A Recently Discovered Church at Ashdod-Yam (Azotos Paralios) in Light of Its Greek Inscriptions

The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the 5th century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deacon...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Di Segni, Leʾah 1947- (Author) ; Bouzaglou, Liora (Author) ; Fantalkin, Alexander (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 2022
In: Liber annuus
Year: 2022, Volume: 72, Pages: 399-447
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Peter of Iberia 409-488 / Deaconess / Ashdod
IxTheo Classification:HH Archaeology
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The recently discovered church at Ashdod Yam is unique in several respects. One is its early date, the beginning of the 5th century at the latest, as is revealed by its rich epigraphic yield. Second, the large proportion of women among the dead buried within its walls, most if not all of them deaconesses. The third unexpected feature in the church inscriptions dated by an era year (five out of thirteen) is the chronological system consistently used in them all and confirmed by the accordance between the resulting CE year and the indiction. The epoch is 248/9 CE, the millennium of Rome, which was never employed for dating purposes, except as an anchor for the national era and the cosmic era of creation of the Georgians. As an hypothesis, we suggest that Georgian monks, disciples of Peter the Iberian, who frequented this part of the Palestinian coast, became acquainted with the chronological system revealed in this church (possibly adopted by Azotian Christians under Roman influence), chose it as a base for the elaboration of their national systems and later introduced these systems in Georgia, where they are documented only in the 8th century.
ISSN:0081-8933
Contains:Enthalten in: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (Jerusalem), Liber annuus
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1484/J.LA.5.134545