Symbols of Faith in the Mosaic Floors of the Newly Discovered Ecclesiastical Complex at Ashdod Maritima, Israel

Abstract

An ecclesiastical complex has recently been discovered in Ashdod Maritima – ancient Azotus. The site was excavated in 2019 and 2021. The complex includes a basilica, several rooms, and a chapel on the north side, all decorated with mosaic pavements. A mixed trend comes to light in the mosaics: on the one hand, there is a continuation of the geometric and vegetal compositions and motifs that originated in the Roman world and continued into the Byzantine period. On the other hand, the complex is unique in the many symbols of faith that appear, scattered throughout its parts. All types of crosses are depicted; a medallion with a Greek cross accompanied by the Greek letters iota-chi, and alpha and omega; a medallion with a Latin cross standing on Golgotha Hill with the Greek letters iota-chi and alpha and omega; a large Latin cross standing on Golgotha Hill with two large Greek crosses between its arms; and a medallion with a quote from Psalms. The complex is exceptional in the large number of crosses, the names of the bishops, priest, deacon, and deaconesses who were involved in the construction and decoration or were buried in the complex, and the large number of dated inscriptions.

Keywords

• Ashdod Maritima
• Greek cross
• a Latin cross standing on Golgotha Hill
• Greek letters iota-chi and alpha and omega
• deaconesses

Ashdod Maritima, İsrail’de Yeni Keşfedilen Dini Kompleksin Mozaik Zeminlerindeki İnanç Sembolleri

Abstract

Antik adı Azotus olan Ashdod Maritima’da yakın zamanda bir dini kompleks keşfedilmiştir. Alanda 2019 ve 2021’de arkeolojik kazı gerçekleştirilmiştir. Kompleks, tümü mozaik döşemelerle süslenmiş bir bazilika, birkaç oda ve kuzey tarafında bir şapel içermektedir. Mozaiklerde karışık bir eğilim ortaya çıkmaktadır: Bir yanda, Roma dünyasında ortaya çıkan ve Bizans dönemine kadar devam eden geometrik ve bitkisel kompozisyonların ve motiflerin devamı varken; öte yanda, kompleks, bölümlerine dağılmış olarak ortaya çıkan birçok inanç sembolü bakımından benzersizdir. Her tür haç tasvir edilmiştir; Yunan harfleri iota-chi ve alfa ve omega ile birlikte Yunan haçı olan bir madalyon; Golgotha Tepesi’nde Yunanca iota-chi ve alfa ve omega harfleriyle Latin haçı bulunan bir madalyon; kolları arasında iki büyük Yunan haçı bulunan Golgotha Tepesi’nde duran büyük bir Latin haçı; ve Mezmurlar’dan bir alıntı içeren bir madalyon yer almaktadır. Kompleks, çok sayıda haç, inşaat ve dekorasyonda yer alan veya komplekse gömülen piskopos, rahip, diyakoz ve diyakozların adları ve çok sayıda tarihli yazıt ile istisnai bir yere sahiptir.

Keywords

• Ashdod Maritima
• Yunan haçı
• Golgotha Tepesi’nde duran Latin haçı
• Yunan harfleri iota-chi ve alfa ve omega
• diyakozlar

References

1. Abu Dalu 1994 R. Abu Dalu, “Final Report on the Results of the Hufa al-Wastiyah Excavation, 1992”, ADAJ 38, 5-19 (Arabic).
2. Alliata 1999 E. Alliata, “The Legends of the Madaba Map”, M. Piccirillo - E. Alliata (eds.), The Madaba Map Centenary 1897-1997, Travelling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period (SBF, Collectio Maior 40), Jerusalem, 47-102.
3. Amir 2012 R. Amir, “Mosaic Floors in Judea and Southern Samaria”, N. Carmine (ed.), Christians and Christianity, III: Churches and Monasteries in Samaria and Northern Judea (JSP 15), Jerusalem, 445-488.
4. Apostolic Constitutions J. Donaldson (trans.), From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7, A. Roberts ‒ J. Donaldson ‒ A. Cleveland Coxe (eds.), Buffalo, NY, 1886, Revised and edited for New Advent by K. Knight. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07153.htm (Accessed: 20 January 2022).
5. Avi-Yonah 1933 M. Avi-Yonah, “Mosaic Pavements in Palestine”, QDAP 2, 136-181.
6. Avi-Yonah 1934 M. Avi-Yonah, “Mosaic Pavements in Palestine (A Summary)”, QDAP 3, 60-73.
7. Avi-Yonah 1940 M. Avi-Yonah, “Abbreviations in Greek Inscriptions (The Near East, 200 B.C. – A.D. 1100)”, Supplement to QDAP 9.
8. Avi-Yonah 1953 M. Avi-Yonah, “The Madaba Mosaic Map”, Eretz Israel 2, 129-156 (Hebrew).

9. Avi-Yonah 1954 M. Avi-Yonah, The Madaba Mosaic Map. With Introduction and Commentary, Jerusalem.
10. Avi-Yonah 1975 M. Avi-Yonah, “Une école de mosaïque à Gaza au sixième siècle”, CMGR II, 377-383.
11. Balty 1995 J. Balty, “La place des mosaïques de Jordanie au sein de la production orientale”, Mosaïques antiques du Proche-Orient, Chronologie, Iconographie, Interprétation (Centre de Recherches d’Histoire Ancienne, 140), Paris, 111-140.
12. Baramki 1934 D. C. Baramki, “An Early Christian Basilica at ‘Ein Hanniya”, QDAP 3, 113-117.
13. Biebel 1938 F. M. Biebel, “Mosaics”, C. H. Kraeling (ed.), Gerasa, City of the Decapolis, New Haven, Conn, 297-351.
14. Clark 1986 V. A. Clark, “The Church of Bishop Isaiah at Jerash”, F. Zayadine (ed.), Jerash Archaeological Project 1981-1983, I, Amman, 303-341.
15. Dahari 2012 U. Dahari, “The Church of St. Bacchus near Ḥorvat Tinshemet”, L. D. Chrupcała (ed.), Christ is Here! Studies in Biblical and Christian Archaeology in Memory of Michele Piccirillo, ofm (SBF, Collectio Maior 52), Milano, 105-124.
16. Dauphin 1976 C. Dauphin, “A New Method of Studying Early Byzantine Mosaic Pavements (Coding and a Computed Cluster Analysis) with Special Reference to the Levant”, Levant 8, 113-149.
17. Décor I C. Balmelle – M. Blanchard Lemée – J. Christophe – J.-P. Darmon – A.-M. Guimier Sorbets – H. Lavagne – R. Prudhomme – H. Stern, Le Décor géométrique de la mosaïque romaine I, Paris, 1985.
18. Décor II C. Balmelle – M. Blanchard-Lemée – J.- P. Darmon – S. Gozlan – M. P. Raynaud, Le Décor géométrique de la mosaïque romaine II, Paris, 2002.
19. Didascalia Apostolorum The Didascalia Apostolorum in English. Translated from the Syrian by M. Dunlop Gibson (Horae Semiticae II), London, 1903.
20. Di Segni 2017 L. Di Segni, “Expressions of prayer in late antique inscriptions in the provinces of Palaestina and Arabia”, B. Bitton- Ashkelony ‒ D. Krueger (eds.), Prayer and Worship in Eastern Christianities, 5th to 11th Centuries, London and New York, 63-88.
21. Donceel-Voûte 1988 P. Donceel-Voûte, Les pavements des églises byzantines de Syrie et du Liban, Décor, archéologie et liturgie, 2 vols., Louvain la-Neuve, Belgique.
22. Donner 1992 H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba, An Introductory Guide (Palaestina antiqua 7), Kampen, Netherlands.
23. Felle 2006 A. E. Felle, Biblia epigraphica: La Sacra Scrittura nella documentazione epigrafica dell‘Orbis christianus antiquus (III-VIII secolo), Bari, Edipuglia.
24. Finkielsztejn 2005 G. Finkielsztejn, “Les mosaïques de la komopolis de Porphyreon du sud (Kfar Samir; Haïfa, Israël): un évêché (?) entre village et cite”, H. Morlier (ed.) La mosaïque gréco-romaine 9, Rome, 435-452.
25. Fitzgerald 1939 G. M. Fitzgerald, A Sixth Century Monastery at Beth Shan (Scythopolis), Philadelphia.
26. Habas 2005 L. Habas, The Byzantine Churches of Provincia Arabia: Architectural Structure and their Relationship with the Compositional Scheme and Iconographic Program of Mosaic Pavements, 2 vols., Unpublished PhD dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Hebrew).
27. Habas 2015a L. Habas, “The discovery of the Mosaics of the Church of Bishop John at Gan Yavne, Israel”, G. Trovabene - A. Bertono (eds.), ATTI XII Colloquio AIEMA, Venezia, Verona, 231-238.
28. Habas 2015b L. Habas, “Crosses in the Mosaic Floors of Churches in Provincia Arabia and Nearby Territories, Against the Background of the Edict of Theodosius II”, JMR 8, 33–60.
29. Habas 2016 L. Habas, “The Mosaic Floors of the Church at Ozem”, J. Patrich ‒ O. Peleg-Barkat – E. Ben-Yosef (eds.), Arise, Walk through the land. Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Land of Israel in Memory of Yizhar Hirschfeld on the Tenth Anniversary of his Demise, Jerusalem, 273-290 (Hebrew).
30. Habas 2018 L. Habas, “Early Byzantine Mosaic Floors of the Church at Ozem, Israel”, JMR 11, 97-120.
31. Habas 2020a L. Habas, “The mosaic floors of the church at Hazor-Ashdod, Israel”, JMR 13, 109-138.
32. Habas 2020b L. Habas, “The Appearance of Crosses in Mosaic Floors in the Churches of Israel, and the Edict of Emperor Theodosius II. Rule and Reality”, A. Coniglio - A. Ricco (eds.), Holy Land: Archaeology on either side, Archaeological Essays in Honour of Eugenio Alliata, ofm (SBF, Collectio Maior 57), Milano, 155-157.
33. Habas 2022 L. Habas, “Mosaic floors of the monastery in Sede Nahum”, W. Atrash - A. Overman - P. Gendelman (eds.), Cities, Monuments, and Objects in the Roman and Byzantine Levant: Studies in Honor of Gaby Mazor, Oxford, 221-233.
34. Habas in print L. Habas, “The Mosaic Floors”, W. Atrash - L. Habas - G. Mazor (eds.), Nysa-Scythopolis: Caesarea City Gate and Environment. Bet She’an Archaeological Project 1986-2002, Bet She’an VI (IAA Reports), Jerusalem.
35. Hachlili 1987 R. Hachlili, “On the Mosaicists of the ‚School of Gaza‘”, Eretz Israel 19, 46-58 (Hebrew).
36. Hachlili 2009 R. Hachlili, Ancient Mosaic Pavements, Themes, Issues, and Trends, Leiden, Boston.
37. Hizmi 1990 H. Hizmi, “The Byzantine Church at Khirbet el-Beiyûdât: Preliminary Report”, G. C. Bottini - E. Alliata - L. Di Segni (eds.), Christian Archaeology in the Holy Land, New Discoveries. Essays in Honour of V. C. Corbo, OFM (SBF, Collectio Maior 36), Jerusalem, 245-263.
38. Magen 2012 Y. Magen, “A Roman Fortress and Byzantine Monastery at Khirbet Deir Samʿan”, N. Carmin (ed.), Christians and Christianity, III: Churches and Monasteries in Samaria and Northern Judea (JSP 15), Jerusalem, 9-106.
39. Magen - Batz - Sharuk 2012 Y. Magen - Sh. Batz - I. Sharuk, “A Roman Military Compound and a Byzantine Monastery at Khirbet Umm Deimine”, N. Carmin (ed.), Christians and Christianity, IV: Churches and Monasteries in Judea (JSP 16), Jerusalem, 435-482.
40. Mango 1986 C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine 312–1453, Sources and Documents, Canada.
41. Narkiss 1979 B. Narkiss, “The Armenian Treasures of Jerusalem: Ch. 1: Mosaic Pavements”, B. Narkiss (ed.), Armenian Art Treasures of Jerusalem, New York, 20-28.
42. Ovadiah 1975 A. Ovadiah, “Les mosaïstes de Gaza dans l’antiquité chrétienne”, RB 82, 552-557.
43. Ovadiah - Ovadiah 1987 R. Ovadiah - A. Ovadiah, Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine Mosaic Pavements in Israel, Roma.
44. Patrich - Tsafrir 1993 J. Patrich - Y. Tsafrir, “A Byzantine Church Complex at Ḥorvat Beit Loya”, Y. Tsafrir (ed.), Ancient Churches Revealed, Jerusalem, 265-272.
45. Piccirillo 1993 M. Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan (American Center of Oriental Research publications 1), Amman.
46. Prausnitz 1967 M. W. Prausnitz, Excavations at Shavei Zion, Roma, Centro per le antichita e la storia dell‘arte del Vicino Oriente.
47. Saller 1982 S. J. S. Saller, Excavations at Bethany (1949–1953) (SBF, Collectio Maior 12), Jerusalem.
48. Saller - Bagatti 1949 S. J. S. Saller - P. B. Bagatti, The Town of Nebo (Khirbet el-Mekhayyat), With a Brief Survey of Other Ancient Christian Monuments in Transjordan (SBF, Collectio Maior 17), Jerusalem.
49. SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.
50. Stève 1946 A. M. Stève, “Le désert de Saint Jean près d’Hébron, II. Les monuments”, RB 53, 559-575.
51. Talgam 1998 R. Talgam, “Mosaics in Israel in the Light of Recent Discoveries”, Qadmoniot 116, 74-89 (Hebrew).
52. TIR 1994 Y. Tsafrir - L. Di Segni - J. Green, Tabula Imperii Romani: Judaea-Palaestina, Jerusalem.
53. Tsaferis 1985a V. Tsaferis, “An Early Christian Church Complex at Magen”, BASOR 258, 1-15.
54. Tsaferis 1985b V. Tsaferis, “Mosaics and Inscriptions from Magen”, BASOR 258, 17-32.
55. Tzaferis 1971 V. Tzaferis, Christian Symbols of 4th Century and the Church Fathers, PhD dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
56. Vincent - Benoit 1961 H. Vincent - P. Benoit, “Un sanctuaire dans la région de Jéricho, la synagogue de Na’arah”, RB 68, 161-177.
57. Waliszewski 1994 T. Waliszewski, “La mosaïque de Deir el-‘Asfur retrouvée: Le motif des ‘rinceaux habités’ en Judée et dans la Shéphéla”, RB 101, 562-579.