch. St. Genesius Ch. Elias, Maria, Soreg Pella West Church Civic Complex Church Philadelphia-Amman Cathedral Citadel Church Lower Terrace Chapel Church St. Elianos Church Jabal al-Akdar Church St. George

Decorative features

Reliquary - Martyria

Inscriptions

---

---

---

mosaics, silver crosses mosaics, frescoes mosaics, color. granite, marble ram screens, mosaics, frescoes

reliquaries sarcophagi --reliquary

Heliodora, Petros, Antonia --Cosmas/Damian, Procopius ---

opus sectile, mosaics Naxos/Ionian marble mosaics - gold leaf, opus sectile, monolithic columns mosaics, marble, gold leaf tess.

--reliquary cavity --reliquary

------Tyche inscription

Proconn. marble, mosaic- glass portico, opus sectile

burial burial

prosphora insciption ---

marble, wall/floor mosaics marble, mosaics-glass marble, mosaics marble, mosaics

burial, reliquary burial, sarcophagi --reliquary

--Maria, Elias, politicians Aeneas inscription Mary incription

screens, mosaics black marble screen, mosaics, opus sectile dome, Nile mosaics, glass tess. mosaics mosaic, opus sectile, mosaics, marble screens mosaics, marble, dec. screens mosaics mosaics-glass, marble mosaics mosaics mosaics, marble screens --mosaics mosaics

--reliquary ----burial cave --reliquary --------reliquary --reliquary cavity? ---

Marina inscription Paul, chancel inscription Theodore chancel inscription Theodore/wife with portraits, Bishop Paul, Dagistheus dedication to parents --Procopius, Paul, Saul --Peter/Paul, Anastasius Thomas, Isaiah, Beroios, Eulampia Artemisius inscription Raphas, Julia, Sabinos, et. al. --Genesius inscription exegetical inscriptions

mosaics-glass, marble, dado mosaics

reliquary ---

-----

marble, mosaics mosaics mosaics, marble --mosaics, mosaics

--reliquary cavity ------sarcophagus

--dedicatory inscription Julianos inscription --Epiphane, Kaioumos George, Polyeucte

Tab. 4.2. Notable Features.

106

Site/Church Heliopolis-Baalbek Temple Court Church Hippos-Sussita Northwest Church Northeast Church Southeast Church Southwest Church Abila Area A Church Area B Church Area D Church Area E Church Gadara Five-aisled Church Octagonal Church Scythopolis-Beth Shean Round Church Monastery Chapel Gerasa Cathedral Church of St. Theodore Ch. Proph., Apost. , Mart. Ch. St. George Ch. St. John Baptist Ch. Cosmas and Damian. Mortuary Church Octagonal Church Procopius Church Synagogue Church Ch. Peter and Paul Ch. of Isaiah Propylaea Church Ch. Bishop Marianos Ch. Terrace Artemis Ch. St. Genesius Ch. Elias, Maria, Soreg Pella West Church Civic Complex Church Philadelphia-Amman Cathedral Citadel Church Lower Terrace Chapel Church St. Elianos Church Jabal al-Akdar Church St. George

Liturgical Furniture

Associated Structures

---

---

chancel, screens/posts, bema chancel, synthronon chancel, screens, synthronon chancel, screens, bema

pastophoria, atrium, martyrion diaconicon, atrium, tower? atrium, bapistery atrium

chancel --chancel chancel screen

atrium crypt atrium, diaconicon, baptistery? diaconicon, chapel, portico

chancel, altar, ciborium chancel screen, altar

baptistery, crypt, oculus, chapel

--chancel, altar

atrium, room narthex, monastery rooms

chancel, synthronon, altar, ambo chancel chancel, decorated exedra chancel, synthronon, ambo exedra, synthronon ambo synthronon, ambo chancel, niches, synthronon, altar chancel, synthronon chancelscreens, synthronon, altar chancel-screens, ambo, altar chancel, altar, ambo, synthronon chancel, altars, synthronon, ambo chancel, altar, thalassa, synthronon, ambo chancel-screens, altar, synthronon --chancel-screens, altar, synthronon, thalassa ---

atrium, fountain, chapel baptistery, chapels, clergy resid. portico portico, sacristy portico, baptistery, sacristry portico, baptistery memorial cave atrium chanceled chapel, cave atrium atrium, chapel hall atrium, diaconicon vestibule --chapel annex, atrium ---

chancel, ambo chancel

atrium ---

chancel chancel, synthronon, altar chancel chancel chancel-screens, altar chancel, niches

atrium --domestic rooms ----atrium, burial cave

Tab. 4.3. Furniture and Associated Structures

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Spaces of Contested Meanings The churches of the Decapolis cities provide an opportunity to understand some of the dramatic changes that took place with the Christianization of eastern communities in the early centuries of the Byzantine period. It is important to understand Christianization as a process of interaction and exchange between contending groups that made up eastern communities. While it has often been discussed in retrospect as a completed act (i.e. the triumph of Christianity), this is both misleading and simplistic. Numerous theoretical and philosophical perspectives emerging in the past century have effectively critiqued the merging of numerous, nuanced processes into large, over-arching statements and themes. Christianization is a nebulous concept, a moving target, making it difficult to define or quantify in absolute terms. Despite this limitation, certain aspects of the process can be identified in relation to the function of church buildings. Christianization as it related to churches was a matter of renegotiation and redefinition of sacred spatial meaning and of the communitys identity in discourse with the other. The Christianization process involved to a certain extent a transfer of similar symbolic and ritual functions from temples, and the traditional Roman cults, to churches of the new state religion. Temples and churches shared certain similarities in their role in eastern cities. They

were central to religious life of the city, but also served as political structures representing the state. This study argues that it was not until the period following Theodosius I at the end of the fourth century CE that tightening of regulations against residual elements of traditional Roman cults brought about wider church construction. To better understand how the church building functioned in this process, certain theoretical perspectives that have been mentioned above will be used to analyze the physical evidence. In particular, the theories of sacred space that were articulated by Mircea Eliade and later expanded by Jonathan Z. Smith will be considered in discussing the sacralization of church space. Eliade emphasized the concept of sacred space as being defined in opposition to profane space.66 Sacred space is demarcated by by breaks in the continuity of the profane by means of a hierophany, an irruption of the sacred that results in detaching a territory from the surrounding cosmic milieu and making it qualitatively different. the manifestation of the sacred that refounds the world. Hierophanies may be identified by special markers whether, poles, trees,
66

Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (San Diego, CA : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987, c. 1961), 10.

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pillars, mountains, temples, or churches.67 Temples, churches, and cathedrals become small representations of the universe (imago mundi) while also serving as its Center (our world).68 Churches were made sacred by means of the break in the profane represented in the altar space, where the Eucharist ritual provided direct access to the divine. This was the hierophany that founded the altar as the axis mundi for the Christians. The placement of the churches in the peripheral, contended space, such as over temples, or in prominent civic spaces, was a means of refounding and recentering the world. While it may be said that this was an act of antagonism toward the old cults as a means of reaffirming Christianitys new dominant position in society, there was more going on related to group identity formation. This contrast of sacred center in opposition to and defined by profane space is very similar to the contrast in perspectives of cultural centers and peripheries as noted by Edward Said. In Orientalism, he discusses the postcolonial perspective which focuses on the issue of identity formation and negotiation by means of discourse between the inside (us) and outside (Other). These theoretical approaches, although unrelated, are similar in their recognition that meaning should be viewed as a spectrum dominated by opposite poles: sacred/profane, center/periphery, Western/Oriental, civilized/uncivilized, authority/disenfranchised, and as it applies to our study, in particular Christian/non-Christian (traditional religionist). describes how this process is involved in generating identity: The construction of identityfor identity, whether of Orient or Occident, France or Britain, while obviously a repository of distinct collective experiences, is finally a construction in my opinioninvolves the construction of opposites and others whose actuality is always subject to the continuous interpretation and re-interpretation of their differences from us. Each age and society recreates its Others. Far from a static thing then, identity of self or of other is a much worked-over historical, social, intellectual, and political process that takes place as a contest involving individuals and institutions in all societies In short, the construction of identity is bound up with the disposition of power and powerlessness in each society, and is therefore anything but mere academic woolgathering. It is in the process of interaction where similarities and contrasts between opposites are engaged that identify is clarified. This occurs in social interactions between varying groups within society that contend for authority. This interplay can be reflected in the contention between sacred and profane space which is essential in the establishing of spatial meaning.
67 68

Said

Ibid., 32-7. Ibid., 42-62.

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Earlier explanations of these binary relationships suggested that their meaning was generated in opposition to the other; sacred space was defined as the opposite of profane space (Eliade), and likewise the Other was identified in contrast to the familiar, us (Said). But later analysis has determined that this process is more nuanced. The locus of meaning, instead,

is to found in the discourse somewhere between these two poles. Jonathan Z. Smith indicated that sacrality is defined through the interaction and exchange (gesture, time, and topos)69 between sacred and profane,70 whereas Homi Bhabha noted that the meaning of culture was found in the in-between space between the poles authority and the repressed.71 Meaning is found in the discourse, the interaction, contention, and interchange, between the two poles. In the case of the Decapolis churches, the discourse that generated meanings for these spaces was central to the Christianization process. Churches are spaces where the notions of sacrality and identity were negotiated as indicated by the points of continuity and differentiation. This study then seeks to identify these points (continuity and differentiation) where the discourse happened and what is being revealed about the meanings of the Decapolis churches. The interplay between continuity and differentiation that generates notions of sacrality and identity are critical in understanding the complexities of church space. Along with these there are a number of key theoretical themes that assert themselves in some of the common features of the churches that will be at play in most of examples that form the next part of our discussion. These are related to two central theoretical perspectives that are foundational this study: Eliades theory of sacred space and Saids theory of the Other in connection to social identity formation. The meaning of the Decapolis churches was being produced through a

complex discourse about sacrality and identity. There are some elements that most of the churches shared that may be analyzed at one time in light of relevant theoretical perspectives rather than addressing these repetitively. The churches embodied both religious and political meanings as structures representing the state religion. The churchs sacred space was produced
72

with a remarkable capacity to break into the profane world representing both the local bishop

(the state) and the rituals of the cult (sacrality). Almost every Decapolis church reflected this complex relationship between political and religious authority.
Jonathan Z. Smith, To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1987), 103ff. Shiner, 425-436, described the space between the sacred and profane space as lived space reflecting elements of both polar extremes. 71 Bhabha, 38-9. 72 Lefebvre, 236, emphasized the essentiality of sacred (and all) space as produced space.
70 69

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Churches, despite certain variations in their design, also shared many common features as socially created spaces with levels of sacrality and political meaning. Robert Sack described the interior of the church as produced territory, using the latter term to indicate how the space is organized to promote religious and political control.73 The territory of the churchs interior through the levels of sacral meaning was a means mark of spatial meanings. He states, Overall we find first the sanctuary with its most sacred place, the altar, and then its space for the choir and presbyters, and second, the nave, which is the place for the congregation. Here too a relationship exists between rank in the hierarchy and geographical accessibility. During Church ceremonies, only those who are officials of the Church are to have access to the sanctuary, the altar being accessible only to the highest Church official, while the nave is reserved for the people.74 In other words, the delineation of sacral spaces within the church, which was a physical embodiment of the state religion, was also a marking of political space. Joan Branham also notes the significance of levels of sacral space in departing from Eliades dichotomizing sacred/profane, but instead indicates that sacrality was incrementally defined through the separate divisions of church space, specifically focusing the role of the chancel screens in this process.75 This segmentation and categorization of sacral and political spatial meaning within the church was part of the larger discourse occurring during the early Byzantine period over the identity of the Christian community in relation to the non-Christians in eastern communities. Another more recent line of theoretical insight expands upon and tries to explain the delineations of sacred space focusing more specifically on the architecture and how its features evoke discourse about the structures social and religious meaning. Thomas Barrie noted that sacred architecture, as durable markers of communal beliefs and ideals had historically been a civic responsibility and effort.76 Architecture was potent by physically communicating the idea of place and belief providing both a sense of social and religious identity.77 But architecture was also essential in creating sacred and social space by delineating the sacred path leading from

Robert David Sack, Human Territoriality: Its Theory and History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 20. 74 Ibid., 93-4. 75 Joan R. Branham, Sacred Space under Erasure in Ancient Synagogues and Early Churches, The Art Bulletin 74.3 (Sep., 1992): 375. She argues (380 ff.) that the chancel screens in both synagogue and churches provided a means of appropriating (and thus replacing) the position of the Temples holy space. 76 Thomas Barrie, Spiritual Path, Sacred Place (Boston : Shambhala, 1996), 4. 77 Ibid., 47-51.

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profane space to sacred spaced marked by a number of features.78 These features were common in the churches of the Decapolis, including: the threshold, the point of entry delineating sacred from profane space, the altar, the sacred center (ritual goal) preceded by lesser spaces, like the baptistery, usually a side room off the sanctuary where one must experience sacral washing to continue moving forward.79 Lindsay Jones describes church structure as sacred architecture that is given sacred and social meaning in discourses (ritual-architectural games) between people and buildings.80 Architectural meaning is not found in the physical object or in the mind of the beholder but in the negotiation or the interactive relation that subsumes both building and beholder.81 Interpretation involves the hermeneutical conversation, or game, with players: the material structure, the human audience burdened with expectations, traditions, and religious opinions, and the ceremonial occasion (conversation), the ritual occasion that brings buildings and people into interaction.82 The features of the architecture which have divine, or sacred, associations, act as lures, or invitations, to engage in the game.83 This concept of enticement of the familiar meanings embodied in the church building is a critical factor for understanding the engagement of non-Christian in the Decapolis communities from the fifth to the seventh centuries. Certainly Christian beliefs were different and the clergy, dogmatic and confrontational. But, on the other hand, there were elements (lures) of local churches that were inviting: like the Centered, sacred architecture, the rituals of sacrifice, the hope of divine assistance, the community of local community members, the recognizable and desirable capacity to align with the state through the church, and in turn for the elite, the potential for gaining social and religious status as benefactors of church construction and embellishment. The church buildings of the Decapolis were not drab and forbidding to nonChristians, but offered a place where complex interactions and negotiations were occurring. The period after Theodosius was a time of growth for churches, and one of the many reasons was due to a productive discourse that generated distinct sacred meanings and communal identities that were gradually Christianized.

78 79

Ibid., 55. Ibid., 55-74. 80 Jones, 47. 81 Ibid., 41. 82 Ibid., 48. 83 Ibid., 75-89.

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This study argues that the expansion of churches after Theodosius I occurred in part through the engagement of outsiders by those at the center with the architecture of church buildings that resulted in the generation of new meanings. It was at the point of discourse where meaning was created for the church buildings. The physical remains of the churches are critical to understanding this interaction occurring between those at the center, the Christian officials and elite, and those on the periphery. While it is ultimately impossible to get to the real meaning of these structures for these cities, through examining the interaction and exchange by the various contending groups provides some insight into the ways that churches were perceived as religious and socio-political spaces.

Central-plan and Cruciform Churches in the Decapolis The central-plan church and cruciform church were not as common among those represented in the Decapolis. The centralized-plan, usually a square structure with inscribed circle or octagon, was typically used for memorial churches emulating the great Constantinian churches of the Holy Land built over sacred sites associated with the life of Christ. These memorial, or pilgrimage, churches often housed the burial, or relics, of a saint or prominent Christian individual. They often featured an octagonal design to accommodate an ambulatory to facilitate movement around a central sacred space occupied usually by a burial chamber, whether a hypogeum, a cave, or a floor niche for a sarcophagus or reliquary (Fig. 3.3). A variant of the basilica, of which a few examples have been found in the Decapolis, was the cruciform design with wings extending to the north and south.84 Along with the obvious symbolic value, this type of structural design expanded the chancel space for the clergy. The central-plan church has certain other features which further distinguish it from the more common basilica-plan church found in the Decapolis. Its design had certain similarities to that of a pagan temple, particularly in how they facilitated movement of worshippers around sacred areas like the altar or reliquaries. While some central-plan churches could serve as a place of assembly, this was not their primary, or preferred, function. Christian rituals may have occasionally been performed as a part of special feast or other religious event in these churches, but this was not a regular occurrence as in the basilica-plan church. The remaining discussion
84

Some three-apsed churches, like the Area E Church at Abila, with lateral apses projecting to the north and south instead of sharing the eastern orientation of the central apse, but without structural arms, may be more accurately described as technically having a triapsidal-transept design.

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focuses on the examples of central-plan churches found in the cities of the Decapolis, leaving the next chapter for the examination of the more widely represented basilica-plan churches. Not all of cities have remains of central-plan churches. In this case, the city with only basilica-plan churches will not be introduced into the discussion until the following section.

Fig. 3.3. Reliquary, Qalat Seman, 5th-6th c. CE (National Museum, Damascus). Oil was poured through the hole in the lid over the saints relics to be received from a hole in the bottom in a flask or other container. The oil collected was believed to have miraculous properties through such contact with the sacred remains (O. Binst, ed., The Levant [Cologne : Knemann, c2000], 225).

Abila Abila (Quailibah) was located in the northern Transjordan about 15 miles north of Capitolias-Beit Ras along the Wadi Quailibah where a natural spring brings water to the surrounding area. Two prominent mounds dominate the site of Abila: Tel Abil to the north and Umm al-Amad to the south. The city was identified in several ancient sources including Polybius who indicated that it was conquered, along with Pella and Gadara, by Seleucid forces during the Hellenistic period,85 and then again by the Hasmoneans in the first century BCE.86 Although it is not mentioned in Pliny the Elders earlier list of Decapolis cities, it was listed with other cities of the Decapolis by Ptolemy in the second-century,87 then again by Hierokles in the sixth-century as a part of Palestina Secunda. Eusebius composed the Onomasticon to assist Helenas effort to establish the location of sites associated with Jesus life, mentions Abila (Abela) located twelve miles east of Gadara as a renowned wine-producing polis. 88 During the later period of Byzantine history in the Transjordan, Abila was relatively important as an
85 86

Hist. 5.69-70. Chron. 294 D- 295 A. 87 Geog. 5.14. 88 Eus. On. 143; cf. Wineland, 62, for further discussion.

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administrative city. Hierocles Synekdemos lists Abila along with ten other cities, including Sella (Pella), Gadara, and Capitolias, as ecclesiastical administrative units of Palestina Secunda under the leading city, Scythopolis.89 The city was also mentioned in bishopric lists that date to the later tenth to the twelfth centuries citing to earlier Greek texts. The Division of Bishoprics (c. 460 CE) 90 and the List of Bishoprics of Beth-shan See (c. 575 CE)91 mention Abila as a part of an account of metropolitans in the east, suggesting its prominence as an episcopal see. This was confirmed by an inscription found in one of the water tunnels beneath the site that refers date of the tunnel (Fig. 3.4), and another that mentions the bishop (episkopos) of Abila.92 Cyril of Scythopolis in his account of monastic fathers mentions the bishop of Abila, who was involved in a religious controversy among the churches in the east. Alexander of Abila is referred to twice in Cyrils account as a bishop who apparently sympathized with the views of Origen.93 Both references place Alexander at important meetings where the Origens teachings were condemned, the second at the Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in A.D. 553. His involvement indicates Abilas significance as a religious center in the eastern provinces. 1. [ . . . . . ] [ 2. [] [ ] 3. [] 4. [ ] 5. [ ] 6. ] 7. ] 8. 9. 10. 1. [At the time of ....] the 2. most holy and most 3. blessed bishop, 4. the upper channel was cleared 5. in the month(s) Sep6. tember (and) October, in the second
89 90

Syn. 720-21. Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1455; fol. 245:34-41; cited in Wineland, 64. 91 Descriptio Parrochaie lerusalem in Titus Tobler and Augustus Molinier, Itinera Hierosolymitanu et Descriptiones Terrae Sanctae Bellis Sacris Anteriora (Genevae: J. G. Fick, 1879) 324-325; cited in Wineland, 64. 92 Bastiaan Van Elderen, The Water Tunnel Inscription at Abila, NEASB 32, 33 (1989), 2-5. 93 Cyril of Scythopolis, Lives of the Monks of Palestine, trans. R. M. Price (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1991), 192,15ff, p. 201.

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7. indiction (and) the 8. year 631.94

Fig. 3.4. Water tunnel inscription identifying the city (NEASB v. 36 (1991), cover design).

The site was surveyed by Ulrich J. Seetzen in 180695 and later explored by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1888, who noted the local designation of the site as Tell Abil.96 The identification of the site as Abila was confirmed in 1984, in the process of excavation which began in the 1980 under the direction of W. Harold Mare of Covenant Theological Seminary and which continues to the present day. 97 The archaeological remains of the city of Abila reflect the rich classical heritage of the site, including a significant pagan religious presence reflected in temples and other related Greco-Roman structures (Fig. 3.5)98 Other prominent architectural

Wineland, 77. Seetzen, Reisen, 371; vol. 4, 190-1. 96 Gottlieb Schumacher, Abila of the Decapolis (London: The Societys Office, 1889), 18, 21. 97 W. Harold Mare, 1980 Survey of Abila of the Decapolis, Biblical Archaeologist 44, no. 3 (1981): 179-80; W. Harold Mare, et al. The Decapolis Survey Project: Abila, 1980 Background and Analytical Description of Abila of the Decapolis, and the Methodology Used in the 1980 Survey, ADAJ 26 (1982): 37-66; W. Harold Mare, The 1982 Abila of the Decapolis Excavations and Regional Survey, American Journal of Archaeology 88, no. 2 (April 1984): 252. W. Harold Mare, The Fourth Campaign at Abila of the Decapolis (1986), NEASB 28 (Winter, 1987): 35-76; W. Harold Mare, The Sixth Campaign at Abila of the Decapolis: the 1990 Abila Excavation, NEASB, no. 34 (spring 1990): 2-15; W. Harold Mare, The Abila Excavation: the 1992 Seventh Campaign at Abila of the Decapolis: the Directors Preliminary Report, NEASB, no. 37 (fall 1992): 10-18; W. Harold Mare, The 1994 Excavations at Abila of the Decapolis: The Directors Preliminary Report on the Eighth Campaign, NEASB (1994): 66-78; W. Harold Mare, The 1996 Season of Excavation at Abila of the Decapolis, ADAJ 41 (1997): 303-10; W. Harold Mare, The 1996 Season of Excavation at Abila of the Decapolis. NEASB 42 (1997): 25-44; W. Harold Mare, The 1998 Season of Excavation at Abila of the Decapolis, ADAJ 43 (1999): 451-58. Cf. John D. Wineland, Ancient Abila : an Archaeological History, BAR International Series, 989 (Oxford, England: Archaeopress, 2001). 98 Michael J. Fuller, Abila of the Decapolis: A Roman-Byzantine City in Transjordan (Ph.D. diss., Washington University, 1987), 162 ff. Various archaeological remains found at the site provide evidence of the Greek cults represented in the city. Tomb paintings, terracotta figurines, seals, signet rings, coins, and architectural artifacts
95

94

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structures like a city wall and bridge dating the Roman period, possibly a bath complex, and a large number of tombs from the Roman and Byzantine period, and Christian basilicas. The churches at Abila were all constructed following the Theodosian period and reflect the development in the status of these structures for the city.

Fig. 3.5. Proposed Plan of Abila (NEASB v. 38 (1993), 28).

Area E Church A five-aisled basilica (25.4 m. x 26.6 m) located between Tell Abil and Umm al-Amad east of the Wadi Quailibah was excavated beginning in 1990.99 The latest phase of the church dated to the fifth or sixth-century CE, although it was founded at an earlier date. Like the basilicas of Areas A and D, this church features three apses, but in this case they extend in three directions forming a cruciform-like design (Fig. 3.6). The largest apse was the eastern front end of the building, with the two smaller apses facing north and south. The church had five
indicate the possible presence of the cults of Artemis, Dionysus, Pallas-Athena, Zeus (similar to that celebrated at Gerasa), and the Muses. 99 Clarence Menninga, The Unique Church at Abila of the Decapolis, NEA 67.1 (2004), 42.

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thresholds in the west wall each entering separate aisle, and two other entrances one in the north and south walls. Recent excavation has revealed that the five-aisled basilica had been built over an earlier three-aisled church, featuring an expansion of the chancel.100 Several probes within the main hall also revealed an even earlier structure upon which the church had been built.

Fig. 3.6. Top plan of Area E church (NEASB v. 39-40 (1995), 101).

The Area E church was probably not the seat of the local bishop, but was still prominent religious structure in the city. There church was renovated that expanded from its original threeaisled design to its final five-aisled form. Recent excavation has revealed that the original church was built over a Roman structure. The discovery of reused material and inscriptional
100

Robert W. Smith, 2008 Area E Preliminary Report, unpublished, 2008, 1.

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evidence suggests that the earlier structure was a Roman temple.101 An inscription found on a granite column in the church dating to some time in the second-century CE indicates the reuse of material.102 It reads: To good Tyche: For the safety of the rulers, Dischasdeinionus, having achieved his ambition, from his own expenses erected the column. 103 The inscription refers to a city official who contributed to the construction of the column invoking the personification of fortune in a formula found in similar inscriptions from the same period at Gerasa.104 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. () 1. To good Tyche 2. For the safety of the 3. rulers, Dischasdei4. nionus, having achieved 5. his ambition, from his 6. own expenses erected 7. the column. He lived 26 (years).105

The expansion of the church from its earlier design, which resulted in the increase in the size and number of sacred spaces, suggests that its role as a religious structure in the community was significant. The churchs final phase appears to emulate prominent churches associated with the life of Christ. Its layout as a triapsidal transept is unique in the Transjordan and was similar to
Ibid., 48. Smith served as supervisor excavation of the area in 1994 and suggests this as evidence that the church may have been used at an earlier time as a municipal building due to the invocation to the rulers (). 102 Bastiaan Van Elderen, Appendix A: Greek Inscription from Area A, NEASB 39-40 (1995), 95, 96, based the date on the opening formula and style of lettering. 103 Ibid. 104 Wineland, 74, 75. 105 Menninga, "Unique Church," 40-50. Authors translation.
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the famous Constantinian basilicas: Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Nativity in Palestine.106 Also, a reliquary box has been recovered in a room adjoining the south aisle making it likely that the church served to venerate a saint or prominent Christian in the community (Fig. 3.7).

Fig. 3.7. Reliquary recovered from south room (Courtesy R. W. Smith [2007]).

The Area E church was also a considerable investment the Christian community at Abila. Four rows of columns stretch to the front of the church constructed of costly limestone and basalt. Several grey Aswan granite columns were found in the church, one having an inscription referring to the donor of the column,107 as well as marble columns.108 Altar screen bases were uncovered in front of each apse, with fragments of Naxian marble attached to one base. Marble was also used both as facing for the walls on both the interior and exterior of the church, 109 and in a section of the flooring in the sanctuary.110 Several small gold leafed tesserae covered with clear glass were also found near the central threshold indicating some form of wall decoration. The use of costly materials such as these to decorate the basilica, certainly suggests an affluent community, and could also reflect the influence of the local bishop. The church represents complex interactions in spatial meaning in the community. The choice of the benefactor(s) of that location over a former pagan structure, probably temple, suggests that the site was valued as a religious spot, a sacred center, in the city even before the Christians. Its interior, which could accommodate a significant number of individuals, was
Ibid., 43. Menninga notes that the width of the basilica was the same as the Church of the Nativity as it was remodeled by Justinian in 560 CE. 107 Menninga, 44; Wineland, 39. 108 Menninga, 44, describes a beautiful column of near-white marble, with streaks of greenish mica. 109 Ibid., 43. Drilled holes 2 to 3 cm in diameter were found on the outer surface of the west wall some with fragments of bronze hangers for mounting marble facing. 110 Ibid., 47. Although much of flooring had been removed, a section of marble flooring (10 m. sq.) in the southwest corner of the church may provide evidence that marble was used, possibly even when the building was reused later.
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designed with various levels of sacrality leading up to the altar at the east end. The presence of the reliquary also indicates that there was veneration of a saint or other prominent figure in the community. The space use for rituals and housing sacred objects marked its sacrality, which makes it remarkable to have an obvious reused column with pagan inscription. This was certainly pragmatic, but a striking contrast that may have been meant to enhance the sacrality of structure by replacing one Center, with another, then reusing, and redefining, non-Christian material rendering it powerless and non-threatening. The fact could not have missed by the pagans, as the outsiders, on the other hand, the strategic placement of the facility. The church appears to have been built to closely resemble a Constantinian church in Jerusalem, a prominent state-supported structure which had also been built over a pagan structure. Along with this, its decoration and expense further testified to the means and local influence of its sponsors. Nothing could convey more clearly to non-Christians in the community the ascendancy of Christianity over the citys pagan past. Yet the church conveyed a familiar expression civic piety and offered features of the older temple: a place of community, rituals for connection to the divine, and a means of aligning with the state. The Area E church was a space of discourse and negotiation in Abila for the centered Christian and the peripheral non-Christian to define sacrality and their identity as a community.

Gadara Ancient Gadara (Umm Qeis) was located on a limestone plateau southeast of the Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee). Gadara was a transit station on a key trade route connecting the cities around Galilee with the Decapolis.111 It was also famous for its natural springs112 thought to have potent medicinal qualities.113 It was included in Pliny the Elders list of Decapolis cities114 and Ptolemys list as one of eighteen cities in the Decapolis.115 The city was incorporated into the Seleucid kingdom in 198 BCE after the region was conquered by Antiochus III.116 As with
Mohammad Al-Daire, Die fnfschiffige Basilika in Gadara - Umm Qais, Jordanien : Studien zu frhchristlichen Sakralbauten des fnfschiffigen Typus im Orient (Marburg: Tectum, 2001), 9. 112 Eus. On. 362, describes them as baths of thermal waters indicating they were naturally heated. Cf. Y. Hirscfheld, The Roman Baths of Hammat Gader: Final Report (Israel Exploration Society, 1997). 113 Ep. Pan. 1.1.17; 2.75, regrets that Gadara, where the Jesus performed a miraculous exorcism, had become more famous for its licentious activities associated with annual gatherings when men and women bathed together. 114 Naturalis Historia 18.74. 115 Geographia 14.22. 116 Polybius, The Histories, trans. W. R. Paton, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000), 5.54-85.
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other Decapolis cities, Gadara was for a brief time under Hasmonean control until Pompey placed the region under the Roman control. While Gadara may have been associated early with Jesus ministry,117 little is known about the early Christian community at the city. It later grew as a prominent Christian city in the East reflected in the citys bishop attending the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE Remaining structures in the city include two temples, two theaters, a fortified acropolis, paved colonnaded streets, a monumental gateway, a necropolis, a nymphaeum, two mausolea, a hippodrome, and two public baths (Fig. 3.8). Along with these structures, the city had a number of churches including a large five-aisled basilica with a centralized plan, the Octagonal Church, and another basilica that was constructed over a Roman hypogeum. The site was identified by Ulrich J. Seetzen in 1806 and surveyed by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1886, but excavation of the site did not begin until the next century. From 1974 to 1998 the German Evangelical Institute for the Archaeology of the Holy Land systematically surveyed and excavated the site. 118

Fig. 3.8. Map of Gadara (ADAJ, 24 [1980]). Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-17; Luke 8:26-37. The location of events described in these references has raised some difficulties, as to whether this was near Gadara, Gerasa, or Gergasa. Cf. Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1993), 146; A. F. Rainey and R. S. Notley, Gergasa, in Cartas New Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible (Jerusalem: Carta, 2007): 230-2; C. S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Mich.; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999): 282. 118 Inge Nielsen, Flemming G. Andersen and Svend Holm-Nielsen, Gadara : Umm Qes, 3 vols. (Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1993 -); P. C. Bol, A. Hoffman, and Thomas Weber, Gadara Vorbericht 1986-1988, Archologischer Anzeiger, 2 (1990): 193-266; Wolfgang Zwickel, Gadara--Umm Qes. I, Gadara Decapolitana: Untersuchungen zur Topographie, Geschichte, Architektur und bildenden Kunst einer Polis Hellenis im Ostjordanland. Zeitschrift fur die lttestamentliche Wissenschaft 116, no. 1 (2004): 167-168.
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Octagonal Church Complex The central-plan Octagonal Church with its smaller adjoining basilica formed a prominent Byzantine complex positioned on a terrace overlooking the main road of Gadara. Excavation of the church was conducted from 1976 to 1979 under the direction of U. LuxWagner of the German Evangelical Institute, and the adjacent area in 1992.119 The church was squared structure (23.15 m. x 23.70 m.) built with reused material and was accessed by a colonnaded portico from the west (Fig. 3.9). The church was designed with four apses extending of its center into each corner with a wide ambulatory (5.50 m.) arranged around a central, octagonal colonnaded space. A small exedra extended to the east from the central space indicating the principle east-west orientation of the church. It was dated by excavators to the early sixth-century based on the design of the structure.120

Fig. 3.9. Top plan of Octagonal Church and southern chapel (ADAJ 24 [1980]). Cf. excavation reports, ADAJ, 24 (1980), 157-61, 28 (1984). 87-9; 37 (1993), 385-95. See also Weber-Khouri, Umm Qais, Gadara of the Decapolis, 22-3. 120 Michel, 132.
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Like the Five-aisled Church, the Octagonal Church appeared to honor the remains of a prominent figure or saint. The central octagonal space was separated from the ambulatory by chancel screens and low walls and was accessed from the north. Before the eastern exedra in this central area, a stone burial space had been inserted into the floor. It contained a sarcophagus of stone (1.16 x .52 x .40 m.) filled with sand.121 Another basalt sarcophagus (1.12 x .59 x .59 m) was discovered at the base of the northeast apse that decorated with a cross relief, along with two other tombs (.52 x 1.72 m. and .60 x 1.74 m). While the dating and identity of these burials is not clear, their position and the design of the building suggest that the church served as a memorial. Liturgical rituals appear to have been performed nearby in the southeast apse. Chancel screens delineated this space where foundation holes for an annex table were discovered. The adjoining basilica south of the main structure featured an inscribed apse with a synthronon. Although a much smaller structure, it featured a nave with two flanking aisles to the north and south separated from an altar area which spanned their width by chancel screens.122 In the floor of the apse of this small church, another reliquary basin was discovered. Despite the fragmentary remains of these sacred spaces, it is evident that they are consistent with postTheodosian churches that established their religious position in the community through the possession of prominent relics or burials. Among the limited archaeological remains was evidence that the church was also a marker of social significance for the Christians at Gadara. Like other churches of the Justinian period, the Octagonal Church Complex appears to have emulated the Constantinian models of centralized memorial churches, particularly the archetypal Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Like this famous church, the Octagonal Church was built around a burial space encircled by an ambulatory that facilitated the movement of worshippers and visitors, but which also could be used for the celebration of liturgy. Its location on a terrace overlooking the cardo maximus provides further indication that the churchs sponsors intended not only to make use of earlier Roman materials, but also to position the structure to be admired for the piety of its builders. Costly glass mosaics in the decoration of the churches interior, as well as the use of pavers intended to imitate opus sectile flooring were used throughout the structure. Mosaic

121 122

Ibid., 130. Ibid.

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flooring was used in the southern basilica.123 Despite the lack of inscriptional evidence, the position and physical remains of the church indicate that it was an investment and marker of prestige for the Christians of Gadara. As was common with the churches of the region, the Octagonal church was a space where the negotiation of meaning for the community of Christians and non-Christians was being played out. Its location at the civic center of the city near the agora and the theater put it at the key point of social intersection. The structure design, showcasing the remains of prominent Christian or venerated relics, recalled the politically-charged, Constantinian churches of Jerusalem. The non-Christian when viewing the memorial church, which incorporated crafted classical material, was certainly reminded of the promise for divine aid that had once accompanied their local temple. The ornate architectural features of the church testified to the affluence and influence of the local Christian community who were blessed and empowered by their Gods providence. As indicated in Octagonal Church complexs location and appearance, and its associated evidences of sacrality as a house of sacred objects, it provided a religious Center that attracted community attention that set it apart from profane space outside its influence. Yet it offered a complex message that must have been strangely familiar to local pagans.

Scythopolis-Beth Shean The Decapolis city of Scythopolis-Beth Shean, modern Tel el- u n (the mound of the fortress), was a cultural crossroad in the Levant near the intersection of routes critical for trade and military movement, one crossing the Jezreel Valley to the coast and the other the Jordan Valley. The only Decapolis city in the Cisjordan, its position in a fertile river-valley that contributed to its long occupation dating back to the Neolithic period and continuing to the Islamic period. After Alexander conquered the region in the fourth-century BCE, the city was re-founded as Greek colony and was named Scythopolis 124 (city of Scythians),125 probably by

Ibid., 132. It was also known as Nysa-Scythopolis after Nysa, the nursemaid of citys founding deity, Dionysus. 125 M. Avi-Yonah, Scythopolis, IEJ 12:2 (1962): 127, indicates that the earliest reference to Scythopolis, which dates to the second century, was in reference to Scythian mercenaries employed by the Ptolemies, not invaders of the seventh-century BCE. Cf. E. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1982), 85.
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Ptolemy Philadelphus in the first part of the third-century BCE.126 Pompey conquered the region in 63 BCE bringing Scythopolis under Roman control. In the Roman period, the city was embellished with classical trappings fitting for a provincial center in the East,127 including a theater, an amphitheater, a hippodrome, an odeum or bouleterion, a basilica, a nymphaeum, a stoa, and at least two bath complexes (Fig. 3.10). Along with these were four temples in the city, including one dedicated to Zeus Akraios that dominated the top of the acropolis.128

Fig. 3.10. Topographical map of Scythopolis-Beth Shean (Foerster, ESI 17.5-6.)

The city was flourishing center during the Byzantine period as the provincial capital (metropolis) of Palestina Secunda, which incorporated a number of Decapolis cities. The expansion of the population led to the construction of surrounding wall and a new bath complex
Ariel Lewin, The Archaeology of Ancient Judea and Palestine. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005), p. 92. 127 Eus. On. 257, notes it was a renowned polis of Palestina. 128 Lewis, 94.
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at Scythopolis.129 A number of private residences were also uncovered near the amphitheater and at the top of the acropolis. The seat of the governor in the early sixth-century, the population grew to an estimated 30,000-38,000 inhabitants.130 As a thriving center during this period, it had a considerable Jewish community reflected by the presence of two synagogues, the House of Leontius and the Samaritan (?) Synagogue.131 Literary sources mention several churches at the city, including the Church of St. John, Sanctuary to the Apostle Thomas, Chapel of St. Basil, and the Chapel of St. Procopius, who was martyred in 303 in the final major persecution of Christians.132 Despite these references only a few churches remain to be examined at the site. The site was excavated by the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Clarence S. Fisher (1921-1923), Alan Rowe (1925-1928), and Gerald M. Fitzgerald (1930 and 1933), with the Byzantine and Islamic remains being uncovered between 1921 and 1923. 133 Excavations of the site were initiated again in the 1980s, with nine seasons of excavation between 1988 and 1996 under the direction of Amihai Mazar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.134

Round Church Overlooking the city at the summit of Tel el- u n, the Round Church, which commemorated the burial of a saint or prominent Christian in the community, was constructed over a Roman temple dedicated to Zeus Akraios.135 The sixth-century church136 was a centralplan structure of two concentric circular walls with an apse (10 m in width) in its eastern end. Nine column shafts of the twelve that formed the inner circle were recovered, along with six Corinthian capitals, which supported a roof that was apparently open to the sky at its center.137
Ibid. Ibid., 95. 131 Gideon Foerster, Beth Shean at the Foot of the Mound, in NEAEHL 1, 233-4. 132 A. Rowe, The History and Topography of Beth Shan 1 (Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 1930), 50. 133 Gerald M. Fitzgerald, Beth-Shean Excavations, 192123: The Arab and Byzantine Levels 3 (Philadelphia: University Press of University of Pennsylvania, 1931); Gerald M. Fitzgerald, A Sixth-century Monastery at BethShan (Scythopolis) 4 (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1939). 134 Yoram Tsafir and Gidon Foester, Beth Shean Excavation Project 1988/1989, Amihai Mazar, The BethShean Valley Regional Project, http://www.rehov.org/project/tel_beth_shean.htm. 135 Lewin, 98. 136 Fitzgerald, Beth-Shean, 37, indicates that the ceramics, which spans the Byzantine and Islamic periods, cannot be depended upon for accurate date, due to lower levels being disturbed in Islamic times. Evidence from coinage of nearby residences date from the fifth to the sixth-century, 137 Ibid., 25. This is due to the foundation being only two to three feet in width.
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The entrance from the west appeared to have been destroyed. The paved narthex of the church138 had marble flooring stretched to the west, suggesting the presence of a courtyard, or atrium.139 The church was also accessed by additional doorways to the south, southwest, northwest. Another passageway in northeast corner led to an ambulatory to the north of the apse.140 The main hall was adjoined by a small room in the northeast. The church occupied the top of the acropolis overlooking the city. It was constructed over a famous Roman temple that had long held that prominent position that was visible to the citys inhabitants. Its conspicuous location served to heighten the awareness of the church, which also functioned as a memorial chapel. Its central-plan design fostered movement of pilgrims around the relics of a saint or burial of an important individual in the community. Excavators note the similarity in its rotunda with that of Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem,141 another church made famous for its construction over the ruins of a temple of Aphrodite.142 Excavators also recognized distinct similarities with the Church of St. Stephen, built by the Princess Eudocia between 431-38 CE.143 Although excavators did not raise the possibility that the church was a martyrium, they do note that two graves found directly under the ambulatory floor, near the altar on the east end, were placed there at the churchs construction.144 It is possible that these were the burial sites for two important individuals mentioned in inscriptions in the chapel (Room G) of the so-called Monastery of Lady Mary, which mentioned a Mary, assumed to be the patroness of the monastery and Christian community, and Elias, a local priest.145 While its construction over the ruins of such a conspicuous pagan structure was certainly a pragmatic decision to take advantage of available architectural material, it must have also been a potent reminder of the triumph of the Christian faith. The Round Church was located in an affluent neighborhood of private residences which occupied the rest of the mound. While fragmentary, the remains of the churchs floors indicate the use of costly materials. The sanctuary was paved with marble. Colored limestone tesserae
138 139

Ibid., 18. Ibid., 19. 140 Ibid., 20. 141 Ibid., 27. 142 FitzGerald, Beth-Shean, 18; Eusebius, Life 3.26. 143 Fitzgerald, Beth-Shean, 23. 144 Ibid., 31. 145 Fitzgerald, Sixth-century, 15, 16

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were used for the common area of the narthex, which was bordered by white marble slabs. Mosaics of a variety of colors were used in the room off the narthex forming patterns of interlaced circles with crosses.146 The ambulatory walls were decorated with marble and mosaic facing. Ornate glass mosaics of blue, green, yellow, and red color, as well as gold-leafed pieces, gave the interior walls of the church an ethereal feel.147 Worked bronze objects were recovered including a door handle in the shape of lions head, and polycandela that were used to light the church. The Round Church embodied the contending influences that shaped its meaning for the community. Its position laid claim to the sacred legacy of temple which it physically appropriated located overlooking. Adherents to the traditional cults must have wondered if this overt de-sacralization and the reassignment of the temple space for the preeminent needs of the state religion were meant to intimidate them. This location was conspicuous as a sacral center in the city, but its verticality provided its sponsors in the Christian community a way of asserted power and authority in the community.148 Its design was reminiscent of state sponsored memorial churches that had also occupied former pagan spaces. Its association with a clergy member and a prominent individual reinforced the political connection of prominent Christians. Along with its physical appropriation of a former temple space, the church redefined the sacral meaning, and thereby re-Centering the space, with the burial of prominent Christians within its walls. While the rituals were different from the old Roman cults, the Round Church would not have been a completely foreign space. It had traces that were recognizable: the architecture, the rituals, the promise of divine aid, the community, and the political connections that were not very unlike the temple that had once occupied the Acropolis.

Gerasa The Decapolis city of Gerasa (Jerash) was a prominent city of the Decapolis as indicated in the well-preserved Greco-Roman archaeological remains. First identified by German scholar Ulrich Seetzen in 1806, the site was not excavated until 1925 under George Horsfield who led a British and American expedition. From 1928 to 1934, a joint venture by the British School of Archaeology and Yale University under John W. Crowfoot brought about the excavation of
146 147

Fitzgerald Sixth-century, 19. Fitzgerald, Beth-Shean, 22. 148 Lefebvre, 236.

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many of the citys Christian monuments,149 the British team eventually was replaced by the American School of Oriental Research (ASOR) in 1930 under Clarence S. Fisher, and later under Nelson Glueck in 1933-1934. During this period, many of the citys most significant structures were excavated or cleared, including the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Artemis, the cardo and its related structures, the southern theater, and many of the churches. An Italian expedition resumed excavation in 1975 and continued under a joint venture of several international teams called The Jerash Archaeological Project in 1982. Gerasa, originally a small Hellenistic settlement,150 became associated with the Decapolis with its foundation as a polis under the Seleucids in the third-century BCE. Like the other cities of the Decapolis it was eventually brought under Roman control by Pompey in the first century BCE, after a briefly belonging to the Hasmoneans. Later it was incorporated into Provincia Arabia by Trajan in 105 CE, developing into a prosperous city during the Roman era by taking advantage of its position along a major international trade route. Gerasa experienced its Golden Age in the period of the Antonines. This resulted in the renovation and expansion of the massive Temple of Zeus (ca. 163), the development of structures along the cardo maximus, including the ornate Nyphaeum in 191, and the addition of a large oval plaza to the south. A triumphal arch was built to herald the visit by Hadrian to the city in the second-century CE and a hippodrome was added shortly thereafter near the arch outside the city walls. The Temple of Artemis became the religious focal point of the city after its completion in 180 CE. The addition of a second theater to the north and the large bath complex in the west further testified to the citys affluence during this period.151 While Gerasa experienced decline during the third and fourth centuries,152 the expansion of Christianity in the region after Constantine led to the establishment of a thriving Christian community. The growth of the Christian population and the flourishing of trade and commerce from Theodosius to Justinian brought about periods of extensive church construction from the fifth to the seventh centuries CE. Christians at Gerasa thrived until their eventual decline in the period following the Muslim conquest of the region in 635 CE

Crowfoot, Churches, 171-262, Kraeling, History, 27, suggests that the city was established by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. 151 Clarence S. Fisher, Buildings of the Christian Period, in Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, ed. C. H. Kraeling (New Haven, Connecticut: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1938), 265. The bath complex adjacent to the Church of St. Theodore was constructed by the Bishop Placcus in 454-5. 152 Kraeling, History, 62, notes the citys further decline in the fourth-century is reflected in the almost complete absence of epigraphic evidence until the mid-fifth-century.
150

149

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Church of the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs The Church of the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, excavated in the 1930s, was located in the northeast part of the city and dates to 464/5 CE. The physical remains of the church are limited, but soundings were made that provide further information about its design and features. The cruciform, or cross-shaped, building had an eastern orientation with a single apse in the shape of a Latin cross (Fig. 3.11). Four arms, or halls, each with a nave and two lateral aisles radiated off a central squared area supported by four great Corinthian columns.153 The western arm was lengthened by an additional span and the eastern arm featured a chancel that occupied the whole nave and apse. The apse was decorated with three vaulted niches and its walls were covered with plaster.154 It had eleven external doorways with three entrances in the western wall from a portico opening on the main hall.155

Fig. 3.11. Top plan of the Church of the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 41).
153 154

Ibid., 190. Michel, 241. 155 Ibid., indicates that the church may have been flanked by another portico in the north.

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Little remains of the structure, but what has been recovered provides some indication of the investment made by benefaction of pious Christian in the community for its construction. The church included a chancel delineated by marble screens which occupied the central portion of the eastern arm. Mosaics in rectangular panels decorated the main hall, although only fragmentary remains were found in the southeast corner of the church (Fig. 3.12).156 The churchs importance in the community was revealed in an inscription on the lintel above the central western entrance that was recovered in the initial excavation.157 It provides the date of the churchs origin, identifies the saints to whom it was dedicated, and mentions its benefactors, a prominent bishop and an affluent matron. As in the case of the Round Church at ScythopolisBeth Shean and other churches at Gerasa, the dedication mentions affluent women in the Christian community with a local bishop. The church, which was dedicated to the Holy Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs, was built during the episcopate of Claudius and financed through the benefaction of the blessed Marina.158 The spatial meanings of church building were complex as both sacred and gendered messages. While women were generally excluded from centers of authority within local churches, they were preiminant benefactors suggesting that their influence was considerable within the Christian community.

156 157

Ibid. The mosaics in the chapel had a geometric border. Crowfoot, Churches, 256, ins. 298. The inscription has since been lost. 158 Kraeling, Gerasa, 476, ins. 298; Michel, 241.

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Fig. 3.12. Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs mosaic floor (Crowfoot (1971), pl. XIV)

The cruciform design of the church clearly marked the structure and its location as a sacred center in the city. Its architecture, including the massive Corinthian columns, communicated its connection with classical culture from which the builders borrowed both figuratively and literally, but this familiarity for the audience was tempered with new meanings communicated through the Christian symbols that certainly decorated the plastered walls. Even non-Christians understood the mixed political and social messages of the church space communicated through the inscription that mounted one of its main entrances praising the civic benefactor and associating it with the local religious official of the state. It served an

educational function, but was also a part of the appeal for interaction. This was not one of the traditional temples for which Gerasa had been famous, but it did have many similar associations, as long as the non-Christian (the Other) could accept the new authority which it represented. The church building, as an actor in the discourse, lured the non-Christian with familiar elements into interacting with the structure and its rituals. These in turn served a didactic function. The outsider, at this time likely a catechumen, would enter within the churchs ornamented interior to be brought into the presence of sacred objects that serve to authenticate the hope of divine

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blessings. In this way, the Church of the Holy Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs was a space designed for this interaction, but was also shaped by those who were willing to engage it.

Church Complex of St. George, St. John the Baptist, and SS. Cosmas and Damianus A complex of three churches, excavated in 1929,159 was located southwest of the Temple of Artemis about 150 m. west-northwest of the St. Theodores atrium. The complex was as a central-plan church flanked by two parecclesia all sharing a common western atrium (Fig. 3.13).160 They were constructed from 529 to 533 CE and dedicated to prominent saints of the Church.161 The central church in the complex, the Church of St. John Baptist had a centraldesign with a rotunda inscribed in a square featuring four horseshoe exedra facing cardinal points, and a projecting apse in the east end flanked by two rooms. It was completed in 531 according to an inscription in front of the chancel steps, about the same time as the adjoining sanctuaries.162 The central structure featured four columns which supported a covering dome. The Church of St. George, a single-apsed basilica dating to 529-30 having a central nave and two lateral aisles, was the southern part of the complex of three joined structures.163 Its chancel in the eastern end extended to the first bay and featured a synthronon in its apse. It adjoined the Church of St. John the Baptist by two doors in its northern wall. The northern basilica in the complex, the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus, dates from 529-533 and was almost identical in its form to the Church of St. George: a basilica with a nave flanked by aisles having a single inscribed apse with adjacent rooms in the north and south. Both of the lateral churches were built with the same design having three sets of stone piers rather than columns.164

159 160

Michel, 245. Excavation was conducted by the British School of Archaeology under A. H. M. Jones. Crowfoot, Churches, 242. 161 Ibid., 241. 162 Ibid., 193, 242. 163 Michel, 247-49. 164 Crowfoot, Churches, 246.

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Fig. 3.13. Top plan of the Church of St. John the Baptist complex (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 37).

Each church had an ambo that had been added at a later date.165 The Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus was the earliest of the churches, but fell into disuse probably after being damaged by an earthquake. While the church was destroyed, its floors were preserved allowing its unique mosaic portraits to escape the iconoclasts.166 The church complex continued to be used until the eighth-century. Its sacred function in the community eventually came to an end leading to its conversion to a secular structure, although the reason for this development is not clear.167 The church complex embodies the spatial interaction of elements of continuity and discontinuity. While not positioned over a former temenos, the construction of the church complex involved the reuse of masonry and other spoila from temple ruins in the city. An inscription found on a block that had been incorporated into the floor of the church indicated that it had been taken from the Temple of Zeus.168 Like other churches in the city, the church complex was constructed in a way to accommodate the expanded ritual needs of the Christian community in the sixth-century. Certain liturgical features that were more common in later churches, such as an ambo169 and synthronon, were incorporated into these churches. The

Michel, 251. Crowfoot, Churches, 248. 167 Michel, 251. 168 Crowfoot, Churches, 243, insc. 6. 169 Michel, 247, notes that the ambo base recovered in the nave of the Church of St. John the Baptist was added some time after its construction.
166

165

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Church of St. George had a chancel in the east end that was elevated above the nave by two sets of stairs. An ambo was accessed from the south end of the chancel.170 The Churches of St. John the Baptist and SS. Cosmas and Damianus shared a baptistery that had been converted from a former chapel with two flanking chambers of mosaics (Fig. 3.14).171 Another room that probably served as a sacristry, housing sacred vessels and vestments, connected the southeastern end of the St. John church with the northeastern part of the St. George church.172 The Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus featured an ambo that was inserted at a later date before its chancel.173 The sacrality of the churches was enhanced by their function in the veneration of saints and prominent religious individuals in the community, indicated by the presence of inscriptions and reliquaries. One reliquary was found before the bishops throne in the chancel of the Church of St. George, along with another that was thought to belong to one of the nearby churches.174 The complex may have been designed to facilitate certain annual celebrations. It is possible that the churches were not used simultaneously, but the lateral churches were only utilized for particular rituals during the year.175

Fig. 3.14. Baptistery of Church of St. John Baptist complex (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 48a.)

Ibid., 249. Michel indicates that this is a departure from the common placement of the reliquary under the altar or forming the base of the altar. 171 Crowfoot, Churches, 243. 172 Ibid., 244. 173 Michel, 250. 174 Crowfoot, Churches, 245-6. 175 Michel, 251, suggests this based on the specialization of the dedications for each church.

170

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Its unique and well-planned design of two symmetrical churches flanking a central rotunda church was quickly erected, which highlights the affluence of the Christian community.176 The central space of the Church of St. John the Baptist, which featured exedras joined to the sanctuary, was designed as gathering area for religious or social functions.177 Its construction employed costly material. In the Church of St. George, rich black marble was used for its chancel screens and posts,178 while the chancels floor was comprised of marble opus sectile. Decorative mosaics were used in the nave and side aisles, featuring a variety of geometric and floral patterns. The interior walls were covered with marble179 or limestone.180 In the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus, the apse walls were punctured with holes where marble or stone facing had been fastened. As with adjacent churches, its main hall was filled with ornate mosaics of various floral and geometric designs. 181 The interior apse of the St. John the Baptist church was decorated with glass tesserae to give its walls a glittering, reflective surface.182 Its floors were also composed of decorative mosaics featuring various kinds of floral patterns depicting vines and borders of acanthus, similar to those found in the other two churches, but notably repurposing Dionysiac motifs for Christian uses. The mosaic floors of Church of St. John the Baptist even featured images inspired by natural scenes of Nile River, similar to those found in Egyptian churches (3.14).183

176 177

Ibid. Ibid., 245. 178 Crowfoot, Churches, 246) 179 Michel, 247. Marble facing was used in the apse of St. John the Baptist church. 180 Crowfoot, Churches, 243; Michel, 247. 181 Michel, 250. 182 Crowfoot, Churches, 244. 183 Michel, 247.

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Fig. 3.15. Mosaics of Church of St. John Baptist featuring Nilotic motifs (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 68b.)

Along with these features, inscriptions provide insight into those responsible for the construction or embellishment of the churches. Six inscriptions were found in floor of the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus. One inscription, which was framed in a cartouche before the chancel steps, provided a dedication date of 533 CE and included ten lines referring Bishop Paul and the churchs founder and benefactor, the paramonarius Theodore.184 Theodore was commemorated in another inscription before the chancel of the Church of St. John the Baptist, credited for the addition of a roof and decorative mosaic flooring in 531.185 An inscription in front of the chancel of the Church of St. George commemorated the donation of a roof, mosaic paving, and other decorations by one whose name the Lord knows.186 Excavators suggest this was possibly the wife of Theodore, portrayed with her husband in floor mosaic in the SS. Cosmas and Damianus church.187 This unique mosaic portrait,188 depicting both husband and wife in devotional attitudes, frontal in pose and rigid in expression, provides possible evidence that there were similar mosaic dedications before the iconoclasts removed such human depictions

Crowfoot, Churches, 245-6, ins. 314. Ibid., 242, ins. 306. 186 Ibid., 245, ins. 309. 187 Ibid., ins. 315, 316. 188 Michel, 251. The mosaic portraits were preserved from the iconoclasts apparently by being hidden by after the church had fallen into disuse or by its conversion to a secular structure.
185

184

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from church floors (Fig. 3.16).189 Additional panels were uncovered in the central nave that commemorated other benefactors, including Justinians general, Dagistheus.190 A dedicatory inscription was found in the east end of the Church of St. George in front of the chancel barrier that praised the churchs builder. It notes during the construction period under the very saintly Bishop Paul the temple of St. George was provided with a roof and mosaics by an anonymous donor who prayed for pardon for sins in return for his generosity.191

Fig. 3.16. Theodore and his wife at the Cosmas and Damianus church at Gerasa (Piccirillo [2000], 276-7, nos. 507, 509)

The church complex reflected the complex religious and social interactions of the participants in rituals and the architecture. The location of the church near the large pagan temple reflects the re-centering of sacred space in the city. The elements of the architecture reemployed classical material and design that were engaging to the non-Christian, yet asserting a new meaning incorporated into church. The central church was designed as a communal space that provided direct access to the ritual spaces to the north and south. The complex was a space of social interaction, and like the temple precinct was blended religious and political agendas. The inscriptions identified to gatherers on the periphery, whether as non-Christians or non-elite, the identity of those in power. Its sacrality was evident in the normative features, including additional ritual spaces like the baptistery and sacristery. Outsiders were invited to the

189

Biebel, 299, notes that among other less common mosaic images found in churches of the region were representations of months and seasons in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Church of SS. Peter and Paul, and the monastery at Beth Shean. 190 Crowfoot, Churches, 246, ins. 311-3. 191 Michel, 249.

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interaction with the churches of the complex by reminders of the nearby temple in its progressive divisions of sacral spaces, inscriptional dedications, immersion rituals, grand embellishments of the interior spaces intended to inspire awe and reverence, but then once engaged they were taught a new ritual language.

Mortuary Church The Mortuary Church was a burial chapel dating to 565 located in the southwest part of Gerasa about 15 m. from Church of St. Peter and Paul near the city wall.192 The church, excavated by the British in 1929, was a simple basilica having a unique trapezoidal shape. It was furnished with a single apse in its east end and was joined to the south by a burial cave (Fig. 3.16). The church had been excavated from the hillside; its south wall having been carved out of solid rock. It was accessed from the outside by three entrances to the north, while entrance to the cave was through a doorway in its southwest corner. The cave featured two niches carved its south wall. One was semi-circular and vaulted with a small dome, and the other a rectangular cavity.193 The chancel was elevated by one level above the nave. The apse in the churchs east wall was further elevated and featured two niches: one in the floor and the other in the wall.194

Fig. 3.17. Top plan of the Mortuary Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 40).

Although it was smaller than other churches, the Mortuary Church was still esteemed by the Christians of the city. The memorial chapel adjoined a burial cave that served as repository
192 193

Ibid., 259; Crowfoot, Churches, 254. Michel, 259. 194 Ibid..

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for the remains of a venerated individual, but it also served as a space for the practice of Christian rituals, as indicated by the presence of fragmentary remains of an altar table found in the cord of the apse. Similar to other churches of the period, its chancel provided access to an ambo and a synthronon in its apse for clergy members.195 Along with its sacred function, the Mortuary Church was an indicator of the affluence of its sponsors. Mosaics and marble decorated the floors of the chancel and nave.196 Two panels of mosaics featured geometric designs and floral patterns depicting vines springing from an amphora.197 Ornate opus sectile was also used in the flooring of the apse. Among the mosaics were two inscriptions that were preserved. One was a dedication inscription found in the nave that indicates that an unnamed individual built the church for the salvation of his parents.198 It is possible that the church was built over the burial cave where the parents were laid to rest, although it is not clear that the two structures share the same date of origin.199 Despite its small size, the Mortuary Chapel was a space which fostered discussion between its builders at the Center and the others of the community. The chapels design as memorial structure in connection with a sacred burial cave attested to the sacrality of the location and provided the hope for divine interaction, which would have been familiar association even for non-Christians. Yet the veneration of Christian burials and relics, the altar space and related rituals signaled new significations. The embellishment of the shrine by prominent citizens would be expected, but the presence of Christian symbols and subtle educational messages marked the process of differentiation occurring. Again the space was a lure for interaction by elements of continuity, while asserting new religious and social meanings.

Octagonal Church The Octagonal Church, which had been built outside the city walls, was accidentally uncovered by construction equipment and then partially excavated in 1982-83 by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities. 200 Excavations of the structure have not been completed or published, which limits the conclusions that can be made about its function for the Christian
195 196

Ibid. Crowfoot, Churches, 255. 197 Michel, 259. 198 Crowfoot, Churches, 254, ins. 333. 199 Michel, 259. 200 Ibid., 274.

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community at Gerasa. Unfortunately, the western end of the church was the only part preserved due to effects of erosion. It was designed as an octagon inscribed in a square, similar to the octagonal church at Gadara.201 An atrium with four porticoes of the Ionic order led up to the western entrance. The fragmentary remains of the church included some ornate features that hint at its past grandeur. Some decorative floor mosaics were preserved, along with a marble chancel screen that was recovered from the ruins of the church. Unfortunately, little else can be determined about its origin or use during the Byzantine period. Despite its limited remains, the Octagonal Church appears to have features that asserted its sacrality in the city, while at the same time encouraging discourse between Christians and non-Christians. Its architecture reflected the reemployment and reclassification of classical elements inviting the outsider to investigate past the atrium. Once inside the participant would engage by familiar mosaics and chancel areas but marked with new sacral symbols that would provoke discussion and education of the Christian rituals and their meanings.

Philadelphia-Amman Philadelphia-Amman, which has an occupational history dating back to the sixth millennium BCE, was a thriving Christian community with several churches during the Byzantine period. The city of Ammanitis was re-founded in the third-century BCE by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283-246 BCE), after whom it was named.202 As with other Decapolis cities, it officially passed into the control of the Romans when Pompey conquered the region. Its importance was enhanced as a key stop on the Nova Trajana, a major Roman highway through the region constructed in the second-century CE As a Greco-Roman polis,203 it featured certain customary public structures like a forum, theater, odeum, nympheum, and temples.204 Several Byzantine churches were built both on the Citadel, or Qala, near the former Temple of Hercules, and in the lower part of the city (Fig. 3.18). Philadelphias ancient remains came to light for Europeans who initiated exploration and study of the Transjordan in the nineteenth century. The site was surveyed by Ulrich Seetzen in 1806 and then visited again by Claude R. Conder in 1880.

Ibid. MacAdam, 27. 203 Eus. On. 41, 66, indicates that it was a famous polis in Arabia. 204 Arthur Segal, Roman Cities in the Province of Arabia, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 40:2 (May, 1981), 109.
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201

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205

Archaeological excavation of the city began not long after the site was surveyed by Howard

C. Butler in 1921.206 An Italian team under the direction of Giacoma Guidi, and then Renator Bartoccini, excavated from 1927 to 1938.207 Excavation by the Department of Antiquity of Jordan under Fawzi Zayadine in 1938 revealed a Byzantine church, which indicated the presence of a thriving Christian community at Philadelphia-Amman. 208

Fig. 3.18. Topographical map of the citadel of Philadelphia-Amman (Northedge [1992], 19ff.).

While Philadelphia-Amman apparently played a minor role in early Christianity, it developed a significant Christian population by the time of Diocletian. During his persecutions at the beginning of the fourth-century, a number of martyrdoms were associated with the city, or

205

Alastair Northedge, ed. Studies on Roman and Islamic Amman: History, Site and Architecture, v. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 16. He provides an overview of early surveys of Amman. 206 Howard C. Butler, Ancient Architecture in Syria, Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria, 1904-1905, and 1909, bk. 2, sect. A (Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1907), 34-62. 207 Northedge, 17. 208 Fawzi Zayadine, Excavations on the Upper Citadel of Amman- Area A (1975-77), ADAJ 22 (1977-78): 22-56.

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its nearby vicinity.209 A bishop from the city was at the Council of Nicaea in 325.210 Evidence indicates that it was a prosperous city during this period, although there is little mention of it in sources.211 A number of churches located at Philadelphia-Amman provide some indication of the vitality of the Christian here. A basilica was identified by excavators as the cathedral near the end of the cardo. Another sixth-century church was discovered by an Italian team in the 1930s on the upper terrace of the citadel. Southwest of citadel a chapel was located. And outside the city limits, several other churches were discovered. These include the sixth-century basilica was found at Swafiyya, the church that had been converted from a late Roman temple at Khurahbat al-Suq, and the two churches identified in the southeast suburb of Quwaysma. One was located near a mausoleum with mosaic floors, and another dating to the second half of the sixth-century also with mosaic floors.212 These churches built after the fourth-century provides evidence of religious and social function for these communities that were previously associated with temples.

Church of St. George The Church of St. George at Jabal al-Waybdah, west of the citadel overlooking the Wadi Saqra and the Wadi Misdar al-Madhnah, was built against a carved grotto, or burial cave. The structure was incorporated into a residential structure constructed between 1920 and 1930 that later became the Center of Art of Darat al-Funun in Amman.213 It was first explored and described in the 1881 by Conder214 and subsequently by others in the early twentieth century which resulted in the publication of a few inscriptions.215 Bagatti visited the site in 1948 on a campaign led by Lankester Harding, the director of ACOR. Excavation of the site began in 1992 by American Center of Oriental Research in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan under the direction of Pierre Bikai.216 The small church had the general appearance of a single-apsed basilica (24.50 x 15 m.) with a nave and two aisles divided by two rows of three

MacAdam, 41. Piccirillo, 262. 211 Ibid., 39-40. 212 Ibid., 42. 213 Michel, 281. 214 Conder, 56. 215 Savignac-Able, RB 14 (1905), 596-7. 216 Pierre M. Bikai, May Shaer, and Brian Fitzgerald, The Byzantine Church at Darat al-Funun, ADAJ 38 (1994): 402.
210

209

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columns, but excavators suggest it was likely designed as a cruciform church.217 A small rectangular hall (3.30 x 3.00 m.) adjoined the church to the south and a grotto to the north. The entrance to the church was from the west by way of colonnaded atrium. The church was joined to a burial cave (8.00 x 8.70 m.) that had been carved from rock to the north (Fig. 3.19). The inner walls featured four niches: two in the south wall, and one in each the north and east wall. Fragments of a sarcophagus were found in the larger niche in the southern wall. The church appears to date to the sixth-century based on the paleography of the inscription and the style of the mosaic acanthus rings bordering the larger field in the south aisle.218

Fig. 3.19. Top plan of the Church of St. George (Bikai, et. al. [1994]).

Bikai suggested that the Church of St. George may have been built in a cruciform pattern. He notes that the length of the third span in the southern wall (7.00 m.) that was larger than the others (4.00 m.), corresponding to the width of the nave. Taking this into consideration, along with its location over a grotto with evidence of burial, it is likely that the church was a memorial chapel. Marble posts fragments were all that remained of the chancel in the east end. The presence of an ambo was indicated by a space in the mosaics before the chancel in the north aisle.219 An ovoid shaped cavity in the western end of the north aisle was interpreted by excavators as a baptismal basin. These features, along with its conspicuous location over a sacralized grotto, testify to the religious significance of this church for the Christian community. The church was adorned with variously-colored mosaics and marble tile which paved the interior of church. The mosaic fields featured a number of different motifs. Floral-patterned
Ibid., 402 ff. Michel, 282. 219 Ibid., notes that the placement of an ambo in the north aisle would be unique, as most ambos in Transjordanian churches were located in the south aisle.
218 217

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mosaics were found in the portico outside the western entrance, at the entrance to the grotto in the north aisle, and lining the walls of the baptismal basin. Acanthus leaves decorated the border of the south room and in the apse. A Greek cross was found before the grotto. A benefactor is identified in a Greek inscription engraved on a marble plaque found in the churchs immediate vicinity. It reads: + () , [()] ( ) () | () () [] () | ( ) ( ), () | ( ) () [] () | [..]. By the will of God and the desire of the very saintly monk (?) and priest [or elder] of St. George, for the salvation and longevity of our rulers, thanks to their liberality [or ambition], this church has been erected under by the holy Bishop Polyeucte by the zeal of Thalassamachias archpriest (?)220 The dedication draws attention to the contributions made by preeminent religious figures and benefactors. It also indicates that the construction of the church building was an expression of their piety. The Church of St. George was a sacred center in the city as indicated by its location over a venerated burial grotto, yet it was also intended to be provocative with elements of a classical burial shrine. It was a conspicuous religious marker reflected in its symbolic cruciform design, but it was also a site for ritual observation. The inscription reflects the blending of religious and political meaning embodied in the church. The centered religious and civic authorities were honored in a formulaic manner that distinguished them from those outside their circles, but they still sought and expected their admiration. This interplay would be expected by those who recognized these associations common in temple inscriptions. Yet new meanings were assigned through the placement of cross before the grotto and other similar Christian markers throughout the structure.

220

Ibid. Authors translation. The symbol (+) before the inscription is the common marker of Byzantine inscriptions known as the prosphora that may carry the sense of a gift or benefaction in honor of the dead. Cf. Fitzgerald, Sixth Century, 14.

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Chapter 4

Churches of the Decapolis: 5th to 7th c. CE: Basilica-plan Churches The Roman basilica is the predominant type of church building found in Decapolis cities. The use of this design, which appears to have been adopted after Constantine, suggests a direct political association was intended, particularly with the expanded role of clergy in the administrative matters of empire. The basilica was a standard Roman structure: it was utterly functional in its design, but it also conveyed political authority as a local administrative and legal center.1 The Roman basilica, while not wholly uniform in design, often had apses at both ends in longitudinal symmetry. The apse in the Roman basilica facilitated the positioning of the political or local administrative official, such as one serving in judicial function. The central apse of the Christian basilica was the seat of the local bishop or leading clerical official in the community. The political legacy of the Roman apse was co-opted by bishops, who were invested with both religious and administrative authority. The eastern end of the church could feature one to three apses and was the location of the altar, the ritual center of the church, where the church officials oversaw the Eucharist.2 The focus of attention in the church building was

always in this direction toward the ritual celebration. In terms of spatial sacrality, the altar served as the sacred Center where the divine world intersected with the material world in the Eucharistic celebration. Levels of sacrality then were related to the proximity in relation to the altar in the chancel where only clergy were allowed to enter. The sacred aura diminished in the adjacent rooms off the main hall, the nave, the narthex, and finally the atrium and the outside world. The design and features of the basilica varied little among those represented in this study. Larger basilicas were usually accessed by three entrances from the west into a nave with two to four flanking aisles to the north and south, forming the main hall. Taft indicates that in Constantinople this design facilitated the processional rites popular in the post-Theodosian
1 2

Bruno Zevi, Architecture as Space (New York: Harvest Press, 1974), 83. Ibid. Zevi indicates that this change in design was intentional to establish directional orientation for the ritual. He says, the [Christian architect] broke the double symmetry of the rectangle, leaving only the longitudinal axis, which then became the directive line for mans movement.

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period in which congregants were led through the city by the emperor and the bishops in a sacred parade from the palace to the church, ending at the altar for the celebration of the Christian rituals.3 Basilica-plan churches typically had two to three entrances in the north and south walls or from lateral rooms, although in later periods these were usually closed off to encourage a more orderly flow from the west. While the three-nave church was the most prevalent type found in the Decapolis region, five-nave churches with a central nave flanked to the north and south by two lateral aisles, were also known at certain sites. These are thought to imitate the five-nave Constantinian churches.4 Early Christian basilicas were constructed with a single apse in the eastern end, usually spanning the width of the central nave, that was either inscribed (internal) or projecting (external), but in later structures three apses became more common.5 The apse, which was usually flanked by side chambers, appears to have been derived from classical designs, similar to those found in structures in Syria,6 which may have contributed to the triapsidal church pattern. Basilica-plan churches, while having certain unique and varying features, generally followed a standard pattern in their design. Many of these churches were either built, or later expanded, to accommodate rather large assemblies, not only in the main hall, but in adjacent courtyards and entrance halls. One to three doorways led into a main hall, comprised of a central nave with one or two lateral aisles to the north and south. Almost always located in the eastern end of the church was the altar area (domus dei) or chancel, the focal point of the structure where the Eucharist was overseen by leading clergy. This sacred elevated area (chancel, also known as the bema) was separated from the nave by marble fencing, or chancel screens (iconostases), and often extended west into the central nave. An apse was generally located in the back of the chancel behind the altar that featured a synthronon, or seats built into the apse wall for the bishop and clergy. In some basilica-plan churches, an ambo, a type of early pulpit, would be located in the east end, accessed either from the chancel or from the center of the nave. Secondary structures became more prevalent in later years to accommodate the needs of the clergy for various rituals, or for other non-sacred uses. Basilica-plan churches often featured a diaconicon

3 4

Robert F. Taft, The Byzantine Rite: A Short History (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992), 33. Michel, 21-24 5 Crowfoot, Churches, 190, notes that the addition of apses was an innovation on the classical design by Christians to accommodate the expanding role of the clergy in the rituals. 6 Ibid., 189.

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(or vestry), perhaps used for the preparation or the inspection of the Eucharist,7 which was typically positioned to the south of the churchs altar at the eastern end. The Prosthesis, another liturgical preparation room, was commonly found to the north of the altar.8 Baptisteries were also attached to the church usually accessed from the western end of the main hall, or from the narthex, as was the case at Church of St. Theodore at Gerasa.9

Heliopolis-Baalbek Heliopolis-Baalbek was located north in the Biqa Valley, ancient Coele-Syria, east of the Lebanon mountain range, positioned at a high point on an important trade route from Tripoli, which led to Damascus and the routes further east. The name Baalbek reflects the early identification of the site as a cultic center of the Syrian sky-god, Baal-Hadad, a fertility god with shrines throughout Syria.10 The city was given the Greek name Heliopolis by the Macedonian successors of Alexander the Great who ruled from Egypt, who likely associated the Semitic god Baal with the Egyptian sun god, Re, or Helios in the Greek.11 The city came subsequently under Seleucid control in the second-century BCE and was then ruled by the Itureans, a Hellenized Arab people from 100 to 75 BCE. Pompeys conquest of Syria in 63 B.CE put HeliopolisBaalbek under Roman control. Later Augustus settled his veterans there in 16 BCE. The sacrality of the sacrificial precinct of the city was recognized by the Romans, who built a temple complex to Jupiter Heliopolitanus, one of the largest temples in the Roman world, over the ancient shrine.12 The Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus, constructed in the first century CE was a monumental structure (95.0 x 49.5 m) that dominated the other temples of the city. The Great Court was added to the temple in the second-century CE along with the Temple of Bacchus and Aphrodite, and in the third-century, the Propylaea and Hexagonal Court were constructed. 13 The resilience of traditional cults among the citys inhabitants and nearby rural communities was sharply challenged by Christians in the fourth-century. Eusebius commended Constantine for taking action against paganism by using his authority to close pagan temples at
Ibid., 176. FitzGerald, Beth-Shean, 20. 9 Crowfoot, Churches, 179. The baptistery was accessed from both the narthex 10 Nina Jidejian, Baalbek Helipolis City of the Sun (Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1975), 16. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid.. 13 Ibid., 36. Inscriptional evidence indicates the temples completed the shrines for the triad of gods (Zeus, Bacchus, and Aphrodite) worshipped at the city and who were popular among cities of Syria and Lebanon.
8 7

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various cities in the empire. He closed the temples at Heliopolis-Baalbek, then built a church within its sacred precincts and established a bishop over the city.14 Sozomens records a bizarre account of the pagans of the city brutally attacking Christian virgins, stripping them for public ridicule then cutting them open and feeding them to pigs. He maintained that this was retaliation for Constantines prohibiting sacred prostitution after destroying the temple of Venus and building a church over it.15 While his account clearly reflects the ecclesiastical biases common in that period, it is suggestive of the deep antagonisms that existed between adherents of the old cults and clergy. Traditional cults persisted into the fifth-century at the site. Eventually in 440 CE, the Emperor Theodosius II transformed the temple of Baal Helios, the great Sun-Baal into a Christian church, reusing a significant amount of material from the former temple. He ordered the destruction of adjoining pagan structures according to the seventh-century historian Paschal the Chronicler.16 After the Muslim forces conquered the region in 636 CE with their victory at the Yarmuk River, the citys name was converted back to the original Semitic name, (Baalbak in Arabic), and the temple area was converted to a citadel. The sites first survey was conducted by the German Archaeological Mission from 18981905 under the direction of Otto Puchstein. Later the temples underwent restoration by a team of French scholars in 1922.17 Excavation and restoration continued under the Lebanese Department of Antiquities under Emir Maurice Chehab and Haroutune Kalayan.18 Although archaeological remains at the site date back to the Early Bronze Age (2900-2300 BCE), most of the present material remains are from the Roman to the Islamic periods.19

Temple Court Church While limited in scope, the information available on the churches of the city suggests that they had a prominent religious and social role in the Byzantine city of Heliopolis-Baalbek. The resilience of paganism in the city well into the early Byzantine period makes the location of the church more remarkable. 20 Constantine apparently sought to Christianize pagan spaces of the
Eusebius, Life 3.58. Sozomen, EH, 10. 16 Chronicon paschale 1.561, L. Dindorf (ed.), 2 vols., Bonn: 132, C.S.H.B. 17 Jidejian, 10-13. 18 Ibid., 13. 19 Ibid., 15. 20 Friedrich Ragette, Baalbek. intro. by Mortimer Wheeler (Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press, 1980), 71, notes that according to sources even by sixth-century, the ruling class remained heathen.
15 14

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city through the construction of churches within its temple precincts.21 Even at the time, the church building was thought to have potency as a spiritual counter to the old cults by its presence, but also to re-center sacrality in the city. By the time of Theodosius I at the end of the fourth-century, the Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus had been cleared to build a Christian basilica honoring St. Peter, converting the space to a Christian sanctuary. 22 Archaeologists found the remains of a massive Christian basilica in the courtyard of the temple of Jupiter Heliopolitan (Fig. 4.1). These were systematically removed by excavators from 1932 to 1935 to get better access to the Roman remains of the temple courtyard.23 Along with its location over the temple, the church was constructed with the spoila of the temple24 involving the destruction of the statuary of gods and goddesses, and prominent Romans, in its courtyard. While conclusions as to the religious role of churches at Heliopolis-Baalbek are hampered by the lack of archaeological remains, the available data indicates how church building by its construction directly over a pagan site was thought to remedy its negative spiritual effects. In part this served to introduce discontinuity by disrupting the old cults, and assigning new religious meanings to this site, but it accomplished this also by perpetuating certain classical functions. Christian structures, for example, memorialized prominent saints of the city, similar to shrines in the city dedicated to certain pagan mystics and miracles.25 A church dedicated to an unknown Christian saint was built over a circular temple dedicated to Tyche or Fortuna. 26 Churches were certainly intended to replace temples, yet in their function in the community offered its populace familiar alternatives The positioning of basilica-plan church in the temple precinct was a symbolic act of recentering the sacred space of the city within the church, but also invited discourse by providing elements of continuity to encourage participation. While it is certain that the outsiders, the Roman traditionalists, who remained a resilient presence at Heliopolis-Baalbek, contested the
Eus. Life 3.58; Soz. EH, 10, indicates that Constantine built a church over the Temple of Venus that was patterned after the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which had also been built over a temple to Venus in Jerusalem. 22 Ragette, 71. 23 The lack of interest in Byzantine remains at Greek and Roman sites was shared by scholars and archaeologists during the first part of the twentieth century as reflected in the relative paucity of attention given Byzantine material in the excavation reports. 24 Soz. EH 2.5, indicates that some of the costlier material from the pagan temples was used for the construction of the Christian basilica. 25 Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.23.15-16, indicates that the oracle of Jupiter Heliopolitan was popular in the region. Its reputation was bolstered with the accurate prediction of the Emperor Trajans death in his campaign against the Parthians in 116-117 CE. 26 Jidejian, 34.
21

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placement of a Christian structure within a temple precinct, it still brought them into discourse with those in power, the Christian authorities. While they may have been drawn to continuities evident in architectural borrowing from the classical structures, they would have had to face and engage in the different rituals with their new meanings.

Fig. 4.1. Drawing of the basilica at Heliopolis-Baalbek. (Jidejian [1975], pl. 110).

Hippos-Sussita On the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Tiberius) about a mile from its shore before the Golan Heights, Hippos-Sussita (Qalat el- u n) had a strategic location overlooking the main road running along the eastern shore, which allowed its citizens to control movement along a critical route of transportation and trade in the Levant. Hippos was established during the Hellenistic period by the Seleucids27 when it was renamed Antiochia Hippos (Greek horse). Later it was given the name Sussita (Aramaic horse) under Hasmonean control in the second half of the second-century BCE, but it resumed the name of Hippos when it was rebuilt as a Roman city after Pompey assumed control of the region in 63 BCE.28 It was briefly

27

Arthur Segal and Michael Eisenberg, Sussita-Hippos of the Decapolis: Town Planning and Architecture of a Roman-Byzantine City, NEA 70, no. 2 (June 2007): 86. 28 Antiq. 14.15.

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assigned to Herod,29 but after his death was added to the Province of Syria.30 During this period, Hippos-Sussita incorporated Greek Hellenistic culture within the system of Roman provincial administration reflecting the cultural syncretism common in Decapolis cities.31 The city had a number of typically Greek and Roman structures including a theater, a forum (agora) (Fig. 4.2), an open temple for the imperial cult,32 and temenos featuring a Roman temple located near the forum at the midpoint of the decumanus,33 which ran through the center of the city (Fig. 4.3). 34 This religious compound, which has yet to be completely excavated, originally featured a Hellenistic temple with Corinthian columns35 that had been destroyed in the first century BCE and later replaced with a smaller basalt temple during the Roman period.

Fig. 4.2. Map of Hippos-Sussita (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 1, 173).

29 30

Antiq. 15.217. Antiq. 15.217; 17.320; War 1.396; 2.459, 478. 31 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50. 32 J. Mlynarczyk, M. Burdajewicz, Second Season Excavation Report 2001, Hippos (Sussita) Excavation Project, http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/excavationReport/2001/areas.htm. 33 Ibid. 34 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50. Excavators indicate that the Roman temple had been built over an earlier Hellenistic temple destroyed in the first century BCE, the earliest such temple found in the region. 35 Ibid. They indicate that this was the earliest such temple found in Israel.

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4.3. Hippos-Sussita city center including the Northwest Church and forum (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 31, 200).

While home to a primarily Hellenized community, as was true with other Decapolis cities, Hippos-Sussita had a small Jewish population and a growing Christian presence in the first few centuries CE.36 During the Byzantine period, the city prospered and gained political status as the seat of a local bishop. Bishops of the city attended several ecumenical councils. Epiphanius, the fourth-century bishop of Salamis, lists the signature of a bishop Peter of Sussita, who had attended the Council of Seleucia in 359 CE and then the Council of Antioch in 363.37 From the fourth to the eighth-century, the citys growing Christian population built eight churches as well as a bath complex.38 The churches continued to be used even after the Muslim conquest of the region in the seventh-century until they were destroyed by an earthquake in 749 CE.39 The Christian community eventually declined after the seventh-century.40

Antiq. II, 459, 478, describes the antagonistic relations between Jews and the inhabitants of Hippos-Sussita during the Jewish revolt against the Romans. 37 Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses 73.26; Socrates HE 3.25; PG 67, col. 456. C.f. Bellarmino Bagatti, "HipposSusita, an Ancient Episcopal See," in Ancient Christian Villages of Galilee (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 2001), 59. 38 Segal, Churches.; Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 47. Among the other evidences of the citys wealth, large grey Aswan granite columns, each weighing about five tons and reaching nearly fifteen feet in height, were used to line the decumanus maximus. 39 Segal and Eisenburg, Spade, 45. 40 Claire Epstein, Hippos (Sussita), NEAEHL, 634.

36

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The site was surveyed in 1885 by Gottlieb Schumacher, who identified the cardo maximus, a city gate, the remains of walls and towers, a monumental Roman building, and a number of churches. After the Israeli Defense Forces used the site for a military post in 1948, rescue excavations were initiated in the 1950s which uncovered a church, baptistery, and possible monastery.41 Excavation was resumed from 2000 to 2007 under a joint Israeli-Polish project under the direction of Arthur Segal of the University of Haifa to excavate the Northwest Church, in association with the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and Concordia University. Excavation has resumed recently under the University of Haifa resulting in the discovery of a three-nave church identified as the Northeast Church located about 150 feet from the Northwest Church. The church complex featured a porticoed atrium leading up to its western entrance, along with several adjacent structures for various uses of the clergy.42 Although eight churches have been mapped at the site, only four of these have been excavated. The information available on these churches provides insight into their significance for the city. 43

Northwest Church Excavation from 2000 to 2004 led to uncovering of the Northwest Church under a joint Israeli-Polish project directed by Athur Segal of the University of Haifa, along with co-directors Jolanta Mlynarczyk of Polish Academy of Sciences and Institute of Archaeology of Warsaw

41

Ibid., 635. Excavation for the Israel Department of Antiquities was conducted under: C. Epstein (1950-5), M. Avi-Yonah (1951), A. Shulman, (1951), and E. Enati (1952). 42 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 48. 43 Segal, Churches. Arthur Segal, Jolanta Mlynarczyk, Mariusz Burdajewicz, Hippos [Sussita] First Season of Excavations, July 2000 (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2000); Segal, Arthur, et al., Hippos [Sussita] Second Season of Excavations, July 2001 (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2001); Arthur Segal, et al., Hippos Third Season of Excavations, July 2002 (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2002); Arthur Segal, et al., Hippos-Sussita Fourth Season of Excavations, June-July 2003 (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2003); Arthur Segal, et al., HipposSussita Fifth Season of Excavations (SeptemberOctober 2004) and Summary of All Five Seasons (20002004) (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2004); Arthur Segal, et al., Hippos-Sussita Sixth Season of Excavations (July 2005) (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2005); Arthur Segal, et al. Hippos-Sussita Seventh Season of Excavation (July 2006) (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2006); Arthur, Segal, et al. Hippos-Sussita Eighth Season of Excavation (July 2007) (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2007); Arthur Segal and Michael Eisenberg, The Spade Hits Sussita. Biblical Archaeology Review, 32:2 (May/June 2006): 41-51, 78; Jolanta Mynarczyk and Mariusz Burdajewicz. Northwest Church in Hippos (Sussita), Israel: Five Years of Archaeological Research (2000-2004), Eastern Christian Art 2 (2005), 39-58; Arthur Segal, Hippos (Sussita), in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, ed. E. Stern, H. Geva, A. Paris, and J. Aviram (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2008), 5: 1782-87.

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University, and Mariusz Burdajewicz of the National Museum of Warsaw.44 The church was a standard basilica (46 m x 23 m) of limestone and basalt construction with a nave and aisles separated by two rows of six basalt columns featuring pseudo-Ionic capitals (Fig. 4.4).45 The east end featured a chancel extending into the north and south aisle46 with its central apse, which was flanked to the north by a rectangular hall that had later been fitted with a small apse, and another rectangular chamber to the south.47 These likely served as the pastophoria of the church, one being the diaconicon and the other the prothesis. It was accessed from the west through three doorways; the wider of the three leading to the central nave and the other two to the north and south aisles. A large, square atrium was located west of the church with a central courtyard paved with basalt flagstones and enclosed by four porticoes of six columns.48 Several rooms adjoined the western end of the church, including one in the south accessed from the atrium.49 The church dates to the late fifth or early sixth-century,50 and continued to function until a late date, but was finally destroyed by the earthquake of 749 CE.51

Segal, Arthur, J. Mlynarczyk, and M. Burdajewicz. Hippos [Sussita] Second Season of Excavations, July 2001. Hippos (Sussita) Excavation Project, http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/excavationReport/2001; Segal et al., Hippos Third Season (2002), 15-28, 60-63; Segal, et. al., Hippos (2003), 24-33; A. Segal, et al. Hippos Fourth Season (2003), 24-33; A. Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth Season (2004), 52-82; A. Segal, et al. Hippos Sixth Season (2005), 32-64, 51-3; Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 39. 45 Segal, Churches. 46 Ibid., indicates that two chancel screens were preserved in the south aisle. 47 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 51. 48 Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 40. 49 Ibid., 41. 50 J. Mlynarczyk, M. Burdajewicz, Second Season Excavation Report 2001, Hippos (Sussita) Excavation Project, http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/excavationReport/2001/areas.htm. 51 Segal, Churches.

44

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Fig. 4.4. Top plan of Northwest Church (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 16, 187)

The central placement of the main Roman temple precinct (temenos) within the city indicates its religious significance for the city, so that when Christianity gained dominance in the fourth-century CE a large three-aisled church was intentionally built over its ruins.52 Some of the churchs walls were constructed directly upon those of the Roman temple.53 The Northwest Church borrowed building material from earlier temples, including marble column bases.54 The church was equipped for the religious needs of the Christian community and included an adjacent sanctuary.55 A funerary chapel, 56 or martyrion (Fig. 4.5),57 was located south of the main apse which contained two reliquaries: one made of red limestone 58 and another made of marble crafted as a small sarcophagus with four acroteria.59 A hole with a bronze stick for anointing was found in the center of the lid where oil would be poured over the bones of the saint

52 53

Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 40. Segal, Churches 54 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50 55 Epstein, 635. 56 Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 41. 57 Segal, et. al., Hippos (2003), 27, 28; Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 48. 58 Segal and Eisenberg. Spade, 51, 78. The reliquary featured a hole in its lid for oil to be poured over the bones believed to imbue it with healing qualities. 59 Segal, Churches.

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thus imbuing it with miraculous qualities useful for healing or other sacred uses.60 The chamber featured three silver crosses found on two posts that marked the entrance to a chancel (Fig. 4.6), as well as a dove-shaped oil lamp and two bronze polykandelai. The church was expanded at a later date to accommodate a enlarged ritual space probably as a result of a growing congregation. Two southern annexes of the church functioned as a diaconicon, rooms for the storage and preparation of the elements used in the Christian rituals. The chancel in its eastern end was remodeled with the addition of an apse at the end of the north aisle. A raised podium (bema) was added to the central apse separated from the nave by partitions, or marble screens.61

Fig. 4.5,6. Lower reliquary in the martyrion chapel of Northwest Church (left), restored chancel screens and posts in Northwest Church (right) (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, figs. 100, 101, 236).

A prominent structure in the Byzantine city, the Northwest Church was located south of the main road at the center of town near the nymphaeum and agora, the civic assembly area62 where a podium stood with statues and memorial tablets commemorating accomplishments of prominent individuals in the community.63 Several agricultural installations including three wine presses and an oil press were found in two annexes of the church64 indicating an industrial space connected to the church.65 These suggest that church took part in the business of the community.
60 61

Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 51, 78. Ibid. 62 Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 40. 63 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 48. 64 Segal, Churches.; Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Second Season. 65 Segal, et al. Hippos Fifth Season (2004), 30.

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Its function of the church in this way, as in the mosaic depiction of the martyrions that sold souvenirs to pilgrims, further complicates the spatial meaning of churches. It may be that the Northwest Church had been given agricultural lands, which would be capable of producing grapes or olives for pressing. Depictions of screw presses and their operators were found in the floor mosaics of churches in the Transjordan. At the Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius at Madaba, a mosaic dating to 557 CE depicts workers operating an agricultural press (Fig. 4.7).66 Another similar agricultural press dating to 587/88 was found in the mosaics of the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm al-Rasas (Fig. 4.8).67

Fig. 4.7,8. Mosaics depicting a screw press in church at Umm al-Rasas (left) ( 208, no. 333); Mosaic of press with workmen at a church in Madaba (right) (Piccirillo [2000], 158, no. 206).

Material had been borrowed from Roman structures and basalt was prepared for the construction of the church, being used for the colonnades, the atrium, and the hall.68 It was a lavishly decorated structure featuring a courtyard atrium, slightly larger than the church itself, leading to the western entrance. This area was surrounded by four porticoes of columns and was paved with basalt flagstones.69 Ornate, colored mosaics in the central nave featured floral patterns surrounded by quadriplaited guilloche, while a fan-shaped floral pattern framed by a

66 67

Piccirillo, 158. Ibid., 208. 68 Segal, Churches. 69 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 50.

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double swastika design decorated the northern aisle. In the southern aisle were various mosaic designs including various geometric and floral patterns.70 The interior walls were covered with plaster and painted with simple murals of leaves, fruits, and flowers using a variety of colors, including blue, red, green, yellow, and purple.71 White marble was used for the chancel screens and posts. Two bronze polycandela (candelabra) were found in the annexes adjoining the church, along with other bronze vessels (Fig. 4.9).72

Fig. 4.9. A bronze polykandelon also found in the diaconicon (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 58, 214).

Inscriptions found in the church provide insight into its sponsors. In the southern aisle of the Northwest Church at Hippos-Sussita between the columns were found two inscriptions that celebrated the piety of certain individuals and their contributions to the church.73 An inscription found near the northern edge of the aisle facing the inner nave, mentions a woman named Hedora (or Heliodora) (Fig. 4.10), probably a benefactor of the church although nothing more is known about her. () () () () Hedora [Heliodora?] offered half of the nomisma for the costs of the mosaic. 74

Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 43. Segal, et. al., Hippos-Fourth, 25; Segal, Churches. 72 Segal and Eisenberg, Spade, 51; Segal, Churches. 73 Adam Lajtar, Two Mosaic Inscriptions from the Northwest Church in Hippos, in Hippos [Sussita] Third Season of Excavations, July 2002, Segal, et. al. (Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 2002), 60-3. The amounts of the contributions were also listed. 74 Ibid., 60. He notes that the name Hedora was very unusual, whereas Heliodora was more common, and may have been a misspelling. Authors translation.
71

70

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Fig. 4.10. Inscription commemorating donation of Hedora (Heliodora?) (Lajtar [2002]).

Its orientation facing the inner nave may have been for greater exposure in the assembly. Another inscription commemorates the laying of the mosaic floors in the church by one Petros (Fig. 4.11). () () Petros offered half of the nomisma [ - - - ] [for the costs of the mosaic]. 75

Fig. 4.11. Inscription in the Northwest Church mentioning benefactor Petros (Lajtar [2002]).

In the southern portico, composed of grid of colored mosaics of black, bluish-grey, pink, and orange-brown tesserae, was another inscription that read, commemorates an offering (prosfora) made for the eternal rest of Antona the deaconess (Fig. 4.12).76 The term prosfora in the inscription suggests that Antona (or possibly Antonia), a pious and affluent deaconess in the church, contributed financially for the paving of the portico as an addition to the church complex.

75 76

Ibid., 62. Authors translation. Mynarczyk and Burdajewicz, Northwest, 43.

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Fig. 4.12. Inscription for deaconess Antona (Antonia?) in the Northwest Church (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 65, 218.)

The Northwest Churchs location and features testifies to its involvement in the dialogue between the centered and non-centered in the city. The church was constructed on the precincts of a former pagan temple, reusing elements in design and architectural material from the classical structure. The reuse of material in this manner suggests continuity with classical culture, which were valued by sponsors and builders. Excavators of the Hellenistic Compound (NNMP) temenos indicate that the placement of the church was not fortuitous, but was erected in the very center of the pagan sanctuary as a sign and symbol of the triumph of Christianity.77 While certainly its builders intended to establish new meanings associated with the former pagan space, it nonetheless provoked comparisons with the temple space and thereby invited the outsider to engage in the dialogue with the structure. The interaction continued with the incorporation of other features that were familiar to the traditional religionists of the city: the levels of sacrality leading to an altar for sacrifice, the location of sacred objects within that conferred divine blessings, its embellishment by benefactors seeking to proclaim their loyalties to religion and state. While the structure engaged outsiders with its continuities in order to be introduced, and taught, by crosses and images of the new faith, the interaction was a two-way process. The Christian officials were also compelled to shape their structures for the outsider. The chancel area was a space delineated from the congregational space, thus separating the bishop and clergy (authority) from the laity (others). This provided further information about the nature of the churchs sacrality, while also asserting the political authority of bishops. The blending political and religious functions of the church reflected in the inscriptions, which associated the benefactors with the religious officials of the city, would have been familiar to
77

Segal, et. al., Hippos- Fourth, 15.

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outsiders who understood the same functions fulfilled in temples of the city. The churchs sacred meaning was defined through the interaction between Christians and non-Christian, but at the same time this conflict was defining the community.

Northeast Church The Northeast Church of the Hippos-Sussita, located ca. 50 m. east of the Northwest Church, while not as elaborate as the other churches, was a notable religious center in the city. The excavation of the church, which was conducted by the University of Concordia under Mark Schuler beginning in 2002, revealed a structure constructed with rough stones and small ashlars put together with a lack of precision and with some use of earlier material.78 It was a small basilica, almost square (12.5 m x 13 m), with an east-west orientation with a nave and two flanking aisles divided by two rows of four columns and a single, external apse at its eastern end (Fig. 4.13).79 It was accessed by five doorways: two entrances from the north and west walls, and one from the south, with a staircase in an adjacent room to the north that led to a gallery or tower.80 An atrium was found west of the church outside its entrance. Several rooms adjoined the main hall serving various functions for the community (Fig. 4.14).

Fig. 4.13. Plan of the Northeast Church (Segal, Hippos Fifth, fig. 27, 196).
78

Segal, et al., Hippos Third, 31-7; Segal, et al., Hippos Fourth, 38-49; Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, 83-97; Segal, et al., Hippos Sixth, 83-96; Segal, Churches. 79 Segal, Churches, notes this is the only church with an external apse at the site. 80 Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, 95.

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4.14. Northeast Church viewed from the southeast (Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, fig. 86, 228).

The church was a central religious structure in the community. Adjoining the main hall were rooms that extended the ritual and civic functions of the church complex. The church featured the standard sacred chancel space in the eastern end for the celebration of Christian rituals. It was marked by a prominent basalt cross on its western faade.81 The apse wall, which remained intact to seven courses, featured a synthronon 82 and was decorated with plaster fresco.83 Plaster with bands of red and yellow covered the walls of the church.84 A limestone sarcophagus was found in the eastern end of the southern aisle with the remains of an unidentified woman about 50 years of age. Other burials were found near the apse in the chancel space where a limestone sarcophagus containing the remains of a woman and two men was located.85 The placement of these burials suggests they were significant religious officials or prominent members of the Christian community, advertising the close connection between church and state. Three rooms adjoined the north annex, along with two rooms off the north aisle, as well as a long hall adjacent to the southern annex, which was interpreted as a diaconicon.86 Mosaic flooring decorated the entire church hall, although their remains were

81 82

Ibid., 95. Ibid., 93. 83 Segal, et al., Hippos Third, 31. 84 Segal, et al., Hippos Fifth, 93. 85 Segal, et al., Hippos Fourth , 44. 86 Segal, Churches. An entrance to an underground cistern was located in its northeastern corner.

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fragmentary. Two levels were detected by excavators with the earlier floor being of a finer quality, composed of variety of floral and geometric patterns, including crosses. The Northeast Church, while smaller in comparison to the other churches of the city, was still engaged in the interactions between the various groups within the community at HipposSussita. The classical elements of the architecture, including its basilica-plan design and reuse of building material, invited comparison by non-Christians to the older Roman temples of the city. Its interior had familiar divisions subdividing the sacred space within, leading to the eastern chancel and altar of sacrifice. The bishop, or clergy, positioned behind the altar on the synthronon conveyed religious authority. But he was also a political figure with broader authority than the Roman priest. The interior was beautified with a variety of architectural decorations, but these were covered with Christian symbols that were in part pedagogical in nature. The burials within the church shared elements of the Roman hero sanctuaries, yet introduced notions of sacrality with the possibility of divine blessings. The church had other features that engaged outsiders, but at the same time was shaped in the engagement..

Southeast Church (Cathedral) The Southeast Church, identified as the citys cathedral, was initially excavated by the Israeli Antiquities Authority between 1951 and 1955 with the construction of military installations, and then again beginning in 2000 by present excavators.87 It was a large basilica (20 m x 40 m) with a nave and two flanking aisles, and a single external apse at its eastern end.88 The church was constructed with fine material including well-dressed ashlar blocks reflecting the reuse of material from an earlier Roman structure. Two rows of eight columns of colored marble and granite, topped by pink and white Corinthian capitals, divided the nave from its adjacent aisles.89 It was accessed by three entrances in its western end opening on the nave and side aisles, leading from an atrium located outside via a corridor. A baptistery with three external apses and a nave and two aisles separated by two colonnades that featured a cruciform font in its central apse was attached to the church, which was accessed from the northern aisle. The only

87 88

Segal, et al., Hippos Fourth, 21-3. Segal, Churches, indicates that it was the largest and most magnificent of all the churches in Sussita. 89 Epstein, 635.

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clearly dated church at the site, the Southeast Church had an inscription with the date of 591 CE.90 The size and centralized location of the church indicates its significance for the Christian community. Its sacred function for the performance of the Eucharist is suggested by the chancel space in the eastern end delineated from the nave by chancel screens. A baptistery complete with a baptismal font in its central apse adjoined the main hall.91 Other features indicate the significant investment represented in the church building. The column shafts were composed of ornate red granite, grey granite, and green marble. Colored marble and limestone, in shades of red, white, grey, and green, were used to create opus sectile flooring in the side aisles with certain sections featuring lozenge-shaped, flower patterns.92 The atrium outside the western entrance was also embellished with imported material. 93 Mosaic flooring was used to decorate the floor of the main hall and the baptistery was composed of colored stone in a variety of geometric designs, including a monogram of Christ, and three Greek inscriptions.94 The walls of the church, including the apse, were also faced with marble indicated by numerous slabs recovered with their copper clamps.95 While the inscriptional evidence was found in fragmentary condition several features should be discerned. In the southern aisle of the baptistery an inscription in a tabula ansata was dedicated to Sts. Cosmas and Damian, the martyred, Syrian physicians. A chancel screen was discovered with a decorative relief depicting an ornate public building with an inscription above stating, In the time of Procopius, Presbyter, and a dolphin was depicted on the back panel.96 The Greek motif elements associated with the sacred interior of the chancel is suggestive of the way the builders saw themselves as rooted in classical tradition.. This religious official who appears to have been the structures benefactor was mentioned again in a fragmentary inscription from the north aisle of the baptistery, while another inscription located in the baptisterys central nave provided a date of 591 CE.97 These inscriptions as well as the elaborate features of the

Segal, Churches. Ibid., indicates that the remains of a lead pipe found in the center of the rounded wall of the apse where water flowed into the basin. 92 Epstein, 635. 93 Segal, Churches. 94 Epstein, 635. 95 Ibid. 96 Ibid. 97 Ibid.
91

90

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baptistery indicate a substantial investment made for its construction which was usually reserved for larger churches. The Southeast Church was space of various interacting groups. As the Cathedral, it had particular political associations with the bishop, while being a sacral center as well with the features for celebrating the Christian rituals. The othered participant would be familiar with certain elements of continuity with traditional Roman temples and cults reflected in the architecture, while faced with Christian symbols that proclaimed the new centers of authority. The local political connotations were understood with the inscriptions that praise prominent citizens as benefactors. The inclusion of two Christian physician-saints, Cosmas and Damian, who were associated with miraculous healings and aide had clear antecedents in the classical veneration of Asclepius, who was accompanied by his two sons, Machaon and Podilarios. The associations in the church building emphasized its status as both the authority and source of healing power. Christian authorities also understood the implicit associations being drawn with the Asclepius cults, yet assigned new associations with Christian saints at the center. As with other churches, the Southeast Church created tension drawing the centered and the uncentered to interact, which both shaped and reflected the meaning of the church and the identity of the community.

Southwest Church (Synagogue Church) The Southwest Church, first thought to be a synagogue,98 was identified as a church in 2005. It was located within the residential quarter of the city located south of the decumanus maximus and west of the forum, which had been surveyed by the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology a year before.99 It was a standard basilica (13 x 9.50 m) with an east-west orientation with a single, external apse (4 m. wide) in its eastern end.100 Unlike the Northeast Church, the material used for construction was of a better quality, including well-cut, ashlar blocks. The central nave was separated from adjacent northern and southern aisles by two rows of three columns.101 An atrium led to its western entrance with three symmetric doorways,102
Z. Ilan, Ancient Synagogues in the Land of Israel, Tel Aviv 1991, 99, figs. 1-3 [Hebrew], after surveying the site in the 1970s identified the exposed parts of the structure as belonging to a synagogue, based on the nature of the remains in its vicinity, but shortly after excavation began its identity as a church was confirmed. 99 Segal, et al., Hippos Sixth, 15-23; Segal, Churches. 100 Segal, Churches. A small room adjoined the apse from a doorway in its northern wall. 101 Segal, et al., Hippos Sixth, 17.
98

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and two other entrances in its south and east walls.103 The church appears to have been have been destroyed by a large fire that preceded the earthquake of 749 CE.104 It incorporated many of standard features of the Christian basilica. The sacred chancel space in the eastern end was elevated above the nave and delineated with chancel screens, one decorated with a bas-relief of two rams facing each other in a heraldic stance with Golgotha in the background.105 Along with the celebration of Christian rituals, the church was further sacralized with the burial and relics of a saint or prominent Christian.106 At the center of the apse, a red limestone reliquary107 was discovered with a bowl-shaped depression at its center, and two rectangular compartments on each side, which appear to have contained holy relics. It was likely covered by a canopy of some kind suggested by thin basalt posts found near the four corners of the reliquary.108 As with many churches of the region, its entire floor was decorated with mosaics of various colors and geometric and floral patterns. In the sacred area of the raised bema, the mosaics were particularly fine with a fan-like, or fish-scale, geometric pattern and the depiction of two fish facing each other in a symbolic stance.109 Along with the mosaics, white marble was employed for the chancel screens and posts. The interior walls were covered with a thick layer of plaster that seems to have been decorated with a variety of colors, although the evidence is fragmentary. Like other churches at the site, the Southwest church was designed to provide a space of communication and negotiation for Christians and non-Christians. The architecture and interior decoration shared certain classical associations both in the reuse of earlier material, but also the interior decoration and ritualized spaces within. One could not help but be impressed with the opulent features: inscribed chancel screens, ornate mosaics, and painted walls. These featured the symbols of the Christian faith, which conveyed sacrality and were instructive for nonChristians.

Segal, Churches. The atrium area was cut off by a steep cliff about ten meters away from the western wall of the church. 103 Segal, et al., Hippos Sixth, 17. 104 Segal, Churches. 105 Segal, et al., Hippos Sixth, 22. 106 Segal, et al. Hippos Sixth, 19. 107 Segal, Churches, indicates that it was almost identical to the reliquary found in the martyrion of the Northwest Church. 108 Hippos, Sixth, 20. 109 Ibid. Segal describes the stance of the fish, and rams below, as heraldic.

102

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Other Churches Surveys of the site have revealed several other churches. A small single-apsed church was identified southwest of the Kalybe structure near the eastern end of the central residential quarter of the city.110 Two others were located near a southern building constructed by the Israeli army in the 1950s. Another may have been part of a monastery complex that was partially exposed by the army during construction work at the site.111 Little else is known about these churches at the present time.

Abila The city of Abila had a large number of churches for its relatively small size among the other cities of the Decapolis.112 Most of the churches of the city were basilica-plan churches having a main hall, with a central nave and two side aisles. They also featured common chancels at their eastern end, although there were variations in these features. These were prominent structures within the city during the Byzantine period suggesting they were essential is shaping the communitys identity.

Area A Church Tel Abil to the north was one of the first areas of the site to be excavated in 1982; excavation continued through 1992. The main structure on top of the mound is the basilica (19 x 34.5 m) dating from around the sixth-century CE, although it appears to have been expanded some time later.113 The Christian basilica had evidently been constructed over an earlier Hellenistic or Roman foundation (Fig. 4.15).114 A carved Byzantine cross marked a limestone block in the wall, possibly of an earlier church that had been rebuilt. This coincides with evidence from probes made in the west side of the building (A-19, A-27) that revealed an earlier floor level 1.5 m. below the opus sectile flooring, which suggests that an earlier church had been

Ibid. Ibid. 112 W. H. Mare, Internal Settlement Patterns in Abila, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 4 (1992): 311, estimates population of Abila about 8,000 to 10,000 inhabitants during this period compared to nearby cities. 113 John Wineland, email message to author, March 15, 2009, indicates that there were probably two phases of construction due to the presence of two levels of mosaics in the churches western plaza. 114 Wineland, 25-27. Ceramic remains collected in the area range from Early Bronze to the Late Islamic periods indicating the extensive occupational history of the area.
111

110

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remodeled.115 The church featured a nave and two aisles divided by two rows of twelve columns of alternating basalt and limestone, which was material reused from the earlier structure. Its eastern end had three projecting apses, with a central apse larger and more prominent than the lateral apses, a design in churches after the fifth-century that has some relationship to the developments in the rituals. A portico, or atrium, led up to three thresholds marking the main entrance from the west into the narthex of the sanctuary. The church appears to have been destroyed by the earthquake of 747/48 CE, but was subsequently reused during the Ummayad period.116

Fig. 4.15. Top plan of the Area A church (Fuller [1987]).

The churchs position at the summit of Tel Abil suggests its prominence within the city, along with its apparent relationship to an earlier pagan construction. It was built over an area that appears to have been occupied by an earlier classical structure, interpreted by excavators as a temple precinct. A life-sized marble statue of Artemis was uncovered in this area in 1994 with typical, though fragmentary, features of similar statuary (Fig. 4.16)117 Along with this a two centimeter, dome-shaped agate seal was uncovered with two coins found just below, each dating to 88-84 BCE. The seal features an intaglio of two ibexes rearing up with their legs crossing
115 116

Ibid. Wineland notes the presence of walls of reused blocks constructed directly on the church floor Fuller, Abila, 162. 117 Wineland, 26, 191, 192.

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each other with a crescent moon in the background. The seals appear to date to the Late Hellenistic period and may provide evidence for Artemis worship at this site.118 Also at the base of the northern apse, a pavement floor was uncovered with a chamber beneath that appears to have belonged to an earlier Roman temple.119 Of the various style column capitals in the church, excavators identified two dating from the Roman era.120 The evidence suggests that the sixthcentury basilica was a church that had been built over an older Roman temple,121 which would have communicated the religious ascendancy of the Christian temple. The limited remains of the chancel indicate that it had three apses providing adequate space for the rituals needs of the clergy. Despite the fragmentary nature of its remains several features suggest it was also a significant investment for the Christian community. While no inscriptional evidence remains to identify the sponsor of the building, its costly architectural features indicate the wealth of its benefactor, such as the opus sectile flooring decorating the central nave and aisles.122 Ornate opus tessallatum flooring decorated the portico with intricate designs using white, black, and red tesserae creating a repeating diamond pattern with a small cross at its center. The size and its prominent location also provide some indication of the prestige of the church within the city during the Byzantine period.

Ibid. This type of seal may have ties to Mesopotamian deities as well. Ibid., 26. Wineland indicates that the stratigraphic evidence has not provided any clear answer to this problem. 120 Wineland, email message to author, March 15, 2009. 121 Fuller, Abila, 162. 122 Ibid., 26, 27. A probe (A-27) revealed an earlier floor lay 1.5 m. below this later flooring, which may indicate remodeling in the Late Byzantine or Early Islamic periods.
119

118

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Fig. 4.16. Statuary of Artemis in remains of Area A church (Wineland [2001], 191).

The Area A Church location over a former Roman pagan structure reflects the continuities with the earlier Roman structure, which was sacralized or re-sacralized by the church. The reuse of material from the earlier classical structure, along with the fragmentary architectural elements, suggests that certain associations with a tradition which the builders and the community shared. The church occupied a location overlooking the citys center, symbolizing the political authority it exercised in the community, yet it also offered hope for divine aid and salvation. Those in power, the elite families and church officials, benefited from the esteem of the community for the structure, while at the same time they utilized its classical associations to assert their authority through their benevolence.

Area B Church Located northeast of Umm al-Amad in Area B, a small church was uncovered within the complex of structures near the presumed theater cavea.123 An arched room (square B-4) uncovered in 1986 near the Roman road was identified as a Byzantine structure that had later

Bastian van Elderen, 1986 Excavation at Abila, Area B, NEASB 30 (Winter 1988), 49-56 . See additional excavation reports NEASB 32/33 (Winter, 1989); 34 (Spring 1990), 21-28. Cf. the reports of William H. Mare, ADAJ (!987), 208-209; 35 (1991), 209-12.

123

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been converted into an Ummayad palace.124 The original structure, which was determined to be a church, had a nave and two aisles with a single projecting apse in its eastern end. From the northern aisle a staircase led down to a crypt positioned under the chancel area with a rectangular cavity in the floor for the placement of the reliquary container. Piccirillo suggested an identification of the structure as a memorial chapel.125 The building has been dated to the late Byzantine period and was used well into the Islamic era as indicated by the ceramic remains. 126 Although little remains of the original structure, several features suggest that it fits into the context of the post-Theodosian period. Costly architectural features found in the remains, including two Naxos marble posts and an Ionian marble column with inscribed cross,127 which provide some indication of the investment made in the beautification of church. If the identification of the area as a theater complex is correct,128 the location of a church over such a structure would have enabled the reuse of its building material, but would have also prevented its use again for entertainment of a previous era.129 This sentiment would have been heightened if the church served as a memorial chapel housing sacred relics. The few remains of the church building seem to indicate that it had considerable social and religious significance for the Christian community at Abila. As with other memorial chapels, if this identification is correct, the Area B Church generated sacrality with its association with the burial of a prominent individual. Its location in the citys center would further accentuate its religious position for Christians, while at the same time inviting those on the periphery to associate the church with prominent pagan sacred spaces that promised divine intercession. The churchs architecture and associated rituals would have been provocative for non-Christians in the community.

Area D Church South of Tell Abil is the summit of Umm al-Amad (Arabic, Mother of Columns). A basilica, identified by Schumacher as a Christian temple, dominates the eastern edge of the
William H. Mare, LibAnn, 38 (1988), 456. Michele Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, eds. P. M. Bikai and T. A. Dailey (Amman, Jordan: American Center of Oriental Research, 1993), 115. 126 Wineland, 36, bases the churchs date of origin on its relationship to the basalt road, which was probably built during the Byzantine period. 127 Ibid. 128 Evidence has not conclusively established or dismissed this theory. Cf. Wineland, 35ff. 129 Wineland, 37.
125 124

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mound. Excavation of this structure from 1984 to 2006 revealed a church building of considerable size and ornate decoration. The origin of the Christian basilica has been variously dated from the sixth to the seventh-century CE.130 Its destruction by the same earthquake that destroyed the Area A basilica in 747/48 CE is more certain. The basilica had three apses (41 m. x 20 m) with the central apse external and lateral apses inscribed (Fig. 4.17) The church was rather extensive having an atrium and portico at its western entrance with opus tessalatum flooring. Its main entrance was from the west through three doorways entering a wide central nave (10 m) and two side aisles (each 5 m. in width), but it could also be accessed from two doors in the south wall and three in the north. Twelve sets of columns divided the central nave from the two lateral aisles. Adjoining the main structure from the north and south were two rooms, one identified as a baptistery and the other probably used for preparation of the rites (diaconicon) or used as a storage room.131 Another series of rooms in the southwest corner of the basilica complex have been identified as some form of residential quarters. Although there is no indication that the church was built over an earlier structure as was the case of the Area A church, there is evidence that the church reused material remains of an earlier public building or temple. Corinthian capitals found in the remains were Christianized with crosses etched in its leaves for use in the church. The origin of the material is not clear, but it was likely procured from near the church. The significance of the Area D church with its prominent location on the tell overlooking the city, is further suggested by a room adjoining the atrium to the west, which may have served as residence for clergy, perhaps even the bishop of Abila.

Willard W. Winter, A Byzantine Basilica at Abila, in The Decapolis: ARAM Third International Conference, 28-30 September 1992, University of Oxford, England, vols. 1, 2 (Oxford, England: ARAM Society of SyroMesopotamian Studies, 1992), 363, supported a fifth-century date of construction based the absence of Islamic pottery from an earlier sub-floor probe, but Fuller, Abila, 167, performing a probe under another part of the floor recovered ceramics that he feels justifies a date of the basilica in the Ummayad period. Michel, 116, in her survey of the churches of the Transjordan remarks, la datationsi la cramique est bien datne vaut que pour la pose du pavement en opus sectile. The dating of the basilica has been a point of some contention. While Robert Schick has asserted that churches were still being constructed in Palestine after the Islamic conquest, the scale and decoration of the church seems to better fit the sixth-century date. The two probes produced conflicting ceramic results, which raises the possibility of the presence of a robbers trench, not unknown in Decapolis churches (cf. Smith, Pella 2, 88.). In that case, the stratification would be too confused for accurate interpretation. 131 The room to the south appears a more likely candidate for a diaconicon.

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Fig. 4.17. Top plan of Area D church (Wineland [2001], 160, fig. 16).

The Area D Church was embellished in a variety of ways reflected in various features, most of which were common in basilica-plan churches. As in the Area A basilica, one would approach the entrance from the west by way of a portico that was dominated by four monolithic limestone columns about one meter in diameter and five meters in height.132 A red marble column, which was found in situ across the central threshold, was not from local quarries, but was imported from the Aegean (Fig. 4.18). Three entrances led into the main sanctuary with ornate flooring, including limestone and marble pavers (19 cm x 19cm) opus sectile flooring in a checkerboard pattern in the aisles. The nave was decorated with limestone and marble pavers, the latter featuring blue striations.133 There was also an intricate pattern at the center of the church of an octagonal design formed by salmon-colored limestone, set in circles of white marble discs surrounded by pink limestone pavers and bituminous limestone lozenges (Fig. 4.19).134 Two colonnades of twelve pairs of columns led to the front of the church, with alternating pattern of basalt and limestone columns.135 In the front of the church near the altar, at the base of the large central apse was found opus vermiculatum flooring, made of small colored glass (smalti), gold leaf, and foiled tessarae. These probably decorated the walls and ceiling in
132 133

Winter, Byzantine, 363. Ibid. 134 Ibid. 135 Ibid., 362.

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the front of the church set at an angle to reflect light. Extending from the southwest corner of the sanctuary was a series of rooms with richly decorated opus tessallatum flooring (Fig. 4.20) of blue, red, and white tessarae, depicting amphorae, baskets of figs, floral patterns and other agrarian themes (Fig. 4.21).

Fig. 4.18. Red marble colonnette found in the remains of the Area D Church.

Fig. 4.19,20,21. Opus sectile flooring of Area D churchs nave (left), opus tessalatum border pattern (center), mosaic depictioning of various vegetal motifs (right) (Photos by Tim Snow).

The church was an impressive structure. While serving as a sacred space where the believer could commune with God, it also evoked a sense of awe. Magnificent columns of alternating stone, opus sectile flooring made of exotic marble and limestone, along with glittering glass and gold leaf mosaics added to the sense of the sacrality of the building. But it also was a space for social assembly, positioned in a prominent location to be seen by all in the community of Abila. For those who sponsored such structures, as epigraphic evidence indicates was the case for the construction of the Area E Church, the building would be a means of conveying their own spiritual status as builders of sacred spaces as well as their social status

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within the community. If the church served as the bishops residency this would have further enhanced the prestige of the sponsor. The Area D Church was located in a prominent location in the city. While not built over an earlier Roman structure, it employed a number of reused classical architectural features. The marking of the Corinthian capitals with crosses provides some indication of the complexity of the interactions occurring between Christians and non-Christians. Its sponsors beautified its interior with material that was costly, reaffirming the divine blessings belonging to Christians at the center. The church served as an expression of power for those in control, but the language was intentionally known by those outside the religious and political centers in the community. The structure in this sense embodied the Christian identity, yet appeals to common tradition to establish familiarity and commonality with classical tradition.

Other churches Several other churches were also located at Abila, although the material remains were somewhat limited or lacking documentation. A second basilica (Area DD) was revealed in 1992 to the west of the Area D church on Umm al Amad that appears to predate the latter structure.136 It was basilica-plan with three inscribed apses in its east end. Unfortunately, the physical remains of the church were somewhat limited for diagnostic purposes as it appeared to have been robbed of material, possibly to be used in the construction of the nearby Area D church. Another basilica (Area G) was identified northeast of the Area D church and southeast of the bath complex near the city center. The fragmentary remains of the church indicate that it was a standard basilica-plan with three aisles. The sanctuary in its eastern end featured the remains of a reliquary and an octagonal ambo that accessed from with the chancel that extended by one span into the central aisle, which suggests a later date for the church. The chancel was extended across the eastern end of the church including both the north and south aisles.

Gadara The city of Gadara had only a few churches that have been systematically excavated, but these are rather remarkable in their preservation and unique features. While this study for the

136

David Villa, The Early Islamic Occupation of Abila Area DD in Comparison with that of Fihl (Pella): 1996 Area DD Supervisor's Report, Abila of the Decapolis Excavation field report,

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sake of discussion draws a distinction between central-plan and basilica-plan churches, this is not to say that the features of these churches follow these distinct classifications. The basilica-plan church at Gadara provides a perfect example of this fact; it was designed as a place of assembly and ritual observance, yet incorporated at its east end a burial space for venerated Christians that facilitated the movement of visiting pilgrims. This reflects the complexity of religious and social interaction occurring in the churches of the city.

Five-aisled Basilica Excavation at Gadara between 1986 and 1990 by Thomas Weber of the German Evangelical Institute of Old Testament Studies of the Holy Land revealed a mosaic floor that belonged to a large five-aisled basilica which had been constructed over an earlier Roman hypogeum.137 The basilica (23.18 m x 21.5 m) was dated by excavators to the mid-fourthcentury, which if accurate would make it not only one of the earliest churches found in the Transjordan, but also a unique church with five-aisles.138 Located outside the city wall near the decumanus maximus, the area had long served as a sacred burial space in the city from the Roman period. The lower Roman hypogeum139 was appropriated by the Christians as church before the fourth-century as indicated by the placing of an oculus.140 Shortly after 360, a basilica was constructed to serve in part as a Byzantine crypt, replacing the Roman hypogeum, while maintaining its use as a sacred burial space (Fig. 4.22).141 It was during this phase that the church likely served as pilgrimage church of some prestige as reflected in the presence of its bishop, Sabinos of Gadara, at the Council of Nicea in 325.142 In the early part of the sixthcentury CE, the church was renovated with the installation of an altar barrier and chancel and the closing of the entrances to the crypt from the lateral aisles of the church, isolating its entrance to the outside staircase which was paved with mosaics. During this later period, about the time of Justinian (527-565), the basilica was expanded and beautified like others in the region as an indication of the economic prosperity of the Decapolis cities. It also accommodated the later

137 138

Al-Daire, 1. Five-aisled basilicas were rare in the Decapolis with one other being the Area E church at Abila. 139 An underground tomb or temple often containing loculi for human burial or niches for cremated human remains 140 Al-Daire, 87-8, identified seven phases of occupation, with its conversion to a Byzantine crypt occurring sometime in the mid to late fourth-century. 141 Ibid., 88, 90. The church was dated to the Constantinian period based on coinage recovered in the grave. 142 Ibid., 90.

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expansion of Christian rituals and the increased role of the church as a reflection of the state religion appropriating the place of the pagan temple.

Fig. 4.22. Conversion of five-aisled church. Roman hypogeum phase (left) and the later Byzantine church phase, ca. 6th c. (right) (Al-Daire [2001], 87-8).

The five-aisled church is a remarkable example of a clear conversion of a pagan sacred space that retained the religious function as a memorial structure.143 Its position over a former pagan Roman grave appears to have been an intentional decision by the Christian community to
Peter C. Bol, Adolf Hoffman, and Thomas Weber, Gadara Vorbericht 1986-1988, Archologischer Anzeiger 2 (1990): 204-05.
143

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appropriate the sites sacrality.144 Another possibility is that the Christian crypt was the burial for the citys saint, Zachaeus, and that the church served as a memorial chapel.145 The burial of a saint or martyr was thought to have particular sacral meaning for a church, as reflected in the architectural features that highlighted the burial space. The oculus of the hypogeum was preserved in the church to allow visitors to gaze down into the crypt below, which suggests its identification as a pilgrimage site.146 The renovations of the sixth-century included the expansion of the chancel area of the church to accommodate the needs of the clergy and their rituals. Also at this time a vaulted room, an apsidal baptistery, was built in the southeast of the basilica, which was accessed from an entrance in the south wall.147 The church was a costly investment and particularly sacred. It was prominently positioned on a major thoroughfare connecting the city to trade routes leading to Galilee. This allowed easy access for pilgrims visiting the burial site of the saint or the religious figure commemorated by the church. Its reputation as a pilgrimage church certainly enhanced its status and encouraged benefaction.148 The church was renovated in the sixth-century through the donations of a benefactor, or a group of sponsors. The passageway from the chancel to the staircase leading down to the crypt was eventually closed off, and was redirected to an outside entrance. This facilitated movement of visitors without interrupting the functions inside. The loggia, or roofed balcony, was positioned over the burial space to allow viewing.149 Opulent marble facing (dado) had been used to decorate the interior, along with marble screens separating the chancel from the middle aisle. Sturdy basalt stone was used in the outer walls of the structure, as well as in other architectural features, including doorway lintels, panels, soffits, and columns.150 Other features incorporated Proconnic marble,151 ocher striated limestone,152

Al-Daire, 100. The possibility that the city and its vicinity was related to the region of Jesus activity (Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-17; Luke 8:26-37) could have added to the sacrality of the church. 145 Ibid., 103. Noting the difficulty of the identification of Gadara as the location of the miracle, the author favored the interpretation of the site as honoring the burial of the martyr Zacharias. 146 Ibid., 3. 147 Ibid., 34, 35. Al-Daire notes that the baptistery location in the southeast was unusual for the Transjordan and Palestine. 148 Ibid., 100. 149 Ibid., 28. 150 Ibid., 36-44, nos. 1-23. A heart-shaped, basalt column base (no. 21) was found in the atrium. 151 Ibid., 42, 43, nos. 11-13 (Attic-Ionic column bases); 48, no. 39-42 (Ciborium column shafts), 50, no. 43-4 (Corinthian capitals). 152 Ibid., 43-4, nos. 14-18 (pillar fragments).

144

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dark green mottled granite (Troadic granite)153 particularly in the various columns. The use of imported Proconnesian capitals on Attic-Ionic bases with column shafts of Troadic columns reflects a practice of the early Byzantine period of incorporating costly material into church buildings, donated by persons of high social standing or clerical ranks.154 The interior floors were comprised of stone tile, a common feature of the period and region,155 as well as ornate opus tessalatum of various polychrome hues decorating the aisles in various geometric, zoomorphic, and vegetal motifs.156 The walls were decorated with mosaics covered in light blue glass157 and white marble facing.158 Marble was also used for chancel screens and barrier posts in the altar area. Chancel screens featured ornate cross medallions and decorations.159 The church also featured ornate furniture for its rituals including an altar with covering ciborium160 for the Eucharists celebration161 and a marble ambo extending into the middle nave.162 A partial inscription found in the northern middle aisle read [], indicating a dedicatory formula, although the name of the benefactor was missing (Fig. 4.23).163

Fig. 4.23. Fragmentary mosaic inscription from nave of five-aisled church (Al-Daire [2001]).

Ibid., 46, no. 24-5 (column barrels); 49 (monolithic column shafts). Ibid. 57. Al-Daire suggests that it may also point to a communal effort. 155 Ibid., 62-3. The style of engraved cross found on paving features a dropped edges first appearing on the coinage of Theodosius II (408-450) which provided an approximate date of the floor. 156 Ibid., 64. 157 Ibid., 69-71. Al-Daire notes similar glass mosaic wall decorations were found at Gerasas Church of St. Theodore, Church of St. John the Baptist, Church of SS. Peter and Paul, and the Propylaea Church. 158 Ibid., nos. 58-9, 71-2. 159 Ibid., nos. 64-70, 77-8. Similar chancel decorations in churches at Pella and Capitolias-Beit Ras date to the same period of the sixth-century. 160 Ibid., 83. The ciborium, which had six small marble columns, likely supported a baldachino over the altar. This was a known feature in churches in the Transjordan and Palestine. 161 Ibid., 80-4. 162 Ibid., 83-4. Although little remains of the structure, it was evidently set lower than the bema. 163 Ibid., 61, 66.
154

153

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The Gadara basilica was a space of contrasting influences and meanings that was certainly related to its appropriation of the Roman burial site. It was unique among the churches of the Decapolis as a basilica-plan that essentially incorporated the centralized patterned crypt at its eastern end. The Christian burial space, converted from an earlier Roman hypogeum, is particularly striking feature in the church that seems to have been intended, at least in part, to appropriate and sacralize a Roman religious area, and in turn identity itself with Roman power . Christian authorities and elites of the congregation were identifying with classical culture and asserting their own connection with that tradition, while at the same time assigning new meanings with the celebration of the Eucharist above the crypt. The blessings of God were on

display in the grandeur of the construction and its embellishments, which also reaffirmed the power of those in control. But the employment of the basilica-plan, the use of classical architectural features, its position on a main road at the citys gate, along with other areas of continuity, seems to invoke familiarity with others so as to intersect with them and to influence them.

Scythopolis-Beth Shean The city of Scythopolis-Beth Shean had a complex of structures identified as a monastery, which featured a number of rooms that served the needs of the Christian community residing there, including a small chapel of the basilica-plan. While excavation has located only a limited number of these type of churches, the evidence indicates that it was prominent among the Christian structures within the city. This is reflected in the inscriptional evidence within and around the small chapel, which provides insight into the complex meanings of the structure for the members of this thriving community of believers.

Monastery Chapel On Tell I aba at Scythopolis-Beth Shean, a monastery complex featured a chapel (Room G) dedicated to a certain Mary,164 for whom the monastery was named. The small basilica may have served as the burial site of the patroness and a priest, Elias, who was also mentioned in inscriptions. The chapel (11.80 m x 6.20 m), which was joined to five smaller rooms, had a narthex (Room D) outside its western entrance and a single apse in its eastern end (Fig. 4.24).
164

Fitzgerald, Sixth-century, 14. An inscription outside the chapel also offers a prayer for her son Maximus.

182

The date of the structures is indicated by inscriptions celebrating the contributions of Mary and Elias in 567 CE.165 The church and monastery continued to be used until the Muslim conquest of the region in 636, when it was likely abandoned as is indicated by numismatic evidence.166

Fig. 4.24. Top plan of the chapel G in the monastery of Kuria Maria (Fitzgerald, [1939], pl. 2.)

The chapel was sacred space within the monastery. The church functioned as a memorial chapel where prominent Christians were buried. A broken marble slab near the front of the apse featured a wreathed cross and possibly served as a grave cover. The word (wreathed cross) was found in inscriptions over graves in the floor as well.167 It probably was an expression related to the hope of Christian victory over death, but the blending of Greek concept with a Christian belief in the symbol at altar is suggestive of the comfort felt by Christians with their classical heritage. But along with this, the ritual of the Eucharist was also performed there as indicated by the presence of the altar that stood near the entrance of the apse.168 Another prominent symbol of classical continuity in the church was the use of glass mosaics to create a figure representing the month of March, and the other months of the calendar,169 reflecting the strong ties between Christianity and Roman culture that existed.170 The chapel served a religious function for the monastery, but was also a social marker in the community. Certain features testify to the investment made for its construction. Marble was
165 166

Ibid., 2. Ibid. Three gold coins dating to Heraclius I (610-41) were the latest found. 167 Fitzgerald, Beth-Shean, 3. 168 Ibid. Fitzgerald suggests the four broken patches of mosaics mark its presence, along with an altar screen base. 169 Ibid., 7. 170 Ibid., 6.

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used throughout the architecture, as in the threshold of the western entrance. Certain opulent objects further testify to the resources of the community. Ornate mosaics of various colors and designs were found throughout the church, including eighty-two decorative medallions depicting hunting and nature scenes with a variety of exotic animals and birds (Fig. 4.25).171 Various geometric and floral designs common in the region featuring pomegranates, vines, and fleur-delys were also used.172 In a room south of the chapel, a gold chain, gold bracelet, and a hoard of ten gold coins were found.173

Fig. 4.25. Overhead view of mosaic floors of Chapel G of the monastery looking north (Fitzgerald [1939])/

Inscriptions found in the monastery provide additional insight into the identity of its benefactors. Two mosaic inscriptions were found in the chapel floor. Near the apse of the church was a slab of marble with a cross wrapped in a wreath carved on one side. It was a grave cover with an inscription praising the churchs sponsor. Several inscriptions found near the burials describe the gifts made by esteemed donors. In the southeast corner of the chapel an inscription indicates that the founder of the church, a prominent woman by the name Mary, was to be given the special honor of burial within the church. It reads: [+ ] () () [ () ] () () () () ( )
Ibid. Animals depicted include a wild boar, hyena, gazelle, dog, goat, lion, zebra, and giraffe. Peacocks and a ostrich, or vulture, were among the birds pictured. 172 Ibid., 7-10. 173 Ibid., 4,5. Found in Room H adjacent to the chapel.
171

184

() () ( ) [] ( ) . ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) () , , () , () ()() , ()( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) () ( ) ( ) ( ) + + Where the wreath-cross is, there lies the (?) of the mouth of the tomb, having rings; and he who wishes lifts up the wreath-cross and finds the (?) and buries the dead.174 But if the Kuria Maria, who founded this church, desires to be laid in this tombor anyone of her family at any timeI, Elias, by the mercy of God a recluse, in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost curse and anathematize everyone after me that hinders her or any of hers, or that takes up this my inscription.175 A second tomb near the apse held the remains of a relative of Elias, a priest at the monastery. A second inscription in the northeast corner of the chapel states, + () () () () () () . () ( ) () [] () ()() ()-() ( ) , ( ) [], [ ]() -[ ] Where the wreath-cross is, there lies the(?) of the mouth of the tomb, having rings. There
174
175

( ) can be translated, and he pays homage to the dead. Ibid., 14-16. Authors translation.

185

have I laid my Christ-loving sister Georgia, I, Elias, by the mercy of God a most lowly recluse; now she died on the fourth day in the month of May of the fifteenth indiction, moreover it was the day of Mesopentecost.176 Both inscriptions serve to profess the piety of the donor. The pattern of inscription closely follows antecedents of classical benefaction, such as the promise of Along with Elias, other clergy members were commemorated with inscriptions in an adjacent room (Room P), like the priest and hegumen, George, and the deuterarius, Comitas.177 Political officials were also mentioned, such as the ex-prefect John (Room K),178 and administrative officials, Zosimus,179 Peter, and Anastasius, were celebrated in inscriptions in adjoining rooms where they may have also been laid to rest.180 Dedications such as these reflect the close relationship between religious and civic piety. ( ) () () -( ) () - ( ) ( ) ( ) . The whole work of laying the mosaic was completed in the time of the priest [or elder] and hegumen George and of the deuterarius Comitas.181 The inscriptions indicate the blending social and religious meanings that were common of temples in earlier society. It is not clear how much access was available to the chapel, but there is a clear assertion of central authority and assumption of the de-centered audience as the recipients. Among those who would confronted with the inscription were certainly those outside the inner circles of the community, so these messages had a socio-political function of clarifying the centers and the peripheries in relation to the monastery. The inscriptions make direct connections between religious and political worlds of the city with the mention of church officials and elites alongside political officers. The continuities with classical traditions would
Ibid., 15, 16. Authors translation. Ibid., 16, Fitzgerald notes that these were monastic officials. 178 Ibid., 4, 5. 179 Ibid., 14. The Greek descriptor used for Zosimus denotes a high ranking official in the sixth-century CE.. 180 Ibid. The inscription reads, +An offering (?) on behalf of the memory and perfect rest in Christ of Zosimus, Illustrious, and the preservation and succour of John, the most glorious ex-prefect, and of Peter and Anastasius, Christ-loving Counts, and of all their blessed house, through the prayers of the Saints. Amen. + 181 Ibid., 16. Authors translation.
177 176

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not have been lost on the audience whether Christian or pagan, but other features of the chapel served as sanctifying elements to associate Christian meanings.

Gerasa The city of Gerasa has one of the largest assemblages of Christian churches, not only in the Decapolis, but in the entire Transjordan. The predominant architectural design represented in this collection of churches is the basilica-plan, although they feature a variety of elements that distinguish the churches from each other. More than probably any other Decapolis city, the churches at Gerasa provide some intriguing insight into how these religious structures functioned as both sacral and social spaces and defining the Christian community.

Cathedral One of the most prominent churches of the city was located in the shadow of the formidable pagan temple dedicated to Artemis near the center of the city. The Cathedral was probably the first church built at Gerasa, and one of the earliest in the Decapolis, dated from ca. 365 CE 182 to 400 CE 183 continuing to the early fifth-century.184 It was one of a complex of churches which included the Propylaea Church and Church of St. Theodore. The fountain court served as the atrium to the cathedral. It was a standard basilica with a single apse and central nave with two lateral aisles to the north and south separated by colonnades of twelve columns with Corinthian capitals (Fig. 4.26). It appears that renovations sometime in the sixth-century resulting in the present state of the apse, which appears to have been expanded. A small annex chapel was attached to the main hall in its southwest corner.185 An ambo extended into the nave just south of the entrance to the chancel, although nothing of the structure remains.186

The earlier date comes from a possible reference by Epiphanius (Pan. 51.30, 1, 2) to the church being associated with the fountain where water is turned to wine commemorating the miracle of Jesus at Cana. 183 Crowfoot, Churches, 218. 184 Michel, 238. Cf. ADAJ 41 (1997), 311-20. 185 Michel, 238-9. The date of the chapel is based on the analysis of the masonry and style of mosaics. 186 Crowfoot, Churches, 213.

182

187

Fig. 4.26. Top plan of the Cathedral at Gerasa (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 31)

The Cathedral was the central religious structure for the Gerasene Christians for several reasons. The churchs status was enhanced not only by its location over a former temple dating to the second-century CE,187 but also by a fountain located in its western courtyard, which functioned as the churchs atrium. The fountain was associated with an annual celebration in which its water was changed to wine, imitating the famous miracle at Cana, which Kraeling suggests was an attempt by Christians to appropriate a former pagan shrine associated with a local Dionysus cult.188 While this may be the case, it may also reflect a sense of continuity with the divine nature of the site and the affirmation of its divine potency. The placement of the Cathedral over a pagan structure and the fountain celebration reflect the concern of Christians to sacralize certain spaces in the city, particularly where a prominent church would be located.189 Like a number of churches of the Decapolis, the Cathedral was later expanded in certain ways apparently to accommodate the development of Christian rituals. 190 In its earlier form, the chancel in the eastern end fit the width of the central nave and included a single, internal apse, but its width was later expanded to incorporate the eastern end of the north and south aisles and its apse was projected beyond the eastern wall. It was enlarged to the west extending into the
187 188

Michel, 238. Kraeling, History, 62. Nat. Hist.2.103, and Pausanias, Descr. Graec. 6.26.2, describe this festival on island of Andros; Diodorus, Bibl. Hist. 3.66.2, mentions a similar festival at Teos. 189 Crowfoot, Churches, 214. 190 Ibid.

188

central nave to the fourth pair of columns from the east. In these later renovations, the chancel was also elevated above the nave by one level with the central apse being elevated one additional level.191 While little remains of the eastern end because of despoliation, the area probably featured an altar and synthronon for leading clergy. The remains of a reliquary were found in the eastern end of the south aisle, containing the relicsl of a prominent individual. Along with the expansion and elevation of the chancel, a small chapel, complete with an altar table and covering ciborium, was added to the southwest corner of the church in the sixth-century spanning four bays from the west end.192 While later eclipsed by other churches of the city, the location of the church and its expansion over time suggests the significant place it had for the Christians.193 The church was also a significant social structure within the city. The churchs status was certainly enhanced by its association with the miraculous fountain. Its location provides some indication of its importance in the city. The cathedral and the fountain court were located on the second of four terraces on the west side of the cardo maximus in an area described by excavators as the heart of the Christian city of Gerasa.194 The layout of the church with its surrounding structures shared similarities with the church complex of the Holy Sepulcher, which reflects the common interest among Christian benefactors of the Decapolis during the Byzantine period to emulate Constantinian archetypes in Palestine.195 Its construction included reused classical material and incorporated rich marble throughout.196 In the chapel that was adjoined to the southwest part of the church, an inscription was placed front of the chancel that read a memorial of the repose of those who have contributed and of Mary,197 pointing out contributions made by pious benefactors. The Cathedral displays the complex interaction occurring between the religious authorities and elites and those on the fringes of the Christian community at Gerasa. The
Ibid. Ibid., 215. While the ciborium and altar table were not recovered, the post holes and sockets in the floor indicate their position. 193 Ibid., 208. A small shrine dedicated to the veneration of Mary dating to the second quarter of the fifth-century was considered a sacred space leading to the cathedral. Located at the top of the staircase leading to the second terrace in the outer part of the cathedrals eastern wall, the shrine featured a niche in the shell design with the traces of figures in red paint and the names Michael, Holy Mary, and Gabriel on a band beneath. The proximity of this shrine certainly enhanced the churchs sacrality and standing in the community. 194 Ibid., 201. A pagan temple probably was located on the second terrace as well. 195 Ibid., 202. Crowfoot, noting the similarities in the layout of structures around the Cathedral and the Holy Sepulcher, states that there is no doubt that in its final form the Gerasa plan was deliberately modeled on the Jerusalem pattern. 196 Ibid., 212. The extensive marble used for the eastern end had been robbed out. 197 Ibid., 215, ins. 294.
192 191

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location of the church over a former temple and reuse of material in its construction was a means of reasserting the sacrality of the site but giving a new meaning. The churchs association with a miraculous well would have enhanced its sacrality in the region, but would also draw comparisons to sacred shrines and temples known for supernatural aid. The authority of those in power was indicated in the architectural features including the synthronon and delineations of the ritual space, but the political elements of the structure were also reminiscent of the temple precincts which stood nearby. The Cathedral, like other churches in the Decapolis, drew associations through its design to the citys association with classical forms of its Hellenistic and Roman past that were familiar to outsiders from the centered authorities, but also established new relationships that were meant to be promoted.

Church of St. Theodore The Church of St. Theodore, which dates to 494-6, was slightly smaller than the cathedral located to the east. It was built on the third of four terraces in the shadow of the Temple of Artemis.198 The excavation of the church, which was carried out between 1928 and 1931, revealed a standard basilica with an external polygonal apse in its eastern end with rooms adjoining to the north and south. It sat above the cathedral and the fountain court and was joined by two sets of stairs descending north and south of its central apse (Fig. 4.27). The church could be accessed through twelve separate entrances, including the three primary doors leading into the central nave and side aisles, which were separated by two colonnades of seven columns. The eastern end of the church incorporated the famous fountain located below (5 m.) by means of two arches connecting the apse to the fountain.199 The church was a complex of buildings, which included a baptistery and two small chapels. It was also located among a number of other structures, including public baths and ecclesiastical residences.200

198 199

Crowfoot, Churches, 201. The church shared the terrace with the old court of the Artemis temple. Ibid., 221. Chancel screens were also added to further delineate the sacred space around the fountain, along with a stone seat set against the apse wall for the overseeing church official. 200 Fisher, 271, suggested that the domestic structure adjacent to the St. Theodore church was probably housing for the clergy serving in the churches of the complex.

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Fig. 4.27. Cross-section of the Church of St. Theodore from south (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 34).

The Church of St. Theodore was prominently placed amidst temple ruins and took advantage of their spoilage.201 The religious status of the church was clearly emphasized in contrast to the ruins of the pagan temples nearby. Like the nearby Cathedral, the churchs altar was expanded to allow for the development of Christian rituals and the number of clergymen. The chancel was extended into the nave and elevated above the rest of the hall, and an ambo was added which could be accessed from its southern end.202 Dependent structures added to sacred areas of the church complex, such as a chapel on the northwest end complete with nave and chancel. Adjoined to the southwest corner was chapel with trefoil plan which was thought to have been a martyrium that was later converted to a baptistery (Fig. 4.28).203

Fig. 4.28. Southwest baptistery of Church of St. Theodore (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 41b.)

201

Crowfoot, Churches, 220. A column recovered from the portico of the atrium once belonged to a pagan structure contributed by one Proedros Symmachus according an inscription (ins. 73). 202 Ibid., 223. 203 Ibid., 225. The oval-shaped baptistery was fed by a large cistern outside the eastern wall.

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The social eminence of the church was reflected in a number of its features. The flooring of the nave and lateral aisles was composed of ornate colored stones and marble in a variety of shades and geometric patterns. The large size of the church complex indicates that its function was not limited to the ritual needs of the community, but also included serving as a residence for priests and deacons.204 An inscription found near the central doorway of the church identified its benefactors, which included Bishop Aeneas under whom its construction was completed.205 The Church of St. Theodores close proximity to the Temple of Artemis complex provides some indication that the Christian officials and elites of the community, who were responsible for sponsoring the basilica complex, were making connections with the othered of Gerasa. It featured elements of continuity with the temple space in its various architectural features, but also with its levels of sacred ritual spaces. The connection of the church with the clergys residential space reflects the traditional political and religious functions of older precincts in the city. The inscription of dedication was further evidence of this connection acknowledging the private sponsors and local bishop. These elements invited comparisons and discussion from those in centers of power to those who were familiar with earlier religious traditions.

Procopius Church The Procopius Church, a triapsidal basilica dating to 526-7, was the only church on the east bank of the city located near the southeast corner of the city wall. What little remains of the church indicates that it was an important church during the Justinian age. It was excavated by the British School of Archaeology in 1928 under the direction of M. Robinson.206 A typical basilica of the period, it featured a central nave with lateral aisles in the north and south, and three inscribed apses in its eastern end (Fig. 4.27).207 A chapel, which featured a nave and chancel with shallow apse and mosaic floors, had been cut out of rock adjoined the main hall through a doorway in the northwest corner.208 A cave was also located to the south.209 The lateral aisles were separated from the central nave by six pairs of columns of a Corinthian order.
Ibid. Ibid., 219, ins. 299. 206 Michel, 241. 207 Ibid., 243. The central apse was larger than the other two. A cross was carved above a niche in the center of the northern apse. 208 Crowfoot, Churches, 262.
205 204

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Fig. 4.29. Top plan of the Procopius Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 43).

The spacious chancel extended into the central nave by two bays and in the north and south aisle by one bay. It was elevated above the nave and separated by chancel screens of which fragmentary screens and posts were found. Fragmentary remains of a reliquary were also uncovered. The central apse was constructed with a synthronon for the clergy to oversee the performance of the sacred rituals.210 Certain elements indicate that a considerable investment was expended in its decoration, such as the stone used to cover the walls of the central apse. Even common features were made to appear opulent, like the plaster on the walls of the lateral apses that were painted to look like costly red-veined marble.211 Ornate marble and mosaics were used in the paving of the chancel, the main hall, and the chapel annex. Panels of mosaic flooring featured various geometric and floral patterns, like acanthus leaves depicted in the central nave. Medallions were located at the center of the nave, and in the lateral aisles.212 A marble screen with a carved image of two sheep on either side of a circular frame was discovered in the northwest chapel.213
209 210

Ibid., 260. Ibid., 261. 211 Ibid. 212 Michel, 243. 213 Crowfoot, Churches, 262.

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An inscription framed in a cartouche214 was located prominently in front of the chancel step that indicates the completion date of the mosaics, an approximate date of origin for the church, but also provides information about its benefactors (Fig. 4.30). It refers to an official by the name of Procopius, after whom the church was named, who directed the mosaic work that had been funded by the Bishop Paul and another individual, the deacon and paramonarius Saul.215 The inscription, which honors prominent religious and social figures in the Christian community, was intentionally placed to be read by celebrants approaching the altar to participate in the Eucharist.

Fig. 4.30. Inscription of dedication mentioning an official, Procopius (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 79).

The Procopius Church re-centered a sacred site in the city by appropriating the cave for a Christian shrine. Its features were consistent with other churches in borrowing from earlier structures while being built in a basilica-plan. The Christian leaders and benefactors asserted certain political associations its design but also in the inscriptional remains which praised a leading official. Its prominent location communicated to the outsiders the benefits of divine aid available to Gods people, which enabled their benevolence but also put them in the position of power to offer such help. Like other churches, its ritual spaces were subdivided within communicating levels of sacrality. The interior decorations, including faux marble designs, provide interesting insight into the possible desire of those in power to proclaim to those outside the benefits of divine support for the Christian faith. These features certainly invited comparisons with nearby classical religious precincts, but new discontinuities were also asserted in the discourse.

214 215

This is currently housed at Yales Gallery of Fine Art. Biebel, 338. Crowfoot, Churches, 261, ins. 304. Cf. Michel, 243.

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Synagogue Church The Synagogue Church was located on the western bank positioned between the Temple of Artemis and the city wall.216 The church, which was excavated by the British School of Archaeology in 1929, was remarkable among the churches of the Transjordan in that it incorporated a former synagogue.217 This appropriation of a Jewish holy space for Christians may have had the same connotations of continuity as with classical temples. This may have salso felt a sense of continuity with synagogues, as well, or at least saw them as classically oriented structures that could be fitted for their religious uses. The earlier structure218 which was oriented toward the west, in the direction of Jerusalem, was later reconfigured with the apse of the church placed over the former synagogue entrance. Its main hall was divided into three parts with two colonnades of seven columns (Fig. 4.31). Two thresholds on either side of the apse provided access from the east and single threshold served as the primary entrance in the western end.219 The chancel spanned the width of the central nave and provided access to an ambo south of its main entrance. The Synagogue Church was dated to around 530/1 CE, based on architectural similarities with the Church of Procopius (526) and the Church of St. John of Baptist (531).220

216 217

Ibid., 251-55. Crowfoot, Churches, 234. 218 Michel, 252. Excavators suggested a date for the synagogue to the fifth-century, but this is uncertain. 219 Crowfoot, Churches, 240. 220 Michel, 259.

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Fig. 4.31. Top plan of the Synagogue Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 36).

The churchs construction over a former Jewish synagogue, while certainly having pragmatic value, 221 may have also reflected the Christian expressing their sense of continuity with the Jewish heritage, and in a sense trying to re-center its sacred meaning in the church.. The synagogues presence was indicated by its eastern orientation, the remains of its vestibule under the churchs apse, and the distinctive Jewish artistic motifs, including depiction of Noahs ark,222 the Flood account, and a Menorah, in the mosaics (Fig. 4.32).223 An inscription in Greek reading peace to the congregation was found under the churchs eastern apse facing west for Jewish congregants entering the synagogue.224 The church was equipped to accommodate the ritual needs of its congregation. Its chancel, which was elevated above the nave, featured floor sockets in the apse for a commemoration table and an altar that were utilized in the performance of the Eucharist.225 A bishop or other leading clergy would have overseen these rituals from the synthronon in the apse. An ambo was added to the south part of the chancel at a later time during renovations.226

Fig. 4.32. Jewish motifs featured in mosaics of the Synagogue Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 63).

Ibid., 252, notes that while the change in orientation was dramatic, little of the churchs architecture was a gue. Erwin R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, v. 1 (New York: Pantheon, 1953), 260, notes how the Jewish symbolism seems to resemble the Christian, particularly with the Noah motif as the great deliverer. 223 Crowfoot, Churches, 235-6; Michel, 252. 224 Ibid., 236, insc. 285. 225 Ibid., 241. 226 Michel, 252, 255. A bench was also added to the north wall of the church at this time.
222

221

196

The Synagogue Church was constructed with certain costly architectural elements. It featured mosaic floors featuring a border of acanthus leaves and a field of geometric pattern was uncovered in the nave and aisles. They were placed in a field creating geometric patterns bordered by acanthus leaves.227 Three fragmentary dedication inscriptions were found before the chancel area in the northern aisle. The names of three benefactors of the church were displayed in a panel, which was surrounded by a floral pattern and oriented to be read from the east.228 The church incorporated the synagogue, but reoriented it to the east, and re-sacralized it in the process. Its architectural features with reused material provide points of continuity with the classical heritage of the city, engaging the outsider to interact with the structure and its meaning within the community. The bishops or religious officials position indicated with the synthronon connected the church with the empowerment comparable to the traditional Roman precincts. Decorative interior features testified to the divinely-blessed, centered authorities who were mentioned in the mosaic dedication, a familiar form with new meanings.

Church of SS. Peter and Paul The Church of SS. Peter and Paul, which was excavated by the British team in 1929, abutted the city wall in the southwest part of Gerasa. It was a standard, albeit poorly preserved, basilica with three inscribed apses in its east end (Fig. 4.33). The construction of the church is dated to around 540 CE, based on the style of its mosaics.229 Material from an earlier structure was reused for its walls and columns, including its Corinthian capitals that came from a second or third-century CE structure.230 The central nave and two lateral aisles were divided by eight pairs of columns and were accessed by three doorways in the west wall and single doors in the north and south walls.231 An atrium enclosed by columns with Ionic capitals led to the churchs western entrance. A small rectangular chapel, with an inscribed and niched-apse in its east end, adjoined the main hall in the northwest corner. The chancel of the main church had a plan similar to that of Church of Procopius, which had been built several decades earlier. Elevated

227 228

Ibid., 255. This pattern was identical to the one used in the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus. Crowfoot, Churches,, 237, insc. 287. 229 Ibid., 251; Michel, 255, 259, notes the similarities in architectural features to the Procopius Church (526 CE.) and the Church of St. John the Baptist (531 CE.), but also 230 Michel, 255, as indicated by the mismatched bases. 231 Crowfoot, Churches, 252.

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above the nave, the chancel spanned the width of the eastern end incorporating the north and south aisles. It was accessed by only one entrance before the altar in the central nave.232

Fig. 4.33. Top plan of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 39).

The presence of an altar table was evidenced by sockets in the floor of the northwest and southwest corners of the chancel marking the sacred center of church where the Eucharist was celebrated. Its sacrality was enhanced by the presence of a reliquary (.55m long x .58 m high x .52 m), which was found in situ in the square cavity located before the central apse.233 The wall of the apse was decorated with a sculpted cross inscribed in a circle above a triangle. An ambo, accessible from the southwest part of the chancel by three steps, was identified in the remains.234 In the central apse, a two-tiered synthronon provided seating for leading clergy members providing oversight for the performance of the rituals. Other features suggest the expenditure made for the churchs construction. The apse was embellished with green-colored, glass mosaics and with wall-facing of marble and limestone.235
232 233

Ibid., 253. Michel, 255. The box, which had two inner compartments and facing of marble, was later misplaced. 234 Crowfoot, Churches, 254. 235 Ibid., 253.

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Poorly preserved, but ornate, mosaics embellished the nave and aisles. These featured elaborate designs and motifs, including a border of acanthus leaves and other vegetal designs similar to those of Egyptian churches.236 The church was expanded with the addition of a chapel in the northwest, which was accessed from the north aisle. An atrium paved with marble and stone pavers was also uncovered.237 Several dedicatory inscriptions were found in a panel in the center nave. These identify the churchs founders and their pious intentions for its construction. One mosaic inscription in a tabula ansata dedicated the church to the first of Apostles, Peter and Paul.238 Another in the north aisle honors the contributions of the famed Anastasius, who teaches the trustworthy things of divine inspiration, who is identified as the dauntless founder of the church.239 These references testify to the influence and affluence of priest and clergy in Byzantine Gerasa during this period. An inscription found in the eastern part of the northern aisle provides insight into the prestige and honor associated with contributions made to church building (Fig. 4.34). It states: ; . ; ; [] , [ ] . Mosaic, who donated you? It is he who has financed this edifice. And who is the minister who has painted [you]? Who made these works to shine [or for whose sake (did) he make (the) works shine?] His name is Anastasius, the Tetrapolis, praise the Savior [or Blessed (is/be) the Savior! 240

Fig. 4.34. Northern aisle inscription of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 76c.).
236 237

Michel, 255. Crowfoot, Churches, 254. 238 Biebel, 334, ins. 327. 239 Ibid.; Crowfoot, 251, ins. 326-30. Crowfoot suggests that Anastasius was the successor to Paul, who was the citys bishop in 533 CE. and built the Procopius church. 240 Kraeling, Gerasa, 485, ins. 330. Authors translation.; Michel, 259.

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The Church of SS. Peter and Paul, while poorly preserved, attests the use of architecture in the interaction of church authorities and elite with those outside their circles of influence. The inscription placed before the chancel provides evidence of how church architecture was used in the discourse between these two groups within the community at Gerasa. The mosaic testifies to the game play of the religious authorities and the outsiders, primarily in this case those nonelite in the assembly. It asks the question of the building, but it is really directed toward those who are approaching the sacred and political space of the altar. The invitation is extended to consider the architecture and the divine authority that provided such ornamentations, like mosaic floors and wall decorations. But also by mentioning the political authority, it directly ties the church to the local administrators and the state. These associations were common features of former religious centers and the connections with the political authority were a reminder of the primacy of the church. The presence of the reliquary, along with its processional sacred areas, reflected continuities with former shrines with the possibility of heavenly intercession. Interior ornamentation of the walls created an aura of the holiness of the church building yet the familiar classical forms invited comparisons and dialogue in the presence of the clergys platform where a new faith was proclaimed.

Church of Isaiah The Church of Isaiah, located west of the north theater of the city, was identified by the British in the 1930s, but was not excavated until 1983 by the American Center of Oriental Research in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.241 The church, which dates to the sixth-century,242 was a standard basilica with three inscribed apses. Its main hall was comprised of a central nave with two lateral aisles separated by two colonnades of five columns of the Ionic order.243 The chancel in the eastern end featured three inscribed apses which extended the altar space. The Church of Isaiah was constructed over an older structure and reused well-cut limestone blocks dating to the second and third centuries CE for its lintels and threshold. The keystone in the central apse was decorated with an inscribed monogram. The
241 242

Michel, 259-63, notes that only the interior of the church was excavated with several surveys conducted outside. Ibid., 263. Although the date of occupation remains obscure, an inscription in the eastern nave indicates the church was provided in 559 CE.. 243 Ibid., notes these were reused and identical to those of the northern section of the cardo and north decumanus.

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main hall was accessed from the west by three doorways, and six other entrances in the north and south walls. Excavators suggest that an annex building may have adjoined the southwest corner and was accessed also from the main hall. Several renovations were made which resulted in the addition of an ambo and repairs of the mosaics. These had been mutilated by iconoclasts before the structure fell into disuse sometime in the eighth-century after being severely damaged by an earthquake.244 Along with its identification with a leading bishop of the city, the physical remains of the church testify to its prestige in the city. It was constructed with an elevated chancel that was separated from the nave and side aisles by eight marble screens. The altar area was furnished to accommodate the practice of Christian rituals, which were overseen by the bishop and other clergy from the synthronon in the central apse. The altar was positioned at the center of the apse evidenced by the presence of several projecting slabs.245 An ambo, where Scripture was read, extended into the nave from the southwest corner of the chancel. A second altar that was reused as a font was added during a later renovation. Mosaics of various shades and hues were used extensively to decorate the interior walls and floors of the nave and side aisles. Floor mosaics were composed of fields of geometric patterns of squares boxes surrounded by a border of acanthus rings. In the chancel were panels featuring trees, rings of vines, and figurative image of the Earth. Human images were even depicted in the mosaics decorations in front of the chancel. These included fragmentary portraits of the donors and an image of a hunter gripping a bow and arrow who was identified as Constantios.246 Fifteen inscriptions were discovered within the church, including several etched on pagan grave stones, which were reused by Byzantine builders. Nine mosaic inscriptions listed the names of various donors, including the customary dedicatory inscription prominently positioned before the central apse. This inscription provided the churchs date of construction, which was accomplished by the very saintly and very blessed Thomas the Metropolite and the Bishop Isaiah. It also mentioned the embellishment of mosaics and other features provided by the offering of Beroios and Eulampia, for their salvation and those of their children and for the rest of their parents.247
244 245

Ibid. Ibid., notes the absence of a reliquary box that were not uncommon in other churches of the period. 246 Ibid. 247 Ibid.

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The Church of Isaiah was a space of continuity with earlier classical religious tradition in the city, but with new meanings being asserted throughout. Its position over an earlier structure, which may have had pagan associations, provided the opportunity to reuse familiar classical elements. The church was positioned as a religious center with demarcated areas of progressive sacrality and authority. Its interior chancel with altar and synthronon, and projecting ambo separated the church officials at the center from the onlookers on the periphery of the Christian community. The inscriptions invite further associations with the traditional roles of religious structures as displays of wealth, power, and piety. Those found on reused stones from a pagan structure was certainly suggests a provocative act engaging Christian and non-Christian alike in discussions about the role and meaning of the new state religion.

Propylaea Church The Propylaea Church, which is dated to 565, was discovered east of the cathedral near the propylaea of the Temple of Artemis.248 It was excavated by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of J. W. Crowfoot n 1928. The Christian basilica and its accompanying atrium were built at the heart of the city inside two classical porticoes (Fig. 4.35). It sat astride the ceremonial road on a terrace that led up to the temple from the north bridge of the city.249 The churchs remains were sparse with only seven courses of the apse wall, the western wall, north wall of its atrium, and part of the south colonnade being preserved.

Michel, 266, notes that the dating of this side room, along with the position of the church at a critical axis of circulation in the city, suggests a later date for construction. 249 Crowfoot, Churches, 227. Michel, 263.

248

202

Fig. 4.35. Top plan of the Propylaea Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 35).

The church was positioned to take advantage of spoila from the Propylaea, but also to physically, and perhaps symbolically, block off the ritual processional route leading to the former Artemis temple precinct. The remains of the chancel in the eastern end reflect the latest stage of expansion for the communitys liturgical needs according to the excavators.250 The chancel featured an altar table and a large stone basin (.50 m. diameter) built into the floor of the chancel beneath the altar that served as a piscina, or thalassa, for water used in washing sacred vessels and the hands of celebrants.251 In the central apse a synthronon with an elevated bishops throne provided seating for clergy.252 An ambo may have been added at a later date, although this is not certain.253 The church involved a considerable economic investment. A circular chamber, identified as a diaconicon by excavators, extended from the atrium. It had a design reminiscent of the Constantinian church at the Dome of the Rock. The room was decorated with mosaic floors featuring an interesting circular polychrome medallion, which was a geometric pattern with a small circle in the center that contained an inscription (Fig. 4.36). Its benefactor included verses from Psalm 86 along with providing the date for the diaconia, which was probably used for the collection of offerings and the distribution of charity to the poor, stating,
250 251

Crowfoot, Churches, 234. Michel, 266, suggests an interpretation of this space as a reliquary cavity. 252 Crowfoot, Churches, 231-2. 253 Michel, 266.

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by the will of God the diaconia was built in the month of Artemisius in the thirteenth indiction in the year 627.254 Despite the fragmentary nature of its remains, the Propylea Church reflects some fascinating evidence of the interactions occurring within its space that generated meaning for the structure and fostered identity formation of the groups present in the community. Its conspicuous location directly appropriated what had been the sacred processional way to the main temple of the city. The church authorities and elites asserted their position and power over the former processional entrance and also connected with non-Christians in establishing new associations with the space. Other features also suggested continuity with classical traditions including evidence of benefaction and the blending of religious and political functions in the church with the evidence of the clerical space that was delineated from the assembly area. The inscription in the diaconicon suggests that the room was an intermediary space between the sacred space close to the altar and profane space away from the altar. It provided an area where interaction and discourse was expected between the centered authority and non-centered laity.

Fig. 4.36. Mosaic medallion of the diaconicon of the Propylaea Church (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, pl. 62b.).

Church of Bishop Marianos A church was constructed outside the south wall of the city in a burial area near the hippodrome about 50 m. north of Hadrians Arch.255 It was discovered in a survey conducted in 1982 and was excavated in a joint venture of Jordans Department of Antiquities and the
254 255

Crowfoot, Churches, 224. Cf. Biebel, 316. Michel, 266-70.

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University of Warsaw in 1983. The structure had a nave with a single inscribed apse at its east end. A vestibule led to its western entrance and an annex with walls preserved up to 1 m in height flanked the church to the north. Its walls, which were double-faced, were constructed by using spoila from the nearby hippodrome. Only the foundation of the western vestibule, which was accessed by two sets of stairs, was preserved.256 An inscription located in front of the chancel dates the completion of the church in 570, although it was later renovated with the addition of the annex.257 Sacred objects, like the altar table and reliquary, in the chancel appear to have been inserted at this time. The remains of the Church of Marianos indicate its religious function. It was furnished with common liturgical object for the performance of the Christian rituals. The chancel in the east end was separated from the nave by marble screens, indicated by the remains of post holes in the floor. The apse had a synthronon of two levels with a central bench raised by one level. Four gaps in the mosaic flooring indicate the presence of an altar table, under which a reliquary deposit was positioned in the floor.258 In the northern annex, another table with a marble surface was discovered in its eastern end. The church was embellished with a number of decorative features. Mosaics that featured a variety of patterns common among the churches of the period were used to pave the interior of the church and its annex. Geometric patterns, including rectangular bands of interlaced circles, were used in the annex, vestibule, the nave, and the chancel. Several inscriptions that provide information about the churchs sponsors were found in the mosaic floors. In the vestibule a fragmentary inscription was found in a circular medallion. Another was inscribed in a rectangular frame at the entrance of the nave which mentions the names of the donors. It states, By the grace of Christ, this holy temple was built and decorated with mosaics by the zeal of Raphas, Julia, Sabinos, Procopius, and Nonnos.259 A third inscription was placed in a cartouche before the steps leading up to the chancel which commemorates the date of construction and the builder of the church. It stated that this saintly

Ibid., 266. Ibid. Ceramic evidence recovered under the vestibule mosaics puts one renovation at the end of the sixth and early seventh-century. 258 Ibid. 259 Ibid.
257

256

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house was built under the very holy and protected of God Bishop Marianos in April 570.260 These individuals and clergy members saw the sponsorship and embellishment of the church building as a means of expressing their religious and civic piety. The Church of Marianos was constructed with reused architectural material from an earlier pagan structure. Those in control of the church and its benefaction asserted their role in the building and adornment of the structure. The inscriptional dedication was positioned in the in-between space between the center of sacrality and power in the chancel. It was positioned to be read by participants, especially fellow elites and clergy, on the other side of the chancel screen. Inside the chancel, the markers of religious and political authority could be viewed by those outside, but they were also invited to partake in the rituals and to engage in the generating of sacral meaning. The church embodied certain continuities with traditional cults, such as the focal point of the altar for symbolic sacrifice, the veneration of sacred objects, and the familiar architectural elements, but these had been assigned new meanings by those in centers of religious and political authority.

Church on the Terrace of the Temple of Artemis A church that dates to the sixth-century was discovered on the intermediate terrace of the Temple of Artemis south of the steps of the propylaea. An Italian team from the University of Turin stumbled upon the Church on the Terrace in 1979 while conducting surveys of the terrace in order to determine the date of the Artemis temple.261 The church was a rectangular structure with a single inscribed apse in its eastern end. It was constructed by using the standard doublefaced masonry with rubble core. The rectangular hall was subdivided into three rooms by two transverse walls. In a later renovation, an apsed-room was added to the west end that was connected to a nearby cistern by channels. Based on its east-west orientation and presence of apses, it was likely a chapel. The fragmentary nature of the remains limits any conclusions about the dating and use of the church, but ceramic evidence indicates that the building was used until the seventh-century.262

Church of St. Genesius

260 261

Ibid. Ibid., 274. 262 Ibid.

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The Church of St. Genesius, located near the Artemis temple about 50 m. west of the St. John the Baptist church complex, was a simple basilica with a central nave flanked by two aisles in the north and south, and a single external apse in its eastern end (Fig. 4.37).263 The structure, which was excavated by the British in 1929, was one of the later churches of the city, dating to around 611 CE shortly before the Persian occupation of the region in 614.264 A chapel annex was added to the main hall in its southwest corner in a later renovation. The atrium to the west of the church led up to its entrance, where three doorways provided access to the nave and two aisles. The main hall was subdivided by two colonnades of seven column pairs265 and was decorated with a variety of floor mosaics. Unique among the churches at Gerasa, its chancel was delineated by a screen that spanned the width of the eastern end, incorporating the nave and side aisles.

263 264

Ibid. 266-71. Crowfoot, Churches, 249; Michel, 272, notes the diversity of later renovations complicates dating. 265 Crowfoot, Churches, 249.

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Fig. 4.37. Top plan of the Church of St. Genesius (Kraeling, ed. Gerasa, plan 38).

The church was furnished for the performance of the customary rituals headed by leading clergy. The chancel in the eastern end was elevated above the nave and featured an altar that was positioned before the apse. The apse had a synthronon of three levels for seating the bishop and clergy. A cavity beneath the altar would have contained a rinsing basin, or thalassa, or a reliquary box.266 Although fragmentary, a masonry base for an ambo was detected near the entrance to the chancel.267 The investment made for its construction and embellishment was considerable. Mosaic flooring decorated the church and its adjoining structures. A chapel was added in the southwest corner with a raised chancel featuring mosaic floors. Mosaics were also found in the northern aisle, including a carpet featuring floral patterns with birds depicted in border panels. A dedicatory inscription was found in a cartouche near the chancel rail in the northern aisle.268 It names the donors of the churchs mosaic flooring, the silversmiths John and Saolas, providing the date the mosaics were laid during the episcopate of Bishop Genesius in 610-11 CE, after whom the church was named.269 The Church of Genesius featured elements that suggest continuities with traditional Roman cults of the city. The delineation of its interior spaces like other churches marked the spaces of sacrality and power by those in control. Yet as the othered onlookers approached the barriers to the sacred center, they were invited to engage in interacting with the ritual space and were reminded of political and social connections that provided the sacred space. The decorative elements testified to their generosity and the divine providence afforded those of the true faith. The points of continuity with the traditional cults of the city were evident in the sacred objects of the chancel, the mosaics of dedication, the rituals leading to the altar with the hope of heavenly aid. The customs associating the religion with the state were clear to outsiders, but the discourse continued that was essential in generating spatial meaning and the identity formation of the various interacting groups.

266 267

Ibid., 250. Michel, 271. 268 Crowfoot, Churches, 250, Biebel, 333. 269 Biebel, 333.

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Church of Elias, Maria, and Soreg Discovered by a farmer in the 1940s, the Church of Elias, Marie, and Soreg was located about 200 m. north of the Church of Procopius. Little is known about the church, which has since disappeared. It was a small hall subdivided into two sections having a rectangular east end and a vestibule in the west. The limited remains of the church provide some indication of its value for the community. It was embellished with mosaic floors featuring various vegetal and geometric motifs. Panels of mosaics featured fields of circles and ovals, borders of acanthus leafs and vines, and various depictions of animals and hunting scenes. Another panel, described as funerary motif, depicted the months of the Macedonian calendar with peacocks and intertwining floral patterns. Human images also appear in the mosaics. Apparently, these were significant individuals who may have been the sponsors of the floors identified in inscriptional evidence.270 Eleven inscriptions were found in the mosaic floors each having an exegetical theme. The names of donors were mentioned, although no indication was given of the date of the structure.271 While little remained of the church, certain features provide some indication of the structures role in provoking discussion and game play between the church authorities and those on the periphery. The classical elements in the architecture of the church, like the mosaic floors which featured a traditional Roman calendar, were distinctive and welcoming for those outside to engage in the rituals. If the lure to interact was accepted, the othered were confronted with images of the Christian officials and elites, and ornate dedications testifying to the connections between the benefactors and the divine.

Pella Located along the eastern Jordan Valley, Pella ( abaqat Fa l) was another leading city in the region having a thriving Christian community during the Byzantine period. The site of ancient Pella, which had an occupational history stretching back to the seventh millennium BCE,

270 271

Michel, 272. Ibid., 274.

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272

was about 5 km east of the Jordan River within the vicinity of Gadara to the north and Gerasa

(Jerash) to the east. It was positioned on an oval mound north of the Wadi Jirm el-Moz near the junction of two routes through the Levant, one connecting the Transjordan with the Mediterranean coast and the other running north and south along the eastern side of Jordan. Pella became associated with the Decapolis some time after Alexanders 273 conquest of the region from 332-331 BCE.274 It eventually came under Romans control when Pompey conquered the region of Syria in the first century BCE. Pella is listed among the cities of the Decapolis in Ptolemys Geography in the second-century CE, which also mentions the nearby cities of Scythopolis, Abila, Gadara, and Gerasa.275 Although the city is not mentioned specifically in the context of Jesus ministry, he was known to have traveled within its vicinity and may have even visited the city.276 Eusebius identified the city of Pella as belonging to the Decapolis and provided its location,277 also noting in reference to the Jewish revolt that Christian here.278 Some of the most significant remains of the civic center including public baths and a small theater date to the Roman period. Coinage from the site indicates the presence of a nymphaeum, along with evidence of the worship of Athena and perhaps Heracles. The city had a significant Christian community into the fourth century CE, when it became an episcopal see.279 Public expressions of paganism were outlawed in this period, and over the next few centuries several churches were constructed at prominent locations within the city. The fifth century to the seventh century was a vibrant time for the Byzantine city. Three large churches were built, including the Cathedral located in the Civic Complex, and two others: one in the west side and another on a high slope to the east. A number of bishops were involved in the major church
Robert H. Smith, "Pella, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5, edited by D. N. Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992), 219. It is found in Egyptian records around 1800 BCE and mentioned in about one hundred other ancient texts. 273 Recalls Pella of Macedon, the city of Alexanders birth. 274 Geography 5.14; Eus. On. 218, 225, 268. 275 Stevenson, Edward Luther. trans. and ed. Claudius Ptolemy: The Geography (New York Public Library, 1932; Reprint: Dover, 1991), 5.14. 276 Mk 5.1-20; 7.31-37; 10.1-16, and parallel accounts. 277 Eus. On. 218, 225, 268. 278 Eus. Hist. 3.5.3-4. G. F. Brandon, Jesus and the Zealots: Aftermath, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 54 (1971): 57-8, discounted the accounts of the Jewish-Christians fleeing to Pella, but argues instead that they stayed to fight with other Jews at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Brandons thesis has been critically examined through further analysis of relevant textual evidence and archaeological research of the site of Pella, cf. E. Yamauchi, Christians and the Jewish Revolts against Rome, Fides et Historia 23.2 (1991): 18-21. 279 Robert H. Smith, Pella of the Decapolis, vol. 1 (Wooster, OH: College of Wooster, 1973), 62-4. Several of Pellas bishops are recorded in attendance at ecclesiastical councils, including Zebennos at the Council of Chalcedon (451) and Paulos at the Council of Constantinople (518).
272

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councils of the fifth and sixth century.280 The citys prosperity peaked in the sixth century CE with its involvement in international trade before falling to Muslim control in 635 CE. The site was rediscovered in 1818 by western scholar-explorers Charles L. Irby and James Mangles who described several visible structures including one of the apses of the West Church.281 It was revisited by a number of other scholars during the 1800s, including Gottlieb Schumacher who first surveyed the site in 1887 and mapped a number of its structures. In the early twentieth century, the site was further surveyed by John Richards in 1933 and later by Nelson Glueck in 1942. Archaeological excavation of the site was undertaken in 1958 under the auspices of the American Center of Oriental Research and resumed from 1967-1985 by the College of Wooster under Robert H. Smith. 282 A joint venture between the University of Sydney and College of Wooster continued work into the 1990s. The Christian community at Pella did not emerge in the archaeological record until the Late Roman period, with the evidence of religious symbols, church buildings, or other distinctive remains.283 Church buildings began to mark the landscape of the city and the community beginning in the fourth-century. During the Byzantine period, Pella served as a key bishopric in the East and its religious leaders figured prominently among the ecclesiastical conferences. The citys importance as a Christian center in the region is reflected in the presence of several large churches.

West Church In his survey of the site in 1887, Gottlieb Schumacher described the West Church as a great Christian basilica.284 This was later confirmed in 1933 by John Richards who indicated that the church probably dated to the fifth or sixth-century.285 Excavation of the triapsidal basilica began in 1967 under the direction of Robert H. Smith, which revealed two phases for the
280 281

Ibid., 61-65, discusses the bishops identified with Pella. Charles L. Irby and James Mangles, Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria, and the Holy Land (1823). 282 Robert H. Smith, Pella of the Decapolis, vol. 1 (Wooster, OH: College of Wooster, 1973); Robert H. Smith, Pella of the Decapolis, Archaeology 34/5 (1981): 4653; Robert H. Smith, Pella of the Decapolis, Archaeology 34/5 (1981): 4653; Anthony McNicoll, Robert H. Smith, and Basil Hennessy, Pella in Jordan 1 (Canberra: Australian National Gallery, 1982); Robert H. Smith, Excavations at Pella of the Decapolis, 19791985 National Geographic Research 1 (1985): 47089; Robert H. Smith and L. P. Day, Pella of the Decapolis, vol. 2 (Wooster, OH: College of Wooster, 1989); Anthony McNicoll, Pella in Jordan 2 (Sydney: Meditarch, 1992). 283 Smith, Pella, 220. He indicates that a sarcophagus dating to the late first or early second-century found beneath the floor of the West Church may be a relic of the early Christians. 284 Smith, Pella 1, 9. 285 Ibid., 12.

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church. Smith indicates that the structure originated around 530 in the period of Justinian I, based on ceramic evidence,286 and was rebuilt around 610 after peace had been restored following the Persian invasion of the Transjordan.287 The church was a basilica (36.00 m x 23.00 m) that was adjoined by an atrium with four porticoes at its western entrance (Fig. 4.38). Three doors accessed the central nave and two lateral aisles, which were separated by two colonnades of six column pairs. At the eastern end were three exterior apses; the center apse being wider (8.60 m) than the other two (4.35 m).288

Fig. 4.38. West Church reconstruction (Smith [1982], 155, fig. 50).

The West Church did not share the prestige of the other churches at Pella, but it did have several features that reflected its value to the Christians of the city. A limestone reliquary ornamented with wreaths of vines was located in a square cavity in the floor of the northern apse. Skeletal remains, dating between the sixth and ninth century, may have belonged to prominent individual the church.289 Few liturgical furnishings were recovered, but a step located in the southeast part of the central nave may have provided access to an ambo.290 These features

Ibid., 217. Ibid. 1, 164. This invasion was repulsed by the Emperor Heraclius, which a critical victory for the survival of the eastern empire. 288 Michel, 121. 289 Ibid. 290 Ibid. Access to the ambo from the nave rather than the chancel was unique for the churches of the region.
287

286

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suggest that it was possibly a memorial church, which fits with its location over an earlier cemetery. While not a principal church of the city, the West Church still involved a considerable investment. Ornate mosaic floors were found in the central nave and lateral aisles.291 It also featured floor paving that employed a variety of colored limestone, basalt, and marble. Mosaic patterns included a carpet of floral motifs, such as vines growing from amphorae with a variety of animals depicted between its tendrils. The border pattern depicted various creatures, including a goose, bear, ibex, ram, bull, and various fowl.292 Traces of stone and marble facing were preserved on the interior walls of the church, along with numerous bronze clamps that were used as fasteners.293 The walls were also decorated with mosaics of variously colored stone and glass.294 A colonnaded atrium of finely dressed nr limestone pavers was added west of the church not long after the main structure had been built. The church continued to be used into the Islamic period and was repaired after a severe earthquake in 658. Some time later it may have been converted into a mosque by local Muslims. It was abandoned after being extensively damaged, including the collapse of the roof, by another devastating earthquake around the early eighth-century (ca. 713 or 717). The West Church like other Decapolis churches embodied features that invited associations to be drawn between the church and state reflecting continuity in the function of the temple precinct. Its officials asserted its sacrality with the possession of holy relics and burials, which promised potential contact with supernatural aid. Adornments to the interior testified to the affluence of the elites who sponsored its construction. These features suggest the continuities that were familiar to the outsiders of the Christian hierarchy and assembly intended in part to attract them to participate in the ritual game play.

Civic Complex Church

Smith, Pella 1, 141. Ibid., 140. 293 Ibid., 229. 294 Ibid., 142. Recovered mosaic pieces had a variety of shades, including red, green, purple, grayish-olive, white, yellow, and blue. Glass tesserae were gold and various shades of blue.
292

291

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The Civic Complex Church, identified by excavators as the citys cathedral, dates to the early fifth-century CE.295 It was basilica which was constructed just south of the parvis of a Roman temple and odeum at the citys center. The church had a central nave and two lateral aisles which were separated by two rows of six columns, and a chancel at the east end with three apses. The main hall was accessed by three doorways from the west and the north, and by two doorways from the south. Excavations reveal that there were several major phases of the church (Fig. 4.39). A second phase of construction during the Justinian era in the first half of the

sixth-century CE resulted in several structural embellishments, including the addition of apses to expand its original rectangular chancel. Then later at the beginning of the seventh-century, the church was again remodeled after being partially damaged, which required the addition of a northern entry to the church. Only a modest investment was made in the church in this last phase, which ended with the devastating earthquakes of the eighth-century CE.296

295

Robert H. Smith and L. P. Day, The Cathedral (Church), Pella of the Decapolis (Wooster, OH, 1989), 2:82, 84. This date is based on the high proportion of fourth and fifth-century coins found within the church, along with certain architectural features that are shared with other fifth-century structures. Also a mosaic with cross decoration in the east end of the north and south aisles must have preceded Theodosius II edict in 427 forbidding their use as floor decorations. 296 Ibid., 125.

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Fig. 4.39. Phases of Civic Church: a. first phase, early fifth c. CE, b. second phase, ca.525-614, c. third phase, ca. 614-660, d. fourth phase, ca. 660-717 (Smith and Day [1989], 83-93, figs. 23, 25, 26, 28).

The church appears to have been esteemed by the citys Christian inhabitants. Although not constructed directly over an earlier pagan temple, the Civic Church was adjoined to a parvis at the citys center. This was the forecourt to a key Roman temple, probably the temple of Baal/Zeus depicted on a coin dating to the second-century CE found at the site.297 The area where the church is located was identified by excavators as the Civic Complex. Columns found in the cathedrals northern portal appear to have belonged to the Roman temple. Both the temple and odeum were abandoned in the fourth-century, and the Civic Church was built off the
297

Smith and Day, Pella 2, 6.

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temple courtyard. Positioned over the Wadi Jirm, the church was took advantage of its central location at the citys hub of activity. Its position in relation to the former temple precinct was conspicuous and may have been intended to appropriate and Christianize a traditional pagan area in the city. Robert Smith suggests, on the other hand, that the churchs location south of the parvis appears to have been an attempt to avoid ground over which a pagan institution still retained some influence or legal claim.298 The churchs interior was decorated with spoila from an earlier Roman structure, probably the temple. The columns of the sanctuary had inscriptions that were concealed under plaster coating to remove any earlier associations (Fig. 4.40).299 The churchs colonnaded atrium adjoining the sanctuary to the west was converted from the portico of the earlier Roman temple.300

Fig. 4.40. Column inscription found in the church (Smith and Day [1989], 132, fig. 43).

Other features indicate that the structure was given stature through its relation to religious officials and rites that were developing after the fifth-century. Its size and location suggests that it may have served as the see for the citys bishop. This is supported by an inscription found in the church that appears to mention the sixth-century bishop, Zacharias.301 The interior sacred spaces were expanded over time to accommodate changes in rituals and the needs of the Christians. The chancel was expanded in three phases resulting in the addition of three apses, creating a larger space for the altar to celebrate the Eucharist, and a synthronon for seating the

Ibid., 7. Ibid., 38, 39; 132, text 97, POKATEI/HMTE TOIC PEC/ BYTEPOIC IOC APEW/C (Reserved for he elders of Zeus-Ares). 300 Ibid., 52. 301 Ibid., 139-40. Fragment of red ware with two lines reading, [ZA]XAP[IOY] [EI]CK[OOY] (Bishop Zacharias).
299

298

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clergy.302 The chancel was also extended to the west into the nave to possibly accommodate the expanded needs of the clergy.303 Ornate material was taken from the ruins of the Roman temple to decorate the church, such as the bases of four large Corinthian columns of finely cut limestone and the column bases of costly pink and yellow, brecciated, Ajlun limestone found in the northern portal of the church leading from the courtyard.304 Four reused columns of green chloritic limestone were prominently positioned in the upper part of the church, which excavators suggest were meant to symbolize the Four Evangelists.305 The church was renovated in the sixth-century CE, which may have been related to Justinians efforts to build and refurbish churches in the East. A monumental porch was added to the north side of the church, which eased access from the civic center of the city. The porch featured two large Corinthian capitals that had been reused from the earlier Roman temple. During this phase, at the same time as the expansion of the chancel, opus sectile paving of marble and intricate mosaics were added to churchs interior.306 Its status was also enhanced by its political connections. This is reflected in an inscription found on a marble fragment, which appears to be a dedication to either Theodosius I (379-95) or Theodosius II (408-50).307 The Civic Church experienced one final renovation some time after the Persian invasion of 614 and continued to be used until its destruction in 635 as the result of an earthquake. The confluence of political and religious meanings The Civic Church was located to reflect the centered position of the Christian community in the city. It appears the church was intended at least in part to evoke comparisons with the temple precinct which stood nearby and provided certain architectural materials. The Christian structure incorporated recognizable classical building materials, which appears to have been intended by church officials and benefactors to appropriate both physically and symbolically the temple space, first de-sacralizing and then re-sacralizing the space. Its location and architectural features reflects continuities with the former Roman temple and civic center, suggesting that the leading Christians sought to invite discussion with outsiders about the new sacral associations
Michel, 125. Smith and Day, Pella 2, 120-6. The altar space was separated from the rest of the sanctuary by chancel screens with a variety of carvings featuring a Good Shepherd motif with sheep below a cross, a chi-rho monogram, wreaths, and various geometric patterns. 304 Ibid., 6. 305 Ibid., 39, 40. 306 Michel, 128. 307 Smith and Day, Pella 2, 136-7. Fragmentary inscription reads SARIBVS EODOSIO (emperor [T]heodosiu[s]).
303 302

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being asserted. The church re-established the sacred center of the city along with drawing clear connections between with local politicians and the state through the bishops presence, another contiguous element of the temple.

East Church (Cathedral) The East Church, the likely location of the bishops seat, was also adjoined to the citys temple precinct.308 The triapsidal basilica (19.25 m. x 29.65 m) had a nave and two lateral aisles accessible from the west by three doorways.309 A colonnaded atrium adjoined the structure from the west, providing a gathering area for those about to enter the church. The atrium adjoined a dependency that may have served as a residence for clergy members.310 A row of four or more chambers west of the atrium constructed at the same time were determined to be shops.311 The western approach featured a 20 m. wide staircase with an impressive colonnade of twelve columns, which was reminiscent of entrances to Constantinian churches in Palestine.312 Two colonnades of the Corinthian order divided the central nave from the adjacent aisles.313 Inscriptions on two column shafts had been plastered over suggesting that capitals and columns were spoila probably from the earlier temple. After its construction sometime in the early fifthcentury, 314 it was refurbished with the expansion of the chancel and paved with opus sectile during the Justinian age, which lasted from ca. 525 until the Persian invasion ca. 614. Decorative polychrome and glass mosaics were added to the walls and ceilings of the interior. The church was reconstructed following the departure of the Persians with the addition of a synthronon probably for the bishop. The western portal was widened possibly to further facilitate liturgical processions. This phase ended with an earthquake in 635 CE. Certain features of the church enhanced its sacrality in the city. Its close proximity to the former temple precinct symbolically appropriated the position of the principal pagan structure.315 Holes drilled in the two large columns positioned over the churchs central portal were thought
Bishops Zebennos, Paulos, and Zacharias are known to have served at Pella. Cf. Smith, Pella, vol. 1, 60-5. Ibid., 35. 310 Ibid., 55. 311 Ibid., 77. This sharing of religious and secular space is similar to the Bath-Gymnasium-Synagogue complex in Sardis from coinage dating to the early fourth-century. 312 Ibid., 79. 313 Ibid., 38-9. 314 Ibid., 84. This date is based on coinage from the late fourth to the early fifth-century. 315 Ibid., 34, Interestingly, a mosaic inscription was uncovered reading (temple) which appears to refer to the church.
309 308

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to have a curtain. This type of barrier, like the chancel screens, served to separate sacred and non-sacred space.316 The chancel was enlarged with the addition of a central apse, probably to accommodate an increase in clergy members and development of their rituals, including the addition of the synthronon and benches.317 A subsequent renovation further expanded the area to the north probably for a benevolence ministry.318 The church was well-endowed by the Christian community. Some of its material was reused from an earlier structure, possibly the temple. Columns of green chloritic limestone were positioned prominently in the church.319 Certain elements testify to the considerable expenditures made for its construction.320 Blue-veined Thasian or western Anatolian marble was used to pave the central nave. The opus sectile in front of the south apse formed a stylized cross of red limestone. Mosaic floors in the northwest corner featured two pairs of crosses with chi-rho symbols made of black tesserae on a white background.321 The exterior walls of the church was faced with polished Ajlun limestone, as well as white marble, porphyry, and motherof-pearl stones in various patterns. In the interior, glass-covered mosaics of gold and various colored stone decorated the upper walls and hemidomes.322 These elements provide some indication of the various influences that shaped the spatial meaning of the church and its significance for the identity of its community. A number of its architectural features indicate the reuse of spoila from an earlier temple. This decision by its church authorities and builders may have been intended establish the primacy of the Christian structure over its pagan past, yet these elements would have been recognizable to those outside their circles. The church was embellished with elaborate mosaics with messages educating the onlooker of the faith and its founders in th community. Wall decorations created a heavenly aura in its interior that was certain to impress, while the presence of the chancel marked the sacred and political boundaries within the church and city. As a area of discourse, the church recalled certain familiar features of the older cult spaces in the city that were engaging to outsiders, yet also bringing discontinuities and establishing new meanings that would define Christian space.
Ibid., 52. A comparison may be drawn between these and the columns Jachin and Boaz at the entrance to the Temple of Solomon. 317 Ibid., 49. 318 Ibid., 67. 319 Ibid., 39-40. 320 Ibid., 82. 321 Ibid., 40-2. 322 Ibid., 44.
316

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Philadelphia-Amman

Cathedral The church identified as the cathedral of the city was located in the valley south of the citadel near the nympheum. The archaeological data of the church is based on limited information gathered from several earlier surveys and regional studies.323 The church was a basilica (ca. 12.00 m. x 34.00 m) with nave and two adjacent aisles (Fig. 4.41). The chancel at the eastern end of the church was terminated by a single, external apse (Fig. 4.42). It appeared that there was an atrium adjoining the structures western entrance. Incomplete excavation of the church leaves little indication of an exact date for the structure.

Fig. 4.41, 42. Top plan of the Cathedral at Philadelphia-Amman (left), Cathedrals chancel from the west (right) (Northedge [1992])..

The Cathedral was esteemed as a sacred structure in the city. The fragmentary remains of the church indicate that, compared to other churches in the Transjordan, it was uniquely-oriented with its chancel facing south. This may be evidence for the churchs construction over an earlier pagan structure.324 If correct, this would fit a pattern of churches in the region being built over older pagan temples or in temple precincts. The church was also a social center in PhiladelphiaAmman. Its position at the heart of the earlier Roman city led Seetzen to conclude that the
See Seetzen, Reisen, 396-7; Irby-Mangles, Travels, 474; G. Robinson, Travels in Palestine and Syria, v. 2 (London: H. Colburn, 1837), 396-7; Claude R. Conder, The Survey of Eastern Palestine (London: The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1889), 54-6; Howard C. Butler, Early Churches in Syria: Fourth to Seventh Centuries, ed. E. B. Smith (Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1969), A, 59-61. Cf. Michel, 278, discusses the history of research. 324 Michel, 278. Cf. Bagatti, LibAnn 23 (1973), 277-83.
323

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church had been the seat of the citys bishop. Its prominent position in the citys center on its main thoroughfare certainly added to its status in the community. 325 It was customary for the Cathedral to have pride-of-place in Byzantine cities. The patchy, architectural remains indicate that its interior walls were faced with decorative marble and stone plating. Features such as these are suggestive of the considerable investment made for the Cathedral. The fragmentary remains of the Cathedral indicates that it was a sacred center that embodied a number of familiar classical elements. Influential church officials and benefactors made certain decisions in its construction reflecting continuities with the citys pagan temples from which they borrowed material to reuse. Those from the outside were certain to recognize the political and social implications of the churchs location and the presence of the bishop associating the sacred space as a place where power is asserted. While the opportunity for heavenly interaction was inviting, the various areas of the church proclaimed to outsiders of the new Christian hierarchies.

Citadel Church Another church was discovered on the citadel of Philadelphia-Amman northeast of the massive Temple of Heracles complex.326 Excavation on the Citadel Church was initiated by an Italian team from 1928 to 1938,327 but was abandoned with the coming Second World War.328 The Department of Antiquities of Jordan resumed work from 1975 to 1979 under the direction of Fawzi Zayadine.329 It was a basilica (20.30 x 12.30 m) having a central nave and two lateral aisles, and a chancel in the eastern end with a single, external apse. The sanctuary was accessed by three doorways: the main entrance from the west, and two other doorways in the northeast and southwest corners. It should be dated to the fifth-century based on the type of engaged apse without sacristies.330 The church was remodeled in the sixth-century with the addition of mosaic floors and an expansion of the chancel.331

325 326

Michel, 278. Alastair Northedge, The Development of the Citadel, in Studies on Roman and Islamic Amman: History, Site and Architecture, vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 152. 327 F. Zayadine, Recent Excavations on the Citadel of Amman, ADAJ 18 (1973): 19. 328 Bagatti, LibAnn, 23 (1973): 277-83 329 F. Zayadine, Excavations on the Upper Citadel of Amman- Area A (1975-77), ADAJ 22 (1977-78), 33-7. 330 Michel, 278. 331 Zayadine, Excavations, 37.

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The Citadel Church was a significant Christian structure in the city. It stood in sharp contrast to the nearby Temple of Heracles which had ceased to function by the time of the churchs construction. Corinthian capitals utilized in the churchs colonnades were likely taken from the nearby temple precinct. The church was renovated in the sixth-century, which included the enlargement of the sacred space used for the Eucharistic celebration. The chancel was extended west into the central nave by one bay. This added platform was elevated to the same height as the existing chancel.332 A synthronon of three tiers provided seating for the bishop or clergy members in the central apse. An altar table was close by for ritual purposes.333 A cavity in the floor (75 x 60 cm) was identified as the probable location of a reliquary, where the relics of a saint or prominent local Christian were interred. The churchs fragmentary remains suggest it was highly-valued by its donors. Mosaics of various colors and geometric patterns paved the central nave. An inscription before the apse reads, [- -.]o[.- -] | [- -] [- -] | [- -] [- -] - - was paved with mosaics - - by the zeal and - - 334 Its conspicuous placement was intended to advertise the benefactors piety, which was reflected in the beautification of the church. This type of donation and dedication fits the pattern of the post-Theodosian period, when churches became expressions of social prestige. The Christian officials and elites who built the Citadel Church recognized the value of its location both in the prominent position in the city, but also in its close proximity to the temple precinct. Its architectural design and features reflected the classical spoila of the pagan shrine. As with other churches built near famous pagan sanctuaries, these elements were engaging to the others on the perimeter of the religiously-centered at Philadelphia-Amman. Comparisons that could be drawn were intriguing in the dialogue occurring over the new associations between the various rituals represented by the church building. The presence of sacred objects added an additional point of commonality with ancient shrines, exciting interest from the outside in the possibility of divine intercession. The inscriptional dedication reflected the complex relationships of benefactors and the church officials embodied in the sacred space of the church,

332 333

Michel, 279. Ibid. This is based on four square recesses in the floor of the apse. 334 Ibid. Authors translation.

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but also signaled an attempt by Christian sponsors to assert their status and position in the community.

Lower Terrace Chapel A small chapel located on the southern border of the lower terrace of the citadel was excavated in 1987 by a team from the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the American Center for Oriental Research, and the British Institute of History and Archaeology of Amman. 335 Unfortunately, the area was damaged by construction equipment, limiting the quantity and quality of the archaeological remains. The chapel appeared to have been part of a domestic complex. It was a rectangular hall (9.25 x 4.02 m) with a single apse in its eastern end and one doorway preserved in the southern wall.336 The church appears to have been constructed over an unidentified earlier structure. The exact date of the chapel is not certain.337 The scant remains of the small church provide some insight into its religious and social function in the community. The eastern apse had only a pebble floor dating to the Islamic period. Fragments of marble that may have belonged to the altar were recovered in the apse. The chapel had been paved with ornate white and colored mosaic floors. Two circular medallions were part of the mosaic carpet, one with an interlaced geometric pattern and the other with a quadrangular medallion depicting a man in a posture of prayer with arms spread out (orante) with animals on either side.338 A fragmentary, Greek inscription was preserved to the right of the head of the praying figure. Beginning with the customary cross symbol (prosphora), it reads: + [ ( ) ] | . . . | . . | . + Lord, have pity on Julianos339 The chapel appears to have been built or embellished by a Christian benefactor as a way of evoking divine aid or mercy.

F. Zayadine, M. Najjar, J. A. Greene, Recent Excavations on the Citadel of Amman (Lower Terrace) A Preliminary Report, ADAJ 31 (1987): 299-305. 336 Ibid., 304. 337 Ibid. Zayadine indicates that the floor medallion discovered at this church was similar to those from other churches dated to the sixth-century in the Transjordan. 338 Ibid. Similar orante examples are known from the church of St. George at Khirbet el-Mukhayyat which dates to 536 and the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus at Gerasa which dates to 533. Cf. Michel, 281. 339 Michel, 281. Authors translation.

335

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The chapels association with a domestic structure, while at the same time incorporating standard ritual features, suggests a possible intermingling of sacred and profane functions reflecting complex spatial meanings. The Christian structure featured decorations reflecting the resources of the centered authorities and elites, and the dedication in the floor mosaics served to draw attention of onlookers to their contributions. A picture of another prominent individual advertised the Christian benefits available to those blessed by God and under the good graces of local bishop. These associations had long been apart of the traditions of religious benefaction in Roman Philadelphia-Amman.

Church of St. Elianos The Church of St. Elianos was discovered southeast of the citadel, although it was not well-preserved. The church was identified by Conder in 1881 as one dedicated to the martyr St. Elianos based on its description in the passion of the saint.340 It was a basilica (13.50 m. in length) with a nave and two flanking aisles divided by two colonnades of five columns (Fig. 4.43). The chancel at the eastern end of the church featured a single apse (5.60 m. in diameter). Little remains to determine its date or provide insight into its function for the Byzantine community. While the remains of the church are limited, there is evidence of certain continuities, particularly in its benefaction, that made connected the church to the religious past of the city, yet redefined them to promote Christian values to the curious outsider.

Fig. 4.43. Top plan of the Church of St. Elianos (Michel [2001]).

340

Ibid.; Cf. Conder, 56.

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Chapel of Jabal al-Akdar A small church was found at the summit of Jabal al-Akdar south of Jabal Amman near an Ammonite tower.341 The chapel (7.30 x 5.25 m) is a rectangular hall separated by four colonnades.342 It was excavated in 1983 by the Department of Antiquities under the direction H. Haddad and T. Attiyyat. The limited remains of the church provide some indication of the role that it played in the city. The Chapel of Jabal al-Akdar appears to have been used for certain religious rituals and possibly as a memorial church. It featured a small, slightly elevated, chancel (3.57 x 2.37 m) at its east end. Remains of chancel screen columns were found at the time of excavation. At the center of the chancel, a space in the mosaic floor suggests the location of an altar for the Eucharist.343 The chapels floors were decorated with mosaics. The nave featured various mosaic motifs, including geometric and floral patterns. In the chancel, a mosaic field depicted two gazelles over a bed of flowers. Before the western entrance a mosaic cartouche of swallows contained a Greek inscription that read: ( ) [ ] | () () () + () | , | (), ( ). Lord, our God, king for eternity, coming to the aid of your servant Epiphane, with his children and , and the deacon Kaioumos, through the care [or zeal] of the latter.344 It invokes divine blessing for the churchs benefactor and a deacon. The inscription was positioned at the entrance of nave to be seen by those entering the church building. It fits a formulaic celebration of the construction or embellishment of church buildings by prominent social and religious figures in the Christian community. Despite its small size, the Chapel of Jabal al-Akdar incorporated a number of features that reflect continuities with the citys religious past. In particular the presence of relics and burials of prominent Christians offered a lure to those seeking supernatural intervention. For the Christian officials and leaders, this added to the status of the church as a sacred location in the city for outsiders and other Christian groups. Its architectural design and organization of its interior spaces provided those at the center to establish the sacred and social territories of control.
341 342

See Zayadine, Chronique archoloque, in Syria 62, 152. Michel, 283. 343 Ibid. 344 Ibid. Authors translation.

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Yet these features also invited interaction from onlookers from the periphery to make comparisons to traditional religious forms and distinguish the new associations. The exchange was essential in establishing the spatial meanings within the church and shaping the social identities of the various contending groups of the community.

Other Decapolis Cities and Regional Cities Additional cities in Ptolemys list will only be briefly addressed, or omitted from this discussion, for several reasons: the location of the city has not been located or firmly identified, the city has been located but only partially excavated or is not accessible for excavation, or the city has been excavated but there are insufficient Byzantine remains. In the case of cities known to have had significant Byzantine communities, further excavation will be necessary to better understand the nature of their churches. Capitolias (Beit Ras), located several miles north of the modern city of Irbid, was partially excavated but has yielded few distinctly Christian remains. 345 Established around 97/98 CE, it was a prosperous Roman city in the region. Coinage indicates the presence of a temple that may have been dedicated to Jupiter based on the citys official name, Jupiter Capitolinus. The city was mentioned by Hierocles the Grammarian and Georgius of Cyprus (ca. 575 CE).346 It had a vibrant Christian community and was known to have had more than one church.347 The only church found thus far was across from vaults that served as a market place.348 A fragment of chancel screen was found with the inscription mentioning the sons of Arkadios, who were likely benefactors for the construction of the church in the fifth-century.349 Another funerary inscription that commemorated the burial of Gaios Julios Isodoros, featured two medallions, one decorated with a rosette and the other with a grape-cluster and palm-branch.
C. J. Lenzen, R. L. Gordon, and A. M. McQuitty, Excavations at Tell Irbid and Beit Ras, ADAJ 29 (1985):151 59; C. J. Lenzen and E. A. Knauf. Beit Ras/Capitolias. A Preliminary Evaluation of the Archaeological and Textual Evidence. Syria, T. 64, Fasc. 1/2 (1987), 21-46; 346 Rudolf E. Brnnow and Alfred V. Domaszewski, Die Provincia Arabia auf Grund zweier in den Jahren 1897 und 1898 unternommenen Reisen und der Berichte frherer Reisender beschlieben, 3 (Strassburg, K. J. Trbner, 1904-09), 253. 347 Lenzen and Knauf, 30. 348 G. Schumacher, Northern Ajlun, Within the Decapolis (Palestine Exploration Fund by A. P. Watt, 1890), 15960, describes features including a nave, apse, cistern across from the vaults of a three-tiered marketplace, constructed over an earlier unidentified Roman structure. He interpreted this structure to be a church dating to the mid-fifth-century, but excavation in 1985 did not support this interpretation. Cf. Lentzen and Knauf, 31. 349 S. Mittman, Beitrge zur Siedlungs- und Territorialgeschichte des nrdlichen Osstjordanlandes, Abhandlungen des deutschen Palstina-Vereins (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1970), 172ff., no. 8, cited in Lenzen and Knauff, 30.
345

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Although the name Isodorus was of pagan origin, this does not give any indication of the religious or ethnic affiliation of the individual.350 The city of Damascus, which was also listed among the Decapolis cities, had a thriving Christian community from the first century351 through to the Byzantine period. The city was known to have had several large churches, including the Church of St. John the Baptist built during the reign of Theodosius I (379-395) in the area of the main temple. The church was cleared for the construction of the Great Mosque in the early eighth-century CE, so little remains of the Christian structure. The locations of other Decapolis cities have not been identified and remain inaccessible to historical inquiry. The cities Dion (Dium), Canatha (Kanatha), Abila (of Lysanios), Saana, Ina (Hina), Samoulis (Samulis), Adra (Eidrei), and Gadora have yet to come to light or have not been clearly identified. Future surveys and excavation in the Transjordan should provide additional insight about the churches of these cities and their historical role in the Byzantine East. Other cities in the Transjordan were also thriving Byzantine communities which constructed numerous churches. In particular, the city of Umm el-Jimal, located northeast of Amman, Jordan, featured extensive Byzantine remains. It was first excavated by H. C. Butler who led a team from Princeton University in 1905 and 1909. Many civic structures were preserved at the site including the praetorium, barracks, reservoirs, gates, twenty homes, and monumental tombs. More recently Bert de Vries led the Umm el-Jimal Project (1972-1995), including the excavation of the northeast church (Numerianos Church).352 The Christian community flourished from the fifth to the seventh centuries. This is reflected in the large quantity of archaeological remains which include numerous private residences and a total of fifteen churches. The city of Madaba, located about 30 km. (19 mi.) south of Amman, also had a significant Byzantine population. The site was visited by numerous European travelers and explorers including Seetzen in 1807 and Schumacher in 1891. It was excavated by the German
Lenzen and Knauf, 30-1. Acts 9:11. The conversion account of the Apostle Paul describes the main road through the city as the street called Straight, which has been preserved to this day. 352 Cf. B. de Vries, "The Umm el-Jimal Project, 1972-1977," BASOR 244 (1982):53-72; id., The Umm el-Jimal Project, 1981-1992, ADAJ 37 (1993): 433-60; id., The Umm el-Jimal Project, 1993 and 1994 Field Seasons, ADAJ 39 (1995).
351 350

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Evangelical Institute in 1966 and 1967353 and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan beginning in 1968. These excavations revealed a number of churches, including the Church of al-Khadir, the Church of the Apostles, and the Salayta Church. Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, in cooperation with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, excavated in the area of the Church of the Virgin Mary in 1979.354 Its nave featured a famous mosaic map depicting cities of Palestine and the Transjordan. The map, which was restored by a German team in 1965, provided a detailed depiction of Jerusalem. It represents a considerable investment of time and resources for the beautification of the church. The seventh-century was a dramatic period of transition for the Christian communities and the churches of the Decapolis. The region was overrun by the Sassanid armies (611-614) leading to the capture of Jerusalem and Jericho before returning to Damascus. Before the Emperor Heraclius (610-641) could recover from his defeat of the Sassanid armies on the eastern frontier, Muslim forces had attacked from the south. Following their victory at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, Muslim armies had succeeded in taking control of much of the Transjordan. Despite this, few churches were destroyed and there was no immediate decline of Christians in the region. In fact, apart from a few incidents, Christians were allowed to continue practicing their faith and live in general peace. Churches continued to be used, and some were even built or embellished during this period. Although Christians were tolerated by the Muslims, their number in the Levant did eventually begin to decline. New church construction became less frequent and some existing churches were deserted. While conversion to Islam was not required, non-Muslims were forced to pay a special tax and were relegated to a lower social status. More significant than Muslim rule was the seismic activity in the region. The Levant had historically been a very active earthquake zone. A number of massive earthquakes hit the Transjordan in the eighth-century. A particularly devastating quake in 747/8 destroyed a large number of Decapolis churches. Many of the remaining Christian communities were too weakened to rebuild their churches.

Ute Lux, "Eine altchristliche Kirche in Madeba," Zeitschrift des Deutchen Palstina-Vereins 83 (1967): 165-182; id. "Die Apostel-Kirche in Madeba," Zeitschrift des deutschen Palstina-Vereins 84 (1968): 106-129. 354 Michele Piccirillo, with Eugenio Alliata, Chiese e mosaici di Madaba. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Maior, 34 (Jerusalem, 1989).

353

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Conclusion

This study has argued that the expansion of the church buildings in eastern communities from the fourth to the seventh centuries was in part related to the churchs capacity to embody the classical temples function and meaning in eastern cities. This was part of a process that recentered the temple of the classical world within the context of a Christianized society. For eastern communities that were Roman, but also residents of the Levant, this process was nothing new. The history of this region had always involved the complex interactions of societies and cultures that required an interplay from which sprung a unique syncretism that defined their culture. Just as eastern communities had been forced into interaction with Hellenism and Roman culture, which eventually were adapted and integrated into their identity, they also were forced to engage Christianity by the end of the fourth century. The discourse between Christians and Roman traditionalists, while occurring for several centuries, had by the time of Theodosius I become centered on church buildings. This re-centering process involving churches began as a result of a dramatic historical development, namely, the Christianization of an emperor in the early fourth century. Constantine had set in motion fundamental changes that brought about Christianitys engagement with the old Roman religions and traditions. Prior to his rule, Christians remained on the fringes of society, meeting in private residences or structures adapted for assembly that were away from the centers of Roman cities. This situation was probably welcomed by Christians as it was conducive for thriving, despite being followers of an illegal religion. Constantines conversion resulted not only in the legitimization of the Christian faith, but the elevation of its religious leaders into position of political authority. The Roman basilica provided an ideal structure for Christian assembly and also embodied political symbolism that was valued for the new role of Christianity as the religion of the empire. But while church buildings had the potential to, and in some cases did, replace temples, during the reign of Constantine and in the fourth century they were still absent from most cities, especially those in the East. Eusebius of Caesarea, in his enthusiasm for Constantine and for the emperors beneficence shown towards Christians, paints an idealistic picture of extensive church construction in the eastern provinces by the emperor. But upon closer observation of the

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archaeological remains of churches from that period and the churches mentioned by Eusebius that were constructed or refurbished by the emperor, we find that most of these were located at sites with some political or religious significance to warrant the investment of imperial funds. Cities such as Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople were significant centers in the East with established Christian communities, and enjoyed these benefactions of the state. For less prominent cities, like those of the Decapolis that even had bishops at the Nicene Council, the endowment of a church by the emperor or his administrators would be unrealistic. Other factors also contributed to a delay in church construction until after the fourth century in many eastern cities. While the traditional cults were already in decline in many parts of the empire by the fourth century, they still had adherents particularly among local urban elites and those in rural parts of eastern provinces.1 Christianity had been legitimized in the early fourth-century, but many eastern communities remained at best indifferent towards the Christian faith and at worst openly hostile toward Christians. Certain cults persisted in a number of eastern cities and their vicinities, in part because many especially among the urban elite felt little urgency to convert. Trombley has demonstrated that while earlier edicts had sought to undermine paganism through limiting their public practice, it was clear that in many eastern cities, temples were still operating and pagans were still prominent figures in the community.2 This was evidenced by the support the emperor Julian received among the urban population of Antioch in his brief attempt to reverse rulings against paganism.3 It was not until the stronger regulations of Theodosius were brought to bear against residual paganism at the end of the fourth century that resistance against Christianization and the building of churches began to fade. The churchs potential to appropriate the position and function of temples was only realized after Theodosius policies to finally oust the traditional cults from the public sphere. In the cities of Decapolis, the implementation of Theodosian edicts at first resulted in antagonism by clergy and laity against any semblance of earlier pagan culture, but eventually, as the threat of
It is interesting to note that rural opposition to larger cultural changes reflected in the resistance to Christianization had a long tradition in eastern communities. The process of Hellenization was also resisted in the countryside, outside urban centers after Alexanders campaign in the East in the fourth-century B.C.E. Cf. E. Yamauchi, Hellenism, in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. G. Hawthorne, R. Martin, D. Reid (Downers Grove, IL; Leicester, England: Intervarsity, 1993), 385. 2 Trombley, Hellenic, 1:34-5. 3 Libanius, Selected Works, tr. A. F. Norman (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: W. Heinemann, 1977), 92-151.
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paganism subsided, it permitted and then fostered the assimilation of certain features and practices of classical society by the clergy and elites, including the use of churches as religious and social centers in society as temples had been in previous times. Temples had long been abandoned by the fifth-century at most urban centers in the region, leaving reticent pagans to seek refuge at rural shrines, but their legacy both physically and symbolically still remained in eastern communities. Although pagans remained active in the region, as indicated in continued decrees against rituals and temples well into the fifth-century, the strengthening of Christianitys position as the official religion of the empire favored the conversion of certain members of society, many of whom were true believers and others who pragmatically recognized the social and political benefits of adopting the Christian faith. The stiffer Theodosian prohibitions against traditional cults resulted in inhabitants of eastern cities engaging Christian churches for their potential to fulfill the roles that temples had played in the community, particularly in promoting civic and religious cohesion. As church buildings began to be built, they engaged the Romanized inhabitants of these communities in the re-centering process that may be understood in light of several theoretical models that highlight the role of architecture in defining spatial meaning and communal identity. The architecture of the church building, as Jones indicated, initiated discourse by luring excluded members of the community (spoilsports) into interacting with the structure (frontend). After the invitation to engage is accepted, a point described by Jones as the ritualarchitectural moment, the participant then was introduced and educated by the rituals and features of the structure (back-end). The mechanism of this interaction borrows from the theoretical frameworks of Eliade, Smith, Said, and Bhabha. Spatial meaning and communal identity were generated in church buildings through the interaction of the theoretical binaries: sacred/profane and centered/non-centered (Saids colonizer/colonized). As Smith and Bhabha emphasize, it is the interaction, or the in-between, of the binaries that generates meaning and identity. My study suggests that this interaction and exchange, as it relates to the church buildings of the Decapolis, involves continuities (imitations) and discontinuities (differentiations) with the classical world. While the identity of the participants in this discourse is somewhat problematic due to the complex makeup of eastern communities, two identifiable groups were clearly involved and played the most vital role in the re-centering process. These groups can be roughly described

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as the Christians (centered, empowered, innovators) and the Romans (non-centered, disempowered, traditionalists). But the nature of these groups changes over time through the process of identity formation by means of this interaction. At the end of the fourth century, these categories were reflected by real groups within eastern communities, Christians and Romans (religious traditionalists, or pagans). By the fifth and sixth century, in part due to the function of church buildings, the identity of these two groups had become integrated (Christianized). There were those who saw themselves as Romanized-Christians and others who saw themselves as more Christianized-Romans. In other word, although their identities may have appeared more integrated, especially from an outsiders perspective (like that of the modern historian), how they saw themselves, their self-identity or even self-talk, continued to shift between these two categories: Christian or Roman. Church buildings both fostered and reflected this complex process of communal identity formation. Church buildings marked the loci of discourse involving continuities and discontinuities from which were generated new understandings of sacred space as new group identities were formed. These structures by the incorporation of various classical elements and functions served as invitations from centered Christians to the othered, displaced Romans, and others, on the periphery, to engage the building and in turn its rituals, beliefs, and community. The continuities between churches and temples reflected in their shared features and functions engaged outsiders. But along with continuities, there were distinctions, discontinuities, or differentiations, which were asserted at the same time. New meanings and associations were assigned to the familiar, new teachings and rituals, and new definitions of sacrality were given holy places and objects. Along with the establishing, or negotiating, new definitions, the discontinuities provided an opportunity for education for those on the outside. Yet even in this interaction, there was exchange occurring. Certain rituals and processions that were not found in the practices and teachings of the early church, made their way into general church practice during this period. In other words, the discourse was not a one-way street by Christians over non-Christian, but involved an exchange which shaped both groups. The mechanism of this discourse could be seen in the various features of the churches of the Decapolis. The most blatant example of this is the construction of churches directly over temples. While this practice began with Constantines construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem over a temple that was destroyed to serve as a foundation, after

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Theodosius, it became a more common practice. It reflected not only a pragmatic decision to take advantage of a ready source of fine architectural material for reuse in churches, 4 but it also symbolic value as one religious monument superseding another. The practice of building churches over temples after the fourth-century became a means for Christians to appropriate the religious authority and legitimacy from traditional Roman cults. This was not uncommon in the region; almost every city of the Decapolis had at least one church built directly over or in direct proximity to a pagan temple. Along with the physical evidence of this phenomenon, testimony from sources beginning with Eusebius of Caesarea indicate that churches were intentionally constructed over temples, in part to represent the triumph of Christianity over paganism.5 The symbolic value of positioning a church over a temple assumes a certain level of continuity. Churches embodied many of the same meanings as temples as sites of rituals that established connections between men and the divine. They symbolized the religion sanctioned, and encouraged, by the state. Yet there was discontinuity; a new set of associations that churches represented. While Romans temples did embody elements of church and state, their priests did not have administrative authority within the province, but were limited in their roles. The power accorded bishops, especially after Theodosius, greatly enhanced the political and social status of church buildings in local communities. Churches also replicated certain religious functions of temples, such as their association with the miraculous or supernatural. While pilgrimages to consult oracles or seek healing from the shrines of Asclepius were almost entirely abandoned during the Byzantine period, churches were built everywhere to venerate the relics of famous Christian saints and martyrs to provide supernatural aid for the needy pilgrim. Churches and associated structures dedicated to the martyred, Syrian physicians, Sts. Cosmas and Damianus, like those at Gerasa and HipposSussita, provided a location to seek divine intercession. Churches were built by the dismantling, both physically and symbolically, of temples that had at one time met these types of needs. There were functional continuities that were transferred from older shrines to churches, but there werea also new associations being asserted. For example, the temporal aid sought in pilgrimage never overshadowed the fundamental Christian beliefs regarding an individuals eternal salvation. For
Pamela Watson, The Byzantine Period, in Archaeology of Jordan (Sheffield: 2006), 481. Eusebius (Life 3.26) indicated that Constantine, in order to prepare the foundation for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, had to destroy the Temple of Venus, razing it to its very foundations in order to replace the worship of the detestable false deity. Soz. HE 7.32. This was accompanied by his destruction of pagan temples (Eus. Life 3.54-58).
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Christians, the eternal healing always took priority over the temporal aid sought from pilgrimage locations. But certainly these differences were fuzzier for many than local bishops would have liked. Churches offered sacred spaces for divine interaction as temples had in classical society. The eastern chancel with the altar for the celebration of the Eucharist was the focus of the religious community as the axis mundi, the point of divine interaction. Over time, these sacred spaces within the church were expanded to accommodate the growing ritual needs of Christian community. Older churches in the Decapolis cities were at times renovated to add space to the chancel in the eastern end of the church, possibly to allow for more clergy members to meet the needs of celebrants. The sacral space in churches was often enlarged over time with the addition of an adjacent structure, such as a baptistery, funerary chapel (martyrion), diaconicon, sacristry, or other rooms that served the needs of the clergy or laity. These spaces were invested with sacral meaning by Christians in various ways, such as the addition of Christian symbols. Crosses and various Christian images decorated the interior of Decapolis churches found often on the furniture, like chancel screens and reliquaries, and on the architecture, like mosaic floors, columns, and walls. This expansion in the function and role of churches included other elements shared with older temple precincts, which served a variety of civic functions apart from their religious ones. Despite this, these typically differed from church complexes which were expanded to ease the facilitation of rituals, for providing housing for clergy, for the storage of items used for the Eucharist, for providing hospitals and hostels and also for accommodating larger assemblies. The association of church and state, which church buildings appropriated from older temples, provides another area of continuity and differentiation, especially with the augmentation of the local bishops administrative responsibilities that was once held by Roman officials and elites in eastern cities. In the post-Theodosian period, the bishops presence improved the status of a city. This appears to have been related to an increase in church construction in these cities, as reflected in the large number of churches at Decapolis cities, like Gadara, Pella, and Abila, bishropics for Palestina Secunda, and Gerasa, which served as a bishopric for Arabia.6 Certain churches of the Decapolis appear to imitate Constantinian examples which may have been in part an attempt at for local Christian communities to enhance their churchs status through its
6

Michel, 13.

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identification with the imperial government. 7 Yet the local bishops enhanced involvement in the administrative matters was another factor in heightening the value of a citys churches, especially the cathedrals, and their symbolic potential in eastern communities. Churches also served in a variety of civic functions that reflected continuity with the classical temple complex. The population of eastern cities recognized the church building as a space made sacred by contact with the divine, and as such, represented the potential for divine aid. Certain churches in the Decapolis contained the relics of saints and martyrs which were thought to have supernatural potency. Those seeking healing in these communities could approach the church for such aid that may have once sought at the local temple. Churches might have hospitals and other social service institutions adjoining their structures for the needs of the community. While offering similar social services as temples, the Christian message emphasized eternal healing through its doctrine, unlike the temporal, earthly healing of the traditional cults. This point of differentiation evoked new associations with the sacred space of the church. The variety of social functions of the church certainly enhanced its standing with outsiders, which would have encouraged interaction. The prominent civic roles of church buildings further encouraged comparisons to classical temples. This leads to another area of continuity that churches and temples shared: the appeal of benefaction. As it had been in Roman society, the builders of temples, civic structures, and monuments, and churches, in eastern cities were often local elites and wealthy families. Benefaction by wealthy patrons in support of civic and religious life was an essential part of classical culture. Fox notes that while certain elements of benefaction were passed along from the Romans, there were also spiritual benefits that were hoped to be gained in the process. He states, They gave not merely for worldly fame but to further their own eternal life, and in turn, these gifts helped to keep their religion at the centre of public life.8 Constantinian policies in the fourth century brought about dramatic changes which allowed Christians an unprecedented opportunity to engage and transform culture. The custom of civic benefaction, which was a feature of the polis-society rooted in the veneration of pagan gods, was eventually Christianized at this time. After Theodosius, benefaction shifted completely from temples and shrines to churches. This certainly made conversion a more appealing option, especially for wealthy local
Eusebius (Life 11.2) recognized the political potential of churches calling those constructed by Constantine imperial monuments of imperial spirit. 8 Robin L. Fox, Pagans and Christians (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987), 670.
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elites who recognized the importance of this type of benefaction for maintaining their status in the local city. Some of the primary sponsors of churches in the Decapolis were affluent families, or clans, who had gained their wealth through agricultural production and trade. The clan structure with its cultural ties to the East was an important social component of eastern communities. Smith suggests that the inscription discovered at the Civic Church in Pella provides evidence of this social structure. The inscription, which reads, PEC/ BYTEPOIC IOC APEW/C (the elders of Zeus-Ares),9 mentions the presbuteros which he suggests was an earlier secular reference to the elders of a village, representatives of a tribe, or leaders of a kinship group.10 With the eventual suppression of paganism after Theodosius and the growing appeal of Christianity, the conversion of leaders of elite clans in eastern cities, whether motivated by spiritual or political reasons, brought about the transference of social and religious significance to the sponsorship of churches that had once been the reserved for temples and other public buildings. The continuities of social benefits brought about by the sponsorship of local religious structures were certainly appealing to both local elite individuals and families, but this also was an area of potential contention. Christianity was a completely new set of beliefs and practices that involved the rejection of long held traditions and rituals that certainly required certain negotiations. The growth of churches may have been in part a reflection of successes in the conversion of the populace, necessitating the need for more space. While this was certainly one part of the puzzle, this study distinguishes a more nuanced explanation that includes the subtle discourse occurring between church builders and their audience. Churches were constructed primarily by the centered elites and religious officials as a means of asserting themselves in the local context. The Others in this sense were not only non-Christians, but also any outside of the Center of an individual church within the city. In light of the traditions of the region, local clan competition for religious and civic pride of place certainly encouraged church construction and embellishment. The church buildings capacity to embody the meaning of older pagan temples, including their religious and socio-political meaning for the local community, provided another, and I would argue a more influential, incentive for those who were seeking to move from the periphery to the Center to adopt the practice of their benefaction. Conversion in this sense

10

Smith, Pella 2, 131 Ibid., 133.

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would have been a more complex matter, involving political and social considerations along with the religious factors. For those on the social fringe of Byzantine society, neither wealthy nor Christian, churches still invited their engagement and interaction that encouraged conversions. Christianization did occur and local churches did play a role in this process by luring outsiders by familiar architecture and ritual in order to educate them about the new faith. Each of these factors was critical for churches to dominate the landscape of eastern cities in the span of few centuries. At some level this involved the Christianization of certain elements of Roman (pagan) culture; adopting and adapting them for the needs of the Church. Temples, which had for many centuries served as the central religious and civic structures of GrecoRoman society, remained a threat to Eusebius and his contemporaries in the fourth century, and had to be supplanted. At the end of the fourth century, and even at the beginning of the fifth, traditional cults remained in public view requiring further decrees to crack down on its shrines and rituals. But the efforts of Theodosius and his successors would yield tangible results beginning in the fifth-century by removing any inhibitions to physically and symbolically appropriate the religious position of temples, and to encourage conversion as the socially and politically preferable choice for most remaining pagan inhabitants, particularly among leading affluent families of eastern cities. The discussion above focuses on the expansion of churches as part of a discourse primarily between Christians and non-Christians, or those on the outside. It is also important to note that among outsiders were groups difficult to identify in the physical remains, the heretic communities. The possession and control of churches became a high-stakes issue in establishing legitimacy after Constantine when the ties between the church and the state were enhanced. During the fourth-century, churches were often centers of controversy whether it was between various Christian sects with vastly different theological views, or between clergy members and resistant traditionalist elites. These conflicts were often heightened by the involvement of a church building that was seized, damaged, or destroyed. Beginning in the early fifth-century, as the church and the members of the clergy increasingly consolidated their position in eastern communities, many of these issues faded into the background. This development also encouraged church construction. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the nature of this discourse from the archaeological remains.

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Church construction and embellishment reflected in the Decapolis cities, as well as others in the region of Palestine and the Transjordan, did not last long. While a number of Christian communities persisted, and in some cases remained vibrant, the Muslim conquest in the midseventh-century C.E. fundamentally undermined Christianitys prominence in the East. Some Decapolis cities declined as urban centers, or were reorganized by the new local administrators. Many churches were abandoned as Christian structures over the next few centuries, especially after being devastated by earthquakes that struck the region in the eighth-century. Some Christians migrated out of the region, and those who remained were often unable to rebuild their churches. Muslims converted some churches into mosques. The appropriation of sacred spaces began again, along with the discourses over the continuities and discontinuities represented in the old and new structures. In the process, new understandings of sacred/profane were generated, along with formation of Muslim identity in these eastern communites.

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Appendix: Synagogues in the Decapolis

Synagogues were less common than churches among the architectural remains of the Decapolis. A few examples have been identified as being appropriated into the churches of the post-Theodosian period. Synagogues were discovered in some of the Decapolis cities, with the most significant number in the city of Scythopolis-Beth Shean, or its nearby vicinity. Scythopolis-Beth Shean was the only Decapolis city located in the Cis-Jordan that had a significant Jewish community. The synagogue was similar to the church building as a religious center for the Jewish community in the local cities. Like churches, synagogues were spaces where interchanges with traditional cultural influences were taking place. The negative interaction between Jews and Christians, which provoked hostilities during this period may have been that Christians at times adapted synagogues for their use as churches, as a means of appropriating their meaning and function. While the origins of the synagogue are not clear, the structure became an important Jewish center for prayer and worship, especially following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE. It was a revolutionary structure in Judaism as it brought the Jewish religion into the context of the local village. 1 Synagogue is derived from the Greek synagg which meant an assembly as in the case of a gathering of Jews for religious functions. Synagogues were overseen by leading group of elders, including an official known as the head of the synagogue, or archisynaggos.2 The synagogue was a meeting place for religious functions such as the hearing the recitation from the Torah and the Prophets, Aramaic translations of Scriptures, a sermon, and prayer. It functioned in conjunction with the temple in Jerusalem, as a local place of Jewish administration and judicial matters.3 The synagogue served as places of the

Leslie J. Hoppe, The Synagogues and Churches of Ancient Palestine (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1994), 7. 2 B. Chilton and Edwin Yamauchi, Synagogues, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. J. B. Green, S. McKnight, and I. H. Marshall (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1992), 1146, note that the title appears in thirty Greek and Latin inscriptions with three from Western Turkey and Crete where the term referred to a woman. 3 Acts 22:19; 2 Cor. 11:24. Provide examples of punitive actions carried out in synagogues.

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administration of charity for the poor.4 It was also where meals associated with the Sabbath and other holidays were served.5 Although the origins of synagogues remains unclear, the archaeological remains of the synagogue at Dura Europos a town located on the Euphrates provides some insight into the nature and function of these structures for smaller Jewish communities. The discovery of the synagogue, which was found near an early house church, provides fascinating insight into the expansion of these structures in a series of adaptation from a residential structure. Among its most notable features, were wall-paintings depicting images of biblical narratives and lore. Synagogues in the region of Palestine typically were constructed in three primary designs: the early Galilean, or basilical, which featured a rectangular hall divided by two colonnades with the main entrance in the wall facing Jerusalem, the later apsidal synagogue that added a fixed Torah shrine as an apse in the wall opposite the main entrance, and the broadhouse synagogue, a transitional form between these two, that featured the rectangular design but with one of the long walls orienting the worshiper to Jerusalem.6 Certain features were associated with synagogues related to their ritual functions, including the miqw't used for purification, the bema or platform for the reading of Scripture, and niches for the display of the ark for the Torah scrolls. Byzantine synagogues, like contemporaneous churches, were also decorated with elaborate mosaic floors. These featured Jewish motifs alongside various GrecoRoman themes, including depictions of the zodiac and four seasons.7 Other elements appear to have been incorporated such as the placing of the entrance to the east that was patterned after the temple.8 Remains of synagogues have primarily been located in the region of Palestine, while a number of others were located in the Diaspora. Synagogues in eastern cities were supported by local Jewish leaders and elites. As a center of Jewish life and religion for these communities, the sponsorship or benefaction of synagogues, like churches, became a matter of local prestige. This was enhanced by the various
Matt. 6:2; Tosefta Baba Batra 8:4. Chiat, 157. An inscription from the fifth-century synagogue at Caesarea Maritima mentions a benefactor associating a special meal with the structure. It reads: Beryllos the head of the synagogue (?) and the administrator, the son of Iu[s]tus, made the mosaic work of the triclinium from his own means. 6 Hoppe, 19-21. 7 Chilton and Yamauchi, 1148. These were found in synagogues at Hammath Tiberias, Beth Alpha, Naaran, and Husifa. Cf. Lester Ness, The Stars in their Courses Fought Against Sisera: Astrology and Jewish Society in the Later Roman Empire, in The Light of Discovery, ed. J. D. Wineland, 149-65 (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2007), for a discussion of the religio-political function of astrological motifs for Jewish communities. 8 Tosefta Megilla 4 (3): 22.
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civic functions of synagogue beyond its religious uses. This is illustrated by a synagogue inscription found in a cistern in Jerusalem dating to the first century CE that reads: Theodotus, son of Quettenos (Vettenos), priest and archisynagogus, son of an archisynagogus, grandson of an archisynagogus, built this synagogue for the reading of the Law and for the teaching of the commandments, and the hostel and the chambers and the water fittings for the accommodation of those who [coming] from abroad have need of it, of which [synagogue] the foundations were laid by his fathers and the Elders and the Simonides.9 Synagogues provide some indication of the wealth of certain Jewish communities that had members among their fellowship with the means to afford the costs of the structure and its furnishing. Interestingly, as in churches, women were mentioned in a number of synagogue inscriptions, suggesting their prominent role in the religious community, possibly as benefactors.10 Certain cities among those in the region of Palestine had thriving Jewish communities that were capable of such amenities. Talmudic sources indicate that at the city of Sepphoris had eighteen synagogues at the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi.11 One excavated recently located near the city center dating to the sixth century was paved with a carpet of mosaics depicting the zodiac and Jewish symbols like the Holy Ark with menorahs on both sides, as well as depictions of biblical scenes.12 The city of Scythopolis-Beth Shean, the capital of Palestina Secunda where most of the Decapolis cities were located, featured several synagogues within its vicinity. A synagogue complex was uncovered after its discovery at Re ob (or Re ov) in 1970 located near one of the Roman-Byzantine city gates.13 The complex of rooms included a squared prayer hall with two entrances from the north and south, and with benches lining its interior. An adjacent room features an inscription that reads: House of Kyrios Leontis.14 Several other inscriptions

Marilyn J. Chiat, Handbook of Synagogue Architecture (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1982), 202. Bernadette J. Brooten, Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1982), 1, points to nineteen Greek and Latin inscriptions that indicate that women served as leaders in synagogues in the Roman and Byzantine periods. 11 Jerusalem Talmud, Kelaim 9 4, 32a.-b. 12 Ehud Netzer and Zeev Weiss, New Evidence for Late-Roman and Byzantine Sepphoris, in The Roman and Byzantine East: Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J. H. Humphrey (Ann Harbor, MI: Cushing-Malloy, 1995), 174-5. 13 D. Bahat, A Synagogue at Beth-Shean, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, ed. L. I. Levine (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), 82. 14 Ibid.
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mention the benefactors of the synagogue.15 In a panel of ornately laid mosaics of nine medallions decorated with a variety of geometric designs and floral patterns, was a large inscription in Aramaic. It states: Remembered be for good all the members of the Holy Congregation who endeavored to repair the holy place. In peace shall they have their blessing. Amen!... Peace! Piety in peace!16 Another that was oriented to be read by those entering from the north remarked, Remembered be for the good the artisan who made this work. These suggest that sponsors of synagogues, likely wealthy members of the community, shared a similar mindset with church benefactors that valued the promotion of civic and religious piety. These elements indicate the ways that Jews were interacting with classical culture, encouraging certain associations, while establishing their own meaning, their own understandings of the sacrality of these structures. Steven Fine points to this dynamic in the incorporation of spaces of non-religious function with sacred areas. The Kyrios Leontis room was a public space featuring mosaics depicting two scenes Homers Odyssey and an image of the god, Nike, which adjoined the synagogue.17 The differing attitudes amongst a homogenous group of donors were characteristic of the period when Jewish benefactors had little compunction against combining sacred and profane elements. At the same time, there were distinctly Jewish symbolism and features that communicated their identity as distinct from classical culture.18 Two other synagogues were located in the vicinity of Scythopolis-Beth Shean. A synagogue located at Maoz ayim, discovered in 1974, had a basilica-plan measuring 14 m x 16 m. with the nave divided by two rows of five columns. 19 Built in several phases with the earliest phase dating to the fourth century CE, the synagogue featured an apse that was added at a later renovation along with a chancel screen that delimited the Torah shrine from the remainder of the

J. Sussman, The Inscription in the Synagogue at Re ob, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, ed. L. I. Levine (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), 146. Among the inscriptions found in the synagogue was the longest inscription from those in Israel (twenty-nine lines in eight paragraphs) that deals with agricultural precepts concerning the Holy Land, mostly from talmudic sources. 16 Ibid., 85. 17 Steven Fine, Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 92. 18 Ibid. 90. He notes that both the Jews and Christians came to use Roman art motifs, associating them with their own meanings and interpretations. 19 V. Tzaferis, The Synagogue at Maoz ayim, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, ed. L. I. Levine (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), 86.

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hall.20 These developments suggest the enhancement of the sacrality of its interior spaces. It was elaborately decorated with fine mosaic floors featuring various geometric patterns and a central panel depicting a bird, a cluster of grapes, along with a menorah and shofar.21 Another synagogue of the earlier Galilean design was found at Kokhav-Havarden in 1966 in the process of excavating a Crusader fortress.22 Among the remains were relief motifs of various floral designs, a fragmentary basalt lintel with a seven-branched menorah, a Torah shrine, and an incense shovel. 23 While the remains of these synagogues are fragmentary, they reveal considerable investments made by Jewish benefactors during the Byzantine period. The evidence from the synagogues of the Decapolis region, and those in Palestine provides further evidence that the Jewish community was also involved in the discourse with the classical traditions of eastern communities. One of the more important illustrations of this discourse comes from four synagogues in the region of Palestine. Among the decorations of synagogues unearthed at Beth Alpha, in the eastern part of the Jezreel Valley, at amat Tiberias on western shore of Sea of Galilee, usifah on Mt. Carmel, and at Naaran located northwest of Jericho, were mosaic floors depicting a zodiac motif. In each of these examples, the mosaics featured a design of two concentric circles inscribed within a square with an image of the Greek sun god, Helios, mounting a chariot with celestial bodies in the background at the center. He is surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac and four male figures representing the seasons in the corners of the square. Fine indicates that these examples of the incorporation of the classical themes by Jews of the Roman-Byzantine period represent a departure from earlier (and later) conservative opinions, but was an appropriation of cultural elements by reinterpreting them in the context of their faith.24 Christians and Jews had a long history together in the region by the time of the Byzantine period, but after the fourth century, based on the archaeological remains that it appears that Jewish communities remained substantial only in certain cities. Christianity was rooted in the Jewish communities of the first century, and it is likely that early Christians continued attendeding synagogues for some time, even while meeting in private homes for the sharing in
Ibid., 88. Ibid., 86. 22 M. Ben-Dov, Synagogue Remains at Kokhav-Havarden, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, ed. L. I. Levine, (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), 95-7. The name Kawkab was preserved in Muslim documents, which is equivalent to the Hebrew Kokhav star. 23 Ibid., 95. 24 Fine, 121-2.
21 20

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distinctly Christian rituals. Over time Christian and Jewish communities developed distinct identities under Roman law; the Jewish sacrificial and ritual system came under the umbrella of religions considered legitimate in the empire. The conflicts Christians faced with sacrifice in relation to the emperor cult would affix their position on the fringes of Roman society, until the time of Constantine when their fortunes changed. The changing dynamics of these communities in the region of Palestine with each other and in relation to the state created a constant state of antagonism throughout much of the Byzantine period. While synagogues still operated during this period in the Decapolis region, in the vicinity of Scythopolis-Beth Shean, others were eventually appropriated by Christians. The limited remains of synagogues at Decapolis cities provide some indication of the interaction of the Christian authorities and remaining Jews, which was similar to the discourses occurring with the non-Christian traditionalists, although their position was less advantageous in these communities. Those Jews who still inhabited the Decapolis communities were excluded from the centers of power. The consequences of this interaction can be found among the archaeological evidence. The most notable example of this was the church that built over a Synagogue at Gerasa. The Synagogue Church was even reoriented longitudinally so its chancel faced east to accommodate the rituals of the Christian congregation. The evidence of synagogues while limited, suggests that the Jewish community faced similar challenges in asserting their understanding of sacred and profane space, and forming their communal identity in the face of cultural forces represented in the late classical world. Benefactors among the Jews were just as concerned about their dedications were positioned conspicuously to be read by worshipers. Jews were also undeterred from using classical motifs in their interior ornamentation. It is interesting that the synagogues of this period reflect the adoption of common features like those found in neighboring churches, even the use of chancel screens to delineate the bema from the rest of the prayer hall. Fine makes an important point that while the design decisions of both churches and synagogues were primarily to create appropriate ritual spaces. They were also influenced by trends followed by tradesmen of the region, who were not necessarily affiliated with either of these communities.25 Especially in the decorative architectural elements, the same craftsmen were employed in the construction and design of

25

Ibid., 88.

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churches and synagogues. This was most notable in the commonalities evident in the mosaic designs of the region.26

G. Foerster, Decorated Marble Chancel Screens in the Sixth Century Synagogues in Palestine and Their Relation to Christian Art and Architecture, Actes du Xle Congres International dArcheologie Chretienne (Rome: Ecole Francaise, 1989), 2: 1809-20. Avi-Yonah distinguished common elements in church and synagogue mosaic floors at Gaza.

26

245

Glossary adyton (var. adytum): The innermost sanctuary or shrine in ancient temples, visually accessible to celebrants, but physically open only to priests; usually placed opposite the entrance in Hellenistic and Roman temples in Syria. aedicula (aediculae, pl.): Literally little building; a wall niche for a statue intended as a shrine. It housed the Torah scrolls in synagogues. ambulatory: A covered semicircular or polygonal aisle, often leading around the east end of the chancel. In the central-plan church, it demarcated and facilitated movement around the central altar and reliquary space. apse: The rounded end of a basilica-plan structure that might be internal or external in design, and number between one to three. It was employed in both churches and synagogues as focus of worship and often lined with seating (synthronon) for church officials. arcade: A series of arches supported by columns, piers, or pillars, either freestanding or attached to a wall to form a gallery. These were employed for decorative purposes. architrave (or epistyle): The lowermost part of an entablature in classical architecture that rests directly on top of a column. ashlar: A large paving stone or squared block. atrium: A rectangular court that was an open area in the center of an ancient Roman house. Later it referred to the forecourt of buildings, such as churches, that were often enclosed on three or four sides with porticoes. baldacchin (-os): A stone or marble structure built in the form of a canopy, especially over the altar of a church. basilica: A rectangular hall which was divided longitudinally by colonnades of two or four rows. cathedra: The bishop's chair or throne in his cathedral church, originally placed behind the high altar in the center of the curved wall of the apse. cella (also called naos): The inner room or sanctuary of an ancient Greek or Roman temple, which housed the cult statue of the god. In Byzantine architecture, it refers to the area of a centrally planned church in which the liturgy is performed. chancel: The sacred area in the eastern end of the church designated for enacting of ritual. The space, which was reserved for the clergy, contained the altar and was often enclosed by a lattice or railing known as a chancel screen.

246

dado: Wall facing of marble or limestone that was affixed by bronze clips. diaconikon (or diaconicon): A room often flanking the apse of the church, or adjoining one of the side aisles, that functioned as a robing room for clergy in the Byzantine period. exedra (exedrae, pl.): A semicircular portico with seats used in ancient Greece and Rome as a place for discussions. In later churches, it described a rectangular or semi-circular niche found the wall where an image or icon was placed gallery: A raised, projecting or recessed passageway along an upper story on the interior or exterior of a large building, generally marked by a colonnade or arcade. Such a passageway situated over the aisle of a church and opening onto the nave provided space for spectators. naos: See cella. narthex: A portico which stood at the front of churches and synagogues that separated the sacred space of the main hall from the profane world. nave: The main hall of a church, extending from the narthex in the west to the chancel in the east. A central aisle was often flanked by two or four side aisles separated by colonnades. pastophoria: The sacristy of church that consisted of two rooms: prothesis and diakonicon, usually found on either side of the central apse. peristyle: A row of columns surrounding an atrium. podium: A platform on which a building is erected. pronaos: The front room of a temple situated in front of the naos. proplyaeum (also called propylon): An entrance or vestibule to a temple or group of buildings. prostyle: Columns standing in front of the temple or church. prothesis: Table used for the preparation of the Eucharist quatrefoil : A representation of a flower with four petals or a leaf with four leaflets. In architecture, it was a tracery or ornament with four foils or lobes. sacristies (also called a vestry): A room in a church housing the sacred vessels and vestments. soffit: The underside of a structural component, such as a door, ceiling, beam, arch, gate, staircase, or cornice. stylobate: The foundation of a row of classical columns.

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temenos: The entire sacred precinct including the temple itself and the altar; often marked off or set apart by a wall. tessera (pl: tessarae): Small, colored stone pieces used to create mosaics. transept: The transverse part of a cruciform church, crossing the nave at right angles.

248

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