In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008): Celebrating his life and work 9781407308159, 9781407338033

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BAR S2248 2011

In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008)

DAUPHIN & HAMARNEH (Eds)

Celebrating his life and work Edited by

Claudine Dauphin Basema Hamarneh

IN MEMORIAM: FR MICHELE PICCIRILLO

B A R

BAR International Series 2248 2011

In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008) Celebrating his life and work

Edited by

Claudine Dauphin Basema Hamarneh

BAR International Series 2248 2011

Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 2248 In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008) © The editors and contributors severally and the Publisher 2011 The authors' moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISBN 9781407308159 paperback ISBN 9781407338033 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407308159 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2011. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

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In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008) Celebrating His Life and Work

“Ô God, I bless You for having given me something to offer!”

St Francis of Assisi Third Consideration on the stigmata, or Actus 9, 63

“I grew tall like a palm-tree in En-Gedi and like rose-bushes

“I took root in

in Jericho;

an honoured people,

like a fair olive tree

in the portion of

in the field,

the Lord,

and like

his heritage”

a plane tree beside water, I grew tall”

Wisdom of Ben Sira 24, 12-14

Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008)

Table of Contents

Introduzione by HRH Prince Al-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan 13 Foreword by HRH Prince Al-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan 11-15 Preface by Claudine Dauphin and Basema Hamarneh 17-18 Abbreviations 19 Welcoming Remarks by Dr Sune Fahlgren 21 Welcoming Remarks by Dr George Hintlian 23 Welcoming Remarks by Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm 25-26 Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm: the Gardener of the Lord The Mosaics of Paradise Regained by Claudine Dauphin 27-44 “Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda”: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm, Pioneer of Byzantine Archaeology in the Middle East by Basema Hamarneh 45-55 Mount Nebo. the Restoration Project of the Memorial of Moses Interviewing the Team at Work: Gianfranco Micalizzi, Carmelo Pappalardo, ofm, and Franco Sciorilli by Rosario Pierri, ofm 57-61 Giving life in 3D to the Church of Saint Stephen Complex at Umm al- Rasas by Claudine Dauphin and Qutaiba al-Dasouqi 63-64 The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project by Catreena Hamarneh 65-67 The Renewal of Mosaic Art in the Palestinian Occupied Territory by Osama Hamdan and Carla Benelli

69-74

Notes d’épigraphie christo-palestinienne de Jordanie by Émile Puech 75-94 A Glance at the Conservation Work in the Old Core of Sabastiya (Nablus ) by Osama Hamdan 95-100

‫نظرة على أعمال في التراث الثقافي في سبسطية‬ ‫ اسامة حمدان‬101-104

11

The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum by Fr Eugenio Alliata, ofm

105-113

Il Ruolo della Custodia di Terra Santa nell’ Avvio e Sviluppo dell’ Artigianato della Madreperla a Betlemme by Carla Benelli

115-119

Fr Michele Piccirillo and the “Massolini Calendar” by Giampietro Rigosa

121-124

Epilogue by Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land

125

Bibliography

127-138

List of Illustrations

139-153

 

 

 

 

 

   

   

   

 

Illustrations

 

  Index of Places

313

Index of Personal Names

317

Index of Semitic Names

320

General Index

321

 

                                                                        12

Majlis El Hassan Palazzo Reale Amman, Giordania

INTRODUZIONE

E’ un onore partecipare al ricordo di Padre Michele Piccirillo e mi congratulo con la Professoressa Claudine Dauphin e la Professoressa Basema Hamarneh per questa memoriale publicazione Celebrando la Sua Vita e le Sue Opere. Padre Michele ha dedicato la sua vita allo studio e allo sviluppo dell’archeologia in Terra Santa, specialmente al Monte Nebo. Egli era un grande uomo, il cui impegno ispirò molti studiosi, archeologi e studenti di storia. Egli amò la Giordania in particolar modo e fece tutto ciò che era in suo potere per far accrescere la consapevolezza delle persone del ricco patrimonio di questo paese. Era autore di diversi libri sulla storia archeologica della Giordania e nella veste di Direttore dell’Istituto Archeologico Franciscano in Giordania era uno dei fondatori della Scuola Mosaici di Madaba. I progetti dell’Istituto comprendevano anche lo scavo e il restauro in molte località incluse Monte Nebo, Umm al-Rasas e Madaba. La Giordania moderna si estende su una terra antica che forma un ponte tra tre continenti: Europa, Asia e Africa. Il popolo giordano ereditò una ricchezza religiosa, storica ed archeologica tramandata loro da molte generazioni. La Giordania ha avuto il pregio di onorare questo patrimonio pluralistico. La Carta Musiva delle Terre Bibliche scoperta nel 1896 e conservata in una chiesa di Madaba ha un posto speciale tra i tesori artistici e culturali lasciati nelle mani e sotto la tutela del popolo e del governo della Giordania. L’opera è di un mosaicista anonimo o di un gruppo di artigiani che lavorarono a Madaba verso la metà del VI secolo d.C. La provvidenza e la fortuna conservarono per noi la più antica e dettagliata mappa della nostra terra ad est e ad ovest del Giordano, dal Libano all’Egitto, dal deserto al Mediterraneo. E’ la Terra Promessa per la quale palpitano i cuori e le menti di milioni di credenti da tutto il mondo, siano loro Cristiani, Ebrei o Musulmani che condividono gli stessi valori che originano dalla loro fede nel Dio di Abramo che si rivelò in questa terra. Era la cura di Padre Michele Piccirillo per i siti Bizantini della Giordania stessa che occupava molto del suo tempo mentre risiedeva al Monte Nebo, centro del lavoro dell’Istituto Archeologico Franciscano. La sua conoscenza era estesa a progetti in Palestina, Siria, Egitto e Cipro. La passione per il suo lavoro era manifesta a tutti coloro che lo hanno incontrato e a quelli che hanno lavorato con lui.

Al-Hassan bin Talal

Claudine DAUPHIN and Basema HAMARNEH PREFACE

“Who can describe the charity, the patience, the humility, the obedience, the brotherly good humour which reigned then amongst the Brothers?”

lectures surrounded by a corolla of other contributions which we believe reflect the eloquent complexity of an outstanding archaeologist and his efforts in undertaking projects of excavation, conservation, preservation and valorisation of the immense historical and archaeological heritage of the Middle East.

Giordano de Giano, Chronica A day after what would have been Fr Michele Piccirillo’s 65th Birthday, a little over a year after his death, on 19th November 2009 - a month dedicated to celebrating All Saints and praying for the repose of our dead -, from as far afield as Ireland and the Emirate of Sharjah, Fr Michele’s Sisters and Brothers in Christ, scholarship and friendship gathered together in Jerusalem at the bidding of the Swedish Christian Study Centre - Bilda, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, and the Christian Heritage in the Holy Land Institute of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate, in memoriam for him whom we knew as teacher, mentor, guide, lecturer, colleague, brother in Christ or simply friend.

Each of us treasures in the memory of his or her mind images of our own, personal Michele Piccirillo. The variety of testimonies immediately after his death aptly reflected his own rich diversity. A young Franciscan who had sat daily at mensa opposite him remembered, besides Fr Piccirillo’s tenacity in preserving the Christian memory of the Holy Land, his advice to him: “Stay focused, be calm, don’t study too hard, health is a precious gift from God”. The Magdala excavation team called out across the worldwide web a warm “Ciao Michele”. His Royal Highness King Abdallah II and his uncle His Royal Highness Prince al-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, who considered him one of their own in the Arabian tribal sense, mourned what is still strongly felt across the kingdom, where Abuna Piccirillo remains a household name: the loss of The archaeologist of the Christian Holy Land, but even more of a model of immense, yet humble, scholarship, generosity of spirit and humanity.

The Academic Gathering in the Holy City followed by a Memorial Dinner in an Armenian restaurant was a joyous event, a rare moment of grace, of warm feeling of welcome, of spiritual bond, exchange and fraternity, of Time suspended, when communing in memory of Fr Michele, old friendships were rejuvenated and strong new links were forged. Such a precious atmosphere, bringing to mind Giordano de Giano’s euphoric description of the 1221 Franciscan Chapter,1 should not be allowed to evaporate, but had to be enshrined by the written Word. The feeling also prevailed between the two of us (who had never met before 19th November 2009, but instantly became bosom friends), that the great honour which had been bestowed upon us, modern Marys at the Tomb, to deliver the two Memorial lectures, should be shared with Michele’s closest associates, with those who have picked up his gauntlet and against many odds, not least his absence, are pursuing his Projects. Thence developed the idea of a volume similar to the roses in full bloom surrounding a heraldic eagle on the mosaic carpet of the Southern aisle of the Church of the Deacon Thomas in the ‘Uyun Mousa Valley,2 whose heart consists of our two

Father Michele was a firm believer in team work and was able to create with tenacity, skill and perseverance many collaborative projects that were intended to make local people involved in managing the wealth of their own past. Such awareness, he would say, was the only way to peace, an idea that all contributors to the present volume fully and wholeheartedly share. We would like the reader to imagine that this volume is a mosaic, each contribution representing one tessera of the large image of a person who spent most of his life in service to others, both as a Franciscan friar and as an estimated scholar of unquestioned competence. The unexpected death of Father Michele has undoubtedly left a huge void, but the seeds that he has thrown have found fertile ground to germinate. We are convinced that his saplings on Mount Nebo and across the Middle East will continue to grow, raising awareness of the valuable material expression of our common heritage in the lands that, for more than thirty years, were the undisputed scene of his life and work.

1 Gordano de Giano joined the Friars Minors in 1219. His Chronicle is a precious testimony for the atmosphere of the Franciscan Chapter of 1221 (Laureilhe, 1959 éd./trad.: 34-35). 2 On the mid-VIth-century Church of the Deacon Thomas, see Piccirillo 1998d: 330 fig. 150, 331 fig. 151, 339 fig. 186. On the significance of the eagle in this particular context, see infra, C. Dauphin “Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm: the Gardener of the Lord”, n. 236 ( Fig. 107).

17

We are most honoured that His Royal Highness Prince al-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan readily agreed for the present volume to open with his fine and kind Foreword, balanced by the Epilogue of His Excellency Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land. The Dean of the Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem, Father Giovanni Claudio Bottini, followed our endeavour step by step, offering suggestions and unconditional support. The professors of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem are represented by three authors, Frs Eugenio Alliata, Carmelo Pappalardo and Rosario Pierri, but throughout, we have felt the backing of the entire Franciscan community of St Saviour’s Convent and of the Flagellation Convent, to which we wish to express our sincere gratitude. Thanks are due to Dr Sune Fahlgren and Dr George Hintlian, respectively Directors of the Swedish Christian Study Centre – Bilda, and the Christian Heritage Institute of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate for conceiving, together with Fr Bottini, the Memorial Day, and for inviting us to give the Memorial Lectures, thus allowing us to express in public our academic and human indebtness to Michele Piccirillo.

Art, Syracuse (USA), the Bayerischen Nationalmuseum, Monaco (Germany), the Museo degli Argenti e delle Porcellane, Palazzo Pitti, Florence (Italy), the Musée du Louvre, Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Arras (France), the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper (France), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, New York, the Vatican Museum, Rome, the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, the Museo Francescano (Istituto Storico dei PP. Capuccini), Rome, Toledo Cathedral (Spain), the Church of the Assumption in Censeau (France), the Department of Antiquities of the Palestinian Authority, and the Ecole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem Dr Giuseppe Caffulli, Director of Terrasanta, has allowed us to publish our edited and augmented translation into English of Fr Rosario Pierri’s article in Italian in TS (I) 5 (Settembre-Ottobre 2010). The layout of both the texts and the illustrations and the production of a camera-ready manuscript were splendidly undertaken by Dr Mohamed Ben Jeddou, Chercheur Associé of “Orient et Méditerranée – Monde byzantin” of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, whom we thank for his patience and flair. The eloquent maps of Byzantine Madaba (Fig. 124) and of the distribution of Christo-Palestinian inscriptions in Jordan (Fig. 205), both produced under GIS, are also his work.

Dr David Davison of BAR, Oxford, greeted our publication project enthusiastically and gave us full latitude for the choice and the number of colour illustrations - a most precious gift from a publisher. We are particularly grateful for his understanding of the deep significance of a quadrilingual publication, Italian, French, English and Arabic being the four languages in which Fr Piccirillo was fluent. The use of Arabic is also a “First” for the BAR International Series and represents our commitment to a real rapprochement between East and West.

The eagerness of all the individuals and the benignity of the institutions cited above, have greatly facilitated our work. To them, as well as to all those who accompanied the making of this book with their advice and suggestions, we address our warmest thanks. Pax et bonum. Bergamo-Paris Ash Wednesday, 9th March 2011

The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum has generously granted us permission to reproduce the photographs of the numerous mosaic pavements uncovered by Fr Piccirillo, which Fr Michele’s first and closest collaborator, Fr Eugenio Alliata, provided with utmost liberality and goodwill. Marie-Armelle Beaulieu, Press officer of the Custodia di Terra Santa, Jerusalem, has kindly contributed her photographs of the Memorial Gathering and Dinner. Basilio Rodella (BAMSphoto, Brescia) offered us some photographs of Fr Michele in action or engrossed in his study, which are published here for the first time. Architect Gianfranco Micalizzi gave us an up-to-date photograph of the new roof of the cella trichora of the Memorial basilica of Moses on Mount Nebo, and mosaic restorer Franco Sciorilli has shared with us the many photographs which keep his friends across the world informed of the progress of restoration work on Mount Nebo. Dr Joseph A. Green, Assistant Director of the Semitic Museum of Harvard University has pointed to us the valuable and little known Matson Photograph Collection. For permission to reproduce photographs of objects or paintings, thanks are due to The Everson Museum of

18

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research ADAJ

Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan

BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research CA Cahiers archéologiques CRAI

Comptes-rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris

CSEL

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Wien, 1866-)

DOP

Dumbarton Oaks Papers

CSCO

Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalum

EdA

Esempi di Architettura

GCS

Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderts

(Leipzig-Berlin, 1897-) IEJ

Israel Exploration Journal

IGLS

Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie

JA Journal Asiatique LA Liber Annuus MNDPV Mitteilungen und Nachrichten des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins MUSJ

Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth

PEFQSt Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement PL

Migne, J.-P. ed. Patrologiae Latinae cursus completus, Series Latina, Paris,

1844-1864. POC

Proche-Orient Chrétien (Jérusalem-Beyrouth)

QDAP

Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities of Palestine

RAC

Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana

RB Revue Biblique SC Sources chrétiennes, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris TS(I)

La Terra Santa (in Italian)

ZDPV

Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 19

Dr Sune Fahlgren Director of the Swedish Christian Study Centre - Bilda, Jerusalem WELCOMING REMARKS

Your Excellency the Custos of the Holy Land, Your Graces, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to commemorate and honour the memory of Fr Michele Piccirillo, the Franciscan father who made the Holy Land his home. The XIXth century was the century of introducing the scientific exploration of the Holy Land, while the XXth century represents the creation of new fields of knowledge and new disciplines in archaeology. We can state with confidence that Fr Piccirillo became the towering and leading figure of Byzantine archaeology in the Middle East. His discoveries will shape and leave a lasting impact on many generations of scholars to come. Most of you had the fortune to know him very well. Our institution – the Swedish Christian Study Centre – had the honour to host him often in this lecture hall, and many of his articles appear in our publications. Therefore we have taken this initiative to highlight his life and work, one year after he prematurely passed away. We are grateful to Fr Claudio Bottini, the Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, for his crucial role in organizing this Memorial Day, and we thank the Custos for presiding at this event. In particular we highly appreciate the presence among us of two prominent scholars – Claudine Dauphin and Basema Hamarneh – who accepted our invitation to come to Jerusalem to talk about the work and career of Fr Piccirillo. Their testimonies will be treasured by this scholarly audience. Fr Piccirillo cherished the pilgrims whom he met, and made pilgrimage his focus, developing new perspectives in the study of pilgrimage. In order to inspire future generations and in the best way honour his memory, the Executive Committee of this institution in Stockholm has decided to dedicate our future conferences and publications on pilgrimage to his name. I am sure that at this moment Fr Piccirillo from his resting place on Mount Nebo will be gratified that we are humbly continuing his pious mission to spread the Word of the Lord and his messages. You are all most welcome at this Memorial Day!

21

Dr George HINTLIAN Holy Land Institute of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem WELCOMING REMARKS

Your Graces, Reverend Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen. Claude Lévi-Strauss passed away last month at the age of 101. Let us ponder for a moment the field of anthropology without him. Fr Piccirillo had a premature death; it would be hard to imagine the field of Byzantine archaeology in the Middle East without him. I do not wish to remind this scholarly audience of his revolutionary and original contribution to the field, but his loss dealt a hard blow to the entire field. In most obituaries and on such occasions, we have to dwell on his monumental contribution. This aspect which made him of world-class reputation is self-evident to you, more than to any other audience. I wish to remember Fr Piccirillo as a human being in our dealings with him and what was unique about him. Three features stood out in him: his modesty, his determination, and his generosity to share. But if there is a lasting memory of him, it is his tireless devotion to anything to do with the Holy Land. If I may say so, the Holy Land was his cult, and he succeeded to infect thousands with that passionate love. For him, the Holy Land was the highest value. His friendship was deeper and firmer if he thought that your devotion to the the Holy Land was genuine. As time wears on, it is becoming clearer that we have lost our supreme reference, and the person who was the unique possessor of vue d’ensemble in the field. Everything you mentioned to him had its own niche, he had the answer to every question, and the solution to every problem. In short, there were few scholarly puzzles for him. If one day we will manage to read all his books and articles we will grasp part of that vue d’ensemble. Today, the difficult task of describing him has been entrusted to two eminent archaeologists. We thank them for accepting this challenge. A special word of thanks to his Paternity, the Custos for presiding over this ceremony, and to Fr Bottini, a prominent scholar, who along with Fr Piccirillo upgraded the Studium Biblicum. We salute Fr Alberto, the competent architect of restorations, who came together with Fr Piccirillo as a young seminarian. Last but not least, we salute Fr Eugenio Alliata, a close associate of Fr Piccirillo, and the present Director of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, and Fr Carmelo and Fr Carta, who are continuing his works and projects. This is a solemn moment where a great number of scholars of the Holy Land remember Fr Piccirillo, one of the leading scholars of Christian heritage of this century. We the living have the obligation to move on and carry out and fulfill the passions of Fr Michele. Only in this way we would best honour him and perpetuate his memory.

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Fr Claudio BOTTINI, ofm Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem WELCOMING REMARKS

Your Excellency, Reverend Fathers, distinguished professors and scholars, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to Dr Sune Fahlgren, the Director of the Swedish Christian Study Centre and his collaborator Mr George Hintlian for their organization of this afternoon’s In Memoriam of our dear Father Michele Piccirillo. I would like to thank them also for their kind invitation to open this gathering and to welcome this distinguished assembly. In my opinion it is indeed right and appropriate that Father Michele be remembered in this city just a little more than a year following his unexpected death. We, at the Studium Biblicum, will also remember him through various events during the course of the coming year. A small book is currently being published in his memory. Prof. Fr Carmelo Pappalardo and Prof. Leah Di Segni are in the process of compiling a book of archaeological studies dedicated to Michele. At only eleven years old Piccirillo was already on his way to becoming a Franciscan of the Holy Land. Therefore it may be said that from a very tender age he already had Jerusalem as the destination for his life. His teachers and professors made frequent mention of the enthusiasm for the Holy Land which they observed in him. In his first diary, the young teenage Michele, at just 16 years of age, described the first time that he arrived in Jerusalem at 12.30 on the 24th of September 1960, having departed from Damascus at 7.00 that same morning. He and his companions had embarked on a ship from Naples on the 18th of September, making a stop at Alexandria on the 21st, arriving in Beirut on the 22nd and finally reaching Damascus. It was a different Middle East then! During his years of training and study he spent one year in Emmaus el-Qubeibeh and four years in Bethlehem. He spent four very important years of his life in Jerusalem, as it was here that he reached the decision to become a Franciscan and a priest. He showed himself to be a courageous and generous member of an aid group for the Palestinian population during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. He was absent from Jerusalem only during the years of his university studies, from 1969 until 1974. Immediately afterwards, in October 1974, he returned to the Holy City. He took up residence in the Flagellation Monastery, where he remained until shortly before his death. Father Michele spent the longest and the most important part of his life in Jerusalem. He deeply loved this city and its inhabitants and he worked hard to make its history, its spiritual richness and its patrimony known. He loved to present himself simply as a Franciscan of the Holy Land or of Jerusalem, as he considered it a noble title of honour. Piccirillo firmly believed in the vocation of Jerusalem: its being the holy city, where peoples, religious faiths and diverse traditions are called to live in mutual respect and peace. He lived this conviction concretely in his life as a Franciscan and as a scholar of history and archaeology. Representatives of international, political and cultural institutions, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian personalities, friends and admirers give him the merit of having created a worldwide network of friendship and collaboration. Father Michele was not, however, only passionate about the Jerusalem of biblical and historical memory. He conceived many projects for the human and cultural growth of the local populations of the Holy Land. In the realization of these projects he strove to involve local professionals and young people. For the benefit of all those present, just a brief mention of some of the projects that he supported and promoted: the Jericho School of Mosaic Restoration, the rediscovery and the valorisation of the antiquities of Sabastiya and the revival of the handcrafts of wood and mother-of-pearl work in Bethlehem. He himself personally contacted the governments of many European countries and of the United States of America. For this very reason he had many friends in the many consulates in Jerusalem. 25

Father Michele left Jerusalem on the 2nd of June 2008 to fulfill work commitments. The serious illness that was discovered shortly afterwards prevented him from returning. His last book is a testimony to what he cherished in his mind and in his heart for this city and its people. La Palestina Cristiana which was published when he was in hospital, contains a significant dedication: “For the inhabitants of the Holy City of Jerusalem”. It appears to me that for this reason, it is touching that this afternoon in this city, scholars, brothers and friends are gathered together to remember his life and work with affection and gratitude.

26

Claudine DAUPHIN

Fr MICHELE PICCIRILLO, ofm : THE GARDENER OF THE LORD THE MOSAICS OF PARADISE REGAINED “Hail, queen wisdom! May the Lord save thee with thy sister holy pure simplicity! O Lady, holy poverty, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy humility! O Lady, holy charity, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy obedience! O all ye most holy virtues, may the Lord, from whom you proceed and come, save you! There is absolutely no man in the whole world who can possess one among you unless he first die to himself. He who possesses one and does not offend the others, possesses all; and he who offends one, possesses none and offends all; and every one [of them] confounds vices and sins”. St Francis of Assisi, Salutatio Virtutum Pope John Paul II on his Jubilee Year pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Fr Piccirillo as guide, we travel in a nonlinear fashion through Time, from Rome, the Apostolic omphalos, through the Terra Promissionis (Fig.14), as described in the IVth century by the Spanish abbess Etheria on her visit to the Memorial of Moses and monastery of Mount Nebo (Fig. 15),5 and finally through Paradise Redeemed (Fig. 16) to Paradise Regained (Fig. 17).6

Rather than solely assessing the contribution of Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm, to mosaic studies, an attempt will be made to piece together the facets of his extraordinarily rich and charismatic personality in conjunction with an exegetical reading of “his” mosaics,1 whilst simultaneously tracing his unobtrusive but fundamental following of the path cut by St Francis. For, above all, Michele Piccirillo was a true disciple of the Poverello of Assisi, an incontrovertible reality well-recognized in the title chosen by Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm, for his obituary, “Michele Piccirillo (19442008) francescano di Terra Santa e archeologo”, first and foremost a Franciscan of the Holy Land, and only then an archaeologist.2 The stained-glass window (Fig. 12), culmination of a long series of Art Nouveau church windows, produced in 1903 in the New York workshops of Louis Comfort Tiffany, bearing the title “The New Jerusalem“ (where we trust Fr Michele now dwells),3 is a metaphor for our quest. Apparently a flat surface, it consists of coloured glass of varying thicknesses, cut to fit into a wrought iron design, unlike a mosaic pavement whose multicoloured tesserae create the design. Perilous is the peeling of its layers, as is the dismantling into its various elements of the models of Palestinian Christian and Moslem craftsmanship in the service of the Holy Places (Fig. 13), the fascination for which in the last years of Piccirillo’s life resulted in a definitive study entitled with arresting premonition La Nuova Gerusalemme.4 The risk is fragmentation and the collapse of the whole. The reader’s patience and indulgence are requested, as, like the Late Roman and Byzantine pilgrims, and following in the footsteps of

Il Padre Mobile – Mosaics in Perpetual Motion Fr Michele’s travels started early. At the tender age of 11, already yearning for the Holy Land of which he strongly desired to become a Friar Minor (Fig. 18), he left his home in rural Casanova di Carinola, near Caserta, in the orbit of Naples, to be schooled at the Terra Santa Collegio Serafico in Rome and subsequently in Perugia. He was but a young shoot of 16 when he embarked like a Mediaeval pilgrim from Naples, sailing to Alexandria and Beirut, travelling overland from Damascus to the Allenby Bridge – the first of innumerable crossings -, reaching Jordanian Jerusalem on 24th September 1960. Becoming a son of the Custody of the Holy Land did not imply a static, cloistered life. On the contrary, his noviciate took him to Emmaus-Qubeiba, Bethlehem, and the Custody’s Theological seminary in Jerusalem. Nor did it remove him from the cataclysm of the Six Days War. His solemn profession of adherence to the Franciscan Order, on 24th June 1967, took place in the turmoil of tending the wounded and burying the dead in the villages between Jerusalem and the River Jordan, and from Hebron to Jenin, in a “flying corps of charity” consisting of a handful of fellow Franciscans and a few members of other religious orders (Fig. 19).

Salutations of the Virtues (Robinson 1905 ed./transl.; Desbonnets, Matura Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 270-271; Masseron 2006 trad.: 213). 2 Bottini 2008. 3 On the “New Jerusalem“ stained-glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany, see notably Louis Comfort Tiffany 2009a: 35, and 2009b. 4 Piccirillo 2007c. On the model of the Holy Sepulchre in the Bayerischen Nationalmuseum, Monaco, shown on Fig. 13, see Piccirillo 2007c: 67 (text), and 162 (photograph). 1

On Etheria’s pilgrimage to Mount Nebo, ca ad 400, see Egeriae Itinerarium X-XII, trad. franç. Pétré 1964 éd.: 130-147; Engl. transl. Wilkinson 1981 ed.: 103-108; Piccirillo 1998c. On Pope John Paul II’s pilgrimage in 2000 to the Holy Land, see Piccirillo 2000b. 6 Beasts flank a Tree of Life on the early VIth century mosaic pavement of the Lower Baptistery of the Cathedral in Madaba (Piccirillo 1989c: 32-33). 5

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Penitenza, pace e misericordia.7 The teaching of St Francis of Assisi runs counter to the flight from the sinful world of the first Christian hermits seeking peace in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine.8 Plunged through circumstances into the world at its worst -war-, Fr Michele put into practice the most fundamental of the three precepts of St Francis’ message, misericordia, the assistance extended to the poor and the sick, to all those who suffer in their bodies and minds, because more than any other human beings they bring to mind the crucified Christ.9 The experience was traumatic, accompanied by the consciousness that to find God the mediation of Man is necessary. It triggered his lifelong adherence to justice and fierce determination to promote peace by action, and not by vain talk. To Italy, however, he returned to be ordained priest on 5th July 1969, and gain licentiates in Theology and Holy Scripture, followed by a Doctorate in archaeology, with a thesis on Iron Age Pottery in the Transjordanian Area – Typology and Chronology, which he considered of no importance. Yet, this grounding in the Old Testament proved invaluable for his teaching of biblical archaeology and geography at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem and at the Pontificio Istituto Biblico of Rome, in reorganizing the Archaeological Museum of the Flagellation,10 and not least in identifying in 1994 Umm al-Rasas as Kastron Mephaath (Fig. 20) of Joshua 13, 18 and 21, 37,11 and in publishing in 1997, with his younger colleague, Fr Eugenio Alliata, ofm, the Madaba Mosaic Map (Fig. 21) on the centenary of its discovery, with a scrupulously-researched topographic onomastikon which puts St Jerome to shame.12 During his student years, fascinated by the Franciscan artist Fr Alberto Farina, ofm, whom he watched restoring and decorating St Jerome’s Cave in Bethlehem between 1962 and 1964, the young Piccirillo had fallen in love with art.13 His mission to restore in the Summer of 1973 the mosaic pavements of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, the town of Nebo, at the order of the Custos of the Holy Land advised by Fr Bellarmino Bagatti, ofm (who had recognized in “Picci” as he had nicknamed him, a vital need for space and freedom of action), brought him face to face, at his feet (Fig. 22), with the tessellated art that glowed on the arcated walls and apses of Sta Maria Maggiore in Rome and San Vitale in Ravenna (Fig. 23) – mosaics, moreover, which matched his dynamism and exuberance. Fr Virgilio Corbo, ofm, under whose archaeological responsibility had been On this triad, the basis of Franciscanism, see Vauchez 2009: 55. On the flight into the desert of the first Christian hermits, see Guillaumont 1979b; and Regnault 1990: 21-23. 9 A. Vauchez notes: “François ne fuit pas le monde; il va au contraire s’y plonger pour le conquérir, à la suite de son seigneur, et réintroduire dans la société les pauvres et tous ceux que le pouvoir et l’argent en ont exclus” (Vauchez 2009: 66). 10 See infra, E. Alliata, “The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum”. 11 Piccirillo 1994b: 40-41; Nicacci 1994. 12 Alliata 1999. 13 See Piccirillo 2006b. 7 8

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placed the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo and the churches of Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (which had been excavated between 1933 and 1937 by Frs Mihaic, Saller and Bagatti, ofm),14 was busy running other excavation projects, and Piccirillo soon filled the vacuum on Mount Nebo. His uncovering in 1976 of a baptistery-diakonikon (Fig. 24), 1 m below the surface of the northern aisle of the Memorial Church of Moses on Mount Nebo,15 propelled him into field archaeology, mosaic studies and restoration, as well as Greek epigraphy, all disciplines which he taught himself to the highest standard. Similarly to the shedding one by one of the accumulated layers of passions and “evil thoughts” that clutter and stifle our souls according to the scheme elaborated by Evagrius Ponticus († 390) in order to ascend the Spiritual Ladder of John Climacus († 650-680) leading the early monks of the Near Eastern deserts from earthly concerns to holy realities,16 the lifting of mosaic pavements bared each pavement, like the soul, down to its bedding and its most basic constituents. With it came the realization of the fragility of mosaics as well as of the soul, and the necessity to preserve them both. In the years immediately following his “call”, in 1207-1208, St Francis had worked, restoring with his own hands churches in the countryside of Assisi which had fallen into neglect and been abandoned.17 For to Francis, a church as a building was preeminently a place for praying, meeting God and penetrating the significance of the mysteries of Salvation, of the Incarnation and the Passion of Christ. Likewise, from the very beginning of his archaeological career, in the early 1970s when restoration was but rarely taken into account in excavation budgets, Fr Michele was concerned with conserving the mosaics which he uncovered (Figs 25 and 26). To St Francis’ Prayer Before the Crucifix of the Church of St Damian in Assisi in the autumn of 1205: “Most High, glorious God, / enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me / true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, / sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out / Your holy and true command. Amen”, had Christ not answered: “Francis, go and repair my House which, as you see, is falling into ruins!”? – which Francis interpreted at first as an invitation to restore the church where he was praying.18 Preservation and restoration ultimately led Saller 1941; Saller and Bagatti 1949. On the mosaic of the baptistery-diakonikon, dated August 530, work of the mosaicists Soel, Kaium and Elias, see Piccirillo 1998d: 273-287. 16 Evagrius, Praktikos, PG 40: 1219-1264 (Guillaumont 1971 ed.). See also Grün 1990: 14-32. For a comparison between the eight passions or “evil thoughts” in Evagrius’ works and the fourteen passions in John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent (Scala Paradisi, PG 88: 632-1161), see Chryssavgis 2004: 183-193. At the summit of the Ladder abide three virtues, “faith, hope and charity…; and the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13, 13). Quotes from the Old and New Testaments are throughout from the Holy Bible, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. New Revised Standard Version. Anglicized Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1977. �� See Vauchez 1999: 129. 18 Oratio ante crucifixum dicta (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 334-335; Bernard-Marie 2010 trad.: 33-34; http://www. shrines.org/prayers.htm). Christ’s answer is quoted by Thomas of Celano 14 15

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

Fr Piccirillo to found the Madaba Mosaic School in 1992,19 followed by the establishment of the Jericho Workshop for Mosaic Restoration.20

and for the “cosmic” mosaics which he uncovered. Our heads reel from the annual list of his incessant travels and unremitting activity, true to St Francis’ recommendation in his September 1226 Testamentum: “And I worked with my hands; and I firmly want that all other brothers undertake honest work”.23 The seemingly infinite variety of geometric motifs is source of perpetual movement (Fig. 27). Even inanimate objects have been “captured” by the mosaicist as though poised for action. In the westernmost panel of the nave of the early VIIth-century Theotokos Chapel in the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, the vintager’s bill-hook is ready to detach a bunch of grapes from the vine plant, and a knife touches a quince, soon to cut into its flesh (Fig. 28).24 The VIth-century vine and acanthus “inhabited scrolls” (Figs 29 and 48) that carpet the floors of Fr Piccirillo’s churches - as well as those of numerous churches and chapels in Palestine (Fig. 33), such as the mid-VIth century Armenian Mosaic in Jerusalem (Fig. 30)25 and the Hammam Baisan pavement (Figs 31, 32 and 34)26 – resound with the songs of the vintagers, treaders (Fig. 54) and harvesters, and the shouts of the hunters, as described in Isaiah 16, 10. The whole countryside is in motion. Within the demands of motifs having to face the right way for those entering and moving around the church building, the direction in which animals and human figures look, face and advance (Fig. 35), frequently forming self-contained units (a grape-harvester leading his donkey towards a winepress or a hunter spearing a bear or lioness) is confusingly multitudinous (Figs 36 and 37). The rhythmic succession of isolated figures and groups of scenes, when viewed horizontally, vertically or diagonally across the floor, is usually irregular.27 An exception to this apparently totally random placing of figures is to be found at Madaba in the nave of the Church of the Holy Apostles dated to 578-579, whose inhabited acanthus scroll border is punctuated not only by the traditional heads representing the Seasons in each corner of the border, but also by depictions of a child in the middle of each side, standing holding a staff in his left hand (Fig. 38), or in his right hand over his shoulder whilst his left hand cups a parrot, or being pulled on a cart by two pheasants (Fig. 39),28 Salamanios the mosaicist allowing his imagination to play under the inspiration of the Apocryphal Infancy Gospels.29

Meanwhile, the hard, calcareous soil of hilly Moab (Figs 154 and 155) and the border between the desert and the sown (Fig. 131) were yielding to his spade, as hermitage after church emerged from oblivion, endowed with dated mosaics which proved that monasticism and secular Christianity were still vibrant in the Jund of Urdun under Umayyad rule. So “green” were his fingers, and blessed his touriah, the curved spade of the Near Eastern fallah, that the dunums of mosaics which he unearthed and presented with uninimitable enthusiasm and without any competitive ulterior motive at each conference of the Association Internationale pour l’Etude de la Mosaïque Antique (AIEMA), excited awe, but also envy from colleagues whose tessellated pavements painfully sucked dry by laborious codification and analysis, appeared negligible in comparison. But the tenacious work leading to these rich discoveries had to be fitted into the Summer months of a punishing regimen which ultimately took its toll on his health. Teaching at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and at the Pontificio Istituto Biblico, guiding excursions for their students in Sinai and Jordan, preparing lectures for international conferences and mosaic workshops, publishing as soon and as fully as possible after unearthing, travelling worldwide to lecture, and tirelessly organizing in Italy, Austria, Monaco, Germany, France, Denmark, Iceland and Britain, exhibitions often associated with international conferences, or workshops to which his very name, warm personality, soft sense of humour, and enthusiasm, coupled with the beauty stamped with faith of the sites he showed on slides, drew fascinated crowds of academics rubbing shoulders with housewives, formed the pattern of a semi-peripatetic existence reminiscent of the mode of life of St Francis of Assisi (Fig. 18) and his first Penitent companions, characterized by periods of prayer and meditation in hermitages alternating with campaigns of itinerant predication in cities and villages.21 Had Jesus not ceaselessly criss-crossed Galilee, preaching and healing? The phrase “A cloister on the scale of the world” which the French bishop and XIIIth-century chronicler Jacques de Vitry (1160/70-1240) coined for the Friars Minors with whom he had come into sympathetic contact in Milan,22 is fitting for Piccirillo’s embracing of the universe

the splendid panorama whilst saying, ‘Madame, this is our cloister’” (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds/trad.). 23 Testamentum Sancti Franciscani 20 (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 206-207; Masseron 2006 trad.: 118-119). St Francis’ perspective was that “with one’s hands” meant not only fleeing from idleness, enemy of the soul, but especially earning one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow and partaking of the condition of the great majority of the men of his time – the workers -, since noblemen and clerics were dispensed of this obligation (Vauchez 1999: 175). 24 Piccirillo 1998d: 300-303. 25 On the Armenian Mosaic in Jerusalem, see Avi-Yonah 1932: 171-172. 26 On the Hammam Beisan pavement, see Avi-Yonah 1935; Dauphin 1999, III, Carte de Bet She’an, 782, No. 6/52. 27 Dauphin 1980: 128-131; and 1997: 10-12. 28 See Lux 1968; Piccirillo 1989a: 99-102; and 2002b: 164. 29 See notably, Micha 1993: Protoevangelium of James (ca ad 175),

in his Second Life of St Francis: 10 (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds/trad.). 19 On the Madaba Mosaic School, see infra Catreena Hamarneh, “The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project”. �� On the Jericho Workshop for Mosaic restoration, see infra, Osama Hamdan and Carla Benelli, “The Renewal of Mosaic Art in the Palestinian Occupied Territory”. 21 Vauchez 2009: 81 and 103. 22 Jacques de Vitry, Histoire occidentale (Duchet-Suchaux, Longère 1997 éds/trad.: 200). Vauchez (1999: 436) parallels this phrase with an allegorical work in prose written perhaps in 1227, a year after St Francis’ death, by John of Parma, the Sacrum commercium Sancti Francisci cum domina Paupertate (The Sacred Bond of St Francis with Lady Poverty) 63, where, “Lady Poverty” having asked the Friars Minors to show her their cloister, “they led her then onto the hill and made her admire

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The perpetual motion inherent in the four geometric motifs at each cormer of the baptismal font (Fig. 40) of the baptistery-diakonikon of the Memorial of Moses (ad 530), is centrally annulled by a fixed point, circle, or, in the case of an eight-strand interlace, by a bunch of grapes (Fig.  41), symbol of the Eucharistic sacrifice,30 and by a minute circle at the heart of a clock-like mechanism of interlocking circles and rectangles in the central room of the Hegumen Procapis’ hermitage dated to the end of the Vth century or the first decades of the VIth century31. Similarly, the multi-directional movement, nay agitation, of the “inhabited scrolls”, is neutralized by central focalization and a vertical axis, in the VIth-century Upper Chapel of the Priest John,32 the Church of SS Lot and Procopius33 and the Church of St George34 at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat. On the carpet mosaic of the Lower Chapel of the Priest John (late Vth-early VIth century), although the anthitetism of beasts on either side of a central axis, is not entirely respected, centrality and immobility are emphasized by an inscription in a vine medallion mentioning the Priest John in the easternmost row of scrolls, which counteracts the amphora at the western end of the carpet.35 Likewise, on the upper mid-VIth century pavement, the focus is laid on the richly-dressed female figure of Gê, the Earth, holding various fruit in her veil, and flanked on either side by a youth bearing a basket of fruit (Fig. 49).36 In the nave of the Church of St George (535-536), the central accent is provided by the same design of Gê and two karpophoroi,37 and increased by a cruciform screw-press between two treaders.38 In the Northern aisle accessed from the North through a door, a tree grows out of a chalice flanked by peacocks within an “inhabited vine scroll” (Fig. 94),39 whilst on the pavement of the Southern pastophorion, two deer affront symmetrically a central palm tree (Fig. 88).40 The mosaicist of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius disposed of an axial row, a cross-shaped screw press and two treaders providing a focal point, the real centre of the pavement being the point of intersection of four trees depicted diagonally on the westernmost mosaic carpet and forming a cross (Fig. 61).41 On the apse mosaic of the Pseudo-Thomas (already mentioned in the IInd century), Pseudo Matthew (late VIth- early VIIth century), the Infancy Gospel in Arabic based on a Vth-century Syriac source, and the Infancy Gospel in Armenian translated from the Syriac in the VIth century. See also Cothenet, Pellistrandi 2009. 30 Piccirillo 1998d: 274-275. 31 Piccirillo 1998d: 308-309. 32 Piccirillo 1998d: 351-355. 33 Piccirillo 1998d: 344-347. 34 Piccirillo 1998d: 320-327. 35 Piccirillo 1989c: 194-197. 36 Piccirillo 1998d: 353 fig. 209, and 354 figs 211-213. In the photograph of our Fig. 42, roles are inverted, a beduin woman from Khirbat alMukhayyat offering in 1973 the flowers of the Holy land to the young Michele Piccirillo. 37 Piccirillo 1998d: 328 figs 137-140. �� Piccirillo 1998d: 328, fig. 144. 39 Piccirillo 1998d: 321-322 fig. 118. 40 Piccirillo 1998d: 327 fig. 136. 41 Piccirillo 1998d: 345 and 347.

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VIth-century Church of Elias, Mary and Soreg at Jarash, focalization and verticality are fully at play, the manifest centrality of the palm tree being enhanced by horizontal and vertical constructional lines.42 A similar group of mosaics in Gaza and in its artistic hinterland, including those of the Shellal Church (ad 561-562) and the Maon-Nirim synagogue (dated to the second half of the Vth century, but not later than 538) and the synagogue at Maiumas Gazae (dated by an inscription to July-August 509) (Fig. 33), was provided not with a focal motif, but with an axial row filled mainly with objects such as baskets or vases flanked by antithetical pairs of symmetrically placed beasts.43 Thus, a vertical central axis resolved a series of dynamic horizontal accents in contrary motion.44 The mosaic pavement of the Chapel of the monastery of the Theotokos near the spring of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, south of Mount Nebo, dated to 762, represents the last stage in the development of the pattern.45 Although the axial row is filled with baskets and open bowls of fruit, the vine scroll issues curiously from two fruit-trees, one in the north-eastern and the other in the south-eastern angle of the floor, flanking a large medallion enclosing a Greek inscription (Fig. 43). Furthermore, the axial row is dominated by a haloed phoenix (Fig. 44), symbol of the Resurrection (Fig. 45).46 Such a resolution of contrary motion in a fixed point, the Eucharist (symbolized by a chalice filled with the divine graces of eternal life and spirit), the Cross (a palm tree), or the Resurrection (a phoenix), Fr Piccirillo himself found in the regular and assiduous recitation of the canonical hours, from lauds and Matins at daybreak to Vespers at dusk (how often when visiting him at the Flagellation Convent, did we break off our discussions over coffee brewed in his study in a caffeterria he had proudly brought back from Italy, when the bell chimed for Vespers?), and the daily celebration of mass, in faithfulness to the rule followed by the first companions of St Francis and to the latter’s devotion to the Eucharist,47 through which the link is established between the daily life of the Friars Minors and their ideal of mutual charity and peace, an intractable notion in the the “Land of Milk and Honey”, whose buoyant fertility is reflected in the extensive iconographic répertoire of its mosaics. On the Church of Elias, Mary and Soreg at Jarash, see Saller, Bagatti 1949: 268-289, Pls 45-51. 43 On the Church at Shellal in the north-western Negev desert, see Trendall 1964, and Dauphin 1999, III, Carte de Beer Sheva, 958, N°. 14/30. On the Maon-Nirim synagogue in the hinterland of Gaza, see Avi-Yonah 1960 ed., and Dauphin 1999, III, Carte de Yammit, 952, N°. 13/26. On the synagogue at el-Mînâ (Maiumas Gazae), see Ovadiah 1981, and Dauphin 1999, III, Carte d’Ashqelon, 883, No. 10/317. 44 Dauphin 1980: 133; and 1997: 19-20. 45 Piccirillo 1998d: 359-364. 46 See Leclerq 1939: 682-691. On the myth of the phoenix, see van der Brock 1972. Parallels are afforded most notably by the late Vth-century Phoenix Mosaic from the House of the Phoenix uncovered in Daphne, a suburb of Antioch in antiquity, now in the Louvre, Paris (Lassus 1938; Baratte 1978: 92-98, Inv. No MA 3442), and the VIth-century funerary Phoenix mosaic in Urfa, ancient Edessa (Segal 1970: pl. 43). 47 Vauchez 2009: 115-116. 42

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

“A Land of Milk and Honey” (Deuteronomy 8, 7-9)

basket or directly off the vine (Fig. 50),57 a man carrying a basket of grapes on his back (Fig. 37),58 or leading a donkey or horse laden with baskets of grapes (Figs 36, 46, 50, 53 and 85),59 robust young men treading grapes in a vat to the rhythmic sound of a flute (Fig. 54),60 and a screw winepress on a platform and a pit for collecting must.61

Viewing the mosaic pavements of Jordan through the prism of the “Justinianic Renaissance” (527-565) – the revival of Hellenistic genre scenes and a return to the Classical structuring of the floor surface endowed with a central focus, highly organized matrices of geometric motifs, and renewed harmony of proportions and relationships between figures,48 Fr Piccirillo divided the themes and motifs of “his” mosaics into various categories.49

Hunting scenes (which are frequently depicted next to agricultural scenes) are of two types:62 private hunts and venationes, the capture and transport of wild beasts for the amphitheatre games,63 whose most famous illustration adorns the mosaic floor of the late IIIrd century ad Villa del Casale near Piazza Armerina in Sicily. 64

Pastoral scenes: the shepherd accompanied by his dog watches over his flock, generally of sheep and goats.50 Sometimes the shepherd plays the flute (Figs 29 and 46). Agricultural work: a wheat and barley harvester with his sickle (Fig. 47),51 a fruit picker (Fig. 55),52 a peasant woman returning from the fields carrying on her shoulder a basket bulging with fruit (Fig. 49),53 a ploughman with his two yoked oxen, and a lad slinging wild boars (Fig. 49).54 Most frequently depicted are the vintaging and treading of grapes. The complete cycle comprises: vintagers plucking grapes with a pruning knife (Figs 50, 51 and 52),55 baskets of grapes (Figs 43 and 87),56 a fox guzzling grapes in a

Private hunts include: the young lord of an estate keeping his dog on a leash to sniff a hare, and on foot or horseback, piercing with his sword or spear, a lion, boar or bear.65 St Stephen (718-756), nave, central row of “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1994e: 133 fig. 21, Plan II). 57 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 330331, 333 fig. 154, 340, 341 fig. 187); and, Church of St George (ad 536), South intercolumniation, westernmost panel (Piccirillo 1998d: 320 fig. 116, 326 fig. 133). 58 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 347, 350 fig. 202; Piccirillo 2002b: 182). 59 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 347, 350 fig. 202; Piccirillo 2002b: 184-185); Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 330-331 figs 150-151, 333 fig. 154, 338 fig. 184; Church of St George (ad 536), nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 328 fig. 144); Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen (718-756), nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1994e: 146 fig. 37). 60 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 346-347 fig. 196); Church of St George (ad  536), nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 325-326, 328 fig. 143); Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen (718-756), nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1994e: 146 fig. 36). 61 Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587), “inhabited vine scrolls” in border of nave (Piccirillo 2002b: 240; Piccirillo, Alliata 2004 eds: Plan II). 62 On hunting scenes, see Lavin 1963. On the juxtaposition of hunting and pastoral scenes, see Parrish (2005), who compares the Great Palace Mosaic in Constantinople which he dates to the reign of Justinian (527565), to the VIth- century Mosaic of the Worcester Hunt from Antioch, and the mosaic pavement of old Baptistery-diakonikon in the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo (August 530). On the Great Palace Mosaic, see Brett, Martiny, Stevenson 1947; Talbot Rice 1958; Jobst, Vetters 1992 eds; and, Jobst, Erdal, Gurtner 1997. On the Worcester Hunt Mosaic, see Levi 1947, I: 363-365, fig. 151; II: Pls LXXVI, XCa, CLXX-CLXXIII, CLXXVIb-CLXXVII; Lavin 1963: 187 and 272 fig. 2; Kondoleon 2000: 65-66 fig. 2, and 159 fig. 1. 63 On venationes, see Kyle 2001; Buchanan 2002. 64 On the Piazza Armerina Villa, see Wilson 1983. �� Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo, mosaic of old Baptistery-diakonikon (August 530), central panel, third row from bottom: accompanied

Dauphin 1995a. Piccirillo 1989d. 50 Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo, mosaic of the baptistery-diakonikon, ad 530 (Piccirillo 1998d: 276, 278 fig. 23). Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, nave, middle row of “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 330-333, 337 fig. 182, 338 fig. 183, 340). Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 346, 347 fig. 196; Piccirillo 2002b: 181). Madaba, Burnt Palace, VIth century, mosaic-paved hall, “inhabited acanthus scroll” central field, topmost row of scrolls (Piccirillo 1989c: 121 and 123). 51 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, ad 536, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 326, 329 fig. 147). 52 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 330, 339 fig. 185, 341). 53 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Upper Chapel of the Priest John, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 351, 352 fig. 205, 355 fig. 215; Piccirilo 2002b: 177). 54 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Upper Chapel of the Priest John, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 352 fig. 205, 355 fig. 219; Piccirillo 2002b: 177). 55 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat: Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 346, 347 fig. 196), and Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vthearly VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 311 fig. 95, 314 fig. 103, 317 figs 108 and 109; Piccirillo 2002b: 179). ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of Kaianus, lower pavement, late Vth-early VIth century, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 314, 315 fig. 104, 317 figs 108109, 318). 56 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower Mosaic in the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth-early VIth century, in geometric border of nave mosaic (Piccirillo 1998d: 311, 312 fig. 96); Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587), nave, “inhabited vine scroll” border of nave (Piccirillo 2002b: 240); St Sergius complex, Nitl, South Church, VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls” (Piccirillo 2002b: 216-217); Umm al-Rasas, Church of 48 49

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Alternatively, a hunter with a pole attempts to frighten birds hiding in the leafage of a tree, a cage ready in anticipation to shut in the captured prey; or, surrounded by partridges, a cage, with its door open and a decoy inside. In the venationes, soldiers armed with a shield and sword or spear, on foot or horseback (and even on an elephant), tackle a lion, lioness, panther or bear (Figs 29, 50 and 55);66 hunters attempt at lassooing a bull;67 exotica such as an ostrich, zebra and camel are on parade (Fig. 24);68 wild animals are locked in combat; and a wild beast (lion or leopard) attacks a deer – a motif perpetuated in the Umayyad floors of the Palace of Caliph Yazid bin Abd al-Malik (720-724) and his son al-Walid (743-744) at Qastal, south-east of Amman,69 and in the Palace of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (691-743) in Jericho (Fig. 56).70 In marine scenes, men row in a fishing-boat and a boatman conveys amphorae on the Dead Sea, whilst fishermen angle or draw in fish (Fig. 57),71 fish swim against the current in the River Jordan (Fig. 21),72 swans glide amongst waterlilies (Fig. 57), and ducks, waders and sea-horses sniff at lotus flowers (Fig.92).73 In the Nilotic border of the nave by dogs, two hunters on horseback spear a bear and a boar (Piccirillo 1998d: 276, 278 fig. 23; 281 figs 29-30, 282 figs 31-32). Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, SS Lot and Procopius (mid-VIth century), nave, “inhabited vine scrolls”, two lowermost rows (Piccirillo 1998d: 346, 347 fig. 190). Madaba Cathedral, Chapel of the Martyr Theodore (ad 562), border of “inhabited acanthus scrolls” around nave: hunter on horseback with dog notching second arrow against lioness and cub (Piccirillo 1998d: 325 fig. 128, 326-327, 329 figs 145-146). 66 Madaba, Burnt Palace, VIth century, East Hall, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 2002b: 146). Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo, old Baptistery-diakonikon (August 530), central panel, uppermost row (Piccirillo 1998d: 276, 278 fig. 23, 279 figs 24-25, 280 figs 26-28). Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of VIth century, nave (Piccirillo 1998d: 330-331, 333 fig. 154, 337 figs 181-182, 338 fig. 183). Madaba, Hippolytus Hall, mid-VIth century, “inhabited acanthus scroll” border (Piccirillo 1989c: 52-53). Madaba, Church of el- Khadir, second half of VIth century, central nave, westernmost and central panels (Piccirillo 1989c: 109, 112-114). 67 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George (ad 536), central nave, “inhabited acanthus scroll” field, lowermost row (Piccirillo 1998d: 320 fig. 116, 321 fig. 117, 324 fig. 124, 327, 329 figs 148-149). 68 Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo, old Baptistery-diakonikon (August 530), central panel (Piccirillo 1998d: 276, 278 fig. 23, 284-287 figs 3440). Madaba, Church of Khader, second half of VIth century, westernmost panel (Piccirillo 1989c: 109, 112). ���������������������������� See Bisheh 2000 and 2005. 70 On Hisham’s Palace at Khirbat al-Minya, Jericho, see Hamilton and Grabar 1959; Hamilton 1969 and 1978. 71 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century, North intercolumniation (Piccirillo 1998d: 349 fig. 201, 350). Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius, ad 587, panel in South intercolumniation of nave (Piccirillo 1994e: 132 fig. 18). 72 Madaba Mosaic Map, mid-VIth century, Jordan Valley (Piccirillo, Alliata 1998 eds: Plate X; Alliata 1999: 51; Piccirillo, Alliata 1998 eds: Plate X, bottom). 73 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, South intercolumniation (Piccirillo 1998d: 348 figs 197-198, 350).

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mosaic in the Church of St Stephen at Umm al-Rasas (ad 718-756), against a maritime and fluvial landscape of cities, plants and beasts conjuring up the Nile Delta, naked, fishing putti wearing conical hats in the purest Hellenistic Alexandrian tradition, have a lot of fun on sailing boats, rowing, dragging in fishing nets and angling (Fig. 58). A putto, having jumped off a boat, holds round the neck a palmiped which he has captured.74 The Classical style is best represented by Personifications. Bejewelled and holding a great variety of fruit in her veil in the shape of a cornucopia (or horn of plenty), Gê, the Earth (Fig. 49),75 doubles up with Megalopsychia (“Greatness of Soul”, “Generosity”), a type well-known from the mosaics of Antioch.76 Thalassa (the Sea) fills the central medallion of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba (Fig. 59),77 and the Ocean is included in the inhabited acanthus scrolls of the nave mosaic of the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm alRasas.78 Together, they hark back to depictions of Thetis See Piccirillo 1994e: 142-143 figs 33-34. Similar hats (tholia) which protected from the sun, adorn the heads of statuettes of draped ladies, which were originally produced in Athens in the third quarter of the IVth century BC, exported and subsequently imitated in Tanagra in Beotia in the IVth-IIIrd centuries bc. They were very popular in Hellenistic Alexandria. See Tanagra: 176, No. 120; 194, 199, No. 133; 200, Fig. 50. For statuettes of men wearing a conical hat (petasios): 209, Nos 143 and 144. 75 For depictions of Gê, see Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Upper Chapel of the Priest John, mid-VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls”, third row from west, centre (Piccirillo 1989c: 190-192; Piccirillo 1998d: 352 fig. 205, 353 fig. 209, 354 figs 211-213; Piccirillo 2002b: 177). Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius, ad 587, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1998d: 129 fig. 13, 130 fig. 14). In Antioch, Gê was depicted on mosaics pavements in the House of Narcissus (Levi 1947, II: Pl. Xa), the House of Gê and the Seasons (Levi 1947, II: Pl. LXXXIb), the House of Aiôn (Levi 1947, II: Pl. LXXXIVd), and, the House of the Worcester Hunt (Levi 1947, II: Pl. XCd). In Apamea in Syria, in the House of Gê and the Seasons (Balty 1995: pl. XVI, 1). In Zeugma on the Euphrates, in the House of Poseidon, an oblong courtyard contained two impluvia paved with figurative mosaics depicting Gê, a river god (perhaps the Euphrates), and a spring nymph, dating to the Severan reconquest of Mesopotamia (Darmon 2005: 20). Also in Zeugma, in the House of the Euphrates, Gê was depicted in the IInd century ad on a mosaic paving the bottom of a shallow pool (Önal 2002: 44-45). 76 On the concept of Greatness of Soul, Generosity (Megalopsychia), see Downey 1945. In the centre of the Hunt Mosaic found in Yakto village near Harbiye (ancient Daphne), a suburb of Antioch, and dated to the Vth century, a woman personifying Megalopsychia in a medallion, is surrounded by hunting scenes involving the Greek heroes Adonis and Narcissus (Levi 1947, II: Pls LXXVII-LXXVIII). See also the drawing of the reconstructed floor, now in the Antakya Museum (Inv. No. 1016), based on Levi 1947, II, in Duval, Leyge 1989: 24. Megalopsychia was also depicted in the centre of the VIth-century Worcester Hunt Mosaic, now in the Worcester Art Museum, USA, but originally from the House of the Worcester Hunt in Antioch (Levi 1947 I: 364, II: Pl. CXLIV). 77 Thalassa: Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles (ad 578-579), nave (Piccirillo 1989d: 98, 104-105; Piccirillo 2002b: 165). 78 Abyssos: Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587), nave, 74

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

(Fig. 61).83 The scene is repeated in the Theotokos Chapel in the Memorial basilica on Mount Nebo (Figs 62, 67, 68 and 69),84 and in the Church on the Acropolis in Mai‘in.85 Within the larger design of four fruit-laden trees issuing diagonally from the four corners of the pavement, forming a cross, bulls, stags and hares are symmetrically placed on either side of a rocky mound, flowing waters, or flowers in the Church of SS Lot and Procopius (Fig. 61) and in the Church on the Ma‘in acropolis, an alternative being gazelles, deers and hares in the double Chapel of the Apostles in Madaba, whilst a bull confronts a lion on the mosaic pavement from the house of Farid al-Masri, now in the Madaba Archaeological Museum (Fig. 84).86 This constitutes an allegory of the Messianic advent of Peace heralded by the Prophets: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together” (Isaiah 65, 25).87 How were these various motifs and themes integrated into an overall design? What iconographic programme emerges from their conflation? What message was meant to be conveyed? “alla bellezza e alla molteplicità della creazione”, “The beauty and multiplicity of Creation” was Fr Piccirillo’s answer, given in his Madaba, le chiese e mosaici.88 In the same way that the Church Fathers emphasized that the first chapters of Genesis reveal the greatness and magnificence of God,89 a mosaic inscription in the Theotokos Chapel in the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo proclaims: “Christ our God, the creator and maker of all things” (Figs 62 and 67).90 The Greek inscription running round the medallion of Thalassa in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba begins with the acclamation: “O Lord who has made heaven and Earth” (Fig. 59),91 echoed six centuries later by St Francis’ Prayer in Praise of God (1224): “You are holy, Lord, the only God, and Your deeds are wonderful/ … You, Holy Father are King of Heaven and Earth”,92 his Exhortation to Praise

and Oceanus rising from the sea, surrounded by fish.79 The cyclical ticking of Time is expressed by the Four Seasons: busts of a curly-haired young man and three richly dressed young women (one of them wearing a turreted crown, usually the attribute of cities) in the Church of St George at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat; two leafy masks of chubby young men in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba; and an additional two masks of bearded old men in the Church of the Deacon Thomas at ‘Uyun Mousa (Fig. 60).80 The four rivers of Paradise (Fig. 80), the Euphrates, the Tigris, Geon and Phison, in the martyrion of St Theodore in Madaba (ad 562)81 recall the personifications of rivers inherited from Classical Antiquity, combined with Biblical reminiscences.82 Allegories were Christianized both indirectly by their use in a holy Christian edifice, and directly by an attached quote from the Old Testament. Psalm 51: 21 (“Then bulls will be offered on your altar”) is associated with the depiction of an altar flanked on either side by a bull, at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat in the Church of SS Lot and Procopius “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1994e: 126, 128, 131 fig. 16). 79 Notably at Zeugma, in the House of Poseidon, the Triumph of Poseidon decorated the impluvium of the central peristyle, IInd to mid-IIIrd century ad. Surrounded by dolphins, octopuses, eels, fish and shrimps, the archaic deities Oceanus and Thetis depicted as busts, rise from the primeval waters with serpents coiled round their shoulders. Above them, a robust and bearded Poseidon, holding a trident in his right hand, drives with his left hand a golden chariot drawn by a team of two grey sea-horses or hippocampi (Önal 2002: 35-36; Darmon 2005:1289-1290). On the mythological context of primeval waters, see Rudhardt 1971. Ocean and Thetis also graced one of the pavements of the House of Menander in the second half of the IIIrd century ad (Levi 1947, I: 198-216). The coupling of Ocean and Thetis may be paralleled with that of Neptune and Amphitrite, illustrated by the Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite from Constantine, in Algeria, dated to the first quarter of the IVth century, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris (Baratte 1978: 36-40). 80 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, 536, nave, two central squares in geometric border, Spring and Summer on east, Autumn and Winter on west (Piccirillo 1998d: 320 fig. 116, 323-324 figs 123-127, 325 figs 130-132). Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles, 578-579, nave, “inhabited acanthus scrolls” (Piccirillo 1994e: 97, 100-102). ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, nave, “inhabited acanthus scroll” border (Piccirillo 1998d: 331 fig. 151, 333 fig. 154, 336 figs 174-177; Piccirillo 2002b: 186-187). 81 Madaba, Chapel of the Martyr Theodore (ad 562), central geometric carpet, in four octagons at four corners, four Rivers of Paradise (Genesis 2, 10-14) (Piccirillo 1989c: 26-27). Also in Madaba, Church of the Sunnâ’ family (Piccirillo 1989c: 115). Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos: the four Rivers of Paradise are depicted as small vases from which water flows, at the four corners of a square frame enclosing a medallion inscribed in Greek, dating the restoration of the mosaic to ad 762 (Piccirillo 1998d: 360 fig. 227, 363 fig. 232, 364 figs 233-236; Ognibene 1998: 377 fig. 7). 82 On the Rivers of Paradise, see Maguire 1999: 200-201, Pl. IV. On the Rivers of Paradise in the Church at Mukhaytim/Jabaliyah-Gaza, dated epigraphically to the early VIIIth century, see Humbert 1999: 216-218; and, Piccirillo 2007e: 180-182.

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, VIth century, nave, westernmost panel (Piccirillo 1998d: 345 fig. 192, 346; Di Segni 1998: 443-444, No. 43). 84 Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, Chapel of the Theotokos, apsed presbytery, early VIIth century (Piccirillo 1998d: 300, 301 fig. 74, 302 fig. 77; Piccirillo 2002b: 98-99; Di Segni 1998: 434-435, No. 15). 85 Ma‘in, Church on the Acropolis, late VIth-early VIIth century, restored 719-720 (Piccirillo 1989c: 229, 231). 86 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, VIth century, nave, westernmost panel (Piccirillo 1998d: 345 fig. 192, 346). Ma‘in, Church on the Acropolis: see supra, n. 85. Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles, double Northern chapels (Piccirillo 1989c: 97, 102-104). House of Farid al-Masri pavement, now in Madaba Archaeological Museum (Piccirillo 1989c: 132-133). 87 For similar pavements in Byzantine Asia Minor, see Gough 1958 and 1974; in Syria, see Balty 1976: 41-44. 88 Piccirillo 1989c: 338. 89 See Maguire 1987: Ch. III. 90 Di Segni 1998: 433-434, No. 14. 91 Noth 1968; Piccirillo 1998c: 105; and 2002b: 165. 92 Laudes Dei altissimi (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/ trad.: 338-339; Bernard-Marie 2010 trad.: 20). See also Robinson 1905, http://www.sacred-texts/com/chr/wosf/index.htm; and http://www.shrinesf.org/prayers.htm. ��

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God: “Praise Him, heaven and earth …/ All creatures, bless the Lord./ All the birds of the sky, praise the Lord …”,93 and subsequently his Canticle of Creatures (1225-1226): “Most high, all-powerful, all-good Lord,/ All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings./”.94 Agricultural work, pastoralism, hunting, fishing – all illustrate the Creation. Although Fr Piccirillo provided interpretations through a variety of ciphering grids for individual motifs and scenes, he refrained from proposing a reading of the iconographic programme as a whole, with its corresponding exegetical narrative. Why? Time was short, great expanses of mosaic pavements, once uncovered, had to be lifted, restored, protected, but above all, Piccirillo mistrusted “the verbose hotch-potch of ideas, stylistic embellishments, the display of knowledge and subtleties”, which St Francis attributed to intellectuals.95 The quest for wisdom and knowledge should not lead to allegorical or scholastic constructions per se. Thus, the glow of the Holy Land mosaics should not be dampened and tarnished by sterile talk. Moreover, Holy Scripture necessarily enrolled in such constructions should not serve academic “games”, but be implemented in the world through action. Hence, Piccirillo’s healthy skepticism in answer to the waves in April 2006 made by the disclosure of the Gnostic Gospel according to Judas Iscariot. He asserted emphatically that he was not a theologian, but an archaeologist (“I deal with what is buried in the earth”, he told Ha’aretz newspaper on 20th April 2006), but one who knew that the mosaics which he uncovered spelt the story of Man’s fall and Salvation. Bridging the gap between Theology and Archaeology at the University of Wales, Lampeter, and moreover, not being a Franciscan with self restraint, we will be bold enough to attempt, in memory of Fr Piccirillo, a reconstruction of the Christian salvation scheme as embodied by his mosaics, referring to his insights, but also innovating in introducing IVth-VIIIth century liturgical hymns as a “ciphering grid”. “A Garden locked” (Song of Songs 4, 12)

Moreover, no church or chapel contains the full iconographic programme corresponding to a complete liturgical cycle. For our purpose of reconstructing an entire programme, it is thus necessary to draw individual elements from numerous ecclesiastical buildings and reassemble them into an ideal church, whose closest illustration is perhaps the Church of St John the Baptist at Jarash (529-533).97 Its radiating plan made possible a harmonious composition, with Time at the centre and Earth surrounded by the Ocean on the periphery.98 The rectangular plan of most churches and chapels in the Holy Land forced mosaicists to scatter the various elements of the “narrative” across the building (but not necessarily randomly), thus disrupting a smooth sequence. In the Vth and VIth centuries which were crucial for the cristallisation of the liturgy, taking into consideration the focal character of Mount Nebo for pilgrims, the Christian story of Salvation may have unfolded in a stational liturgy which led the faithful on a circuit encompassing the territory of Madaba (Fig. 63).99 During Holy Week and at Pentecost in Jerusalem in the 380s, the liturgy, as described by Etheria, compelled the pilgrims and the locals to peregrinate on foot between the Golgotha, the Eleona, the Imbomon, the Lazarium, Sion and the Anastasis.100 In Haghia Sophia, the Imperial church in Constantinople, religious services were celebrated only on the great Christological feasts, at Easter, on the Transfiguration, the Triumph of the Cross, the Nativity and Epiphany.101 The memory of individual saints and martyrs was evoked in one of the other city churches, sometimes à modest building.102 Likewise, on 1st September, the anniversary of the death of St Symeon Stylites, crowds of villagers from the surrounding Dead Cities and pilgrims converged on his sanctuary at Qala‘at Sem‘ân in the hope of catching a glimpse of his white bearded silhouette levitating in the upper parts of his cruciform martyrion.103 On 7th October, the anniversary of the martyrdom of SS Sergius and Bacchus, crowds, notably the Christianized Beduin tribe of Ghassanids,104 See Crowfoot 1931: 20-23; Kraeling 1938 ed.: 243-244; Crowfoot 1971: 96-98. 98 See Biebel 1938: 324-329; Grabar 1962: 142. 99 The idea of a stational liturgy organised “topographically” on a large scale, was first put forward by P. Donceel-Voûte (1988: 539, n. 170). Its possible application to Madaba and its region is an offshoot of the present study. Further research will be conducted by us in order to substantiate in detail our claim. ��� Itin. Eg. II, 29-49 (Pétré 1948 éd./trad.: 216-267). 101 See Mainstone 1988: 219-235 on imperial participation in the liturgy in Haghia Sophia, as described in the Typikon of the Great Church (Mateos 1962-1963 ed.). Donceel-Voûte (1988: 539) points out that, although the Typikon dates to the Xth century, the phenomenon of a stational liturgy involving a number of churches and chapels within a city, is more ancient. 102 See Baldovin 1981 and 1987. 103 On the sanctuary at Qala‘at Sem‘ân erected in the Vth century, see Tchalenko 1953-1958, I: 223-276; II: Pls L, 1; LXXI; LXXII; LXXVII – LXXXIV, 1-2; CLXXX – CLXXXIII; and Donceel-Voûte 1988: 225240. On pilgrimage to Qala‘at Sem‘ân, see Peña 2000: 94-101. 104 The Ghassanids were nomadic Arab tribesmen who had been converted in the Vth century to Monophysite Christianity by itinerant 97

It does not diminish in any way the value of Piccirillo’s mosaics, nor of him as their discoverer, to remember that Byzantine mosaicists lifted designs from patternbooks, modifying or creating new elements according to their observations from nature.96 Depictions of rural life were not meant to copy slavishly the physical reality of the Byzantine chora (or countryside), even if they often coincided with it. They had to fit into a much greater Christian narrative. Exhortation ad Laudem Dei (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 332-333). 94 Canticum Fratris Solis vel Laudes Creaturarum (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 342-345; Masseron 2006 trad.: 255; Bernard-Marie 2010 trad.: 37-38). 95 Thomas of Celano, Second Life of St Francis, or Memorial (12461247): 189 (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds/trad.: 500). On Thomas of Celano and his works, see Vauchez 2009: 229-231. 96 See notably Dauphin 1978a. 93

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filled all the nooks and crannies of the churches of RusafaSergiopolis.105 The choice of a particular church was dictated by the possession of a saint’s relic, a link – however tenuous – with him/her, or simply the consecration of that church to that saint. The stational liturgy of the patriarchal cities of Jerusalem, Constantinople and Antioch was thus applied to a wider landscape and transformed into a spatial cycle. On her original pilgrimage to the Holy Land, after which she founded in 374 a convent of 50 virgins on Mount of Olives, Melania the Elder, a pious lady of the Roman senatorial aristocracy, traveled from one martyrion to another, organizing herself so as to celebrate the anniversary of this or that saint in one of these martyria.106 The best explanation for the multiplicity of churches in the small towns and villages of the Near East (let alone the episcopal cities), as in the Madaba region, is an organized mobile cult distributed across a series of churches. Such a cult involved pomp.107 The faithful gathered in the porticoes or western courtyard of the church or chapel before falling into step with the ecclesiastical procession led by the local bishop (so often mentioned as an eponym, or dating marker, in the Greek inscriptions of Jordan), which followed a particular route according to the church’s configuration, but always involved relics. Although Etheria describes the queuing to kiss the True Cross in the Holy Sepulchre (including an eager pilgrim biting off a fragment of the wood and making off with it in his teeth),108 relics may also have been carried in procession (Fig. 65), as in the “Pardons” (penitential gatherings between May

and September connected with the hope of a miraculous cure and indulgences for a better afterlife) of our ancestral Brittany (Fig. 66).109 Much incense, candles and chanting presided over these ceremonies. In Jerusalem, the Psalms in the Septuagint formed the basis for the development of Christian liturgical poetry. Fragments of Early Christian antiphonal psalms with refrains (troparia in Greek)110 remain embedded in the Vth-VIIIth century Georgian Lectionary of Jerusalem.111 Meanwhile, in Nisibis and subsequently in Edessa in Mesopotamia, Ephrem the Syrian (ca 306-373) was composing cycles of hymns (mâdrâshe in Syriac), which were sung by female choirs to the plucking of a harp.112 At the time the mosaics unearthed by Fr Piccirillo were laid, Jordan belonged in parts to Provincia Palaestina and in others to Provincia Arabia, later constituting the Jund of Urdun after the Moslem Conquest of 636. By its geographical position, it was open to direct influences from Mesopotamia: the parrots repeated two by two ad infinitum in the nave of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba (Fig. 59) recall vividly the beribonned parrots of Sassanian Persia (Fig. 64). 113 On “pardons” and pilgrimages in Brittany, see notably Ganachaud 1995: 6-8. The first “peasant painter” to have been elected a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1886, Jules Breton (1825-1906) excelled in depicting the rural life and religious ceremonies of his native Artois in Northern France (Bourrut Lacouture 2002: 79-135). From his first visit to Douarnenez in Brittany in 1865, he was struck by the devout nature of the Bretons, combined with the superstitious aspect of their faith expressed in the “pardons” whose spirit he attempted to convey (Bourrut Lacouture 2002: 154-173). 110 A troparion is a short hymn of one verse or one of a series of verses in Byzantine music, in the Orthodox Church and in other Eastern Churches. The first troparia whose author is known, but which have not been preserved, were written by the monk Auxentios in the first half of the Vth century (see art. “troparion”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, http://www. britannica.com/eb/article-9073497/troparion). 111 On the Georgian Lectionary of Jerusalem, see Tarchnischvili 1959a éd., 1959b éd., 1960a éd., 1960b éd. See also, Renoux 2000. 112 On Ephrem the Syrian’s life, work, importance for Christian History and Theology, and for an English translation of his Hymns On the Nativity, Against Julian, and On Virginity, see McVey 1989 ed./transl. 113 Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles (578-579), nave, semis of beribonned parrots as background to the Thalassa medallion (Piccirillo 1989c: 98, 104-105, and 2002b: 165). Parrots with a ribbon (pativ) tied round their necks - sign of royalty in Sassanian Persia - were a popular motif in mosaic art in the Vth and VIth centuries: at Antioch in the border of the Dumbarton Oaks Hunt Mosaic (Levi 1947 I: 358-359, II: Pl. CXXXVIId), and on a mosaic pavement in the House of Ktisis (Levi 1947, I: 357-358; II: Pls LXXXVb and CXXXVIIc). For an early VIthcentury semis of beribonned parrots from Daphne, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris, see Baratte 1978: 123-124. The “beribonned parrots” in the border of double meanders and squares enclosing the nave of the church at Horvat Berachot (Kh. Bureikut) in Judaea, have been identified as hunter’s falcons (Tsafrir and Hirschfeld 1979; Tsafrir and Hirschfeld 1993: 211-212). Beribonned parrots or falcons were also depicted on the mosaic pavement of the church at Khirbet Umm Jarrar (Drake 1918), in private housing in Baisan-Bet She’an (Fitzgerald 1931: Pl. 5; Zori 1966: 109

monks. They had moved from the Yemen, their original homeland, to the lush pasturelands of Syria (Nöldeke 1887; Aigrain 1914), and thus into the orbit of Byzantine administration, of which, by the late Vth century, they had become mercenaries, protecting the eastern border (limes) of the empire against the incursions of the Nestorian Lakhmid tribes, vassals of the Sassanian Persian foe (Devreesse 1942). In 529, Emperor Justinian conferred upon the founder of the Ghassanid dynasty, al-Hârith bin Jabala, the titles of phylarchos and patrikios, thus giving him preminence over all the tribes of Provincia Arabia and of Phoenicia Libanensis, as well as over those of the Three Palestines (see Sartre 1982, with numerous bibliographical references). 105 The nomadic nature of the tribes implied an itinerant cult in the desert as in the pasturelands. Its liturgy was codified by the Canonical Resolutions of John of Tella in the Vth century and those of John of Edessa in 648 (Charles 1936: 100). It focused on pilgrimage centres, such as Rusafa-Sergiopolis on the Euphrates, site of the martyrdom of St Sergius (Sauvaget 1939). On Rusafa, see Key Fowden 1999: 60-92. On pilgrimage at the shrine of St Sergius at Rusafa, “la Mecque des arabes chrétiens” (Peña 2000: 102-107), see Key Fowden 1999: 92-100; and, Peña 2000: 102-107. On another important Ghassanid pilgrimage centre at the martyrion of St John the Baptist at Er-Ramthaniyye in Gaulanitis, see Dauphin 1995b; and Dauphin, Brock, Gregg, Beeston 1996: 324-328, 335-339. 106 On Melania the Elder’s travels from one martyrium to the next shrine, Vita Melaniae 50-56 (Gorce 1969 éd./trad.: 224-239); and, Murphy 1947. On her aristocratic background and her foundation of a monastery on the Mount of Olives, see Hunt 1982: 160, 168-171. 107 The importance of processions is inherent in the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostoms (ca 349-407). See Goar 1730 ed. Also Guinot 2008. 108 tin. Eg. II, 37: 2 (Pétré 1948 éd./trad.: 234-235).

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Ephrem’s Fifteen Hymns on Paradise, composed before the Council of Constantinople of 381, will guide us as we enter the “ideal” church.114 From the first stanza of his First Hymn, Ephrem betrays the influence of the Pentateuch, the “bridge and gate of Paradise”,115 seen through the prism of New Testament doctrine: “Moses who to all/ Teaches his heavenly book,/ The Master of the Hebrews/ Taught us his lessons,/ The Torah./ Treasure of revelations,/ where to us unveiled is/ the history of the garden”.116 Likewise in the Theotokos Chapel in the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, the Temple of Jerusalem flanked on either side by a bull and a gazelle, together with a quotation from Ps 51: 21, “Then will be offered bulls on your altar”, illustrates Old Testament sacrifice (Figs 62 and 67).117 The same quotation is repeated under two bulls flanking a burning altar on the westernmost carpet in the nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat – animal sacrifice to propitiate Yahweh (Fig. 61) prefiguring as an inverted mirror-image Christ’s sacrifice to save Mankind.118 Ephrem’s Paradise was not only Eden, lost through Adam and Eve’s sin, but also at the other end of Time, Paradise to come after death. In the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, past and present are mixed. The initial Edenic peace enjoyed by a hare on either side of a small mountain,119 deer drinking from a spring120 - an iconographic theme obviously based on Ps 42: 1 (“As a deer longs for flowing streams,/ so my soul longs for you, o God”, Fig. 70) -, and the altar-and-bulls composition, may also be interpreted as Paradise redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ: the rocky mound with a cleft being the rock-cut cave where Jesus was born, compounded by the rock of Calvary, four trees heavily laden with fruit set diagonally across the floor, thus forming a cross and filling nearly the entire space, whilst the wealth of fruit and the spring refer both to the fertility of Paradise and the Spiritual Life given by the Cross.121 The same composition of trees forming a great cross was also used on the central carpet of the Northern Chapel abutting onto the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba, the animals being depicted two by two across a rose-bush and on either side of a hillock, being solely gazelles.122 According to the Old Testament Apocrypha, this Garden, the “paradise of delight”,123 will be accessible to mankind only after the Last Judgment. The Messiah will open it for those who led a pure life and will allow them to partake of 130, fig. 4), and in Tiberias (Israel Ancient Mosaics 1960: Pl. XXI). On the apotropaic role of beribonned birds, see Loos-Dietz 1988. 114 Ephrem, Hymnes Paradisi, Beck 1957a ed. and 1957b ed./transl.; Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.; Brock 1990 ed./transl. 115 Hymn V, 5: 1-2 (Lavenant 1968 ed./trad.: 73). 116 Ephrem, Hymn I, 1: 1-8 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 35). 117 See supra, n. 84. 118 See supra, n. 86. 119 Ephrem, Hymn I, 5 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 37). 120 Ephrem, Hymn II, 8 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 48); Hymn XI, 11 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 149-150). 121 On this composition in the Church of SS Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, see supra, n. 86. 122 See supra, n. 86. 123 2 Esdras 7, 36; 7, 123; and 8, 52.

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the fruits of the Tree of Life. There, will gather the souls of the righteous, the Ten Tribes of Israel, the prophets Henoch and Elijah, and Christ’s precursors, in the expectation of the end of the world. The pulp of the fruits of the Tree of Life gives and maintains life; the other trees of this Edenic Garden also never dessicate or die.124 According to Lactantius, in order to prevent Man from attempting to penetrate into this Garden, before it was opened, a hedge or barrier was erected,125 an enclosure of fire.126 Its enforcement compelled Satan, the serpent, to hoodwink Eve into leaving the enclosure and joining him outside in order to be flattered and led astray. The very term paradiso or paradeiso in Old Persian, derived from Pairi daiza, means enclosed garden.127 The enclosure, which, according to Ephrem, contained a treasure - Good far surpassing all the treasures of the world128 - was materialized on the mosaic pavements by one or several heavily ornate borders consisting of a double or treble row of fillets, themselves framing a two, three or fourplaited guilloche or meandering ribbon, literally roping off the large carpets from the side-aisles (Figs 24, 29, 43, 48, 61 and 62).129 These heavy borders surrounding each carpet are part of the rigid structuring of the Garden of Paradise, the division of the mosaic pavements into a series of strictly defined carpets and panels reflecting the inner construction of Paradise with two sections, a lower/outer section called the “outer Tabernacle”130 and an “inner Tabernacle”,131 the “hedge” constituting a third section.132 Paradise is dominated by the Divine Presence, the shekinah,133 a Trinitarian Divinity acclaimed by voices singing the Trisagion: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;/ the whole earth is full of his glory”,134 illustrated by the westernmost carpet in the Northern Chapel of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Madaba, where three trees are depicted (a central tree flanked by two sheep with a tree behind each), a gazelle to the north and to the south closing the composition.135 This would support the hypothesis put forward by Millard (1984) that the Garden of Eden was not a “geographical place”, but rather represents “cultural memory” of “simpler times”, when man lived off God’s bounty, as opposed to toiling the soil. 125 Ephrem, Hymns IV, 6: 4 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 66); V, 15: 3-5 (Lavenant 196 éd./trad.: 77). 126 Lactantius, Epitome Divinarum Institutionum XXVII: “ipsumque paradisum vallo igneo circumfedit” (PL 6: col. 1034). 127 Describing the large park full of wild beasts and through which flowed the river Maeander which the Persian King Cyrus owned together with a palace in the city of Celaenae in Phrygia, Xenophon uses the Old Persian term paradeiso for “park” (Anabasis I, 2; Brownson 1922 ed./transl). See also Delumeau 2002. 128 Ephrem, Hymn IV, 8: 2-4 and 9-10 (Lavenant 1968éd./trad.: 67-68). 129 See Loos-Dietz 1988: 146; and, Dauphin, 2011b: 138, n.7. 130 Ephrem, Hymn III, 17: 6 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 60). 131 Ephrem, Hymn III, 6: 3 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 55); IV, 2: 3 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 64). 132 Ephrem, Hymn VII, 26: 6 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 107). 133 Ephrem, Hymn II, 11: 6 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 50). 134 Isaiah 6, 3. 135 See Piccirillo 1989c: 97, 103. 124

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

Trees, trees, trees

the orchard.145 Alternatively, the Elianus and Deacon Thomas pavements vividly illustrate the Roman marriage of vine with trees (vitis arbustiva), in particular fig and pomegranate trees.146 Vines were trained to grow up living trees, which were planted and specially pruned for that purpose. The tree gave complete protection against damage by frost – an advantage in the region of Mount Nebo (alt. 802 m) during severe winters. Vines trained in this manner produced high yields, but the wines were of inferior quality.147 A third possibility is the transposition in mosaic of the Roman practice of alternating crops in the same agricultural space. If the soil was rich, a cereal crop was planted between the rows of tree-supported vines or olive trees, as is still common practice in Italy in olive groves. Another combination was the mixture of olive trees scattered among vines trained on tiered frames, as depicted in the area surrounding the villa and outbuildings on the “Tabarka Mosaic” dated to the IVth century.148 In all three cases, an apple-tree cohabiting with vine bespeaks of temptation and sin (Eve’s apple) redeemed by Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice (grapes).

Those hospitable trees that offer fruit for food and drink,136 of what kind are they? Above all, fig trees137 in the outer section, the “hedge”, but also pomegranate, olive and datepalm, thus four of the Seven Species138 which were brought as the First Fruit offering to the Temple in Jerusalem,139 as well as pear and apple trees,140 in accordance with the Sanskrit root pardis for “orchard”, hence the Biblical Hebrew pardes (Figs 71-78).141 The apple trees, moreover, conjure up the immortality-giving golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, the three nymphs who tended the blissful grove belonging to Zeus’ wife Hera, located near the Atlas mountain at the edge of the encircling Oceanus.142 In Madaba, in the crypt (ad 597) of the Chapel of Elianus, a Diocletianic martyr, bunches of grapes grow under fruit trees (Fig. 78).143 Three possibilities may be envisaged for the coexistence of vine and fruit trees, as depicted in the crypt of the Chapel of Elianus, or in the nave of the Church of the Deacon Thomas in the ‘Uyun Mousa Valley in the shadow of Mount Nebo.144 Pears and apple trees were frequently planted along the boundaries of vineyards, notably in Central Italy in Columella’s time, and subsequently grafted or transplanted into

“I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees”.149 In describing the enclosed garden, the hortus conclusus, Song of Songs specifies that the water channel from the fountain sealed irrigates an “orchard of pomegranates / with all choices fruits / henna with nard, / nard and saffron, calamus and / cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, /myrrh and aloes,/ with all chief spices”.150 The Swedish biblical scholar Truggve Kronholm has focused his analysis of Ephrem’s Hymns on Paradise precisely on its trees.151 “Centrally-placed is the “blessed tree”, the Tree of Life, /with its rays, is the Sun of Paradise. / Its leaves are burnished, and in them are imprinted / the spiritual beauties of the Garden. / The (other) trees bend down through the winds, as to worship / before it, the Captain of the host, and the King of the trees”.152 It is inaccessible, hidden behind the Tree of

Ephrem, Hymn IX, 3-6 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 122-124). Ephrem, Hymns II, 7 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 47-48); XI, 8 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 148). 138 Deuteronomy 8, 8. On these four of the Seven Species, see Goor and Nurock 1968: 46-69 (fig), 70-88 (pomegranate), 89-120 (olive), and 121151 (date). 139 According to Deuteronomy 26, 2, the “first of all the fruit of the ground” were put into a basket and brought before the altar of Yahweh in the Temple of Jerusalem. Leviticus 23, 10-13 ruled that the first sheath of the wheat and barley harvest (‘omer) should be brought to the temple priest, together with a lamb a year old without blemish, two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine. On the ‘omer, see art. “omer” in Roth and Wigoder 1971-1972 eds, XII: 1382-1386. 140 On the apples and pears of the Holy Land, see Goor and Nurock 1968: 182-201 (apple), 202-227 (peach, apricot, plum and pear). 141 The biblical Hebrew pardes (orchard) is used in Song of Songs 4, 13 and Ecclesiastes 2, 5. The established Roman orchard (pomarium) contained fig, apple, pear and other fruit trees (notably cherry and peach trees), as well as nut-trees - pistachio and walnut trees (Columella, De Re Rustica V, 10, 2-4; Forster, Heffner 1968a eds/transl. See also White 1970: 247). The continued importance of arboriculture into the Byzantine period may be gauged from the observation that, exclusively of ornamental trees, it occupied 40% (as opposed to 25% for viticulture) of the Geoponika, a treatise originally compiled in the VIth or VIIth century ad by Cassianus Bassus, and revised ca ad 950 under the aegis of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (Beckh 1895 ed.; Dalby 2010 transl.). 142 On the Garden of the Hesperides, see Grimal 1996: 213. 143 Madaba, crypt of the Chapel of Elianus (ad 597): Piccirillo 1989c: 70-75; 2002b: 162. 144 On the crypt of the Chapel of Elianus in Madaba, see supra, n. 143. On the Church of the Deacon Thomas at ‘Uyun Mousa, dated to the first half of the VIth century, see Piccirillo 1998d: 339 fig. 185. 136 137

Columella, De Re Rustica III, 21, 11 (Ash 1941 ed./transl.). Columella,, De Re Rustica V, 6-7 (Forster, Heffner 1968a eds./transl.). 147 Columella, De Re Rustica III, 3, 2 (Ash 1941 ed./transl.). See also White 1970: 236; Balmelle and Brun 2005: 112-113. 148 On the “Tabarka Mosaic”, now in the National Bardo Museum, Tunis, see Maspéro 1890: 331. For a good colour reproduction of the “Tabarka Mosaic”, see Ben Jeddou 2008: 92 fig. 13 and front cover. On another mosaic pavement in the National Bardo Museum, dated to the late IVthearly Vth century, the “Mosaic of the Lord Julius”, in the lower register, the lord of the estate is seated in an orchard. In the right half of the pavement, a vintaging scene is depicted. A vineplant runs up a tree, and a servant carrying a basket on his back, presses grapes (see Yacoub 1995). 149 Ecclesiastes 2, 5. 150 Song of Songs 4, 13-14. In the Great Mosque in Damascus built in ad 705-715 by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walîd Ist, it is not a channel, but the River Barada flowing through Damascus that irrigates the orchards depicted on the wall mosaics (Fig. 79): see Grabar 1964; Gautier-Van Berchem 1969; Finster 1970-1971. 151 See Kronholm 1978. 152 Ephrem, Hymn III, 2: 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 53). 145 146

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Knowledge which is also “planted in the middle”,153 designated to fulfill the role, in the Paradise Tabernacle, of “hanging for the door of the sanctuary” which is drawn only to enable a view of the inner Garden,154 a symbolic “key of righteousness” opening towards repentance the eyes of the transgressors.155 The Rivers of Paradise From the centre of Paradise, also spring from a single source the pure waters of four rivers, Pishon, Gihon (the Nile), Tigris and Euphrates that bound the “walled garden” on the west, southwest, east and southeast.156 They are depicted as small vases from which issues flowing water, with their names in Greek attached, in the four angles between the central, inscribed medallion and the edges of the westernmost section of the nave of the Theotokos Chapel in the monastery of ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, restored in 762 (Fig. 80).157 By the VIIIth century, the rivers had been stripped of their human forms with which they had been endowed in the Chapel of the Martyr Theodore in Madaba of ad 562 (Fig. 82)158 and around the baptismal font of the vast ecclesiastical complex (ad 548-549) at Mukhaytim, just outside the Jabaliyah Palestinian refugee camp in Northern Gaza, excavated in 1976-1977 by the Department of Antiquites of the Palestinian Authority and the Ecole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, but studied and published by Fr Piccirillo.159 Likewise, two unnamed rivers in the Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587) at Umm al-Rasas and on the much-damaged pavement of a church uncovered in the Sunnâ‘ family home in Madaba (Fig. 81) were personifications, not still-lives.160 Man On the day that God made the earth and the heavens, he “formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and then man became a living being”.161 He then planted the Garden of Eden, and there he put man “to till it and keep it”.162 Owing to the 427 Edict of Emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian, quoted in the Code of Justinian, which prohibited on pain of death the depiction of crosses or any other holy images which could be desecrated by being stepped upon,163 Ephrem, Hymn XII, 15: 2 (Lavenant 1968 éd/trad.: 161). Ephrem, Hymn III, 5: 4 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 55). 155 Ephrem, Hymn III, 5: 5 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 55). 156 Ephrem, Hymn II, 8-9 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 48-49). 157 See supra, n. 81. 158 See supra, n. 81. 159 See supra, n. 82. 160 On the Church of the Sunnâ‘ family in Madaba, see supra, n. 81. On the two unnamed rivers in the “inhabited vine scroll” border of the nave of the Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587) at Umm al-Rasas, see Piccirillo, Alliata 1999 eds: 201, Plate IV. 161 Genesis 2, 4, 7-8. 162 Genesis 2, 15. 163 Codex Justinianus 1, 8, 1 (Krueger 1954 ed.: 61: “Nemini licere signum salvatoris Christi vel in silice vel in marmore aut sculpture aut 153 154

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neither the creation of Adam, nor the Fall was shown on mosaic pavements. The portrait of a young man, however, is at the centre of the cosmos, at the point of intersection of four trees forming a cross on a mosaic pavement uncovered in 1891 in a house in Madaba, now gracing its Archaeological Museum (Fig. 84).164 Such privilege accorded by the mosaicist was due to the fact that Adam was in the image of God, “the Planter” of the Garden of Delight,165 and had been created originally completely “pure”,166 “chaste” and “great”. The Creator had “elevated him above everything”,167 setting him up as “King” in the Paradise of perfect purity and chastity, whilst giving him the earth to rule over as “the habitation of the animals.168 Since Eden was Man’s domain, no animal could enter it, so that the beasts and birds in paradeisos mosaic carpets are merely embodiments of concepts (such as the hare representing lust) or illustrations of Scriptural verse. Live animals were thus relegated in the rural world to a separate carpet or panels. Creation The Present, the creation as it stands, is expressed by inhabited vine or acanthus scrolls (Fig. 85),169 or their geometric counterpart in the form of a grid filled with birds and fruit (Fig. 86),170 in the easternmost panel of the nave. The illiterate worshippers, a rural population, could identify themselves with the figures peopling the vine trellis or the acanthus network: farmers harvesting grain, vegetables, fruit; shepherds and their flocks; vintagers, hunters, and fishermen171 in the “land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey”.172 Man alone (and neither deities nor stars) is responsible for Evil in the world – hatred, lies and refusing to follow the concept of misericordia.173 In the battle between Good and Evil, symbolized by the venationes and hunters spearing wild beasts, Ephrem believed that man had the full capacity pingere”). See also, Mommsen, Meyer 1905. English translation by Mango 1972: 36. 164 On the mosaic pavement uncovered in the house of Farîd al-Masri in Madaba, see Piccirillo 1989c: 133. For a colour photograph, see Grabar 1966: 114 fig. 120. 165 Ephrem, Hymn VI, 5: 5 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 83). 166 Ephrem, Hymn IV, 4: 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 64). 167 Ephrem, Hymn XIII, 3: 6 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 168). 168 Ephrem, Hymn XIII, 3: 1-3 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 168). 169 On the “inhabited” or “peopled” vine and acanthus scroll, see notably Dauphin 1978a, 1978b, and 1987. 170 The grid composition (frequently consisting of rose buds) filled with birds and fruit was also very popular in the Byzantine Holy land in the late Vth and VIth centuries, although less so than the “inhabited scroll”. Notably, the Upper pavement of the Baptistery (ad 575-576) in the Basilica of Moses on Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 2002b: 153), and the westernmost panel of the nave of the mid-VIth century South Church of the ecclesiastical complex of

St Sergius at Nitl (Piccirillo 2002b: 153).

See Dauphin 1978b: 31-32. Deuteronomy 8, 8. 173 Ephrem, Hymn I, 15 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 41). 171 172

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

to overcome his bad instincts, if he thus wished.174 In our own lives, the artisans of liberation from Evil coalesce, forming together a paradise on earth in the bosom of the Church. Their role is to reveal to us by their teaching our inadequacies175 and show us the way to remedy to these, as well as develop our precious qualities. They who practise fasts, penance, abstinence and charity – works that open the locked gates of Paradise – are on the way to be crowned.176 So praiseworthy are those good works that Ephrem the Syrian drew a parallel between them and the effortless creation of Paradise by the Lord. By their freely-consented labour, repeating the act of God planting Adam’s garden,177 those saintly figures consecrate the fruits of their work to Great Mother Church. Such a Gardener of the Lord was Michele Piccirillo.

announcement of their mentor’s death: “He took care of us, fostering our capacities, trained us with patience and passion, and transmitted to us his enthusiasm for the conservation of cultural heritage for the benefit of local communities, no matter which religion or culture they belong to. We owe everything to him. His death leaves an irremediable void, but we will do our best to maintain the way he taught us, aware of our limits, but certain that he will continue to be always at our side”.183 Reflected on the mosaic pavements, the centrality of Man in God’s garden was manifest in Piccirillo’s analytical approach. The 1970s and 1980s, the years of Piccirillo’s scientific maturity and of his greatest discoveries, coincided with the trend dominating ancient mosaic research to abolish verbose descriptions in favour of a strict vocabulary of definitions and codification. Although he accepted the scientific reasons for the coding of patterns and motifs, as conducted by the Association Internationale pour l’Etude de la Mosaïque Antique (AIEMA) since the early 1970s,184 he did not make his this numerical development, not even for geometric pavements. Into the world of numbered items and rigid pattern-books from which donors and mosaicists had drawn “shopping-lists” of designs and motifs,185 Piccirillo re-introduced Man and his role in the transmission of the Christian cultural heritage of the Holy Land, most vividly illustrated by the Greek inscriptions on the mosaic pavement of the midVIth century South Church in the St Sergius ecclesiastical complex at Nitl, 10 km east of Madaba. Within a border of acanthus scrolls enclosing pastoral and hunting scenes, the pavement of the nave is divided into two carpets. The westernmost carpet is a geometric trellis of rosebuds filled with beasts, fowl, birds, trees, fruit and flowers (Fig. 86). The eastern “inhabited vine scroll” carpet contains Greek inscriptions (Fig. 87), of which one mentions the illustrissimus Taa’laba (the Fox), the laudabilis phylarch, whilst another acclaims “Aretas, son of Aretas”, dynastic names of the ruling family of the tribal confederation of the Banu Ghassan, whose patron was St Sergius.186 The discovery of the funerary church of one of the families belonging to the Banu Ghassan on the territory of Madaba thus confirms the tradition quoted by the Arab historian Ya’qubi that the Banu Ghassan, who had moved north from Ma’rib in the Yemen, reaching Syria in the reign of Emperor Anastasius (491-518), settled in the Balqa’, the territory from the River Arnon (Wadi Mujib) to Madaba, one of the most fertile regions of Provincia Arabia (Fig. 89).187 More importantly, it gives archaeological reality to

The Gardener of the Lord This metaphor is particularly fitting for a Franciscan. Scattered across the landscape of the brothers’ predication, fertile Umbria, the movement’s original bases (loci) consisted of a few huts and always a garden. Such was the locus built by a few Friars Minors in 1219 outside the city walls of Gualdo, 80 km north of Assisi, on a rocky escarpment where a spring of clear water gushed forth from a mountain.178 Throughout his life, Fr Piccirillo held the archaeologist’s trowel and the writing pen in one hand, and the gardener’s spade in the other, to turn the earth, sow seeds, tend and prune the young shoots, water them, and watch the wheat rise, the grapes grow in bunches on the vine, and the flowers bloom in the garden which the Lord had given him in trust to cultivate, so that it would blossom and bear fruit. Just as he had been pruned and watched over by Fr Testa, the scholar of Judaeo-Christianity, who had transmitted to him a profound interest in the Church’s Judaeo-Christian roots,179 so evident in Nazareth, the city of the Annunciation and Jesus’ childhood,180 and by Fr Bagatti who had given him, as a young man, the opportunity and impetus to launch on an archaeological career,181 Piccirillo nurtured “disciples”. On his deathbed in early October 1226, St Francis had said to his brothers: “I have accomplished my duty. May Christ teach you to accomplish yours”.182 The deep understanding by the entire team of the Mosaic Jericho Centre of the necessity to follow in the footsteps of Fr Michele with creative fathfulness and not simple repetition, is palpable in their Ephrem, Hymn XII, 18 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 162-163). Ephrem, Hymn XIV, 3 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 178). 176 Ephrem, Hymns II, 11: 2 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 49-50); V, 6: 4 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 73); VI, 10 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 85); IX, 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 121); and XII, 17-18 (Lavenant 1968 éd./ trad.: 162). 177 Ephrem, Hymn V, 10: 2-5 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 75). 178 See Vauchez 2009: 110. 179 See Testa 1962; 1967. 180 Piccirillo 1984d; 1994f. 181 See Piccirillo 2002c. 182 Thomas of Celano, Second Life of St Francis: 214 (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds/trad.: 521). 174 175

Official announcement by e-mail of Fr Piccirillo’s death by Osama Hamdan on behalf of the Mosaic Centre Jericho, 28th October 2008. 184 See Blanchard, Christophe, Darmon, Lavagne, Prudhomme, Stern 1973; and, Blanchard-Lemée, Christophe, Darmon, Guimier-Sorbets, Lavagne, Prudhomme, Stern 1985. 185 See supra, n. 96. 186 On the South Church of the St Sergius complex at Nitl and its inscriptions, see Piccirillo 2001; 2002b: 209-217; 2005c: 463-469. 187 On the settling of the Banu Ghassan in the Balqa’ on the basis of information in the Arab sources, see Piccirillo 2002b: 198-199 and 217; 183

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the deep-rooted dual demographic nature of the Madaba region, with Christianized Arab nomads semi-sedentarising at the gates of the Byzantine episcopal city of Madaba, and - as a reversed mirror-image - thirteen centuries later, ca 1878, a group of Christian villagers from Karak settling in the tribal zone of the Banu Sakhr and establishing themselves in Madaba.188 As on the mosaics of Nitl, Madaba and Khirbat alMukhayyat, Past and Present are intertwined in inscriptions in Syro-Palestinian (also called ChristoPalestinian or Melkite Aramaic), the vernacular language of the Christians of Palestine and Jordan (Fig. 88),189 of which Piccirillo’s excavations unearthed a rich harvest published by Fr E. Puech of the French CNRS and Ecole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem.190 These inscriptions are witnesses to the deep roots of Christianity in the Land of Palestine. Paradise Redeemed and Paradise Regained “When Adam had sinned, / Outside, God chased him. / But out of goodness, he allotted to him the lower space. / Below, at the foot of Paradise, / He made him live”.191 The Tree of Knowledge as cause of the virtual “death” of Adam is the anti-type of the tree of the Cross from which sprang Life. With his keys,192 by his pierced heart193 and by his cross,194 Christ, new Adam, opened Paradise. 2005c: 464. On the Arab kingdom of the Banu Ghassan and its dynasty, see Piccirillo 2002b: 198-208 (and for light reading Zahran 2006). On the archaeological evidence for the Banu Ghassan, see Picirillo 2002b: 208-209, which omits our discovery and study of the pilgrimage centre to St John the Baptist at Er-Ramthaniyye in Gaulanitis (see supra, n. 105). On the Ghassanid funerary Church at Nitl, see Piccirillo 2001; 2002b: 209-217; 2005c: 464-469. The depiction of a camel led on a rope by a beduin in the “inhabited vine scroll” field pavement of the nave in the mid-VIth century Church at Suâfiya, Amman (Fig. 89) is another indicator of the presence of Ghassanids in the region (van Elderen 1970; Piccirillo 2002b: 193). 188 Supported by the French Consul, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem secured authorization from the Ottoman government for a group of Christian villagers to move from Karak and settle at a site in the Balqa’. Eventually, the Karaki Christians chose Madaba and began work at the abandoned site in 1880 (Musil 1907-1908, Vol. III: 85; Jaussen 1908: 417; Lewis 1987: 129). 189 On Christo-Palestinian, the vernacular of Syro-Palestine, and the archaeological proofs of its widespread use, see Dauphin 1999, I: 142144. Amongst several mosaic pavements bearing Christo-Palestinian inscriptions, notable is that in the South Sacristy of the Church of St George, ad 536, in Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Piccirillo 1998d: 320 fig. 116, 327 fig. 136, 328). 190 See infra, E. Puech, “Notes d’épigraphie christo-palestinienne de Jordanie”. 191 Ephrem, Hymn I, 10: 2-3 (Lavenant 1968 éd//trad/: 39). Compare with Genesis 3, 24. 192 Ephrem, Hymn VII, 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 95). 193 Ephrem, Hymn II, 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 45). 194 Ephrem, Hymn VI, 1 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 81).

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Crosses, crosses, crosses Cruciform geometric motifs abound in panels, in long runner-carpets, in rows of roses, both buds and in bloom, lotus buds and scarlet lilies (Figs 90 and 91).195 In the mid-IIIrd century, St Cyprian of Carthage put forward a symbolical interpretation of bloody martyrdom, more specifically the murder of Christ, which was based on the scarlet colour of the rose and compounded by the link with the roses’ thorns and Christ’s crown of thorns.196 Funerary ceremonies in honour of Adonis, the pagan Rosalia where the rose associated with the god’s blood symbolized his death and announced his resurrection, were neutralized and Christianized into the Day of the Roses (Rodismos), widely celebrated across the Byzantine Empire, notably in VIth-century Gaza by the poet and grammarian John of Gaza in his Anacreontica and by the rhethor Choricius in his Orationes.197 The identification of the lily of the valley with the Spring scarlet anemone of Palestine198 is the background for the legend attached to the pearls of sweat on Christ’s anguished brow as he earnestly prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Falling down on the ground “like drops of blood”,199 they gave rise to lilies. The lotus was chosen by mosaicists for its resemblance both with the rose and the lily, particularly its three-pronged petals, generally scarlet, the colour of the blood of Christ crucified (Fig. 92). Both red lilies and roses in the shape of small, three-stemmed bushes, are trefoil, bringing to mind Christ’s crucifixion between two robbers. His death is also referred to by the fruit of the vine – bunches of grapes -, whose juice metaphorically resembles his blood (“fine wine from the blood of grapes”),200 the “blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”201 – which recalls Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper.202 Whilst the “inhabited vine scroll” illustrated Jesus personalizing the Church and the faithful as the Vine (“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower… I am the vine, you are the branches”),203 the simple bunch of grapes is the iconographic simile for the Eucharistic mystery which lies Notably at Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, martyrion-chapel at eastern end of northern aisle, ad 718-756 (Piccirillo 1994e: 149 fig. 42, 150 fig. 43). ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century (Piccirillo 1998d: 330-331 figs 150-151, 341). 196 St Cyprian of Carthage, Liber de duplici martyrio VIII (PL 4: col. 886); Liber de opere et eleemosynis XXVI (PL 4: cols 621-622). On Cyprian of Carthage, see Patout Jr Burns 2001. On his concept of martyrdom, see Hummel 1946. 197 On the Anacreontica of John of Gaza referring to the Rodismos, see Matranga 1850 ed.: 575, 633-641. On Dialogus 9 (XVI) of Choricius of Gaza, see Foerster, Richsteig 1929 eds: 196-197. On the Byzantine version of the Rosalia in Gaza, see Cottas 1931: 32-33. 198 See Dauphin 2011a: 112-113. 199 Luke 22, 44. 200 Deuteronomy 32, 14. 201 Matthew 26, 28. 202 Matthew 26, 26-29; Luke 22, 19-20. 203 John 15, 1 and 5. 195

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

at the heart of the Christian faith ‘“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”),204 both bearing witness and thus also teaching: “For as often you eat this bread and drink the cupe, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (Fig. 93).205

medallion enclosing a forlorn lamb stooping to munch a small shoot on its way to having its throat cut (Fig. 98), is set in the centre of a rectangular carpet of palms (signifying martyrdom)217 alternating with rose buds; the tree behind the lamb, moreover, consists of crossed palms and has flowered into a constellation of rosebuds. The depiction of the sacrificial lamb was taken to its logical conclusion – the Resurrection – in a stone high-relief carving from the ruins of the Mediaeval Church of Sainte-Marie-la-Grande in Jerusalem (Fig. 99). Symbolising the Resurrected Christ, this lamb is exhibited in the entrance hall of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum at the Flagellation Convent in Jerusalem. Fr Piccirillo was keen to point out that “Symbole du Christ ressuscité, l’agneau sculpté est exposé dans l’entrée du Musée du Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. A cause de son symbolisme, il a reçu cette place d’honneur pour mettre en relief le caractère fondamentalement Chrétien des collections du Musée”.218

Fulfilling God’s injunction which He had prevented in the non-sacrifice of Isaac,206 Christ the ram sacrificed on the altar of the Cross for the salvation of sinners207 marks the centre of the apse of the Church of the Deacon Thomas at ‘Uyun Mousa (Fig. 95),208 and is depicted in association with a fruit tree behind the altar of the Church of St George at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat,209 and in front of the lower-level baptismal font of the Cathedral of Madaba (Fig. 17).210 The accomplishment of the transition from an Old Testament to a New Testament vocabulary is expressed by the iconographic switch from a ram to a lamb. Thus, a lamb tied to a tree was depicted flanking on the north the upperlevel baptismal font.211 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered / to receive power and wealth and / wisdom and might / and honour and glory and blessing!”,212 which St Francis incorporated with a variant at the apex of his prayer Exhortation ad Laudem Dei: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered / to receive praise, glory and honour”.213

In Luke’s Gospel,219 to one of the criminals hanged next to Jesus asking him to be remembered when he comes into his kingdom, Christ replies: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise”. Dressed as a Gardener, this he made explicit to Mary of Magdala at the empty tomb (Figs 102 and 103): “Noli me tangere. Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But you go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God’”.220

What more symbolically-charged rendering of Christ’s sacrifice than in the ‘Atwâl Chapel in Madaba (Fig. 97),214 the lamb as eloquent in its innocence as the Agnus Dei (Fig. 96) by Francisco de Zurbaràn (15981664)215 who, notably, painted for Franciscan convents in Seville two arresting “St Francis meditating”?216 A

“Sky of fruit. / Floor of flowers./ Clouds … of fruit procuring shade,/ And a carpet of flowers spread underfoot … The winds feed the spirits of the resurrected”.221 Such is Paradise Redeemed by the Lamb according to Ephrem of Nisibis, walled by “peace. Its rampart, its fortress / Is concord which reconciles everything”.222 Yet, this is a mere Pre-paradise, a waiting-room for Spiritual Paradise. Its mirror-image on earth is the redeemed oecumene, the world of sacred Geography from the Nile to the Promised Land, from Moses to the structured divisions of Byzantine Palestine on the Madaba Mosaic Map into villae, villages, towns and cities,223 into dioceses whose Episcopal lists were reconstructed by Fr Piccirillo from the mention of their bishops in the numerous inscriptions of his mosaics, dovetailed with the Actae of Church Councils,224 with

John 6, 35. 1 Corinthians 11, 27. 206 Genesis 22. 207 Revelation 5, 6-13. 208 ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, apse (Piccirillo 1998d: 331, 332 figs 152-153). 209 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, ad 536, apse, behind altar (Piccirillo 1998d: 322, 323 fig. 122). 210 Madaba, Cathedral, Lower-Level Baptistery, first decades of the VIth century (Piccirillo 1989c: 32-33). 211 Madaba, Cathedral, Upper-Level Baptistery, 575-576 (Piccirillo 1989c: 31-32) 212 Revelation 5, 11. 213 Exhortatio ad Laudem Dei (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 333; Bernard-Marie 2010 trad.: 32). 214 Madaba, ‘Atwâl Chapel, VIth century (Piccirillo 1989c: 129-132). 215 Francisco de Zurbaràn (1598-1664), Agnus Dei, oil painting on canvas (H. 38 cm, L. 62 cm), ca 1635-1640, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. On Zurbaràn, see Baticle 1988. 216 Francisco de Zurbaràn, Saint Francis in Meditation, oil painting on canvas (H. 99 cm, L. 152 cm), 1635-1639, The National Gallery, London (Bray et alii 2009: 174-175, cat. 29); Saint Francis standing in Ecstasy, oil painting on canvas (H. 108 cm, L. 207 cm), ca 1640, Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (Bray et alii 2009: 178-181, cat. 31). The latter painting inspired the sculptor Pedro de Mena to make his polychrome figure of Saint Francis stand in exactly the same pose (Fig. 204 205

18; Bray et alii 2009: 180, 182-187, cat. 33). 217 Leclercq 1937: cols 948-950 (art “Palme”). 218 “Symbol of Christ resurrected, the carved lamb is exhibited in the entrance hall of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Because of its symbolism, it has been given the place of honour so as to emphasize the fundamentally Christian character of the Museum’s collections” (Piccirillo 1984c: inside cover, our translation). 219 Luke 23, 42. 220 John 20, 14-17. 221 Ephrem, Hymn IX (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 121-132). 222 Hymn XI, 3 (Lavenant 1968 éd./trad.: 146). 223 On the Madaba Mosaic Map, see Piccirillo, Alliata 1999 eds; Piccirillo 2002b: 154-160. 224 See notably, Piccirillo 1981b; 1989c: 145-324 (“Il territorio diocesano”); 1994d; 2002b: 166.

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Claudine DAUPHIN

Jerusalem at its centre (Fig. 104),225 the Calvary and Jesus’ sepulchre at the heart of the Holy City (Fig. 105)226 being the fixed point of a “mindscape” of Salvation in a geographical context.227 Is St Francis’ Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament not by excellence the Franciscan prayer: “We adore You, / O Lord Jesus Christ, … / and we bless you, / because, / by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world. Amen”?228 Fr Piccirillo was keenly aware that for this peaceful oecumene to arise from the resolution of contraries and conflicts, the Word of God had to become operative in the world through each of us.229 On 8th May 1993, we coincided with Fr Michele in Manchester to lecture at a Mosaic Day School organized by the University of Manchester in connection with a major exhibition of “The Mosaics of Jordan” at the Manchester Museum. Fr Michele much desired to see the unique, small fragment of a papyrus codex 8.9 x 5.8 cm high, inscribed in Greek with verses 3133 of ch. 18 of of St John’s Gospel, found in Oxyrhynchus in Upper Egypt and kept in the John Rylands Library.230 As an exception made by the Curators, he was given to hold in the palm of his hand this earliest known fragment of the New Testament in any language, dated to the first half of the IInd century ad. It was a precious, luminous moment for him as disciple of St Francis who, in his Testamentum, had written: “His (God’s) most holy names and written words … I want them to be collected”.231 A “Culture of Peace” What more fundamental operatio of the Word of God than in the active contribution to the advent of Justice and Peace? In the profoundly troubled political and social context of Mediaeval Italy ripped to shreds by factional warfare and vendetta, and in the turmoil presiding over the papacy’s call to arms for a Fifth Crusade, St Francis and his first companions committed themselves passionately to extinguishing hatreds and to a “culture of peace”, based on justice and on Man’s duty both towards God and others.232 See Tsafrir 1999. See Ovadiah 1999. 227 See Shahid 1999: 151-152 (“the map is a revelation of the story of Christian salvation”). 228 Thomas of Celano, Second Life of St Francis: 196 (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds/trad.: 506; Bernard-Marie 2010 trad.: 45-46 and 107). 229 John 1, 1-18. 230 P. Ryl. Gk 457 (See http://library.emstage.manchester.ac.uk/ specialcollections). Moreover, John 18, 31-33 contain many themes of fundamental importance for Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion, themselves central to St Francis’ faith: “31 Pilate said to them, ‘take him yourselves and judge him according to your law’. The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death’ 32 (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) 33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’”. 231 Thomas of Celano, First Life of St Francis (1228-1229): 82 (Desbonnets, Vorreux 1968 éds: 284). 232 See Vauchez 2009: 116-122. 225 226

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Pace e penitencia: he who wishes to make peace with his neighbour must first rediscover inner peace, that of the spirit, so as to restore the divine order perturbed by sin. Only then will it be possible to search for peace in this world, for it is dependant above all on the goodwill of men who establish it, restore it and sustain it.233 St Francis was the first Mediaeval Christian to have actively attempted contact with the Moslem world and to have succeeded in this. In the Summer of 1219, he sailed to Damietta in Egypt. The siege of the city by the Crusaders had dragged for a year. Using the opportunity of a truce, he left the Christian camp to great papal disapproval, crossed the Egyptian lines and was brought before Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamîl, the nephew of Saladin (Fig. 106).234 In the knowledge that dialogue, and subsequently peace, in the Middle East would only be sustainable between equal partners, against the background of the Second Intifada, Fr Piccirillo launched the Bilad al-Sham Project to train three youths from each of the three Arab neighbouring countries, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, during a three-month Summer course, one month per nation, at the Jericho Mosaic Workshop, the Madaba Mosaic School, and in Syria, both in preserving their own cultural heritage and to work together as one.235 “Le Pauvre d’Assise ne faisait pas de campagnes de pacification, il annonçait la paix. A ses yeux, seule une démarche de pénitence était susceptible d’ouvrir la voie à une véritable réconciliation. Prêcher la paix n’était pas pour lui un moyen de discipliner ou moraliser la société, mais l’occasion de faire advenir, à travers les personnes et les groupes qui acceptaient de se pardonner les uns aux autres leurs griefs ou leurs torts, un monde nouveau réconcilié avec Dieu et avec lui-même” (Vauchez 2009: 274). 234 See Jeusset 2009, Tolan 2009; Vauchez 2009: 138-154; The capture of Damietta by the Crusaders was violent and accompanied by massacres. According to the eye-witness author of the History of Eracles emperor and the conquest of the Land Beyond the Sea (Golubovich 1906 ed.: 14), Francis saw the evil and sin which were beginning to grow in the Christian army, which displeased him. Thus, he left and directly went to Syria before returning to his land”. Disgusted by the behaviour of his fellow Christians which was not what he considered to be the attitude of “knights of Christ”, he distanced himself from an expedition which was far removed from his idea of a crusade. Although he probably did not go to Jerusalem, for the Pope had forbidden Christians to travel to the Holy City for the entire period of the Fifth Crusade, so as not to provide the Saracens (who taxed pilgrims) with funds, he spent some time with some of his companions in the patches of territory still under Latin control. It is probably because of the good impression that St Francis had made on the Moslems during his stay in the Holy Land, that the Friars Minors were the first, in 1333, - and for a long time, the only - religious Order authorized by the Sultan to return to Jerusalem. The King of Naples, Robert of Anjou and his wife Sancha of Majorca, gave the Franciscans the Caenaculum and Mount Zion which they had bought from the Muslims whom they had also paid for the right to minister at the Holy Sepulchre. In 1342, by the Bullae “Gratias agimus” and “Nuper charissimae”, Pope Clement VI entrusted the Franciscans with the custody of the Loca Sancta in the name of the Roman Catholic Church, a prerogative which the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land has kept to this day. 235 On the Bilad al-Sham Project, see infra, C. Hamarneh, “The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project”, and O. Hamdan and C. Benelli, “The Renewal of Mosaic Art in the Palestinian Occupied 233

Michele Piccirillo, the Gardener of the Lord

Paradise Regained

the world as arches. At the end of our terrestrial peregrinatio – completed by a heavenly mi’râj (Figs 116 and 117),241 we reach the mosaic pavement dated September 447 in the Church of Tayyibat al-Imam near Hama in Syria,242 the finest of all Michele Piccirillo’s mosaics (Fig. 119) and the only one that fully expresses the powerful language and imagery of the Book of Revelation, from which rises our Memorial Prayer to Fr Michele (Fig. 118):

Precarious peace is itself but the reflection of eschatological resurrection, peace and immortality, expressed by the eagle associated with an alpha and a omega in a medallion in the Church of the Deacon Thomas at ‘Uyun Mousa (Fig. 107),236 and by a haloed phoenix in the Chapel of the Theotokos in the Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah (Fig. 44).237 Traces of wall mosaics as in the Ravenna churches (Fig. 108) were found in the apse of the Cathedral of Madaba, the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo and the Church of St Stephen at Umm al-Rasas (Fig. 109). Fragments of painted revetments with inscriptions and vegetal, geometric and figurative decorative motifs were collected in nearly all the churches of Jordan. By borrowing contemporary parallels, gaps are filled and integrated into the vast cosmos that the church represents (Figs 110 and 111), according to a mid-VIth century hymn on the Cathedral of Edessa,238 with the Sea, the Earth, the Planets reflected in the nave (Figs 112 and 113),239 the Sky (Figs 114 and 115),240 and the four sides of

“The Lord bless you and keep you; / May he show His face to you and have mercy. / May He turn his countenance to you and give you peace…”. St Francis, Benedictio Fratri Leoni243

Territory”. 236 ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century, medallion enclosing an eagle in the centre of a grid pattern of rosebuds and flowering roses in the South aisle (Piccirillo 1998d: 330 fig. 150, 331 fig. 151, 339 fig. 186, 341-342). Piccirillo notes: “The motif of the heraldic eagle, already known in the mosaics on Mount Nebo, receives, with the addition of two letters, a Christological significance, which puts it in common with the redeeming cross” Here the eagle replaces the cross”; (1998d: 341-342). 237 Monastery of ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Theotokos Chapel, second half of the VIth century, nave, “inhabited vine scrolls”, central row: haloed phoenix (Piccirillo 1998d: 359-360 figs 226-227, 361, 362 fig. 231). 238 See Dupont-Sommer 1947; Grabar 1947. 239 Paralleling the “inhabited vine scrolls” which cover the ceiling of the IVth-century Mausoleum of Sta Costanza in Rome with those on pavements, Grabar (1962: 139) formulates the question of their correspondence. The mosaic carpet of the rotunda of the Church of the Virgin (ad 767) in Madaba appears to reflect on earth the movements of the planets in the sky (Piccirillo 1989c: 43-46; 2002b: 155-157). The uncovering of a new church, a monoapsidal basilica, in Massuh, 10 km to the north of Madaba and 3 km east of the episcopal city of Esbus, modern Hesban, has brought to light in the western panel of the nave carpet, a variation on the same theme, the vault as reflected on the floor consisting of imbricated circles diminishing in size from the periphery to the centre, with four metal vases from which isuue vine shoots in the four angles of the square panel (Piccirillo 2005c: 460-463). 240 Interpreting in toto the iconography of the mosaic pavements of the Church of St Stephen at Umm al-Rasas, B. Hamarneh (1994) draws a fascinating parallel between the church as cosmos and the description by John of Gaza of the vault either painted or covered in mosaics of a bath, or more plausibly of a Christian building, which included personifications of the Seasons, Aion, Dawn and Night symbolizing the movement of Time, Thalassa (the Sea) and Gê (the Earth) as cosmic spaces, Rain, the Winds, Thunder and Lightning as the natural elements, and the Phoneix as the renewal of the Eternity of existence. Although the planets could be stylized within a highly elaborate geometric matrix mirrored on church floors, the stars clearly belonged to vaults and cupolas, as in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (ca 425) in Ravenna (Fig. 115), where,

on a dark blue ground, they were organized in concentric and continuous circles around the cross at the summit of the cupola, and thus represented not the cosmos, but the Universe in the centre of which is God. The infinity of the Universe is expressed precisely by the repetitive depiction of stars following one another in orthogonal lines or in concentric circles (Morand 2005, II: 1060). On the distinction between the concept of “world” (Greek cosmos) and that of “Universe” (Greek to pan), see Furley 1996: 315-316. 241 The Haram al-Sharif, the third holy place of Islam, is only a stone’s throw from the Flagellation Convent in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Al-Isrâ’ (the night journey) of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem on a supernatural creature “Burâq” (Lightning), and from Paradise to Hell (Gibb, Kramer 1953 eds: 183-184) is alluded to in the Kur’ân, Surâ XVII: 1 (Blachère 1957 éd. / trad.), and described in the hadiths. It was followed by the Mi’râj (ladder, ascent) when Muhammad, together with the archangel Gabriel, went up to Heaven where he saw Adam, Jesus (‘Issa), John the Baptist (Yahya), Joseph son of Jacob (Yusuf), Henoch (Idris), Aaron (Haroun), Moses (Moussa), and finally Abraham (Ibrahim). He also saw Paradise and Hell. Together with the Prophets, Muhammad descended to the ‘Al-Aqsa mosque where, as imam, he led the prayers in which the Prophets joined him. He then left Al-‘Aqsa and rode on Burâq, returning to Mecca that same night (Gibb, Kramers 1953 eds: 381-384). The connection between this voyage and Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock is attested in the textual sources as early as in the VIIIth century. 242 See Piccirillo, Zaqzug 1999; Piccirillo 2009. Benedictio Fr Leoni data (Blessing to Brother Leo), after receiving the stigmata on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (Fig. 118), 14th September 1422 (Desbonnets, Matura, Godet, Vorreux 1981 éds/trad.: 340-341; Masseron 2006 trad.: 199).

243

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Claudine DAUPHIN

Summaries Le Père Michele Piccirillo, ofm, le jardinier du Seigneur. Les Mosaïques du Paradis retrouvé

dalla Croce: “Dimora della Luce / e di esultanza / Coro di arpe, Dominio di cetre / Clamore di Osanna / O Chiesa di Inni” (S. Efrem di Nisibi, Inno del Paradiso XI, 2). ‫ بستاني الرب‬،‫األب ميكيلي بتشريللو‬

Plutôt que d’évaluer uniquement l’immense contribution du Père Michele Piccirillo à l’étude de la mosaïque, une tentative a été menée d’assembler les facettes de sa personnalité si extraordinairement riche et charismatique, parallèlement avec une lecture exégétique de “ses” mosaïques, tout en retraçant son chemin discret mais fondamental dans les pas de St François. Car, par dessous tout, Michele Piccirillo fut un véritable disciple du Poverello d’Assise. En particulier, est offerte une reconstruction du thème Chrétien du Salut tel qu’il est incarné par les pavements de mosaïques découverts par le Père Piccirillo, en faisant référence à sa perspicacité, mais également en innovant par l’utilisation des hymnes liturgiques des IVe-VIIIe siècles comme grille de lecture, notamment les Quinze hymnes sur le Paradis d’Ephrem de Nisibe, composés peu avant le Concile de Constantinople de 381. De la beauté et de la multiplicité de la Création, le lecteur est mené à travers “un Jardin clos” (Cantique des Cantiques 4, 12) au Paradis racheté par le ChristRédempteur, l’Agneau sacrifié sur l’autel de la Croix pour le salut des pêcheurs, et enfin au Paradis retrouvé, illuminé par la Croix : “ Choeur des harpes / Demeure de cithares / O clameur d’hosannas / O Eglise des hymnes ! ” (St Ephrem de Nisibe, Hymne du Paradis XI, 2). Padre Michele Piccirillo, il giardiniere del Signore Anziché solo valutare l’immenso contributo di P. Michele Piccirillo allo studio del mosaico, viene qui effettuato un tentativo di riunire le sfaccettature della sua personalità straordinariamente ricca e carismatica e parallelamente viene eseguita una lettura esegetica dei “suoi” mosaici, tracciando, nel contempo, il suo modo discreto ma determinato di perseguire il percorso di San Francesco. Perché, prima di tutto, Michele Piccirillo è stato un vero discepolo del Poverello di Assisi. In particolare, viene offerta una ricostruzione del tema cristiano della salvezza, così come incarnata dai pavimenti musivi scoperti da Padre Piccirillo, facendo riferimento alle sue intuizioni, ma anche innovando nell’introdurre gli Inni liturgici del secolo IV-VIII come un codice di lettura, in particolare Efrem di Nisibi e il suo Quindici Inni sul Paradiso, composto prima del Concilio di Costantinopoli del 381 d.C.. Dalla bellezza e dalla molteplicità del creato, il lettore, viene condotto attraverso “un giardino chiuso” (Cantico dei Cantici 4: 12), al Paradiso redento da Cristo, dall’Agnello, immolato sull’altare della croce per la salvezza dei peccatori, al Paradiso riconquistato illuminato 44

،‫بدال عن تقييم مساهمة األب ميكيلي بتشريللو الهائل لدراسات الفسيفساء فقط‬ ‫تم أجراء محاولة لجمع جوانب شخصيته الغنية و الجذابة جنبا ألي جنب مع‬ ‫ متتبعين في نفس الوقت طريقته البسيطة و األساسية‬.‫قراءة تفسيرية لفسيفساءه‬ ‫ ألن قبل كل شيء كان‬.‫في متابعة الطريق المرسوم من قبل القديس فرانسيس‬ .‫ميكيلي بتشريللو تلميذا حقيقيا لفقير أسيزي‬ ‫علي وجه الخصوص يتم إعادة تمثيل موضوع الخالص المسيحي كما يتجسد‬ ‫في األرضيات الفسيفسائية المكتشفة من قبل األب ميكيلي مشيرين ألي اجتهاده‬ ‫بينما االبتكار هنا يتمثل في إدخال التراتيل الطقوسية العائدة ألي القرن الرابع‬ ‫ و‬.‫– الثامن الميالدي و التي يتم استخدامها علي شكل شبكة قراءة رموز‬ ‫بالتحديد افرام من نصيبين و كتابة تراتيل الفردوس الخمسة عشر و التي تم‬ .‫ الميالدي‬381 ‫تأليفها قبل مجمع القسطنطينية في عام‬ ‫من الجمال و تعدد الخلق يتم قيادة القارئ عبر حديقة مقفولة (نشيد اإلنشاد‬ ‫ الخروف المضحي علي مذبح‬،‫ ) ألي الفردوس المخلص من المسيح‬12:4 :‫الصليب من أجل خالص الخطاة ألي الجنة المستعادة المنارة من قبل الصليب‬ ‫صخب ألهو‬/‫ كوكبة القوانين‬/‫ جوقة القيثارات‬/‫ مقام الغبطة‬/‫منزل الضوء‬ .)2 ،11 ،‫ ترنيم الجنة‬،‫يا كنيسة التراتيل (القديس أفريم من نصيبين‬/‫شعنا‬

Basema HAMARNEH

“POCA FAVILLA GRAN FIAMMA SECONDA”: Fr MICHELE PICCIRILLO, ofm, PIONEER OF BYZANTINE ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The words of the great Italian poet Dante Aleghieri1 that introduce the present tribute describe the essence of what Fr Michele Piccirillo was, besides being incredibly active, profoundly generous, interested, and distinguished by a passionate and direct spirit (Fig.120). His knowledge of historical, biblical and hagiographical sources applied to field research was at the heart of the methodology which he taught and which aimed at developing in local and international communities a growing interest in the Byzantine archaeology of the Middle East. Such qualities were much appreciated by all those who knew him and were privileged to share his friendship.

not far from Mount Nebo.5 This was followed in 1976 by an excavation directly in the Basilica of Moses on Mount Nebo, where under a geometric pattern pavement dated to the VIIth century ad, he uncovered the tessellated floor of the Diakonikon–Baptistery dated to ad 530531.6 The inscriptions that precedes the nave with its baptismal font, the second text set near the entrance door, and especially the extraordinary quality of the iconographic subjects displayed and fully preserved (Fig. 122), had a fundamental impact on Michele, drastically directing his scholarly interest and shifting the focal point of his attention towards Byzantine archaeology in Jordan where he was to leave a permanent mark.

The scientific activity of Fr Michele Piccirillo was remarkably extensive, characterized by the wide horizon of his interests that embraced archaeology in all its aspects, while his approach to Byzantine archaeology in the Middle East was representative of his engaged scholarship. It is thus challenging in a few pages to give an account of his enormous scholarly contribution covering nearly thirty years of incessant work.

Michele Piccirillo the Excavator Mount Nebo and its Region The Summer of 1976 inaugurated the first decade of his scientific activity. Since Michele had to stay in Jordan for longer periods, he was the first to increase the value of the Christian antiquities of Madaba by systematically exploring them, accurately reviewing the data collected in previous surveys conducted by Frs Saller and Bagatti in the area of Mount Nebo, and promoting excavations on several selected sites.7 Thus, the small convent of Mount Nebo adjacent to the Basilica (Fig. 123) grew gradually to become the centre of Franciscan archaeological research in Jordan.8 He worked tenaciously in order to shed light on monuments dated to the Byzantine period, patiently documenting plans of the edifices, photographing inscriptions and sculpture, and describing the uncovered mosaic floors in Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, ‘Uyun Mousa and Ma‘in. He worked side by side with Fr Eugenio Alliata,

Towards Byzantium Most extraordinarily, Michele’s activity and commitment to Byzantine archaeology grew with time,2 for he actually started by studying the ceramics of the Iron Age, to which he devoted a thesis submitted to Rome University “la Sapienza”.3 Although many years have passed since its compilation, his work remains one of the most interesting studies in this field. His earlier research included several publications in Liber Annuus.4 The scientific links and the influence of Fr Bagatti, ofm, drew Michele’s work towards Jordan, when in August 1973 he was entrusted by Father Custos with a short restoration campaign of the pavement of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Fig. 121),

Michele wrote about this first experience: “Della missione che durò dal 3 agosto al 22 settembre, alla vigilia dell’ennesima guerra araboisraeliana, fecero parte il prof. Glauco Baruzzi dell’Accademia di Brera che ebbe la responsabilità scientifica della missione, coadiuvato dal suo discepolo Raffaele Beretta di Como, dagli architetti Cesare Calano e padre Alberto Prodromo dell’Università di Roma. Per alcune settimane venne anche padre Bagatti, uno dei pionieri dello scavo del Monte Nebo, con i suoi ricordi di quando, nel 1935, il mosaico era stato riportato interamente alla luce dall’attivismo coinvolgente di Fra Girolamo Mihaic che si era preso cura di proteggere all’interno di una casa in pietra la preziosa scoperta” (Piccirillo 2009: 13). 6 Piccirillo 1989a: 155-157. 7 Saller, Bagatti 1949: 221-234 and 245-251. 8 The Mount Nebo Archaeological Centre hosted each year several scholars and students who worked during the summer excavations organized by Fr Piccirillo in the area of Madaba. 5

Dante Aleghieri, Paradiso 1, 34. The Divine Comedy was one of the favourite books that Fr Piccirillo kept on his bedside table. 2 On Fr Piccirillo’s first years in the Holy Land, see Bottini 2008: 480. 3 His thesis, entitled La Ceramica del Ferro nell’area transgiordanica. Tipologia e cronologia, under the supervision of Prof. P. Matthiae, was submitted in 1972. 4 He published an Iron Age tomb in Madaba and in Mafraq (Piccirillo 1975: 198-224; Piccirillo 1976: 27-30) and a Middle Bronze tomb in Amman (Piccirillo 1978: 73-85). 1

45

Basema HAMARNEH

ofm, their cooperation in two important complementary fields resulting in promoting archaeological research in one of the most extraordinary areas of the Orbis Christianus Antiquus. Collected data were promptly published in Liber Annuus and presented to the scientific community at congresses, colloquia and conferences.

by the Umayyad sovereigns towards local non-Muslim communities (Fig. 126). The actuality of the idea of peaceful coexistence prevailed in his archaeological research, showing that the passage from Byzantium to the new political domination of Islam was gradual and smooth. On the other hand, the analysis of the mosaic Greek inscriptions proved that the construction of the Theotokos church marked the apotheosis of self celebration of the inhabitants of Madaba, since the building had been erected thanks to the contributions of the whole community. The case of Madaba clearly witnessed that no contraction in urban life occurred in the VIIIth century ad, contrarily to what has been proposed for many other centres in the Middle East. In fact, recent excavations conducted in other urban sites, such as Gerasa/Jerash, has fully confirmed Piccirillo’s pioneering hypothesis.

Madaba In the meantime, Michele’s attention was fully devoted to Madaba, an important bishopric of Provincia Arabia, centre of major discoveries since 1894. The city and its environs became the theatre of much of his research methodology that consisted in preliminary survey, followed by thorough documentation through plans and photographs of a large number of sites, besides determining new and challenging objectives. In Madaba, the identification of the episcopal complex with its baptistery, and the excavations that followed in the area of the Church of the Virgin in 1980, 1982 and 1985, has contributed to widening our knowledge of the aspect of the Byzantine city and its topography (Fig. 124). The investigation included detecting the means of a two-fold transformation of urban space, politically and symbolically. On the one hand, Fr Piccirillo stressed the manner in which Christian monuments emerged as new landmarks replacing pagan buildings, and the way in which these affected the socio-economic, administrative and cultural reorganisation of public space. In fact, religious and civil compounds grew in the VIth century ad on both sides of the main east-west axis (cardo) of Madaba, partly owing to the re-qualification of vacant lots and private donations to the Church. Piccirillo’s approach was also applied to the study of other urban centres and was presented in his all-encompassing contribution to the International Congress of Christian Archaeology in Lyon in 1986.9

1986 was for Michele a real turning point: the Exhibition “The Mosaics of Jordan” at Palazzo Venezia in Rome in June of that year turned him into a real celebrity. The exhibition toured Vienna, Klagenfurt, Münster, Munich, Ettlingen, East Berlin, Lyon, Spilimberg, Bergamo and Copenhagen/Moesgard, drawing real enthusiasm and acclaim from a wide public. The great interest in the mosaics of Jordan for the high artistic quality which they displayed bounced Michele into the hall of fame. Although this was not something that he actually longed for, it positively meant receiving the attention of local authorities and, more importantly, obtaining funds and permissions to conduct further research and investigations. Umm al-Rasas That same year, the sixth sense of Michele led him towards another ambitious project: Umm al-Rasas (Fig. 127). This abandoned village which fortunately was devoid of Ottoman occupation, consisted of a quadriburgium, a large Roman castrum with an expanded sector to the north of the enclosure. The locality had been discovered by Brünnow and von Domaszewski in their survey11, and subsequently studied by Frs Saller and Bagatti, ofm,12 who had pointed out the exceptional extension of the ruins and the several churches built within the ruins which they had surveyed in the early 1940s. Acknowledging the immensity of the task, Michele started prospecting the northern limits of the settlement.13 He brought to light one of the most outstanding ecclesiastical compounds in the settlement: St Stephen and Bishop Sergius (Fig. 128), with their rich mosaic decoration, and two funerary churches. Though Michele was interested in mosaics,14 he did not confine himself solely to the iconography displayed on

The punctilious reconstruction of Byzantine Madaba showed that in the VIth century ad, the cardo was flanked by several luxurious insulae, such as the Burnt Palace complex and the Hippolytus Hall, and by the churches of Sunnâ’, Prophet Elijah, el-Khadir (also identified as the Holy Martyrs), and the Madaba Map Church. Later in the VIIIth century ad, the domus known as the Hippolytus Hall was probably donated to the Church, becoming part of the entrance vestibule of the Theotokos Church (Fig. 125). The analysis of the written inscription by Di Segni (in 1992 and 1994) brought to light a new era, ab origine mundi, instead of that of Provincia Arabia, which had been more commonly employed in the VIth century ad, thus shifting the date of the church to the VIIIth century, more precisely to ad 767.10 This extraordinary discovery changed the panorama of archaeological studies, since it evidenced continuity in settlement patterns in the area after the establishment of Islam in the region of Bilad al-Sham and stressed the policy of tolerance pursued 9

Brünnow, von Domaszewski 1905: 63-72. Saller, Bagatti 1949: 245-251. 13 Piccirillo 1989a: 272-293. 14 Michele always stressed that his attention was mostly captured by the written inscriptions rather than by the iconography. The texts in fact have contributed valuable information on some aspects of life of the local community during the Byzantine period. 11

12

Piccirillo 1989b: 459-501. Di Segni 1992: 251-257.

10

46

Fr. Michele Piccirillo, Pioneer of Byzantine Archaeology

enclosure conducted thanks to a fruitful cooperation between Michele and the Swiss team of the Fondation Max van Berchem. Two of the four churches built inside the castrum yielded the same date, the two excavated churches being ascribed to ad 579 or 594.

the pavements. He studied each building as a whole, while placing it within its context and environment. He was deeply aware that only in such a framework could mosaics assume their real significance. Such methodology is clear from his published works which include detailed historical and archaeological commentaries. Umm al-Rasas was promptly identified by Michele with Kastron Mefaa, thanks to two vignettes depicting the village, the first uncovered in the St Stephen Church (Fig. 129), the second subsequently in the Lions’ Church (Fig. 130). The site was in fact mentioned in the Bible and in the Notitia Dignitatum as “frurion vicinam solitudinem”, where Equites Promoti Indiginae were quartered. The locality seemed to fulfill an important task within the fortifications of the Limes Arabicus. Later, after the demise of the fort as a military stronghold, Umm al-Rasas was transformed into an important rural settlement that rapidly assumed a full Christian aspect thanks to the efforts of Bishop Sergius of Madaba (ad 576-597), who built with the participation of local evergetes four dated churches and perhaps another three that may be attributed to his episcopate, although the uncovered inscriptions are not complete. The same bishop is mentioned in the courtyard inscription of the Madaba Cathedral complex,15 in the Church of the Holy Apostles16 and in the new baptistery of the basilica of Moses on Mount Nebo.17

The fervent religious building activity in less than a decade (at least for the first chronological group) and the inscriptions that mentioned several local notables and members of the clergy, reflected the wealth and the importance of the settlement. A sort of “projection” of urbanism in a rural context, this emblematic situation may only be read in the framework of a more global approach, comparative data being contributed by the Petra Papyri (recently discovered in the Petra Church). These documents mention that landed properties produced a large amount of taxes that were collected by hypodektai and then turned over to the relevant officium of Petra, Besides those belonging to local wealthy families, several properties seemed to be owned by the Church itself. This situation was perhaps similar to that of Mefaa. It was evidently determined by the extension of land possessions of the settlement: the survey conducted in the northeastern sector brought to light farmsteads, wine and olive press installations, and fields with traces of boundary walls. Not to mention moreover the political importance of Mefaa as a centre of foederati tribes allied to Byzantium.

In the VIth century ad, the castrum was remodelled, this including new insulae and churches inside the fort. Two new gates were added, whilst houses and religious buildings rose to the north of the enclosure. The living quarters were not set against the walled unit, but were connected to a public square with in its centre a column topped by a cross, as reconstructed on the basis of the vignette discovered in the Lions’ Church.

Michele showed how the site grew to gain further significance owing to the articulated monastic complex with a tower, where a stylite monk probably lived (Fig. 131). The tower stands in the north-eastern sector of the area of Umm al-Rasas, and is, besides the mention of a stylite in the inscription of the monastery of the Theotokos at ‘Ain al-Kanisah (Fig. 132), the only evidence of this form of monasticism in the area to the east of the River Jordan. Here, Michele’s intervention was decisive: he excavated the church near the tower and offered a complete plan of the compound, his accurate study enabling him to identify the site with that known from the biography of the Prophet as enshrined in XIIth century Arab sources.18 Archaeological investigation also included that of insulae and houses conducted by Fr  C. Pappalardo, ofm, and Fr J. Abela, ofm.

The chronological sequence was established thanks to the dated texts which provided a reference grid for a planned building policy starting with the Church of the Reliquary in the north-western sector in ad  586, followed by the Church of Bishop Sergius in ad 587 on the north-eastern limit of the village, then in ad 588 on the south-west, by the Tabula Ansata Church and the adjacent Church of the Priest Wa’il. The other ecclesiastical buildings are set in the area between the above-mentioned foundations: the Lions’ church, between ad 547 and 589; St Paul dated to either ad 578 or 593 (July of the 12th indictional year); the Peacocks’ Chapel; and at the end of the VIIth century, the two funerary churches erected near the Church of Bishop Sergius. In the VIIth century, a baptistery was added to the Bishop Sergius Church, and finally, in ad 718, it was flanked by the Church of St Stephen, which was partially repaved in ad 756.

Michele Piccirillo the Teacher Impressive was the way in which Michele always managed, despite his teaching and conference commitments, to submit publications of his excavations on time, first in regular reports and articles in Liber Annuus, and then in monographs (Fig. 133). Needless to say, the last weeks of Michele’s life were devoted to the PhD dissertation research of Jacques Bujard,19 head of the Swiss team, on his work in Castrum Mefaa, and to the completion of the publication of the second volume of Umm al-Rasas, that sadly will be edited after his premature departure.

The importance of the site was also emphasized in the investigation of the internal sector of the castrum Piccirillo 1989a: 29. Piccirillo 1989a: 104. 17 Piccirillo 1989a: 163. 15 16

18 19

47

Griffith 1994: 51-53. Bujard 2008.

Basema HAMARNEH

discovered in the locality and their inscriptions received the attention of important scholars, such as Avi Yonah in 1947,23 Mittmann in 1967,24 and most recently AlHousan.25 The importance of the town was confirmed by recent excavations that brought to light an impressive number of ecclesiastical buildings: fifteen churches. The earliest is a martyrion dated to ad 457-458, only known however from an inscription found by P-L. Gatier re-used in the wall of the modern village mosque.26

While excavating at Umm al-Rasas, work continued on Mount Nebo, at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat and Madaba. There, Michele accomplished an important teaching role, dividing the work between a number of young scholars (in the fields of archaeology, architecture and restoration), mostly Italian, French, German and Jordanians, transforming Mount Nebo into a real centre of archaeological research in Jordan (Figs 134 and 135). He served as mentor to a countless number of young students, suggesting bibliographies, correcting methodology, and criticising challenging conclusions; he was always ready to read an article, a book or thesis in draft form, returning it in a short time with copious annotations in his fast cursive calligraphy, his exhaustive comments reflecting his intellectual generosity towards all. Many of these cooperative works served as the basis for research projects, PhDs, publications and academic conferences.

The churches of Rihab were built in the first decades of the VIth century, with a more intensive construction policy being promoted under Emperors Phocas (ad 602-610) and Heraclius (ad 610-641), and particularly during the Persian invasion of ad 614 and following the Arab conquest of ad 630 - events, as Michele often stressed, which had no negative impact on the life of the communities to the east of the River Jordan. This important theme he argued in one of his more recent publications, “Dall’archeologia alla storia. Nuove evidenze per una rettifica di luoghi comuni riguardanti le province di Palestina e di Arabia nei secoli IV-VIII d.c”.27

Ecclesiastical Geography and Episcopal Lists Besides his interest in mosaics as a unique and important historical source for the Christian cultural identity of the populations of Provinciae Arabia, Palaestina Prima, Secunda and Tertia, Michele developed many of the themes he had already explored at the beginning of his career. From his early work on Chiese e mosaici della Giordania settentrionale, published in 1981 and followed by Chiese e mosaici di Giordania. Una comunità cristiana dalle origini Bibliche, published in 1983, flowed a serious of other studies on the ecclesiastical geography of the Provinces embraced today by the territory of Jordan.

The mosaic inscriptions mention the names of two archbishops of Bosra, Polyeuctos (ad  594-623) and Theodore (ad 634-637). Polyeuctos patronized seven foundations: St Basil in ad 594, St Paul in ad 595, St Sophia in ad 605, St Stephen and St John the Baptist in ad 620. The analysis of the inscription in the latter helped to understand the morphology of the settlement, as the church is said to have been erected in the new castrum, this perhaps indicating that a fortification was erected ex novo in the village as distinct from a previous IVthcentury tetrachic tower connected to the fortifications of the Limes, where Ala Secunda Felix Ualentiniana was probably quartered. This fort was also mentioned by Max Van Berchem in 190328 and by J.-B. Humbert in 1998.29

His interests culminated in the study of urbanism (paying particular attention to Gerasa/Jerash and Madaba). His book Chiese e mosaici di Madaba was ready in 1980, but was revised and published in 1989, while his last important effort and contribution to scholarship was on L’Arabia cristiana. Dalla provincia imperiale al primo periodo islamico, published in Italian20 with subsequent French translation. He completed several studies on large sanctuaries and minor monasteries mentioned in pilgrim accounts and hagiographical texts. But here also we must proceed in order.

In ad 623, a church was dedicated to St Peter, the floor of the Church of the Martyr Philemos was restored, and a monastery of St Nicephoros Constantine was founded. The analysis of the pavement of the latter brought to the attention of Michele two Greek letters TM, which had been added in one of the repaired portions of the floor. In a recent study, Di Segni has suggested that these letters may be read as the date of ad 832. If this should be proved correct, it will provide a unique and precious information that would modify the chronology of the iconophobic phase (perhaps from ad 756, date of the second un-iconic pavement of St Stephen of Umm al-Rasas, to ad 832), the obliteration of the images of living creatures which affected most Middle Eastern church floor mosaics. This term may also indicate

His in-depth knowledge of the area and exhaustive reading of the written sources formed the basis for his combined work on bishoprics: he was able to correct and add new names to the religious geography of the Provinces, showing how profound and decisive had been the activity of local bishops in urban and rural life.21 His thesis was supported by the evidence of the discovered inscriptions that attested of the remarkable continuity of building processes throughout the VIIth and VIIIth centuries ad. One of the most interesting cases put forward by Michele in his Churches and Mosaics of Northern Jordan, published in 1981, was that of the village of Rihab in the diocese of Bosra.22 The first churches

Avi Yonah 1947: 68-72. Mittman 1967: 42-45. �� Al-Housan 1999: 358-393; Al-Housan 2002: 88-89. 26 Gatier 1998: 393-410. 27 Piccirillo 2007a. 28 Van Berchem 1903: 64-66. 29 Humbert 1998: 59-60. 23 24

Piccirillo 2002a. Piccirillo 2005a: 377-394. 22 Piccirillo 1981a: 62-90. 20 21

48

Fr. Michele Piccirillo, Pioneer of Byzantine Archaeology

may be included in the list of the bishops of Gerasa.

that churches functioned to their full ecclesiastical capacity in the Abbasid period, thus solving one of the thorniest questions regarding the abandonment of settlements in the area. This dating should be also combined with the analysis of ceramics discovered in the excavations that seems more than ever to set the decline process in the first decades of the IXth century, or in some cases even beyond.

One of the most important sanctuaries evidenced by Michele in 1981 is that of the birth place of Prophet Elia not far from Khirbat Listib (identified with biblical Tisbeh). The recent excavation of the area uncovered a church dated to ad 623 with a second inscription found in the room south of the church dated to ad 775-776. Parallel discoveries in the area of Philadelphia-Amman evidenced the patronage of Bishop Theodosius in ad 502 at Yadudah and in ad 508 at St Theodore of Yajuz; and of Bishop Thomas in Suwayfiyah and Khirbat el-Kursi. In ad 687 at Khilda, the church of St Varos was built under Bishop George. Michele also worked in the territory of Esbous where he uncovered two churches and a burial area at Massuh; one of the inscriptions mentioned Bishop Theodosius.

Nevertheless, construction policy in Rihab is also attested under the successor of Polyeuctos, Theodore, under whose episcopate since ad 635 two churches were dedicated, one to St Menas and the other to St Isaiah. The last dated building (ad 691) was dedicated to St Sergius. The complex study of the progressive development of dioceses in the area permitted Michele to place correctly twentyfive cases. Many of these excavations were conducted by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and have not yet been published in detail. Michele collected patiently the data and offered a re-edition of the texts with the help of expert epigraphists. His attention was also turned to the fact that the jurisdictional boundaries of the dioceses of Adra, Pella, Gerasa and Bosra were subject to changes, since several small villages rose in border areas. The analytical approach enabled him to establish a list of bishops in each of the above-mentioned centres, offering chronological adjustments according to the most recent discoveries.

Michele’s presence on Mount Nebo made a major impact on the improvement of the knowledge of Christian period monuments among local scholars. He encouraged and promoted the publication in an appendix to Liber Annuus entitled “Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania”, of several otherwise unpublished excavations, such as the Church of St Sophia of Zuqrit in the Diocese of Gerasa, built by Bishop Paul in ad 542-543. Conservation: Archaeological Parks and Mosaic Schools

Piccirillo added to the Dioceses of Adra (Der’a) the names of bishops Agapios (mentioned in the inscription of the church of Jabr in ad 531) and Euphrasios (on an architrave found in Jizeh and dated to ad 538-539); while to the area of the dioceses of Bosra he added al-Husn with a church built by Archbishop John in ad 535. Michele paid particular attention to the bishoprics of Pella and Gerasa. In Khirbat Daria in the church of SS Cosmas and Damian, dated to the first decades of the VIIth century, he identified Bishop Axiopistos and Country Bishop (chorepiscopos) Kassiseos of the Monastery of St Gellon,30 thus showing that the latter had fulfilled an important task within the ecclesiastical hierarchy and demonstrating that the office of country bishop was still largely held in the region under the Umayyads contrarily to what had been so far attested in Syria, and anchoring this ecclesiastical title in the VthVIth centuries. Similarly, in the inscription of Khirbat ed-Duwayr dated to ad 593-602, both Bishop Paul and Chorepiscopos Romanos are mentioned in the dedication.31

Besides archaeological research, Michele implemented many projects for Jordan (Fig. 136), one of the most ambitious being the creation of the Madaba Archaeological Park and of the Madaba Mosaic School. This commitment to conservation was based on the urgency of preserving the Jordanian heritage, with particular reference to the restoration of Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad mosaic floors discovered in the last decades. The idea came to Michele while he was working on the publication of the volume dedicated to the mosaics of Jordan. He made a full re-examination of the known mosaics in the episcopal city of Madaba, rightly considered as an outstanding centre of mosaic production in the Byzantine period to which is applicable the term “Madaba School”. He wrote in his notes: “All actually started In 1977, when the mosaic in the church of the Virgin, set along the Roman Road that crosses the city from east to west, was cleaned and photographed. This was the first mosaic in Madaba, known to scholars even before 1890, a few years after the re-occupation of the city ruins by Christian families that settled there coming from Kerak. After preparing a new plan of the monuments, it was necessary to remedy to the state of abandonment in which the monument had fallen after the expropriation of the area by the Jordanian Government in 1972. The area also included the crypt with the mosaic of the Church of the Prophet Elias. In the summer of 1980 a survey of the greater part of the singular plan of the church was carried out. The Theotokos compound reused parts of a previously existing Roman

More recently, Michele pointed out the valuable evidence provided by the church of Khirbat et-Tantour–Deir al-Musmar, whose inscription commemorates the evergetes of the sacred church of Kaloa in ad 622-623. The use of the Era of the Decapolis instead of that of Provincia Arabia would suggest to include the church in the area of Pella. Likewise, on the basis of the use of the Decapolis Era in the inscription of the monastery of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel at Ras ad-Dayr (Khirbat el-Badiyya), Bishop John who is mentioned in ad 568, 30 31

Karasneh 1997: 21-29. Melhem 1998: 26-32.

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2. Central sector: the Museum complex which shelters and exhibits the mosaics of the Theotokos Church and the Hippolytus Hall. 3. West sector: the Mosaic School for the restoration of antique mosaics which has been set up in refurbished existing Ottoman buildings to the east of the area. The Madaba Mosaic School was opened in 1992, becoming the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art Restoration in 2007. This project trained young specialists keen on the conservation and preservation of an antique tradition and heritage, and permitted Michele, through the creation of a joint team consisting of skilled students, restoration specialists and Department of Antiquities Staff, to undertake major conservation and restoration projects, such as most recently, that of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat. In Madaba, Michele addressed his attention to the punctilious analysis and documentation of the Madaba Map, an outstanding document of the second half of the VIth century and to the organising of an international colloquium that marked the centenary of the discovery of this unique historical and cultural masterpiece. The colloquium held in Amman in 1997 was attended by scholars of many countries, a sign of successful cooperation and of a commitment to peace, and the symbol of a Middle East without boundaries or frontiers.

monument which, Michele suggested, was the Temple of the Madaba Tyche, who is displayed on coins minted in the Roman period. This comprised a courtyard with narthex to the west, an internal vestibule, the central circular nave and the apsed presbyterium supported at the same level by two vaulted rooms. On examination, it became clear that the mosaic had been laid in the Umayyad period in ad 767. In the Summer of 1982, while probing the ground beneath the internal vestibule of the church, the mosaic floor in the left sector of the Hippolytus Hall came to light, a masterpiece of the Madaba mosaicists which decorated the hall of a luxurious Byzantine domus”. The exceptional nature of the discovery, and the presence of monuments from different periods, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad, all stratified in the same area, set the basis for the pioneering and outstanding project of the Archaeological Park. However, this was only the beginning of a yet more challenging idea: setting up in Madaba a school for the restoration and conservation of its mosaics. Further impetus was given by the discovery of the domus known as the Burnt Palace, found further along the same Roman cardo in the Summer of 1985. Meanwhile, the inauguration in June 1986 of the Exhibition “The Mosaics of Jordan”, at Palazzo Venezia in Rome triggered international interest in the Byzantine heritage of Jordan and floodlit Michele and his scholarly work. In the Spring of 1987, the project was brought to the attention of the Italian Government during the official visit to Italy of the Jordanian Royal Couple, King Husain and Queen Noor. The economic crisis in Jordan, as well as the impossibility for the Italian Cooperation Agency to finance directly the construction of the complex, even though the interest in the School for the Restoration of Mosaic never failed, resulted in the widening of international involvement in the above-mentioned project. The appeals were enthusiastically answered by the officials of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) at the US embassy in Amman. It was ready to finance through ACOR (American Centre of Oriental Research in Amman), the pursuit of the archaeological excavations and the construction of the Park. The Gulf Crisis of 1990-91 brought about a temporary suspension of US aid to Jordan. This positively resulted in the involvement of the Canadian Government in the Madaba project. A grant was made available for the pursuit of the excavations without interruption and for the restoration of the buildings which were to be used by the School of Mosaic.

Following the same guidelines and thanks to the positive experience in Madaba, Michele contributed to establishing regional structures that were to fulfill the task of care and conservation of the common heritage in ancient mosaics of the Middle East. In fact, two new centres were added to that in Madaba, one at Jericho and the other in Syria. Since 2000, the Madaba Mosaic School and the Jericho Workshop for Mosaic Restoration have carried out, during the Summer, joint training courses on mosaic restoration. From 2002, the positive results drew the further participation of Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian students. This project, “Bilad Al-Sham – training courses in ancient mosaic restoration”, was prepared by the Jordanian and Syrian Department of Antiquities and by the Italian NGO CISS, and was funded by the European Commission Technical Assistance Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Its main objectives were: 1. The training of local specialized staff to intervene on local cultural resources. 2. The preservation of important archaeological remains thanks to practical experience in restoration. 3. The enhancing of the immense cultural heritage in ancient mosaics and the development of tourist attractions. 4. The spread of awareness among local populations about the preservation of their cultural heritage and of their viewing of national heritage as their own.

At the end of a long process of protection and revaluation of the archaeological site around the Church of the Virgin at Madaba (Fig. 137), the final project envisaged three components in three sectors: 1. East sector: the Archaeological park runs along the Roman Road that crosses the city. It extends from the Church of the Sunnâ’ Family, to the east of the Church of the Virgin and the Church of the Prophet Elias, up to and including the area to the west of the Burnt Palace and the Church of el-Khadir (Church of the Holy Martyrs).

The two-months course included basic training, theory, educational site visits and restoration activities. This joint

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of Antiquities expropriated the main archaeological area. Five seasons of excavations focused mainly on the ecclesiastical compound that included two parallel churches and a chapel-martyrion. All buildings shared a common narthex and were accessed from a large courtyard that had several water cisterns and a system of channels. The main church of the complex, dedicated to St Sergius (Fig. 139), consisted of a single nave completely covered by stone slabs, which architectonically is uncommon in the Madaba Diocese. The most surprising data, however, was provided by the mosaic inscriptions in the nave, though it did not preserve the name of the bishop who had patronized the work. Instead, it revealed that among the donors were the eminent Taa’laba, son of al-Audelos the Phylarch (Fig. 140) and Aretas, son of al-Aretas (Fig. 141). The honorific title of phylarch and the typical dynastic names connected the settlement to the Banu Ghassan tribes, that dwelt in the area of Jordan.33 Nitl and its monuments definitely made a major historical contribution to the geography of power in the Byzantine period in the area.

project improved the skills of the participants, allowing them to benefit from the rich cultural diversity of the group and to experience different approaches to solve problems of conservation thanks to the constant attention of two Italian experts F. Sciorilli and A. Vaccaluzzo. Monasticism Another important contribution was made by Michele to the study of monasticism in the area.32 He continued to investigatie the Mount Nebo basilica and the surrounding buildings, and uncovered the small monastery of the Theotokos at ‘Ain al-Kanisah dated to ad 762. The inscriptions discovered there mentioned the Archimandrite of the Whole Desert Cyros, son of Abraham, a stylite monk Abba Longinus, and a hermit, as well as Job, Bishop of Madaba, who is also mentioned in St Stephen’s Church at Umm al-Rasas. Other hermitage and monasteries were also brought to scholarly attention: at ‘Ayn Qattara, in a valley near the Dead Sea, a hermit cell was cut in the cliff near a wadi that led to a cenobitic monastery (Fig. 138); two monasteries in Wadi Rajib near Ajlun; another one in Khirbat Munya-Asfour; and one in al-Quweismeh (Amman) which is historically attested by Leontius of Damascus in the Life of St Stephen the Sabaite. Piccirillo also showed the importance of pilgrim accounts in the identification of sanctuaries to the east of the river Jordan and the routes used by them to cross the country.

Another particularity of the church is that it rose directly on bedrock sloping westwards, thus allowing for a small hypogeal cavity destined to host a collective two-chamber tomb underneath the church pavement. The trap door of the sepulchral unit had an iron hook to facilitate its removal and was marked on the basic layout of the pavement, since the mosaic is regularly organized around the square opening. The excavation of Nitl was the result of an important cooperation between Michele and the Christian community of Madaba that helped in funding part of the investigation and the preparation of the project of conservation of the compound along with a proposal for the establishment of an archaeological park in 2006 - a tangible sign of how profound was the integration of Michele in the local community and how his professional and personal qualities were appreciated.

In 1995, Michele also revalued the abandoned site of Ainon Saphsaphas on the east bank of the River Jordan, identified by pilgrims as the site of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ, where he promoted the creation of an archaeological park. The excavations begun in the area in 1997 by the Department of Antiquities further contributed to the understanding of the early Christian monuments connected to the baptism site.

The Massolini Calendar and Mother-of-Pearl Craftsmanship in Bethlehem Michele’s interests were also turned towards other complementary fields, such as the editing of the Massolini Calendar dedicated to the countries of the Mediterranean Basin on the basis of precise field trips a year before each publication (Figs 142, 143 and 144). The Calendar featured many of his photographs and displayed Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Sinai, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lybia, Sudan, Yemen, the Crusaders and the Holy Sepulchre (connected to the exhibition held at the Royal Palace in Milan in 2000), as well as Mosaics and their Conservation. Despite being seriously ill, he dedicated time to the Calendar of Malta 2008 - an expression of how deeply he was devoted to each project which he initiated.34

The Ghassanids at Nitl As far as I am concerned, it was a privilege working with him. This included several publications and field research projects, the last important work I carried out for him being that of the excavation of the village of Nitl, about 10 kilometres to the south-east of Madaba. It must be admitted, however, that Michele was not very enthusiastic to start work there, for the village had a prominent Ottoman character with abandoned dwellings scattered all over the site, and it presented several logistic difficulties. Yet, the 1996 excavation revealed unexpected data that helped in the understanding of the political relevance of the rural settlement of Nitl. The village had developed near a minor military installation and was inhabited until the 1980s when the Department

A recent excavation conduced by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan at Tall Al-Umayri East, near Amman, uncovered a church dedicated to St Sergius by Comes Almonderos. 34 On the Massolini Calendar, see infra, G. Rigosa, “P. Michele Piccirillo 33

Piccirillo 1983a: 349-350; Piccirillo 1984a: 330-340; Piccirillo 1992: 17-19; Piccirillo 2000a: 80-89. 32

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features were set by the natural two large wadi systems of Wadi Jadidah continuing into Wadi Kanisah to the south of Siyagha, and Wadi Mousa to the north, and the escarpments of the Transjordanian plateau down towards the Jordan valley. The landscape within the survey area varies in elevation from -100 to +800 m.

His last editorial effort was for La nuova Gerusalemme. Artigianato Palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi, published in 2007, a collective work of many friends addressing an important aspect of the craft and production of models of Holy Land sanctuaries prepared according to plans made by Franciscan Fathers and especially Fr Bernardino Amico.35 Michele was particularly astonished to discover how the work of his Franciscan brother had set the basis for an accurate monumental replica of the Holy Sepulchre in Istra near Moscow, which he visited at the end of June 2006.

The intensive archaeological survey of the Nebo region conducted by the archaeological mission of the Danish Palestine Fund is still not complete. In the first five seasons of the survey, over 600 archaeological sites of various importance have already been located on the mountain. The most important sites are the Roman Road and the fortress of al-Mahatta; Khirbat Qarn al-Kabsch, a large fortified site dated mainly to the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods; large areas with many megalithic monuments, dolmens and mainly stone circles, dated to the Late Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age I period; the churches of ‘Uyun Mousa with an Iron age fortress and associated village on the hill slopes to the north of the spring; the summit of Siyagha with the sanctuary of Moses; the monastery of ‘Ayn al-Kanisah east of the spring to the south; and, Khirbat al-Mukhayyat with its churches and monuments. In recent years, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has in fact shown interest in the development of the area, thus increasing the tourist and employment capacity. The area is visited yearly by an ever increasing number of international tourists and by Jordanians. This does not allow for any further procrastination. The spontaneous and rapid urbanisation process, typical of the region, might erode the same environment which constitutes the only resource and strength of the actual development.

The Mount Nebo Archaeological Park It must be said that the last two years of Michele’s life were particularly intense, for he continued his battle for the preservation and conservation of two important sites, Mount Nebo and Umm al-Rasas. The case of Mount Nebo showed the urgency of the establishement of an archaeological park, considering the serious dangers for the natural habitat of the mountain: the opening up of new roads, the arrival of water and electricity services in the region, and the increasing number of visitors. He promptly alerted the Jordanian Authorities in order to avoid the most grievous damages. Michele requested legislation to safeguard the mountain from indiscriminate building activity and agricultural development, thus preserving its natural environment, rich in historical and evocative sites together with its emerging archaeological remains. For this reason, the Government of Jordan has started a process to declare Mount Nebo and its vicinity a protected area, with special zoning specifications. Nevertheless, the opening of a new road towards the Jordan Valley in September 1989 has indelibly scarred the mountain by dividing the two summits of Siyagha. The proposal of an archaeological park was presented to the competent authorities, and in this context a Danish Team directed by Dr Peder Mortensen was entrusted with preparing a detailed archaeological plan of Mount Nebo, giving particular attention to the systematic study of the monuments and artifacts of the Prehistoric period.

The inclusion of this area among the world heritage sites by UNESCO is more than justified, owing to the exceptional universal value which it represents and because it fulfills the various criteria requested for such a proposal. This inclusion is not sufficient to guarantee the safeguarding of the site, as the recent example of Petra shows. The request for recognition, by this international body is in any case the first step to be taken, as the states that ratify the convention are bound to safeguard and protect the heritage. As part of the proposals for the Mount Nebo Archaeological Park area, Michele suggested that regulations should be set out and enforced with respect to the inevitable demand for development, both private and public, within the area. These regulations were to exclude any development in the immediate proximity of the archaeological sites. Michele himself suggested six main points to respect:

The purpose of the intensive survey which was launched in 1992, Peder Mortensen wrote, is “to comb the area and locate, describe, register, and map all the archaeological sites around Mount Nebo, so that in the future the most important sites and monuments may be protected from destruction caused by clandestine excavations, building developments, road construction or agricultural activities involving the use of heavy machinery and bulldozers”.

1. Houses should not be higher than two stories and their façades should be covered by a stone facing. Permits for construction must be released by the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs only after the area has been checked for the presence of archaeological remains by the Department of Antiquities.

The survey was centred around Siyagha and covered an area of approximately 8 by 8 km. The main topographical e il ‘Calendario Massolini’”. 35 On the renewal of mother-of-pearl craft in Bethlehem where these models were created, see infra, C. Benelli, “Il ruolo della Custodia di Terra Santa nell’avvio e sviluppo dell’artigianato della madreperla a Betlemme”.

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2. Chicken farms should be controlled in number and size. No more than two farms per square kilometre should be allowed, and none in the “green areas”, unless they already exist. Coordination should be established with the Ministry of Agriculture. The location of new poultry production farms should be approved by the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs only after prospection by the Department of Antiquities.

practical possibilities to be implemented in our regions. Perhaps, nobody has the courage to see the reality and to speak frankly about the real needs with the competent local authorities which is the only way for a possible progress. In the Near East, as in other regions, there are many young men waiting to be trained to carry out a professional job for the protection of their heritage. This involves time, a lot of time. All of us know that short or long courses to train a young man in the field of restoration are not sufficient. All our international charters (that of Athens, of Venice up to the most recent) are based on the principle that restoration, above all, is an act of culture, and culture is something which grows with time and patient study and work. Our excavations, in spite of the measures taken on a case by case basis, became an occasion for placing into danger the heritage that was the source of our knowledge”.

3. No industrial activities, garages, fuel stations, or any other activity with any potential risk of pollution should be allowed. 4. New access roads to fields (which should not be asphalted) should be built and existing roads improvement should be done only after a thorough archaeological investigation by the Department of Antiquities. The construction work can only be conducted by the Ministry of Public Works or the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

“Salute e pace” Michele was an exceptional man, a pioneer and a ground breaker. No tribute will be enough to grant justice to his scholarship and human qualities. He addressed all from the most humble to the most influential in the same manner. Respect, generosity, humility and devotion were natural to him. He was admired and appreciated (Fig. 145). He would never fail to answer a letter, an e-mail, a call, keeping constantly in touch with a wide network of colleagues, assistants and friends.

5. Agricultural activities are allowed, but the use of bulldozers to open terraces on hillsides should be totally forbidden, or alternatively allowed only under strict control of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. New fields should be inspected by the Department of Antiquities for the presence of archaeological remains before bulldozing, deep ploughing, or tree planting. 6. Each single archaeological remain should be properly located on large scale maps, and adequately but unobtrusively marked on the ground. Removal, modification, or disturbance of archaeological sites and ruins is forbidden by the 1988 Antiquities Law.

His research created work opportunities for many people through all the projects he initiated, carrying on the message of tolerance and peace to all indistinctly, whatever their religious belief, social or cultural level. This flowed from his profound Franciscan nature.

The same passionate battle was devoted to the site of Umm al-Rasas, but sadly he was not fully understood. Some of the last concerned notes Michele wrote on the subject were presented at the Round Table on Heritage Conservation held in the framework of the International Conference of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE) in Rome in May 2008: “The lack of funding and the work carried out on a voluntary basis has resulted in a long dream. For two long decades we continued to work in our own idealistic field dreaming of an internationally funded project which could preserve a unique monument of the historical and environmental heritage of the eastern steppe of Madaba. In the last years, the arrival of large funding which have very little to do with culture but more with the political interests in the area, have distorted the simpliest principles of a normal professionalism, a process which resulted in poor and wrong interventions, mainly for lack of a group of local skilled workmen in the different fields of specialization. I do not want here to say that international projects, training courses, and general principles officially accepted do not have a positive result. Let me only say that in my experience I have heard many words and seen few positive deeds, many generals and few soldiers, many regulations and general principles with few

Michele Piccirillo the archaeologist was much like Michele Piccirillo the man (Fig. 146). He thrived in his Mount Nebo environment, he loved visiting sites and collecting fossils and prehistoric arrowheads and tools way down towards the Dead Sea (Fig. 147). He enjoyed company: his door was always open to all scholars, students, pilgrims, visitors and friends, many addressed him for advice, for religious and private purposes, and he received all with his unique, hearty “Salute e pace”. The unexpected turn of events and his illness were devastating to us all. Michele came to Italy after a few days spent in Croatia, and was planning to join me at the Decapolis Conference organized by ARAM at the University of Oxford in July 2008. He telephoned me and said that he was not able to attend, minimizing the real aspect of illness that he pointedly avoided to discuss, perhaps preserving all of us from the sad events to come. He continued his work feverishly, to the limits of his strength, sustained by his unshakeable faith and iron will, in order to meet as many commitments he could (the Mount Nebo basilica restoration, the Massolini Malta Calendar, the documentary film Verso il Santo Sepolcro, a

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Où qu’il aille, Michele était précédé par sa réputation de découvreur de mosaïques, mais ce n’était qu’une qualification superficielle : avant tout, Michele était un archéologue et un savant. Il ne fut jamais tenté par des a priori faciles, ni par des interprétations imaginatives. Il considérait primordial le travail sérieux reposant sur un examen minutieux des sources et sur la comparaison des textes avec les données archéologiques. Sa recherche eut pour résultat de montrer que plus de cinquante églises pour la seule Jordanie fonctionnaient au VIIIe siècle sous les Omeyyades – un signe de grande liberté de culte et de tolérance octroyées localement aux communautés chrétiennes par le premier califat islamique.

new altar for the Holy Sepulchre, and so on), writing down every single thing in his inseparable small note book. I met him for the last time about a week before his premature death; we talked about many things; I briefed him on the International Congress of Christian Archaeology that I had attended some weeks before in Toledo in Spain; we discussed new projects and excavations to pursue in Jordan. Though he was weak he insisted that we go out for a walk: it was nearly sunset on a warm Autumn day in Livorno. Now he rests on Mount Nebo, in the heart of the small convent under the shade of a tree, facing the Jordan River Valley and the Dead Sea. From the place he loved so much he can still admire, when the sky is limpid and clear, the skyline of eternal Jerusalem. Summaries

Il nous a quittés trop tôt, mais nous nous souviendrons toujours que nous avons eu le privilège d’avoir connu, d’avoir travaillé avec et d’avoir appris du Père Michele Piccirillo.

“D’une petite étincelle s’élève une grande flamme”:

Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda: Padre Michele

le Père Michele Piccirillo, ofm, pionnier

Piccirillo ofm. pioniere dell’Archeologia Bizantina

de l’archéologie byzantine au Moyen-Orient

in Medio Oriente

L’auteur explore quelques aspects de la contribution scientifique du Père Michele Piccirillo pendant trente ans de travail incessant. Michele était un homme exceptionnel, un mentor galvanisant, un pionnier et un défricheur. Ses activités de savant furent incroyablement variées, caractérisées par la gamme étendue de ses intérêts qui couvraient tous les aspects de l’archéologie byzantine. Le théâtre principal de son action fut le Moyen-Orient : Jordanie, Syrie, Palestine et Egypte. Particulièrement couronnée de succès fut sa recherche constante, toujours débordante d’enthousiasme, de dévouement et d’engagement, en Jordanie, surtout à Madaba et dans ses environs.

Questo articolo cerca di approfondire alcuni aspetti del contributo scientifico di Padre Michele Piccirillo svolto in circa trent’anni di incessante lavoro. Michele era un uomo eccezionale, un mentore ispiratore, un pioniere e avanguardista; la sua attività di studioso era incredibilmente estesa, caratterizzata dall’ampio orizzonte dei suoi interessi che abbracciavano l’archeologia bizantina in tutti i suoi aspetti. Il principale teatro delle sue azioni era il Medio Oriente: Giordania, Siria, Palestina e l’Egitto. Particolarmente costante e proficua era la ricerca svolta in Giordania, a Madaba e nelle località limitrofe sempre condita da un grande entusiasmo, dedizione e impegno.

Michele était conscient que la valorisation du passé est le seul chemin vers la paix. Il put construire avec une patience tenace des synergies avec les plus hautes instances du Royaume hachémite de Jordanie, le Ministère du Tourisme et le Département des Antiquités, l’utilisation directe sur les sites des crédits qui lui avaient été alloués pour des projets générant du travail rémunéré pour ouvriers, étudiants, guides touristiques, gardes et autres, qui ainsi ont bénéficié directement, et encore actuellement tirent leurs ressources de son travail. La présence stable sur le Mont Nébo de l’Institut archéologique franciscain dont Michele fit un centre de recherche majeur, devint un point de référence non seulement pour les chercheurs jordaniens et internationaux, mais également pour tous ceux qui désiraient connaître la Jordanie et son passé archéo-historique.

Michele, forte del principio che la valorizzazione del passato rappresenta l’unico percorso possibile verso la pace, ha potuto costruire con tenace pazienza importanti sinergie con le più alte cariche del Regno Hashemita, con il Ministero del Turismo e con il Dipartimento delle Antichità della Giordania mentre l’impiego dei fondi direttamente in loco generava progetti che creavano lavoro per operai, studenti, guide turistiche, custodi e tanti altri che hanno direttamente beneficiato e ancora oggi traggono sostentamento dalla sua opera. La stabile presenza del Franciscan Archaeological Institute sul Monte Nebo, trasformato da Michele in un importante centro di ricerca, divenne il punto di riferimento, non solo per gli addetti ai lavori ma per tutti coloro che desideravano conoscere la Giordania e il suo passato storico. La qualità della sua ricerca non tralasciava la documentazione, lo studio dei materiali, il restauro, la creazione di parchi archeologici ma soprattutto la tempestiva pubblicazione che nel nostro settore è una qualità piuttosto rara.

S’appuyant sur une documentation solide, l’étude du matériel, la restauration, et la création de parcs archéologiques, la qualité de sa recherche avait pour corollaire la rapidité de publication, ce qui dans notre discipline est une qualité rare.

Michele, ovunque andasse era preceduto dalla fama di 54

‫‪Fr. Michele Piccirillo, Pioneer of Byzantine Archaeology‬‬

‫‪scopritore di mosaici, ma non vi è un’osservazione più‬‬ ‫‪superficiale: Michele non era una specie di rabdomante,‬‬ ‫‪era prima di tutto un archeologo ed uno studioso, non‬‬ ‫‪si lasciava tentare da facili ipotesi ed interpretazioni‬‬ ‫‪fantasiose ma metteva alla base di tutto un serio lavoro‬‬ ‫‪di ricerca storica basata su un attento esame delle fonti,‬‬ ‫‪confrontando le conoscenze con le testimonianze‬‬ ‫‪materiali. Le sue ricerche hanno potuto dimostrare‬‬ ‫‪che più di una cinquantina di edifici di culto, nella sola‬‬ ‫‪Giordania, furono utilizzate durante il pieno dominio‬‬ ‫‪Omayyade nell’VIII secolo segno di una grande libertà‬‬ ‫‪e tolleranza del primo califfato islamico verso le locali‬‬ ‫‪comunità cristiane. Ci ha lasciato troppo presto ma noi‬‬ ‫‪ricorderemo sempre il privilegio di aver conosciuto,‬‬ ‫‪lavorato e imparato da Padre Michele Piccirillo, ofm.‬‬ ‫األب ميكيلي بتشرللو رائد اآلثار البيزنطية في الشرق األوسط‬ ‫تسعى هذه المقالة استكشاف بعض من جوانب إسهامات األب ميكيلي بتشرللو‬ ‫في ما يقرب من ثالثين عاما من العمل المتواصل‪ .‬ميكيلي كان رجال استشنائيا‬ ‫و أستاذا ملهما و رائدا من الرواد‪ ،‬أنشطته العلمية كانت واسعة بشكل ال‬ ‫يصدق و تتسم بفساحة أفق اهتماماته و التي كانت تغطي اآلثار البيزنطية في‬ ‫جميع نواحيها‪ .‬و كان الشرق األوسط المسرح الرئيسي ألعماله و خاصة‪:‬‬ ‫األردن ‪ ،‬سوريا ‪ ،‬فلسطين و مصر ‪ .‬بينما أهم محطات بحثه العلمي و العملي‬ ‫المستمر والناجح تركزت في األردن و خاصة في مادبا و المناطق المحيطة‬ ‫بها و التي كان يداوم عليها في حماسة كبيرة و تفاني و التزام‪.‬‬ ‫ميكيلي كان مقتنعا بأن تثمين الماضي هو السبيل الوحيد الممكن للسالم ولذلك‬ ‫بني بصير عنيد عالقات تعاون قوية مع أعلي مسؤولين المملكة األردنية‬ ‫الهاشمية و مع وزارة السياحة و دائرة اآلثار العامة بينما ساهم استخدام‬ ‫األموال مباشرة في مواقع المشاريع في خلق العديد من فرص العمل‪ :‬للعمال‬ ‫و الطالب و المرشدين السياحيين و الحراس و غيرهم من اللذين استفادوا‬ ‫مباشرة و لغاية اليوم يحصلون علي رزقهم من ثمار عمله الجاد‪.‬‬ ‫بينما أدى وجود معهد الفرنسيسكان لآلثار الثابت في جبل نبو – صياغة ‪،‬‬ ‫و الذي حوله ميكيلي ألي مركز بحوث هام‪ ،‬ألي الهام‪ ،‬ليس فقط الدارسين‬ ‫المحليين و العلميين بل جميع الذين يرغبون في التعرف علي األردن و‬ ‫ماضيها التاريخي‪ .‬نوعية بحثه كانت تأخذ بعين االعتبار التوثيق و دراسة‬ ‫القطع األثرية و الترميم و إنشاء المحميات األثرية كما كانت مركزة أيضا‬ ‫علي النشر الفوري لمواضيع بحثه‪.‬‬ ‫ميكيلي أينما ذهب كانت تسبقه شهرة مكتشف الفسيفساء و لكن هذه مراقبة‬ ‫غاية السطحية ‪ :‬ميكيلي كان أوال و أخرا عالما و باحثا لم يقم أبدا بنقل‬ ‫افتراضات و تفسيرات سهلة الخيال بل وضع دائما وراء كل موضوع تداوله‬ ‫عمال جادا من البحث التاريخي ألي دراسة متأنية للمصادر مقارنا النتائج مع‬ ‫األدلة المادية‪ .‬و أثبت بحثه أن أكثر من ‪ 05‬كنيسة اكتشفت فقط في األردن تم‬ ‫استخدامها خالل القرن الثامن الميالدي و هذا يدل علي التسامح و الحرية التي‬ ‫أعطاها الخلفاء األمويون ألي المجتمع المسيحي المحلي‪ .‬لقد تركنا قبل األوان‬ ‫و لكننا سنذكر دائما شرف معرفة والعمل و التعلم من األب ميكيلي بتشرللو‪.‬‬

‫‪55‬‬

Rosario PIERRI, ofm

MOUNT NEBO. THE RESTORATION PROJECT OF THE MEMORIAL OF MOSES INTERVIEWING THE TEAM AT WORK: GIANFRANCO MICALIZZI, CARMELO PAPPALARDO, ofm, AND FRANCO SCIORILLI

of Moses and of directing the restoration work on the mosaics. Before the graves of Fr Michele and Fr Jerome, he recalled the epic acquisition of the sites of Ras Siyagha - the summit of Mount Nebo (Figs 150 and 151), where now rises the monastic complex of the Memorial (Figs 152 and 153), and Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, the town of Nebo (Figs 154 and 155), by the enterprising Croatian friar: “It is said that Fr. Jerome, unsure whether to acquire Ras Siyagha or Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, finally decided to buy both, for fear of making mistakes”. Today we can say that his uncertainty was providential! “What gave him the impulse to embark on this somewhat adventurous enterprise was his love for the Holy Places and Christian memories. Already in 1935, Fr Jerome had built a walled structure to protect the beautiful mosaic of Khirbat al-Mukhayyat. This revolutionary initiative for its time has preserved the splendid mosaic”.

The study trip to Jordan of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem (22nd-28th April 2009), organized and led by Fr Luca Massimo, Assistant Professor at the SBF, gave me the opportunity to return again to Mount Nebo, one of the sites in Jordan most frequented by pilgrims and tourists (Fig. 148).1 The last time I had been there, along with other brothers from the Franciscan Flagellation Convent in Jerusalem and a group of friends, was to pray at the tomb of Fr Michele Piccirillo and to celebrate Mass on Sunday 23rd November 2008. I had then recorded on the SBF website: “From now on, we from the SBF, will have an additional reason to visit the Franciscan Monastery of Mount Nebo, and so it will be for all those who will follow. Anyone who knew Fr Michele is aware that the more pleasant way to remember him is not to indulge in sentimentalism, but to look ahead and to continue working in the ‘vineyard’ as workers who deliver to their master their own labour and their fate without asking for anything in return”. After the celebration of the Eucharist, we visited the tomb of Michele, who rests next to Brother Jerome Mihaić. From there you can enjoy a magnificent view of the Jordan Valley (Fig. 149). The photos which had captured Michele’s beautiful gesture indicating to his Holiness Pope John Paul II on his State Visit to the Holy Land in the Jubilee Year 2000, the steppe of Moab and Jerusalem, are key images for understanding his passionate scholarly work on the history and archaeology of biblical lands.

We asked Franco to let us visit the restoration workshop. As we entered, we saw three young men bent over a “piece” of mosaic pavement. These are former students of the Madaba Mosaic School of Restoration, established thanks to the efforts of Fr Piccirillo,2 and they now work at Nebo. “We need to guide them, of course, and check their work constantly to avoid subsequent corrective actions”. In front of the great mosaic under restoration, Franco introduced us briefly to the history of mosaics and the techniques of production and restoration. “This mosaic was divided into thirty parts. We decided to restore one part each day, and this ‘roadmap’ is producing excellent results: we work slowly, avoiding mistakes and ultimately save time and money”.

A warm welcome is extended to us by Fr Fabian Adkins, who, together with Fr William Winkler, has lived in the Franciscan monastery for some years. Fr Fabian has taken on the task of welcoming and providing for the pilgrims wishing to celebrate Mass - “not an easy commitment when one thinks that sometimes there are twelve celebrations in a day and that the groups do not always comply with the timetable. It must be mentioned that Fr Fabian is not so young, but he is always available”, comments Franco Sciorilli, our exceptional guide. Franco has been for years a close assistant of Fr Piccirillo, besides being an accomplished mosaic artist. He has lived permanently on Mount Nebo for some years and currently supervises the project of the roofing of the Basilica of the Memorial

At this point architect Giancarlo Micalizzi arrived. A member of Tamaricium Projects Ltd - an engineering firm which is responsible for the project of the basilica’s new roof - , he is now directing the work of reinstating the roof of the basilica: “Now we are engaged in positioning the trusses of the roof”. Micalizzi is originally from Sicily, but he was trained in Florence, where he lives and has his studio. He was a member of the working group that produced one of the projects presented in the book Un progetto di copertura per il memoriale di Mosè. A 70 anni dall’inizio dell’indagine archeologica sul Monte Nebo in Giordania 1933-2003, edited by Fr M. Piccirillo.3 He See infra, C. Hamarneh, "The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project”. 3 Piccirillo 2004 ed.

The present article is an English translation, with modifications and additions, of an article in Italian, “Monte Nebo. Lavori in corso”, in Terrasanta 5 (Settembre-Ottobre) 2010: 45-49.

1

2

57

Rosario PIERRI, ofm

A New Roof for the Basilica

leads us to his small studio in a room of the convent to talk about the project being achieved and how the programme is being realized. “In fact, any initiative that was taken during the period of collaboration with Fr Michele was reached only after years of study and comparison”, Franco adds. While the group is still visiting the site and then continues onto Madaba with Massimo Luca, I take the advantage of Franco’s availability to give me an idea of the work in progress, and so I stay at Nebo.

“In 2009 we dedicated ourselves to defining a project for the new roof structure rendered necessary owing to the asymmetry and the particularities of the walls of the basilica. We should not think that the original building remained immune to additions and adjustments over time. In fact, the presbytery bears clear signs of these changes”. Adjusting the Modern and Ancient Masonry What might be an obstacle was viewed as a challenge to overcome, in the spirit that animated the work since the beginning on Mount Nebo: to respect as much as possible the environment and antiquities.“The structure that will cap the existing remains is designed in such a way as to adapt to the existing one. To give an idea of the measure of the complexity of the work, one must remember that it took a year to study and choose the best solution to integrate the new stones, which of course will not only cover the old ones but will be arranged harmoniously with them”. The choice of stone for this purpose has fallen on the famous white marble of Hebron. “It is clear that as it is it would not be usable. The differences in colour between the old and new parts of the basilica would be too obvious; so we decided to treat the marble for its colour to be rendered similar to the tone of the stones of the ancient walls. To obtain this result I did dozens of tests. The current colour is achieved through the use of very fine sand which I found in Qasr Hallabat. What will be the final result of this choice will be seen only when the stones will be fitted in; in the meantime, however, one senses that the desired effect has been achieved” (Fig. 163).

Restoring the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses Viewing the basilica from the façade, one can barely detect the remains of the ancient walls and columns of the aisles, such is the forest of scaffold tubes (Fig. 156). Ensuring the Stability of the Memorial of Moses Complex “Work began in the first week of January 2008. Firstly, it was necessary to ensure the stability of the complex, especially the Basilica, so with Fr Carmelo Pappalardo we took measures for the construction of micro piles which would reach an average depth of 9-10 m. The drilling began at the end of that month and their number, after the geological survey, increased from 40 to 58. This solution will allow to load down on the plinths, instead of the ancient walls, more than 70% of the weight of the structure to be built. In April, the previous roof was removed. The work was entrusted to a local firm that removed the iron structure which had been made in the Iron Workshops of St Saviour following a plan set by an Oxford firm”.4 The microprobes were a lengthy task, which was completed on 10th of August 2008, but this required additional work in order to achieve the welded reinforcement of the heads of the microprobes of the apse, this work being conducted by Franco, Francesco Clemente and Vito, also assistants of Fr Piccirillo, athough on a more occasional basis.

The New Roof In his latest update on the work on the new roofing of the basilica,6 architect Gianfranco Micalizzi’s emphasizes that the new roof of the Memorial of Moses will not rest any longer on the uncovered ancient walls (Fig. 164). Instead, micro piles were set in order to carry the weight of the new roof structure and of the façade. The microprobes are connected to pillars through links by means of bolted plates/back plates. He adds that the project covers four areas: (1) The Cella trichora (or Presbyterium), (2) The diakonikon-baptistery to the north, (3) The main nave of the basilica, and (4) The New Baptistery and the Theotokos Chapel to the south.

Protecting the Mosaic Pavements What about the mosaics? “Their removal took the whole of 2008 and much of the following year.5 This is an area of 700-800 m2 (Figs 157 and 158). After being replaced in their original location, in order to preserve them, an itinerary is envisaged. In the case of the side chapels we suggest laying carpets over the mosaics so as to prevent visitors (in increasing numbers from one year to the next) from treading over them”. The project also includes the exposure of all the mosaics discovered in the basilica, which in some areas form a three-tiered stratigraphy (Figs 159 and 160). The various layers of mosaics were separated, attributed to different periods, and put into storage before being restored (Figs 161 and 162).

The roof and sides will be constituted by ventilated packets and properly insulated, in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the building. This solution will reduce the cost of summer cooling and winter heating, and will protect the steel structures from drastic temperature changes, which were the main reasons for the deterioration of the former roof structure. “Work began on 16th March 2010, and after five stages, we completed the assembling of all the carrying steel structure

This work was directed by Fr Nazzareno Moretti. See Piccirillo 2004 ed.: 15. 5 Sciorilli 2008: 529-530. 4

6

58

Pers. comm. of G. Micalizzi, 1st November 2010.

Mount Nebo: the Restoration Project of the Memorial of Moses

such an approach? While showing some of the cases which had arrived from Italy, Franco told me that they contained sheets of zinc-titanium to be used as an external covering of the roof. “I do not know why, but I can assure you that the owners of firms to which we turn, when they know the history of the place, are happy to meet our needs”. Franco does not refer to the history of Nebo in itself but to what the brothers have done for the site and the shrine.

consisting of 57 pillars, 15 girders and 6 trusses (Figs 165 and 166) and the covering structure of the cella trichora/ Presbyterium, the latter of laminated wood (Figs 167 and 168). We also brought to conclusion the spread of the various layers of the roof system over the entire roofing except for the apse: one board, vapour barrier, insulation, ventilation, second plateau, and a second layer of vapour barrier” (Figs 169 and 170). As regards the structure that will carry the lightweight ventilated façade in open joint, we have already assembled the entire main structure, including the bay that will permit the fixing of the elements of the façade system”.

In addition to skilled workers from abroad, in the Nebo building yard, local workers move in the intertwined “forest” of the scaffolding. One of them, the sympathetic Ahmed Habbas, a man in his forties who has worked at Nebo for twenty years, approaches to greet us, smiling. “One of the guiding principles of the friars of the Holy Land was to involve local people in their activities, in order to create jobs and wealth for the residents, even nonChristians. Fr Piccirillo has always adhered to this principle, as had before him Fr Jerome and Fr Virgilio Corbo”.

From 10th November 2010, other firms intervened. They started fixing the zinc-titanium sheets on the roof, laying the stones of the façade, realizing the electrical implant and the outfitting of the interior walls with mosaics. The Memorial of Moses as a Place for Worship “The intention of the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land was to restore the Memorial as a place of worship”. Franco is right. In the Introduction to the aforementioned volume,7 Fr Piccirillo recalled that Fr Bellarmino Bagatti arrived at Nebo on 15th July 1935, and wrote on the cover of a notebook which he used as a record for the excavation: “Mount Nebo becomes Christian again, Salve!” (Figs 171 and 172).8

The Mount Nebo Archaeological Park As you can imagine the work has revolutionized the whole site. So, in 2009 Fr Carmelo Pappalardo proceeded to catalogue each archaeological/ architectonic feature in the area of the Memorial, giving it an inventory number and photographing it.

Since the church must return to its primary function as a place of worship, the sacristy covering ca 60 m2 will be reached from the right transept of the central apse, its disposition of volumes being well camouflaged in the ancient structures. “Naturally, the influx of people is and will be such that it will be difficult to prevent visitors from entering the basilica while celebrating. This has already happened before and has never caused problems, because even those who are not Christian are aware of visiting a place of worship and not mere ruins or archaeological remains, and therefore naturally assume a respectful attitude”.

Fr Piccirillo feared that the substantial influx of visitors - a source of income that may interest (improvised) investors not particularly sensitive to their impact on the environment - may lead to the “concreting” of the area surrounding the Memorial of Moses. Not that he was opposed to the construction of hotels or other services, but he rightly argued that these structures should not necessarily be built near archaeological sites or areas. Something of this emerges in the Introduction: “During the past thirty years we have tried to work with the same enthusiasm as our predecessors, continuing year after year the archaeological research... refining an overview of territorial conservation, from the top of Siyagha with the sanctuary, extending to Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, and encompassing the whole mountain”.9 The delineation by Fr Piccirillo of the boundaries of Mount Nebo Archaeological Park was put forward in 1998 to the late King Hussein, with the supporting documentation collected and published in the volume entitled Mount Nebo, New Archaeological Excavations 1967-1997.10 It is therefore no coincidence if the summit of the mount is shaded by many trees planted by the monks and their collaborators, and jealously guarded.

A few hours before we had arrived at Nebo, the workers, under the guidance of Micalizzi, had placed a wooden truss, that with great satisfaction and as proof of the meticulousness with which the measurements had been taken, was fixed onto the supports down to the millimetre. Equipped with the obligatory helmet (“It was a little hard to impose it, but eventually the workers understood that it guarantees their protection”), we climbed with Franco onto the scaffolding. On the third floor which corresponds to the entrance of the basilica, we saw Micalizzi taking measurements with a theodolite and instructing workers who were standing in the presbytery to tighten by a few centimetres the tie rod of a puller. “When Gianfranco learnt that the wooden trusses were ready, he went directly to the firm which had produced them in order to take accurate measurements. Then he returned and secured the support of the trusses. In this way he prevented and avoided a sure waste of time and money”. Could anyone disagree with 7 8

There is probably no group of tourists which fails to visit the Memorial in Jordan. The project strongly backed by Fr Piccirillo did not aim therefore to promote the site, but to increase the appreciation of it and its conservation. “The archaeological remains of Mount Nebo must be made known for what they are: the testimony of the

Piccirillo 2004 ed.: 9-11. Piccirillo 2004 ed.: 9.

9

Piccirillo 2004 ed.: 9. Piccirillo, Alliata 1998 eds.

10

59

Rosario PIERRI, ofm

Summaries

presence of a community of believers who continued to live in that place until the eighth-ninth centuries”. Certainly, looking at the souvenir-photo taken on 13th July 1933,11 I recall the beginning of the excavation of the ruins of the Memorial and I am in awe at the effort that led to the creation of the current project. Without the enthusiasm of those pioneers, as mentioned by Fr Piccirillo, what would have been the fate of the Memorial?

Le Projet de restauration du Mémorial de Moïse au Mont Nébo. L’équipe au travail : Gianfranco Micalizzi, Carmelo Pappalardo, ofm, et Franco Sciorilli

“The new roof will protect the rich heritage that we have brought to light and will encourage pilgrims to pray, in memory of the prophet Moses, the man of God who, at the end of his life from this summit, according to the Old Testament in Deuteronomy, contemplated the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea in front of Jericho and Jerusalem”, Fr Michele had written in 2004.12 Although he has not seen his dream realized and thus not closed the circle (since his archaeological career was launched in 1973 by emergency conservation work on the mosaics of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Nebo town, and in 1976 in the Moses Memorial Church of Mount Nebo), he has planted the seeds that will allow in a few years many visitors to pray in the renovated basilica.

Sous la forme d’interview des trois protagonistes de l’un des projets majeurs du Studium Biblicum Franciscanum de Jérusalem en Jordanie, sont décrites la restauration et la nouvelle toiture de la basilique du Mémorial de Moïse au Mont Nébo. Le projet démarra en janvier 2008 sous la direction du Père Michele Piccirillo, mais n’était pas achevée au moment de sa mort inattendue en octobre de la même année. Le travail s’est néanmoins poursuivi sous son successeur, le Père Carmelo Pappalardo, par le cataloguage systématique de tous les éléments archéologiques et architectoniques dans la zone avoisinant la basilique, et par des fouilles visant à explorer le complexe monastique. La restauration des quelques 600 m2 de mosaïques de pavement, sous le contrôle du restaurateur et mosaïste Franco Sciorilli, réunit des anciens élèves de l’Ecole de Mosaïque de Madaba fondée par le Père Piccirillo, tandis que la conception et la mise en oeuvre technique et architecturale de la toiture de la basilique sont menées par l’architecte Giancarlo Micalizzi aidé par des ouvriers spécialisés de la région. Tous les aspects de ce projet respectent l’environnement naturel et les antiquités, et prennent en compte la sainteté du lieu, centre important de pèlerinage dont la tradition remonte à l’époque byzantine.

To many who know it, Nebo partakes of a certain charm, and, after the untimely death of Fr Michele, it arouses even nostalgia. I mention to Franco that the usual and persistent west wind that beats the summit of Siyagha is lacking. “I cannot deny that for some time I have not felt it blowing as before”, he admits. I add a little cheekily that perhaps those two who rest side by side, Fr Jerome and Fr Michele, were fed up with that wind. “You mean they calmed it down? From strong characters such as them everything is possible!” (Fig. 173). The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum tradition lives on in Jordan

Monte Nebo. Il progetto di restauro del memoriale di Mosé. Intervistando il gruppo di lavoro: Gianfranco

On a more serious note, however, the last word should be given to Fr Carmelo Pappalardo to whom has been entrusted the pursuit of Fr Piccirillo’s work: “The unexpected death of Piccirillo certainly leaves a great void, but the work of the archaeologists of the SBF on Mount Nebo continues, and much effort is devoted to the restoration project, with a new roof for the Memorial Church of Moses, besides probes and excavations in the immediate vicinity of the basilica, in order to shed light on the monastic complex in the Byzantine-Umayyad period. This is certainly the proof of the continuation of the tradition of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jordan”.13

Micalizzi, Carmelo Pappalardo, ofm, e Franco Sciorilli

Questo articolo si sviluppa sotto forma d’intervista ai tre principali protagonisti di uno dei più grandi progetti attualmente perseguiti dal SBF in Giordania: il restauro e la nuova copertura del Memoriale di Mosé sul Monte Nebo. Il progetto ha preso avvio nel 2008 sotto la supervisione di fr. Michele Piccirillo e fu lasciato incompiuto dopo la sua inaspettata morte. Il lavoro attualmente prosegue con una catalogazione sistematica di tutti i materiali presenti nella zona della basilica e con scavi per mettere in luce l'intera area del complesso monastico effettuata da Fr Carmelo Pappalardo. Il restauro del mosaico è stato affidato a Franco Sciorilli e coinvolge alcuni ex allievi della Scuola Mosaici di Madaba, mentre il progetto tecnico e architettonico della copertura è ora sotto la supervisione dell’architetto Gianfranco Micalizzi con l’ausilio di

Piccirillo 1998a: 44-49; 2004 ed.: 15-27. Piccirillo 2004 ed.: 9. 13 Pappalardo 2008 ed. 324. 11

12

60

‫‪Mount Nebo: the Restoration Project of the Memorial of Moses‬‬

‫‪maestranze locali. Tutte le operazioni vengono compiute‬‬ ‫‪nel rispetto dell'ambiente, dell'antichità e della Santità del‬‬ ‫‪luogo: un importante centro di pellegrinaggio, la cui lunga‬‬ ‫‪tradizione affonda le sue radici nel periodo bizantino.‬‬ ‫‪:‬جبل نبو‪ .‬مشروع ترميم صرح النبي موسى‪ .‬مقابلة ألي فريق العمل‬ ‫جانكارلو ميكاليزي‪ ،‬األب كارميلو باباالردو و فرانكو شوريللي‬ ‫تم تطوير هذه المقالة علي شكل مقابلة لثالث أفراد فريق العمل المشاركين‬ ‫في أحد أهم مشاريع معهد الفرنسيسكان لآلثار في األردن و باألحرى مشروع‬ ‫ترميم و أعداد سقف جديد لكنيسة جبل نبو‪ .‬بدأ المشروع في عام ‪2008‬‬ ‫تحت أشراف األب بشريللو و لكن لم يتم إنهاءه بسبب وفاة األب بتشريللو‬ ‫الغير متوقعة‪ .‬تم مواصلة العمل مع أعداد كتالوج كامل لكافة القطع المعمارية‬ ‫المتواجدة في مجمع البازيليكا و مع الحفريات التي ساهمت في استكشاف‬ ‫إضافي للمجمع الرهباني و التي قام بأدائها األب كارميلو باباالردو‪ .‬بينما تتم‬ ‫متابعة أعمال ترميم الفسيفساء من قبل فرانكو شوريللي مع مساعدة بعض طلبة‬ ‫مدرسة مادبا للفسيفساء السابقين ‪ .‬و من ناحية أخري يتابع المهندس المعماري‬ ‫اإليطالي جان كارلو ميكاليزي المشروع الفني و المعماري بمساعدة عمال مهرة‬ ‫محليين‪ .‬جميع العمليات تستوفي معايير احترام البيئة و اآلثار و قداسة الموقع‪:‬‬ ‫مركز مهم للحجاج و وفقا لتقاليد عريقة تعود جذورها ألي الفترة البيزنطية‬

‫‪61‬‬

Claudine DAUPHIN and Qutaiba al-DASOUQI

GIVING LIFE IN 3D TO THE CHURCH OF SAINT STEPHEN COMPLEX AT UMM AL- RASAS

Michele Piccirillo had a vivacious and exuberantly active mind. He was fascinated by the opportunities afforded to archaeology by the new technologies, especially the Geographic Information Systems (GIS).1 One of his last projects was the control of the seismic vulnerability of the Holy Sepulchre which included 3D documentation of the Calvary through digital technology in cooperation with the University of Florence for the documentary “Verso il Santo Sepolcro”, directed by Luca Archibugi, but for which he wrote the script together with Archibugi. This film was one of four for RAI Cinema and Digital Studio within a project conceived by Franco Scaglia, Director of Rai Cinema – an archaeological, historical and spiritual itinerary comprising four DVDs: “Il Viaggio di Gesù”, “Verso il Santo Sepolcro”, “Tessere di Pace in Medio Oriente”, and “La Grazia della Parola”. Fr Piccirillo was keen to use the same technology on Mount Nebo, but illness robbed him of time.

supplied by large cisterns (Figs 20, 128, 130 and 131). The first eight excavation seasons (1986-1993) conducted by Fr Piccirillo on behalf of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum focused on the ecclesiastical complex of St Stephen on the northern edge of the town.6 This large complex (ca 2500 m2) consisted of the mosaic-paved Church of Bishop Sergius dated by a Greek inscription to ad 587 (Figs 71 and 128), the VIth-century Church of the Aedicula paved with stone slabs, the mosaic-paved Church of St Stephen (ad 718-756), the Courtyard Church paved with stone slabs linking together the previous three churches, and the Chapel of the Column dated to the final phase of the Umayyad period. The ecclesiastical complex of St Stephen was finally abandoned in the IXth century. From Raster to Vector: Georeferencing and Digitizing The source for our work is the simplified plan to scale of the St Stephen Complex (Fig. 176) which was scanned and digitized within a GIS application.7 Two types of geometric transformation methods were tested: the least square bilinear, and Delaunay Triangulation methods. The least square method is suitable for geo-referencing maps when a small number of control points are available and global geometric correction is needed. The Delaunay Triangulation is more effective when a large number of control points are available. With the Delaunay Triangulation method, control point locations are maintained as specified after transformation, and local geometric distortions are more efficiently corrected. We prefered to adopt the bilinear method when geo-referencing both raster image and vector data for use by ArcInfo, which uses a similar method for geometric transformation. The final digitized map with labeled lines and polygons was then saved to ArcInfo Shapefile formats for use in our GIS Project.

In homage to his capacity to listen to the heart beat of our evolving scientific world and to his unstoppable dynamism, we decided to bring to life in 3D the St Stephen ecclesiastical complex at Umm alRasas. In the steppe between the desert and the sown, 30 km to the south-east of Madaba, the ruins of Umm al-Rasas cover some 10 hectares.2 Identified with biblical Mefaat,3 and listed by St Jerome in his Onomastikon,4 the Roman garrison town of Kastron Mefaa (Figs 127 and 174) where the Equites promoti indigenae were quartered (as mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum)5 developed during the Byzantine and Umayyad periods into a relatively important walled town with, to date, 15 known churches. At a distance of 1 km to its north, the square, 15 m high tower of a Stylite attracted pilgrims who thronged around the holy hermit, worshipped in a church at the foot of the tower and were lodged in a three-storeyed hostel, water for this flow of visitors in a steppic environment being

3D Visualisation Trends and patterns that are not apparent in 2D may be detected in 3D. ArcScene is the application used to view 3D data. The common way to create a 3D layer in ArcScene is to bring in an existing 2D layer and set its extrusion properties to one of the fields in the layer’s attribute table. In our case, we chose arbitrarily this extrusion as being the height of all walls at 1.50 m (Fig 179).

A method for registering, organizing and managing data, GIS enables the combination of spatial data from various sources to describe and analyse their interactions, thus linking sites to their environment, and to test predictive or simulation models. K.L. Kvamme (1989) was the first to apply GIS to archaeology. 2 See Piccirillo 1994c. 3 Notably Jos 13, 9. On biblical Mefaat, see Nicacci 1994. 4 Jerome, Onomastikon 128: 21 (Klostermann 1904 ed.: 128: 21). 5 Notitia Dignitatum XXXVII Dux Arabiae (Seeck 1876 ed.). On the history of the identification of Umm al-Rasas with Mefaa, see Piccirillo 1994b. 1

6 7

63

See Piccirillo 1994d. See Piccirillo 1994d: 71, fig. 5.

Claudine DAUPHIN and Qutaiba al-DASOUQI

Dare vita in 3D al Complesso di Santo Stefano

The Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

a Umm al-Rasas

Our DEM of the site of Umm al-Rasas was generated with data from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM). For this broad view the resolution of the data was 30 m. Even at this decreased resolution, the variety of landforms encompassing the site is readily apparent. For instance, in the south-east, the relief seems to be higher than the western and central parts of the ruins (Figs 177 and 178). Moreover, we scanned and georeferenced the image of the mosaic pavements within the plan of the Churches of the Bishop Sergius and of St Stephen (Fig. 109), in order to combine in 3D the plan and the mosaic pavements (Figs 180 and 181).

In omaggio all’entusiasmo di Michele Piccirillo per le nuove tecnologie, in particolare per i Sistemi Informativi Geografici (GIS) applicate all’archeologia, è stato effettuato un tentativo di portare alla vita in 3D il complesso ecclesiastico di Santo Stefano ad Umm al-Rasas, situato nella steppa a sud-est di Madaba. Il complesso di Santo Stefano, formato da quattro chiese ed una cappella datate al periodo tra il 587 e il 756, fu scavato da P. Piccirillo in otto campagne archeologiche, tra il 1986 e il 1993. Il suo piano semplificato di scala è stato scannerizzato e digitalizzato all’interno di un’applicazione GIS, e le altezze di tutte le pareti sono stati fissate arbitrariamente a circa 1,50 m, creando una visualizzazione in 3D. Un Modello Digitale di elevazione (a una risoluzione di 30 m) è stato realizzato con ASTER : Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM).

Live Interaction In fact, the 3D work described here was conducted specifically for an interactive presentation at the Memorial gathering at the Swedish Christian Study Centre in Jerusalem on 19th November 2009. The live interaction was simulated by a path (vectorial file), in order to show the site in its totality with its different components. This path leads one from the north-east along and outside the southern wall of the complex, into the complex through the Chapel of the Column into the Courtyard Church, the Church of St Stephen, and the Church of Bishop Sergius, ending the visit with the Church of the Aedicula. The various Figures are presented here as screen captures from the 3D GIS application and consequently most do not include a North arrow, nor a scale.

‫إعادة الحياة في ثالث أبعاد ألي مجمع القديس أسطفان في أم الرصاص‬

‫في تكريم لحماس األب ميشيل بتشرللو للتكنولوجيات الجديدة خاصة‬ ‫ تم أجراء‬،‫) و تطبيقه علي علم اآلثار‬GIS( ‫نظام المعلومات الجغرافية‬ ‫محاولة األحياء في ثالث أبعاد للمجمع الكنسي المعروف باسم القديس‬ .‫شرق مادبا‬-‫أسطفان في أم الرصاص المتواجد في الهضبة ألي جنوب‬ ‫ و‬587 ‫ المؤرخين بين‬-‫المجمع الكنسي يتألف من اربع كنائس و مصلي‬ ‫ تم حفر المجمع من قبل األب بتشرللو خالل ثمان حمالت‬-‫ ميالدي‬756 ‫ في البداية تم نقل خطة المجمع الكنسي‬. 1993 ‫ و‬1986 ‫أثريه بين أعوام‬ ‫ضمن مقياس الرسم ضوئيا و رقميا داخل تطبيقات نظام المعلومات‬ ‫ هذا سمح‬، ‫ متر‬50،1 ‫الجغرافية و تم تحديد ارتفاع الجدران علي مستوي‬ ‫ من ثم تم إنتاج ارتفاع رقمي نموذجي (مع‬.‫بإنشاء مشهد في ثالثة أبعاد‬ ASTER Global Digital(-‫ متر) بواسطة تكنولوجية‬30 ‫حل يطابق‬ .‫) لموقع أم الرصاص‬Elevation Model – ASTER GDEM

Summaries Donner vie en 3D au complexe ecclésiastique de Sainte-Etienne à Umm al-Rasas En hommage à l’enthousiasme de Michele Piccirillo pour les nouvelles technologies, en particulier pour le Système d’Information Géographique (SIG) appliqué à l’archéologie, nous avons tenté de donner vie en 3D au complexe ecclésiastique de Saint-Etienne à Umm alRasas dans la steppe au sud-est de Madaba. Comprenant quatre églises et une chapelle, ce complexe (ad 587756) fut fouillé par le Père Piccirillo au cours de huit campagnes entre 1986 et 1993. Son plan simplifié à l’échelle a été scanné et vectorisé dans le cadre d’une application de SIG. Une hauteur, par défaut, de 1,50 m a été arbitrairement assignée à tous les murs afin de rendre possible la visualisation en 3D. Un Modèle numérique de terrain (MNT) (avec une résolution de 30 m) a été obtenu en utilisant le produit ASTER : Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM). 64

Catreena HAMARNEH

THE MADABA MOSAIC SCHOOL AND THE BILAD AL-SHAM PROJECT

In 1976, when the young Franciscan priest Michele Piccirillo arrived at Mount Nebo and started working in the ruins of the basilica, his encounter with the magnificent mosaics changed the path of his life for the next thirty years, unraveling in his vigorous archaeological activity the history of mosaic traditions at Madaba, Mount Nebo, Mukkawer, Hesban, Ma‘in, Umm al-Rasas and many other towns and archaeological sites in Jordan.

Archaeological discoveries have placed Madaba amongst the most important mosaic centres of the world. The region enjoyed a continuous mosaic tradition from the IVth to the VIIIth centuries, which mirrored the lifestyle of the inhabitants, their wealth (which supported the mosaic workshops) helping them to flourish and thus making mosaics a very popular architectural and decorative element. Madaba, a Major Centre of Mosaic Production under Byzantine and Early Islamic Rule

These discoveries brought a huge responsibility, as Piccirillo remarked: “I feel more and more concerned about the conservation and preservation of the historical and artistic heritage of the region”.4

Working simultaneously or consecutively, the mosaicists made use in their works of a variety of stylistic motifs which reflected on the one hand their individuality, and on the other the development of patterns, tastes, styles and quality. For example in the town of Nebo (Khirbat al-Mukhayyat) were two contemporaneous mosaics dating to the middle of the sixth century in the Lower Church of the Priest John and the Church of SS Lot and Procopius. These showed a great variation in style, technique of execution and quality of work.1

Indeed, this concern has yielded one of the best relationships between the local community and archaeologists working in the area, as he instituted a partnership to revive the mosaic tradition, spread awareness towards mosaic art and bring up a new generation aware of its historical roots and capable of conserving its cultural heritage by reviving the Madaba Mosaic School. The Madaba Mosaic School

This and other evidence from the geometric forms used within the mosaic pavements, as well as the repletion of themes in addition to iconographic evidence indicate the presence of a school or schools.2 These mosaics were executed by mosaic artists, some of whom are known by name. Those artists were the bearers of a tradition, and dedicated their time to transmit knowledge by training others to continue their art. The most renowned are Soelos, Koiomos and Elijah from Mount Nebo, Salamanios at Madaba, Staurachious, son of Zade at Esbon, and Euremios at Umm al-Rasas.3

The idea of establishing a mosaic school started to take shape in 1986, as part of the national development plan for tourism and antiquities which aimed to promote diversity and development of traditional crafts, protect and preserve archaeological sites with mosaics, and boost tourism.5 Advocating the idea of the revival of the “Madaba Mosaic School”, Piccirillo organized several events rallying supporters both from the private and the public sectors, ranging from international exhibitions of mosaics of Jordan, to international conferences, meetings, joint restoration projects and numerous publications.

Those artists were local people, as their Greek and Aramaic names suggest, indicating a tradition of local families of craftsmen and the transmission of knowledge to other family members, apprentices or students in private schools and workshops. The mosaic production thrived in the area until the decline of the city, which through the negligence of Man and Time became buried under rubble. It was only at the end of the XIXth century when local Christian tribes resettled the town of Madaba that the rebirth of mosaics took place, reappropriating their function as lavish decorative floors in dwellings and houses.

With the financial support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, USAid and the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Madaba Mosaic School was finally founded in 1992 (Figs 184 and 185). Established within the historical centre of the city and occupying several heritage buildings, it became a major tourist attraction and a landmark educational centre (Figs 182 and 183). Between 1992 and 2006, numerous students graduated from the Madaba Mosaic School after passing the

Piccirillo 1993a. Foran 2003. 3 Piccirillo 1991: 130 and 132. 1 2

4 5

65

Hamdan, Benelli 2004, 2005b and 2008. Cimino 1994.

Catreena HAMARNEH

Church of St Andrew (Mar Zaqqa) in Jericho (Fig. 190), Palestine, and those of Umm al-Rasas, the Archaeological Park at Madaba and of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius (Figs 188 and 189), the Church of the Priest John and the Church of St George (Fig. 187) at Khirbat al-Mukhyyat/Mount Nebo, a mosaic tomb in Aphamea and mosaic panels at the museum of Suweida in the Syrian Hauran. Extracurricular activities included several field trips and scientific lectures.

industrial stream of the vocational education program of the Ministry of Education (Fig. 191). An intensive course was prepared for them to excel notably in mosaic production, art history, drawing, and mosaic restoration. After graduation, some students proceeded to obtain their higher education at universities, others opened their own workshops, thus reviving mosaic production and providing the tourism markets with handicrafts, while still others devoted themselves to the noble profession of mosaic conservation and restoration.

These training courses helped develop an excellent spirit of cooperation, commitment, professionalism and partnership, proving that care for our joint heritage can overcome political borders, language, gender, faith and age barriers by working together on one goal for a better future (Fig. 192). This is the real legacy which Fr Piccirillo, with his devotion has left us.

Through the cooperation between the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem and at Mount Nebo, Piccirillo initiated several restoration projects aiming both to build students’ capacity in the field of mosaic restoration, and to preserve, protect and restore the mosaic heritage of Jordan, as well as store and display the restored mosaics. Amongst the most important projects were the preservation in situ of the mosaics at Umm al-Rasas, the restoration of the Paradise mosaics (in the Madaba Museum), the Apostle Church, the Hippolytus Hall (Fig. 186) and the Burnt Palace in Madaba.6

Summaries L’Ecole de Mosaïque de Madaba et

The challenges facing the continuation of the effort for mosaic conservation through the School, the limitations of the curriculum and the future recruitment of the students, not to mention the ability to manage the conservation efforts in the whole of Jordan in general, and the region in particular, prompted Fr Piccirillo to consider upgrading the Madaba Mosaic School into an Institute. This vision was realized in 2007, with a generous contribution from USAid Jordan Tourism Development program (Siyagha) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

le Projet Bilad al-Sham La ville byzantine de Madaba était connue pour ses mosaïstes qui dirigeaient des ateliers. Ces mosaïstes ne se contentèrent pas de produire de remarquables pavements de mosaïque qui reflétaient l’histoire d’une société sophistiquée, mais furent des centres de rayonnement de l’art de la mosaïque qui contribuèrent au maintien et au soutien de la profession oeuvrant à produire des mosaïques – un patrimoine que le Père Michele Piccirillo fit sien pendant les trente années qu’il consacra à la fouille, l’étude, la documentation et la connaissance de cet héritage musival dans la région.

The Bilad al-Sham Project Inspired by the VIth-century Madaba Map and driven by the awareness of the importance to exchange knowledge in the field of mosaic specialists in the region, the Jericho Workshop for Mosaic Restoration and the Madaba Mosaic School, with the contribution of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, joined forces in 2000, with the support of the European Commission Technical Assistance Office, to establish the “Bilad al-Sham” training course in ancient mosaic restoration which continued till 2008.

Le présent article explore sa contribution à l’établissement de l’Ecole de Mosaïque de Madaba et à sa transformation en Institut de la restauration de l’Art de la Mosaïque. Sont soulignés ses efforts pour construire un réseau régional de restaurateurs de mosaïques en s’appuyant sur les employés gouvernementaux et en éduquant une nouvelle génération de jeunes gens conscients de leur héritage, fiers de leur histoire, et engagés dans la protection et la préservation de leur patrimoine.

The course objectives were to train local staff to intervene in the local heritage, document and preserve the mosaics, enhance the cultural heritage, spread awareness amongst the local community by disseminating information through exhibitions, publications and lectures, in addition to developing new tourism attractions.

La Scuola Mosaici di Madaba e il Progetto Bilad al-Sham

The training course involved seventeen participants from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine with participation of colleagues from Iraq, England and Italy. They worked together on the restoration of the mosaics of the Roman Villa at Shahba in Southern Syria, the mosaic floor of the 6

La Madaba Bizantina era rinomata per i suoi artisti del mosaico che gestivano delle vere e proprie botteghe. Questi atelier non solo producevano eccellenti pavimenti musivi che riflettevano la storia e la raffinatezza della società, ma erano anche un centro di irradiazione del sapere che ha contribuito a mantenere e a sostenere la professione

Piccirillo, Infranca, al-Khouri 1998.

66

The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project

della produzione del mosaico, un inestimabile patrimonio. Padre Michele Piccirillo, nella sua trentennale attività di scavo, studio e documentazione, ha potuto diffondere la conoscenza di questo patrimonio nella regione. Questo articolo esplora il suo impegno per l’istituzione della Madaba Mosaic School (Scuola Mosaici di Madaba), ora divenuta Istituto di Restauro dell’Arte Musiva e i suoi sforzi nella formazione di una rete regionale di restauratori del mosaico contando sulle capacità dei dipendenti governativi ed educando una nuova generazione di giovani consapevoli del loro patrimonio, orgogliosi della loro storia e impegnati nella sua cura e conservazione. ‫مدرسة مادبا للفسيفساء و مشروع بالد الشام‬ ‫كانت شهرة مادبا البيزنطية تعود ألي فنانين الفسيفساء الذين كانوا‬ ‫ و كانت هذه الورشات ال تنتج فقط أرضيات‬.‫يديرون ورشات العمل‬ ‫فسيفساء التي كانت تعكس تاريخ و تطور المجتمع بل و كانت أيضا‬ ‫مركز إشعاع للمعرفة التي ساهمت في الحفاظ و مساندة مهنة إنتاج‬ ‫ قام األب بشريللو طوال ثالثين عاما من الجهد المتواصل في‬.‫الفسيفساء‬ .‫التنقيب و الدراسة و التوثيق بنشر معرفة تراث الفسيفساء في المنطقة‬ ‫هذه المقالة تستكشف مساهمته في تأسيس مدرسة مادبا للفسيفساء و االرتقاء‬ ‫بها ألي معهد ترميم فن الفسيفساء و جهوده في بناء شبكة إقليمية لمرممين‬ ‫الفسيفساء و في تثمين مقدرة الموظفين الحكوميين و تثقيف جيل جديد من الشباب‬ .‫علي معرفة بتراثهم فخورين في تاريخهم و ملتزمين في رعايته و المحافظة عليه‬

67

OSAMA HAMDAN AND CARLA BENELLI

THE RENEWAL OF MOSAIC ART IN THE PALESTINIAN OCCUPIED TERRITORY

Until the 1993 Oslo Accords and the following interim agreements, when the resulting Palestinian National Authority took gradually the responsibility for the administration of part of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967,1 the control over Palestinian archaeological sites was totally in the hands of the Israeli Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria.2 Their management was under Israeli responsibility, and very little had been done in that period for their protection, maintenance and development. On the other hand, already during the Jordanian control of the territory, from 1948 to 1967, there were in the area few archaeological sites made attractive and opened to the public, and during the Israeli military occupation Palestinian cultural heritage had been somehow “frozen”.

during the British Mandate (1935-1948) by Baramki and Hamilton,5 turned into an archaeological park and partially preserved when Jericho was under Jordanian control, and kept open for the public under Israeli occupation (Fig. 194). The great majority of the mosaic floors of the palace, almost 800m2, had been since their discovery under a protective layer of sand (Fig. 195). The construction of the complex was attributed to the Umayyad Caliph Hisham, hence its name Qasr Hisham. The complex consists of a palace, a mosque, a monumental fountain, and a large thermal bath paved with magnificent mosaics (Fig. 196). With a view to Israeli withdrawal, some representatives of the Palestinian Authority realized the importance of having an expert deal with the management of the archaeological site of Qasr Hisham. A series of first contacts were taken with Professor Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem, to support the action. On 29th January 1994 Piccirillo received a letter from Dr Faysal al-Hussein, Head of the Palestinian Negotiating Team at the Peace Conference, asking him in view of his experience in the field of ancient mosaics, to support the conservation and presentation to the public of the palace in Jericho. Prof. Piccirillo succeeded in finding a small private contribution and prepared a first topographic relief plan. The draughting of a Master Plan of the Jericho Qasr Hisham Archaeological Park was undertaken by Florence University. The Master Plan was completed in July 1995. It contemplated among other activities, the creation of a laboratory to teach and train young Palestinians in ancient mosaic conservation.

For a long time there were no training programs or activities in preservation or maintenance and consequently, when the Palestinian Authorities took over the responsibility, it inherited a situation of severe degradation and lack of specialists.3 It was almost impossible to display to its advantage the heritage. The same applied for mosaic heritage, abandoned and neglected, with no skilled staff able to intervene for its conservation (Fig. 193). One of the first localities to pass under Palestinian control was Jericho,4 and consequently the remains of one of the most beautiful Umayyad monuments in the area came under Palestinian responsibility. Qasr Hisham is an Umayyad Palace, built in Jericho during the VIIIth century  ad. The archaeological remains of the palace, including its astonishing mosaic floors, were explored West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement that concerned archaeological sites in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was signed in Washington on 28th September 1995. Annex III, Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs, in Appendix 1, Article 2, relates to archaeology, as follows: “1. Powers and responsibilities in the sphere of archaeology in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be transferred from the military government and its Civil Administration to the Palestinian side. This sphere includes, inter alia, the protection and preservation of archaeological sites, management, supervision, licensing and all other archaeological activities”. To date, the transfer has been limited to urban areas (Area A and B). Powers and responsibilities in most of the territory of the West Bank (59%) - which, according to the agreement, should have been gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction - are still under total Israeli control. 3 For a general view over Palestinian cultural heritage in the recent period, see Al-Houdalieh 2010. 4 The first Israeli-Palestinian agreement signed in 1994 is also known as “Gaza-Jericho First”. Limited Palestinian autonomy and self-rule began in those two parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli Civil Administration in the two areas was dissolved and its powers and responsibilities transferred to the Palestinian Authority in a series of civilian spheres, including archaeology. 1 2

Proceeding gradually, a first conservation activity linked to training was funded by the Italian contribution to Unesco in 1996 and carried out by Italian experts in mosaic assisted by a first group of Palestinian trainees, one of them from Gaza, on the mosaics of the underground bath (sirdab) on the western side of the palace. Above the lateral benches of the sirdab the mosaics were lifted, cleaned, consolidated and re-positioned (Fig. 197). The main mosaic floor had already been lifted and placed on a cement bed by the restorers of the Departement of Antiquities of Jordan, leaving visible joints: the cement was removed and lacunae were filled with half mosaic tesserae, a professional and skilled enterprise. The plaster of the pool of the sirdab was also preserved and consolidated, and the worn out external steps protected by iron steps. An iron rail was installed 5

69

Hamilton 1959.

Osama HAMDAN and Carla BENELLI

around the border of the underground room to protect visitors.

and (g) Local and international legislation concerning cultural heritage.

Still thanks to Italian funding through the Italian NGO CISS and in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Michele Piccirillo, a three-year project was launched in 2000 for the conservation of the mosaic floor in the large hall of the thermal complex and the training of six Palestinian youths. The project entitled “Valorisation of the Tourist and Archaeological Resources of Qasr Hisham in Jericho”, aimed at confronting the problem of lack of skilled personnel in the field of the conservation of cultural heritage in Palestine. The project's goal was to show how cultural heritage could be a strategic resource for Palestine, serving to trigger and sustain the social and economic development of an area through the development of local capabilities to take care of its cultural heritage.

Every two weeks, external specialists were invited to give lectures in their fields of expertise. Guided field trips were organized twice a month to broaden the knowledge of the trainees regarding the characteristics and present conditions of cultural heritage in Palestine and neighbouring countries. Thanks to Prof. Piccirillo’s contacts, once a year, a monthlong training session was organized in cooperation with the Madaba Mosaic School of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and later also with the Syrian Department of Antiquities. During this session (called the Bilad al-Sham Training course in mosaic conservation) the Palestinian trainees, together with Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese students, applied conservation techniques to ancient mosaics in Jordan and Syria (Fig. 200).7 Methodology of Training Training was a process based on a series of constant elements: (a) On-job training. Most of the training was dedicated to the practical experience of conservation. Due to the fact that every conservation activity has a specific character and specific problems, and requires different approaches, trainees were taught how to act in a variety of situations, such as: i. Mosaics which had already been lifted, such as the fragmentary Byzantine mosaics from the church at Khirbat en-Nitle (Jericho),8

In 2000, the project established the Jericho Workshop for Mosaic Restoration, by building its infrastructure which included a laboratory and a specialized library. Its direction was entrusted to Architect Osama Hamdan and the coordination of activities to Ms Carla Benelli. The mosaic expert and trainer was the Italian restorer Franco Sciorilli.6 Within the framework of the program, the main objective of the action was to train specialized staff in all aspects of mosaic production, with particular attention to the conservation of ancient mosaics (Fig. 198). Structure of Conservation

the

Training

Course

in

Mosaic

ii. Mosaics stored in very bad conditions, as the Aphamea tomb mosaics,9

The training course was structured in three parts: onthe-job training, theory, and educational guided visits of sites and probation sessions. The course was held for a total of forty hours per week over two years. It started in February 2000 and was attended by six young Palestinians: Mohammad Hamdan, Raed Khalil, Mosab Owdeh, Said Ghazal, Nidal Khatib, and Khaldun al-Balbul. The on-thejob training in the field and the laboratory involved 70% of the course schedule and, while preserving important ancient mosaic fragments, it concentrated on (a) Study of different materials, (b) Use of tools and materials, and (c) Conservation techniques, including cleaning, consolidation, injection, and so on (Fig. 199).

iii. Lifted mosaics that had experienced in the past traumatic conservation and intervention, as in the mosaics of the Church of St George at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Madaba),10 iv. In situ mosaics that had experienced in the past traumatic conservation and intervention, such as in the synagogue of ‘Ain Duk11 and the Church of St Andrew (Jericho),12 v. In situ mosaics that were in need of specific action of cleaning, which gave the opportunity to train the students in the use of various cleaning tools and techniques, mechanical and chemical,

Trainees also spent two hours every week monitoring the condition of the archaeological site of Qasr Hisham. Each trainee took responsibility for the care, cleaning, and monitoring of a designated area of the complex, learning how to carry out regular maintenance of an archaeological site. Theory classes were also included in the course, covering the subjects of (a) History of the region, (b) History of architecture and historical geography, (c) Graphics and drawing, (d) History and theories of conservation, (e) History of technology, (f) Methodology of conservation, 6

See infra, C. Hamarneh, “ The Madaba Mosaic School and the Bilad al-Sham Project”; Hamdan, Benelli 2004; Hamdan, Benelli 2005b; Hamdan, Benelli 2008. 8 Hamdan, Benelli 2005a: 154; Kelso et alii 1949-1951: 50-60. 9 Hamdan, Benelli 2004: 24-27; Hamdan, Benelli 2005b: 17-22; Hamdan, Benelli 2008: 60-65. 10 Piccirillo 1973; Hamdan, Benelli 2004: 20-23; Hamdan, Benelli 2005b: 34-41. 11 Trivella 2003: 64-67. 12 Meinardus 1966: 181-195; Hamdan, Benelli 2005b: 51-57; Hamdan, Benelli 2008: 18-43. 7

For a general overview about the project see Hamdan, Benelli 2005a.

70

The Renewal of Mosaic Art in the Palestinian Occupied Territory

as in a Roman villa in Shahba (Syria)13 or in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

for two years, within the framework of the academic program of the Higher Institute of Islamic Studies.

vi. The practical training was completed with the introduction of new applications. The main objective was to recover a handicraft that was very important in ancient times, but the knowledge of which had completely disappeared in modern Palestine.

Since December 2003, when the Palestinian Department of Antiquities took over the premises and equipment in Qasr Hisham, the Jericho Workshop was turned into a sort of storage and dormitory. Only after a long discussion did the Department agree to hire four of the six trainees, but instead of using them as technicians able to carry out conservation interventions and to train other staff, they were employed for administrative charges. Their knowledge was not updated anymore.

(b) Training in ordinary maintenance. During the training course, special attention was given to stress the importance of ordinary maintenance within a comprehensive philosophy of conservation, in order to avoid future radical interventions of restoration, which are always traumatic for any cultural heritage.

Prof. Piccirillo and the previous director and trainers kept on supporting the other two trainees and helped them to establish the non-profit association Mosaic Centre Jericho, as a branch of the Palestinian NGO Committee for the Promotion of Tourism in the Governorate of Jericho. Since then, the Mosaic Centre has been a forefront organization in the promotion of Palestinian cultural heritage and continues to revive mosaic art and to raise awareness among people about Palestinian cultural heritage, fostering participation of local communities in the protection and promotion of Palestinian cultural and natural resources.

(c) Training in studies, analysis and documentation. Detailed survey and recording methods were also explored (Fig. 201). Students were trained on how to record the condition of a mosaic using simple tools and methods, by digital photographs and photo-mosaics, reaching very accurate representations of a mosaic in relief. (d) Relationship between conservation and presentation to the public. The importance of the latter process for any heritage site was stressed. The action of conserving was always accompanied by studies on how to best display the cultural heritage, how to facilitate the entrance of visitors, how to publish the results, and so on.

Throughout its projects, in cooperation with public institutions and other local and international organizations involved in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage, the Mosaic Centre Jericho carries out conservation interventions on ancient mosaics and archaeological sites in the Palestinian Territories and in neighbouring regions. It organizes awareness activities for the local population about mosaic art and the Palestinian cultural heritage in order to spread knowledge and involve local communities; to promote social inclusion; and, to train people in incomegenerating activities. The Centre runs in Jericho and Sabastiya two show rooms where handmade mosaics are produced and training courses for children and adults in mosaic production are carried out (Fig. 202). New mosaic production includes copies of mosaics and of masterpieces of art from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, made with natural local stones, pasta vitrae, gold and mother-of-pearl. The earliest two students have in the course of time trained other eight Palestinian youth, male and female, who are currently fully employed by the Association.

The establishment of the Jericho workshop and the training of the first group of six Palestinian specialists in mosaic conservation was the starting point of the renewal of mosaic art in Palestine. However, besides the very positive results achieved by the project, some major problems affected it during its development and after its conclusion. Most unfortunately, the governmental authorities did not fully appreciate the training objective of the project and failed to contribute to its achievement and to facilitate its development. In general, the importance and positive potential results of the project for the whole Palestinian cultural heritage was underestimated. The project received neither support nor encouragement, and its accomplishments in the face of the continually worsening political situation after the beginning of the AlAqsa intifada were not acknowledged.

A series of conservation activities have been carried out by the Mosaic Centre Jericho. Since 2005, it has pursued within the old core of Sabastiya various projects supported by the ATS-Custody of the Holy Land and the Italian Cooperation, and since 2008 the early Ottoman Khan alWakala building in Nablus is being preserved under the auspices of Unesco and with funds from the European Union. Since then, many fragmentary and some entire mosaic floors have been preserved, among which the most important are: - the Byzantine mosaic floors of Magdala, in

Furthermore, the authorities brought the entire project to a halt in 2003, and the second phase of the project, which included a new three-year course in which the older graduates could have continued to gain experience by working as assistant restorers could not be implemented. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, another project was financed by the Italian Cooperation and run by CISS in cooperation with Al-Quds University. The project carried out a training course in “Restoration and Protection of Cultural Heritage”, and involved eight students 13

Hamdan,Benelli 2004: 28-33.

71

Osama HAMDAN and Carla BENELLI

about mosaic art and its history. Moreover, many important ancient mosaics have been saved from abandonment and neglect. The work still to accomplish in this field, however, is huge, and investing in the training of local staff is a key element to multiply the impact and hope for a better future for our cultural heritage.

cooperation with the Custody of the Holy Land,14 - the VIIIth-century mosaic floor of the Shawan Synagogue in Jericho, in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, - the Byzantine St Andrew Coptic Church in Jericho in cooperation with the Coptic Fathers (Fig. 203), - the Byzantine mosaic floor of Khirbat Bir Zeit in cooperation with Bir Zeit University, - the Byzantine mosaic floor of St George Church of Tayba in cooperation with Poitiers University, - and the Byzantine mosaic floor of Khirbat el-Lawze, in cooperation with Al-Quds University.15

Among the many things still do be done, there are some priorities for the near future: • To define a Lifelong Learning Program for local people dealing with cultural heritage. • To define a governmental management policy for mosaic conservation and enhancement. • To recognize the necessity to outline an integrated program for conservation in relation to other functions of the territory and local economy. • To improve the capacity and awareness of decision-makers.

In the meantime, awareness activities were conducted, such as training courses in mosaic production for school children in the villages of Yabad, Siret ed-Dahar, Massa, Sabastiya, Nablus, Kufr ed-Dik, Nisf Jubeil, Beit Imrin, Ijnisinya, Jericho; for women in Sabastiya, Nisf Jubeil, Talfit and Jericho; for victims of torture in Hebron, Jenin, and Nablus; for school art teachers in Bethlehem, Jericho and Tubas; and for the disabled in Bethlehem. Among the most successful recent experiences is the mosaic exhibition of copies of the Dome of the Rock mosaics (Fig. 204), which were produced thanks to a grant from the European Union and shown in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus, Nazareth, and Kafr Yasif (Acco).16

Summaries La Ripresa dell’arte musiva nei Territori Occupati Palestinesi

Conclusions

L’articolo affronta la questione delle condizioni attuali del patrimonio musivo palestinese a seguito degli Accordi di Pace di Oslo del 1993 tra Israeliani e Palestinesi. Dopo anni di cattiva gestione e spoliazione, una nuova Autorità Palestinese avrebbe dovuto ereditare la responsabilità del controllo e gestione del patrimonio culturale dei territori dai quali Israele gradualmente si sarebbe dovuta ritirare. La situazione del patrimonio culturale in genere, e dei mosaici in particolare, era grave e l’Autorità Palestinese mancava di esperienza e specialisti.

Understanding the importance of training as a continuing educational process in such a complex sector as conservation is for the Palestinians a first step towards reaching the capability of successfully facing the challenge of preserving the cultural heritage that has been entrusted to them, a heritage for all humankind. Regrettably, the effort put to renew the mosaic art in Palestine could have been more successful if it had not had to confront a series of obstacles, among which the difficult political situation and the management chaos that Palestine has faced in the last decades, worsened by the inadequacy of the central power and by the role of Western donors, who have other priorities.

Con il ritiro israeliano da Gerico nel 1994, la responsabilità della manutenzione e valorizzazione dei resti del Palazzo omayyade (primo-islamico) di Hisham, inclusi i suoi meravigliosi mosaici pavimentali, cadde sull’Autorità Palestinese. Alcuni rappresentanti politici, consci della difficoltà e delicatezza del compito, si affrettarono ad instaurare rapporti con uno degli esperti più conosciuti della regione, il prof. Michele Piccirillo. Dopo anni di studio e raccolta di fondi, essenzialmente donazioni private e pubbliche italiane, nel 1996 il prof. Piccirillo fu in grado di avviare, in collaborazione con l’Unesco e con il Ministero del Turismo palestinese, una prima attività di conservazione dei mosaici legata alla formazione. Il restauro del pavimento mosaicato del sirdab (bagno sotterraneo) fu un successo. Sempre con fondi italiani, nel 1999 fu avviato un programma triennale specifico per la formazione di sei tecnici locali in tutti gli aspetti della valorizzazione del mosaico, con una attenzione specifica alla conservazione del mosaico antico. Il progetto intendeva fornire un esempio di come la conservazione del patrimonio culturale potesse rappresentare per la Palestina

In any case, the 1990s have been crucial years for the Palestinian mosaic heritage. Since then, the interest concerning mosaic art is growing constantly. At the moment, the knowledge and awareness about Palestinian mosaic heritage is definitely higher than in the recent past.17 Teachers and students, archaeologists, architects, the disabled, children and women have despite everything succeeded in the last ten years in gaining basic information De Luca 2009: 373; Hamdan 2009: 553-555. Al-Houdalieh 2010. 16 Gautier-Van Berchem 1969; Hamdan, Benelli, Nur el Din 2009. 17 A comprehensive overview about the Palestinian mosaic heritage is still needed, but some first steps have been carried out. For Gaza, see Piccirillo 2007e, and for the West Bank the research conducted by the Euromed Heritage III Project “Byzantium-Early Islam” is instructive (Abu A’mr, Benelli, Hamdan, Nour el-Din in press). 14 15

72

The Renewal of Mosaic Art in the Palestinian Occupied Territory

Le renouveau de l’art de la mosaïque dans les

una attività strategica di sviluppo sociale ed economico.

Territoires Palestiniens Occupés  

Il corso era strutturato in tre parti: formazione sul lavoro, teoria e visite didattiche. Si è svolto per due anni, con una programmazione settimanale di 40 ore di lezione, di cui il 70% dedicato ad attività pratiche di restauro e manutenzione. Grazie ai contatti del prof. Piccirillo, una volta l’anno si svolgeva un corso intensivo di formazione al restauro del mosaico per studenti palestinesi, siriani, giordani e libanesi in collaborazione con la Scuola di Mosaico di Madaba del Dipartimento Giordano di Antichità e con il Dipartimento Siriano del Ministero della Cultura. La metodologia della formazione si basava su elementi costanti, affrontando problemi e bisogni diversi con una grande varietà di approcci, in modo da offrire agli studenti una vasta gamma di esperienze diversificate. Sono stati quindi documentati e restaurati mosaici che nel passato erano stati distaccati e immagazzinati, a volte in pessime condizioni, oltre a mosaici in situ che avevano subito in passato interventi di restauro incompatibili e drastici o che necessitavano interventi di manutenzione. Il corso aveva anche riguardato la formazione alla produzione e applicazione di mosaici contemporanei. L’obiettivo in questo caso era quello di far rivivere un artigianato artistico che nel passato era stato molto importante ma che era ormai completamente scomparso. Il corso si era inoltre dedicato alla formazione per la manutenzione ordinaria, lo studio e documentazione e la valorizzazione del mosaico. La costituzione del Jericho Workshop for Mosaic Conservation e la formazione dei primi sei ragazzi palestinesi ha segnato l’avvio della rinascita dell’arte del mosaico palestinese. Purtroppo l’Autorità Palestinese non dimostrò particolare attenzione ai risultati del progetto, sottovalutandone gli aspetti formativi, ed interruppe la collaborazione con gli esperti italiani nel 2003. Da allora il Jericho Workshop si è trasformato in un magazzino e in un dormitorio. L’esperienza però non si concluse e il prof. Piccirillo e i suoi collaboratori, insieme ad alcuni dei ragazzi formati durante il corso, diedero vita al Mosaic Centre Jericho, una associazione senza scopo di lucro che ha continuato senza interruzioni fino ad oggi la promozione dell’arte del mosaico e del patrimonio palestinese. Il Mosaic Centre Jericho opera in collaborazione con istituzioni pubbliche e private, palestinesi ed internazionali e conduce attività di restauro su mosaici e siti archeologici oltre ad organizzare attività educative e formative per la popolazione locale sul mosaico e sul patrimonio palestinese. L’associazione gestisce a Gerico e Sabastiya due laboratori di produzione artigianale del mosaico, dove vengono svolti corsi di mosaico per bambini e adulti. Attualmente otto ragazzi e ragazze palestinesi sono impiegati a tempo pieno nella associazione, che recentemente ha prodotto, grazie ad un contributo dell’Unione Europea, una mostra di copie dei mosaici omayyadi del Duomo della Roccia di Gerusalemme. Comprendere l’importanza della formazione come processo educativo continuo rappresenta per i Palestinesi il primo passo verso la capacità di affrontare con successo la sfida della conservazione di un patrimonio culturale di inestimabile valore, un patrimonio di tutta l’umanità.

Le présent article traite de l’état actuel de l’héritage musival palestinien à la suite des Accords d’Oslo de 1993 entre les Israéliens et les Palestiniens. Après des années de mauvaise gestion et de pillage, une Autorité palestinenne toute neuve était censée hériter de la responsabilité du contrôle et de la gestion du patrimoine culturel des Territoires d’où Israël était supposée se retirer graduellement. La situation du patrimoine culturel en général, et des mosaïques en particulier, était mauvaise, et l’Autorité palestinienne manquait tant d’expérience que de spécialistes. Le retrait israélien de Jéricho en 1994 eut pour résultat que la responsabilité de l’entretien et de la mise en valeur des vestiges du Palais omeyyade de Hisham, datant de la première époque musulmane, notamment ses magnifiques pavements de mosaïque, échut à l’Autorité palestinienne. Certains hommes politiques, conscients que la tâche serait difficile et délicate, se mirent rapidement en relation avec l’un des experts les plus renommés de la région, le Professeur Michele Piccirillo. Des années d’études et de collecte de fonds, principalement des dons italiens publics et privés, débouchèrent en 1996 sur le lancement, en coopération avec l’Unesco et le Ministère palestinien du Tourisme, du premier programme de conservation des mosaïques axé sur la formation d’un personnel qualifié. La restauration du pavement de mosaïque du sirdab (bain souterrain) fut une réussite notable. A nouveau avec des fonds italiens, fut lancé en 1999 un programme établi sur trois ans et conçu spécifiquement pour la formation de six technicians locaux pour tous les aspects relatifs à la mise en valeur de la mosaïque, une attention particulière étant prêtée à la préservation des mosaïques antiques. Le projet visait à fournir un exemple de la façon dont la conservation du patrimoine culturel pourrait devenir une activité cruciale pour le développement social et économique de la Palestine. Le programme fut structuré en trois parties: l’apprentissage sur le tas, la théorie, et des visites éducatives. Ces formations se tinrent pendant deux ans; elles consistaient en 40 heures par semaine d’apprentissage, dont 70% étaient consacrés aux méthodes pratiques de restauration et d’entretien. Grâce aux contacts du Père Piccirillo, une fois par an, se déroulait une formation intensive en restauration de la mosaïque, impliquant des étudiants palestiniens, syriens, jordaniens et libanais, en collaboration avec l’Ecole de Mosaïque de Madaba, le Département des Antiquités de Jordanie, et le Département des Antiquités du Ministère syrien de la Culture. La méthode de formation reposait sur des éléments constants répondant par une variété d’approches à des problèmes particuliers et à des demandes différentes, afin d’offrir aux étudiants une gamme étendue d’expériences diverses. Les mosaïques qui avaient été levées précédemment et dont l’état était parfois pitoyable, furent documentées et restauarées. En outre, des soins furent prodigués aux mosaïques in situ ayant dans le passé été restaurées, et à celles nécessitant un entretien. Etaient également inclues 73

‫‪Osama HAMDAN and Carla BENELLI‬‬

‫أحد أفضل الخبراء المعروفين في المنطقة األب ميشيل بتشريللو ‪ .‬بعد سنوات‬ ‫من الدراسة و جمع األموال القادمة من تبرعات مؤسسات إيطالية عامة و‬ ‫خاصة‪ ،‬و في عام ‪ 1996‬تمكن البروفيسور بشريللو من الشروع بالتعاون‬ ‫مع األونسكو ووزارة السياحة الفلسطينية بأول عملية ترميم الفسيفساء المتعلقة‬ ‫بالتدريب‪ .‬و بالفعل تم ترميم األرضية الفسيفسائية للسرداب (الحمام األرضي)‬ ‫بطريقة ناجحة‪ .‬مرة أخري مع التمويل اإليطالي في عام ‪ 1999‬تم إطالق‬ ‫برنامج مدته ثالث سنوات محدد من أجل تدريب ستة فنيين محليين في كافة‬ ‫جوانب تعزيز الفسيفساء مع إبالء اهتمام خاص ألي المحافظة علي الفسيفساء‬ ‫القديمة‪ .‬و يهدف المشروع ألي تقديم مثال بأن المحافظة علي التراث الثقافي‬ ‫يمكن أن تمثل ألي فلسطين نشاطا استراتيجيا للتطور االجتماعي و االقتصادي‪.‬‬ ‫و نظمت الدورة في ثالثة أجزاء‪ :‬التدريب علي العمل‪ ،‬تدريب نظري و‬ ‫زيارات تعليمية‪ .‬و عقد لمدة سنتين مع جدول زمني مؤلف من ‪ 40‬ساعة‬ ‫أسبوعية‪ ،‬و ‪ %70‬منها كان مخصصا ألي ممارسة الترميم و الصيانة‪ .‬و‬ ‫شكرا ألي عالقات البروفيسور بتشريللو تم ترتيب مرة في السنة دورة مكثفة‬ ‫لتدريب الطالب الفلسطينيين‪ ،‬السوريين‪ ،‬األردنيين و اللبنانيين بالتعاون‬ ‫مع مدرسة مادبا للفسيفساء و دائرة اآلثار األردنية و الدائرة السورية‬ ‫التابعة لوزارة الثقافة‪.‬‬

‫‪dans le programme de formation la production et la pose‬‬ ‫‪de mosaïques modernes. Le but était de faire revivre‬‬ ‫‪un art et un artisanat qui avaient été très importants au‬‬ ‫‪Proche-Orient, mais qui avaient complètement disparu.‬‬ ‫‪Des cours furent également consacrés à l’apprentissage‬‬ ‫‪de l’entretien de routine, l’étude, la documentation et la‬‬ ‫‪mise en valeur des mosaïques. La fondation de l’Atelier‬‬ ‫‪de Jéricho (Jericho Workshop) pour la conservation, et‬‬ ‫‪la formation de six premiers jeunes palestiniens, marqua‬‬ ‫‪le début de la renaissance de la mosaïque palestinienne.‬‬ ‫‪Malheureusement, sous-estimant les aspects de formation,‬‬ ‫‪l’Autorité palestinienne ne prêta pas une attention‬‬ ‫‪particulière aux résultats du Projet et interrompit en‬‬ ‫‪2003 la coopération avec les experts italiens. Depuis,‬‬ ‫‪l’Atelier de Jéricho est devenu un entrepôt et un dortoir.‬‬ ‫‪L’expérience, cependant, ne s’arrêta pas là. Le Professeur‬‬ ‫‪Piccirillo et ses assistants, avec quelques-uns des jeunes‬‬ ‫‪palestiniens qui avaient bénéficié de formation, donnèrent‬‬ ‫‪vie au Centre de Mosaïques de Jéricho (Mosaic Centre‬‬ ‫‪Jericho), une association à but non lucratif qui a continué‬‬ ‫‪sans interruption jusqu’à aujourd’hui à promouvoir l’art de‬‬ ‫‪la mosaïque et le patrimoine de la Palestine.‬‬

‫استندت منهجية التدريب علي عناصر ثابتة مع معالجة المشاكل‬ ‫و االحتياجات المختلفة مع مجموعة متنوعة من األساليب من أجل التقديم‬ ‫ألي الطالب مجموعة واسعة من الخبرات المتنوعة‪ .‬حيث تم توثيق و ترميم‬ ‫فسيفساء التي تم خلعها و تخزينها و أحيانا كانت ظروف تلك القطع سيئة‬ ‫للغاية فضال عن الفسيفساء المتواجدة في موقعها األصلي و التي خضعت في‬ ‫الماضي لعمليات ترميم جذرية وغير مناسبة و كانت تحتاج ألي الصيانة‪ .‬و‬ ‫كان هدف الدورة أيضا إعطاء لمحة عن إنتاج و استخدام الفسيفساء المعاصرة‬ ‫من أجل أحياء الفنون و الحرف التي كان لها أهمية فائقة في الماضي و التي‬ ‫اختفت بشكل كلي اليوم‪ .‬و تم تخصيص الدورة أيضا ألي الصيانة الروتينية‬ ‫و الدراسة و توثيق و تعزيز الفسيفساء‪ .‬و يمثل تشكيل ورشة ترميم الفسيفساء‬ ‫في أريحا و تدريب أول ستة شباب فلسطينيين بداية أحياء فن الفسيفساء في‬ ‫فلسطين‪ .‬لألسف لم تعر السلطة الفلسطينية اهتماما خاصا لنتائج المشروع ‪،‬‬ ‫مقللة أهمية النواحي التعليمية و قطعت التعاون مع الخبراء اإليطاليين في عام‬ ‫‪ 2003‬و من ذلك الحين أصبحت ورشة عمل أريحا مستودعا و عنبر منام‪.‬‬ ‫و لكن لم تنتهي هنا تجربة التعاون مع البروفيسور بتشرللو و زمالئه و مع‬ ‫بعض الشباب الذين تم تدريبهم خالل الدورة تم تشكيل مركز أريحا للفسيفساء‬ ‫وهي عبارة عن مؤسسة غير هادفة للربح و التي تتابع لغاية اليوم تعزيز فن‬ ‫الفسيفساء و التراث الفلسطينيين‪ .‬مركز أريحا للفسيفساء يعمل في تعاون‬ ‫مستمر مع مؤسسات عامة و خاصة ‪ ،‬فلسطينية و دولية و يتابع عملية ترميم‬ ‫الفسيفساء و المواقع األثرية باإلضافة ألي تنظيم أنشطة تعليمية و تدريبية‬ ‫للسكان المحليين عن الفسيفساء و التراث الفلسطيني‪ .‬المؤسسة تدير في أريحا‬ ‫و سبسطية مختبرين إنتاج فسيفساء‪ ،‬حيث يتم أعداد حصص تعليم لألطفال‬ ‫و الكبار‪ .‬حاليا ثمان شباب و شابات فلسطينيين يعملون بدوام كامل في‬ ‫المؤسسة و التي أنتجت في اآلونة األخيرة و بمساهمة من االتحاد األوروبي‬ ‫معرضا لنسخ من فسيفساء قبة الصخرة األموية في القدس‪.‬‬ ‫فهم أهمية التدريب كمسار تعليم مستمر يمثل للفلسطينيين الخطوة‬ ‫األولي نحو مقدرة النجاح في مواجهة التحديات المتمثلة في الحفاظ‬ ‫علي التراث الثقافي الذي ال يقدر بثمن‪ ،‬تراث البشرية جمعاء‪.‬‬

‫‪Le Centre de Mosaïques de Jéricho opère en partenariat‬‬ ‫‪avec des institutions publiques et privées, palestiniennes‬‬ ‫‪et internationales, et mène des actions de restauration‬‬ ‫‪de mosaïques et de sites archéologiques en plus de‬‬ ‫‪l’organisation d’activités éducatives et de formation‬‬ ‫‪destinées à la population locale sur des thèmes autour de‬‬ ‫‪la mosaïque et du patrimoine palestinien. L’Association‬‬ ‫‪gère deux laboratoires d’artisanat de la mosaïque à Jéricho‬‬ ‫‪et à Sabastiya; des classes de création de mosaïques pour‬‬ ‫‪les enfants et les adultes ont également lieu. Actuellement,‬‬ ‫‪huit jeunes palestiniens sont employés à temps plein‬‬ ‫‪par l’Association, qui a récemment monté, grâce à une‬‬ ‫‪subvention de l’union européenne, une exposition de‬‬ ‫‪copies de la mosaïque omeyyade du Dôme du Rocher à‬‬ ‫‪Jérusalem.‬‬ ‫‪Comprendre l’importance de la formation continue en‬‬ ‫‪tant que processus éducatif pour les Palestiniens est le‬‬ ‫‪premier pas vers la capacité à relever avec succès le‬‬ ‫‪défi de préserver un patrimoine culturel inestimable, un‬‬ ‫‪patrimoine pour l’humanité toute entière.‬‬ ‫أحياء فن الفسيفساء في األراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة‬ ‫تناقش هذه المقالة مسألة وضع تراث الفسيفساء الفلسطيني في أعقاب اتفاقية‬ ‫أوسلو للسالم عام ‪ 1993‬بين اإلسرائيليين و الفلسطينيين‪ .‬بعد أعوام سوء‬ ‫اإلدارة و النهب‪ ،‬كان من الواجب أن ترث السلطة الفلسطينية الجديدة مسؤلية‬ ‫مراقبة و إدارة التراث الثقافي في األراضي التي ستنسحب إسرائيل منها‬ ‫تدريجيا‪ .‬و كان وضع التراث الثقافي بشكل عام و وضع الفسيفساء بشكل‬ ‫خاص حادا و كانت السلطة الفلسطينية تفتقر ألي الخبرة و ألي مختصين‪.‬‬ ‫مع االنسحاب اإلسرائيلي من أريحا في عام ‪ 1994‬سقطت علي السلطة‬ ‫الفلسطينية مسؤولية صيانة و تعزيز ما تبقي من قصر هشام األموي (العائد ألي‬ ‫أولي فترات اإلسالم) بما فيها من األرضيات الفسيفسائية الجميلة‪ .‬و قام بعض‬ ‫السياسيين المدركين لصعوبة و حساسية هذه المهنة باإلسراع في االتصال مع‬

‫‪74‬‬

Émile PUECH

NOTES D’ÉPIGRAPHIE CHRISTO-PALESTINIENNE DE JORDANIE

inscriptions funéraires syriaques, par exemple : nyª mškbh ‘m dzq’ l‘lmn « Que son repos (= tombe) soit paisible avec les justes pour l'éternité ! », ou juives, par exemple : nyª h’ npšh dywsp, litt. «  Que soit paisible, Seigneur, l'âme de Joseph ! »,3 avec lesquelles il trouvait des affinités, le mot ny’ªt étant l'état construit de ny’ªt’ en syriaque. Et il proposait de voir dans ’wb d- une préposition signifiant «  auprès de, avec, parmi  ». L'ensemble de l'inscription signifierait alors : « Seigneur Dieu, (que) le repos de son âme (soit) auprès de tes serviteurs ! » Et il ajoutait que l'état présent de la pierre ne permet pas de conclure à la présence ou à l’absence de point dans les deux dalet. Après examen, l’affirmative paraît plausible, bien que ce genre de point ne soit pas courant en christo-palestinien (voir Samra 33). À son tour en 1953, J. T. Milik qualifiait la lecture matérielle d'absolument certaine, ainsi que son interprétation générale.4 Mais il trouvait assez inattendue une phrase nominale et surtout le mot ’wb inexpliqué. En conséquence, il a proposé de traduire : « Seigneur Dieu, puisses-tu donner le repos à son âme ‘au sein’ de tes serviteurs ! ». Il voyait en ny’ªt un pi‘el dénominatif, parallèle au grec anapauein et mettait volontiers ’wb en rapport avec l'araméen ’wb’ « sein » (voir « le sein d'Abraham, du Père »), en supposant qu'avec la particule d-, le mot ‘forme une espèce de préposition au sens vague de « en compagnie de, avec »’.5 Ce relâchement sémantique expliquerait l'état construit au lieu de l'emphatique, ainsi que la graphie avec ’alef au lieu de ‘aïn qui répondrait à un possible échange des laryngales. Enfin, le terme ‘bd s'applique d'habitude mieux aux vivants et aux morts qu'aux saints.

Ces notes en mémoire de l’infatigable archéologue qui a arpenté la Terre Sainte et la Jordanie en particulier, découvrant nombre de structures, de mosaïques et d’inscriptions, rassemblent l'étude des inscriptions en araméen christo-palestinien déjà publiées et souvent oubliées mais qui méritent un certain nombre de remarques, suite en particulier à des notices ou mentions dispersées. Y sont ajoutées des inscriptions non publiées de la Jordanie. L’ensemble forme un petit corpus qui doit être apprécié dans son aire géographique de la Province de la Palestine byzantine (Fig. 205). La datation souvent approximative des inscriptions ne permet pas une présentation chronologique, la plupart se situant entre le VIe siècle et le début du VIIIe siècle. Comme Fr. Michele Piccirillo, un ami de très longue date, nous a souvent confié l’étude de ces textes découverts par lui, nous nous devons d’honorer sa mémoire dans le pays où il a choisi de reposer, en poursuivant l’étude d’une période importante de son œuvre scientifique consacrée à l’époque byzantine. Ces pages voudraient être une petite marque de reconnaissance à l’immense contribution qui a été la sienne dans ce domaine. 1 - La pierre tombale et le tesson christo-palestiniens de Jérash – Gérasa (Figs 206 et 207) A - En 1893, fut achetée dans une maison de Tcherkesses à Jérash par le R.P. Féderlin des Pères Blancs de Jérusalem une pierre tombale d'environ 0,45 m de longueur, mais elle fut réduite à une pierre plate d'environ 13 cm d'épaisseur pour les commodités du transport ; elle est déposée au musée de Sainte-Anne de Jérusalem (S 309). Les dimensions de la face inscrite sont de 0,28 x 0,33 m, hauteur moyenne des lettres 3,5 cm. Publiée par F. Macler,1 elle fut réétudiée par S. Ronzevalle2 qui a donné un premier déchiffrement quelque peu cohérent de cette inscription complète qui, profondément et parfaitement gravée, n'offre aucune difficulté matérielle de lecture. Ce dernier auteur l'a fort judicieusement qualifiée de « syropalestinienne » et non de syriaque. Et l'auteur d'ajouter : « ce que je propose aujourd'hui ne me satisfait qu'à moitié, bien que la teneur générale de l'inscription me paraisse tout à fait assurée ». Il lisait :

Toutefois, si la lecture est assurée et le sens général saisissable, la construction ne va pas sans difficulté. On ne peut tout à fait comparer ’wb d‘bdyk aux formules syriaques « avec les justes » qui utilisent toujours la préposition ‘m, voir ci-dessus et cet autre exemple ’lh’ nnyªyh lnpšh ‘m ’bht’6 d'une part et, d'autre part, ces inscriptions emploient toujours la formule avec la préposition, par exemple b’wb’ ’brhm.7 Le mot ’wb au cas construit suivi de la particule d- paraît bien étrange dans ce cas. Il faut certainement chercher dans une autre direction. La forme ny’ªt est clairement le cas construit en Voir Pognon 1907 : respectivement n°s 52,13, et 41, mais il traduit « Accorde la tranquillité, ô Seigneur, à l’âme de Joseph ». 4 Milik 1953 : 527-528. Milik a lu aussi un dalet pointé. 5 Cette interprétation est acceptée par Bar-Asher 1977 : 111-112. 6 Voir Pognon 1907 : 134, n° 75a, 9-10. 7 Voir Pognon 1907 : n°s 99,8-9 ; 103,8 ; 107,10 ; 116,2 wlnyªt’ ‘m qdyš’, et 116/2,12. 3

kyDb[D5 bwa hXpn4 txayn3 ahla2 arm1 + Pour donner un sens à cette lecture assurée grâce à l'examen de deux estampages, il s'inspirait du genre littéraire des 1 2

Macler 1907, avec une excellente photographie, p. 19, figure 5. Ronzevalle 1908-1909, avec un dessin, p. 29* d'après deux estampages.

75

Émile PUECH

«  Que le Seigneur Jésus Christ bénisse ce lieu (saint) et tous ceux d'entre nous qui L'aiment. Amen. Sa supplication est [celle que] disent Étienne [qui] a reconstruit Rhaïtou, [et] ãabbiba. Amen. »

orthographe pleine du mot attesté en syriaque ny’ªt’ au sens d’anapausis, koimèsis, dormitio. L'expression ny’ªt npšh signifie donc «  le repos de son âme  ». Dans cette phrase, ’wb d- ne peut être « une espèce de préposition », ni un adverbe,8 mais bien un substantif absolu de la racine ’wb, mieux connue au ’etpa‘al, ’t’wb « brûler de désir », parallèle à ’hb et à rapprocher de y’b, ’ty’b, au sens de « désirer fortement ». On comparerait alors ’wb au syriaque yw’b’ cupido, desiderium. Dans ce cas, ‘bdyk désigne bien les vivants qui entourent le défunt de leurs prières.

Au premier paragraphe, la lecture mnn, ligne 6, est certaine, au lieu de myn.14 La lecture du deuxième paragraphe du corpus de 1984 n’est pas à retenir et celle de 1994 n'est pas entièrement recevable. Si notre lecture dlwth, ligne 9, suivait celle de Milik en écartant [mn] lwth de P. Lemaire qu'avait cependant retenue l'auteur en 1984, on doit reconnaître que la lecture b‘wth proposée est tout aussi acceptable que le dalet possible lui aussi. En prolongeant la base de la lettre, bet est sans doute préférable et rendrait compte de la tesselle noire possible devant la lettre lue lamed légèrement penché qui serait alors à prendre pour un très long ‘aïn (quatre tesselles). Le mot b‘wth avec le suffixe objectif signifie « Sa prière/demande/ supplication ».

L'inscription, sans nom du défunt, est une prièreinvocation pour celui ou celle qui repose dans le tombeau, le suffixe de npšh pouvant être masculin ou féminin. Ce souhait est bien exprimé dans une phrase nominale dont ’wb à l'absolu est le prédicat. Mais cette formulation n'est pas inattendue, elle rejoint les exemples syriaques cités plus haut. Cette inscription sans difficulté syntaxique est alors à comprendre ainsi  : Litt. : « Seigneur Dieu, le repos de son âme, (c'est) le désir de tes serviteurs ». Autrement dit, « Seigneur Dieu, tes serviteurs désirent ardemment le repos de son âme ».9

A la ligne 10 les tesselles noires conservées ne peuvent convenir qu'à ’alef/qof ou à un grand nun, mais bet est certainement à rejeter. Si on considère que la partie inférieure de la photographie publiée en Liber Annuus est quelque peu réduite (de la grandeur de deux tesselles de part et d'autre), il y a encore place pour un dalet pour un alignement à la marge droite. Et à la fin de la ligne, il y a une tesselle noire au-dessus et une en pointe sous la ligne, manifestement pour un nun final (voir ligne 14). La lecture proposée [d]’mryn paraît ainsi assurée, mais [d]bmry n'est certainement pas à retenir,15 malgré le rapprochement avec le grec où on attendrait mr(’)n, la forme mry est peu vraisemblable pour ce sens.

B - Deux tessons d’une grande jarre portent deux fois gravé avant cuisson très probablement le nom du potier (une seule est publiée).10 Le nom profondément gravé est précédé d’une croix et se place au-dessous de bandes concentriques portant un décor en zigzag moins profondément gravé sur l’épaule: abybX +. Cette racine araméenne revient peu souvent dans l’onomastique palestinienne, e.g. le monastère des Soubibôn tôn Surôn et Soubiba tôn Besôn près du Jourdain.11 Le type de céramique est daté des VIeVIIe siècles (voir Umm er-Rasas, infra).

A la ligne 12, nous avions proposé [w‘]bd ryt[w] avec des traces (en négatif) des tesselles du ‘aïn oblique. Cette lecture reste possible au sens de «  ‘Abd Rhaïtou  » ou « servant de Rhaïtou », mais on lit aussi bien [d]‘bd ryt[w] « [qui a recon]struit Rhaïtou ». Le monastère de ce nom est connu dans la péninsule du Sinaï.16 Le mot ryt[w] est certain, et la lecture [der] gestiftet hat [ein Viertel(?) n'est certainement pas à retenir. Le suffixe de b‘wth se rapporte au Seigneur comme suffixe objectif tout comme en drªm lh (ligne 7), différent de la construction de Dn 6,14, et le participe ’mryn a le sens de « dire, proclamer, chanter, prier, psalmodier (l'office) »,

2 - L'inscription christo-palestinienne du monastère d'elQuweismeh (Fig. 208) Cette inscription avait fait l'objet d'une révision en 1984 avec la publication d'une photographie.12 La même année paraissait un premier corpus de textes araméens contenant des textes en araméen christo-palestinien et un complément en 1994.13 Mais il est nécessaire de rectifier ces présentations. L'inscription dans un entrecolonnement et sans panneau est clairement disposée en deux paragraphes finissant par ’myn. Lire ainsi : !yma8 hl mxrd7 !nm lwkw6 arta5 !dÎhÐ $yrba4 axyXm3 swsy2 arm1 !yma14 abybxÎwÐ13 wtyr db[ÎdÐ12 swnpjs11 !yrmaÎdÐ10 htw[b9

Beyer 1994 : lecture de 1984 non rectifiée en 1994. La tesselle à droite de l’haste assure le tracé de nun non de yod. 15 Beyer : 1994 : « betreffend (= für) den herrn ». 16 Voir la Vie d'Euthyme 26, 10-11 : « Puis il reçut de même trois autres frères de Rhaïtou, Jean, prêtre, Thalassios et Anatolios, ... » (Festugière 1962 ed.  : 79). La lecture  «  qui a construit Rhaïtou  » supposerait la datation de cette mosaïque contemporaine de la fondation de Rhaïtou et au plus tard contemporaine de Saint Euthyme (337-473) au Ve siècle, à moins qu'on ait affaire à une reconstruction, comme il semble, pour une datation au début du VIIIe siècle comme c’est le cas de l’inscription dédicatoire grecque qui mentionne aussi ãabbiba, voir Piccirillo 1984a : 332-333 et 337-338 pour une autre inscription qui mentionne un tribun Étienne. 14

Beyer 1984 : 403, qui le comprend comme ’wp devant d- ! Cet auteur lit aussi le suffixe à mr’n « Unser Herr », sans nulle trace gravée et n’ªt sans yud, suivi en tout par Müller-Kessler 1991: 14. 9 Une correction secondaire (éraflure ?) du suffixe npšh en npšnh « notre âme » est exclue. 10 Voir Stinespring 1935 : 9 et fig. 5, note reprise par Welles 1938: 493, no 360, et Milik 1953: 529, no 5. 11 Voir Milik 1953 : 529 note 2, citant Jean Moscus, Pré Spirituel, chap. 157 (voir Rouët de Journel 1946 : 211-212). 12 Puech 1984b : 341, figure 7, et photographie 12, Pl. 38, voir le plan 1, face à la page 336. Le monastère d’el-Quweisme se trouve dans la périphérie sud d’Amman. 13 Beyer 1984 : 402-403 ; 1994 : 269-270. 8

76

Notes d’épigraphie christo-palestinienne de Jordanie

comme nous l'avons rappelé dans l'étude précédente. Le verbe ’bryk est à l'imparfait avec ’alef au lieu de yod, il y a même un point sur le ’alef ; pour sa valeur, voir l'inscription du Ouadi Rajib-Ajloun.17 L’église a été restaurée en 717-18.

d !wrkd db[y arq 1 yrml !baj 2 wrylw aXXq !ayg 3 am wdyb[d !wt 4 atÎXynk tybd yÐwn 5 adhÐ 6 «  Que le lecteur fasse mémoire des bienfaits des seigneurs Gayan(os), Qašiša et de leurs héritiers qui ont restauré [le (lit. son)] mobilier[ de cette églis]e ».22 C’est la plus ancienne inscription christo-palestinienne en Jordanie datée du début du VIe siècle.

3 - L'inscription christo-palestinienne d'‘Ayoun Musa (Figs 209, 210 et 211) L'inscription christo-palestinienne d'‘Ayoun Musa en tesselles blanches sur fond rouge, publiée en 1984,18 a posé quelques difficultés de lecture.19 Nous avions signalé mais non retenu la lecture lmry à cause des restes de deux tesselles triangulaires à chaque extrémité, sans base préservée à la cassure-dislocation et à cause de sa place sur la ligne pour yod au profit de nun final pour lmrn, parallèle à la formulation NP tou patrou hèmôn mentionnée tout à côté à ‘Ayoun Musa (inscription 3). Mais on peut supposer l’arrachage de deux tesselles rectangulaires dans la dislocation de la mosaïque pour la lecture lmry à lire comme cas construit pluriel et accepter l’absence du waw copule à la ligne 3 (w)qšš’. Dans ce cas qšš’ n’est plus apposition « Gayan(os), le prêtre » mais l’anthroponyme Qašiša. Gaian(os) est déjà mentionné dans l’inscription grecque 3, 1 : huper mnèmes Kaianou « Pour la mémoire de Kaianos », dans une même formule, et lignes 3-4 kai huper sôterias Kasisèou « et pour le salut de Kasisèos », les deux mêmes personnages de notre inscription, assurant l’équivalence phonétique si discutée gimel-kappa. Et wlyrwtwn est à lire avec le suffixe pluriel en forme apocopée « et de leurs héritiers » pour wlyrwtyhwn. Mais en aucune façon, on ne peut comprendre «  et de ses héritiers  ».20

4 - L’inscription de l’église Saint Georges d’al-Mukhayyat (Fig. 212) Près d’‘Ayoun Musa, a été découverte une mosaïque dans la sacristie de l’église Saint Georges d’al-Mukhayyat portant deux inscriptions de part et d’autre de la ramure d’un palmier. L’une à droite est en grec saôla, et l’autre à gauche en une écriture plus difficilement identifiable, que les éditeurs ont lue en écriture arabe bsl’m « en paix ».23 Milik en a fait une inscription christo-palestinienne en lisant nyª šwzb « (Dieu) donne repos et salut (à Saola) ».24 Devant ces difficultés, ne devrait-on pas lire de part et d’autre le même anthroponyme d’une inscription ‘bilingue’ ? Il est assez habituel de retrouver les mêmes personnages dans les deux écritures : Étienne et ãabbiba à el-Quweismeh, Gaian(os) et Qašiša à ‘Ayoun Musa par exemple. La ligne et le premier trait vertical à droite sont en tesselles noires alors que les autres traits sont en rouge. Une lecture xyn alwX « Que soit en paix S(a)ôla ! » en christo-palestinien semble préférable à l’arabe en combinant des traits des waw-lamed (sous la ligne)-’alef (inversé). L’archidiacre Saôla est mentionné dans les inscriptions grecques 2 et 3 de cette église dont la construction date vers 525-540.25

Le participe qr’ peut aussi être une forme déterminée et substantivée, et il est inutile de substituer qr’ au début de l'inscription.21 Sur les premières photos, on distingue encore les deux tesselles pour l’orthographe pleine d‘bydw. Enfin, une lecture m’nw[y est pratiquement assurée « [son] mobilier ». Il est à noter que la pose ou réfection de la mosaïque fait partie du mobilier de l'église. On pourrait comprendre ensuite dbyt knyš]t’ 6 h[d’ en y insérant le fragment isolé ]’[ à la fin de la ligne 5 dont la partie gauche est préservée dans la partie effondrée ; ce fragment a aussi conservé des restes du pied du taw de knyš]t’.

5 - Les inscriptions christo-palestiniennes de Khirbet elKursi - Amman (Fig. 213) Des propositions ont été faites aux lectures des inscriptions christo-palestiniennes découvertes à Khirbet el-Kursi à 10 km à l’ouest d’Amman.26 Aux inscriptions 1 et 2, l’une en tesselles rouges (1) et l’autre en tesselles noires (2) sur fond blanc, Beyer lit mr ysws, avec yod tombé par aphérèse au lieu de la lecture attendue mr’. Je proposais déjà de comprendre la forme brève mr pour mry. Mais il n’est pas du tout assuré qu’il faille restaurer cette forme à l'inscription 3, ligne 4, (en tesselles noires) au lieu de mr’ bien plus satisfaisant pour l’espace et sans

Voir Müller-Kessler 1991 : 35 (2.6.2.3.) pour ‘a’ de ’tr’, et 35-37 pour ‘e’, voir aussi p. 168, et Puech 2003 : 317-19.

17

Puech 1984a. Dans cette note, nous avons oublié de mentionner le reste du ’alef dans la partie effondrée à gauche. 19 Beyer 1994 : 271. 20 Proposition de Di Segni 1998 : 455. Voir déjà Kessler-Müller 1991 : 11-12 et 69-70, pour le suffixe suivie par Beyer 1994. Mais contrairement à Di Segni, Gaian est le même personnage que Kaianos en grec (p. 451 où je suis la lecture de Piccirillo pour un espace suffisant d’une part et, d’autre part, l’inscription distinguant mnèmes et sôterias le pourrait aussi avec anapauseôs), et non à identifier à Gaianus, évêque de Madaba au milieu du Ve siècle, et la traduction «  ses héritiers  » est certainement préférable à «  ses successeurs  » en pensant à l’évêque, tout comme Kasiséos n’est pas nécessairement un nom d’origine arabe (p. 442), mais une transcription de qašiša « Leprêtre ». 21 Beyer 1994 : 271. 18

On connaît un Gaianos reçu par Euthyme fondant sa laure, Vie d'Euthyme 26,10 (Festugière 1962 ed.: 79). 23 Saller, Bagatti 1949 : 171-172. 24 Milik 1959-1960 : 159-60, qui signale fort justement que le verbe exprime la même idée que huper sôtèrias (voir inscriptions 2 et 3 à propos de Saôla) et huper anapauseôs des inscriptions grecques. Voir Knauf 1984 : 456-58, pour une lecture en arabe, et Beyer 1994 : 271. 25 Saller, Bagatti 1949 : 156. 26 Puech 1988 : 383-89, photographies 15-17. Voir Beyer 1994 : 270. 22

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possibilité d’aphérèse cette fois, qui est la forme bien connue pour l'emphatique du vocatif. Par ailleurs, on ne voit pas pourquoi l'auteur restaure [yt]rªm au lieu de la forme deux fois répétée de ’trªm (inscriptions 1 et 2) qui est aussi la forme de l'imparfait avec ’alef (voir par exemple Ouadi Rajib, lignes 5-7 et el-Quweismeh, ligne 4), même si la forme ytrªm est connue par un depinto 1 2 3 4 5 sur plâtre de Kh. Mird : mr’ ysws mšyª’ ytrªm [‘]l ’brh[m... Quant à la restauration [twm]s, elle n’est pas plus assurée que [wywªny]s, et paraît même exclue, puisque l'inscription grecque du côté opposé, à droite de la tabula ansata précisément, connaît deux «  Jean  », un prêtre et un moine, et que la présence de Thomas, en référence à l'évêque de l'inscription dédicatoire grecque, paraît difficilement être en deuxième position. Ce pourrait être, il est vrai, un autre Thomas, inconnu ; on préfère conserver si possible une forme de bilingue de part et d'autre de la tabula ansata, en excluant aussi une lecture [wt’dr]s sans élément vocalique. Quant à la ligne 1 de cette inscription, taw après šin paraît exclu. Il est probable que les personnes mentionnées ici étaient les fils de Shûmmash du tapis supérieur du presbytérium et de Sommaseos de la tabula. En conséquence, le nom semble devoir être lu šw[mš(y)]’, diminutif du patronyme, voir šwmš’, à Samra n° 55 et Samsaios, Samséos, Samsos. ÐXmwX l[ mxrta swsy ¿yÀrmÎ + 1 XmwX l[ mxrta axXm swÎsy ¿yÀrm + 2 mxrÎtaÐ5 !whylÎ[ armÐ4 XmwÎX ynbÐ3 sÎynxwywÐ2 aοyÀXmÐwX1 3

ayaq aXyXq l[ ¿sicÀ¿!Àymaxr dby[ arm 1 + atrd db[d ¿tÀwl wbwsad hrb 2 Seigneur, fais miséricorde au prêtre Qaya, (le) fils d'Assoubos, envers celui qui a (re)fait la cour + - Ligne 1 : mr’ est la forme normale de l'emphatique du vocatif et le reš ne porte pas de signe diacritique, vu la dimension de la lettre et le peu d'espace réservé (deux seules lignes de tesselles blanches). Le vocatif est suivi du verbe ‘ybd, à l'impératif construit avec rª’my, les deux mots en scriptio plena avec yod et ’alef d'une part et, d'autre part, en orthographe fautive, il manque le nun final du masculin pluriel, le mosaïste ayant probablement confondu nun final et ‘aïn, d'inclinaison et de forme semblables, mais on ne peut pas lire rª’myn l-, la lettre étant en ligature avec le lamed.30 En effet, si le verbe rªm demande la préposition ‘l, le verbe ‘bd se construit le plus souvent avec l- devant la personne. Il est vraisemblable que la méprise du mosaïste entre les deux lettres s’est traduite par l’oubli du nun final par haplographie. On peut comparer la formulation w’‘bd ‘lwh rªmn de l'inscription du Ouadi Rajib-Ajloun31 employant aussi la préposition ‘l. La forme emphatique rªmy’ (avec ou sans métathèse du ’alef à rª’my ou rª’my’) n'est pas davantage attendue dans cette formulation contrairement à l'absolu plus logique. Le substantif q’šyš’ est en orthographe doublement pleine (’alef et yod) avec des ligatures par l'horizontale supérieure du ’alef dans deux formes différentes, (pour l'orthographe, comparer Samra, stèle n° 82). L'anthroponyme q’y’ en orthographe pleine lui aussi doit être une transcription d'un nom latin ou grec, Caius/os, plus difficilement Gaius/os, la substitution de g/q n'est pas habituelle même si elle est connue, et la finale -us/os pouvant être rendue par -’, -ws, -s ou rien. En Nabatène sont connues les formes gys, en Palmyrène g’ys, voir aussi Gaios, mais cette orthographe peut difficilement passer pour une forme de qyn - Kaianos, qyn’ ainsi que le suggère l'éditeur (ADAJ) qy’n, à moins, là encore, d’une haplographie du nun. 1 2

+ ]Seigneur Jésus, aie pitié de Shummash ! [+ Seigneur Jés]us, Christ, aie pitié de Shummash ! 3 1 Shu[mmash(ai)]os 2[et Yôannè]s 3[fils de Sh] ummash, 4[Seigneur, d]’eux 5[aie] pitié ! 1 2

6 - L'inscription christo-palestininenne de ãayyan alMushrif / al-Mafraq (Fig. 214) En 1995-96, furent dégagés plusieurs édifices cultuels, dont trois églises et un monastère27 à ãayyan al-Mushrif à 8 km au sud de Mafraq et proche de Rihab sur la route de Samra. La fouille du monastère au sud-ouest du site mit au jour une petite église à une seule nef reliée par deux portes à un complexe monastique du côté nord dont cinq pièces furent dégagées. Devant le seuil de la porte à l'angle sudouest d'une pièce relativement spacieuse communiquant avec la petite église, la mosaïque porte une inscription christo-palestinienne dans une tabula ansata mesurant 1,74 m x 0,31 m.28 Cette inscription est lisible par celui qui entre dans l'église. Les lignes mesurent 1,61 m et 1,41 m. D'après les fouilleurs, cette inscription daterait du début du e VI siècle et serait en conséquence plus ancienne que celles de Samra et d'‘Ayoun Musa, mais elle doit être antérieure à la fin de ce siècle.29 L'inscription est complète et les 42 lettres de dimensions variables sont tantôt isolées ou en ligature. Enfin, une croix clôt cette inscription, au lieu de la commencer comme il est plus habituel.

- Ligne 2 : La séquence brh d’swbw est une des formulations araméennes possibles pour « fils de NP », litt. « son fils, celui de NP  » ou «  son fils à NP  », voir par exemple ‘l ’ydwhy d- de Sama ar-Rusan al-Burz.32 Le patronyme est moins connu. On a affaire soit à une transcription grecque du génitif Assoubou, soit à un nom de type nabatéen où l'élément -w en fin de nom est fréquent. Ou encore faut-il lire ’swbwzw avec un très grand zaïn (5 tesselles) ou un lamed : ’swbwlw ? On a proposé de comprendre ’swbwzw comme une métathèse pour ’wsbwzw «  Eusèbe  ».33 On ne connaît pas d'exemple d'une telle orthographe pour ce nom et la finale –wzw fait difficulté, comparer les formes syriaques défective ’wsb, et pleines ’wsbs, ’wsby’, ’wsbyws. Mais sont attestés des noms grecs Assoubos, nabatéens

Muheisen, Tarrier 1995. Al-Husan 1996 : 11-13 (arabe), figures 1 et 2. 29 Pazzini 1995  : 523-26, figure 1 et photo 1, pl. 79, p. 523, datation d’après le contexte archéologique.

Pazzini 1995 : 523-524, a suggéré aussi cette possibilité. Voir Puech 2003 : 318-19, voir ci-dessous. 32 Voir Puech 2003 : 321-22. 33 Pazzini 1995 : 524.

27

30

28

31

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B - Une nouvelle inscription en christo-palestinien vient d'être découverte à Rihab.39 Cette inscription sur deux lignes se trouve dans un angle du pavement de mosaïque devant le seuil d'une porte de l'église dite « syrienne » que l’archéologue date du milieu du VIIe Siècle. L'inscription est insérée dans un cadre rectangulaire commençant par une croix et finissant par un rameau qui remplit l'espace non inscrit. On lit ainsi :

swbw,34 ªšbw, Sobolathè.35 On a sans doute dans ce nom un ’alef prothétique,36 et le lamed, quoique non lié (voir l. 1 les absences de ligatures dans les trois premiers mots ainsi que dans brh, l. 2), est paléographiquement préférable à zaïn ou à un trait séparatif de la séquence wd‘bd ; et il est peu probable que le trait vertical soit un ’alef cursif pour transcrire une finale en -s, ’swbw’ - Eusèbios = Eusèbe, avec la métathèse. Dans cette écriture peu assurée (voir l. 1 rªmy ‘l pour rªmyn l-), il faut plus vraisemblablement lire lw(t) d- avec assimilation phonétique des dentales, du taw au dalet « envers celui qui » dépendant du verbe o ‘ybd. Enfin d‘bd drt’ avec le taw couché à 90 à gauche, sans doute pour gagner de l'espace et pouvoir représenter la croix, ne fait pas de difficulté. Ce mot s'emploie pour une cour, un vestibule, un parvis (d'église), et dans ce cas il désigne certainement la structure qui précède l'entrée de l'église où se trouve la mosaïque et son inscription.

armd wh a[rt !dh + 1 rameau hb l[ ywbjw 2

+ Ceci est la porte du Seigneur. Et (?) bienheureux celui qui entre par elle.

La reproduction de l'éditeur étant assez sombre et floue, il est difficile de se prononcer sur la couleur contrastée de toutes les tesselles, cependant il semble que le début de la deuxième ligne soit assez gauchement écrit, en particulier le bet en forme de F, mais aussi les deux waw, l’un rectangulaire alors que les deux autres sont de forme arrondie et de grandeur bien différente (comparer le waw de la ligne 1 et le nun au-dessus de la ligne, ou encore le premier he au trait médian en forme de dalet). Le reš est pointé. Il est encore probable que le mosaïste ait inversé les waw-†et w†bwy pour l’orthographe attendue †wbwy « Bienheureux celui qui ».40 Ensuite, à l'aide de la reproduction, il est difficile de se prononcer sur la lecture ; le yod n’est pas clairement lisible : en forme de triangle ou un simple petit trait oblique suivi d’un ‘aïn (?) en ligature et non lié à la suite (?), et lire soit ‘ll ou ‘l, c'est-à-dire soit la forme attendue du participe présent (voir inscription de Shuneh 5), ou une forme apocopée par assimilation et haplographie de lamed. Quoi qu'il en soit de la lecture w†bwy ‘l ou w†bwy ‘ll, le sens général de l'inscription ne saurait échapper. La formule est inspirée de celle du Psaume 118,20 : « C’est la porte de Yahwé par où entrent les justes ».

7 - Inscriptions christo-palestiniennes de Rihab (Figs. 215a-b) Même en l'absence, à ce jour, de découverte de stèles funéraires gravées en cette langue, comme à Samra, la présence de l'araméen christo-palestinien est attestée à Rihab, un bourg tout proche au nord-ouest, à une vingtaine de km, entre Mafraq et Jérash sur la route de Bosra à Jérash. A - L'église de Sainte Marie, la plus ancienne église fouillée à Rihab, a été érigée en 533 et repavée en 582/3. Au bas des marches de l'abside, se trouve dans la nef centrale une inscription dédicatoire en grec et juste après dans l'octogone central, il y a des lettres en christo-palestinien, à droite d'une représentation défigurée par un premier iconoclasme.37 Sont parfaitement conservées au moins deux lettres : waw préférable à un énorme yod et une lettre qu'on peut prendre pour ’alef quelque peu disloqué. Mais il semble que le mosaïste ait voulu combiner deux lettres en une seule, vu l'espace devant la représentation figurée maintenant effacée, sans revenir à la ligne pour une lettre isolée. Ces deux lettres semblent devoir être ’alef-lamed combinés, ce qui expliquerait la longue hampe du lamed qui sert aussi partiellement à écrire le ’alef. Dans ce cas, on lirait w’l - Oua’el(os), nom nabatéen bien connu dans la région et déjà à Rihab sur une stèle grecque comme père de Thasenès.38 Cet anthroponyme sémitique en christopalestinien à Rihab au VIe siècle est de la plus grande importance pour une comparaison avec les attestations de Kh. es-Samra où est aussi attesté le nom w’l, n° 88.

8 - L’inscription christo-palestinienne des environs de Shuneh (Musée Archéologique Palestinien, Fig. 216) Une pierre portant assez profondément gravé un texte de six lignes dont ont disparu quelques lettres aux lignes 1 et 6, est dite provenir des environs de Shuneh près de Nimrin en Transjordanie occidentale.41 Les lettres avaient été peintes en ocre dont il reste encore des traces. Cette écriture monumentale soignée est d’un type assez ancien, peut-être plus archaïque que la pierre de Jérash et l’inscription d’elQuweismeh.42 + ÎahlÐal atxwbXt + 1 !wymwqsyn !dh 2 yrmdywmwyb dyb[ 3

Voir Cantineau 1932 : 139. Voir Wuthnow 1930 passim. 36 Pour une forme à ’alef prothétique, voir par exemple Asgalothè sur la stèle de Samra n° 9 (grec), hypocoristique sur la racine sgl « (la divinité) a acquis », voir Gatier 1998 : 415. 37 Voir Piccirillo 1981a : 82-85, tav. 74-75 : photos 38 et 40 ; et 1993 : 310-311. 38 Voir Gatier 1998 : 400, stèle 107. En Puech 1983 : 524, n. 64, nous avions proposé de comprendre wh[b’/w/y, préférable à yh[wd’/h. Il semble que seule la représentation a été défigurée. 34 35

Voir Al-Housan 2001 : 11 et 13 (on aurait souhaité une meilleure reproduction et des photographies des inscriptions grecques complètes et non tronquées, figures 12 et 14 à 17). 40 Voir Müller-Kessler 1991 : 150. 41 Voir Milik 1953 : 527 et 530-533, et Pl. XVIII. 42 Voir Milik 1953 : 531 et 533 : « au VIe s., pendant ou après le règne de Justinien, presque certainement avant la conquête arabe ». 39

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conservée, mais la configuration du cercle donnant la dimension exacte de la partie écrite permet de comprendre et de restaurer le texte. À une exception près, les lettres sont généralement sans ligature, mais le mosaïste use d’une forme fermée de mem en position finale et médiane. Une observation attentive des tesselles dans la disposition des lettres et des mots permet de reconnaître le début du texte, qui se situe au sommet de la branche orientale de la croix, à 90° à l’est pour le visiteur entrant par la porte ellemême située à l’angle sud-ouest de la pièce. Ainsi, seules deux lettres du premier mot sont conservées.

!m lwk + amwyq 4 ahy hl ll[d 5 ÎywÐl[ alcm 6

+ Gloire à Dieu ! Cet hôpital 3a été construit aux jours de monseigneur 4 Qayouma. + Quiconque 5y entre, qu’on 6prie pour [lui ! 1 2

Une croix est partiellement conservée au-dessus du ªet de la ligne 1. À la fin de la ligne 1, la lecture l’[lh’] est certaine, et s’insère bien dans la formulation.43 Le substantif nysqwmywn en christo-palestinien est l’adaptation phonétique du grec nosokomeion. À la ligne 3, le lapicide a gravé les derniers mots sans aucune séparation. Le substantif mry est plus probablement le cas construit avec le suffixe de la première personne «  monseigneur  » que l’état emphatique en y «  du seigneur » (voir les inscriptions 1 et 2 de Khirbet el-Kursi). L’anthroponyme de la ligne 4 est à lire qywm’ – «  Qayouma  », bien attesté sous cette forme dans toute la région à partir du Ve siècle.44 La dernière ligne a fait difficulté. Milik a proposé de lire my‘l’ malgré la forme étrange du ‘aïn (qui semble un petit demi-cercle peu profond) « entrée », ou myzl’ « profit ».45 En effet, comme le verbe est à l’imparfait masculin, le mot ne peut être lu comme myl’ «  parole, affaire  » qui est féminin  ; il faut donc chercher dans une autre direction. La lecture est certainement m‰l’. La distance entre le trait qu’on peut prendre pour yod et le lamed demande certainement de lire ‰adé, une lettre plus large qui se prolonge à gauche sous la ligne d’écriture. De fait l’orthographe m‰l’ est celle attendue du participe pa‘el du verbe qui se construit avec ‘l. La formule renvoie clairement à Jc 5,13-14, particulièrement en situation dans un hôpital. Les points au-dessus des ’alef de yh’ et m‰l’ sont pour le son ‘è/i’ et de même au-dessus de tšbwªt’ et d‘bd,46 voir aussi à Ouadi Rajib Ajloun et à el-Quweismeh.

!nqzxb al~ bl aqnw ~Îyxr bl swsy arm !¿nÀl bÐwt (+) (+) Restau[re en nous, Seigneur Jésus, un cœur miséricor]dieux et pur, un cœur débordant pendant notre pérégrination ! Le premier mot ne peut guère être que le verbe tw[b au sens de «  rendre, restaurer  » à l’impératif pe‘al à compléter par l(n)n, la préposition avec le suffixe de la première personne du pluriel répondant à la finale du texte, bªzqnn «  pendant notre pérégrination  », comparer le syriaque ªzwqy’ « viatique, peregrinatio » et l’araméen ªz(’)q’.48 On pourrait comprendre le mot comme « notre pèlerinage/voyage/passage » dans le lieu saint ou mieux comme celui du chrétien dans ce monde en vue de l’entrée dans le Royaume des cieux. La construction ]m wnq’ lb ml’ bªzqnn demande la restauration d’un parallèle à wnq’ d’une part et, d’autre part, auparavant, de lb que reprend le second emploi en apposition, non coordonné. Lire selon toute vraisemblance lb rªy]m wnq’, à comprendre « un cœur miséricor]dieux et pur » auquel répond lb ml’ « un cœur plein/débordant », renvoyant à Mt 5,7-8 « les miséricordieux et les purs », et bªzqnn pourrait aussi renvoyer à ce même contexte, où les bienheureux hériteront du Royaume des cieux et en prendront possession, Mt 5,34 et 23,34. Auparavant, restaurer la formule christologique habituelle mr’ ysws de préférence à mr’ ’lh’, qui s’adapte parfaitement à l’espace connu.

9 – L’inscription christo-palestinienne de Dayr al-Sa‘nah (Fig. 217) Sur la route d’‘Irbid – al-Kourab et au sud-est d’‘Irbid, a été découverte dans le pavement de mosaïque d’une annexe au sud-est de l’église de l’est une inscription christo-palestinienne.47 Elle est inscrite entre deux cercles concentriques de tesselles noires et beiges autour d’une croix dessinée par des arcs de cercles dans le cercle intérieur. Seule la moitié sud de la circonférence a été

10 – L’inscription christo-palestinienne de Sama ar-Rusan al-Burz (Fig. 218) La mosaïque d’une église à al-Burz à 10 km environ au nord-ouest d’‘Irbid et à 2 km au sud-ouest de Sama arRusan a révélé une inscription christo-palestinienne intercalée d’une inscription grecque (bilingue ?).49 Mais le cadre inscrit au-dessous du panneau portant un canthare et des rinceaux de vignes d’un pavement très mal conservé ne permet que d’avoir une idée générale des restes des deux inscriptions dédicatoires sur 6(?) lignes au moins.50 Après une croix probable, comme il est habituel en début de texte, on lit ainsi les restes de cette inscription :

43 Voir Piccirillo 1994a : 525-526 : protôn tô Th(e)ô dosômen doxan, voir 1 Tm 2,1. 44 Avec Milik 1953 : 532, qui note précisément que le module bien rectangulaire est celui du qof et non du mem au trait supérieur en biais (lignes 2, 3.3, 4.4 et 6), et que le petit trait dépassant à gauche bien moins profond et sans trace d’ocre, est certainement un éclat comme les deux autres traits juste au-dessus, malgré Desreumaux 1979 : 62, d’autant que cet anthroponyme n’est pas attesté, alors que Qayouma l’est fort bien, voir par ex. Wuthnow 1930 : 60-61 et 164. 45 Desreumaux 1979 : 62, propose une lecture impossible en paléographie et dans la phrase : mzl’ « bonne étoile, destin favorable, chance ». 46 Voir Müller-Kessler 1991 : 35-37. 47 Voir Puech 2003 : 319-321.

Analysé comme substantif masculin défini : «  presumed status of a condition until a change is effected » par Sokoloff 2002 : 448. 49 Khasawneh 1994 : 26 (arabe) et figure 4, photos incomplètes et d’assez piètre qualité. 50 Pour le déchiffrement, voir Puech 2003 : 321-322. Nous corrigeons l’interprétation de l’anthroponyme en grec. 48

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près d’Ajloun,54 a été découverte en 1997 une inscription christo-palestinienne insérée.55 L’insertion de l’inscription de neuf lignes dans l’espace circonscrit d’un octogone a obligé le mosaïste à varier le module et le tracé des lettres (ligne 9) ainsi que leurs dispositions dans les lignes, à négliger assez souvent les ligatures et la séparation des mots, et à user aussi parfois d’une orthographe défective.

ÐÌd yhwdya l[ aÎnbta Ðarta !dÎh + 1 Ð XwmXyÎ 2 1 + C]e lieu [a été construi]t par les soins de ?[ 2[ ]il servira [ Les lettres conservées permettent de lire h]dn ’tr’, suivi d’un verbe au ’etpe‘el, soit ’t‘bd ou de préférence ’tbn’, la qualité de la photographie partiellement tronquée ne permet pas de s’assurer de la dernière lettre du verbe, dalet ou mieux ’alef, tout comme ensuite du substantif dq[šyš’ ou mieux de l’anthroponyme d.[. Le grec au-dessous n’a guère conservé qu’un anthroponyme ]KAICHIN[, à lire sans doute « et  Zén[on  » avec iotacisme translitérant le sémitique zynwn, et son patronyme Iô]annou[ « fils de Jean ». Étant donné le pied du canthare au-dessus, il manque la moitié gauche de ces lignes. De la deuxième ligne araméenne n’est conservé que l’imparfait yšmwš « (il) servira » que pouvait suivre le mot šmš’ « le diacre » vu l’agencement des tesselles. La comparaison musivale a permis à l’archéologue de dater la construction de l’édifice du VIe siècle, avant la période iconoclaste qui a effacé les motifs des vivants et ensuite la réutilisation de l’église comme mosquée.

arta !dh + l[ !qta aXydq aXyXq yrmd hwda htwal !ma hld !m !ybs adbw[b hn[ysa armd hl qwbXa armd abj hwl[ db[aw htlkys hwrwm[ l[w !mxr !ma aml[ lwk l[w

+ Ce lieu 2saint a été érigé par 3le soin de monseigneur le prêtre 4Sabinus, celui-là même qui lui consacra son labeur, 5pour que le Seigneur lui vienne en aide dans le bon 6ouvrage, pour que le Seigneur lui pardonne 7ses péchés et lui fasse 8miséricorde ainsi qu’à ses habitants 9et à tout le monde. Amen. 1

11 – L’inscription christo-palestinienne de l’église de Qam (Fig. 219) À Qam au sud-est de Capitolias sur la route du Ghor, fut découverte en 1993 une deuxième église dont le pavement était fait d’un tapis de mosaïques.51 Une inscription grecque est située au pied de la marche (arrachée) donnant accès à l’abside.52 Une inscription christo-palestinienne se situe de part et d’autre de la tête (défigurée) du personnage dans l’octogone central au-dessous de l’inscription grecque sur une seule ligne, portant « Ont été pavées de mosaïque ces choses là sous Jean ». aXyXq2 !wnyÎzÐ Adday (fils de) [Z]énon, le prêtre

1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Après la croix grecque habituelle, est mentionné l’objet même de l’inscription : hdn ’tr’ qdyš’ «  ce lieu saint  » qui désigne manifestement la chapelle en question, comparer l’inscription de l’église de Sama ar-Rusan alBurz. Le verbe ’tqn suggère aussi bien la reconstruction ou rénovation que la construction elle-même, l’’etpa‘al de tqn en araméen et en syriaque signifie «  ériger, édifier  » ou encore «  réparer, restaurer  ». On peut comparer une même formulation + ’tqnt dyr’ bywmwhy ddny’yl br ªwzy’… « A été construit le monastère aux jours de Daniel l’Aªwazite…  » de l’inscription musivale de l’ermitage nestorien de Jéricho.56 Pour la graphie défective ‘l ’dwh, comparer ‘l ’ydwhy de l’inscription de Sama ar-Rusan alBurz. Le point au-dessus du ’alef entend signifier le son ‘é/i’ dans ’tqn, ’dwh, ’sy‘nh, absent dans ’šbwq, ’‘bd et l’wth, mais ‘a’ en ’tr’, ligne 1. On aurait attendu un module inversé pour le yod de mry posé dans le reš à cause de l’espace réduit. L’anthroponyme sbyn d’origine latine est bien connu à Palmyre et ailleurs sous une forme plus pleine sbyn’ ou sbyns, en grec Sabeinos. La séquence mn d- est ici le pronom personnel « celui-là même qui » pour ’nš d- « l’homme qui », voir par exemple anthropos hos ou hoti en Jn 8,40, variantes qui supposent une formulation originale araméenne mn d(y) « celui qui/parce que ». Après un petit lamed, le verbe ’mn au parfait pe‘al est construit ici avec l-, lh, et est suivi de l’wth «  son travail/fatigue/ labeur ». Aux lignes 5-6, la conjonction d- a le sens final «  pour que » introduisant les phrases suivantes. Le mot ’sy‘nh est le verbe sy/w‘ «  aider, assister  » à l’imparfait pa‘el avec le suffixe de la 3e personne du masculin singulier,

yda1

2

L’anthroponyme à droite de la tête est bien connu ’dy « Adday ». Du côté gauche, les restes ]ynwn doivent être restaurés z]ynwn, anthroponyme bien connu en Jordanie depuis le martyre des saints Zénon et Zéna en 304 à Ziziah à 37 km au sud d’Amman. Il faut sans doute comprendre «  Adday (fils de) [Z]énon  ». Dans une deuxième ligne, sous le patronyme est mentionnée sa fonction : qšyš’ « le prêtre ». Si Jean de l’inscription grecque était l’évêque de Bosra toute proche à l’est, on aurait une indication chronologique de l’exécution de l’œuvre entre 539 et 553, du temps du prêtre Adday.53 12 – L’inscription christo-palestinienne du Ouadi RajibAjloun (Fig. 220) Dans la mosaïque de l’église méridionale du Ouadi Rajib Ta‘ani 1997 : 13-19 (arabe), figures 2a, 3, 5 à 8. Voir Puech 2003 : 322-324. 53 Voir Piccirillo 1981a : 85, contemporaine d’une autre chapelle près de Qam découverte en 1989, voir Piccirillo 1993b : 340. 51 52

Voir Piccirillo, al-Qudah 1998 : 310-314. Puech 2003 : 317-19. 56 Voir Baramki, Stephan 1935 : 81-86, Pls 52-54 : du IXe siècle environ. 54 55

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mais le nun a ici la forme du nun final sans ligature, voir He 2,18. La phrase suivante, subordonnée elle aussi, n’est pas coordonnée. Le substantif syklth est le cas construit féminin de préférence au pluriel avec le suffixe, comparer hyper aphèseôs hamartiôn de l’inscription de l’église de Saint Ménas à Rihab.57 La phrase suivante est coordonnée mais sans la conjonction (espace limité, lettres serrées ?). Dans la séquence w’‘bd ‘lhw rªmn, le mot rªmn est difficilement la forme apocopée du masculin pluriel rªmyn, elle devrait être analysée comme le substantif à terminaison –an, comparable à la forme adjectivale, comparer la forme ’y‘bd rª’my(n) ‘l qšyš’ q’y’ de l’inscription de ãayyan al-Mushrif. Le substantif coordonné w‘l ‘wmwrh en orthographe pleine mais avec le suffixe toujours de forme apocopée, désigne les habitants, les occupants d’un lieu ; le mot désigne-t-il les habitants du lieu-dit ou ceux qui viennent prier dans l’église ?

Mais, contrairement à la sobre et claire présentation des stèles gravées en grec provenant du quartier ouest du même cimetière,62 l'éditeur se livre à une édition-commentaire pour le moins prolixe et confuse, non sans soulever nombre de questions.63 Le lecteur doit faire le tri de ce qui est pertinent. Comme de nombreux déchiffrements sont encore discutables, bien que l'auteur ait sérieusement révisé ses premières propositions en adoptant un certain nombre de nos lectures, nous donnons succinctement ici quelques notes permettant une meilleure approche de cette liste. Comme l’éditeur a, sauf en de très rares exceptions, répugné à renvoyer à nos précédentes propositions,64 nous ne signalons que les corrections indispensables pour une saine compréhension de ces documents. Enfin, pour simplifier, nous renvoyons à une numérotation suivie, comme pour le grec, celle de l’inventaire entre parenthèses, et nous renvoyons à la liste complète en fin de paragraphe, où on pourra se faire rapidement une idée du contenu de ces stèles. - 1 (S.16) : ’ly’ // ’lšdw ou ’lªdw, mais ’lªdw est certainement à exclure pour le ductus du ªet, et ’lšdw est discutable et sans parallèle. Si le patronyme ’l‘wdy que nous avions proposé reste le plus probable, voir ‘wd’l, Audèlos et aussi le relevé de Savignac,65 faudrait-il alors considérer la lecture ’lš‘dy préférable à ’lš‘dw ? mais ’lyšb‘ est exclu. Voir en Palmyrène et Nabatène š‘d’l, š‘d’lhy ou les hypocoristiques š‘dy, š‘dw, š‘d’.

Dans la dernière ligne le mosaïste a fait preuve de doigté en réduisant la dimension des tesselles et le module des lettres. Une particularité réside dans l’orthographe de ‘lm’, où le mosaïste a manifestement évité d’écrire un yod tout en donnant au ’alef un premier jambage très court, sans doute pour ne pas lire ‘lmy’ « siècles » dans la séquence wlkwl ‘lmy’ « et pour tous les siècles ». Dans la séquence coordonnée w‘l kwl ‘lm’, le sens devrait alors être «  et à tout le monde », venant ainsi préciser le sens de w‘l ‘wmwrh, comparer cette finale à l’inscription grecque de l’église Saint-Georges de Samra : « Seigneur aie pitié et protège ce village, depuis le petit jusqu’au grand, depuis maintenant jusqu’à l’éternité ».58

- 2 (S.17) : L'auteur se refuse à toute lecture au lieu de citer notre déchiffrement qu'il connaît manifestement et balaie d'un revers, « en combinant un mouvement giratoire et des effets de miroir, on peut fabriquer des mots. L'acrobatie ne me paraît guère intéressante ». Nous maintenons notre lecture d'un texte gravé de gauche à droite, comme il arrive plusieurs fois à Samra sous l’influence du grec ; et dans cette écriture le graveur a eu du mal à positionner les premier et troisième ’alef, ce qui ne surprend pas outre mesure, puisque cela arrive même dans le sens habituel d’écriture sémitique. Ce sens de gravure et de lecture est parfaitement déchiffrable, mais livré «  à la sagacité du lecteur de bonne volonté » qui l'a précédé ! Lire donc mr†’ // kyp’. Le reš est pointé, le taw inversé attendu avec sa grande boucle sur la ligne est rendu dans le tracé plus

La position du tapis musival de l’inscription qui n’est plus au centre de la nef de la chapelle restaurée laisserait supposer qu’il appartient à une première phase et non à celle de la dernière restauration ; en conséquence, il faudrait retenir le sens de « ériger » et non de « restaurer » pour ’tqn. Toutefois, avec l’emploi (irrégulier) des points sur les ’alef pour le son ‘é/i’, les reš pointés, mais les formes apocopées du suffixe –wh(y) au lieu du plus fréquent – wy, il est difficile de dire si on a affaire à une forme plus évoluée de la graphie ou à une école locale, voir Shuneh et el-Quweismeh.59 Les archéologues datent la fondation de la chapelle méridionale au VIe siècle avec des réfections par la suite.60

reprenant pour l’essentiel à ce propos la thèse de doctorat de Desreumaux (1979). 62 Voir Gatier 1998 : 361-380. 63 On retrouve une même gêne aux pp. 63-64 où l'auteur confond le pe‘al et le pa‘el, et pp. 100-101, à propos des équivalences de transcriptions des phonèmes, etc. 64 Puech 1979 : 259-269 et pl. 29-32 ; et, 1983 : 505-526 et pl. I-VIII. Depuis ce travail, il nous est impossible de faires toutes les vérifications souhaitées, les estampages des inscriptions sémitiques en particulier sauf deux ayant disparu du tiroir de l’École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem. Nous en sommes réduits aux reproductions et aux copies de Savignac et à nos propres copies des années 1980. 65 Savignac 1925 : Pl. II B, qui lisait ’lyšyb. La lecture šin laisse inexpliqué le trait suivant du triangle et il faut lire l’ajout du trait isolé au-dessus de la ligne pour ‘aïn, alors que le seul trait concave à droite convient parfaitement à ‘aïn.

13 - Stèles christo-palestiniennes de Khirbet es-Samra – ãaditha (Figs 221 - 229) Ont été récemment publiées ou republiées une série de stèles inscrites en araméen christo-palestinien trouvées dans le quartier sud du cimetière de Khirbet es-Samra.61 57 Voir Piccirillo 1981a : 76-77, voir aussi Piccirillo 1996 : 412 : “…for the salvation and for the remittance of sins of Rabbus with their care was terminated all this work…” 58 Voir Gatier 1998 : 385. 59 Voir Müller-Kessler 1991 : 35-37. 60 Voir Piccirillo, al-Qudah 1998 : 313-314. 61 Desreumaux 1998. Voir aussi Desreumaux, Humbert 1981  : 33-83,

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à retenir et resterait inexpliqué lui-aussi. En fait, l’éditeur a oublié de lire le tracé au-dessus de la penne de droite, équilibrant ainsi la disposition pour une lecture connue : ‘qwb’ difficilement ‘qyb’, vu que la gauche du demi-cercle du waw n’est pas claire et bien proche de bet.69 Une lecture y‘qwb’ serait-elle exclue, voir Iakou/ôbo/ôs, etc. ?

simple du †et dans une confusion et il est lié au ’alef (voir ãayyan al-Mushrif pour un autre tracé du taw). Le nom mr†’, faute pour mrt’, « Marthe (fille/femme de) Képha » est trop bien connu et le patronyme Kéfa n'est pas très nouveau dans le milieu chrétien ! C'est l'orthographe du targum palestinien, non du syriaque k’f’. Le graveur était peut-être bilingue et habitué aussi à graver du grec, voir ci-dessous.

- 14 (S.29) : La lecture  « fwbr(w)s, possible sobriquet » est des plus fantaisistes, tout comme kwbbwp ou kwbbqu. Notre proposition kwkby’ est certaine, l'estampage ayant été fait rapidement, sans mouler tous les détails et insister sur tous les traits, comme l'observation et la reproduction le montrent clairement. Contrairement au bet, le kaf peut avoir une tête marquée et le waw est assuré (qof est exclu par sa petite dimension et sa forme carrée retracée par un cercle), puis le bet est certain avec sa base. La paléographie ne fait pas de difficulté et l'onomastique y trouve alors aisément son compte.70

- 6 (S.21)  : Lire sûrement qšš’ et non qš[y]š, il n'y a nulle trace de yod, en revanche un ’alef est à lire d'après l'estampage (déjà Savignac avant nous). On a affaire à une orthographe défective du nom, bien connue à ‘Ayoun Musa par exemple. L’auteur accepte timidement la lecture ªyy b‘lm «  vis pour l’éternité  », tout en n’excluant pas un deuxième anthroponyme «  Kasiseos, Aaios dans l’éternité » qui est bien étrange ! - 7 (S.22) : Une lecture (sans relevé cette fois) nkbw ou nfbw pour nqbw tout comme ‘frw/y ou nfry sont peu vraisemblables, c'est un tour de passe-passe. Notre proposition ªbw est bien supérieure à tous les points de vue, voir maintenant la confirmation à Samra même, n° 42 aux tracés concaves divergents, comparer ªb’ et ªby en Palmyrène, ªbw-ªby en Nabatène.66 Le tracé du ªet est celui que décrit plus loin l'auteur, par exemple n°s 17, 18,… aux tracés anguleux et eux aussi concaves divergents.

- 15 (S.30) : Lire sans doute préférablement †wby’ à †wb’, lecture que Savignac n'excluait point (voir n° 21 pour le dessin incomplet de Savignac), voir †wb’ n° 22. Dans l’un et l’autre cas, on a un hypocoristique « (Dieu) est bon ». - 16 (S.31) : D'après le relevé de Savignac, qymw paraît répondre aux proportions des tracés, sans faire preuve de grande imagination ! - 17 (S.32) : Au lieu de ªlwn’, difficilement explicable et non attesté, et du nbl qnwn précédent, lire très certainement ªywn’, ªet avec de tels apices est bien attesté sur ces stèles, par exemple n°s 7, 18, 20..., comme nous l’avions déjà lu, et la dimension de yod est attendue comparée à celle du waw, mais serait petite pour lamed, comparer Aiônas, Aiôn, Aianios, Aianes, ªywn en nabatéen. Pour cet anthroponyme, voir ci-dessous. - 18 (S.33) : Savignac lisait ’bw ††’ que nous avions suivi, l’’alef final est complet sur l'estampage vu précédemment, et lecture certainement préférable à nbw††y/š d'abord proposée par l'auteur. On connaît des noms de moines avec Abu, par exemple Théodore Abu Quna à Mar Sabas au IXe siècle. La pierre retrouvée montre que la lecture ªw††’ est certaine et on l'accepte,71 mais cette forme de ªet appuie clairement notre lecture ªbw n°s 7 et 20...

- 8 (S.23) : Le tracé du ’alef doit être rectifié,67 le trait inférieur est une chimère. - 10 (S.25) : L’auteur a fini par accepter la lecture gyrgy de Savignac au lieu de l’impossible gyrgyn de ses précédentes propositions, mais la finale n’a rien d’un hypocoristique sémitique. - 12 (S.27) : Au lieu de ’rbn «  papyrus, jonc  » comme sobriquet, et du commentaire «  …un nom nouveau. Pourquoi devrait-on s'en priver ?... », nous maintenons la lecture « Urbanus » qui est la forme attendue en araméen de Samra et d'ailleurs, l'absence de finale en -ws est tout à fait normale, le christo-palestinien n'a pas davantage d'accent tonique que le palmyrénien ou le nabatéen, qui suivent cette règle : -ws, -s, -’ ou rien, et la scriptio defectiva y est bien attestée elle aussi, tout comme dans bien d’autres inscriptions étudiées ci-dessus, où l’orthographe est signalée en passant. Quant à l’improbable transcription de /u/ par ’, on peut renvoyer au palmyrénien ’lpys, ’lps, Ulpius.68 - 13 (S.28) : (Stèle retrouvée en 1978). Le dessin n'est pas fidèle au tracé, (figure 296, p. 448) où le qof est plus anguleux et non carré. On ne peut certainement pas lire qwbn, bet-nun étranges, mais plutôt bet-’alef avec une ligature par le trait supérieur comme il arrive plusieurs fois dans cette écriture, mais qwb’ n’est pas pour autant

- 19 (S.34) : Pour ªšn – ãasan, Assan,72 on n’a pas à faire appel à un sobriquet « entrailles », puisque le šin peut être rendu par samek, voir no 23, etc. - 20 (S.35) : La lecture ‘bdywn est loin de s’imposer, et l'écriture favorise bien mieux celle que nous avions déjà proposée, ªdywn bien connu à Samra, n°s 38 et 56 de graphie comparable et (grec) 52 Adion, 80 Adiôn. En effet, le bet n'est pas dépourvu d'ambiguïté contrairement à ce Voir Wuthnow 1930 : 159, Stark 1971 : 45 et 107. Voir Puech 1979 : 265 ; et, 1983  : 513, Koccabiôn. 71 Voir Wuthnow 1930 : 91 : Otès, Ottè à Doura et Umm al-Jimal par exemple. 72 Voir Wuthnow 1930 : 27 et 143. 69

Stark 1971 : 19 ; Cantineau 1932 : 93. 67 Voir Puech 1983 : 508, avec Savignac 1925 : Pl. II B. 68 Voir Stark 1971 : 140 : “A vowel at the beginning of a Latin personal name is always rendered by Aleph”, et p. 141 pour la terminaison –us. 66

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qu'en dit l'auteur, puisque le jambage est loin d'être vertical et de former un angle droit d'une part et que, d'autre part, la base serait bien réduite, pas plus longue que celle de droite. Les deux jambages concaves divergents posés au milieu d'une horizontale sont clairement en faveur de ªet non de ‘aïn-bet, et on s'étonnerait que le lapicide qui a si bien gravé la suite, ait été aussi maladroit pour ‘b, alors que ª présente un tracé en tout point équilibré.73 L'anthroponyme ªdywn s'impose sans conteste.

C'était déjà notre lecture en 1979 et 1983 avec hésitation entre les deux formes tout en préférant ’alef. Mais on ne peut comparer les formes Osail(e)os,… (formes qutayl non théophores) ou ouseaièlos. Voir l’hypocoristique ’wšy, et ’wš’lh, Ausala, Ausallas, Ausèlos, ... en nabatéen et palmyrénien par exemple. - 24 (S.39) : On doute fort de la lecture ’d/rwby. Savignac lisait ’bwb’/y et l'estampage lui donne raison, aussi l'avionsnous suivi, mais la tête horizontale dépasse à peine à droite l’haste verticale et il n’y a pas de point pour reš ; un fin trait rejoint la base du waw pour un bet assuré (avec Savignac) et ’bwby est connu en syriaque. On ne peut exclure une explication par ªbwby avec affaiblissement des gutturales, voir Aboubos, etc.75 - 25 (S.39a) : L'auteur ignore une stèle estampée par Savignac dont l'estampage est connu, même si Savignac ne l'avait pas publiée. Nous avions proposé de lire q‰yw(?) encore une fois en dextrograde comme le no 2, nom bien attesté en nabatéen,76 préférable à q‘‰w en sénestrograde. De toute façon, on doit retenir l'existence de ce document sans le passer sous silence dans cette liste.

- 21 (S.36) : Au rbky ou rbby de Savignac que l'auteur retenait, la lecture rb’ est notre proposition en 1979 et 1983, toujours non crédité mais que l'auteur finit par retenir, on s'en réjouit. Toutefois, le dessin de Savignac ne porte pas le point caractéristique du reš qu’il décrit luimême, on doit l’ajouter à son dessin. - 22 (S.37) : s†ypny // †wby’. Savignac lisait le patronyme †wby’ que nous avions suivi en l'absence de reproduction ou d'estampage. La stèle ayant été retrouvée, l'auteur prétend que le reš est certain pour lire †wry[, mais on est surpris de constater que le trait horizontal de 1 cm de long audessus de la lettre ne soit nullement indiqué sur le dessin (il est dessiné vertical !) et il y a bien d'autres marques non signalées. On doute d'autant des observations sur la stèle et l'estampage et de l'autorité du dessin (qui n’est peutêtre pas de l’auteur) : le premier yod de l'anthroponyme est nettement triangulaire et non rectiligne d'après les deux reproductions (figures 310-311) et sans doute aussi le second (si on n’a pas affaire à un samek moins appuyé) ; et le dessin ne relève pas le long trait de la ligne précédant le yod sous l’extrémité du bras de la croix, trait qui doit appartenir au bet dont on aperçoit le départ par delà le creux de la surface. On préfère encore de loin la lecture †wby’ avec Savignac, à l'étrange et surprenant †wry[(’). Enfin, on se demande si une observation attentive de la stèle ne permettrait pas une lecture s†ypns au lieu de s†ypny(’), plusieurs indices sur les reproductions pourraient le laisser supposer mais Savignac a lu yod, le ‘yod’ pourrait-il être le départ de samek, voir n° 28 et (grec) Stephanos n° 39 ? Noter le yod pour l'orthographe pleine.

- 27 (S.41) : On doute fort de la lecture qywm, le mem y serait d’un module unique. Cette fois encore une lecture dextrograde rend mieux compte de cette gravure (voir n°s 2, 25, 30 et 74 verso), mais il faut comparer notre dessin d'après l'estampage aussi fidèle que celui de l'auteur, comme le montrent les reproductions (voir Fig. 225),77 où l’alef paraît assuré et le yod moins clair qu'on ne le dit. Cette lettre a une base presque horizontale et non aussi penchée, et est aussi beaucoup plus longue à droite (ce n’est pas une ligature), pour samek non yod. Lire ’wsw qui semble rendre le grec ’Aousos, Aous, etc.,78 comme nous l'avons déjà proposé, d’autant que cette stèle porte des traces du grec. Le patronyme en écriture verticale se lit très clairement sw†w, et la proposition ªw†w est à rejeter. On doit éviter de chercher des sobriquets comme noms sur des pierres tombales ! L'éditeur « n'interprète pas comme des lettres les motifs dans les cantons inférieurs », cependant malgré leur négligé, ce ne sont pas des décorations. On lit au mieux I et G, ce dernier d'abord gravé à l'envers et corrigé par une tête à droite. On aurait ici la première indication de l'âge du défunt  : «  13 (ans)  » en lettres grecques-chiffres, comme il est attendu en dextrograde, sans mention de « e(tôn) » oubli qui ne surprend pas sur

- 23 (S.38) : Savignac avait bien vu que le lapicide a d'abord gravé la ligne d'écriture, et nous ajouterions en deux tracés successifs, d'où la jonction entre les deux parties de la ligne du nom théophore comme nous l'avons déjà proposé, qui ne peut être lue yod. Ce mot ne peut être expliqué par ‘šy palmyrénien, ni par yšw‘l’. Si on veut lire ‘wš’l, théophore, on a bien plus vraisemblablement affaire à une orthographe parallèle à ’wš’l nabatéen avec affaiblissement et confusion des gutturales à cette époque tardive. Toutefois, une lecture ’wš’l « Dieu a donné » est tout à fait possible et préférable avec le trait de base et le long trait parallèle à droite pour ’alef auquel le lapicide aurait oublié de tracer une verticale (voir l’alef suivant tracé en deux fois et de façon identique), mais ductus très difficile pour ‘aïn, le lapicide aurait commencé bien plus à droite.74

classique, qu’il n’y a pas lieu de discuter » !, en comparant le no 35 (d’après sa lecture) où le ductus est différent. 75 Voir Wuthnow 1930 : 139. Desreumaux 1981 : 66, lisait la base du bet dans ’btbg inexpliqué, tout comme les formes ’d/rwby, où il n’exclut pas maintenant ’bwby en relevant des traces de la base de bet ; c’est dire que ses nouvelles propositions reposent sur peu d’éléments paléographiques, et sans onomastique à l’appui. 76 Puech, 1983 : 516, sous le n° 40 et pl. V. 77 Desreumaux 1998 : figures 320 et 321. Le qof serait plus en losange que ne le montre le dessin de l’auteur. Le yod ressemble plus à samek et le mem est sans base (forme absente p. 520). 78 Voir Wuthnow 1930  : 24, parallèle à ’wšw. La partie supérieure de l’estampage retrouvée confirme la lecture du samek, comme dans Desreumaux et Humbert 1981 : 67.

73 Or Desreumaux 1998 : 457, propose de lire un tracé identique comme ªet ; on ne comprend pas la logique du déchiffreur. 74 Pour Desreumaux 1998 : 454, on a affaire à un ‘aïn «  tout à fait

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une stèle assez maladroitement gravée, voir ci-dessous n°s 77 et 87.

- 35 (S.91) : On hésite beaucoup à suivre l'auteur dans ses nouvelles propositions qym’ après le malheureux w‘q‰ à écarter résolument, tout comme wyq’/‰ ou w‘q’/‰, le ‰ade et la première lettre lue waw étant certainement à exclure. On aurait un bien étrange waw, et le ‰ade serait inversé. Le lapicide a gravé les lettres en les posant sur une ligne tracée en premier, ce qui explique le dépassement à droite et l’alef désarticulé en fin de ligne, non ‰ade. Si une lecture qym’ ne peut être exclue, voir Kaiama(s), le qof serait de module bien réduit ; quant à q‘m’ et q‘q’, ils sont très improbables. De nos lectures précédentes, nw‘m’ rendait compte des tracés, sans doute surchargés par ajout de waw, et serait confirmé par la stèle n° 61, voir Naueiman, Noaimath, etc. Mais une lecture tym’ de loin bien préférable a des parallèles avec Themos et Thaimos, n°s 11 et 134 (grec) à Samra et ailleurs, Thaimès, tymy, etc., et explique mieux le pied anguleux et bas du taw ainsi que la petite haste décalée (voir figs 341 et 342 de l’édition).

- 28 (S.42) : Lire en toute certitude s†fns pour stéphanè/ os, voir n°s 22, et 39 (grec). Le deuxième samek est parfaitement visible sur les reproductions.79 Il n'y a manifestement aucun nun final et pe est assuré. On s'étonne des considérations sur ce mot sans difficulté pour proposer par prudence s†??n qui ne rime à rien.80 - 30 (S.86) : Malgré la reprise de sa proposition, la lecture sqwt est invraisemblable et nous continuons à proposer une lecture dextrograde twms, même si la cassure n'a pas permis la gravure de la longue base du mem, cassure qui explique fort bien la ligature par le haut, en rien comparable à la ligature du ’alef à ãayyan al-Mushrif comme il est écrit,81 puisque dans cette inscription l’alef touche le qof par le haut et non par la base. Une ligature par le haut dans le sens sénestrograde s'explique mal, le graveur n'aurait certainement pas commencé aussi haut sous le pied de la croix. Alors que Thômas est une lecture limpide (nom attesté en grec no 56 à Samra même, la lecture sqwt demeure inexpliquée et difficilement explicable en onomastique, sabéen sqty, mais l'arabe sqw† n'a rien à voir avec ce nom.

- 38 (S.94) : Cette fois encore, seule la lecture ªdywn que nous avions proposée (avec mention cette fois) est recevable à l'exclusion de ‘bdywn cité en premier et auquel ne renonce toujours pas l’auteur, mais à abandonner sans regret. Si ªw††’ est à lire au n° 18, à combien plus forte raison ªdywn dans ce cas, le bet est exclu par le ductus. L’anthroponyme est bien attesté à Samra en sémitique n° 56 et en grec n°s 52 et 80. - 39 (S.95) : Au lieu de se résigner à ne proposer aucun déchiffrement en maintenant le dessin précédent, il est possible de lire qymw, voir n°s 32, 52 et 63.83 - 40 (S.382) : Ni la reproduction ni le dessin du premier waw n’ont rien d’un «  triangle curviligne  », puisque les traits sont plutôt parallèles comparé à la dernière lettre. On ne peut davantage retenir la lecture šwydw, impossible sur le plan sémantique. Seule est à retenir la lecture šw‘dw, voir Soe/èdos, Soados, ou peut-être šw‘dy, à l’exclusion de Soaidos, malgré l’auteur.

- 31 (S.87) : La lecture hrqly que nous avions proposée pour Herakleios/us, nom porté par des empereurs chrétiens, s'impose de toute évidence au lieu de l'impossible zhrqly « fleur des cimes montagneuses » auquel l'auteur ne veut toujours pas renoncer. Le pseudo-trait oblique et plus haut sur la ligne peut être accidentel et ancien,82 cela ne change rien ; ainsi la gravure est centrée au-dessus de la croix. - 33 (S.89) : Comme šbw est exclu malgré l’auteur, une lecture šb† est bien plus probable et non «  quelque peu acrobatique ». Le †et seul rend compte des deux traits à gauche que l'auteur veut, cette fois, exclure de la graphie comme accidentels par glissement de l'outil ou éclat de gravure, ou encore pour trouver un motif en cercle appartenant à la croix, un pis-aller. Cependant la forme de ce trait et sa longueur dans le tracé même de la lettre font sérieusement douter du jugement de l'auteur ; les lettres ne sont pas disposées sur une ligne et la boucle du †et ne pouvait être située au-dessous vu la penne bifide. Le nom šb†, sabetos «  Février  » est fort bien attesté en sémitique (šabbat est exclu) et meilleur que ce qui est proposé. En définitive, nous retenons encore une fois notre précédente proposition šb† // lªd, pour l'anthroponyme et son patronyme avec un point dans le dalet (et renoncer à kªd de l’auteur et šbt, ADAJ 1981, lamed assuré).

- 41 (S.383) : Avec raison cette fois, l’auteur n’hésite pas à lire ªet le tracé identique à celui du n°7, mais auquel il refuse toujours cette valeur, ductus qu’on retrouve aux n°s 17, 18, 20, 38, 49 et 50. - 42 (S.384) : La lecture ªbw confirme fort heureusement notre lecture du ªet au n° 7, si nul trait n’est à lire entre bet et waw. - 43 (S.386) : ªnws. On peut se demander si le jambage entre nun et waw n'est pas à lire yod. Il a l'air clairement marqué, et peut-être ajouté (voir un même ductus au no 50) pour ªnyws, voir Annaios, Anios, Annios, etc. - 45 (S.411) : L'auteur propose une lecture yws/š(y)ny renvoyant aux formes rabbiniques ywsny et ywsyn’/h, mais on peut douter de la lecture et des renvois quelque peu différents (voir le tracé du samek identique à celui de sw†w no 27). La reproduction (fig. 368) favorise bien mieux une lecture ywsyps, pe avec tête à gauche, mais pas de retour

Voir Desreumaux 1998, Puech 1983, et Desreumaux, Humbert 1981 : 68, dessin encore une fois peu fidèle. Une lecture stpnws serait plus difficile. 80 L’auteur écrit (Desreumaux 1998 : 458) : « je suis obligé de maintenir la lecture du N de forme finale en fin de ligne », alors que son dessin n’en porte nulle trace, ni aucune reproduction ! (voir stpnwn en 1981). 81 Voir Desreumaux 1998 : 459. 82 Voir la reproduction de l’estampage, Puech 1983 : Pl VI, 47, où apparaît manifeste le trait accidentel, et p. 518. 79

Pour une inscription sous la croix et à lire de gauche à droite, nous avions suggéré de lire ªyy’ en dextrograde, tout en n’excluant pas un taw à la place du ’alef (Puech 1983 : 520). Mais une lecture mrn’ ou mkn’ audessus de la croix (Desreumaux et Humbert 1981 : 76) n’a pas de support. 83

85

Émile PUECH

exemples cités se ramènent à mnw ?86

à droite pour nun, Iôsèphos bien préférable à ywsypy Iôsèphios. L'anthroponyme ywsyp(y/s) est des plus connus.

- 59 (S.653) : Nul dessin n'en est donné, mais on se demande s'il ne faut pas lire ‘lm avec de légères traces non repérées de ‘aïn-lamed à droite du pied de la croix, lettres faiblement gravées, nom connu ailleurs, voir n° 74.

- 46 (S.412) : Si le tracé du †et est assez gauche, les jambages étant ajoutés après le tracé de la ligne, l’anthroponyme †wsy n’est pas tout à fait inconnu, ainsi que l’écrit l’auteur, on peut lui comparer les noms Tausis, Tousis, ...84

- 60 (S.654)  : On aurait dû signaler la mention de ªbyb’ - ãab(b)îba que nous avons lue sur l'inscription christopalestinienne d'el-Quweismeh,87 correspondant au grec Abbibos avant de citer des exemples en arabe.

- 47 (S.438) : Les trois lettres liées de rbq’ sont posées sur une ligne rectiligne, dépassant un peu à droite, et le lapicide a doublé la ligature qof - ’alef.

- 61 (S.655) : Le yod que décrit l'auteur comme « un petit trait épais, incliné à gauche ; il n'est ni déviation de la ligne ni glissement de l'outil » est bien réduit comparé à celui du n° 67. La reproduction montre plutôt un trait très court, légèrement dédoublé en haut comme deux sorties divergentes du stylet, que le trait long et épais du dessin. De même, le mem est composé de deux traits rectilignes parallèles que recoupe une verticale dépassant la ligne de base, ce que n'indique pas le dessin à quatre traits convexes. La lecture nw‘ymw est une forme qutayl.

- 49 (S.470) : Lire ªkmw, non ªkymw, le yod n'existe pas (reprise de la ligature). Le dessin du kaf (fig. 380) est certainement à revoir, la tête a un crochet à une haste oblique. On peut se demander si le lapicide en gravant ªkmyw, (une base semble à lire pour yod, avec waw à trois angles et non arrondi), n’a pas fait une métathèse pour ªkymw ? - 50 (S.471)  : Deux yod de modules différents. On se demande si la reproduction (fig. 471) ne serait pas en faveur de la lecture attendue ywªnys, esquisse de samek ?

- 62 (S.657) : La lecture mrys paraît vraisemblable, mais la reproduction (fig. 410) montre une autre croix à pennes sous la croix pleine supérieure, que l’auteur ne mentionne pas. Le mot pourrait aussi bien être pour Marius.

- 51 (S.472) : Lire certainement ‘wz vu la grandeur de la lettre triangulaire fort bien attesté à Samra, e.g. no 58, non ‘yz, inconnu, qui a cependant la préférence de l’auteur.

- 64 (S.737) : La forme qšyš n'appuie en rien la forme qšš’ du n° 6, bien attestée telle quelle par ailleurs, mais où l'auteur veut à tout prix lire qš[y]š.

- 52 (S. 478) : La figure 386 est à lire sens dessus dessous. - 54 (S.480) : Ni ªwšm ni šwlm ne paraissent recevables qui ne rendent pas compte des tracés, et le ªet ne va pas sans difficulté. Une lecture šwšm est certes possible (le mem reste unique), mais pas très vraisemblable en onomastique. Serait-il possible de lire un ‘aïn avec un départ en haut à droite (un tracé difficile pour yod), šw‘l’, avec un ’alef inversé et gauche (voir no 55/2) ou šw‘lt ? voir šw‘l, Soual, Soula en 1 Ch.

- 65 (S.748) : Si, comme il est écrit, et on voudrait le croire, il y a un petit espace entre dalet et yod, le dessin « d'après le calque sur l'objet » induit fortement en erreur le lecteur qui ne peut lire, comme sur la photographie, qu'un trait continu et le premier exécuté sur lequel sont manifestement disposées toutes les lettres. Cette remarque supplémentaire relativise une fois de plus la crédibilité à porter aux dessins publiés faits, écrit-on, d'après les objets vus, et on peut douter qu’ils soient de l’auteur. Le nom Palladios – Palladius est bien attesté parmi les chrétiens dès le IVe siècle.

- 55 (S.481) : À la première ligne, lire certainement šwmš’, le waw est assuré vu la partie inférieure du demi-cercle conservée, et du šin il reste des traces des deux hastes obliques sur la ligne, voir les reproductions. Ce nom est connu à Kursi, deux fois sous la forme šwmš et nous avons restauré une fois šw[mš(y)]’ comme possible sur l'autre inscription.85 Il ne s’agit donc pas d’«  une restitution hasardeuse », mais de la lecture qui s'impose. Le patronyme ne fait pas de difficulté : ’lqywm.

- 66 (S.753) : La description et le dessin ne correspondent pas une fois encore, et ils excluent la lecture du yod qui n'a pas cette boucle à gauche comme il en va pour kaf ou ‘aïn. Si le samek était possible, le dessin en donne un ductus unique, non classifié dans la partie paléographique, alors que la reproduction en ferait un tracé comparable à celui du taw ou waw. En revanche, si le dessin favorise nettement une lecture de qof ou mem ou encore ’alef et non ªet en début de mot, la reproduction est moins claire.

- 58 (S.494) : Puisque la surface a été écaillée dernièrement (ce que le dessin ne montre pas), on doit transcrire zbd[ car on ne peut exclure zbd’/y/w, formes les plus fréquentes dans la région. On ne peut donc conclure que «  le nom de Samra correspond à la forme nord-arabe la plus courte, vraisemblablement prononcée Zabd ». La lecture mnw est de loin la plus probable et il faudrait exclure mny avec un grand yod en triangle isocèle étroit, d'autant que tous les 84 85

L’auteur (Desreumaux 1998  : 484-485) se contredit «  il ne peut donc s’agir que d’un W… Toutefois, le Y n’est pas impossible,… ». La disposition du dalet du patronyme vient de ce que le lapicide a commencé la gravure trop haut à droite et qu’il voulait le séparer distinctement du pied de la croix, il n’y a pas de dérapage de l’outil. 87 Voir ci-dessus. 86

Voir Preisigke 1922, et Foraboschi 1971 : 312. Voir Puech 1988.

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considérations sans appui. Il s'agit du patronyme Olemos, Alamos, Ilmos, etc., déjà trouvé sur la stèle n° 59. (Une graphie ‘lm’ conviendrait aussi pour rendre la finale –os).

Le qof paraît exclu puisqu'il ne rend pas compte de la ligne qui dépasse à droite, autre qu'un ‘décor’. En fait, seul le ªet semble rendre compte des traces avec base et apices aux deux hastes. Dans ce cas seul le grec Olephos rend la graphie de ce nom à l’exclusion de tout autre. L'enquête onomastique ayant amené l'auteur à ne pas exclure aussi ªet a clairement influencé sa description des incisions, non l’examen de la pierre. Il faut certainement rejeter la lecture qwlps.

- 75 (S.5118) : Le patronyme paraît être mgwnr à supposer que sa lecture soit recevable, car le ‘waw’ est aussi haut sur la ligne que nun et les autres lettres, excepté le reš réduit. Le nom paraît unique, mais certainement pas à rapprocher de Majorinus. Toutefois, le gimel est moins assuré sur la figure 448, et le patronyme mgwnr inexpliqué peut être lu mnwnr, ce qui est plus satisfaisant (voir mnw n° 58 comme premier élément du nom connu en nabatéen).

- 67 (S.781) : Le dessin du mem paraît difficile  et la reproduction de l'estampage (figure 424) donne une ligne supérieure (accidentelle ?) parallèle à la ligne d'écriture qui recoupe les griffes de la croix. Toutefois la lecture n‘ym semble possible puisque qšyš paraît plus difficile. On note cependant que la racine existe bel et bien en araméen qumranien, judéen, nabatéen et palmyrénien sans avoir à faire appel à l’arabe.

- 77 (S.5121) : Si le rebord gauche porte une écaille de la surface, la lecture ªwnys s'impose identique au n° 41, au lieu de ªwnyw ; le dessin ne reproduit pas fidèlement ce qu'il reste de la lettre : le trait continue après la première partie du samek beaucoup plus haute et étroite que le tracé du waw précédent, voir fig. 451. On doit éviter de trouver des formes nouvelles sans lecture indiscutable au sein d'une population locale assez homogène. Enfin, l'auteur suppose un arc sous la transversale de la croix, proposant un ôméga à gauche et alpha à droite. Mais il faut certainement lire en dextrograde dans les deux cadrans : E I A. La première lettre semble bien être un epsilon, voir fig. 451, suivi d'un iota et alpha à droite. Ces lettres grecques sont sûrement à comprendre comme désignant des chiffres et indiquant l'âge du défunt : e(tôn) ia = 11, soit «  âgé de 11 ans  ». L'utilisation de chiffres en grec étant d'usage commun ne saurait surprendre sur une stèle en christo-palestinien. Écrits en dextrograde, cet usage peut expliquer les quelques noms gravés dans cette direction par des lapicides habitués aux deux types d'écriture. C'est le premier exemple de chiffres avec la formule d'usage au complet pour indiquer l'âge sur une stèle christo-palestinienne qui n'a pas été relevé. Voir aussi n°s 27 où manque e(tôn) et 87.

- 70 (S.3043) : Le nom ns†sy’ est la pure translitération du grec Nestasia, diminutif ou forme apocopée d’Anastasia qui traduit qymt’ ou d’Anastasius. - 72 (S.3573) : Les lectures ªwns ou ªyns sont à exclure. Lire tout simplement ªwls, le waw est plus arrondi sur la reproduction, et lamed presque vertical, nom bien connu en Syrie du sud et à Umm el-Jimal, Olesos - Ôlesos, voir en Palmyrène ªl’, ªlh, ªly, ªlyw et ªlw en Nabatène. Le renvoi au n° 43 ªnws est trompeur. - 73 (S.5114) : Le nom šwš’n est en scriptio plena, sans nécessairement devoir invoquer une influence arabe. Encore une fois la description «  …les traits initiaux comme un amalgame des lettres Š et W » ne correspond pas au dessin donné d’après le calque ! - 74 (S.5115) : Contrairement à l'étrange lws // q pour lwqs  «  Luc  » de l'éditeur, où le waw a décidément un module carré sur les reproductions et non l'arrondi du dessin, lire en toute certitude les mêmes noms répétés sur les deux faces, lqs // ‘lm, sans mater lectionis dans les deux cas. Au recto, le patronyme est gravé normalement avec des traces de lettres encore visibles à droite et au-dessus de la petite dépression dans le premier cadran de la croix et le mem est possible, ce n'est pas un carré parfait loin de là, tous les traits dépassent, comparable au tracé du verso (il ne semble pas être suivi d'un ’alef sur le bord pour ‘lm’). Au verso, le lapicide a gravé le patronyme en dextrograde cette fois, mais on note les mêmes tracés et disproportions des lettres sur les deux faces, dénotant une même main. Un texte identique gravé sur les deux faces se comprend fort bien et c'est de loin la meilleure lecture, le sens de gravure et de lecture habituelle et le sens dextrograde ne surprennent nullement, on en a bien d'autres exemples sur ces documents, voir n°s 2, 25, 27, 30, 77 et 83. L'anthroponyme lqs est autant pour Lucius que pour Luc, voir à Palmyre ’lps pour Ulpius. En revanche ‘lm n’a certainement pas le même sens que dans l'expression ªyy b‘lm « vis pour l'éternité » du n° 6, et ne peut donc être traduit par « Éternité », comme le fait l'auteur au prix de

- 78 (S.5122) : Comme la première lettre est plutôt carrée sur la photographie que l'arrondi du dessin, on propose de lire, au lieu de l’incompréhensible wm[, qm[š] avec plus de vraisemblance, mem étant au milieu de la stèle au-dessus de la potence de la croix, les noms étant en règle générale assez également répartis de part et d'autre au-dessus ou audessous de la croix, voir Komas, Komes, etc. - 79 (S.5124) : On regrette l'absence d'une reproduction. On ne voit pas ce qui peut manquer à droite et à gauche de ces deux lettres, sans cassures latérales d'après le dessin pour lire ]wd[. Aucune lettre n’est complète, lire peut-être wd(d)- Ouaddos, le dessin semble signifier des restes à gauche du dalet comme pour un autre dalet ou waw ou ?, wdw est un anthroponyme connu en nabatéen, voir aussi wd‘w. - 80 (S.5129) : En l'absence encore de photographie, il est difficile de se faire une opinion précise. On note que le qof a un module assez arrondi (d'après le dessin). La proposition de Baillet Lycambes est à relever pour rendre lq‘nb’, si vera lectio, mais lqynb’ est peu vraisemblable et

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Ama : le trait oblique à droite (accidentel ?) n’est pas lié au carré qui convient mieux à waw qu’à mem, puis à gauche du pied de la croix l’alef est lié à un trait avec pied mais dont la partie supérieure a disparu lamed probable. Le nom w’l - Ouael(os) est très fréquent dans la région, voir Rihab (ci-dessus) et Fig. 229.

inexpliqué, donc à rejeter. On aimerait étudier l’estampage pour se faire une idée plus assurée, les dessins n’étant pas toujours fidèles. - 81 (S.5155) : Sans reproduction. La lecture yw[ peut être pour yw[s’, yw[ªns, yw[n’,… - 82 (S.5197) : La lecture q’šyš est assurée, en scriptio plena différente des n°s 6 et 64, voir ãayyan al-Mushrif, q’šyš’. On note que le prolongement de la ligne à gauche de la croix se situe plus haut, comparer n° 30, et est horizontale.

À la fin de ces remarques, il est clair que la notation des dates en grec, elle aussi en dextrograde, indique la part de bilinguisme de quelques habitants, ce que déjà des anthroponymes gravés en dextrograde pouvaient laisser deviner, voir les n°s 2 (les deux noms), 25 (nom), 27 (nom et âge), 30, 74 (patronyme, verso), 77 (âge), 87 (âge).88 Mais la quantité de stèles anépigraphes donne une idée aussi du taux d’alphabétisation de la population.89

- 83 (S.5218)  : Au «  mais cela ne fait pas de sens  » de l'éditeur, on lit, au mieux d'après les restes perceptibles sur la reproduction (fig. 463, mais le dessin est de peu d'utilité), ’brhm : ’alef, bet, he et mem sont assurés et restes du coude du reš. Le nom est déjà connu à Samra, n° 48, voir n° 34 (grec).

Il est curieux de noter que le bilinguisme semble se retrouver dans l'inscription 78 de la mosaïque de l'église 81 (au-dessus du canthare de l'angle sud-ouest), portant la signature du mosaïste, en tesselles rouges sur fond blanc. À la fin de la quatrième ligne de l'inscription grecque « Anastasiou (fils de) Domentianou psephôthetou/ le mosaïste  », est présent un motif végétal. Quoique vraisemblable, cette solution n’est-elle pas à double entendre  ? Les tesselles sont épaisses et la graphie assez différente de celle de l'inscription dédicatoire (n° 77) : omicron carré et arrondi, tous deux proches du ductus de waw des inscriptions christo-palestiniennes, lettres en ligature.90 Tout autant qu'un motif floral, ou les deux à la fois,91 on se demande si le mosaïste n'a pas fait un clin d'œil invitant à lire, en dextrograde encore une fois, deux lettres araméennes, ’alef très reconnaissable et waw non entièrement fermé, comme translitération de son nom en grec juste auparavant, soit ’(ns†sy)w - A(nastasi)OU, voir n° 70  : ns†sy’. Si tel était le cas, –et cela ne paraît pas totalement invraisemblable pour un lecteur bilingue–, on aurait un moyen de dater une présence christo-palestinienne sous l'épiscopat de Théodore en 633/4, d'autant que la graphie de l'inscription 77 de cette église 81 est, elle aussi, proche de celle de l'inscription 79 de la petite église 82 tout à côté, les deux édifices étant construits et/ou pavés sous cet archevêque.92 Le plan de cette église ne conviendrait-il pas assez bien à une église monastique pour une petite communauté de

- 84 (S.5500) : Le nom ‰wbyªw est une forme qutayl, fréquente à Samra, adoptée de la formation nabatéenne des mots ‘wmyrw, zwbydw, šwydw, voir Sobaios, ..., mais ce nom est bien connu avant l'arabe islamique. - 86 (S.5517) : La lecture yws’ est certaine, le yod triangulaire est plus marqué sur la photographie que sur le dessin. - 87 (S.5518) : L'auteur propose de lire šqw, un nom inconnu et de lecture impossible : šin sans base, un tout petit qof et un énorme waw. En fait, à l’aide de la photographie (fig. 471), on doit plutôt lire : ‘ql’, des lettres gauchement disposées à l'intérieur d'un cercle à partir de la droite du pied de la croix. Le ‘aïn semble assuré par son oblique tirée à gauche reposant sur la ligne de base dirigée vers le bas à gauche (un šin même isolé devrait avoir une base sous le ‘v’), le qof est un carré dans les pennes du pied de la croix, le lamed a un petit apex à la hampe et une longue base qui recoupe le cercle et un retour de la base, et l’alef en grande partie hors du cercle semble partiellement effacé et regravé dans le cercle avec deux traits en 'v' renversé presque collés sous la longue oblique au-dessus du lamed à cause de l'espace. Le nom ‘ql’ est connu, voir Okalos, etc. Au-dessus et sous le bras de la croix, on lit de gauche à droite cette fois : omicron (ou ‘q’ renversé si un trait relie bien la lettre à la croix, voir n°s 4, 11, 16, 28 grec), epsilon en arc de cercle (le dessin est encore fautif, voir fig. 471) et Epsilon (majuscule distinct du chiffre), difficilement un he christo-palestinien couché à gauche. Cette formulation est à comprendre oe E(tôn) « âgé de 75 ans » ou qe E(tôn) « âgé de 95 ans »), voir (grec) n°s 4 : 90 ans, 11 : 98 ans, 16 : 90 ans, 28 : 93 ans. C'est la troisième mention de l'âge du défunt sur une stèle christo-palestinienne qui doit être relevée, voir déjà n°s 27 et 77 en formulation grecque.

Malgré les affirmations de l’auteur (Desreumaux 1988 : 552 et passim ), il est nécessaire de connaître les deux langues pour pouvoir lire et comprendre deux écritures différentes. En outre, les inscriptions des mosaïques des églises sont presque toutes en grec, ce qui laisse entendre que des chrétiens (clergé et d’autres) étaient quelque peu familiers de cette langue, même si l’onomastique traduit des pratiques conservatrices dans les familles. Le grec était principalement la langue de la théologie et de la liturgie dans les monastères de la région. Sur ce sujet, voir notamment Griffith 1997 : 11-31; et Dauphin 1998, I : 146. 89 On note l’orthographe de mr†’ n° 2 avec †et au lieu du taw, mais ce genre de faute n’est pas rare. 90 Voir Desreumaux 1998 : 388. 91 La comparaison avec le rameau de l’inscription christo-palestinienne de l’église de Rihab montrerait une variante (volontaire  ?) du tracé habituel du rameau. 92 Voir Gatier 1998 : 387-89 et 362-63. 88

- 88 : Parmi quelques estampages d’inscriptions grecques de Samra, nous avons retrouvé fortuitement un estampage de la partie inférieure d’une stèle portant faiblement gravée une inscription sémitique. L’estampage porte au verso au crayon rouge la mention ‘Samra’ qui n’appartenait pas au lot de Savignac ; le nom w’l paraît de loin préférable à ‘m’,

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au milieu de chrétiens, du moins à une certaine époque ? On accepte la lecture Kasianou sur la stèle 27 (grec), mais il n’est pas prouvé que la croix a été ajoutée après coup (au lieu du simple trait horizontal, avec une ‘palme’ qui rappelle les bras de la croix à trois pennes, absente des stèles «  païennes  » de Samra et très différente de celles de Rihab), mais peut-on en conclure que la formulation est uniquement celle des «  stèles gréco-arabes  » ou «  païennes  »  ? On lit sous la transversale de la croix la formule complète « e(tôn) is - âgé de 16 ans ».97 que l'on retrouve aussi sur des inscriptions araméennes. Enfin on relève, dans les deux ensembles, la faible proportion des noms féminins que ce soit en sémitique ou en grec.

moines bilingues grec - christo-palestinien comme dans le Désert de Juda et ailleurs  ?93 On peut au moins poser la question, d'autant que l'inscription 79 de l'église 82 contemporaine mentionne un higoumène, un lecteur, et que l'inscription 81 de l'église 95 connaît un deutéraire. Dans cette publication de Samra, il a été noté, à propos des inscriptions grecques, que les inscriptions funéraires chrétiennes rédigées en grec sont originales et qu'elles ne se comparent qu'aux inscriptions funéraires araméennes, formant un ensemble unique.94 Et on en a tiré une impression de rupture et de forte transformation des habitudes funéraires à Samra, étant donné que ces stèles funéraires dites « gréco-syriennes », chrétiennes, inscrites en grec ou en araméen, portent un formulaire qui, « quelle que soit la langue, est réduit à la plus simple expression, puisqu'on ne trouve, en tout et pour tout, que le nom du défunt au nominatif ou au génitif. L'âge, le patronyme et les formules d'exhortation sont éliminés ».95

Si le déchiffrement de ces stèles est difficile, le lecteur est tout de même en droit d'attendre une lecture acceptable et vérifiée, sans digressions superflues. Il peut juger des solutions qui sont plus que des suggestions, tant elles paraissent s'imposer d'elles-mêmes ou sont préférables à celles de l’édition.98 Ces notes et remarques rectificatives paraissent nécessaires et indispensables pour une saine approche de ces textes et leur utilisation dans la recherche paléographique, onomastique, ethnographique et historique, comme nous l'avons esquissé ou laissé entendre dans ces lignes.99 Il y a, semble-t-il, beaucoup moins d'arabisation ou de noms arabes qu'on ne l’a écrit, et plus de noms grecs ou latins qu'on ne l'a soupçonné (n°s 12, 31, 57, 62, 65, 66, 74, 80, 85), les noms d'origine nabatéenne et palmyrénienne de loin les plus nombreux appartiennent à la souche locale, pas nécessairement arabes. Cela aussi a son importance pour la datation du cimetière et de l'occupation chrétienne du site. Il n'est pas prouvé que ces inscriptions soient toutes un phénomène tardif, en tout cas postérieur à l'arrivée de l'Islam.100 Il est même à espérer qu'elles sont contemporaines d’une partie de l'occupation e e byzantine du site de la fin du V au début du VIII siècle.101 Pour plus de clarté et s'y retrouver plus facilement, nous donnons ci-dessous la liste des 88 stèles christopalestiniennes inscrites retrouvées en numérotation continue, qu'on aurait attendue de la publication originale102 avec, en parallèle, notre déchiffrement et celui de Samra I. Nous la faisons suivre de la liste des stèles païennes et chrétiennes en grec pour une comparaison rapide de l'onomastique et du style et pour une idée de

Ces remarques doivent maintenant être quelque peu nuancées, en particulier en ce qui concerne les inscriptions araméennes, une fois les lectures sérieusement révisées par un déchiffrement correct des stèles. D'abord, les formules d'exhortation sont rares mais non inexistantes, puisqu'on en trouve une sur la stèle 6 qšš’ ªyy b‘lm «  Qašiša, vis à jamais », mais non sur la stèle 74 verso où le sens «  Éternité  » est à éliminer. Ensuite, l'âge y est quelques fois mentionné, selon la formulation grecque et les chiffres en grec, primitivement empruntés au sémitique, en écriture dextrograde, voir les stèles 27 (sans e[tôn], 77 et 87. Enfin, les patronymes sont assez fréquents, car on ne peut imaginer que, dans ces tombes individuelles, deux inhumations aient eu lieu en même temps dans un nombre aussi important de cas, voir n°s 1 ’ly’ // ’lš‘dy/’l‘wdy, 2 mr†’ (fém.) // kyf’ (masc.), 22 s†yfny/s // †wby’, 27 ’wsw // sw†w (l'âge ne peut se rapporter qu'au défunt et non au patronyme), 33 šb† // lªd, 46 †wsy // šlm’, 55 šwmš’ // ’lqywm, 58 mnw // zbd[‘/y/w], 74 lqs // ‘lm, et 75 mry’ // mnwnr(?), soit dix exemples sur 88 stèles gravées en christo-palestinien.96Puisqu'il est à peu près certain que le christo-palestinien s'aligne sur l'usage grec, le terme de filiation n'étant pas nécessaire en grec, indiqué par le génitif, il peut en être de même en sémitique, comme il est assez fréquent sur les sceaux à toutes les périodes. Et il est peu plausible qu'on ait affaire à deux défunts sur une même stèle, on leur comparerait le nom du mosaïste ‘Anastasiou’ de l'inscription grecque 78.

Voir Gatier 1998 : 373, noter la présence de l'epsilon non lu, très clair sur cette reproduction de l'estampage sous l'alpha, ainsi que le iota (ligne 1) qui passait pour imperceptible sur notre reproduction (du verso) de l'estampage. 98 Voir Desreumaux 1998 : 435. 99 Voir principalement Desreumaux 1998 : 511-521, et 547-553, à réviser sérieusement et à nuancer à l'aide de ces précisions. Il y aurait beaucoup à dire sur « les remarques morphologiques selon les critères linguistiques » dont on fera bien de ne pas trop tenir compte, gyrgy, hrqly, pldy, twšy sont des noms grecs aux terminaisons abrégées en sémitique, sans plus, etc., tout comme sur l’analyse paléographique. 100 Comme l'écrit Desreumaux 1998 : 16-17. La génération de l’archevêque Théodore par exemple n’a rien à voir avec l’Islam. e e 101 Voir Gatier 1998 : 365-366, fin VI et début VII siècle tout au moins. 102 Voir déjà Gatier 1998 : 367-412. 97

En conclusion, faut-il encore parler de réelle et profonde discontinuité  ? Sans doute, si on se place du point de vue de la pratique religieuse, mais est-il totalement exclu que, dans ce village, il y ait eu des non-chrétiens Mais on ne peut limiter l'utilisation de cette langue à un rayon de 30 à 40 km autour de Jérusalem, comme le fait Bar-Asher 1988 : 29. 94 Voir Gatier 1998 : 362. 95 Voir Gatier 1998 : 364. 96 Humbert (1998 : 32) dénombre «  70 stèles funéraires inscrites en christo-palestinien » ! 93

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l’onomastique du site.

48 439 ’brhm ’brhm 49 470 ªkm(y)w ªkmw ou ªkymw 50 471 ywªny(s?) ywªny 51 472 ‘wz ‘w/yz 52 478 qymw qymw 53 479 zynb zynb 54 480 šwšm ªwšm ou šw‘l’/t(?) ou šwšm

n° d'inventaire Puech Desreumaux 1 16 ’ly’ // ’l‘wdy ’ly’ // ’lšdw ou ’lªdw 2 17 m’r†’ // kyf’ 3 18 ªdy’ ªdy’ 4 19 mwšy mwšy 5 20 qymt’ qymt’ 6 21 qšš’ // ªyy // qš[y]š// ªyy b‘lm // b‘lm 7 22 ªbw nkbw 8 23 mry’ mry’ 9 24 šlymw šlymw 10 25 gyrgy gyrgy 11 26 ‘wmyrw ‘wmyrw 12 27 ’rbn ’rbn 13 28 y/‘qw(?)b’ qwbn 14 29 kwkby’ fwbr(w)s 15 30 †wb(y)’ †wb’ 16 31 qymw 17 32 ªywn’ ªlwn’ 18 33 ªw††’ ªw††’ 19 34 ªšn ªšn 20 35 ªdywn ‘bdywn 21 36 rb’ rb’ 22 37 s†ypny/s // †wby’ s†pny/ s†pyny’ // twry[’ 23 38 ’wš’l ‘wš[y]’l 24 39 ’bwby ’dwby/’rwby 25 39a q‰yw ? (ignorée) 26 40 dwyd dwyd 27 41 ’wsw//sw†w//I G qywm // sw†w ou ªw†w 28 42 s†fns s†??n 29 85 ywªns ywªns 30 86 twms sqwt 31 87 hrqly (?)hrqly 32 88 qymw qymw 33 89 šb† // lªd šb[w] // lªd 34 90 ‘wbydw ‘wbydw 35 91 tym’ ?qym’? 36 92 mqy mqy 37 93 zwbydw zwbydw 38 94 ªdywn ‘bdywn ou ªdywn 39 95 qymw ? 40 382 šw‘dw/y šwy/‘dw 41 383 ªwnys ªwnys 42 384 ªbw ªbw 43 386 ªn(y?)ws ªnws 44 391 mry’ mry’ 45 411 ywsyp(s/y) ywš(y)ny ou yws(y)ny 46 412 †wsy(?) // šlm’ †wsy // šlm’ 47 438 rbq’ rbq’

55 481 šwmš’ // ’lqywm ]š’ // ’lqywm 56 483 ªdywn ªdywn 57 493 bkws bkws 58 494 mnw//zbd[’/y/w(?) mnw // zbd 59 653 ‘lm m 60 654 ªbyb ªbyb 61 655 nw‘ymw (?) nw‘ymw 62 657 mrys (?) mrys 63 658 qymw qymw 64 737 qšyš qšyš 65 748 pldy pldy 66 753 ªwlpt(/w) q/ª]wlf[(y)s 67 781 n‘ym(?) n‘ym 68 1748 drhm drhm 69 2255 qm†s’ qm†s’ 70 3043 ns†sy’ ns†sy’ 71 3562 brhm brhm 72 3573 ªwls ªw/yns 73 5114 šwš’n šwš’n 74 5115 r. lqs // ‘lm lw s 5115 v. lqs // ‘lm lqs // ‘lm 75 5118 mry’ mnwnr(?) mry’ mgwnr 76 5120 swfy swfy 77 5121 ªwnys (?) // EIA ªwnyw/s 78 5122 qm[š wm? 79 5124 wd(d/w)? ]wd[ 80 5129 lq‘nb’(?) lqynb’ 81 5155 yw[ yw[ 82 5197 q’šyš q’šyš 83 5218 ’brhm ? 84 5500 ‰wbyªw ‰wbyªw 85 5501 pldy pldy 86 5517 yws’ [y(w)]s’ 87 5518 ‘ql’ // o/qe E šqw 88 inédit w’l Liste des noms des stèles païennes et chrétiennes en grec103 - Stèles païennes 1 1 Gomollathès Amriliou et(ôn) ne 2 2 Sabeinon etôn o 3 3 Seouèros Zabdallas et(ôn) p104 4 4 Amônis Aurèlis etôn q 5 5 Moairos Moeithou [ 6 44 Masek[os 7 73 Phosaiathè Sichmallou [ 8 440 ]/CITHIK?[ / IEN?[ / NI Voir Gatier 1998 : 373-380, et 411. Dans Humbert, Desreumaux 1998 : 367, on lit encore sigma, epsilon, tau et pi, sans que la cassure ait rien supprimé.

103 104

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9 443 Asgalothè Sabinianou et(ôn) ie 10 444 ]sô / eum 11 141 Themos Badarou et(ôn) qè 12 697 Moe]ithos105 13 732 Ianouaris ouetranos zèsas etè xg 14 776 Obedos et(ôn) is 15 787 Abdalmilchos Moeithou et(ôn)[ 16 945 Nomereianos et(ôn) q 17 1136 [Aterg]atè gynè Amiou 106 18 1757 tharsi Philia et(ôn) m 19 2254 Abda[lg]ès 20 2257 Atrè Thaimala et(ôn) le 21 2313 tharsi Germanos et(ôn) le 22 3390 Masechos Zabdallo[u 23 3391 Iôannès 24 476 Sadôn 25 3571 Tharsi B/Sa]redas Salman(ou) e(tôn) n107 26 3578 [Ome]rou et(ôn) p108

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

475 Pholéou 477 Adion 602 a) Laki b) [...]taal[...] 605 Noléchos 729 Abdos 743 Thôma 1527 Kéamou 3044 Anastasiéou 3051 Èsai[as (?)111 3561 Sabina 3563 Zôè 148 Ara...a ou Abd[a] Odas112 149 Ababi 150 Oémiros

14 - Inscription christo-palestinienne sur jarre à Umm erRasas (Fig. 230) Lors de la campagne de 1988, M. Piccirillo mit au jour dans le complexe de l’église de Saint-Étienne un tesson de céramique (no R. 1412) portant une inscription gravée avant cuisson.113 De l’inscription gravée au-dessous d’un décor en zigzag de trois cercles concentriques moins profondément gravé, il ne reste guère qu’un nom propre, très vraisemblablement le nom du potier en lisant e.g. d‘b]d p†rws[, «  Jarre qu’a fait]e Pierre[ », ou peut-être encore son patronyme en lisant b]r p†rws[ «  Jarre qu’a faite X, fil]s de Pierre[ ». Plusieurs ‘Pierre’ sont connus dans les inscriptions des mosaïques de l’église SaintÉtienne. La datation dépend de la céramique et du contexte archéologique. Une datation dans le VIIe siècle paraît acceptable. Cette inscription est la première attestation de cette écriture à Umm er-Rasas, ce qui ne saurait surprendre, même si l’objet pourrait aussi venir d’ailleurs.114 Mais on a d’autres témoignages peu éloignés au nord et au sud de cette écriture et de ce type de céramique, dont l’un porte aussi ce genre de décor et un anthroponyme gravé deux fois dans cette écriture (voir Jérash, supra).

- Stèles chrétiennes 27 72 Kasianou e(tôn) is 28 731 Theodôra qg109 29 6 Antioché 30 7 Makédona 31 8 Naom 32 9 Sabbéos 33 10 Sabéou 34 11 Abraamèas 35 12 Ennou 36 13 Kaioum 37 14 Kaiam 38 15 Komitis 39 43 Stéphanos 40 45 Philipo (?) 41 46 ?? // A w110 42 161 A w 43 Saad 44 197 Nôèré 45 380 Obédou 46 381 Aldaé 47 385 Enou 48 437 Anna 49 469 Kaémos 50 473 Sila

15 - Inscriptions christo-palestiniennes de Qa‰r al-Abiadh (Figs 231-236) L’ermitage de Qa‰r al-Abiadh est situé entre l’ermitage de Dayr al-Qa††ar al-Byzanti au sud et celui de Qa‰r a†‡uba au nord-ouest dans la péninsule du Lisan. Plusieurs inscriptions en grec, en araméen christo-palestinien et autres graffiti y ont été découvertes.115 Sur le mur occidental de la salle A, un panneau rectangulaire comprenait une croix gravée par dessus trois lignes en grec (inscription 1; Fig. 231 a-b). L’éditeur a pensé que les trois

Lire probablement Moe]ithos d'après la disposition de la gravure, non ]èthos (Gatier 1998 : 370), voir Moeithos, Moithou, m‘ytw, m‘yty en Nabatène et Palmyrène et ci-dessus n°s 5 et 15. 106 Lire [Aterg]atè, bien attesté en Palmyrène et ensuite probablement Amiou, bien connu en Nabatène. 107 Lire pour l’alignement tharsi puis soit Ba]redas, soit Sa]redas, voir Bardas, Barde, Saredos, et l'hébreu brd ou srd. 108 Une lecture probable pour l’alignement serait OME]ROY, rho non lu est certain. 109 L’espace entre E et D ne favorise pas l’addition de la petite croix a posteriori, de même pour la stèle de Kasianou n° 27. 110 D’après les reproductions (Humbert, Desreumaux 1981 : Pl XII ; et 1998 : 376), il semble y avoir dans les deux cadrans supérieurs, plus faiblement gravées les lettres A et B : faudrait-il lire un anthroponyme ? 105

Humbert, Desreumaux 1998 : 380 : un iota semble lisible après alpha, on attend donc le nom Èsai[as. 112 Comme la lecture Ara…a est difficile, préférer Abd[a] Odas. 113 Voir Piccirillo 1988 : 458-459 ; Puech 1989 : 268-270 ; et Puech 1994 : 289-290, reproduction Pl. XXVI 4. 114 Pour un objet semblable, voir Schneider 1950 : 18-19, daté des VIeVIIIe siècles. 115 Voir Svensson 2005 : 170-172 pour les inscriptions, mais les photos de toutes les inscriptions ne sont pas publiées. 111

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semble commencer par mr’ ’lh’ … «  Seigneur Dieu  ». Au début de la ligne 2, on lirait assez bien mrnh ysws… « Notre Seigneur Jésus ». Vers la fin de la ligne 3 (ou 4), on lit …ysws… probablement précédé de mr’ « Seigneur Jésus  ». On comprend sans difficulté que les premières lignes s’adressent d’abord à Dieu avant Marie, mère de Jésus. Seules les deux dernières lignes sont entièrement préservées :

lignes répètent très probablement la même phrase. Mais ces gravures se lisent ainsi : 1 ΙΧΣ SOY DUNAMIS - Jésus Christ (est) ta force. 2 KAI SOSON ABO IDw - Et, ô Dieu, sauve Abo/ Aba, vois ! 3 K(AI) (TO) AGION PNEYMA - Et ô Esprit Saint ! La lecture ΙΧΣ SOY DUNAMIS est évidente, voir 1 Co 1,24 ; 5,4, 2 Co 12,9, 2 P 1,16 où il est question de la puissance du Christ Jésus. À la ligne 2, KAI SOSON (pour swson) ABO (pour Aba ?) et IDw (pour idou), voir Mt 8,25 ; 14,30.116 Une lecture NABO ou ABDIO paraît difficile d’après la reproduction. À la ligne 3 KsAGION PNEYMA avec le stigma(?) est sans doute pour k(ai to) agion pneuma dans une formule trinitaire.

yrhz swsy armd hma mayrm ytrm 6 ajx hnlksaw hnl[a¿aÀrm 7 6 Ma Dame Mariam, mère du Seigneur Jésus, protège ! 7 Seigneur, permets-nous d’entrer, car nous avons commis le péché ! La lecture mrty est assurée ainsi que l’essentiel du mot suivant mry’m. L’expression est connue,120 et la graphie du nom Mariam est pleine, comme dans le codex A en Lc 1,46,121 reprenant la vocalisation ancienne des textes et des inscriptions : Mariam(mè) et non celle, faussée, Miriam de la massore. Le verbe est à l’impératif féminin, zhry « guette, veille, garde, protège ».

Une courte inscription (3 ; Fig. 232 a-b) en grec qui serait au nord(?) de (1) et (2), est à lire KAI QUSwN « et sacrifie/ offre un sacrifice/célèbre par un sacrifice » avec ô pour o (quson) comme il est fréquent en grec byzantin;117 pour la forme verbale, voir Act 10,13 ; 11,7. Enfin une inscription (5) au sud de (4) comprend des croix latines et grecques de dimensions différentes dont une dans un cercle et des lettres grecques éparpillées, peut-être des restes de noms propres.118 D’autres groupes de croix et d’inscriptions fragmentaires difficiles à interpréter se retrouvent sur les murs de cette salle A. On attend une publication plus complète.

La dernière ligne paraît aussi assurée à l’exception du premier ’alef mais les contours de la cassure conviennent à la lettre qui paraît aller avec les deux mots (haplographie) mr’ et ’‘lnh, au ’af‘el, « fais-nous/permets-nous d’entrer ». Le verbe suivant coordonné w’sklnh paraît de lecture assurée, au ’af‘el lui aussi  avec le pronom suffixe : « pécher, commettre le mal ». Le dernier mot ª†’ signifie « péché » et « pécheur » au participe, (il ne semble pas y avoir de yod pour le pluriel). La phrase est une demande de pardon à Dieu par le pécheur. Le waw de coordination a ici le sens causal, vu l’indignité du pécheur devant Dieu.

Une inscription (2 ; Fig. 233 a-b) dans un cadre rectangulaire au-dessous de (1) est dite en «  hébreu/araméen  » Sur le mur oriental et face à celles-ci, une inscription (4) de trois lignes serait aussi en « hébreu/araméen ». Il est bien évident que les inscriptions 2 et 4 qualifiées de «Hebrew/ Aramaic» sont en araméen christo-palestinien. Autant que les photographies publiées le permettent, on propose un premier déchiffrement de ces inscriptions christopalestiniennes dans l’attente de vérifications.119

B – ‘L’inscription 4’ ( Figs 234 a-b, et 235) sur la paroi opposée se trouve à droite d’une croix grecque à trois branches bifides qui a en partie entamé la fin de la ligne au gros module, et au-dessus d’une croix grecque trifide enserrée dans un ‘carré’ reposant sur un angle. En fait, des restes d’au moins deux lignes d’une autre inscription aux lignes bien plus longues sont visibles à gauche d’un trait perpendiculaire profondément gravé à droite, et audessus de la ligne au gros module, donnant à penser qu’on a affaire à trois inscriptions au ductus différent, cette première inscription est en caractères très réguliers. (Ici nous ne les distinguons pas à la suite de l’édition). ....Î Ð....ΠР1 Î Ð Î Ðswsy arm 2 ¿ÌÀ!ÎxÐw ¿ÌÀannxta ar¿mÀ 3 ¿ÌÀswsy rrXw ÉanËÔyÖl [mX !¿yÀma 4 ¿ÌÀ!yd altb [mX azx ¿ÌÀlb 5 2 Seigneur Jésus[ ] 3 [Se]igneur, nous supplions, et soit favorable ! 4 Véritablement, écoute-{moi}, et protège(nous), ô Jésu[s ! (?) 5 Vraiment, regarde ! Écoute dans ce lieu désert !

A – L’inscription (2) comprend des restes de six (ou sept) lignes dans un panneau rectangulaire. La première ligne On ne peut pas lire KAIQ(U)SHAGIA «  Kathys la sainte  » avec Svensson 2005 : 170, ni voir que les trois lignes répètent très probablement la même phrase ! Pour l’interchangeabilité de ou en w, voir Gignac 1976 : 208-209, pour w en o, p. 275-277, pour celui de a en o, p. 286-287, pour celui de o et ou, p. 211-214. Le mot abba est généralement un titre donné aux moines âgés ou à des moines en général. Si la lecture Abo (= Aba) était assurée, l’anthroponyme est quelque peu attesté, voir Preisigke 1922 : 1, et Foraboschi 1971 : 15 : Aba(s), Wuthnow 1930 : 123 : Aba, Abôs, Abous. Il semble difficile en effet de voir dans ces lettres un nom de personne sur le sémitique ‘bd : Aboudos, Obaidos, etc. 117 Toutefois, le plan de la figure 3 (Holmgren, Kaliff 2005  : 169, la place au sud, et, p. 170, on peut difficilement lire KAIQUS[IA] ou KAIQUS[IASTHRION]. 118 Svensson 2005 : 171. Des noms propres grecs ont été retrouvés à Qa‰r a†-‡uba : Agapios, Constantinos, Makarios, Ioannis. 119 Nous remercions R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff de nous avoir permis d’étudier les photos publiées, en attendant d’autres prises de vues. 116

120 121

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Voir Schulthess 1903 : 116b : Liturgia s. celebratio Nili fluvii 708, 15. Voir Lewis, Gibson 1899 : 234.

Notes d’épigraphie christo-palestinienne de Jordanie

De la première ligne la photo ne montre que quelques lettres que la truelle du fouilleur n’a pas entièrement enlevées.122 La ligne suivante semble avoir conservé le début à la lecture assurée et des traces plus loin.

inscriptions grecques des mosaïques font connaître le nom du mosaïste : Cosmas, et les noms d’autres ecclésiastiques, ainsi que la date de restauration de l’église en 572/3.

Le début de la ligne au gros module aurait pu contenir une croix et plus difficilement he pour [h]d’ étant donné la distance à la suite. Puis le verbe au ’af‘el peut être lu ’tql « faire trébucher, nettoyer » ou ’tqn (avec nun médian) « a érigé/restauré », sens qui paraît préférable avec le sujet ensuite, mais il pourrait aussi être au ’etpa‘al « a été érigé » avec un complément. Du mot suivant ne restent que des traces et deux lettres probables. Toutefois, sous un autre angle de vue, un mem semble possible en début de ligne et le ‘dalet’ semble bien être surmonté d’un point pour reš, mot à lire alors mr’ « Seigneur ». Dans ce cas, la suite se lirait au mieux ’tªnn ’ wªn : « nous supplions / implorons, et soit favorable  ! ». Cette lecture paraît supérieure à la précédente.

Summaries Note sull’epigrafia cristiano-palestinese della Giordania Queste note sull’epigrafia cristiano-palestinese della Giordania sono dedicate alla memoria di Padre Michele Piccirillo, l’instancabile archeologo che ha esplorato la Terra Santa, in particolare la Giordania, portando alla luce numerosi edifici, mosaici e iscrizioni. Questo contributo, riunisce insieme le iscrizioni in Christo aramaico-palestinese che sono state già pubblicate e spesso dimenticate, ma che meritano ulteriori osservazioni a causa delle loro brevi pubblicazioni a volte ridotte a notizie. A queste iscrizioni sono state aggiunte alcune iscrizioni inedite della Giordania, molti delle quali sono state scoperte da padre Michele Piccirillo. Al suo ritorno a Gerusalemme, dopo ogni campagna di scavo, mi chiamava dicendomi con grande tatto: “c’è ancora un piccolo compito per riempire il vostro tempo libero”. Non potevo non soddisfare la sua richiesta.

Une autre (troisième  ?) main a gravé les deux dernières lignes. Le premier mot paraît devoir être lu ’mn mais plus difficilement ’myn « En vérité ». À une petite distance, est gravé šm‘ avec un ‘aïn assez grand. Vient le complément d’abord écrit ly, par la suite le yod triangulaire a été corrigé en lamed en insérant un petit ’alef dans l’espace, ln’. Puis le verbe coordonné paraît bien être wšrr avec deux reš pointés au pa‘el «  fortifier, rendre fort  ». Enfin sont gravés un petit trait vertical non lié et samek puis yod(?) ou peut-être des traces plus loin à la cassure : ysw[s ou même ysws (le cercle semble précédé d’un autre cercle mal gravé); dans ce cas le nom serait en apposition « ô Jésus ! », ou ysy, accusatif, mais c’est à vérifier avec une meilleure reproduction. La dernière ligne commence apparemment avec bl, difficilement bkwl d’après la reproduction. Le mot est connu en Dn 6,15 ¬m bl, ou dans l’expression yhb bl « faire attention », il est attesté en 4Q584 c 1 et comme adverbe en 1 Hénoch 106,13 (4QHenc 5 ii 17) « vraiment ». Puis la lecture ªz’ paraît s’imposer même si l’’alef est moins marqué. Ensuite lire šm‘ (‘aïn plus faiblement gravé) suivi de btl’ et enfin un grand dalet et des restes possibles de yod et de nun médian ou d’’alef à la cassure. Comme tl est masculin, la lecture dyn ou même dn devrait s’imposer. Le sens de tl est ici, dans le Lisan, celui de « lieu désert » ou « ruine » plutôt que de « colline, montagne ».

Le iscrizioni, nel loro insieme, formano un piccolo corpus che deve essere esaminato nel contesto geografico delle provincie bizantine della Palestina e della Giordania, dal Nord a Sud del Mar Morto. Le datazioni delle iscrizioni, spesso approssimative, non consentono una presentazione in stretto ordine cronologico, infatti la maggior parte dei testi è databile tra il VI e l’inizio dell’VIII secolo. Accanto alle numerevoli iscrizioni in greco di quel periodo, le iscrizioni in Christo-palestinese aramaico permettono di sottolineare la diversità etnica e socio-culturale della popolazione e dei fedeli della Chiesa locale, che costituiva la sua vera ricchezza: chierici, sacerdoti e laici, uomini e donne al servizio dell’unità nelle loro parrocchie, nei vari luoghi di culto, così come negli ospedali e nei cimiteri. Padre Michele Piccirillo, che era un vecchio amico, mi ha spesso affidato il compito di studiare i testi da lui scoperti ed è mio dovere onorarne la memoria nel paese dove lui ha scelto di riposare, portando avanti lo studio di un parte importante del suo lavoro scientifico dedicato al periodo bizantino. Possano queste pagine essere un piccolo segno di gratitudine per il suo immenso contributo in questo settore.

16 – Parchemin en christo-palestinien du Ve/VIe siècle au sanctuaire de Lot à Deir ‘Aïn Abata Au cours des travaux de conservation du sanctuaire de SaintLot à Deir ‘Aïn Abata au sud-est de la mer Morte, près de Ghor e‰-Çafi - Zoara, sous les décombres des montants et du linteau de la porte furent trouvés des restes de boiserie, de cordes, de paniers, d’habits et de cuir. Mais une des pièces les plus importantes est sans doute un fragment de parchemin écrit en christo-palestinien du Ve/VIe siècle.123 Les

Notes on the Christian-Palestinian Epigraphy of Jordan These notes on the Christian-Palestinian epigraphy of Jordan, in memory of Fr Michele Piccirillo, the tireless archaeologist who explored the Holy Land, in particular

122 La reproduction dans Holmgren, Kaliff 2005 : 172, est tronquée en haut et à gauche, parce que l’inscription n’a pas été repérée. 123 Voir Politis 2002 : 480-481, Pl. 56, photos 1 et 3. On attend la

publication du parchemin.

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Jordan, thereby discovering numerous buildings, mosaics and inscriptions, bring together inscriptions in ChristoPalestinian Aramaic which have already been published and often forgotten, but which deserve a certain number of remarks owing to their brief publications or mentions being scattered. To those have been added a few unpublished inscriptions from Jordan, several of which were discovered by Fr Michele Piccirillo. Upon returning to Jerusalem after each excavation season, he would call me and say with great tactfulness: “Here again is a small task to fill your free time”. I could not but fulfil his request. Taken as a whole, they form a small corpus which should be viewed within the geographical context of the province of Byzantine Palestine, from Northern Jordan to south of the Dead Sea. The frequently approximate dating of the inscriptions does not allow for a tight chronological presentation, most inscriptions being dated between the VIth and the beginning of the VIIIth century. Together with the innumerable Greek inscriptions of that period, the inscriptions in Christo-Palestinian Aramaic help somewhat to trace the ethnic and socio-cultural diversity of the population and of the faithful of the local Church, which was its very richness: clerics, priests and lay men and women at the service of unity within their parishes, in the various places of worship as well as in hospitals and cemeteries. Since Fr Michele Piccirillo, who was a very old friend, has often entrusted me with the study of those texts discovered by him, it was my duty to honour his memory in the country where he has chosen to rest, by pursuing the study of an important part of his scientific work devoted to the Byzantine period. May these pages be a small token of indebtness to his immense contribution in this domain.

‫ذكراه في البالد التي أختارها للراحة خالل متابعة دراسة جزء مهم‬ ‫ لعل تكون هذه الصفحات‬.‫من عمله العلمي المكرس للفترة البيزنطية‬ .‫عربونا صغيرا من المديونية ألي مساهمته العظيمة في هذا المجال‬

‫مالحظات عن الكتابات المسيحية الفلسطينية من األردن‬ ‫هذه المالحظات عن الكتابات المسيحية الفلسطينية من األردن تقدم في ذكري‬ ‫ دارس األثار الذي ال يكل و الذي استكشف األراضي‬، ‫األب ميشيل بشيريللو‬ .‫المقدسة و خاصة األردن حيث أكتشف العديد من المباني و الفسيفساء و النقوش‬ ‫تم الجمع هنا بين العديد من الكتابات المسيحية – الفلسطينية األراميه و التي‬ ‫تم نشرها من قبل و لكن غالبها تم نسيه و لكن يستحق إعادة النظر فيها لسبب‬ ‫وجازة نشرها كما و تم إضافة بعض الكتابات الجديدة الغير منشورة من‬ ‫ بعد عودته‬،‫ و الذي كان‬.‫األردن و العديد منها قام باكتشافها األب بتشرللو‬ ‫ هنا مرة‬:‫ألي القدس بعد كل موسم تنقيب يتصل بي و يقول بلباقة عظيمة‬ .‫أخري عمل صغير لملء وقت الفراغ! ولم أتمكن عدم الوفاء ألي طلبه‬ ‫بشكل عام هذه الكتابات تمثل مجموعة صغيرة و التي ينبغي النظر أليها‬ ‫في اإلطار الجغرافي لمحافظة فلسطين البيزنطية من شمال األردن ألي‬ ‫ التأريخ التقريبي للنقوش ال يسمح لعرض زمني ضيق‬.‫جنوب البحر الميت‬ ‫ جنبا‬.‫حيث أن أكثرها يعود ألي القرن السادس و بداية القرن الثامن الميالدي‬ ، ‫ألي جنب مع الكتابات اليونانية التي ال حصر لها العائدة ألي نفس الفترة‬ ‫تساعد الكتابات المسيحية – الفلسطينية األراميه في تتبع التنوع العرقي و‬ ‫االجتماعي و الثقافي للسكان و مؤمنين الكنيسة المحلية و الذين كانوا يمثلون‬ ‫ كهنة و رجال دين و نساء و رجال في خدمة الوحدة داخل‬: ‫الثروة الحقيقية‬ .‫ في أماكن العبادة المختلفة كما و في المستشفيات و المقابر‬،‫أبرشيا تهم‬ ‫لقد كان األب ميشيل بشريللو صديقا قديما جدا و قد أوكل ألي في الكثير‬ ‫ كان من واجبي تكريم‬، ‫من األحيان دراسة تلك النصوص التي أكتشفها‬

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A Glance at the Conservation Work in the Old Core of Sabastiya (Nablus(

Historical Background

From its inception, Christianity spread across the region of Samaria8, and soon the tradition developed that the body of John the Baptist, which his disciples had retrieved in Transjordan, had been buried in Sabastiya.9 In memory of John the Baptist, two churches were built during the Byzantine period, one on the acropolis, and the other in the present village,10 over his tomb which had been identified in the necropolis outside the ancient city walls. The second church was rebuilt by the Crusaders in the second half of the XIIth century. After the Muslim conquest in 1187, Salah ad-Din built a sanctuary over the tomb of John the Baptist and turned the southern aisle into a mosque. In 1892, Sultan Abdul Hamid II ordered to move the mosque from the southern aisle to the eastern part of the cathedral, after the eradication of the remains of the apse, of the arches and of the collapsed vaults (Fig. 240).

The village of Sabastiya is located some 10 km north-west of Nablus on a hill at 463 m above sea level. It is surrounded by fertile valleys in which olives, almonds, figs and grapes are cultivated (Fig. 237). Cereals, together with vegetables and other fruit trees, are grown in the area to the west of the village. The origin of the name of the modern village of Sabastiya is the Herodian city of Sebaste, founded in 25 bc by Herod the Great on the site of ancient Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Samaria1. The city on the summit of the hill was rebuilt several times throughout its history, and the foundations of later buildings have often sunk into the earlier strata down to bedrock. The site was created by scarping, levelling and terracing the summit. The city was an important agricultural settlement since the Bronze Age.2 According to the Old Testament, Omri, King of Israel, bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer and moved his capital there.3 Later, the city was controlled by the Assyrians and Persians. The Macedonians transformed it into a Hellenistic city. After the Roman conquest of the region by Pompey in 63 bc, the city was annexed to the Roman province of Syria.4

Ownership and Conflict in Management

The archaeological remains cover approximately 6 km2, and are spread throughout the municipality of Sabastiya, encompassing private, public and Islamic Waqf-owned areas, and crossing through “Areas B” and “C” of the 1993 Oslo Agreements. Since the Taba agreement, which was signed in 1995 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the territory of Sabastiya municipality is divided between “Area B” and “Area C”. The residential zone and some agricultural lands on the eastern side are located in “Area B”, and both the archaeological site and the

In 30 bc, the Roman Emperor Augustus awarded the city to Herod the Great, who renamed it in his honor Sebaste (Augusta in Greek), launching upon an impressive building activity by erecting enormous retaining walls on the northern side of the summit to support the extension of the forecourt of a temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus.5 The city was rebuilt at the end of the IInd century ad by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, when it was established as the colony of Lucia Septimia Sebaste (Fig. 238).6 Few traces of earlier buildings are visible above the surface, such as foundations walls on the acropolis and the Hellenistic tower. Mainly Roman structures have survived: the basilica and forum, the theatre, the temple of Augustus, the colonnaded street, the city wall and gates (Fig. 239).7

1924). The second expedition was the “Joint Expedition”, a consortium of five academic institutions directed by J.W.Crowfoot from 1931-1935, Kathleen Kenyon being responsible for the excavations of the summit (Crowfoot, Kenyon, Sukenik 1942). The principal “Joint Expedition” institutions were the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the Hebrew University. In addition, small-scale excavations directed by F. Zayadine were conducted in the 1960s on behalf of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (Zayadine 1967-68). 8 Acts 8, 1. 9 The tomb of John the Baptist in Sabastiya is first mentioned by Rufinus of Aquileia in his description of the pagan revival that took place in ad 361-362 under the Roman Emperor Julian, when as part of an antiChristian reaction, the body of John the Baptist was removed from his tomb and burnt, and his ashes scattered (Historia Ecclesiastica II, 28, PL 21: 536). 10 The Commemoratorium de casis Dei vel monasteriis, an official inventory of churches and clergy dated ca ad 808, records the two churches (Commemoratorium, 304; Tobler and Molinier 1879 eds).

Flavius Josephus, Ant. XV, 296-298 (Marcus 1969 ed.). Stager 1990: 97. 3 Kings 16, 24. 4 Ant. XIV, 75 (Marcus 1966 ed.); Bell. Jud. I, 156 (Thackeray 1967 ed.). 5 Ant. XV, 296-298 (Marcus 1969 ed.); Bell. Jud, I, 403 (Thackeray 1967 ed.). 6 Abel 1938: 446. 7 The site was excavated by two major archaeological expeditions. The first was the Harvard Expedition, initially directed by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1908 and then by George A. Reisner in 1909-1910 (Reisner, Fisher, Lyon 1 2

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western plain are in “Area C”. The archaeological site is still now one of the Israeli National Parks.11

by Israel, and the plan was not implemented. The various historical phases are clearly imprinted on the buildings in the old core of Sabastiya. The older phases - almost all the lowest floors of houses - are mostly uninhabited, neglected and full of filth. In that area, new cement houses have been built over the old ones which were abandoned or demolished. Often, the ancient storey is underground, and serves as a sewer. The new houses are generally badly built in cement, and apart from aesthetic incompability, they cause structural problems and degrade the ancient constructions.

The management of the Palestinian cultural heritage follows a complex combination of authority and ownership. In Sabastiya, the Islamic Waqf controls the mosque (formerly the Crusader Cathedral) and the tomb of John the Baptist. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities holds jurisdiction over all antiquity sites in “Area B”, situated both on private or public lands. The Municipality of Sabastiya is responsible for managing the territory and the archaeological sites included in its municipality (“Area B”). The Israeli National Parks Authority (INPA) controls the entire acropolis. Additionally, there are many privately-owned architectural and historical sites inside the old core of the village that are not protected and developed according to Palestinian Law.

Ancient and Modern Visitors: from Pilgrims to Tourists Christian pilgrimage developed in the Holy Land from the early days of Christianity. Following in the footsteps of Paula, a Roman noblewoman of the gens Scipioni who visited the tomb of John the Baptist, as St Jerome described in his Letter 108 dated to ad 404,13 pilgrims came to Sabastiya from far and wide. John the Baptist is venerated as Prophet Yahya by Muslims, who have also come on pilgrimage to visit his tomb since Antiquity, especially after the building of the mosque by Salah adDin.

The management of cultural heritage is totally uncoordinated. Some years ago, the Municipality of Sabastiya approved a Master plan for the village - without taking into consideration the archaeology of the area. The Israeli National Parks Authority has drawn a separate development plan for the area of the acropolis, without any consideration for the Palestinian communities that live inside and around the park.

Also in modern times, tourism has been important for Sabastiya. In 1957, there were 4,757 visitors to the site, against 36,785 for the whole of Jordan. In 1960, in Sabastiya, visitors numbered 9,309, and in 1964, they were 19,657, against 184,027 for Jordan altogether, generating a gross income of 22.4 millions of American dollars. In 1965, tourists in Sabastiya numbered 21.553.

The Mediaeval Village The present old core of the village is located in the eastern area of the ancient Roman city (Fig. 241), partly inside and partly outside the outline of the Roman walls. The area dates back to the Byzantine period, when a church was built over the tomb of John the Baptist. Demolitions and reconstructions have been carried out since the XIXth century. In recent times 12 and during the 1960s, when the territory was under Jordanian control, scientific research barely focused on the old core. In that period, realizing the importance of the area, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities conducted some archaeological excavations, and a study to expropriate all private properties and evacuate the entire historical core was put forward. The plan aimed to move all the inhabitants to the eastern part of the village, in order to “preserve” and excavate the historical core, following the programme applied to the village of Umm Qais (ancient Gadara) in Northern Jordan. At the end of the 1967 war, the West Bank was occupied

In 1967, after the occupation of the West Bank, Israel listed the site amongst the Israeli National Parks. Busloads of tourists visited only the archaeological park over the hill, but the old core of the village and the tomb of John the Baptist were excluded from the schedule of visits. In 1994, despite the Oslo Agreements and the beginning of the gradual handing over of responsibilities to the Palestinian National Authority,14 the territory of the archaeological site of Sebaste remained under total Israeli control. It is still one of the National Parks and Reserves Epistula 108, 13, 4 (Hilberg 1910-1918 ed.; Labourt 1949-1963 éd./ trad. V). 14 The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was signed in Washington on September 28, 1995. Annex III, Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs, in Appendix 1, Article 2, relates to archaeology, as follows: “1. Powers and responsibilities in the sphere of archaeology in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be transferred from the military government and its Civil Administration to the Palestinian side. This sphere includes, inter alia, the protection and preservation of archaeological sites, management, supervision, licensing and all other archaeological activities”. To date, the transfer has been limited to urban areas (“Areas A and B”). Powers and responsibilities in the majority of the territory of the West Bank (“Area C”) - which, according to the agreement, should have been gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction-, are still under Israeli control. 13

In 1995, the Taba Agreement established that the authority over the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be transferred gradually from Israeli Occupation authority to the Palestinian Authority. A first phase involved only the populated areas (called “A” and “B”), with the exception of Jerusalem. In “Area C”, Israel should have transferred to the Palestinian Authority responsibilities not covering the territory, in view of a final Agreement which was never reached. At present, only 30% of the West Bank is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. 12 Burgoyne and Hawari 2005. 11

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and the local community.

managed by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority.15 The Israeli park is located a few metres from the village which is under Palestinian control. Until year 2000, tens of tourist buses used to visit the ancient city of Sebaste. In 2000, as a reaction to the Second Intifada, the Israeli army sealed the Palestinian towns and villages. Since then, travel throughout the West Bank is a distressing itinerary winding its way between closures, check points, and aggressions by Jewish settlers. Tourist buses do not travel any longer in the area and residual tourism is solely that of interested and committed individuals.

It is fundamental to rebuild a vital axis which would connect together the two parts and to create infrastructures inside the historical core enabling tourists to visit the archaeological site and also the Mediaeval village, in order to help the local community live in harmony with the cultural, social and economic experiences at play on its territory. Our work in the village has attempted to solve some of the problems in order to reach this strategic goal. Interventions of Recovery in the Village

Population and economy

The remains of Crusader structures south and east of the Salah ad-Din mosque (Crusader Cathedral of John the Baptist) have been the object of a series of projects financed by the Italian Cooperation, Jerusalem, in coordination with the Municipality of Sabastiya and the Palestinian Ngo “Mosaic Centre Jericho” (Fig. 242).

The village counts at present almost 3,000 inhabitants, the majority being under 18 years of age. The basic income is derived from agriculture, especially from the beautiful olive groves that surround the village and develop also inside the archaeological area, giving it a special charm combining history with nature. Some of the villagers work in the public sector, but outside the village, in the surrounding cities controlled by the Palestinian Authority. In general, the village manpower is non-specialized, and before the Intifada in 2000, most men used to travel to Israel to be employed as non-qualified workers. Nowadays, almost all of them are unemployed.

A first project was implemented by the Italian Ngo CISS in 2006.17 The area chosen for the development of the project was situated in the centre of the village, in the southern part of the mosque, along its southern wall. It was very degraded, full of filth and considered of no historical relevance by scholars. The project was conducted in cooperation with the Municipality of Sabastiya and under the scientific supervision of Professor Michele Piccirillo. Through the conservation of a small area inside the village, it intervened in village society by stimulating the full participation of younger generations, and offered support towards establishing a Youth Centre dedicated to safeguarding and enhancing the extraordinary cultural resources of Sabastiya/Samaria and its territory. The project also aimed to revive the economy of the village, by creating job opportunities for local workers, by employing for conservation work specialized and non-specialized manpower and craftsmen, and also buying products and tools locally so as to help the small local commercial firms and shops.

Constraints between the Archaeological Site and the Local Community Although the importance of tourism in the area is linked to the historical and religious characteristics of the territory, at present, the local population does not benefit from it. The main reason for this is the absence of a plan which would take into consideration the various resources of the territory, as well as an integrated programme of conservation, enhancement and management that would stimulate actions compatible with sustainable development.16 The deficit is evident in the Master plan of the village which views the territory and its fields simply as a cake to be shared with simple functions to be allocated, without taking into consideration its important cultural resources and the possibility to link together the various functions of this territory. Problems of management of tourist flows, lack of awareness, as well as political and social constraints, prevent a sustainable development linked to culture. Most importantly, the complete lack of connection between the archaeological site on the acropolis and the Mediaeval area in the village precludes any relationship between the archaeological site and the local community at all levels. Pin-point development carried out on the archaeological site without any kind of action inside the old core of the village, increased the gap between the site

One of the results of the project was the conservation and enhancement of a small portion of the architectural heritage of Sabastiya. Through rehabilitation, an ancient building and the area surrounding it were rescued from degradation, abandonment, and eventually from definitive loss. Moreover, the knowledge about the history of Sabastiya increased, and during Phase 1, a hall was discovered, dating to the Crusader period after the building of the Cathedral in the second half of the XIIth century. The discovery of this hall, together with some other important elements, gave us a reason to pursue work in that area (Fig. 243). In 2008, another project to secure a historical building, financed by the Italian Cooperation Emergency Project, was carried out by the Association Terra Santa, the Italian NGO which was established to collect and record the data pertaining to the history of conservation and to the

See the web site of Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The list of parks and reserves is divided into the regions of Israel and includes the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), as well as the site of Sebaste (Shomron). 16 Benelli, Hamdan 2009. 15

17

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Osama HAMDAN

enhancement of cultural heritage by the Fathers of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land since ad 1300. The ATS was established by Father Michele Piccirillo to support the conservation and enhancement of the cultural heritage of the region, with special attention to the Palestinian Territories.

and aesthetic values for this part of the village. Our actions brought together so many remains of different civilizations, and yet, prior to our intervention, the area was filled with filth and dump in which were mixed architectural elements and backfills incompatible with the history of that zone, dimming and depreciating its aesthetic and historical significance (Fig. 250).

Work continued to the south of the previous project (Fig. 244). The archaeological excavations conducted by ATS in cooperation with Al-Quds University and the Palestinian Department of Antiquities uncovered the ruins of a small church (Fig. 245) built within an outstanding Crusader fortification with Roman and Byzantine columns and capitals in reuse (Fig. 246). It includes a tower, a spiral staircase and a chapel dating most likely to the Crusader period, at the beginning of the XIIth century ad. It is possible that this is the building mentioned by the Syrian Emir Usama Ibn Munqid, when he visited Sabastiya between 1140 and 1143: “I paid a visit to the tomb of John the son of Zechariah - the blessing of God on both of them! - in the village of Sabastiya in the province of Nablus. After saying my prayers, I came out onto an enclosed space in front of the place where is the tomb. I found a half-closed gate, opened it and entered a church. Inside were about ten old men, their bare heads as white as combed cotton. They were facing east, and had on their chests staffs ending with cross-bars turned up like the rear part of a saddle, on which they were leaning. And from them I received hospitality. The sight of their piety touched my heart, but at the same time it displeased and saddened me, for I have never seen similar zeal and devotion amongst Muslims”18 (Fig. 247).

Conservation work spotlit and preserved ancient architectural elements, thus rediscovering a space in the old part of the village that is now used by the local community. Moreover, this area which became an open museum is hosting visitors and cultural and social activities for the benefit of the local community and of guests. The Importance of Learning and Teaching through Work with Local Communities In the absence of adequate laws and rules for the protection and enhancement of the Palestinian cultural heritage, the problem of responsibility and control of conservation and maintenance works for non-protected historical buildings is a complex issue that goes beyond a single project. The long and frequent discussions among the various participants in the project - the Municipality, local associations, the regional office of the Department of Antiquities, the owners, the Islamic Waqf and the villagers - allowed us to define a path which respected all needs, primarily for the benefit of the local community and the conservation of cultural heritage.

In 2009, in the same area, a mosaic pavement of fine quality was discovered dating probably to the Vth century ad (Fig. 248). The mosaic floor belonged to a religious building possibly connected to the Byzantine Cathedral, which until now has not been found, but is thought to lie under the Crusader Cathedral. The mosaic floor exhibits animals, some of which were destroyed by iconophobic zeal. This means that the mosaic floor survived until the VIIIth century ad. It is thought that the Cathedral was destroyed by an earthquake in the VIIIth century.

The continued search for sharing responsibility in the decision-making process had a very positive impact on the local community and is one of the more rewarding results of the project, even though the process was not accepted by the central authority, especially as regards the sharing of responsibility to save and protect the Palestinian cultural heritage from neglect and abandonment. This central authority prefers to freeze the situation as it is, viewing the question of cultural heritage with a narrow mind and an old-fashioned approach steeped in the belief that the only institution responsible for it and benefiting from it should be itself.

Numerous artisans and local heads of households were conveniently trained and employed within the project to revive the economy of the village and to strengthen the awareness of its inhabitants about their cultural heritage and the social opportunities that securing a historical building can offer to the local community (Fig. 249).

The community held some open days where a friendly atmosphere prevailed, characterized by a great freedom to openly discuss and face the issues about the importance of the cultural heritage in a historic village such as Sabastiya. Also debated were the problems that result from the present difficult situation of destruction, looting and disappearance of the cultural heritage caused every day by the common practice of illegal excavations. The meetings were very important to help the local community understand the value of the cultural heritage and how to support its safeguarding for the benefit of all.

The primary aim of the project was not the simple conservation of a building. The actions carried out within the framework of the project revealed their social value mainly through the possibility of starting a sustainable activity in the village; and because of its high quality, it was especially important in connecting the local people to their cultural heritage. Conservation work resulted in recovering artistic, cultural, 18

Children were also involved in the project. To capture their interest for their cultural heritage, some workshops

Usama Ibn Munqid, Kitab al-‘Asa, in Derenbourg 1889: 36-37.

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Conservation ins Sabastiya

were conducted in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Education. The workshops dealt with drawing techniques and mosaic production.19 The main objective of the workshops was to increase the children’s awareness of their cultural heritage by developing their artistic and creative skills, and allowing them to enjoy open-air visits (Fig. 251). We are aware of the importance of working with children. We have to realize how much they are crucial for the preservation of the Palestinian cultural heritage, and they have to understand how much in their future the Palestinian cultural heritage could benefit them, in cultural, social and economic terms.

Summaries Sguardo sui lavori di conservazione nell’antica Sebastiya (Nablus)

Il villaggio di Sabastiya, nella regione di Nablus, prende il nome da Sebaste, la città fondata da Erode il Grande, sul sito dell›antica Samaria. Centro agricolo rilevante sin dall›Età del Bronzo, la città è stata controllata in fasi successive dagli israeliti del nord, dagli assiri, dai persiani, dai macedoni e dai romani. Gli impressionanti resti archeologici della strada colonnata, del teatro, della basilica, del foro e dello stadio, risalgono al II secolo d.C., quando l’imperatore Settimio Severo concesse alla città il titolo di colonia romana. Nel primo periodo cristiano si sviluppò la tradizione che il corpo di Giovanni Battista, recuperato dai discepoli dopo la decapitazione, fosse stato sepolto a Sabastiya. Sulla sua tomba nel periodo bizantino fu costruita una chiesa, riedificata dai crociati nel XII secolo e successivamente trasformata in moschea e dedicata al profeta Yahia, il nome musulmano di Giovanni Battista.

Captions for Figs 237-251 ( all © O. Hamdan) Fig. 237 Aerial view of the town of Sabastiya. In the centre, the archaeological site, and to the east, the town’s ancient core Fig. 238 The Hellenistic tower, part of the first defensive system of the city of Sabastiya, dated to the IVth century bc Fig. 239 Colonnaded street among olive groves Fig. 240 The Mosque of Salah ad-Din (the Cathedral of St John the Baptist), built over the tomb of the Prophet Yahya (St John the Baptist) in the second half of the XIIth century.

La gestione del patrimonio culturale di Sabastiya dipende da una complessa combinazione di poteri e proprietà. A seguito degli accordi di pace israelo-palestinesi, il territorio della Cisgiordania è in parte passato sotto il controllo della Autorità Palestinese, di conseguenza i resti archeologici nel villaggio di Sabastiya sono gestiti dal Ministero del Turismo e Antichità palestinese ma il sito archeologico sull’acropoli è tuttora controllato dagli israeliani. Gli edifici del centro storico mostrano chiaramente la complessità delle fasi storiche del villaggio. La parte più antica, sviluppatasi intorno alla cattedrale crociata ora moschea, è in gran parte disabitata e abbandonata, e messa in pericolo dalle nuove costruzioni in cemento che la sovrastano.

Fig. 241 Structural plan of Sabastiya. The blue line shows the current limits of the town: to the west, the separation between “Area C” (the archaeological site strictly controlled by the Israeli Occupation) and “Area B” to the east (town under the control of the Palestinian Authority) Fig. 242 Map of the southern zone adjacent to Salah ad-Din mosque (the Cathedral of St John the Baptist), area of the project in the past years Fig. 243 The Crusader Hall restored in Phase 1 Fig. 244 Plan of the work area indicating the church discovered in 2008

Il luogo è stato nei secoli una sosta fondamentale del pellegrinaggio cristiano e musulmano, e fino a tempi recenti era visitato da numerosi turisti, ma dallo scoppio della seconda Intifida nel 2000, raggiungere il villaggio è diventato molto difficile, a causa delle costrizioni di movimento imposte dalle autorità militari israeliane. La maggior parte dei 3000 abitanti attuali è disoccupata e il totale distacco con il sito archeologico non offre nessuna possibilità di sviluppo al villaggio.

Fig. 245 The uncovered church Fig. 246 The fortification system around the discovered building, showing reused marble columns and capitals dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods Fig. 247 A section showing the project area Fig. 248 Mosaics discovered on the site in 2009 Fig. 249 Father Michele Piccirillo at work on the site Fig. 250 Project results

Da alcuni anni l’Associazione di Terra Santa, l’ONG della Custodia di Terra Santa, ha avviato alcune attività di conservazione del patrimonio culturale del villaggio in collaborazione con il Comune di Sabastiya e il Centro di Mosaici di Gerico. L’articolo esplora le significative scoperte che si sono susseguite in questi anni di scavi e ricerche condotte grazie alla supervisione scientifica di

Fig. 251 Activities with children for bringing them closer to their cultural heritage

19

Benelli, Hamdan 2007: 24-28 and 38-43.

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Osama HAMDAN

un certain nombre d’actions visant à la conservation du patrimoine culturel du village, en collaboration avec la Municipalité de Sébaste et le “Centre de Mosaïque de Jéricho”. Le présent article décrit les découvertes les plus marquantes de ces dernières années de fouilles et de recherches menées sous la direction scientifique du Père Michele Piccirillo. Il souligne plus particulièrement le renforcement des liens culturels, sociaux et économiques impliquant la population locale à tous les stades de développement du Projet.

padre Michele Piccirillo, ma soprattutto il consolidamento di attività culturali, sociali ed economiche che hanno coinvolto la popolazione locale in tutte le fasi di sviluppo del progetto.

Un coup-d’oeil sur les travaux de conservation du noyau antique de Sabastiya (Naplouse)

Le village de Sabastiya dans la région de Naplouse tire son nom de Sébaste, ville fondée par Hérode le Grand sur le site de la Samarie de l’Ancien Testament. Centre agricole de première importance depuis l’Âge du Bronze, la ville fut contrôlée successivement par les Israélites, les Assyriens, les Perses, les Macédoniens et les Romains. Les impressionnants vestiges de la rue à colonnes, du théâtre, de la basilique du forum et du stade remontent au IIe siècle, quand l’Empereur Septime Sévère octroya à la ville le titre de colonie romaine. Selon une tradition remontant aux premiers siècles du christianisme, le corps de St JeanBaptiste, récupéré par ses disciples après sa décollation, fut enterré à Sébaste. Une église fut élevée à l’époque byzantine au-dessus de sa tombe. Reconstruite par les Croisés au XIIe siècle, elle fut ultérieurement transformée en mosquée dédiée au prophète Yahya, le nom musulman de St Jean-Baptiste. La gestion du patrimoine culturel de Sabastiya dépend d’une combinaison complexe entre pouvoir et propriété. A la suite des accords de paix isarélo-palestiniens, une partie de la Cisjordanie passa sous le contrôle de l’Autorité palestinienne, avec le résultat suivant: les vestiges archéologiques dans le village de Sabastiya sont gérés par le Ministère palestinien du Tourisme et des Antiquités, tandis que l’acropole et le site archéologique sont toujours sous contrôle israélien. La complexité des phases historiques du village est clairement illustrée par les bâtiments en son centre. La partie la plus ancienne qui se développa autour de la Cathédrale des Croisés, devenue une mosquée, est largement déserte et abandonnée, et menacée par l’avancée des bâtiments modernes de béton qui l’entourent. Le site fut pendant des siècles une étape importante sur le chemin des pèlerinages chrétiens et musulmans, et jusqu’à récemment, il était visité par de nombreux touristes. En réaction à la Deuxième Intifada en 2000, les contraintes imposées par les autorités militaires israéliennes rendirent difficile l’accès au village. La plupart de ses 3.000 habitants sont actuellement au chômage. En outre, le fait qu’il soit totalement détachée du site archéologique n’offre au village aucune possibilité de développement. Pendant plusieurs années, l’Association de Terre Sainte qui regroupe les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) de la Custodie de Terre Sainte, a inauguré et suivi 100

‫أسامة حمدان‬

‫نظرة على أعمال في التراث الثقافي في سبسطية‬

‫نبذة تاريخية ‪:‬‬

‫انتشرت المسيحية في بداية ظهورها في كل مناطق السامرة‪ ،9‬حيث ساد‬ ‫العرف بأن جسد يوحنا المعمدان تم دفنه في سبسطية بعدما استرده أتباعه‬ ‫من شرق األردن‪ .10‬وإحياء لذكرى يوحنا المعمدان (سيدنا يحي) تم بناء‬ ‫كنيستين في الفترة البيزنطية‪ 11،‬واحدة في الجزء العلوي المحصن للمدينة‬ ‫واألخرى خارج أسوار المدينة الرومانية من الجهة الشرقية‪ ،‬وبالتحديد فوق‬ ‫مدفن روماني يعتقد بأنة قبر يوحنا المعمدان (سيدنا يحي)‪.‬‬

‫تقع بلدة سبسطية على بعد ‪ 10‬كم إلى الشمال الغربي لمدينة نابلس‪ ،‬على تله‬ ‫ترتفع عن سطح األرض ‪ 463‬متر‪ .‬يحيط بالبلدة من كل الجهات أودية خصبة‬ ‫تكثر فيها زراعة أشجار الزيتون‪ ،‬اللوزيات‪ ،‬الكرمة والتين (صورة رقم ‪.)1‬‬ ‫ويزرع أيضا ً في المنطقة الغربية للبلدة الحبوب والخضراوات باإلضافة إلى‬ ‫أشجار الفواكه‪ .‬يعود أصل التسمية الحالية لسبسطية إلى المدينة التي أسسها‬ ‫هيرودس الكبير عام ‪ 25‬قبل الميالد وأطلق عليها اسم سباستي على موقع‬ ‫ألسامره القديمة عاصمة مملكة ألسامره‪.1‬‬

‫تم إعادة بناء الكنيسة الثانية من قبل الصليبيين في النصف الثاني من القرن‬ ‫الثاني عشر فوق قبر يوحنا المعمدان (سيدنا يحي)‪ ،‬وبعد تحرير بلدة سبسطية‬ ‫من قبل صالح الدين األيوبي في عام ‪ 1187‬ميالدي‪ ،‬شيد مقاما فوق قبر‬ ‫سيدنا يحي واتخذ القسم الجنوبي من الكاتدرائية مسجدا للمسلمين‪ .‬وبأمر من‬ ‫السلطان عبد الحميد الثاني في عام ‪ 1892‬انتقل المسجد من مكانة في الرواق‬ ‫الجنوبي إلى القسم الشرقي من بناء الكاتدرائية بعد القيام بأعمال إزالة األجزاء‬ ‫المتبقية من حنية الكاتدرائية‪ ،‬وفي نفس الفترة تم إزالة جميع األقواس الخطرة‬ ‫وبقايا العقود (صورة رقم ‪.)4‬‬

‫أعيد بناء المدينة عدة مرات على رأس التلة على مر العصور‪ ،‬حيث كانت‬ ‫أساسات المباني األولى فوق الطبقة الصخرية مباشرة بعد عمليات التسوية‬ ‫للطبقة الصخرية التي جرت على قمة التلة‪ ،‬ولقد أقيمت أيضا أساسات األبنية‬ ‫للفترات الالحقة على أساسات أبنية االستيطان األول‪ .‬تعتبر المدينة كمستوطنة‬ ‫زراعية منذ العصر البرونزي‪ ،2‬وذكر في التوراة إن الملك عمري اشترى‬ ‫هذه التلة وبنى عليها مدينة شامر‪ ،3‬ومن ثم سيطر عليها اآلشوريين وغيروا‬ ‫تركيبتها االجتماعية وبعدهم جاءوا الفرس‪ .‬قام المقدونيون بعد السيطرة عليها‬ ‫من تحويلها إلى مدينة هيلينية‪ ،‬ومع سيطرة الرومان على المنطقة على يد‬ ‫بومبي عام ‪ 63‬قبل الميالد‪ ،4‬أصبحت المدينة تتبع لمقاطعة سوريا تحت‬ ‫الحكم الروماني‪.‬‬

‫ملكية الموقع وتحديات اإلدارة‪:‬‬ ‫يغطي الموقع الذي خضع لعمل حفريات أثرية في القرن الماضي إلى ما‬ ‫يقارب ‪ 6‬كم‪ 2‬من مساحة بلدية سبسطية‪ ،‬وتعود ملكية الموقع الذي يحتوي‬ ‫على بقايا ومعالم أثرية إلى أمالك خاصة وأمالك حكومية وأوقاف أسالمية‪.‬‬ ‫ومنذ اتفاقية طابا واستنادا لهذه االتفاقية الموقعة بين الجانب اإلسرائيلي‬ ‫والجانب الفلسطيني في عام ‪1995‬م‪ ،12‬فان أراضي بلدية سبسطية مقسمة‬ ‫بين منطقة «ب» ومنطقة «ج»‪ ،‬وتقع المنطقة السكنية والمناطق الزراعية‬ ‫في الجهة الشرقية في منطقة «ب»‪ ،‬أما الموقع األثري والسهول في المنطقة‬ ‫الغربية تقع في حدود منطقة «ج»‪ ،‬ويعتبر الموقع األثري لحد أالن واحد من‬ ‫المواقع التابع لسيطرة وإدارة الحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية‪.‬‬

‫وفي عام ‪ 30‬قبل الميالد‪ ،‬قام اإلمبراطور الروماني أغسطس بإهداء المدينة‬ ‫لهيرودس الكبير والذي سماها على شرفه باسم سباستي «اغو ستا»‪ ،5‬وبدأ‬ ‫بحركة عمرانية مثيرة لإلعجاب تضمنت بناء جدران هائلة في الجهة الشمالية‬ ‫للتلة لتدعيم امتداد ساحة المعبد الذي كرس لإلمبراطور الروماني أغسطس‪.6‬‬ ‫ولقد أعيد بناء المدينة في القرن الثاني بعد الميالد على يد سبتيميوس‬ ‫سيفيروس بد أن منحت حقوق المستعمرات الرومانية واسماها كولونيا لوسيا‬ ‫سبتيما سبسطي‪( 7‬صورة رقم ‪.)2‬‬

‫تخضع إدارة التراث الثقافي في فلسطين بشكل عام وفي سبسطية بشكل‬ ‫خاص لمنظومة معقدة من الملكيات والسلطات‪ .‬فعلى سبيل المثال يسيطر‬

‫هنالك آثار قليلة للمباني التي تعود إلى ما قبل الفترة الهيرودية‪ ،‬ومعظم المعالم‬ ‫الظاهرة فوق سطح األرض تعود للفترة الرومانية وبالتحديد إلى القرن الثاني‬ ‫بعد الميالد‪ ،‬مثل البازيليكا‪ ،‬الملعب‪ ،‬المسرح‪ ،‬معبد أغسطس‪ ،‬شارع األعمدة‬ ‫وجدران وبوابة المدينة الغربية‪( 8‬صورة رقم ‪.)3‬‬

‫مدرسة االثار البريطانية في القدس‪ ،‬صندوق االستكشاف الفلسطيني والجامعة العبرية‪ .‬وفي‬ ‫الستينات من القرن العشرين قامت حفريات على نطاق ضيق بادارة فوزي زيدان من قبل دائرة‬ ‫االثار االردنية (‪.)Zayadine 1967 -1968‬‬ ‫‪Acts,8:1‬‬ ‫‪ 9‬‬ ‫جاء ذكر قبر يوحنا المعمدان الول مرة من قبل روفينوس اكويلينسس ‪Rufinus‬‬ ‫‪ 10‬‬ ‫‪ Aquileiensis‬وهوراهب ودارس ايطالي االصل (‪ 410 – 345‬م)‪ ،‬جاء الى االراضي‬ ‫المقدسة وعاش فيها من عام ‪ 378‬الى عام ‪ 397‬م ‪ .‬حيث وصف ردة فعل الوثنين ضد المسيحيين‬ ‫التي حدثت ما بين عام ‪ 362- 361‬م تحت حكم االمبراطور يوليان المرتد‪ ،‬حيث تم اخراج جسد‬ ‫يوحنا المعمدان من قبره وحرقه ونثر رماده) ‪.) Historia Ecclesiastica II: 28‬‬ ‫الوثيقة التي تعرف باسم ‪ Commemoratorium de Casis Dei‬الذي‬ ‫‪ 11‬‬ ‫يعتبر الئحة رسمية للكنائس ورجال الدين المسيحي‪ ،‬كتب في عام ‪ 808‬م يذكر وجود كنيستين‬ ‫في سبسطية ) ‪( Commemoratorium: 304‬‬

‫‪Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, XV: 296‬‬ ‫‪ 1‬‬ ‫‪Stager 1990: 97‬‬ ‫‪ 2‬‬ ‫العهد القديم‪ :‬سفر الملوك االول ‪24:16‬‬ ‫‪ 3‬‬ ‫‪Flavius Josephus, Antiquities XIV, 75; Flavius Josephus,‬‬ ‫‪ 4‬‬ ‫‪Jewish War I: 156‬‬ ‫اسم سبسطية ‪ Sebastos‬كلمة من اصل يوناني بمعنى اغسطس الالتينية‬ ‫‪ 5‬‬ ‫بمعنى “العظيم” او “المقدس”‪.‬‬ ‫‪8; Flavius Josephus,- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities XV, 296‬‬ ‫‪ 6‬‬ ‫‪Jewish War I, 403‬‬ ‫‪Abel 1938: 446‬‬ ‫‪ 7‬‬ ‫العمل االثري في الموقع تم من قبل بعثتين اثريتين رئيسيتين‪ ،‬كانت االول بعثة‬ ‫‪ 8‬‬ ‫جامعة هارفرد والتي قام بادارتها في بداية العمل غوتيليب شوماخر ‪Gottlieb Schumacher‬‬ ‫في عام ‪1908‬م‪ ،‬ومن ثم قادة الحفرية جورج رايزنر ‪ Reisner George‬في عام ‪1909‬‬ ‫و ‪1910‬م (‪ .)Reisner, Fisher, Lyon 1924‬وعرفت البعثة الثانية باسم البعثة المشتركة‬ ‫حيث شاركت بها خمسة مؤسسات وقام على ادارتها كروفوت ‪ J. W. Crowfoot‬مع كاثلين‬ ‫كنيون ‪ Kathleen Kenyon‬التي كانت مسؤولة عن الحفريات بين عام ‪1935 – 1931‬م‬ ‫(‪ .)Crowfoot, Kenyon, Sukenik 1942‬والمؤسسات التي كانت قائمة على هذه الحفريات‬

‫اتفاقية طابا التي وقعت في عام ‪ 1995‬حددت أن السلطة على الضفة الغربية‬ ‫‪ 12‬‬ ‫وقطاع غزة سوف تنتقل إلى الطرف الفلسطيني بطريقة تدريجية‪ ،‬في المرحلة األولى سوف تنتقل‬ ‫الصالحيات للمناطق المأهولة بالسكان إلى الفلسطينيين والذي أطلق عليها اسم “ ا و ب “ ما عدى‬ ‫مدينة القدس‪ .‬وكان من المفروض أن يتم نقل الصالحيات اإلدارية في منطقة “ ج “ للفلسطينيين‪،‬‬ ‫وهذا لم يتم‪ ،‬ويخضع لحد أالن ‪ %30‬من أراضي الضفة الغربية إلى السلطة الفلسطينية‪.‬‬

‫‪101‬‬

‫أسامة حمدان‬ ‫الوقف اإلسالمي على مسجد صالح الدين األيوبي (كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان‬ ‫الصليبية) وقبر سيدنا يحيى‪ .‬ومعظم اآلثار الواقعة على أراضي منطقة «ب»‬ ‫تخضع تحت سيطرت وإدارة وزارة السياحة واآلثار الفلسطينية بغض النظر‬ ‫حول ملكيتها إن كانت عامة أو خاصة‪ .‬أما بلدية سبسطية فلها الحق في‬ ‫إدارة جميع األراضي التي تخضع ضمن حدود البلدية فقط في منطقة «ب»‬ ‫والمفروض أن تكون المواقع األثرية‪ .‬أما سلطة الحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية‬ ‫فتسيطر على معظم منطقة اآلثار فوق التلة‪ .‬إضافة إلى ذلك كله‪ ،‬هنالك الكثير‬ ‫من المواقع التاريخية خاصا أبنية تاريخية في داخل البلدة القديمة تعود إلى‬ ‫ملكيات خاصة وال يوجد أي قانون فلسطيني يساعد على عملية الحفاظ أو تقيم‬ ‫هذا التراث الثقافي‪.‬‬

‫وأيضا سيدنا يحي (يوحنا المعمدان) يعتبر نبي للمسلمين‪ ،‬فلقد كان قبره مزارا‬ ‫من قبل المسلمين‪ ،‬خاصا بعد بناء مسجد صالح الدين األيوبي‪.‬‬ ‫وفي وقتنا الحاضر يمكن أن نعتبر السياحة قطاعا مهما في التنمية االقتصادية‬ ‫لبلدة سبسطية‪ .‬ففي عام ‪1957‬م‪ ،‬كان عدد السياح الذين زاروا الموقع األثري‬ ‫‪ 4,757‬سائح‪ ،‬ولقد كان عدد السياح في كل أنحاء األردن في نفس العام‬ ‫‪ 36,785‬سائح‪ .‬وفي عام ‪1960‬م‪ ،‬زار الموقع األثري ‪ 9309‬سائح‪ .‬وفي‬ ‫عام ‪1964‬م‪ ،‬زار الموقع األثري ‪ 19,657‬سائح وفي نفس العام كان قد زار‬ ‫األردن ‪ 184,027‬زائر‪ .‬ولقد وصل إجمالي دخل األردن من السياحة في‬ ‫تلك السنة ‪ 2,204‬مليون دوالر أمريكي‪ .‬وفي عام ‪ 1965‬وصل عدد الزوار‬ ‫لبلدة سبسطية ‪ 21,553‬سائح‪.‬‬

‫وبكل ما تحمله الكلمة من معنى‪ ،‬فان عملية أدارة الموقع من اجل القيام بأعمال‬ ‫الحفاظ والتقييم والتطوير ليست قائمة على أي أساس من التنسيق والتعاون‬ ‫بين جميع األطراف‪ .‬حيث انه قبل عدة سنوات أعدت وأقرت بلدية سبسطية‬ ‫مخطط هيكلي للبلدة بدون األخذ بعين االعتبار األهمية التاريخية واألثرية‬ ‫للمنطقة‪ .‬وفي الجهة المقابلة اتخذت سلطة الحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية خطة‬ ‫تطويرية للموقع األثري فوق التلة بدون أي اعتبار للمجتمعات الفلسطينية التي‬ ‫تسكن داخل وحول الموقع األثري‪.‬‬

‫في عام ‪ 1967‬بعد االحتالل اإلسرائيلي للضفة الغربية‪ ،‬أدرجت إسرائيل‬ ‫الموقع األثري لبلدة سبسطية على قائمة الحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية‪ ،‬وكانت‬ ‫تسير الحافالت السياحية لزيارة الموقع األثري فوق التلة وعزل البلدة‬ ‫القديمة وقبر يوحنا المعمدان من برامج الزيارة‪ .‬وفي عام ‪ ،1994‬ومع‬ ‫معاهدة أوسلو وبدء تسليم السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية المسؤوليات اإلدارية‬ ‫على مناطق «ا‪ ،‬ب»‪ ،‬بقي الموقع األثري فوق التلة لسبسطية تحت السيطرة‬ ‫اإلسرائيلية‪ ،‬وما زال الموقع ليومنا هذا مدرج ضمن الئحة المواقع التابعة‬ ‫إلدارة مواقع الحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية‪ ،‬والتي تدار من قبل سلطة حماية‬ ‫الطبيعة اإلسرائيلية‪ .15‬وللمفارقة فان هذه الحديقة الوطنية اإلسرائيلية تقع‬ ‫على بعد أمتار قليلة من بيوت بلدة سبسطية التي هي تحت سيطرة السلطة‬ ‫الفلسطينية‪ .‬وحتى عام ‪ 2000‬اعتادت العشرات من الحافالت السياحية زيارة‬ ‫الموقع األثري لسبسطية‪ ،‬ولكن عندما ساءت األوضاع السياسية واألمنية‬ ‫بسبب االنتفاضة األخيرة‪ ،‬وأيضا قامت قوات االحتالل اإلسرائيلية بإغالق‬ ‫المدن والقرى الفلسطينية كردة فعل على االنتفاضة الثانية‪ .‬ومنذ ذلك الوقت‪،‬‬ ‫أصبح التجوال والسفر في أراضي الضفة الغربية مقلق بسبب اإلغالق ونقاط‬ ‫التفتيش واالعتداءات من قبل المستوطنين اليهود‪ .‬ولم يعد هنالك أي زيارات‬ ‫لحافالت سياحية في المنطقة‪ ،‬وشطبت من قبل البرامج السياحية‪ ،‬والسياحة‬ ‫المتبقية هي فقط مرتبطة بزيارات فردية للمهتمين والمدركين ألهمية الموقع‪.‬‬

‫بلدة العصور الوسطى‪:‬‬ ‫يقع مركز البلدة الحالي في المنطقة الشرقية للمدينة الرومانية القديمة (صورة‬ ‫رقم ‪ ،)5‬حيث أن هنالك جزء يقع داخل حدود األسوار الرومانية وجزء‬ ‫خارجها من المنطقة الشرقية أيضا‪ .‬ويعود تاريخ هذا الجزء من بلدة سبسطية‬ ‫إلى الفترة البيزنطية‪ ،‬حيث بنيت الكاتدرائية في تلك المنطقة فوق قبر يوحنا‬ ‫المعمدان «سيدنا يحي»‪ ،‬واستمرت بالتطور خاصا في الفترة الصليبية حول‬ ‫قبر يوحنا المعمدان‪ ،‬واستمرت عمليات الهدم والبناء إلى أوقات متأخرة من‬ ‫القرن الماضي‪ .‬أجريت القليل من البحوث والدراسات العلمية عن مركز البلدة‬ ‫القديمة ولم تلقى هذه المنطقة أي اهتمام من الباحثين وأيضا من قبل الحفريات‬ ‫األثرية التي اهتمت فقط في المنطقة العلوية من المدينة القديمة لسبسطية‪.13‬‬ ‫وفي منتصف الستينيات من القرن الماضي‪ ،‬عندما كانت المنطقة تخضع‬ ‫لحكم المملكة األردنية الهاشمية‪ ،‬قامت دائرة اآلثار األردنية ببعض الحفريات‬ ‫األثرية إلدراكها بأهمية المنطقة‪ ،‬وقد بدأت الدائرة بدراسة مقترح استمالك‬ ‫مباني البلدة القديمة‪ ،‬وإخالء المركز من سكانها على غرار ما تم في قرية أم‬ ‫قيس (جدرا) شمال األردن‪ ،‬من اجل القيام بحفريات أثرية والكشف عن اثأر‬ ‫المدينة القديمة دون التعرض لمشاكل الملكيات‪ .‬ولكن هذا المقترح لم يسري‬ ‫عليه المفعول بسبب نشوب حرب عام ‪ 1967‬م وعلى أثرها تم احتالل الضفة‬ ‫الغربية ومن ضمنها بلدة سبسطية من قبل اإلسرائيليين‪.‬‬

‫السكان واالقتصاد‪:‬‬ ‫عدد سكان بلدة سبسطية حسب اإلحصائيات الحديثة يبلغ حوالي ‪ 3‬آالف‬ ‫نسمة‪ ،‬ومعظمهم تحت سن ‪18‬عام أي انه مجتمع شاب‪ .‬وتعتبر الزراعة في‬ ‫الوقت الحالي الدخل أال ساسي لسكان بلدة سبسطية وخصوصا من بساتين‬ ‫أشجار الزيتون المنتشرة حول القرية‪ ،‬والتي تزيد من جمال المنطقة‪ ،‬خاصا‬ ‫داخل الموقع األثري والذي يعطيه طابع المزج بين التاريخ والطبيعة‪ .‬يعمل‬ ‫بعض سكان البلدة بالقطاع العام ولكن خارج القرية أي في المدن الفلسطينية‬ ‫الكبيرة التي تخضع للسلطة الفلسطينية‪ .‬وبشكل عام تمتاز القوى العاملة في‬ ‫بلدة سبسطية الحالية بعدم توفر الحرفيين والمهنيين‪ ،‬واعتاد معظم الذكور‬ ‫منهم الغير مؤهلين حرفيا العمل داخل إسرائيل ذلك قبل اندالع انتفاضة‬ ‫األقصى عام ‪ ،2000‬واآلن األغلبية منهم عاطلون عن العمل‪.‬‬

‫تظهر األبنية في مركز البلدة القديم لسبسطية بوضوح مراحلها التاريخية‬ ‫المتعددة‪ .‬أقدمها هي الطوابق السفلية للمباني‪ ،‬ومعظم هذه المباني أآلن‬ ‫مهجورة وغير مأهولة بالسكان‪ ،‬وتتعرض للدمار واإلهمال ومليئة بالططم‬ ‫والركام واألوساخ‪ .‬ولقد بنيت أيضا في المنطقة منازل حديثة من االسمنت‬ ‫مكان ما تم هدمه من المباني القديمة‪ ،‬وكثير من األحيان تم إضافة أبنية‬ ‫أسمنتية فوق المباني القديمة بصورة غير مالئمة لعمليات الحفاظ معرضة هذه‬ ‫األبنية للضعف والخطر بسبب عدم توزيع األحمال بطريقة علمية ومدروسة‪،‬‬ ‫وأيضا هذه التدخالت من األبنية األسمنتية سبب تأثير غير متوافق ومنسجما‬ ‫جماليا مع األبنية القديمة وطابع البلدة القديم‪ .‬وغالبا ما توجد طوابق تحت‬ ‫مستوى األرض‪ ،‬وأيضا غالبا ما تستخدم هذه الفراغات لضخ مياه الصرف‬ ‫الصحي فيها‪.‬‬

‫عجز في العالقة بين التاريخ والمجتمع المحلي‪:‬‬ ‫بالرغم من أهمية السياحة في المنطقة المرتبطة بالعناصر التاريخية والدينية‬ ‫للموقع‪ ،‬إال انه ولهذه اللحظة لم يعد القطاع السياحي بالفائدة على المجتمع‬ ‫المحلي‪ .‬والسبب في ذلك عدى عن األسباب السابقة الذكر هو سوء التخطيط‬ ‫الذي ال يأخذ بعين االعتبار المصادر المتنوعة في المنطقة‪ ،‬وعدم القدرة على‬ ‫وضع خطة متكاملة من الحفاظ وتعزيز التراث الثقافي من خالل أدارة تعمل‬ ‫على تحفيز النشاطات التي تتوافق مع عملية التطوير المستدامة‪.16‬‬

‫زوار سبسطية في الماضي والحاضر( من الحجاج إلى السائحين)‪:‬‬

‫إن العجز واضح في المخطط الهيكلي للبلدة‪ ،‬حيث أنها تقوم على أفكار‬ ‫وتخطيط قديم‪ ،‬فهذا المخطط يتعامل مع المنطقة كقطعة كعك لتقسيمها‬ ‫وتخصيصها لوظائف بسيطة‪ ،‬بدون األخذ بعين االعتبار مصادرها الثقافية‬

‫انتشر الحج المسيحي في األراضي المقدسة منذ األيام األولى للمسيحية‪ .‬يأتي‬ ‫الحجاج المسيحيين من جميع أنحاء العالم إلى سبسطية لزيارة قبر يوحنا‬ ‫المعمدان تابعين خطى»باوال»‪ ،‬وهذه أالمرأة النبيلة التي تنتسب لعائلة‬ ‫ارستقراطية رومانية‪ ،‬والتي قامت بزيارة القبر كما ذكر الراهب جيروم‪.14‬‬ ‫‪ 3‬‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪ 14‬‬

‫انظر الموقع الكتروني للحدائق الوطنية اإلسرائيلية – سلطة الطبيعة والحدائق‬ ‫‪ 15‬‬ ‫اإلسرائيلية ‪ .‬الئحة الحدائق مقسمة اقليميا‪ ،‬ووضعت الضفة الغربية تحت اسم يهودا والسامرة‬ ‫ومن ضمنها أيضا موقع سبسطية‪.‬‬ ‫‪Benelli, Hamdan 2009‬‬ ‫‪ 16‬‬

‫‪Burgoyne, Hawari 2005‬‬ ‫‪Jerome, Epistole CVIII, 13, 4‬‬

‫‪102‬‬

‫نظرة على أعمال في التراث الثقافي في سبسطية‬

‫والطبيعية التي تحتويها المنطقة وإمكانية ربط الوظائف مع بعضها البعض‪.‬‬ ‫وتأتي أيضا مشاكل إدارة التدفقات السياحية من قله الوعي والقيود االجتماعية‬ ‫والسياسية التي تمنع عملية التطور المستدام المتعلقة بالجانب الثقافي‪.‬‬

‫بشكل عام وفي فلسطين بشكل خاص‪.‬‬ ‫استمر العمل إلى الجنوب من المنطقة السابقة الذكر (صورة رقم ‪ ،)8‬وأدت‬ ‫الحفريات األثرية التي قامت بها مؤسسة األراضي المقدسة بالتعاون مع‬ ‫جامعة القدس ودائرة اآلثار الفلسطينية للكشف عن آثار كنيسة صغير محاطة‬ ‫بجدار تحصيني ضخم استخدم في عملية بنائه أعمدة رخامية وتيجان مزخرفة‬ ‫تعود للفترة الرومانية والبيزنطية (صورة رقم ‪ ،)9‬ويضم هذا المبنى برج‬ ‫بداخلة درج حلزوني‪ ،‬ويعتقد بان هذا المبنى يعود بتاريخه إلى الفترة الصليبية‬ ‫وبالتحديد إلى بداية القرن الثاني عشر (صورة رقم ‪ .)10‬ويعتقد بأنة نفس‬ ‫المبنى الذي جاء ذكره من قبل أسامة بن منقذ أمير مدينة سورية عندما زار‬ ‫سبسطية بين عام ‪1140‬م‪1143-‬م « زرت قبر يحي بن زكريا عليهما السلام بقرية‬ ‫يقال لها سبسطية من أعمال نابلس فلما صليت خرجت إلى ساحة بين يدى الموضع الذي‬ ‫فيه القبر محوط عليها وإذا باب مردود ففتحته ودخلت وإذا كنيسة فيها نحو من عشرة‬ ‫شيوخ رؤوسهم مكشوفة كأنها القطن المندوف وقد استقبلوا الشرق وفي صدورهم عصى‬ ‫في رؤوسها عوارض معوجة على قدر صدر الرجل وهم معهدون عليها ويمنح بين أيديهم‬ ‫بقراء فرأيت منظرا يرق له القلب وساءني واسفنى إذ لم أر في المسلمين من هو على مثل‬ ‫اجتهادهم «‪( 18‬صورة رقم ‪.)11‬‬

‫واألهم من ذلك كله‪ ،‬هو العجز في الربط بين الموقع األثري في الجزء األعلى‬ ‫من المدينة وبين مركز البلدة القديم على سفح التلة‪ ،‬فهذا الفصل القائم ما بين‬ ‫القسمين خلق خلل في فهم متكامل لتاريخ سبسطية منذ أقدم العصور التي‬ ‫يمكن رؤيتها في قمة ألتله مارا بالحضارات الالحقة للفترات الكالسيكية ومن‬ ‫ثم العصور الوسطى التي يمكن رؤيتها في مركز البلدة القديم حتى القصور‬ ‫العثمانية‪ .‬أما الخلل الثاني فهو عدم وجود عالقة بين الموقع األثري والمجتمع‬ ‫المحلي على جميع مستوياته‪ .‬وان عمليات التدخل التطويرية التي أجريت في‬ ‫الماضي على الموقع األثري بدون االهتمام بمركز البلدة القديم أدت إلى اتساع‬ ‫الفجوة بين الموقع والمجتمع المحلي‪.‬‬ ‫لذا كان ال بد من بناء محور حيوي يعمل على الربط بين الموقع األثري‬ ‫والمجتمع المحلي من خالل خلق عناصر جذب داخل مركز البلدة التاريخي‬ ‫من اجل جعل الزوار أن يقومون بالتجوال في الموقع األثري أعلى التلة‬ ‫وأيضا في مركز البلدة القديم‪ ،‬مما سوف يساعد ويسمح للمجتمع المحلي بعيش‬ ‫التجربة الثقافية – االجتماعية – االقتصادية بتوافق وتناغم‪ .‬ولقد حاولنا طوال‬ ‫السنوات الماضية من خالل األنشطة التي قمنا بها في البلدة من اجل الوصول‬ ‫إلى هذا الهدف االستراتيجي‪ ،‬أو المساعدة في حل بعض األمور من اجل‬ ‫الوصول إلى الغاية المنشودة‪.‬‬

‫ولقد اكتشف في عام ‪2009‬م في الموقع أيضا أرضية فسيفساء ذو تقنية عالية‪،‬‬ ‫يعتقد بان يعود تاريخها إلى القرن الخامس ميالدي (صورة رقم ‪ ،)12‬وان‬ ‫هذه األرضية تنتمي إلى بناء ديني يمكن أن يتبع إلى الكاتدرائية البيزنطية التي‬ ‫لحد أالن لم يوجد لها اثأر في المنطقة‪ ،‬ولكن يعتقد بأنها أسفل بناء الكاتدرائية‬ ‫الصليبية‪ .‬وفي القطعة الفسيفسائية يوجد تصاوير حيوانية منها ما تم تدميره‬ ‫من قبل ظاهرة حرب األيقونات وهذا يعني أن أرضية الفسيفساء كانت‬ ‫مستخدمة حتى القرن الثامن‪ ،‬ويعتقد بان الكاتدرائية قد هدمت من الزالزل‬ ‫الذي ضرب المنطقة في القرن الثامن ميالدي‪.‬‬

‫أعمال المحافظة والتعزيز في مركز البلدة‪:‬‬ ‫أعمال المحافظة والتعزيز استهدف المباني الواقعة إلى الجنوب والى الشرق‬ ‫من مسجد صالح الدين األيوبي (كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان الصليبية)‪ ،‬من‬ ‫خالل سلسلة من المشاريع الممولة من الحكومة االيطالية وبالتعاون مع بلدية‬ ‫سبسطية ومركز الفسيفساء – أريحا (صورة رقم ‪.)6‬‬

‫يهدف المشروع أيضا إلى تدريب العديد من الحرفيين وأرباب األسر المحلية‬ ‫على أعمال الترميم والمحافظة‪ ،‬وإيجاد فرص عمل بشكل دائم في مجال‬ ‫التراث الثقافي بهدف إنعاش اقتصاد القرية‪ ،‬باإلضافة إلى تعزيز فهم ووعي‬ ‫السكان والمجتمع المحلي لتراثهم الثقافي‪ ،‬وللفرص الثقافية ‪ -‬االجتماعية التي‬ ‫يمكن توفرها من خالل فراغات المباني التاريخية (صورة رقم ‪.)13‬‬

‫نفذ أول مشروع من قبل المؤسسة االيطالية الغير حكومية ‪ -‬التعاون العالمي‬ ‫جنوب جنوب ‪ -‬عام ‪ .200517‬والموقع الذي تم اختياره لتنفيذ المشروع‬ ‫يقع في وسط المركز القديم للبلدة مالصقا للجدار الجنوبي للمسجد الحالي‬ ‫(كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان)‪ ،‬ولقد كان يعتبر هذا الموقع مكره صحية بسبب‬ ‫وجود الكثير من األوساخ والطمم في الموقع‪ ،‬وأيضا كان يعتبر موقع دون‬ ‫أهمية تاريخية للبلدة من قبل الدارسين‪.‬‬

‫كما تم التوضيح سابقا بان عمليات الحفر األثري والمحافظة لم تكن هي الهدف‬ ‫األساسي للمشروع‪ .‬حيث أن األعمال التي نفذت خالل المشروع وجدت‬ ‫قيمتها االجتماعية من خالل بدء نشاطات مستدامة تهدف للربط بين المجتمع‬ ‫المحلي والتراث الثقافي‪.‬‬

‫لقد نفذ المشروع بالتعاون مع بلدية سبسطية وبإشراف علوي من قبل األب‬ ‫ميشيل بيتشريللو‪ ،‬حيث تدخل المشروع في القطاع االجتماعي من خالل‬ ‫العمل على مساحة صغيرة داخل مركز البلدة القديم محفزا المشاركة الكاملة‬ ‫لجيل الشباب‪ ،‬وقد تم توفير الدعم إلنشاء مركز شبابي كرس لالهتمام لحماية‬ ‫وتعزيز المصادر الثقافية لسبسطية ومحيطها‪ .‬وهدف المشروع أيضا إلى‬ ‫إنعاش اقتصاد البلدة من خالل خلق فرص عمل للعمال والحرفين المحليين‬ ‫وتشغيلهم في أعمال الترميم‪ ،‬وأيضا من خالل شراء المنتجات والمواد‬ ‫واألدوات محليا لمساعدة المحال والشركات المحلية الصغيرة‪.‬‬

‫لقد أعادت عمليات المحافظة لهذا الجزء من القرية القيم التاريخية‪ ،‬الثقافية‪،‬‬ ‫االجتماعية‪ ،‬الجمالية والفنية‪ .‬إذ جمعت هذه األعمال العديد من بقايا‬ ‫الحضارات المختلفة‪ ،‬التي كانت في السابق قبل عمليات التدخل معرضه‬ ‫للزوال ومليئة باألوساخ والنفايات‪ ،‬مختلطة ومشوهة من عناصر معمارية‬ ‫وتدخالت غير متناسقة عملت على انتقاص المعاني والقيم التاريخية الجمالية‬ ‫للموقع (صورة رقم ‪.)14‬‬ ‫من خالل أعمال المحافظة برزت العناصر التاريخية وتم تقيمها‪ ،‬كما وتم‬ ‫إيجاد مكان في البلدة القديمة الستخدامه من قبل المجتمع المحلي في وقتنا‬ ‫الحالي‪ .‬عالوة على ذلك‪ ،‬فقد أصبح هذا المكان كمتحف مفتوح الستضافة‬ ‫الزوار والنشاطات االجتماعية والثقافية ويصب في مصلحة المجتمع المحلي‬ ‫والضيوف‪.‬‬

‫ومن النتائج المهمة للمشروع كانت عملية المحافظة والتعزيز لجزء صغير‬ ‫من ممتلكات سبسطية األثرية‪ .‬فمن خالل التدخالت إلعادة التأهيل‪ ،‬تم إنقاذ‬ ‫مبنى قديم من الدمار والهجران ومن الخسارة المحتمة للمبنى وللمنطقة‬ ‫المحيطة‪ .‬عدى عن زيادة المعرفة في تاريخ سبسطية‪ ،‬فلقد تم اكتشاف في‬ ‫تلك المرحلة من العمل غرفة يعود تاريخ ببنائها إلى الفترة الصليبية وبالتحديد‬ ‫بعد بناء كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان في النصف الثاني من القرن الثاني عشر‪.‬‬ ‫اكتشاف هذه الغرفة باإلضافة إلى عناصر معمارية مهمة كان السبب الرئيسي‬ ‫من اجل االستمرار في العمل في نفس المنطقة (صورة رقم ‪.)7‬‬

‫أهمية التعلم والتعليم من خالل العمل مع المجتمع المحلي‪:‬‬ ‫في ظل غياب القوانين واألنظمة المتطور من اجل الحفاظ وتعزيز التراث‬ ‫الثقافي الفلسطيني‪ ،19‬ظهرت مشكلة مسؤولية الحفاظ على األبنية التاريخية‬ ‫الغير محمية من قبل قانون اآلثار وأيضا في ظل عدم توفر مسح للمواقع من‬ ‫اجل وضعها تحت قانون الحماية‪ ،‬وأصبحت قضية معقدة لتقف عائقا في‬ ‫وجه أي مشروع فردي‪ .‬ولكن بعد نقاشات مطولة ومتكررة ما بين الشركاء‬ ‫أو المعنيين أو المسئولين في الموقع « البلدية‪ ،‬المؤسسات األهلية المحلية‪،‬‬

‫وفي عام ‪ ،2008‬تم تمويل مشروع إلنقاذ مبنى تاريخي قديم من قبل مشروع‬ ‫الطوارئ التابع للتعاون االيطالي‪ ،‬نفذ من قبل مؤسسة األراضي المقدسة الغير‬ ‫حكومية التابعة إلى حراسة األراضي المقدسة والتي أسست منذ ‪1300‬م على‬ ‫يد اآلباء الفرنسيسكان‪ ،‬وكان الهدف من تأسيس مؤسسة األراضي المقدسة‬ ‫من قبل األب ميشيل بيتشريللو هو الحفاظ وتعزيز التراث الثقافي في المنطقة‬ ‫‪ 17‬‬

‫‪ 8‬‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪ 19‬‬

‫بينلي‪ ،‬حمدان وبيشيريللو ‪2007‬‬

‫‪103‬‬

‫كتاب العصا في ‪37-Derenbourg 1889: 36‬‬ ‫‪Hamdan 2004‬‬

‫أسامة حمدان‬ ‫المكتب اإلقليمي لدائرة اآلثار‪ -‬وزارة السياحة واآلثار‪ ،‬المالك‪ ،‬األوقاف‬ ‫اإلسالمية‪ ،‬سكان المنطقة «‪ ،‬توصلنا إلى تعريف لنهج يأخذ باالعتبار كل‬ ‫االحتياجات وبشكل رئيسي احتياجات المجتمع المحلي والحافظ وتعزيز‬ ‫التراث الثقافي‪.‬‬ ‫كان للبحث المستمر في تقاسم المسؤوليات خالل عملية اتخاذ القرار األثر‬ ‫االيجابي على المجتمع المحلي وكانت إحدى نتائج المشروع االيجابية‪ ،‬ولقد‬ ‫وجهت من قبل المؤسسة المركزية بالرفض الكامل لموضوع المشاركة في‬ ‫عملية تحمل المسؤولية من اجل إنقاذ التراث الثقافي الفلسطيني من الدمار‬ ‫واإلهمال مفضال ترك األمور على حالها‪ ،‬والنظر إلى موضوع التراث‬ ‫الثقافي من خالل منظور ضيق وقديم يرتكز على أن المسئول والمستفيد‬ ‫الوحيد من هذا التراث هو المؤسسة المركزية‪.‬‬ ‫عقد المجتمع المحلي العديد من األيام المفتوحة حيث ساد الجو الودي‬ ‫والديمقراطي لمناقشة ومواجهة القضايا المتعلقة بأهمية التراث الثقافي في‬ ‫قرية تاريخية مثل سبسطية‪ .‬وأيضا تمت مناقشة المشاكل التي تأتي نتيجة‬ ‫للممارسات الشائعة في المنطقة من حفريات غير قانونية لسرقة اآلثار التي‬ ‫ينتج عنها الدمار والسلب واالختفاء للتراث الثقافي الفلسطيني‪ .‬لقد كانت‬ ‫اللقاءات هامة جدا لمساعدة المجتمع المحلي على فهم قيمة التراث الثقافي‬ ‫وكيفية تقديم الحماية له لتعم الفائدة على الجميع‪.‬‬ ‫تم إشراك األطفال في هذا نشاطات هذه المشاريع لكسب اهتماماتهم المتعلقة‬ ‫بتراثهم الثقافي‪ .‬حيث نفذت بعض ورشات العمل بالتعاون مع وزارة التربية‬ ‫والتعليم الفلسطينية‪ ،‬إذ تضمنت الورش على تعليم األطفال تقنيات الرسم‬ ‫والقيام بورشات رسم داخل المواقع األثرية والتاريخية وورشات في فن‬ ‫الفسيفساء‪ .‬كان الهدف األساسي لهذه الورش هو زيادة وعي األطفال تجاه‬ ‫التراث الثقافي مع تطوير لمهاراتهم الفنية واإلبداعية‪ ،‬ولالستمتاع بالزيارات‬ ‫بالهواء الطلق (صورة رقم ‪.)15‬‬ ‫نحن على أتم اإلدراك بأهمية العمل مع األطفال‪ ،‬ذلك إلدراكنا بأهمية هؤالء‬ ‫األطفال في حماية التراث الثقافي الفلسطيني وعليهم أن يفهموا إلى أي حد‬ ‫سوف يستفيدوا من التراث الثقافي الفلسطيني في المجاالت االقتصادية‬ ‫والثقافية واالجتماعية‪.‬‬

‫‪104‬‬

Fr Eugenio ALLIATA, ofm

THE MUSEUM OF THE STUDIUM BIBLICUM FRANCISCANUM

The origin and the development of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem are linked with the genesis and growth of the scientific institution of the Studium Biblicum willed by the Custody of the Holy Land and supported by all the Franciscan order (or the Minor Friars).

Spijkerman succeeded Fr Saller as the Museum’s Director until his sudden death on 23rd June 1973. To Fr Spijkerman the Museum owes its specialization in numismatics, especially the coinage of the Roman cities of Palestine, of the Decapolis and of Provincia Arabia (Transjordan).3 Fr Piccirillo’s Jerusalem Archaeological Museum of Christian Origins

The Original Museum (1902-1974) The Museum was opened in 1902 in a room at St Saviour’s Convent where in 1901 Biblical study courses had been launched for the members of the Franciscan Order. The collection, which included notably a cache of Mediaeval liturgical objects found in 1863 and 1906 and known as the “Treasure of Bethlehem” (Figs 252 and 253), and a collection of XVIIIth century unguent pots from the pharmacy of St Saviour’s (Figs 254, 255, 276 and 277), was organized by Fr Prosperous Viaud, assisted by Br Emile Dubois, who also made some plastic models of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The collection was significantly enriched by two large and important donations: the numismatic collection of Fr Giacinto Tonizzo and the Egyptian collection of Fr Cleophas Steinhausen. All this material was reorganized in 1924 by Fr Gaudenzio Orfali of Nazareth, one of the pioneer Franciscan archaeologists.

In October 1974, Fr Michele Piccirillo was appointed to run the Museum, which by then was well-known to the scientific community for its collections of great historical value. In 1982, he thoroughly reorganized the material, the necessity of this having become acute in view of the significant and determinant contribution of the archaeological excavations conducted by the professors of the Studium Biblicum in the Christian sanctuaries under the care of the Custody of the Holy Land. The original nucleus of the Museum had outgrown the premises allocated to it. The limited space available imposed mandatory choices in order to allow the Museum to preserve its clear cultural and educational features. The importance of the new acquisitions from excavations meant that the basic criterion was that of origin, since these documented accurately the work of the Studium in the field of archaeological research in the Holy Places. The actual display of the Museum was set up in collaboration with Fr Rafael Dorado, a Franciscan of the Custody of the Holy Land.

When the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum was opened in the Flagellation Convent, it was decided to transfer the Museum next to the library as a necessary support for study and research. Fr Gianmaria Amadori was put in charge of presenting the collections in the rooms which had been renovated for that purpose on the ground floor of the building at the Eleventh Station of the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa). A botanist, Fr Amadori set aside a room for the collection of Palestinian fauna and flora that he had been collecting for years, dedicating himself also to the embalming and mounting of the animals as exhibits. The new Museum was opened on 10th February 1931. The first catalogue was prepared by Fr Bellarmino Bagatti in 1939.1 The first Director of the museum was Fr Sylvester Saller, an American archaeologist from Chicago, who enhanced it considerably with the finds from the excavations which he had conducted on Mount Nebo, ‘Ain Karim, Bethany and Bethphage.2 In 1954, the Dutch numismatist Fr Augusto

Three rooms were dedicated to the excavations at Nazareth, Capharnaum and Dominus Flevit respectively. This prominence was due to the important role of these three sites in opening a new era of Christian archaeology in the Holy Land, and in unravelling the problem of Christian origins, especially the history of the Judaeo-Christian communities of Palestine. Nazareth The first room of the Museum is dedicated to the excavations in Nazareth directed by Fr Prosper Viaud in 1909 and by Fr Bellarmino Bagatti in 1956-1970.4 Late Bronze Age (XIVth-XIIIth century bc), Early Iron Age (Xth-IXth century bc), Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Arabic pottery (IIIrd century bc-XIIth century ad), pottery

See Bagatti 1939. On Mount Nebo, see Saller 1941 and Schneider 1950; on the town of Nebo, see Saller, Bagatti 1949. For more recent archaeological work at Mount Nebo and its vicinity, see Piccirillo, Alliata 1998 eds. On ‘Ain Karim, see Saller 1946; Bagatti 1948; Baldi, Bagatti 1980. On Bethany,

1

see Saller 1957. On Bethphage, see Saller, Testa 1961. 3 See Spijkerman 1978. 4 See Viaud 1910; Bagatti 1967a, 1969 and 1970; Bagatti, Alliata 2002. See also Piccirillo 1994f.

2

105

Eugenio ALLIATA, ofm

vessels and coloured plaster from the pre-Byzantine shrine, against the background of enormous photographs, illustrate the history of the village and of the sanctuaries of the Annunciation and of St Joseph. The graffiti found under the Byzantine mosaics of the IVth-Vth century ad are presented only in photographs, the originals being held in the museum near the basilica of the Annunciation, with other important items from the excavations.

side of the main road which crossed the Roman town. A room on the northern edge of the excavations was paved with a mosaic depicting magical symbols. In the showcases, marble fragments with vine motifs from a Jewish synagogue are on exhibit next to Roman pottery and bronze objects found in the town of birth of Mary Magdalene.6 In order of importance, the other rooms are subdivided among other SBF excavations conducted on the Mount of Olives, in the sanctuaries of Jerusalem and its vicinity, in the Judaean Desert, in Transjordan, and in the two Herodian fortresses Machaerus and Herodion.

Life size copies of five magnificent Romanesque capitals from the Crusader Church which were discovered by Fr Viaud in a grotto near the northern wall of the basilica represent the Church with an apostle, the stories of St Peter, St James and St Thomas, St Matthew and St Bartholomew, and of Jesus with His apostles (Fig. 256). On the floor of the Museum’s first room stand two original capitals found in recent excavations illustrating the resurrection of Tabita by St Peter, with small fragments of the same period.

Dominus Flevit The third room is dedicated to the excavations at Dominus Flevit, on the Western slopes of the Mount of Olives, directed by Fr B. Bagatti from 1953 to 1955. Placed at the entrance of the room is a Herodian period sarcophagus, one of the most beautiful as yet discovered in Jerusalem, its sides and lid decorated with geometric and floral patterns (Fig. 260). A rich funerary deposit was found in a double Jebusite tomb in the necropolis (1500-1400 bc) located slightly to the southwest of the Byzantine chapel which for pilgrims marked the spot where Jesus had wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19, 41). The exhibits are excellent examples of the technical culture of the pre-Davidic inhabitants of the town, and their commercial relations with the foreign world. Besides locally made vessels, Egyptian alabasters and Hyksos scarabs were found, as well as Mycenean pots.7 One of the Roman tombs of the necropolis yielded a hoard of silver Jewish shekels minted during the first Revolt against Rome (ad 66-70). Jewish ossuaries of the Roman period with names familiar from the Gospel (Jesus, Mary, Martha, Zachary, Shimon, Salome, John) scratched or traced in charcoal on their walls, as well as a pre-Constantinian monogram traced in charcoal, and other inscriptions, were attributed by the excavators to the first Judaeo-Christian community of Jerusalem.8 The showcases contain golden jewellery, glass vessels and pottery from the Roman and Byzantine necropolis.

Caphernaum The Museum's second room is dedicated to the excavations at Capharnaum, on the shore of the lake of Galilee, directed by Fr Gaudentius Orfali in 1921, and by Fr Virgilio Corbo and Fr Stanislao Loffreda between 1968 and 1989.5 In this room are preserved finds of the utmost importance in relation to the house of St Peter (Fig. 258). In the Roman period, the house differed in no way from any other humble dwelling in the village. Of special note in the Museum are three small oil lamps, a cooking pot and two fishhooks of the Ist century ad found in the plaster pavement of the sacred house. In the IVth century, it was surrounded by an enclosure wall and its central room changed into a domestic sanctuary (domusecclesia), its walls were plastered and decorated with painted flowers, fruits and geometric patterns on which pilgrims scratched their names and prayers in various languages. Such graffiti are shown in the Museum: for instance, in Greek, “O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on …” (Fig. 259). In the Byzantine period, an octagonal basilica, with a baptistery, replaced the domus-ecclesia, marking the spot where hospitality had once been extended to Jesus in this village while preaching in the synagogue or on the seashore. Plastic models of the sacred area and of the second group of dwellings between the church and the synagogue, as well as large-scale photographs, plans and reconstructions afford a good idea of the village's buildings at the time of Jesus and up to the VIIIth-IXth centuries.

Large photographs bring to life the excavations of the Byzantine monastery with the chapel and its sacristy paved with mosaics. The dedicatory inscription in the northern sacristy states that “it was built by Simeon and offered to Christ our Lord for the forgiveness of his misdeeds and for the rest of his brother, the Abbot George, and Domitius friend of Christ”.

Magdala

Mount of Olives

The corner on the left wall of the Capharnaum room is assigned to the excavations conducted by Frs V. Corbo and S. Loffreda from 1971 to 1976 at Magdala on the Western shore of the Lake of Galilee, north of Tiberias. The excavations unearthed a Byzantine monastery, a square plaza with private and public buildings on the eastern

The various excavations on the Mount of Olives are featured in the fourth exhibition room. These include the basilica of Gethsemane (Fig. 257) by Fr G. Orfali in 1919-1920, the Grotto of the Apostles (where Jesus was arrested) by Fr V. Corbo in 1956, the Tomb of the Blessed Virgin in the Cedron valley by Fr B. Bagatti in 1972, the sanctuary of the Ascension on the summit of the mount by

See Testa 1972; Corbo, Loffreda, Spijkerman 1970; Corbo 1975 and 1976; Spijkerman 1975; Loffreda 1974, 1978, 2005, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c; and Callegher 2007. On more recent excavations, see De Luca 2009.

5

See Corbo 1976; Loffreda 1976a, Manns 1976b. See Saller 1964. 8 See Bagatti, Milik 1958. 6 7

106

The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

Fr V. Corbo in 1959, the villages of Bethfage by Fr S. Saller and Fr Testa in 1956, and Bethany on the eastern slopes by Fr S. Saller in 1949-1953.

back to the third millennium bc. Some vessels are unique with painted or incised decoration.12

Prominent are the finds from Bethany, the village of Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus. The excavations have proved that the village dates back at least to the Persian period (Vth century bc), although Middle Bronze Age tombs were found in the vicinity.9

The Museum's seventh room is dedicated to the history of the monastic movement in the Judaean Desert. The finds originate from several monasteries excavated by Fr V. Corbo in the vicinity of Bethlehem, at Siyar al-Ghanam, Khirbat Makhrum, Khirbat Juhdom and Bir el-Qutt.13

Monastic Movement

Herodion and Machaerus

In the Georgian monastery of Bir el-Qutt, a dedicatory inscription which is of great historical proof for the antiquity of the Georgian language, ran thus: “(This was made) by the help of Christ, and with the intercession of St Theodore, have mercy o Lord for Anthony the Abbot and Josiah the mosaicist and his parents. Amen” (Fig. 262).14

Herodian Palestine is the dominant theme in the fifth room, as background to the time of Jesus and in order to portray the political rulers of the region. On exhibit are coins of King Herod, his sons Antipas, Archaelaus and Philip, Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, and the small coins struck in Judaea by the Roman Procurators, such as Pontius Pilate, together with two leather fragments of the Qumran scrolls, and a papyrus fragment of the Wadi Murabba’at manuscripts with an ink-pot of the first century ad. Finds from the excavations at the fortress of Herodion near Bethlehem by Fr V. Corbo in 1962-1967 are prominently displayed.10 Of note are Greek and Hebrew ostraca (Fig.  261), one of which is inscribed with the Hebrew alphabet. Two elaborate capitals from Herodion have been placed at the entrance of the room, together with pottery of the same period. Also directed by Fr V. Corbo, the excavations of the fortress of Machaerus in Peraea, where John the Baptist was beheaded by order of Herod Antipas began in 1978.11

In the showcases, there are Byzantine vessels and inscriptions found at Siyar al Ghanam and Bir el-Qutt, together with a capital from Khirbat Makhrum exhibited in the centre of the room, and a funerary stele from Khirbat Juhdom: “O Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on the humble Elijah and give rest to your servant Theodolus among saints”. Galilee Galilee figures prominently in the excavation projects of the Studium. Those undertaken at Nazareth and Capharnaum are better known, but much work has been done at other places in this northern province of the Holy Land. The reconstruction of the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor made it possible for the Franciscan archaeologists to examine the remains of walls of the previous Byzantine and Crusader churches built on the same spot, as well as the Ayyubid fortress on the summit of the mountain from 1212 ad.15

Mount Nebo The sixth room is dedicated to Jordan, more particularly to the excavations conducted by the SBF on Mount Nebo, at the Memorial of Moses (Siyagha in Arabic) and in the town of Nebo by Fr S. Saller (1933-1937), Fr V. Corbo (19631970) and Fr M. Piccirillo (since 1976). At the entrance of the room there is a beautiful Byzantine capital with cross and doves from the Memorial of Moses. The excavations of the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses have brought to light pottery of various periods and fragments of two Samaritan inscriptions. The five churches excavated in the town of Nebo, Khirbat el-Mukhayyat, are represented by mosaic pavements. Various tombs were excavated in the necropolis of the town of Nebo dating from the third and second millennium bc through the Iron Age, the Hellenistic and Roman periods to the Byzantine era. The funerary finds in the Iron Age tombs (VIIIth century bc) include a Moabite cylinder seal, an incised ostracon, and two female figurines.

At Kafr Kenna (ancient Cana), a dedicatory inscription in Hebrew which belonged to the mosaic floor of a synagogue was found under the present church. Roman pottery suggests that the village was inhabited in that period.16 Father Viaud's excavations at Sephoris in 1909 have shown that the Crusaders’ Church of Saint Anne in that important ancient town of Galilee, had also been erected over a synagogue.17 At Tabgha, on the edge of the Lake of Galilee, north of Capharnaum, excavations were undertaken at two Byzantine sanctuaries, by Fr B. Bagatti in 1935 at the chapel commemorating the Sermon on the Mount,18 and by Fr S. Loffreda in 1969 at the chapel of the “Primacy” of St Peter.19

A rich collection of pottery vessels was found in tombs at Bab ed-Dhra’, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, dating

See Saller 1965. See Corbo 1955. 14 See Dauphin 1998, I: 155. 15 See Meistermann 1900; and, Battista,Bagatti 1976. 16 See Loffreda 1969 and 1975b. 17 See Viaud 1910: 179-191. 18 See Bagatti 1937. 19 See Loffreda 1970a, 1970b, 1975a. 12

On Bethany and Bethphage, see supra, n. 2. On Gethsemani, see Orfali 1924; Corbo 1965; Bagatti, Piccirillo, Prodromo 1975. On the Church of the Ascension, see Corbo 1965: 94-162. 10 On Fr Corbo’s excavations at Herodion, see Corbo 1989; Corbo, Loffred, Piccirillo 1996; Loffreda 1996; Spijkerman 1972; and Testa 1972. 11 See Corbo, Loffreda, Piccirillo 1996. 9

13

107

Eugenio ALLIATA, ofm

Judaea

Mediaeval “bottles” from Mount Thabor (XIIIth century ad).

A section of the Museum is dedicated to the excavations in the surroundings of Jerusalem.

Palestinian oil lamps (Figs 265 and 266) and pottery stamped with seals from several periods are exhibited in the centre of the room. Of particular interest is a type of lamp probably used during the baptismal liturgy, inscribed in Greek in relief “the light of Christ shines for everyone”.

Beneath the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, north of the venerated Grotto, the so-called grottos of St Jerome were excavated by Fr B. Bagatti in 1963-64. The grottos were inhabited since the Iron Age (VIIIth century bc). In the same years, on the northern slopes of the hill, an Iron Age Tomb and a Byzantine chapel were found and studied by Fr S. Saller.20

The Museum also owns a small quantity of Mesopotamian and Egyptian objects, a series of XVth century paintings, XIVth century antiphonaries, some liturgical and biblical manuscripts and a complete collection of pots from the ancient pharmacy of St Saviour's Convent (XVIIth-XIXth centuries).

Systematic excavations were conducted at the village of Ein Karim, in the Church of St John by Fr  S. Saller in 1941-1942, and at the Church of the Visitation by Fr B. Bagatti in 1937, who traced the history of the site from the Roman period to the present day.21

Egyptian Collection The Egyptian collection was acquired in Alexandria, Egypt, by Br Cleophas Steinhausen in the years preceding World War I and given to the Museum of the Flagellation at the beginning of the British Mandate. It includes miscellaneous objects from different periods, from the Old Kingdom (IIIrd millennium bc) to the Coptic period (VIIth-VIIIth centuries ad).

During the Second World War, in 1940-44, Fr B. Bagatti resumed research at Emmaus-Qubeibeh, north of the Mediaeval church rebuilt by the Franciscans in 1912. The Mediaeval agricultural village was excavated and some traces of the Roman-Byzantine settlement were uncovered.22

Sarcophagi and fragments of sarcophagi, funerary masks, and ushabti (“servants”) figures, mostly of the Late Period; sculpted pieces, inscriptions and funerary stelae, mostly of the New Kingdom (including the El-Amarna Period); scarabs,25 pottery of various periods, canopic jars, and other alabaster vases, all illustrate daily life and death in Pharaonic Egypt. Among minor objects figure several Egyptian gods and goddesses in clay, faience and bronze, as well as gold jewelry. A large collection of clay and stone statuettes of deities, human figures and animals is dated to the Graeco-Roman period. The Coptic period is represented by carved pieces, pottery,26 some ampullae of St Menas (showing the saint standing, in an attitude of prayer, between two camels), and lamps; papyri fragments; and a collection of ostraca from Upper Egypt.

Fr V. Corbo published the results of excavations and soundings in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre during restoration work begun in 1960, the results of which have led to a better understanding of the Golgotha area, of the Sepulchre of Jesus, and of the history of this Christian monument of fundamental importance.23 In the showcases dedicated to Mount Zion Byzantine and Roman pots found in the Latin cemeteries on the southern slopes of the Western hill of Jerusalem are exhibited next to a Renaissance Italian angel found in the Franciscan convent which was reopened in 1935 near the Upper Room Church built by the Franciscans in the XIVth century.24 Palestinian Pottery For the benefit of the students at the Studium, one room of the Museum is devoted to a systematic chronological display of ancient pottery found in Palestine and Jordan (Figs 263 and 264), from the third millennium bc (Bab edDhra’) to the Ayyubid Islamic pottery of the XIIIth century ad. Of particular note are some beautiful Middle Bronze Age vessels and black juglets of the same period (Tell Yahudiyyeh ware of the XVIIth-XVIth century bc); two zoomorphic vessels of the Late Bronze Age (XIVth-XIIIth century bc) in the form of a bull (one imported, and one locally made), both with decorations; the lid of a so-called Philistine anthropomorphic sarcophagus (XIth-Xth century bc); a small Hellenistic juglet with an engraved Greek name (IIIrd-IInd century bc); Late Roman and Byzantine stamped sigillata and pseudo sigillata (IVth-VIth century ad); and

The Treasure of Bethlehem In the large separate Northern Hall of the Museum are grouped different collections of artifacts. The Mediaeval liturgical objects of the Church of the Nativity were found in Bethlehem on two different occasions: the candlesticks, a crosier (Fig. 252) and two copper basins in 1863, and thirteen bells and 250 copper organ pipes were discovered in 1906 and added to the collection.27 Dating from the reign of the Crusader Baldwin II (1144-1162), Latin King of Jerusalem, the crosier and the three enameled candlesticks are among the most ancient enameled objects of Limoges. The pair of silver candlesticks are inscribed in Latin: “Cursed be he who takes me away from the holy grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem” (Fig. 253). The life of St. Thomas unfolds on the two copper basins. The bells form part of two carillon sets which were played together with the organ (XIIth century).

On the various sites venerated by pilgrims in Bethlehem, see Bagatti 1952b. Se also Bagatti, Alliata 1980. 21 See supra, n. 2. 22 See Bagatti 1947. 23 See Bagatti, Testa 1978; and, Corbo 1981-1982. 24 See Bagatti 1970; and, Bagatti, Alliata 1981. 20

See Nicacci 1976 and 1980. See Bagatti 1981. 27 See Bagatti 1952: 72-74; and, Lehr 1981. 25 26

108

The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

Bronze Objects

the Galilee, notably Sepphoris and Cana. Several vessels were found during the excavations at Dominus Flevit and Bethany. Almost all the goblets, beakers, bottles and flasks, tableware, personal ornaments, lamps, perfume bottles and coin weights were produced by the process of blowing, and decorated by means of different techniques, such as pinching, or the application of additional glass ornamentation onto the vessel's surface (Figs 269 and 270). Early Islamic glass is also represented in the collection.

A number of small bronze objects of Roman and Byzantine manufacture, are also displayed in the Northern Hall: Ist century ad incense shovels, a decorated lamp from Alexandria, a small deity, and a horse; a Byzantine censer found in Jericho, together with a plaque on which St George is portrayed, with a Greek inscription on the reverse: “Saint George accept the offering of your servant”.28 In the centre of the showcase hangs a gilded bronze crucifix of the Crusader Period (XIIth century ad; Fig. 267). Also preserved are various metal stamps inscribed in Greek: “The shop of good things”, “Good luck to the purchaser”, or the names of the owners.

Weights Always of interest to visitors is the small exhibit in the Hall, of Roman and Byzantine weights used in trade. One of the largest bears the Greek inscription: “The year 370, Eliodoros, son of Basileidos, being agoranomos”. The Book of the Maccabees (II Mac. 3, 1-4) and Josephus Flavius testify that the function of the agoranomos existed at the time of Jesus. According to Rabbinic literature this public officer had to control the weights, and later on, the prices of the city market. The weights in bronze, lead or glass, had different forms. They are square or round, or in the forms of a small ball, or an animal or human being, usually accompanied by an inscription mentioning the exact weight. A cross is added on Byzantine weights. The Museum owns a nice specimen of a cast which was used to produce Byzantine weights.33

Seals A showcase in the centre of the Northern Hall contains a collection of Old Babylonian and Persian seals and Byzantine bullae (Figs 268 and 274).29 Official bullae of the Crusader period include the bullae of Pope Lucius IIIrd (1181-1185), of Honorius IIIrd (12161227), of King Baldwin Ist (1100-1118) inscribed with his name as “Baudouin by the grace of God, King of Jerusalem” on the obverse, and a description of Jerusalem on the reverse as “The city of the King of all Kings”. The bulla of Boemundus Prince of Antioch; that of Simeon the Patriarch of Antioch inscribed in Greek; the bulla of the leper hospital of St Lazarus in Jerusalem (“Seal of the house of the lepers of St Lazarus in Jerusalem”), and a devotional medallion depicting the Resurrection are of the same period.30

Amulets In another showcase of the Northern Hall visitors may see various small objects used for Christian worship. Among them is a Byzantine gold ring decorated with an Annunciation scene and inscribed in Greek “Hail Mary full of grace”, some small neck crosses in both bronze and stone, and several copper amulets upon which Solomon is depicted on horseback vanquishing the demoness or Gyllou.34 There are also three small lamellae, one of which, of gold, is pagan, while the other two, both of silver, bear Aramaic inscriptions and symbols with references to the beliefs of the Judaeo-Christian communities of Palestine, and which are difficult to read and interpret.35 The gold lamella is inscribed in Greek similarly to funerary slabs: “If somebody compares the two deceased ones Dyonisus and you, I search for him. But you Libanus, I desire. The two were faithful”.36

Mesopotamian Collection The small Mesopotamian collection consists of fifteen clay inscriptions: thirteen clay tablets, a foundation cone, a fragment of an Assyrian royal inscription, and thirty cylinder seals.31 Eight “economic” tablets, were written in the town of Umma, at the time of the IIIrd Dynasty of Ur (2100-2000 bc) and listed irrigation and field work, the distribution of beer, barley and flour, and wool and animal skins. On five tablets and on the cone, King Sin-Kasid of the town of Uruk, (1850 bc) commemorates his foundation activity: “Sin-Kasid, the strong man, the King of Uruk the King of the Amanus, has built for his royal highness his royal palace”. An Assyrian fragment comes from the wall decoration of Assurnasirpal IInd’s Royal Palace of Nimrud (883-859 bc).

Model of the Holy Sepulchre A striking example of more recent Palestinian art is the central focus of the Northern Hall. It is a small model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in olive wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, dating to the XVIIth-XVIIIth century (Fig. 271). The model represents the Basilica of the Resurrection after the Crusader restoration of the XIIth century, separate from the surrounding buildings. During the XVIIth century a number of similar devotional objects were produced by craftsmen in Bethlehem and sold to

Glass The Roman and Byzantine glass vessels displayed in the Northern Hall are only a sample from the Museum’s rich collection.32 The vessels were collected over the years in Nazareth and come from the necropoles of the cities of the Decapolis, such as Gadara, from Magdala on the shore of the sea of Galilee, or from towns and village of See Bagatti 1975. See Manns 1976a and 1976c. 30 See De Sandoli 1974. 31 See Sigrist, Vuk 1985. 32 See Bagatti 1967b. 28

See Manns 1984. See Bagatti 1971 and 1972b. 35 See Testa 1962: 52-59, and 1967. 36 See Manns 1979. 33

29

34

109

Eugenio ALLIATA, ofm

Western pilgrims as mementoes of their pilgrimage. The craftsmen based their work on the detailed plans of the sacred edifice drawn and published by the Franciscan Architect Fr Bernardin Amico, who served in the monasteries of Bethlehem and Jerusalem from 1593 to 1597. Various sections of the roof may be lifted, so that the interior may be seen. The model which is one of best preserved, is an excellent example of the type of work initiated by the Franciscans in Bethlehem, in the handicraft of applying mother-of-pearl inlay to olive wood37.

the needs of both friars and pilgrims, the city's Christian community and its population in general, irrespective of creed. Commissioned by the Custody of the Holy Land to the Boselli firm in Savona, near Genoa in Italy, the collection was embellished by additional pieces from Venice (Fig. 276). The Savona pots are dated from the middle of the XVIIth century to the XIXth century. Many of them bear the firm's mark (a crowned hawk) stamped on the bottom, and also the signature of “Giacomo Boselli Savona 1791”. Together with the name of the drug and decorations, the coat of arms of the Custody of the Holy Land and that of the Republic of Genoa are painted on the face of the jugs.40

Antiphonaries Showcases along the northern wall of the Hall hold some liturgical and illuminated books from the larger collection of the Museum.38 A Franciscan Breviary and a Missal of the XIIIth century are flanked by two XIVth-century illuminated anthiphonaries - a royal gift from Henry IV of England, according to the handwritten inscription added to Cod D. 1 r: “Pray for the soul of the most illustrious prince, our lord John, once Duke of Lancaster, son of the King of England Edward III and father of Henry IV. . . made for the consolation of the friars of Holy Mount Zion” (Fig. 275). Henry IV came as a pilgrim to Jerusalem in 1392. The beautiful illuminated pages of the manuscripts are of Italian origin. Two illuminated antiphonaries penned in 1662 by Br Giacomo of Monza in Italy were used for several centuries by the friars of St Saviour’s Convent (Fig. 279).

Numismatic Collection A showcase in the Northern Hall is dedicated to ancient coins of Syria and Palestine, and of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Although for security reasons not enough examples are exhibited, the numismatic collection of the Museum merits special attention. Begun with the donation by Fr Tonizza of more than 2000 Alexandrian and Islamic coins, the collection was augmented by Fr  Augustus Spijkerman over a period of some fifteen years. The strongest sections of the collection comprise the ancient city-coins of Palestine (Judaea, Samaria and Galilee) and Transjordan (Decapolis and Provincia Arabia), a collection which for some cities may be considered complete, with quite a number of unique specimens (Figs 272 and 273). Also rich in examples is the section of ancient Hebrew coins, with, however, one notable exception: the silver issues of the Second Revolt, until now too few.41 Phoenicia, Syria, and Mesopotamia are well represented. Less so the collections of Roman and Byzantine coinage of the Empire. Noteworthy are the Nabatean collection and the Crusader and Islamic coins.

Picture-Gallery In its earlier years, the Studium's art collection was more considerable. Still preserved, however, among other canvases of lesser value is a small XVth-century wood panel showing St Francis receiving the stigmata, and seven altar pieces of a Southern Tyrolese School, the “Peter and Paul Altarpiece”. These seven panels decorated an altar of the Chapel of SS Peter and Paul consecrated in 1476 in Sterzing (the Italian Vipiteno), a small town near the Brenner Pass. When in 1744 the chapel was refashioned in the Baroque style, the altar was mutilated and the wings of the altarpiece were separated, and later sold to Prof Johann Nepomuk Sepp of Munich, who in 1861 donated them to the Franciscan Chapel of St Peter of Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The altarpiece is attributed to Friedrich Pacher. The panels depict St Peter walking on the water, the Conversion of Saul, Ananias Healing Saul, the Liberation of St Peter, the Parting of the Apostles according to the Legenda Aurea, the Martyrdom of St Peter and the Martyrdom of St Paul.39

Of great historical value is the hoard of shekels of the First Revolt, found by Br Michelangelo Tizzani in a Roman tomb at Dominus Flevit, in February 1961. The archaeologically perfect context of this hoard (10 shekels, 4 half-shekels, 1 shekel of Tyre with a tetradragm of Nero minted at Antioch), enabled Fr Spijkerman to consider the evidence of this find as decisive proof that the so-called “thick shekels” had indeed been struck during the five years of the First Jewish Revolt. In the course of his excavation at Herodion, Fr Corbo found a large hoard of Second Jewish Revolt bronze coins (a total of 831 pieces were retrieved, all but nine dated to the Second Revolt). A third hoard of about 3,000 silver coins, from the reign of Nero to that of Emperor Gallienus, was accidentally unearthed in 1920, not far from the synagogue in Capharnaum.

The Pharmacy of St Saviour’s The Northern Hall also houses an unusual and interesting Franciscan heirloom: the carefully preserved array of apothecary jugs and jars whch once belonged to the Pharmacy of St Saviour's Convent in Jerusalem (Figs 254, 255 and 279). For several centuries, this pharmacy served

Another find of special significance was that of a coin of Emperor Nero minted at Caesarea, a common type dated to ad 67-68, but with on the obverse a countermark within which are four letters, ITAL. It is very tempting indeed to read into these letters

See Bagatti 1942; and Piccirillo 2007c: 52-53, 68-69. See Cresi 1963. 39 See Ronen 1974. 37

40

38

41

110

See Farris, Storme 1981. See Spijkerman 1961.

The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum

an abbreviation of the Cohors Italica, mentioned in connection with the story of Cornelius the centurion, the first pagan baptized by St Peter in Caesarea (Acts 10: 1).42

exhibitions. Of great importance was certainly that held in Milan in 2000 on “The Holy Land. From the Crusades to the Custody of the Holy Places”. The ongoing care and restoration of objects in storage was Piccirillo’s constant concern. Particularly effective for spreading the name of the Franciscan Museum in the worldwide press was the friendly and constant collaboration with the well-known Jerusalem photographer Garo Nalbandian (Fig. 8).To him, Fr Michele, also an expert photographer, has always given the task of artistic images that illustrated the places and objects presented.

Inscriptions On the ground floor, a large room is dedicated to the Museum’s epigraphic collection with inscriptions in Greek, Latin, early Hebrew, Syriac, Safaitic, Thamudic, Arabic, Old Babylonian and Assyrian, Coptic and Georgian, with a predominance of Greek.43 A special section of the Museum, in the vaulted room to the left of the entrance to the Flagellation Convent, is dedicated to inscriptions on marble and stone, to the ossuaries of Dominus Flevit and to some sculptures. Among the Greek inscriptions of note is a marble inscription found at Cesarea in which an orphanotrophum (orphanage), is mentioned.

Taking the Museum into the third Christian millenium The responsibility to take care of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum has now been entrusted to ourself together with Fr Peter Kaswalder and Fr Ibrahim Najib, professors at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, which recently became the Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the “Antonianum” Pontifical University in Rome. With “Christian origins” never ceasing to be the beating heart of the Museum, the main function of the Museum will always continue primarily to preserve the relics of the past and inspire the young and less young to deepen their knowledge of a common heritage. The present goal is the modernization of the facilities through new electronic techniques and communication, but also further restructuring as part of a larger project in which is also engaged the umbrella institution, the Custody of the Holy Land. The new Centre being created will be accommodated again principallyat St Saviour’s, the main Convent of the Franciscans in Jerusalem. However, it will be split between various religious and cultural sites and surroundings.

The room also contains architectural elements and pieces of various periods. The centre of the room is taken up by the restored baptismal font of the Byzantine Holy Sepulchre. Among the sculptures, special attention should be lent to a Mediaeval console found in the compound of the Hospital in front of the Holy Sepulchre. Depicting two persons, it was called by pilgrims “The kiss of Judah”, but may in fact represent a pilgrim being welcomed at that hospice. It is clear from the above description of the Museum of the Flagellation that Fr Piccirillo’s intention, which was to mould the collection so as to be perceived as the Jerusalem Archaeological Museum of Christian Origins at the service of scholars and pilgrims who in ever greater numbers visit the Holy Land, was fulfilled. Hence Fr Piccirillo’s choice both to place at the centre of the Entrance to the Museum and as the symbol of the Museum, a sculpted haloed mystical lamb shouldering a cross, which was found in the area of the Church of Sainte-Marie-la-Grande and of the Hospital which, during the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, stood opposite the Holy Sepulchre (Fig. 87).

Also in line with the Franciscans’ own tradition to give hospitality and service to pilgrims, it is intended for the Museum to make more widely available the heritage of knowledge and works of art accumulated over the centuries and the challenge of the Christian witness and cultural wealth that the Holy Sites embody. The project is now at an advanced stage of preparation and the first concrete steps have even been taken, starting with the necessary collection of preliminary data, in view of compiling as soon as possible an exhaustive inventory. This is the task which occupies us at present, one indeed in which we are fully immersed.

Its juxtaposition with funerary busts and sculptures from Palmyra in the Syrian desert (Fig. 278), and with three fragments of a IIIrd-century ad mosaic pavement uncovered at Balqis in Northern Syria, on which the three Roman provinces of Germania, Africa and Mauretania are personified, emphasize that “Christian origins” should also be viewed against the background of Neo-Platonism.44 In more than three decades in which Fr Piccirillo held the post of Director of the Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the collections were further expanded by new acquisitions and donations.45 Recently, the private collection of Fr Godfrey Kloetzi, ofm, who died on 27th October 1992, was added to the Museum. Father Piccirillo also contributed greatly to developing and spreading the knowledge of the Museum’s assets by an intense publicity and through the contribution of individual pieces or groups of objects, sometimes conspicuously, to international

The Archaeological Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum is open by appointment only: 9 am – 11.30 am. Via Dolorosa, P.O.B. 19424, Jerusalem 91193 Tel. + 972-2-6270444 Fax/ +972-2-6264519 E-mail: To the attention of Fr Eugenio Alliata, ofm: [email protected]

See Spijkerman 1956. See Milik 1959; Corbo 1964; De Sandoli 1974. 44 See Bowersock 1990. 45 See Piccirillo 1984b and 1984c. 42 43

111

Eugenio ALLIATA, ofm

Summaries

cadre d’un projet plus vaste dans lequel s’est également impliquée l’institution-mère, la Custodie de Terre Sainte. Le Musée cherche à rendre plus largement accessible son patrimoine de connaissances et d’objets d’art accumulés à travers les siècles et à relever le défi du témoignage chrétien et de la richesse culturelle que les Lieux Saints représentent.

Le Musée du Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Le présent article décrit la genèse et le développement du Musée du Studium Biblicum Franciscanum sis au Couvent de la Flagellation à Jérusalem. Le Musée et le Studium Biblicum ont grandi côte à côte avec le soutien de la Custodie de Terre Sainte et l’entier Ordre franciscain des Frères Mineurs. Fondé en 1902, Le Musée n’exposait alors que le Trésor liturgique de Bethléem et une collection de pots et vases de la Pharmacie du Couvent Saint-Sauveur à Jérusalem. Peu après, il fut enrichi de deux collections privées, l’une de numismatique et l’autre égyptienne, ainsi que par des exemples de flore et de faune palestiniennes. Le prestige du Studium Biblicum en tant qu’institution et l’activité archéologique de plusieurs de ses professeurs de renommée notoire, eurent pour corollaire l’accroissement du fonds du Musée grâce à d’importants apports d’objets provenant des fouilles de Nazareth, Capharnaum et Magdala en Galilée, du Mont des Oliviers à Jérusalem (notamment à Bethphagé, Béthanie et au Dominus Flevit) et dans ses environs, à ‘Ain Karim et Hérodion, ainsi qu’Outre-Jourdain au Mont Nébo et à Machéronte. Sont également exposées une importante collection de céramique palestinienne, d’objets de bronze (sceaux, poids et amulettes), et de verre, ainsi que de nombreuses inscriptions. De grande qualité est aussi la collection d’antiphonaires et de panneaux de bois peints par l’Autrichien Friedrich Pacher (floruit 14741508), auxquels il convient d’ajouter un modèle du SaintSépulcre en bois d’olivier incrusté de nacre façonné par des artisans de Bethléem au XVIIIe siècle.

Il Museo dello Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Questo articolo ripercorre i tratti salienti della genesi e dello sviluppo del Museo dello Studium Biblicum Franciscanum posto all›interno del Convento della Flagellazione a Gerusalemme. Il Museo si è sviluppato di pari passo con l›istituzione dello Studium Biblicum sostenuta dalla Custodia di Terra Santa e da tutto l›ordine francescano dei Frati Minori. Fondato nel 1902, il Museo comprendeva allora il tesoro liturgico di Betlemme e una collezione di vasi della farmacia di S. Salvatore, poco dopo è stato arricchito da un fondo numismatico, da una collezione egiziana e da una raccolta di flora e fauna palestinesi. Il prestigio dell›istituzione dello Studium Biblicum e l›attività Archeologica del suo staff accademico arricchirono il Museo con il contributo significativo delle attività di scavo condotte a: Monte Nebo, Machaerus, Ain Karim, Betania e Bethfage oltre a Nazareth, Cafarnao, Magdala, Dominus Flevit e Monte degli Ulivi. Esso inoltre custodisce un’importante collezione di Ceramica palestinese, oggetti in bronzo (sigilli, pesi e amuleti), vetri ed iscrizioni. Notevoli sono anche la raccolta di Antifonari, pannelli di legno dipinto di Friedrich Pacher e un modello del Santo Sepolcro in madreperla opera dell’artigianato di Betlemme.

Le Père Michele Piccirillo qui fut le Directeur du Musée du SBF de 1974 à sa mort en 2008 consacra un effort considérable à sa réorganisation, tout en faisant très attention à préserver ses traits propres culturels et éducatifs, à mettre en valeur la contribution du Studium à la recherche archéologique sur les Lieux Saints, et à accroître les collections grace à des acquisitions et des dons. Le Père Piccirillo contribua également beaucoup à développer et à étendre la connaissance du Musée en participant à des expositions internationales.

Il museo ha ricevuto particolari attenzioni da Fr Michele Piccirillo che lo ha diretto dal 1974 al 2008 dedicando molto impegno alla riorganizzazione delle collezioni mantenendo le caratteristiche culturali ed educative, nonché visualizzando altresì il contributo dello Studium nel campo della ricerca archeologica nei luoghi santi, ed infine ampliando le collezioni con ulteriori acquisizioni e donazioni. Fr. Piccirillo ha inoltre contribuito a sviluppare e diffondere la conoscenza del Museo attraverso la partecipazione a mostre internazionali.

Le Musée se trouve désormais sous la responsabilité des Pères Eugenio Alliata, Peter Kaswalder et Ibrahim Najib, tous professeurs du Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, qui poursuivront le but de préserver l’identité avouée de ce Musée archéologique des Origins chrétiennes à Jérusalem au service des savants et des pèlerins qui en nombre de plus en plus important visitent la Terre Sainte. La préservation des reliques du passé continuera à aller de pair avec le désir d’inspirer les jeunes et les moins jeunes à approfondir leurs connaissances de notre héritage commun. Le but actuellement poursuivi est la modernisation du stockage des données ayant trait aux objets conservés au Musée du SBF et la restructuration du Musée lui-même dans le

La responsabilità del Museo è attualmente affidata a Fr Eugenio Alliata, Fr Pietro Kaswalder e Fr Ibrahim Najib, professori dello Studium Biblicum Franciscanum che persegueno gli obiettivi di preservare le sue origini cristiane, valorizzare le reliquie del passato, e ispirare i giovani e meno giovani ad approfondire la conoscenza di un patrimonio comune. Questo è ottenuto anche mediante l›ammodernamento degli impianti e la ristrutturazione come parte di un progetto più ampio in cui è impegnata

112

‫‪The Museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum‬‬

‫‪anche l›istituzione di appartenenza, la Custodia di Terra‬‬ ‫‪Santa. Il Museo si propone di rendere più largamente a‬‬ ‫‪disposizione di tutti il patrimonio di conoscenze e di‬‬ ‫‪opere d›arte accumulata nei secoli raccogliendo la sfida‬‬ ‫‪della testimonianza cristiana e la ricchezza culturale che i‬‬ ‫‪Luoghi Santi incarnano.‬‬ ‫متحف المعهد البيبلي الفرنسيسكاني‬

‫يتتبع هذا المقال المالمح الرئيسية لتكوين و تطور متحف المعهد البيبلي‬ ‫الفرنسيسكاني داخل دير الجلد في القدس‪ .‬نما هذا المتحف جنبا ألي جنب‬ ‫مع المعهد البيبلي بدعم من حراسة األراضي المقدسة و كافة األباء‬ ‫‪.‬الفرنسيسكان‬ ‫تأسس المتحف في عام ‪ 1902‬و عرض حينها الكنز الطقوسي‬ ‫من بيت لحم و أواني صيدلية دير المخلص و بعد فترة وجيزة تم‬ ‫إغنائه بمجموعة عمالت قديمة و مجموعة أثار تعود ألي الفترة‬ ‫‪.‬الفرعونية و مجموعة نباتات و حيوانات محنطة من البيئة الفلسطينية‬ ‫أهمية معهد الفرنسيسكان و النشاط األثري التي كانت تقوم به مجموعة من‬ ‫أبرز أساتذتها و الذين قاموا بإغناء المتحف بقطع قادمة من أبرز أماكن التنقيب‬ ‫و بالتحديد من‪ :‬جبل نبو‪ ،‬مكاور‪ ،‬عين كارم‪ ،‬بيت عنيا‪ ،‬بيت فاجي‪ ،‬كما و من‬ ‫الناصرة‪ ،‬كفر ناحوم‪ ،‬مجدلة‪ ،‬كنيسة بكاء الرب و جبل الزيتون‪ .‬و يعرض‬ ‫المتحف كذلك مجموعة هامة من الفخار الفلسطيني و أدوات برونزية (أختام‬ ‫‪،‬أوزان و تمائم) و قوارير من الزجاج و النقوش‪ .‬باإلضافة ألي انتيفوناريس‬ ‫و لوحات خشبية مرسومة بيد فر يدريك باخر و نموذجا من الخشب‬ ‫‪.‬المطعم بالصدف و الذي يمثل القبر المقدس من صناعة حرفين بيت لحم‬ ‫تلقي المتحف الكثير من االهتمام من قبل األب ميكيلي بشريللو و الذي‬ ‫أداره من عام ‪ 1974‬و لغاية ‪ 2008‬و كرس له الكثير من الجهد خاصة‬ ‫في إعادة تنظيم القطع مع إبالء اهتمام كبير ألي الحفاظ علي معالمه‬ ‫الثقافية و التعليمية عارضا بانتباه فائق مساهمة المعهد البيبلي في مجال‬ ‫البحوث األثرية في األماكن المقدسة كما و قام بتوسيع المجموعات عن‬ ‫طريق عمليات االستحواذ و التبرعات ‪ .‬ساهم األب بشريللو أيضا في‬ ‫‪.‬نشر المعرفة عن المتحف بواسطة االشتراك في معارض دولية و عالمية‬ ‫حاليا مسؤولية المتحف ملقاة علي عاتق األب أوجينيو ألياتا و األب بيترو‬ ‫كاسفالدر و األب نجيب إبراهيم أساتذة المعهد البيبلي الفرنسيسكاني و الذين‬ ‫يتابعون هدف المحافظة علي أصوله المسيحية وتعزيز مخلفات الماضي و‬ ‫إلهام الشباب و الكبار لتعميق معرفتهم بالتراث المشترك‪ .‬ويتم تحقيق ذلك‬ ‫خالل تحديث المرافق و إعادة الهيكلة كجزء من مشروع أكبر تتابع فيه‬ ‫مؤسسة حماية األراضي المقدسة‪ .‬و يهدف المتحف ألي جعل متاحة علي‬ ‫نطاق أوسع تراث المعرفة و األعمال الفنية المتراكمة عبر العصور و التحدي‬ ‫‪.‬المتمثل بالشهادة المسيحية والثروة الثقافية المجسدة في األماكن المقدسة‬

‫‪113‬‬

Carla BENELLI IL RUOLO DELLA CUSTODIA DI TERRA SANTA NELL’AVVIO E SVILUPPO DELL’ARTIGIANATO DELLA MADREPERLA A BETLEMME

Santa in piante e alzati, con tutti i dettagli e li pubblicò una volta tornato in Europa a Roma nel 1609 (incisioni del Tempesta) e in una seconda edizione a Firenze nel 1620 (incisioni del Callot).4 A padre Bernardino va il merito di aver messo a disposizione degli artigiani cristiani e musulmani di Betlemme i suoi disegni, in modo che potessero riprodurli fedelmente e in scala in legno di olivo, intarsiarli o rivestirli di madreperla e venderli ai pellegrini, un’opera di diffusione dell’amore verso la Terra Santa e della conoscenza dei suoi tesori anche verso chi non poteva affrontare il pellegrinaggio e che nello stesso tempo portava beneficio economico alla popolazione locale. “Pianta et alzata del santissimo Sepolchro in profilo acio ciascuno si serui de la Sua Scala e farlo di quella materia che piu li piace senza troppo trauaglio” si legge nel cartiglio che accompagna il disegno in pianta e in alzato dell’edicola dell’edizione fiorentina.5 I modellini dei santuari andarono ad arricchire il catalogo delle opere in madreperla realizzate delle botteghe artigiane di Betlemme, che già producevano croci, teche, reliquiari e rosari. Consapevole delle ricadute di crescita economica e culturale del settore artigianale e nello stesso tempo appassionato d’arte, dopo aver sostenuto la riscoperta del mosaico in Giordania e a Gerico, padre Michele si era dedicato alla rivalutazione della lavorazione della madreperla a Betlemme.

Padre Michele Piccirillo conosceva bene Betlemme. L’aveva vista per la prima volta nel 1960, quando vi era arrivato da giovane francescano. Qui aveva vissuto dal 1961 al 1965,1 scoprendone il fascino discreto e familiare delle case in pietra quadrate poste sul declivio e degli olivi secolari, prima che il paese fosse sconvolto dallo sviluppo edilizio indiscriminato e disordinato degli ultimi anni. “Ho conosciuto gli abitanti, studiato la storia e imparato ad amarla con gli occhi e le parole di San Girolamo, che visse gli ultimi quattro decenni della sua vita nei pressi della Grotta lavorando e meditando il mistero che quel luogo ricordava”, aveva scritto nel 2005.2 Ricordava spesso che da giovane amava andare da Gerusalemme a Betlemme a piedi, per una passeggiata salutare lungo i pochi chilometri che nei secoli avevano percorso i pellegrini, che dopo aver visitato il Santo Sepolcro e i santuari di Gerusalemme, si recavano alla Basilica della Natività attraversando campi e monasteri. Sapeva anche dell’uso che si era diffuso tra i pellegrini sin dalla seconda metà del IV secolo d.C. di portare a casa, come ricordo della visita in Terra Santa, un eulogia (benedizione, in greco), era divenuto a partire dal VI secolo la normalità e costituiva per le comunità cristiane locali un’importante fonte di lavoro e reddito. Il ricordo poteva essere un frammento di pietra dei santuari, un’ampolla in metallo o in terracotta dove conservare l’acqua del Giordano o l’olio delle lampade che ardevano sul Sepolcro di Cristo o sul Calvario, o, come scrive Gregorio di Tours (538-594 d.C.) nella Gloria dei Martiri, anche delle piccole tortulae, pizzette o piastre fatte con la polvere e la terra del Santo Sepolcro.3

Ripercorreva in questo sforzo il lavoro del suo maestro, padre Bellarmino Bagatti, anch’egli attento affinché i francescani, a fianco al loro impegno di custodia dei luoghi santi, continuassero l’opera di aiuto alla crescita e sviluppo dignitoso delle comunità che vivevano in Terra Santa. Per sottolineare questo legame e aspetto del suo lavoro, padre Michele aveva voluto che nel suo ultimo libro, La Nuova Gerusalemme. Artigianato palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi,6 fosse ripubblicato un articolo che padre Bagatti aveva scritto nel 1942, in occasione del centenario della Custodia francescana di Terra Santa.7

Questa consuetudine si era unita, a partire dalla seconda metà del XVI secolo, con l’attività letteraria, sostenuta dai padri francescani della Custodia di Terra Santa, di studiare e pubblicare descrizioni, guide e itinerari delle città e dei principali monumenti. Scopo delle pubblicazioni era far conoscere la Terra Santa in Occidente e oltre a stimolare l’erezione dei Sacri Monti in Europa, avevano dato origine alla produzione di modellini della Basilica del Santo Sepolcro (Fig. 280) e della Basilica della Natività di Betlemme (Fig. 281) in legno e madreperla. Tra il 1593 e il 1597, durante gli anni di servizio a Betlemme come guardiano del convento, padre Bernardino Amico di Gallipoli, architetto, rilevò esattamente i santuari di Terra

Il libro era dedicato agli artigiani palestinesi e ai Francescani che nei secoli avevano innalzato l’artigianato della madreperla ad opera d’arte. Per scriverlo ed illustrarlo, padre Michele aveva dedicato molti anni della sua vita nella ricerca meticolosa e paziente dei lavori in madreperla degli artigiani di Betlemme, con una particolare Amico 1609; 1620. Amico 1620: fig. 33. 6 Piccirillo 2007c. 7 Bagatti 1942. 4

Bottini 2008: 480. 2 Piccirillo 2005b: 201. 3 Piccirillo 2007c: 12-13.

5

1

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attenzione ai modellini dei luoghi santi, prima di tutto il Santo Sepolcro e la Chiesa della Natività, ricostruiti in legno rivestito di madreperla grazie ai disegni misurati di padre Bernardino Amico. Nella sua ricerca in tutti i musei del mondo e tra i collezionisti privati, non si era però limitato ai luoghi santi del Cristianesimo ma aveva anche chiesto ai suoi amici musulmani di cercare notizie sui modellini dei santuari musulmani e non aveva mancato di inserire nel libro la pianta e alzata della Qubbat esSakhrah di Gerusalemme (Cupola della Roccia) disegnata da padre Bernardino Amico e la foto del suo modellino custodito nel Museo Topkapi di Istanbul così come della copia del libro del Corano con copertina in madreperla.8

impiegano gli operai per fare ciò che la macchina fa in poche ore, mentre si capisce subito il perché dei prezzi alti, si capisce anche che i prodotti non possono rivaleggiare con quelli commerciali. Però introdurre macchine a Betlemme sarebbe lo stesso che far finir l’industria, perché in ogni modo mai si potrebbe vincere la concorrenza dell’Europa e invece andrebbero a sparire certi prodotti particolari, come i modelli, la riproduzione dei Santuari, che sono solo frutto di grande pazienza e tecnica di pochi artisti, i quali lavorano per passione dell’arte, senza badare al guadagno” (Fig. 282).13 Padre Michele ha cercato, negli ultimi anni della sua vita, di continuare l’opera dei suoi confratelli. Sapeva che la elevata capacità professionale degli artigiani di Betlemme, che già ai tempi di padre Bagatti dava segni di cedimento ma che era ancora fonte di reddito ed orgoglio per decine di artisti artigiani, si era gradualmente affievolita, per molteplici motivi, non ultimo le difficili condizioni politiche dell’area che avevano impedito il sostegno all’aggiornamento, alla commercializzazione al credito, fino a livellarsi nella banalità e omogeneità delle centinaia di pezzi prodotti in serie, a macchina, con materiali scadenti, per rispondere alla crescente domanda del turismo di massa condotto da guide senza scrupoli ad un consumo alienante, tanti pezzi a basso costo. Oggi è sufficiente osservarli con attenzione i turisti a Betlemme, e li si vede costretti lungo percorsi obbligati, alla caccia di rosari, crocette, e altri piccoli oggetti su cui trattare accanitamente il costo per non passare da fessi, e infine soccombere a prezzi esorbitanti per prodotti spesso di importazione, sempre di bassa qualità, perché le botteghe, anche quelle mascherate da “cooperative di cristiani”, devono pagare almeno il 35% alle guide e agli autisti complici. Un sistema mafioso, che porta benefici a pochi, ha corrotto gli artigiani di Betlemme e li ha ridotti ad elemosinare lungo il percorso degli autobus.

L’arte della madreperla a Betlemme aveva preso avvio, secondo la valutazione di padre Bagatti dei racconti di pellegrini occidentali, tra il 1588 e il 1598.9 E’ nell’itinerario di Giovanni von Kotovic o Cotovicius, recatosi a Betlemme nel 1598, che padre Bagatti ritiene di trovare citata per la prima volta l’industria dei presepi e dei sepolcri dove la parola “pietra” indica la madreperla. “Fanno croci di olivi che ornano con piccole pietre prese da loro dove si sono svolti i misteri del Salvatore. Riuniscono i noccioli del terebinto e degli olivi, con un certo numero dei quali i latini sogliono pregare, come pure fanno riproduzione (formas lapideas) del Santissimo Sepolcro e del Presepio del Signore su pietra e col ricavato di questo si comprano il sostentamento”.10 Furono le piante e alzate dei monumenti di padre Bernardino Amico però a dare l’impulso più importante, permettendo di realizzarne modelli. Da quel momento l’artigianato della madreperla iniziò la sua storia a Betlemme. I Francescani non smisero mai di sostenerla, soprattutto nei momenti di crisi e sovrapproduzione. Nel 1674 Cornelio Magni scrisse: "(I cristiani di Betlemme) s'impiegano di più a lavorare santuari, cioè corone, croci, modelli del Santo Sepolcro e molti sono arrivati a fabbricare quello dell'intera chiesa con grande maestria e nobiltà d'ornamento, di madreperla, avorio ed altre misture, tirandone molti profitti, vendendo queste opere, comprate anche a caro prezzo e trasmesse in cristianità"11 e il dottore protestante Hasselquist nel 1749-52: “I Betlemitani st’orzano i Religiosi ad acquistare i rosari, i Santi Sepolcri, le croci ecc., che essi fabbricano e coi quali vivono…. Religiosi di Gerusalemme li inviano, tutti gli anni, ai benefattori del loro Ordine, che, per la riconoscenza, spediscono loro dei presenti considerevoli. Non vi è pellegrino che, partendo, non ne acquisti cosicché, come si vede, questo commercio è per gli abitanti di Gerusalemme e di Betlemme, quello che è della moscata e della cannella per gli Olandesi”.12

Padre Michele lo sapeva, e ha voluto affrontare il problema in modo serio. Da molti anni affiancava la sua ricerca di studioso dei capolavori artigianali prodotti a Betlemme, con gli innumerevoli tentativi di trovare donatori che potessero sostenere il recupero del lavoro artigianale di qualità. Perseguiva con determinatezza un progetto, quello di allestire a Betlemme un laboratorio dove gli artigiani potessero lavorare in sicurezza e salute, sostituendo gli abituali spazi angusti e i macchinari rumorosi e nocivi, seguendo corsi di formazione e perfezionamento per tornare a realizzare prodotti di qualità. Nelle sue intenzioni il laboratorio doveva essere installato nel grande ambiente museale collocato a fianco della Chiesa della Natività, dove raccogliere e valorizzare i capolavori conservati nei secoli dalla Custodia di Terra Santa: un Museo della Madreperla che mettesse in luce l’arte degli antichi artigiani di Betlemme e stimolasse i nuovi, rafforzandone l’orgoglio e la passione. Aveva visitato in Italia le botteghe artigianali in Campania e in Sardegna, e qui infine aveva trovato un collaboratore d’eccellenza, un artista artigiano,

Padre Bagatti aveva già messo in guardia dal rischio che negli anni ’40 del secolo scorso gli artigiani stavano correndo: “Vedendo quante giornate di lavoro Piccirillo 2007c: 19, 20 e 29 della sezione in arabo. Bagatti 1942: 133-152. 10 Itinerarium 1619: 239. 11 Magni 1692 (seconda parte): 276. 12 Hasselquist 1769: 217. 8 9

13

116

Bagatti 1942: 140.

Il Ruolo Della Custodia di Terra Santa

esperto in formazione, Salvatore Giannottu. Con il suo impegno, grazie ad un piccolo contributo dell’UNDP, padre Michele era riuscito a riprendere la progettazione delle attività formative, che purtroppo non ha visto attuarsi perché il primo corso è partito il 3 novembre 2008, a pochi giorni dalla sua scomparsa. E’ stato commovente ricordarlo nella cerimonia di consegna dei diplomi, e soprattutto impegnativo per noi che abbiamo dovuto far fronte alla responsabilità di portare avanti l’attività senza il suo straordinario contributo benché forti del sostegno che la Custodia ci ha confermato. Recentemente, tra aprile e maggio 2010, si è tenuto a Betlemme un altro stage di 100 ore di formazione specialistica sostenuto dalla Regione Puglia (Fig. 283). Il Laboratorio ad oggi ha a disposizione macchinari che rispettano tutte le norme vigenti in Europa in ordine alla sicurezza sul lavoro; permettono infatti di operare in quasi totale assenza di rumore e soprattutto gli impianti di aspirazione impediscono che l’artigiano ispiri polveri che nella lavorazione della madreperla vengono prodotte in grandi quantità (Fig. 284). L’istituzione del museo è solo questione di tempo, e resta una delle priorità principali dell’impegno della Custodia di Terra Santa a Betlemme.

e l’arch. Osama Hamdan, a consegnare cento copie del libro al Ministro palestinese del Turismo e l’Antichità, Ms Khulud Daybes, un incontro commovente e caloroso. “Ci auguriamo che la pubblicazione di questi lavori che onorano l’artigianato palestinese dia nuovo impulso ad un’arte che crediamo appesantita dalla risposta al turismo di massa e dalla situazione politica di isolamento e di disagio che la popolazione di Betlemme sta vivendo da troppi anni alle porte purtroppo chiuse di Gerusalemme”15 scriveva nella sua introduzione al libro padre Michele Piccirillo, non perdendo l’occasione di ricordare e denunciare la triste situazione attuale dei palestinesi e della città di Betlemme, rinchiusa dal Muro di Separazione (Fig. 285). Summaries The Role of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land in the Starting-up and Development of the Mother-of-Pearl Handicraft in Bethlehem

L’idea portante del progetto di recupero dell’artigianato della madreperla di padre Michele Piccirillo è quella di concentrarsi sulla formazione di un piccolo nucleo di giovani, sostenere la loro crescita culturale oltre che professionale ed accompagnarli fino alla commercializzazione di prodotti unici, seguendo, con i necessari aggiustamenti, l’esperienza della formazione sul mosaico che padre Michele ha svolto con successo a Gerico, con la fondazione di una associazione locale di mosaicisti indipendente e sostenibile che opera in autonomia finanziaria da anni.

Fr Piccirillo knew Bethlehem since 1960, when he first saw it as young Franciscan. It was a familiar environment, with its square stone houses and age-old olive trees, before its recent messy and distressing development. He knew the people, and was aware that the habit of pilgrims since the beginning of Christianity of bringing back home memories of the Holy Land, such as metal or pottery ampullae filled with the water from the Jordan River or Holy Sepulchre oil was an opportunity of social and economic development for the local community. He followed his Franciscan brothers, and his master, Fr Bellarmino Bagatti, in studying the issue and in supporting the development of handicraft in mother-ofpearl in Bethlehem. It was Fr Bernardino d’Amico, who had drawn exactly and at full scale the main monuments of the Holy Land, who first gave its drawings and measurements to the Bethlehem craftsmen to help them create models of the Holy Sepulchre or the Nativity Church in mother-ofpearl inlaid on olive wood. To the mother-of pearl models collected all over the world, Father Piccirillo dedicated his last book La Nuova Gerusalemme. Artigianato palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi (The New Jerusalem. Palestinian handicraft at the service of the Holy Places).

Il suo ultimo libro dedicato ai modellini di madreperla traccia la strada da seguire e rappresenta una sorta di testamento che raccoglie il suo essere francescano al servizio delle persone a fianco al lavoro di studioso rigoroso. Lo aveva intitolato La Nuova Gerusalemme per ricordare come già Eusebio di Cesarea, nel IV secolo, al termine delle pagine dedicate nella Vita di Costantino alla costruzione degli edifici voluti dall’imperatore per onorare i luoghi del Calvario e della Tomba di Gesù, avesse compreso la straordinarietà dei luoghi e scritto: “Così presso lo stesso testimonio salvifico veniva edificata la Nuova Gerusalemme di fronte all’altra ben nota dell’antichità”.14 Il libro è stato pubblicato in italiano, ma contiene anche due articoli di padre Bagatti, quello già citato in apertura ed un secondo dedicato a padre Bernardino Amico, l’ispiratore e maestro degli artigiani di Betlemme. Padre Michele li aveva inclusi nel testo sia nella lingua originale di scrittura, l’italiano, che nella traduzione in arabo, perchè il libro era destinato anche ai Palestinesi, affinché fieri del proprio passato artistico ne facessero dono ai visitatori ufficiali, promuovendo in tal modo l’artigianato di oggi. Rispettando una delle ultime volontà di padre Michele, siamo andati, con padre Claudio Bottini 14

The book describes the Palestinian craftsmen and the Franciscan Fathers who, across the centuries, have turned the mother-of-pearl handicraft to art masterpieces. To write and illustrate the book, he spent the last years of his life in a patient research of the models throughout the museums and private collections of the world. He did not focus only on the models of Christian monuments, but was looking also for representations of Muslim monuments and Holy Kurans. According to Father Bagatti, the study of the Western pilgrims’ narratives showed that the mother-of-pearl

Vita Constantini, III, 33 (Winckelmann 1991 ed.).

15

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Piccirillo 2007c: XI.

Carla BENELLI

handicraft started in Bethlehem between 1588 and 1598, but the most important impetus was from Father Bernardino Amico. Since then, the Custody of the Holy Land has continued to support the mother-of-pearl handicraft. In recent years, Father Michele, who was aware that the handicraft was suffering from the political situation and had declined to the banality and homogeneity of mass production, was trying to support training and updating of the craftsmen. He was following the aim of establishing in Bethlehem a laboratory and a museum, where the masterpieces could be preserved and enhanced, and local young generation trained and encouraged. He started a new training experience. The Museum is still not ready, but the Custody of the Holy Land considers it as a priority and is pursuing its establishment.

collections privées du monde entier. Cependant, il ne se focalisa pas exclusivement sur les modèles de monuments chrétiens, mais cherchait également les représentations de monuments musulmans et de saints Corans. Selon le Père Bagatti, de l’étude des récits de pèlerins occidentaux il ressortait que l’artisanat de la nacre avait débuté à Bethléem entre 1588 et 1598, mais l’impulsion la plus importante lui fut donnée par le Père Bernardino Amico. Depuis, la Custodie de Terre Sainte a continué à soutenir l’artisanat de la nacre. Ces dernières années, conscient que l’artisanat souffrait de la situation politique et avait décliné en s’abaissant jusqu’à devenir une production de masse banale et homogène, le Père Michele prêta son appui à l’apprentissage et à une mise à niveau élevé des artisans. Son but était d’établir à Bethléem un laboratoire et un musée, où les chefs-d’oeuvre seraient conservés et mis en valeur, et une jeune génération locale serait formée et encouragée. Il lanca un nouveau projet d’apprentissage. Le Musée n’est pas encore prêt, mais la Custodie de Terre Sainte le considère comme une priorité et poursuit sa mise en oeuvre.

The main idea of the project was to “give new life to the Bethlehem handicraft, supporting the cultural and professional training of a small group of young people, following the positive experience of the mosaic revival in Jericho”. Le rôle de la Custodie franciscaine de Terre Sainte

L’idée principale du projet était de “donner une nouvelle vie à l’artisanat de Bethléem et de soutenir l’apprentissage culturel et professionnel d’un petit groupe de jeunes, en s’inspirant de l’expérience positive de la renaissance de la mosaïque à Jericho”.

dans la création et le développement de l’artisanat de la nacre à Bethléem Le Père Piccirillo connaissait Bethléem depuis 1960, quand, jeune franciscain, il la vit pour la première fois. Le paysage lui était familier, avec ses maisons carrées de pierres et ses oliviers millénaires, avant son développement urbain chaotique et affligeant. Il en connaissait la population et était conscient que la coutume des pèlerins depuis le début du christianisme de ramener chez eux des souvenirs de Terre Sainte, telles les ampoules de métal ou céramique remplies d’eau du Jourdain ou d’huile du SaintSépulcre, constituait une opportunité de développement social et économique pour la communauté locale. Il suivit l’exemple de ses frères franciscains, et de son maître, le Père Bellarmino Bagatti, en étudiant la question et en soutenant le développement de l’artisanat de la nacre à Bethléem.

‫دور فرنسيسكان رعاية األرض المقدسة في تطوير حرفية صناعة الصدف‬ ‫في بيت لحم‬ ‫ عندما شاهدها لألول مرة‬،1960 ‫عرف األب بشريللو بيت لحم من عام‬ ‫ لقد كانت بيئة مألوفة مع بيوتها الحجرية المربعة‬.‫كفرنسيسكاني شاب‬ ‫ قبل الفوضى التي سببها التطور و التنمية‬،‫و أشجار الزيتون القديمة‬ ‫ و عرف الناس و كان يدرك عن عادة الحجاج في‬.‫الباعثين علي األسى‬ ‫ مثل القوارير المعدنية أو‬،‫أخذ ذكريات من األراضي المقدسة ألي بيوتهم‬ ‫ هذه العادة‬،‫الخزفية المليئة بمياه نهر األردن أو الزيت من القبر المقدس‬ ‫كانت منتشرة منذ بداية المسيحية و شكلت منذ ذلك األون فرصة للتنمية‬ ‫ و تابع أخوته الفرنسيسكان‬.‫االجتماعية و االقتصادية للمجتمع المحلي‬ ‫و أستاذه األب بالرمينو بجاتي في دراسة الموضوع و دعم صناعة‬ .‫و تطوير الحرف اليدوية و بالتحديد صناعة الصدف في بيت لحم‬ ‫و كان األب برناردينو أميكو و الذي رسم بطريقة دقيقة أهم الصروح‬ ‫المعمارية في األراضي المقدسة هو الذي قدم تلك الرسوم و التقاسيم ألي‬ ‫حرفيين بيت لحم من أجل مساعدتهم في خلق نماذج من كنيسة القيامة و كنيسة‬ ‫ و ألي نماذج الصدف التي جمعها‬.‫المهد في خشب الزيتون مطعمة بالصدف‬ .‫ القدس الجديدة‬:‫في كافة أنحاء العالم قام األب بشيريللو بتكريس كتابه األخير‬ .‫الحرفية الفلسطينية في خدمة األماكن المقدسة و الصادر باللغة اإليطالية‬ ‫الكتاب يتحدث عن الحرفيين الفلسطينيين و األباء الفرنسيسكان في‬ ‫ لكتابة‬.‫القرون التي حولت حرفية الصدف ألي رائعة من روائع الفن‬ ‫و توضيح الكتاب أمضي األب بشريللو أخر سنوات حياته في البحث‬ ‫الصابر عن النماذج في جميع المتاحف و المجموعات الخاصة في‬ ‫ و لم يحتكر اهتمامه نماذج المباني المسيحية فقط‬.‫كافة أنحاء العالم‬ .‫بل بحث كذلك علي تمثيل المعالم اإلسالمية و نسخ القرآن الكريم‬

Dessinant exactement et à l’échelle 1:1 les monuments principaux de Terre Sainte, le Père Bernardino d’Amico fut le premier à donner ses dessins et mesures aux artisans de Bethléem pour les aider à créer des modèles du Saint-Sépulcre et de l’église de la Nativité en bois d’olivier incrusté de nacre. C’est aux collections de modèles de nacre à travers le monde que le Père Piccirillo consacra son dernier ouvrage, La Nuova Gerusalemme. Artigianato palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi (La nouvelle Jérusalem. L’artisanat palestinien au service des Lieux Saints). Ce livre décrit les artisans palestiniens et les pères franciscains qui, à travers les siècles, ont transformé un artisanat millénaire en art. Pour écrire et illustrer son livre, il passa les dernières années de sa vie à rechercher patiemment les modèles dans les musées et les

‫وفقا لألب بجاتي فقد أظهرت دراسته وفقا لسرد الحجاج الغربيين بأن حرفية‬ ‫ و أهمها كانت تلك المقدمة‬1598 ‫ و‬1588 ‫الصدف قد بدأت في بيت لحم بين‬ 118

‫‪Il Ruolo Della Custodia di Terra Santa‬‬

‫من قبل األب برناردينو أميكو‪ .‬و منذ ذلك الحين واصلت حراسة األراضي‬ ‫المقدسة دعم صناعة الحرف اليدوية و الصدف‪ .‬في السنوات األخيرة كان األب‬ ‫ميكيلي و الذي كان علي علم بمعانات الحرف اليدوية بسبب الوضع السياسي‬ ‫والتي تدنت ألي بساطة وتجانس اإلنتاج الصناعي الضخم؛ كان يحاول أن يدعم‬ ‫تدريب و تحديث الحرفيين‪ .‬كان هدفه التالي إنشاء مشغل و متحف في بيت لحم‬ ‫من أجل المحافظة علي روائع الفن و تعزيزها‪ ،‬و تدريب جيل الشباب الجديد‬ ‫و تشجيعه‪ .‬و قد بدأ تجربة تدريب جديدة‪ .‬أن المتحف الجديد ليس جاهزا بعد و‬ ‫لكن حراسة األراضي المقدسة تعتبره من األولويات و تسعى من أجل إنشاءه‪.‬‬ ‫و كانت الفكرة الرئيسية لهذا المشروع ‪ :‬إعطاء حياة جديدة ألي الحرف‬ ‫اليدوية في بيت لحم من أجل دعم التدريب الثقافي و المهني لفئة صغيرة‬ ‫من الشباب في أعقاب التجربة اإليجابية لألحياء الفسيفساء في أريحا‪.‬‬

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Giampietro RIGOSA

Fr MICHELE PICCIRILLO AND THE “MASSOLINI CALENDAR”

“Qui invenit illum (amicum) invenit thesaurum”

and friends – that Fr Michele kept alive so that all of the many projects that he pursued could progress quickly.

“Whoever finds one (a faithful friend), has found a treasure”

Some epistolary exchanges followed between G. Battista, B. Rodella and Fr Piccirillo, but without much effect, as the monk turned his new friends towards more concrete matters and plied them with practical questions such as: “Could you deliver this for me?”, “Could you go and talk to that person on my account?”, “Could you take pictures in that museum and send them to me as soon as possible?”, “I will be in Potenza on that date for the commemoration of Fr Corbo. We could meet there so that I may give you the material for typography. Could you give me a lift in your car so that we can take advantage of travel to progress on this work?”, and so on.

Ecclesiasticus 6,14 The aim of the present tribute is to describe the relationship between Father Michele Piccirillo, ofm, and Giovan Battista Massolini, in connection with the “Associazione Culturale G. N. Massolini” in Brescia and the historicalarchaeological calendar known under the name of “Massolini Calendar”.1 G. Battista and Fr Michele first met in Jerusalem in the second half of the 1980s. Attracted by the Near East and the Holy Land, the entrepreneur from Brescia when his work allowed him, studied and undertook taxing travels very different from mass tourism, in order to explore in depth this region. On one of these travels he stopped in Amman where Giovanni Benanati, at that time Cultural Attaché at the Italian Embassy and also a friend of Fr Michele, took advantage of the fact that G. Battista was heading to Jerusalem to entrust him with some volumes to deliver to the archaeological monk residing in the Flagellation Convent.

Meanwhile, impelled by the great urge that pushed him to share with others the richness of impressions arising in him from travel in these lands, G. Battista published in 1989 a Jordan Calendar that became a Christmas present for the customers of his firm (Fig. 286). Amongst those who received the calendar there was obviously Fr Michele. Incapable by nature or also by choice of concealing his impressions, the latter gave G. Battista to understand that there were better ways of spending money and that he could suggest to him some. Being a good friend, G. Battista lumped it, but the bond did not break and their collaboration continued on different fronts.

As a good collaborator of Fr Michele, Giovanni deduced that he could kill two birds with the same stone. In increasing order of importance, he could deliver to Fr Michele some volumes at no extra cost, he could fulfill G.  Battista’s request to be addressed to someone who may satisfy his curiosity on the history and archaeology of the Near East, and finally he could introduce to Fr Michele a prominent fan.

In 1991 after a trip to the Lebanon, G. Battista confessed to Fr Michele that a purely photographic calendar was perhaps not the best way of valorizing his travels in the way he wished and therefore asked him to prepare an explanatory commentary, in addition to the photographs already arranged by him for the 1992 Calendar. The monk accepted with generosity but without much enthusiasm. Thus was published thanks to the cooperation of the Italian Consulate General in the Lebanon, the 1992 Calendar dedicated to the Land of Cedars with an introduction by G. Benanati, captions by Fr Michele and photographs by G. Battista with the collaboration of Basilio.

At the Flagellation Convent, Michele the monk welcomed G. Battista and the photographer Basilio Rodella who accompanied him, in his room cluttered with books, pictures and documents, and to satisfy their curiosity explained briefly his archaeological, professorial and scientific activity. He was neither talkative nor particularly friendly, but practical and even a little rude, despite which the two visitors expressed to him their wish to help in any way possible. Thus, both joined that network of collaborators of various types – volunteers, sympathizers

The frank success of this initiative goaded G. Battista towards further progress on the path he had cut. A long and fruitful trip to Syria resulted, thanks to the collaboration of the Embassy of the Arabic Republic of Syria in Rome, in the 1993 Calendar edited by Claudia Massolini, with photographs by G. Battista and Basilio (Fig. 287). Fr Michele again wrote the captions and although

The list of Massolini Calendars to which contributed Fr Michele Piccirillo is included in the Bibliography of Bottini 2008. The original Italian version of the present contribution was delivered as a lecture at the conference held at the University of Molise, in Isernia, on 28th March 2009 and to prepare for the launch of the first International Mosaic Award held in Carinola on 5th July 2009. 1

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adhering to the general layout chosen by G. Battista, did not however let pass the opportunity to illustrate the noted remains of the Christian presence, such as Sydnaya, Aleppo, Rusafa, Qala‘at Sem‘ân, Kirbet Khatib and the Crusader fortifications of Krak des Chevaliers and Margat.

The premature death of G. Battista could not but signify a lull in the “Calendar” project. However, after a pause of barely a year, following the trail which he had burnt, the project started anew. Following a trip by Claudia and Basilio, the 1998 Calendar was dedicated to Egypt. Its layout was unusual and - not without meaning in a publication about this land – the remains of Ancient Egypt were not given much space in it. During meetings for organising the trip and in the ensuing formulation of the explanatory commentary, Fr Michele confirmed again the structure already given to the Calendar of Syria and to that of the Sinai Peninsula. Edited by Claudia and with photographs by Basilio, it stands out with fine pages dedicated to Coptic churches, to St Anthony - founder of the monastic movement -, to ancient hermitages as in Wadi an-Natrun (Wadi Habib), to St Paul of Thebes and to St Pachomius, besides Coptic art.

I do not think that I am overstretching my modest role within the present memorial enterprise, if I assert that Fr Michele sensed rightly, thanks to the 1993 Calendar, the potentials of G. Battista’s initiative within the context of his commitment to the dissemination of knowledge of the Holy places and the work of the Custody of the Holy Land towards their preservation. From this moment, his commitment became increasingly important, consistent and decisive. Perhaps it is for these reasons too that Fr Michele and Fr Eugenio Alliata joined the 1993 expedition to the Sinai Peninsula promoted by G. Battista with the participation of Basilio. The 1994 Calendar was published, edited by Claudia Massolini, with photographs by G. Battista and Basilio and their captions by Fr Michele and Fr Eugenio. It was clear in this calendar both from the choice of sites (not only Sinai and Saint Catherine's Monastery, but also Wadi Feiran and its Christian inscriptions) and the style of discussion, that by this time had emerged the “Hierosolymitan” perspective that would characterize all future Calendars.

The 1999 Calendar was one celebrating the ninth centenary of the Crusaders’ entry into Jerusalem and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (which lasted with changing fortunes in Palestine until 1291). This event which left such a strong mark on the second Christian millennium and the future relationship between the Christian and the Muslim worlds - Fr Michele suggested - was a good pretext for presenting the holy buildings through the devotion to the holy places of the Gospel as expressed by the Crusaders, for most of whom this was the only reason of their presence in the Holy Land. The Calendar was edited by Mario and Claudia, the pictures being by Basilio and Garo.

In 1994 G. Battista fell ill and the 1995 Calendar did not appear. The following year, for the first time, the Calendar did not result from travel but from an idea of Fr Michele, promptly and vivaciously supported by G. Battista. 1996 was in fact the centenary of the discovery of the “Madaba Mosaic Map” and Fr Michele considered that a calendar illustrating the places depicted on the Map could be a valid tool with which to celebrate the event. His reserves on the Calendar as a possible way of cultural communication had by then fallen, not least because it had also become, thanks to his contribution, more like a real journal than a calendar according to the current meaning of the word. This is demonstrated by the fact that Fr Michele requested and obtained a Foreword by His Highness Prince Al-Hassan bin Talal, at that time Regent of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The captions had become real texts and these were, just like the editing of the calendar, Fr Michele’s work. The photographs were by Basilio, G. Battista, Garo Nalbandian, Max Mandel and Antonio Bodini.

The next Calendar, for 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, was dedicated to Jesus’ Legacy in the Holy Land. Fr Michele seized this opportunity to present the most important sanctuaries which held the memory of the passage of Jesus, and the various communities which have perpetuated the love of the Christians for this Land. This Calendar too was edited by Mario and Claudia, and the pictures were as always by Garo and Basilio. Thus ended a cycle, one of Calendars through which Fr Michele gave tribute to the Holy Land as scholar and as Custody Franciscan, thanks to G. Battista and to the group of his relatives and friends gravitating around this project. 2001 was a year of reflection. Everyone wished to renew the initiative but definite ideas were needed as to the path to be followed. An adequate plan was required to maintain the publications’ high standards. Having gathered within the Massolini firm the spiritual heredity of G. Battista in his interest for the Near East and for the activities of Fr Michele, the monk came to me and explained to me his point of view. Moreover, owing to the wave of success in which the Calendars were surfing, he believed increasingly in this project and wished to know whether the conditions had been assembled in order to proceed long term. I could not give him an exhaustive answer, which was up to the family and all the company partners, but I took advantage

On 15th July 1996, G. Battista died prematurely, struck by an incurable disease. Fr Michele arrived from Jerusalem to preside over the religious ceremony and during the sermon he said that G. Battista had embodied the wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach 11: 20: “Stand by your agreement and attend to it, and grow old in your work”. The same sentence had been chosen by the family for the memorial photograph showing G. Battista hugging the stones in front of the el-Khasneh temple in Petra. From my point of view I have always thought that these words, which are representative of G. Battista, perfectly fit Fr Michele too. It was perhaps also for this reason that the pair had become friends.

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Fr Michele Piccirillo and the “Massolini Calendar”

of the situation to bring him to talk and he finally informed me of the aim which he had since the beginning.

of the Mediterranean with Jerusalem as point of departure and arrival.“ I had never heard Fr Michele talking so much. I appreciated him apart from the merits of the subject, notably for the willingness he showed in explaining a project that would require efforts and energy from others. I informed him about the idea that I, Basilio, Maria Frassine and others had discussed – to form a cultural association dedicated to G. Battista and providing for the realization of the Calendar, separating this activity from that of the company, and promoting benefits and awards in addition to exhibitions and initiatives regarding the Holy Land and the Near East. I told him that I intended to consult the abovementioned persons concerning his proposition.When I reported to him the positive result of our considerations he was satisfied with it, so much so that once the Association was formed, he accepted the position of President.

Hereafter follows the content of his long discourse baring his deep motivations which I can wholly report, as I wanted him to write it down as a worthwhile presentation of the “Massolini Calendar” activity on all the occasions that, starting from that moment, would follow: “Within the context of research and inspiration that united G. Battista, Basilio, Mario, Claudia and you, Jerusalem, common homeland of all nations should become for you too the heart and the centre of the Earth, as the Mediaeval pilgrims were oft to repeat: ‘The territory of Jerusalem, situated in the middle of the world, was since ancient times the common homeland of all nations, because people came from all parts of the world to venerate the Holy Places’, thus paraphrasing the psalmist who, centuries before, had sung Jerusalem as the Mother of the nations: ‘Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God. Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia – «This one was born there» they say’ (Psalm 87, 3-4).

With this renewed spirit we published in 2002 Ethiopia (‘Report’ by Fr Michele, Mario and Basilio, ‘Introduction’ by Guido La Tella, the Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia, and Halima Mohammed, Ethiopian Ambassador to Italy), which revealed the strong Semitic and Christian origins of Ethiopia; Sudan in 2003 (‘Report’ by Matteo Rodella and Fr Michele with the collaboration of the Combonian Fr Camillo Ballin), which uncovered the traces of the Kingdom of Kush in Southern Egypt, and of the Nubian Christian kingdoms that had timidly appeared in the first century of the Christian era and had enjoyed a long period of expansion between the VIIth and the XIIth centuries; Libya in 2004 with photographs by Fr Michele and Aldo Maggiori; Turkey in 2005 (‘Report’ by Fr Michele and Basilio, ‘Introduction’ by Fr Marco Adinolfi) in which we attempted to delineate the historical role of this land which has always been the connecting link between the Orient and Europe; during the 2006 war, Iraq (with photographs by Max Mandel), “The land between the two rivers”, the cradle of writing, of civilization and of the Abrahamic religions (Fig. 288); Yemen in 2007 (‘Report’by Matteo and Fr Michele, with the collaboration of Renzo Ravagnan), which plunged into the southern part of the Arabian peninsula wedged between the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean and Persia.

Saint Jerome, who had left Rome in the IVth century to settle in Bethlehem near Jesus’ cradle, described the cosmopolitan population of Jerusalem at his time as follows: ‘We have found here the most eminent personalities of the world. The Breton2, as soon as he had donned the (Christian) religion, turned his back on his Western Sun and came to visit the places of which he knew only from the fame of the Scriptures. And what shall we say of Armenia, Persia, India, Ethiopia, Pontus and Cappadocia, of the lands fertile for monasticism such as Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, of the swarm of solitary hermits arriving from the Orient and who make a colourful exhibition of all virtues? Languages are different, but the piety is the same. Of the many nations that are in the world, we can find nearly as many choirs psalmodizing in Jerusalem’. At about the same time, a Spanish pilgrim, Egeria, from Galicia, went to Jerusalem driven by the desire to see the places about which she had read in the Old and New Testaments. After having prayed in the sanctuaries of Palestine, starting from the Holy City which had become the starting point for even further expeditions, she left to visit Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, Arabia and Mesopotamia, before heading back home. Still today in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and also in the other sanctuaries of the Holy Land, Greeks, Armenians, Latins, Syrians, Copts, Ethiopians, Russians, Rumanians, and Georgians witness to the devotion of the Christian world for the land that they unconsciously consider as the most precious heirloom of the passage of Jesus. In this love they are united with the Jews and the Muslims who preserve in Jerusalem precious proofs of their historical heritage”.

For the 2008 Calendar, as proposed by Fr Michele, we chose, as had already happened in the past (Centenary of the Madaba Mosaic Map - 1996, Holy Land of the Crusaders - 1999, Jesus’ Legacy in the Holy Land - 2000), a thematic calendar illustrating the wonderful mosaics restored in the course of thirty years of activity by the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, entitled Tesserae of Peace (with the photographic documentation being provided by the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Archive, Garo Nalbandian, Max Mandel, and BAMSphoto). I believe that Fr Michele cared particularly about this calendar because a lot of himself and of his studies, but also of his organizational, manual and “sympathetic” qualities, was tied with the mosaics shown in it (Fig. 289).

“So”, he told me finally, “the Holy Land will be for us too the fixed point giving sense to our apparent wanderings; we will then visit the lands of the Near East, of Africa and 2

To conclude this brief contribution I would like to recall how the Calendar dedicated to Malta (2009) came into

“Breton” implies here an “adherent of Celtic paganism”.

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Giampietro RIGOSA

‫األب ميشيل بتشرللو و تقويم ماسوليني‬

being. At the beginning of September 2008, a short time after his operation, I visited him in hospital in Pisa. I showed him the proofs, and he, with hardly any voice, indicated to me to take from the cupboard and to bring to him his black bag. He put the proofs into it and took out a small envelope containing the negative of “The Beheading of the Baptist” that was to appear in the calendar. I wondered how he could have thought about that in the ordeal of his (by that time) painful condition and I wondered how I could carry out this job with Fr Michele in this state. After some days I received by electronic post the important and unexpected help of Fr John Abela, which had been providentially activated in this sense by Fr Michele. This Calendar, too, could thus be published.

‫ وفقا لرغبة جوفان‬1989 ‫تم إصدار تقويم ماسوليني لألول مرة في عام‬ ‫بابتيستا ماسوليني للتبادل مع أصدقائه و مساعديه النتائج الغنية لرحالته‬ ‫ و بسبب الصداقة التي نشأت بين جوفان بابتيستا‬.‫العديدة في الشرق األوسط‬ ‫ مبتكرا و خاصا‬،‫و األب ميكيلي بتشرللو تطور التقويم آخذا مظهرا جديدا‬ ‫و أصبح مقدرا كوسيلة فعالة و ناجحة في التبادل الثقافي عن مواضيع‬ ‫ محيط المتوسط و شمال‬،‫ آثار و ديانات منطقة الشرق األوسط‬،‫تاريخ‬ )1996 +( ‫ و في متابعة الوراثة الروحية لجوفان بابتيستا‬.‫شرق أفريقية‬ ‫) يتم إصدار تقويم ماسوليني كل عام‬2008 +( ‫و األب بتشرللو‬. .

Upon the death of Fr Michele on 26th October 2008, there remained some secret dreams of Fr Michele regarding the future calendars: Iran, Armenia, and Cyprus. With God’s help, and thanks to Fr Carmelo Pappalardo, successor of Fr Michele in many of his projects, the Armenia Massolini Calendar 2010 has seen the light this very year. Summaries Le Père Michele Piccirillo et le Calendrier Massolini Publié pour la première fois en 1989, le Calendrier Massolini était lié au désir de Giovan Battista Massolini de partager avec ses amis et collaborateurs la richesse des impressions ramenées de ses expériences de voyages au MoyenOrient. Grâce à l’amitié qui se développa peu après entre G. Battista et le Père Michele Piccirillo, ofm, le Calendrier prit peu à peu un aspect original et efficace, devenant un outil apprécié et sophistiqué de communication culturelle avec une thématique historique, religieuse et archéologique propre aux pays du Moyen-Orient, de la Méditerranée et de l’Afrique du Nord. Poursuivant l’héritage spirituel de G. Battista (†1996) et du Père Michele († 2008), le Calendrier Massolini continue d’être publié chaque année. Fr Michele Piccirillo e il Calendario Massolini Il Calendario Massolini nacque nel 1989 per il desiderio di Giovan Battista Massolini di condividere con amici e collaboratori la ricchezza di spunti che egli portava a casa dai suoi viaggi nel Vicino Oriente. Grazie all’amicizia che nascerà di li a poco tra G.Battista e p. Michele Piccirillo, ofm, il Calendario andrà assumendo col tempo una originale ed efficace fisionomia divenendo un apprezzato e ricercato strumento di divulgazione culturale sulle tematiche storico-religiose e archeologiche dei paesi del Vicino Oriente, del Mediterraneo e dell’Africa nord-orientale. Sulla scorta dell’eredità spirituale di G. Battista († 1996) e di p. Michele († 2008), il Calendario Massolini continua ad essere pubblicato ogni anno. 124

Fr Pierbattista PIZZABALLA, ofm Custos of The Holyland EPILOGUE

It is my pleasure to bring this gathering In Memoriam of our dear Father Michele Piccirillo to a close. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks, together with that of the Custody of the Holy Land, to Dr Sune Fahlgren and the staff of the Swedish Christian Study Centre. I wish to add two short comments about Father Michele, to those which we have heard up till now. Father Michele, by his life and works, has become a worthy member of the tradition of the best Franciscans that the Custody of the Holy Land has had during the last seven centuries of its presence in the Middle East. He was well-aware and proud of his belonging to an Institution rich in history and full of responsibility. Father Michele had a vast knowledge of dates and names, books and monuments of the history of Franciscanism in the Holy Land and he greatly contributed to making these known in many and diverse circles. Providence reserved for him the grace of being able to contribute to the rejuvenation and the enrichment of the Franciscan cultural tradition with his many excavations and publications. I believe I can say that he did this by concretely showing the multinational dimension of the Custody of the Holy Land. Piccirillo, thanks to his untiring dynamism and to his identity of being a Franciscan of the Holy Land, was able to work for and to promote initiatives in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, regions where the Custody of the Holy Land is present. Secondly I would like to say a few words about his diligence, his industriousness and the capacity he had to work with his own hands. Most probably, very few besides of course the Franciscans, are aware that St Francis dedicated a chapter of the Rule of Life of the Friars Minor to manual work. In Chapter Five we read: “Those friars who have been given the grace by the Lord to work, should work with faithfulness and devotion”. Father Piccirillo had this “grace” and he made it bear fruit in every sense. He had robust arms and strong hands that were used to handling not only paper and books, but also tools, stones and walls. His love of culture and his dedication to manual work never extinguished in him his religious sense, that drew him continually to participate in the liturgical celebrations and to visit the sanctuaries as a pilgrim and believer. Father Michele Piccirillo continues to be remembered with admiration for his excavations and for his writings. We too, the Franciscans of the Holy Land, will also remember him for this, but especially because he was a good son of St Francis and a hard-working companion on pilgrimage in the earthly Jerusalem, the image of the heavenly Jerusalem.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF ILUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1

Fr Michele Picirillo, ofm (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 2

Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm, Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) and Dr Sune Fahlgren, Director

of the Swedish Christian Study Centre (SCSC), Jerusalem (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu) Fig. 3

Dr George Hintlian, Director of the Christian Heritage in the Holy Land Institute of the Armenian Orthodox

Patriarchate, Jerusalem (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu) Fig. 4

Prof. Claudine Dauphin, CNRS (France) and Departments of Archaeology and Theology, University of Wales,

Lampeter, UK (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu) Fig. 5

Members of the audience: from l. to r. Prof. Emile Puech, CNRS (France) and Ecole biblique et archéologique

française de Jérusalem (EBAF), Fr Alviero Niccacci, ofm (SBF), Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm (SBF) and Fr Frans Bouwen, PB (Sainte-Anne, White Fathers, Jerusalem) (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu) Fig. 6

Prof. Basema Hamarneh, Department of Archaeology, University of Enna, Italy



(Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 7

Fr Pierrbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land (Photo Fr R. Pierri, ofm)

Fig. 8

From l. to r. Fr Rosario Pierri, ofm (SBF), Mme Reine Dauphin-Jauffret, Prof. Claudine Dauphin, Prof. Emile

Puech, Fr Frans Bouwen, PB, Fr Frédéric Manns, ofm (SBF), Sr Sinead Martin (SBF), Sr Liobke Radke.

On l., Photographer Garo Nalbandian is filming (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 9

From l. to r. mosaic restorer Franco Sciorilli, architect Osama Hamdan, Fr Carmelo Pappalardo, ofm (SBF),



art historian Carla Benelli (Custodia de Terra Santa, Jerusalem), Prof. Basema Hamarneh



(© Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 10 Prof. Basema Hamarneh and Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu) Fig. 11 Prof. Claudine Dauphin and Friars Minors of the Custody of the Holy Land. From l. to r. Massimo Carlino,

Massimo Pazzini, Giovanni Loche, Stefano Cavalli, and Najib Ibrahim (Photo Fr Rosario Pierri, ofm)

Fig. 12 “The New Jerusalem”: stained glass window of the Judson Memorial, 1903, by Louis Comfort Tiffany,

The Everson Museum of Arts, Syracuse, USA

Fig. 13 Model of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in olive wood and mother-of-pearl bought in Jerusalem in 1609 by the pilgrim Carel Quina, Bayerischen Nationalmuseum, Monaco, Germany Fig. 14 Fr Michele Piccirillo pointing the “Promised Land” from Mount Nebo to Pope John-Paul II on 20thMarch 2000 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem) Fig. 15 Plan of the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 16 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale (526-547), apse: mosaic of the Redeemer (Photo C. Dauphin)

141

Fig. 17 Madaba, Lower Baptistery of the Cathedral: beasts flanking a Tree of Life, early VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 18 St Francis standing in ecstasy (1663). Polychromed wood by Pedro di Mena (1628-1688) in Toledo Cathedral (Photo José Luis Municio) Fig. 19 Fr Michele Piccirillo transporting a wounded Palestinian after the destruction of the Allenby Bridge by the

Israeli Occupation Forces, June 1967 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 20 Umm al-Rasas, vignette depicting the stylite’s tower at Kastron Mefa’a (Kastron Mephaath of Joshua 13, 18 and 21, 37), in the South intercolumniation of the Church of St Stephen, ad 785 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 21 Madaba, Church of St George, the Madaba Mosaic Map, ad 560-565 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 22 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, apse of the Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 23 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale (526-547), apse window (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 24 Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo. Baptistery-Diakonikon paved in August 530

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 25 Fr Michele Piccirillo uncovering a mosaic pavement (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 26

Fr Michele Piccirillo recording by photography (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 27 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, central apse. The Greek inscriptions commemorate the mosaicists

Staurakios, son of Zada from Hesban, and Euremios, ad 756 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 28

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: cutting in action



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 29

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 30 Armenian pottery plate, Jerusalem, depicting the mid-VIth century “inhabited vine scroll” of a funerary chapel in the Musrara quarter northwest of the Damascus Gate (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 31 Al-Hammâm Baisan: partridges in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Photo C. Dauphin)



Fig. 32 Al-Hammâm Baisan: treading grapes, in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 33 Al-Mînâ (Gaza): lioness and cub, flamingo and giraffe in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the southernmost aisle of a synagogue, July-August 509 (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 34 Al-Hammâm Baisan: “inhabited vine scroll” pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Drawing C. Dauphin) Fig. 35

Rhythmic pattern of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel at al-Hammâm Baisan, ca ad 530. Big arrows



indicate the direction in which the “inhabitants” move, small arrows the direction in which they look



(Drawing C. Dauphin)

Fig. 36 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century: vintager leading donkey (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) 142

Fig. 37

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century: vintager carrying a



basket of grapes (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 38 Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles: child in the border of the nave mosaic carpet, ad 578-579

(Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 39

Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles: child riding a cart pulled by birds in the border of the nave mosaic

carpet, ad 578-579 (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 40

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses Basilica. Mosaic surrounding the baptismal font of the



Old Baptistery-Diakonikon, August 530 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 41 Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses Basilica. Detail of grapes at the heart of an interlace on the mosaic around the baptismal font of the Old Baptistery-Diakonikon, August 530 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 42 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, 1973: a Beduin woman offers the flowers of the Holy Land to the young Michele

Piccirillo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig.43

Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium

Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 44

Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, phoenix in the central row of the “inhabited



vine scroll”, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 45 Antioch, House of the Phoenix, mid-VIth century (Photo Musée du Louvre, Paris) Fig. 46

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century (Photo Studium

Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 47 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, ad 536: reaper (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 48 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 49

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Upper pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, mid-VIth century



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 50

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, nave first half of the VIth century



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 51

‘Ayun Mousa, Lower pavement of the Church of Kaianus, late Vth-early VIth century: vintager



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 52

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century: vintager

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 53

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century: vintager

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 54

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, nave, mid-VIth century: pressing grapes



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 55 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church the Deacon Thomas, nave, first half of the VIth century: fruit-picking and

hunting (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 56

Palace of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham, ad 724-738/ah 105-120 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 57

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, North intercolumniation, mid-VIth century 143



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 58

Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, border of nave-carpet, ad 718-756: Alexandria, water fowl and putto

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 59

Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles, nave, ad 578-579: Thalassa-Sea (Photo Studium Biblicum

Franciscanum) Fig. 60

‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, nave, acanthus border of central carpet: the Seasons. First half

of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 61

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, western panel of nave, mid-VIth century



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 62

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, apse of the Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 63 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, South intercolumniation, ad 718-756: Madaba

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 64 Church of Khirbat Bureikût, parrot with Sassanian royal ribbon (pativ) round neck, mid-VIth century

(Photo Z. Radovan)

Fig. 65 “Blessing wheat in Artois” by Jules Breton, 1857, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Arras Fig. 66 “Pardon at Kergoat, Brittany” by Jules Breton, 1891, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper Fig. 67

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: Temple of Jerusalem flanked

by gazelles (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 68

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: gazelle



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 69

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIth century: altar of the Temple of



Jerusalem (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 70

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century: deer drinking the Water of Life



(Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 71 Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius, sanctuary, ad 587: lamb and trees

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 72 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 718-756: donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 73 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, ad 718-756: tree (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 74 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of Northern aisle, ad 718-756: portraits and names of

donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 75 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 785: donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 76 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 785: donors disfigured during iconoclastic

crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 77 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) 144

Fig. 78 Madaba, Crypt of St Aelianus, ad 597 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 79 Damascus, Mosque of the Umayyads, ad 597 (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 80 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, restoration of mosaic ad 762 : the Rivers of

Paradise at each corner of dedicatory inscription (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 81 Madaba, Church of the Sunnâ’ Family, VIth century: River of Paradise (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 82 Madaba, Chapel of the Martyr Theodore, ad 562: Euphrates River (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 83 Mukhaytim/Jabaliyah-Gaza Church, early VIIIth century: River Gihon on mosaic pavement around baptismal font (Photo Department of Antiquities of the Palestinian Authority and Ecole biblique et archéologique

française de Jérusalem)

Fig. 84 Madaba. Private house, VIth century, now in the Archaeological Museum: Paradise Fig. 85 Madaba, Church of the Priest John, nave, Lower Pavement, late Vth – early VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 86 Madaba, Upper pavement of Baptistery, ad 575-576 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 87 Nitl, St Sergius complex, nave of South Church, Greek inscription mentioning Ghassanid Phylarch Taa’laba, VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 88 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, South Sacristy, ad 536: Christo-Palestinian inscription

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 89 Church of Suâfiya, Amman, VIth century (Drawing C. Dauphin) Fig. 90 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, martyrium-chapel at eastern end of Northern aisle, ad 718-756

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 91 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 92 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, South intercolumniation, mid-VIth century:

sniffing lotuses (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 93 Antioch Chalice, gilded silver, H. 0,19 m, diam. at opening 0,18 m. Syria (?), Vh-VIth century.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, New York (Photo Taylor and Dull, New York).

Fig. 94 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, South Sacristy, Northern aisle, ad 536: chalice from which

issues Tree of Life, vine scroll and peacocks (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 95 ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, Sanctuary, first half of the VIth century: ram under altar

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 96 “Agnus Dei “ by F. de Zurbaràn, ca 1635-1640 (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid) Fig. 97 Madaba, plan of the ‘Atwâl Chapel, VIth century (Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 98 Madaba, ‘Atwâl Chapel, VIth century: lamb grazing on a flower (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 99 Mediaeval Crusader Church of Sainte-Marie-la-Grande, Jerusalem: haloed lamb/Christ Resurrected holding a cross (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 100 Processional cross of Emperor Justin II, ad 565-578. Gilded silver; H. 0,40 m; L. of arm 0,31 m.

Constantinople, now in the Vatican (Treasure of St Peter). In the centre, the lamb of God (Photo De Antonis).

Fig. 101 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale, apse vault, ad 526-547 (Photo C. Dauphin) 145

Fig. 102 Panel of a triptych painted in oil on wood in Tours, 1500-1502 or Paris, 1515. Now in the Church of

the Assumption in Censeau, France

Fig. 103 Oil-painting by Jan Breughel the Younger, 1601-1678. (Courtesy of Art Media/HIP/Topfoto/Eaglecrown) Fig. 104 Madaba, Church of St George, Madaba Mosaic Map, ad 560-565: Jerusalem

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 105 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of Northern intercolumniation,

ad

Fig. 106

718-756:the Holy City (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

St Francis and his companion, Fr Illuminatus, before Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil of Egypt in Damietta, 1219.

Bonaventura of Bagnoregio, Legenda Maior of St Francis, Rome, Museo Francescano, Istituto storico dei

PP. Capuccini, ms. 1266.

Fig.107

‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, South aisle, first half of the VIth century: eagle



(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 108 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale, ad 526-547: apse wall (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 109 Umm al-Rasas, Plan of St Stephen complex, VIth-VIIIth centuries (Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 110 Umm al-Rasas, St Stephen Church, ad 718-756: nave and side-aisles

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 111 Umm al-Rasas, St Stephen Church, ad 718-756: detail of carpet of central nave

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 112 Madaba, Church of the Virgin, ad 767, central carpet (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 113

Madaba, Plan of Church of the Virgin, ad 767 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 114

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century, dome (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 115

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century, Good Shepherd barrel-vault: star-studded

sky (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 116 Al-Quds-Jerusalem, Masjid Qubbat as-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), erected by Umayyad Caliph

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in ad 689-691/ah 67-69 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 117

Persian XVIth-century miniature celebrating the Mi’râj (“Ascension”) of the Prophet Muhammad



(Photo http://fr.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira‘j).

Fig. 118

Ravenna, Church of S. Apollinare in Classe, VIth century, apse (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 119 Taiyyibet al-Imam (Hama), nave of church, September 447 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 120 Michele in his study in Jerusalem, 6th April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia). Fig. 121 Fr Bagatti and some of the participants in the restoration campaign at Khirbet al-Mukhayyat, August 1973

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 122 The pavement of the Diakonikon-Baptistery Mount Nebo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 123 Aerial view of Mount Nebo (Kennedy, Bewley 2004) Fig. 124 Plan of Madaba indicating the main churches (GIS M. Ben Jeddou) Fig. 125 Michele Piccirillo and Eugenio Alliata photographing the pavement of the Hippolytus Hall in Madaba, 1982 (Courtesy BAMSphoto) Fig. 126 The Theotokos (Virgin) Church and the Hippolytus Hall in Madaba (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) 146

Fig. 127 Aerial view of Umm al-Rasas (Kennedy, Bewley 2004) Fig. 128 Presbyterium of the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 129 Vignette of Kastron Mefaa, Church of St Stephen, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 130 Vignette of Kastron Mefaa in the Lions’ Church, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 131 The Stylite tower monastic complex, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 132 Inscription from the Theotokos Church at ‘Ayn al-Kanisah (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 133 Michele at work, Jerusalem April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 134 Participants in the 1997 excavation and restoration campaign on Mount Nebo, Jordan

(Photo Max Mandel, Milano)

Fig. 135 Participants in the 1998 excavation and restoration campaign on Mount Nebo, Jordan

(Photo Max Mandel, Milano)

Fig. 136 Michele with Giovan Battista Massolini with a Beduin family of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan, 1986

(Courtey BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 137 The Theotokos (Virgin) Church complex in Madaba during the construction work of the Archaeological Park 1994 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 138 Michele with a group of archaeologists in ‘Ayn Qattara, August 1997 (Photo Max Mandel, Milano) Fig. 139 The nave of the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh) Fig. 140 The mosaic inscription of Taa’laba the Phylarch in the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh) Fig. 141 The mosaic inscription of Aretas son of al-Aretas in the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh) Fig. 142 Fr Eugenio Alliata, Giovan Battista Massolini and Michele in Sinai 1992 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 143 Michele with the Combonian Fr Camillo Ballin in Sudan in 2002 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 144 Michele in Sudan 2002 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 145 Michele at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 146 Michele at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia) Fig. 147 Michele with Claudia Massolini collecting fossils in Wadi Mousa near Mount Nebo in 1986

(Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 148 Mount Nebo seen from ‘Ayoun Mousa in 1898 or 1914. Negative, glass, dry plate

(Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 149 View from Mount Nebo towards the Dead Sea (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 150 Mount Nebo in 1898 or 1914. General view of the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses before excavations.

Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 151 Mount Nebo in July 1933. Main nave of the Basilica. Negative, glass, dry plate

(Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 152 Mount Nebo in 1933. Fr Jerome Mihaic, ofm (?) with two local workmen in the Theotokos Chapel. Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic

Collection) 147

Fig. 153 Apse of the Basilica seen from the east in March 2008, before the dismantling of the old roof

(Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 154 The hills of Moab: view from Mount Nebo towards the north-east. In the foreground, remains of the Byzantine monastery, March 2008 (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 155 The harsh landscape of stratified limestone around Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, the Town of Nebo

(Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 156 After the lifting of the old roof of the Basilica, the “forest” of scaffold tubes

(Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 157 Central panel of the mosaic pavement of the narthex (VIIth century) of the Basilica after restoration

(Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 158 Mosaic restorer Franco Sciorilli and an assistant at work on the intermediate mosaic of the Southern

Baptistery Chapel, third decade of the VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute,



Mount Nebo)

Fig.159 Preparing for restoration the western panel of the upper mosaic of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or

late VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 160 Restoring the geometric border of the central panel of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late

VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 162 Tridimensional rosette between the central and the eastern panels of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late VIth century, after restoration (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo) Fig. 163 Integrating modern stones into an ancient wall (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo) Fig. 164 Western façade of the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses. The scaffolding for the erection of the new roof

is separate from the ancient walls (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 165 Assembling the steel structure (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo) Fig. 166 The steel structure on the Western façade of the Basilica (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute,

Mount Nebo)

Fig. 167 Covering the cella trichora with a structure of laminated wood (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo) Fig. 168 View of the eastern end of the Basilica: steel structure, roofing over South aisle, and wood structure over the cella trichora (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)



Fig. 169 The laminated wood structure over the cella trichora viewed from the west (Photo Franciscan

Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 170 The wooden structure over the cella trichora seen from below (Photo Giancarlo Micalizzi) Fig. 171 Disclosing the restored Mosaic of the Cross (IVth-Vth century) in the vestibule west of the cella trichora

(Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 172 Cleaning one of the intercolumnar panels of the Basilica, first half of VIth century (Photo Franciscan

Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 173 Fr Michele Piccirillo on Mount Nebo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

148

Fig. 174 Umm al-Rasas: aerial view of the square castrum and, outside its walls, the town with some fifteen churches. Upper left corner: St Stephen’s Church Complex (Photo Kennedy, Bewley 2004) Fig. 175 View to North-East of the roofed central part of the St Stephen’s Church Complex (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 176 Plan of the St Stephen’s Church Complex, including the Church of Bishop Sergius

(Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem)

Fig. 177 Plan of the St Stephen’s Church Complex against the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the area

immediately surrounding it (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 178 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex at Umm al-Rasas against the Digital Elevation

Model (DEM) (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 179 Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi) Fig. 180 Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex with mosaic pavement

covering the floor of St Stephen’s Church (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 181 Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex with mosaic pavements

covering the floors of St Stephen’s Church (ad 785) and the Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587), as well



as paving stones in the connecting courtyard (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 182 The Madaba Archaeological Park (Photo C. Dauphin) Fig. 183 The Madaba Mosaic School now The Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration occupying a heritage building

(Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 184 Queen Noor al-Husain inaugurating the official opening in 1992 of the Madaba Archaeological Park and the Madaba Mosaic School, and listening to Fr M. Piccirillo’s explanations (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art

Restoration)

Fig. 185 Queen Noor patronized the school and constantly visited it (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration) Fig. 186 Consolidating by injection the VIth century ad depiction in mosaic of three cities (Rome, Gregoria and

Madaba) in the Hippolytus Hall, Madaba (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 187 Condition analysis of the central mosaic panel in the North aisle of the Church of St George at Khirbat al-

Mukhayyat, ad 536. (Drawing © O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 188 Consolidation by injection in the North aisle of the mid-VIth century Church of SS Lot and Procopius in

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 189 Conserving the mosaics of the North aisle of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius in Khirbat al-Mukhayyat

(© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 190 Manual mechanical cleaning of the funerary inscription of Tryphon (ad 592) in the Church of St Andrew

(Mar Zaqqa), Jericho (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig.191 Fr Piccirillo’s opening speech at the first graduation of the Madaba Mosaic School reflects his pride and

concern for the future of the graduates and the mosaics of Jordan (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 192 The graduation of the Fifth Season of the Bilad al-Sham training course (back row, 3rd and 4th from l., mosaic restorer and instructor Franco Sciorilli and architect Osama Hamdan; 1st and 5th from r., Catreena Hamarneh, and Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration Fig. 193 Kypros, Jericho: the condition of the mosaics located in Area C (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) 149

Fig. 194 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: the Mosque (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 195 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: detail of the mosaic floor of the Bath Hall (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 196 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: detail of the Tree of Life mosaic (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 197 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: the mosaic of the Sirdab after conservation (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 198 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: Father Piccirillo visits the project (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 199 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: during the conservation of the mosaic floor in the Bath Hall

(© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 200 Madaba, Jordan: during the “Bilad al-Sham training course” (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 201 Mount Nebo, Jordan: training in documentation (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 202 Mosaic workshops for Palestinian children (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 203 Jericho: during the conservation of the mosaic floor of the Church of Saint Andrew

(© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig.204 Copy of the mosaics of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli) Fig. 205 Carte de la Jordanie indiquant les lieux de découverte d’inscriptions christo-palestiniennes

(SIG M. Ben Jeddou)

Fig. 206 Pierre de Jérash (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 207 Jarre de Jérash (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 208 Mosaïque d’el-Quweismeh (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 209 Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa photographiée in situ lors de sa découverte (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jérusalem) Fig. 210 Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 211 Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa restaurée et exposée dans le Musée du Mémorial de Moïse au Mont Nébo

(Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 212 Mosaïque d’al-Mukhayyat (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 213 Mosaïque de Kh. El-Kursi (Dessins E. Puech) Fig. 214 Mosaïque de Hayyan al-Mushrif (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 215 Mosaïques de Rihab (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 216 Pierre de l’hôpital de Shuneh (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 217 Mosaïque de Dayr al-Sa’nah (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 218 Mosaïque de Sama ar-Rusan al-Burz (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 219 Mosaïque de Qam (Dessin E. Puech) Fig.220 Mosaïque de Ouadi Rajib-Ajloun (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 221 Stèles 1-7 de Samra Fig. 222 Stèles 8-14 de Samra Fig. 223 Stèles 15-25 de Samra Fig. 224 Stèles 26-39 de Samra Fig. 225 Estampage du haut de la Stèle 27 de Samra (Photo E. Puech) Fig. 226 Stèles 40-56 de Samra 150

Fig. 227 Stèles 57-72 de Samra Fig. 228 Stèles 73-88 de Samra Fig. 229 Estampage de la Stèle 88 de Samra (Photo E. Puech) Fig. 230 Tesson de jarre d’Umm er-Rasas–Medfa’a (Dessin E. Puech) Fig. 231 a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 1 en grec (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff) Fig. 232 a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 3 en grec

(Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

Fig. 233 a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 2 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff) Fig. 234 a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 4 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff) Fig. 235 Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Détail de l’Inscription 4 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff) Fig. 236 Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Détail de l’Inscription 1 (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff) Fig. 237 Aerial view of the town of Sabastiya. In the centre, the archaeological site, and to the east,

the town’s ancient core (© O. Hamdan)

Fig. 238 The Hellenistic tower, part of the first defensive system of the city of Sabastiya, dated to the IVth century bc (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 239 Colonnaded street among olive groves (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 240 The Mosque of Salah ad-Din (the Cathedral of St John the Baptist), built over the tomb of the Prophet

Yahya (St John the Baptist) in the second half of the XIIth century (© O. Hamdan)

Fig. 241 Structural plan of Sabastiya. The blue line shows the current limits of the town: to the west, the separation

between “Area C” (the archaeological site strictly controlled by the Israeli Occupation) and “Area B” to

the east (town under the control of the Palestinian Authority)

Fig. 242 Map of the southern zone adjacent to Salah ad-Din mosque (the Cathedral of St John the Baptist), area of

the project in the past years (© O. Hamdan)

Fig. 243 The Crusader Hall restored in Phase 1(© O. Hamdan) Fig. 244 Plan of the work area indicating the church discovered in 2008 (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 245 The uncovered church (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 246 The fortification system around the discovered building, showing reused marble columns and capitals dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 247 A section showing the project area (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 248 Mosaics discovered on the site in 2009 (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 249 Father Michele Piccirillo at work on the site (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 250 Project results (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 251 Activities with children for bringing them closer to their cultural heritage (© O. Hamdan) Fig. 252 “Treasure of Bethlehem”. Enamelled Episcopal crosier in the shape of a snake, framing the figure of Christ in relief, ad 1144-1162 (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 253 “Treasure of Bethlehem”. Silver candlestick inscribed in Latin: “Cursed be he who takes me away from the holy grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem”, ad 1144-1162 (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)





151

Fig. 254 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. XVIIIth-century vase decorated with birds

(Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 255 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. XVIIIth-century platter bearing Franciscan emblem and depiction of the Holy Sepulchre aedicula (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)



Fig. 256 Nazareth. Romanesque capital from the Crusader basilica of the Annunciation (XIIth century). The Risen

Lord shows doubting Thomas his wound, saying: “Do not doubt, but believe” (John 20, 27) (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 257 Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. Angel on wall-painting fragment from the Mediaeval basilica of Gethsemane

(XIIth century) (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 258 Caphernaum: pottery and glass from the House of St Peter, 1st century ad

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 259 Caphernaum: Graffiti in Greek on a fragment of plaster wall coating from the domus-ecclesia: “O Lord

Jesus Christ, have pity on …” (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 260 Mount of Olives, Jerusalem: Ossuary (1st Century ad) from Dominus Flevit

(Photo Garo Nalbadian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 261 Herodion: 1st century ad Greek ostracon (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 262 Inscription in Georgian (VIth century ad) from the Georgian monastery of Bir el-Qutt in the Judaean

desert (Photo E. Alliata, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig.263 Byzantine terracotta ampulla found in Silwân, Jerusalem extra muros. In the centre, cross of Calvary

opens up into a flower of life (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 264 Palestinian pottery from the time of Jesus (1st century ad) (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 265 Byzantine terracotta oil-lamp with VIth century inverted Greek inscription

(Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 266 Byzantine terracotta oil-lamp (Vth-VIth century) inscribed in Greek: “May the Light of Christ shine

beautifully for all!” (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 267 Gilded bronze Crusader-period crucifix (XIIth century) found in Jerusalem (Photo Silvano Migani,

Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 268 Byzantine lead seal (Xth century) depicting the Virgin orans as Meter Theou - Mother of God

(Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 269 Roman double glass bottle for make-up, found near Bethany (Photo Angelo Tosi,

Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 270 Roman glass bowl (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 271 Olive wood model of the Holy Sepulchre with mother-of-pearl inlay (XVIIth-XVIIIth century).

(Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 272 Nabatean god Dusares riding a camel on coin of Bostra (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 273 Goddes Artemis, Tyche of Gerasa, on Hellenistic coin of the city (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 274 Bronze mould for seal depicting Madonna and Child (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

152



Fig. 275 St Francis and St Clare depicted on a page of a XIVth century English antiphonary (Ms H, fol. 83) gifted by



King Henry IVth of England to the friars of Mount Zion (Photo E. Alliata, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 276 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. Jar with the Franciscan Cross of the Holy Land and the lion of the Republic of Venice (XVIIIth century) (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) Fig. 277 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. Blue jar with griffons as handles (XVIIIth century)

(Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 27 8 Funerary bust from a IIIrd-century tomb in Palmyra with an inscription in Palmyrenean,

“Maliku son of Maliku” (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 279 Italian antiphonary penned in 1662 by Fr Giacomo of Monza and used for centuries by the friars of

St Saviour’s Convent in Jerusalem (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 280 Vienna Schatz: Modello in legno e madre perla del Santo Sepolcro

(Cortesia di Vienna Geistliche Schatzkammer)

Fig. 281 Modello in legno e madre perla della Chiesa della Natività. Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti e delle Porcellane (Cortesia di Palazzo Pitti ) Fig. 282 Gioco da tavola prodotto a Betlemme nel 1950, ora nel Museo della Madre Perla della Custodia di Terra

Santa - Gerusalemme (© C. Benelli)

Fig. 283 Tirocinanti durante l’ultimo corso di formazione di madre-perla a Betlemme (© C. Benelli) Fig. 284 Prodotti di Madre Perla lavorati dai tirocinanti durante l’ultimo corso di formazione a Betlemme

(© C. Benelli)

Fig. 285 La strada da Gerusalemme a Betlemme ora è chiusa dal Muro (© C. Benelli) Fig. 286 Jawa, Jordan, 1986-1987. From l. to r., Basilio Rodella, Michele Piccirillo, Gianbattista Massolini

in preparation for the 1989 Massolini Calendar dedicated to Jordan (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella



BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Fig. 287 Michele Piccirillo and Gianbattista Massolini during the photographic campaign for the Sinai Calendar 1994 (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia) Fig. 288 Michele during the official presentation of the Iraq Massolini Calendar 2006 at Palazzo della Loggia,

Brescia, December 2005 (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Fig. 289 At the official presentation of the Massolini Calendar “Tessere di Pace”, Museo Diocesano, Brescia,

December 2007. From l. to r., Mario Massolini, son of Gianbattista, Michele Piccirillo, Gianpietro Rigosa,



Basilio Rodella. (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

153

Gathering at the Swedish Christian Study Centre, Jerusalem, in memory of Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm, Thursday 19th November 2009

Fig. 2 Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm, Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) and Dr Sune Fahlgren, Director of the Swedish Christian Study Centre, Jerusalem (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 3 Dr George Hintlian, Director of the Christian Heritage in the Holy Land Institute of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 4 Prof. Claudine Dauphin, CNRS (France) and Departments of Archaeology and Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter, UK (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 5 Members of the audience: from l. to r. Prof. Emile Puech, CNRS (France) and Ecole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem (EBAF), Fr Alviero Niccacci, ofm (SBF), Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm (SBF) and Fr Frans Bouwen, PB (Sainte-Anne, White Fathers, Jerusalem) (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Prof. Basema Hamarneh, Department of Archaeology, University of Enna, Italy (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fr Pierrbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land (Photo Fr R. Pierri, ofm)

Memorial Dinner in an Armenian restaurant, Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem Old City

Fig. 8 From l. to r. Fr Rosario Pierri, ofm (SBF), Mme Reine Dauphin-Jauffret, Prof. Claudine Dauphin, Prof. Emile Puech, Fr Frans Bouwen, PB, Fr Frédéric Manns, ofm (SBF), Sr Sinead Martin (SBF), Sr Liobke Radke. On l., Photographer Garo Nalbandian is filming (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 9 From l. to r. Mosaic restorer Franco Sciorilli, architect Osama Hamdan, Fr Carmelo Pappalardo, ofm (SBF), art historian Carla Benelli (Custodia della Terra Santa, Jerusalem), Prof. Basema Hamarneh (© Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 10 Prof. Basema Hamarneh and Fr Claudio Bottini, ofm (Photo © Custodia di Terra Santa /M.-A. Beaulieu)

Fig. 11 Prof. Claudine Dauphin and Friars Minors of the Custody of the Holy Land. From l. to r. Massimo Carlino, Massimo Pazzini, Giovanni Loche, Stefano Cavalli, and Najib Ibrahim (Photo Fr Rosario Pierri, ofm)

Fig. 12 “The New Jerusalem”: stained glass window of the Judson Memorial, 1903, by Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Everson Museum of Arts, Syracuse, USA

Fig. 13 Model of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in olive wood and mother-of-pearl bought in Jerusalem in 1609 by the pilgrim Carel Quina, Bayerischen Nationalmuseum, Monaco, Germany

Fig. 14 Fr Michele Piccirillo pointing the “Promised Land” from Mount Nebo to Pope John-Paul II on 20thMarch 2000 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem)

Fig. 15 Plan of the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Paradise Redeemed – Paradise Regained

Fig. 16 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale (526-547), apse: mosaic of the Redeemer (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 17 Madaba, Lower Baptistery of the Cathedral: beasts flanking a Tree of Life, early VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Penitenza, pace e misericordia

Fig. 18 St Francis standing in ecstasy (1663). Polychromed wood by Pedro di Mena (1628-1688) in Toledo Cathedral (Photo José Luis Municio)

Fig. 19 Fr Michele Piccirillo transporting a wounded Palestinian after the destruction of the Allenby Bridge by the Israeli Occupation Forces, June 1967 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 20 Umm al-Rasas, vignette depicting the stylite’s tower at Kastron Mefa’a (Kastron Mephaath of Joshua 13, 18 and 21, 37), in the South intercolumniation of the Church of St Stephen, ad 785 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 21 Madaba, Church of St George, the Madaba Mosaic Map, ad 560-565 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 22 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, apse of the Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 23 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale (526-547), apse window (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 24 Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo. Baptistery-Diakonikon paved in August 530 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 25 Fr Michele Piccirillo uncovering a mosaic pavement (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 26

Fr Michele Piccirillo recording by photography (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Geometry in Movement

Fig. 27 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, central apse. The Greek inscriptions commemorate the mosaicists Staurakios, son of Zada from Hesban, and Euremios, ad 756 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 28

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: cutting in action (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

The World of the “Inhabited Scroll”

Fig. 29

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 30 Armenian pottery plate, Jerusalem, depicting the mid-VIth century “inhabited vine scroll” of a funerary chapel in the Musrara quarter northwest of the Damascus Gate (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 31 Al-Hammâm Baisan: partridges in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 32 Al-Hammâm Baisan: treading grapes, in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 33 Al-Mînâ (Gaza): lioness and cub, flamingo and giraffe in the “inhabited vine scroll” of the southernmost aisle of a synagogue, July-August 509 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 34 Al-Hammâm Baisan: “inhabited vine scroll” pavement of a funerary chapel, ca ad 530 (Drawing C. Dauphin)

Fig. 35 Rhythmic pattern of the upper pavement of a funerary chapel at al-Hammâm Baisan, ca ad 530. Big arrows indicate the direction in which the “inhabitants” move, small arrows the direction in which they look (Drawing C. Dauphin)

Fig. 36 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century: vintager leading donkey (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 37 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius, mid-VIth century: vintager carrying a basket of grapes (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 38 Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles: child in the border of the nave mosaic carpet, ad 578-579 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 39

Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles: child riding a cart pulled by birds in the border of the nave mosaic carpet, ad 578-579 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 40 Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses Basilica. Mosaic surrounding the baptismal font of the Old Baptistery-Diakonikon, August 530 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 41 Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses Basilica. Detail of grapes at the heart of an interlace on the mosaic around the baptismal font of the Old Baptistery-Diakonikon, August 530 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 42

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, 1973: a Beduin woman offers the flowers of the Holy Land to the young Michele Piccirillo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig.43

Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Resurrection and Immortality

Fig. 44 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, phoenix in the central row of the “inhabited vine scroll”, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 45 Antioch, House of the Phoenix, mid-VIth century (Photo Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Fig. 46

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, nave of the Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Wheat and Vine, Bread and Wine

Fig. 47

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, AD 536: reaper (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 48 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fruit of the Work of Human Hands

Fig. 49

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Upper pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, mid-VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Hunters, Shepherds and Vintagers

Fig. 50

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, nave first half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 51

‘Ayun Mousa, Lower pavement of the Church of Kaianus, late Vth-early VIth century: vintager (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 52 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century: vintager (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 53 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Lower pavement of the Chapel of the Priest John, late Vth - early VIth century: vintager (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 54

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, nave, mid-VIth century: pressing grapes (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 55 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church the Deacon Thomas, nave, first half of the VIth century: fruit-picking and hunting (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 56

Palace of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham, ad 724-738/ad 105-120 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 57

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, North intercolumniation, mid-VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 58 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, border of nave-carpet, ad 718-756: Alexandria, water fowl and putto (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 59

Madaba, Church of the Holy Apostles, nave, ad 578-579: Thalassa-Sea (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 60 ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, nave, acanthus border of central carpet: the Seasons. First half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 61

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, western panel of nave, mid-VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 62

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, apse of the Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 63 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, South intercolumniation, ad 718-756 Madaba (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 64

Church of Khirbat Bureikût, parrot with Sassanian royal ribbon (pativ) round neck, mid-VIth century (Photo Z. Radovan)

Fig. 65 “Blessing wheat in Artois” by Jules Breton, 1857, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Arras

Fig. 66 “Pardon at Kergoat, Brittany” by Jules Breton, 1891, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper

Fig. 67

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: Temple of Jerusalem flanked by gazelles (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 68

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIIth century: gazelle (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 69

Mount Nebo, Memorial of Moses, Chapel of the Theotokos, early VIth century: altar of the Temple of Jerusalem (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 70

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century: deer drinking the Water of Life (Photo C. Dauphin)

Trees, Trees, Trees

Fig. 71 Umm al-Rasas, Church of Bishop Sergius, sanctuary, ad 587: lamb and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 72 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 718-756: donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 73 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, ad 718-756: tree (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 74 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of Northern aisle, ad 718-756: portraits and names of donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 75 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 785: donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 76 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of nave, ad 785: donors disfigured during iconoclastic crisis and trees (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 77 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, second half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 78 Madaba, Crypt of St Aelianus, AD 597 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 79 Damascus, Mosque of the Umayyads, ad 597 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Rivers of Paradise

Fig. 80 Monastery of Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, Chapel of the Theotokos, restoration of mosaic ad 762 : the Rivers of Paradise at each corner of dedicatory inscription (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 81 Madaba, Church of the Sunnâ’ Family, VIth century: River of Paradise (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 82

Madaba, Chapel of the Martyr Theodore, ad 562: Euphrates River (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 83 Mukhaytim/Jabaliyah-Gaza Church, early VIIIth century: River Gihon on mosaic pavement around baptismal font (Photo Department of Antiquities of the Palestinian Authority and Ecole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem)

Adam in Eden

Fig. 84 Madaba. Private house, VIth century, now in the Archaeological Museum: Paradise

Rural Life in Byzantine Moab

Fig. 85 Madaba, Church of the Priest John, nave, Lower Pavement, late Vth – early VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 86 Madaba, Upper pavement of Baptistery, ad 575-576 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Christo-Palestinians and Ghassanids in the Balqa

Fig. 87 Nitl, St Sergius complex, nave of South Church, Greek inscription mentioning Ghassanid Phylarch Taa’laba, VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 88 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, South Sacristy, ad 536: Christo-Palestinian inscription (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 89 Church of Suâfiya, Amman, VIth century (Drawing C. Dauphin)

Crosses, Crosses, Crosses

Fig. 90

Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, martyrium-chapel at eastern end of Northern aisle, ad 718-756 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 91

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of the Deacon Thomas, first half of the VIth century (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 92

Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of SS Lot and Procopius, South intercolumniation, mid-VIth century: sniffing lotuses (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

The Blood of Christ

Fig. 93 Antioch Chalice, gilded silver, H. 0,19 m, diam. at opening 0,18 m. Syria (?), Vh-VIth century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, New York (Photo Taylor and Dull, New York).

Fig. 94 Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Church of St George, South Sacristy, Northern aisle, ad 536: chalice from which issues Tree of Life, vine scroll and peacocks (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Paradise Redeemed

Fig. 95 ‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, Sanctuary, first half of the VIth century: ram under altar (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 96 “Agnus Dei “ by F. de Zurbaràn, ca 1635-1640 (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid)

Fig. 97

Madaba, plan of the ‘Atwâl Chapel, VIth century (Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 98 Madaba, ‘Atwâl Chapel, VIth century: lamb grazing on a flower (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 99 Mediaeval Crusader Church of Sainte-Marie-la-Grande, Jerusalem: haloed lamb/ Christ Resurrected holding a cross (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Lamb of God

Fig. 100 Processional cross of Emperor Justin II, ad 565-578. Gilded silver; H. 0,40 m; L.of arm 0,31 m. Constantinople, now in the Vatican (Treasure of St Peter). In the centre, the lamb of God (Photo De Antonis).

Fig. 101

Ravenna, Church of San Vitale, apse vault, ad 526-547 (Photo C. Dauphin)

“Noli me tangere”

Fig. 102 Panel of a triptych painted in oil on wood in Tours, 1500-1502 or Paris, 1515. Now in the Church of the Assumption in Censeau, France

Fig. 103 Oil-painting by Jan Breughel the Younger, 1601-1678. (Courtesy of Art Media/HIP/Topfoto/Eaglecrown)

Jerusalem in the Redeemed Oecumene

Fig. 104 Madaba, Church of St George, Madaba Mosaic Map, ad 560-565: Jerusalem (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 105 Umm al-Rasas, Church of St Stephen, eastern end of Northern intercolumniation, ad 718-756:the Holy City (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 106 St Francis and his companion, Fr Illuminatus, before Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil of Egypt in Damietta, 1219. Bonaventura of Bagnoregio, Legenda Maior of St Francis, Rome, Museo Francescano, Istituto storico dei PP. Capuccini, ms. 1266.

Fig.107

‘Uyun Mousa, Church of the Deacon Thomas, South aisle, first half of the VIth century: eagle (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 108 Ravenna, Church of San Vitale, ad 526-547: apse wall (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 109 Umm al-Rasas, Plan of St Stephen complex, VIth-VIIIth centuries (Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

The Church as Cosmos

Fig. 110 Umm al-Rasas, St Stephen Church, ad 718-756: nave and side-aisles (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 111 Umm al-Rasas, St Stephen Church, ad 718-756: detail of carpet of central nave (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 112 Madaba, Church of the Virgin, ad 767, central carpet (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 113 Madaba, Plan of Church of the Virgin, ad 767 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

The Sky and the Heavens

Fig. 114

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century, dome (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 115

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, first half of the Vth century, Good Shepherd barrel-vault: star-studded sky (Photo C. Dauphin)

Prophet Muhammad’s Mi’râj

Fig. 116 Al-Quds-Jerusalem, Masjid Qubbat as-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), erected by Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in ad 689-691/ah 67-69 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 117

Persian XVIth-century miniature celebrating the Mi’râj (“Ascension”) of the Prophet Muhammad (Photo http://fr.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraj).

The Exaltation of the Cross

“Abode of Light And Exultation Choir of harps Domain of zithers Clamour of Hosannas O Church of Hymns” St Ephrem of Nisibis, Hymn of Paradise XI, 2 Fig. 118

Ravenna, Church of S. Apollinare in Classe, VIth century, apse (Photo C. Dauphin)

Paradise Regained

“The Lord bless you and keep you; May He show His Face to you and have mercy. May He turn his countenance to you and give you peace” St Francis’ Blessing to Brother Leo after receiving the stigmata on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14th September 1422

Fig. 119 Taiyyibet al-Imam (Hama), nave of church, September 447 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 120 Michele in his study in Jerusalem, 6th April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia).

Fig. 121 Fr Bagatti and some of the participants in the restoration campaign at Khirbet al-Mukhayyat, August 1973 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 122. The pavement of the Diakonikon-Baptistery Mount Nebo (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 123 Aerial view of Mount Nebo (Kennedy, Bewley 2004)

1- The Church of Saint George 2- The Church of the Virgin 3-The Church of the Prophet Elias 4- The Church of the Sunna’ Family 5- The Church of the Holy Martyrs 6- The Burnt Palace

7- The Church of the Salayta Family 8- The “Cathedral” Church 9- The Church of the Apostles 10- The Archaeological Museum 11- The Shops 12- The Birkeh 13- The al-Mishnaqa Church

Fig. 124 Plan of Madaba indicating the main churches (GIS M. Ben Jeddou)

Fig. 125 Michele Piccirillo and Eugenio Alliata photographing the pavement of the Hippolytus Hall in Madaba, 1982 (Courtesy BAMSphoto)

Fig. 126 The Theotokos (Virgin) Church and the Hippolytus Hall in Madaba (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 127 Aerial view of Umm al-Rasas (Kennedy, Bewley 2004)

Fig. 128 Presbyterium of the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 129 Vignette of Kastron Mefaa, Church of St Stephen, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 130 Vignette of Kastron Mefaa in the Lions’ Church, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 131 The Stylite tower monastic complex, Umm al-Rasas (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 132 Inscription from the Theotokos Church at ‘Ayn al-Kanisah (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 133 Michele at work, Jerusalem April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 134 Participants in the 1997 excavation and restoration campaign on Mount Nebo, Jordan (Photo Max Mandel, Milano)

Fig. 135 Participants in the 1998 excavation and restoration campaign on Mount Nebo, Jordan (Photo Max Mandel, Milano)

Fig. 136 Michele with Giovan Battista Massolini with a Beduin family of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan, 1986 ( Courtey BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 137 The Theotokos (Virgin) Church complex in Madaba during the construction work of the Archaeological Park 1994 (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 138 Michele with a group of archaeologists in ‘Ayn Qattara, August 1997 (Photo Max Mandel, Milano)

Fig. 139 The nave of the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh)

Fig. 140 The mosaic inscription of Taa’laba the Phylarch in the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh)

Fig. 141 The mosaic inscription of Aretas son of al-Aretas in the Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Photo B. Hamarneh)

Fig. 142 Fr Eugenio Alliata, Giovan Battista Massolini and Michele in Sinai 1992 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 143 Michele with the Combonian Fr Camillo Ballin in Sudan in 2002 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 144 Michele in Sudan 2002. (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 145 Michele at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 146

Michele at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, April 2007 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 147 Michele with Claudia Massolini collecting fossils in Wadi Mousa near Mount Nebo in 1986 (Courtesy BAMSphoto, Brescia)

Fig. 148 Mount Nebo seen from ‘Ayoun Mousa in 1898 or 1914. Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 149

View from Mount Nebo towards the Dead Sea (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 150

Mount Nebo in 1898 or 1914. General view of the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses before excavations. Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 151 Mount Nebo in July 1933. Main nave of the Basilica. Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 152 Mount Nebo in 1933. Fr Jerome Mihaic, ofm (?) with two local workmen in the Theotokos Chapel. Negative, glass, dry plate (Photo American Colony, Jerusalem. Courtesy of Eric and Edith Matson Photographic Collection)

Fig. 153 Apse of the Basilica seen from the east in March 2008, before the dismantling of the old roof (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 154

The hills of Moab: view from Mount Nebo towards the north-east. In the foreground, remains of the Byzantine monastery, March 2008 (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 155

The harsh landscape of stratified limestone around Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, the Town of Nebo (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 156

After the lifting of the old roof of the Basilica, the “forest” of scaffold tubes (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 157

Fig. 158

Central panel of the mosaic pavement of the narthex (VIIth century) of the Basilica after restoration (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Mosaic restorer Franco Sciorilli and an assistant at work on the intermediate mosaic of the Southern Baptistery Chapel, third decade of the VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig.159 Preparing for restoration the western panel of the upper mosaic of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 160

Restoring the geometric border of the central panel of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 161 The central panel of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late VIth century, after restoration (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 162

Tridimensional rosette between the central and the eastern panels of the diakonikon of the Basilica, mid or late VIth century, after restoration (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 163 Integrating modern stones into an ancient wall (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 164 Western façade of the Basilica of the Memorial of Moses. The scaffolding for the erection of the new roof is separate from the ancient walls (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 165 Assembling the steel structure (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 166 The steel structure on the Western façade of the Basilica (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 167 Covering the cella trichora with a structure of laminated wood (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 168 Viw of the eastern end of the Basilica: steel structure, roofing over South aisle, and wood structure over cella trichora (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 169

The laminated wood structure over the cella trichora viewed from the west (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 170 The wooden structure over the cella trichora seen from below (Photo Giancarlo Micalizzi)

Fig. 171 Disclosing the restored Mosaic of the Cross (IVth-Vth century) in the vestibule west of the cella trichora (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 172

Cleaning one of the intercolumnar panels of the Basilica, first half of VIth century (Photo Franciscan Archaeological Institute, Mount Nebo)

Fig. 173

Fr Michele Piccirillo on Mount Nebo (¨Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 174 Umm al-Rasas: aerial view of the square castrum and, outside its walls, the town with some fifteen churches. Upper left corner: St Stephen’s Church Complex (Photo Kennedy, Bewley 2004)

Fig. 175

View to North-East of the roofed central part of the St Stephen’s Church Complex. (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 176

Fig. 177

Plan of the St Stephen’s Church Complex, including the Church of Bishop Sergius (Drawing Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem)

Plan of the St Stephen’s Church Complex against the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the area immediately surrounding it (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 178

3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex at Umm al-Rasas against the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 179

Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 180 Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex with mosaic pavement covering the floor of St Stephen’s Church (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 181 Close-up view of the 3D reconstruction of the St Stephen’s Church Complex with mosaic pavements covering the floors of St Stephen’s Church (ad 785) and the Church of Bishop Sergius (ad 587), as well as paving stones in the connecting courtyard (GIS Qutaiba al-Dasouqi)

Fig. 182 The Madaba Archaeological Park (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 183

The Madaba Mosaic School now The Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration occupying a heritage building (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 184 Queen Noor al-Husain inaugurating the official opening in 1992 of the Madaba Archaeological Park and the Madaba Mosaic School, and listening to Fr M. Piccirillo’s explanations (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 185 Queen Noor patronized the school and constantly visited it (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 186 Consolidating by injection the VIth century ad depiction in mosaic of three cities (Rome, Gregoria and Madaba) in the Hippolytus Hall, Madaba (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 187 Condition analysis of the central mosaic panel in the North aisle of the Church of St George at Khirbet al-Mukhayyat, ad 536 (Drawing © O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 188 Consolidation by injection in the North aisle of the mid-VIth century Church of SS Lot and Procopius in Khirbet al-Mukhayyat (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 189 Conserving the mosaics of the North aisle of the Church of SS Lot and Procopius in Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 190 Manual mechanical cleaning of the funerary inscription of Tryphon (ad 592) in the Church of St Andrew (Mar Zaqqa), Jericho (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig.191 Fr Piccirillo’s opening speech at the first graduation of the Madaba Mosaic School reflects his pride and concern for the future of the graduates and the mosaics of Jordan. (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 192 The graduation of the Fifth Season of the Bilad al-Sham training course (back row, 3rd and 4th from l., mosaic restorer and instructor Franco Sciorilli and architect Osama Hamdan; 1st and 5th from r., Catreena Hamarneh, and Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (Photo Institute of Mosaic Art Restoration)

Fig. 193

Kypros, Jericho: the condition of the mosaics located in Area C (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 194 Qasr Hisham, Jericho: the Mosque (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 195

Qasr Hisham, Jericho: detail of the mosaic floor of the Bath Hall (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 196

Qasr Hisham, Jericho: detail of the Tree of Life mosaic (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 197

Qasr Hisham, Jericho: the mosaic of the Sirdab after conservation (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 198

Qasr Hisham, Jericho: Father Piccirillo visits the project (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 199

Qasr Hisham, Jericho: during the conservation of the mosaic floor in the Bath Hall (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 200

Madaba, Jordan: during the “Bilad al-Sham training course” (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 201

Fig. 202

Mount Nebo, Jordan: training in documentation (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Mosaic workshops for Palestinian children (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 203

Jericho: during the conservation of the mosaic floor of the Church of Saint Andrew (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig.204

Copy of the mosaics of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock (© O. Hamdan and C. Benelli)

Fig. 205

Carte de la Jordanie indiquant les lieux de découverte d’inscriptions christo-palestiniennes (SIG M. Ben Jeddou)

Fig. 206

Pierre de Jérash (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 207 Jarre de Jérash (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 208 Mosaïque d’el-Quweismeh (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 209

Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa photographiée in situ lors de sa découverte (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jérusalem)

Fig. 210 Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 211

Mosaïque d’Ayoun Musa restaurée et exposée dans le Musée du Mémorial de Moïse au Mont Nébo (Photo C. Dauphin)

Fig. 212

Mosaïque d’al-Mukhayyat (Dessin E. Puech)

a

b

c Fig. 213

Fig. 214

Mosaïque de Kh. El-Kursi (Dessins E. Puech)

Mosaïque de Hayyan al-Mushrif (Dessin E. Puech)

a

b

Fig. 215

Fig. 216

Mosaïques de Rihab (Dessin E. Puech)

Pierre de l’hôpital de Shuneh (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 217

Fig. 218

Mosaïque de Dayr al-Sa’nah (Dessin E. Puech)

Mosaïque de Sama ar-Rusan al-Burz (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 219

Fig.220

Mosaïque de Qam (Dessin E. Puech)

Mosaïque de Ouadi Rajib-Ajloun (Dessin E. Puech)

Fig. 221

Stèles 1-7 de Samra

Fig. 222

Stèles 8-14 de Samra

Fig. 223

Stèles 15-25 de Samra

Fig. 224

Fig. 225

Stèles 26-39 de Samra

Estampage du haut de la Stèle 27 de Samra (Photo E. Puech)

Fig. 226

Stèles 40-56 de Samra

Fig. 227

Stèles 57-72 de Samra

Fig. 228

Stèles 73-88 de Samra

Fig. 229

Fig. 230

Estampage de la Stèle 88 de Samra (Photo E. Puech)

Tesson de jarre d’Umm er-Rasas–Medfa’a (Dessin E. Puech)

a

Fig. 231

a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 1 en grec (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

b

a

Fig. 232

a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 3 en grec (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

b

a

Fig. 233 a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 2 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

b

a Fig. 234

a et b Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Inscription 4 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

b

Fig. 235 Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Détail de l’Inscription 4 en araméen (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

Fig. 236

Ermitage de Qasr el-Abiadh : Détail de l’Inscription 1 (Photo R. Holmgren et A. Kaliff)

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 237‬صورة جوية لبلدة سبسطية‪ ،‬ويظهر في وسط الصورة الموقع األثري والى الشرق مركز البلدة القديم‬ ‫(© أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 238‬البرج الدفاعي الهيليني‪ ،‬جزء من من النظام الدفاعي األول لمدينة سبسطية ‪ ،‬ويعود تاريخ‬ ‫إنشائه إلى القرن الرابع قبل الميالد‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 237‬‬

‫‪Fig 238‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :239‬شارع األعمدة بين بساتين الزيتون‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 239‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :240‬مسجد صالح الدين األيوبي (كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان)‪ ،‬شيد المبنى فوق قبر سيدنا يحي‬ ‫في النصف الثاني من القرن الثاني عشر‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 240‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 241‬المخطط الهيكلي لبلدة سبسطية‪ ،‬الخط األزرق يوضح حدود البلدة في الوضع الحالي‪ ،‬الخط األزرق في الجهة‬ ‫الغربية يوضح الفصل بين المنطقة «ج» وهي الموقع األثري وتقع تحت سيطرت االحتالل اإلسرائيلي‪ ،‬والمنطقة «ب» في الجهة‬ ‫الشرقية وهي البلدة وتقع تحت سيطرة السلطة الفلسطينية‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :242‬مخطط للمنطقة الجنوبية المحاذية لمسجد صالح الدين األيوبي (كاتدرائية يوحنا المعمدان) والتي تم بها‬ ‫العمل في السنوات الماضية‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 241‬‬

‫‪Fig 242‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :243‬الغرفة الصليبية التي تم ترميمها في المرحلة األولى‪.‬‬ ‫(© أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪:244‬مخطط أفقي للمنطقة التي تم العمل عليها مبينا الكنيسة التي اكتشفت في عام ‪2008‬م‪.‬‬ ‫(© أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 243‬‬

‫‪Fig 244‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 245‬الكنيسة التي تم اكتشافها‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪:246‬نظام التحصين حول المبنى المكتشف‪ ،‬ولقد استخدم في جدار التحصين أعمدة‬ ‫رخامية وتيجان تعود للفترة الرومانية والبيزنطية‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 245‬‬

‫‪Fig 246‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 247‬مقطع يوضح منطقة العمل‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :248‬الفسيفساء التي تم الكشف عنها في عام ‪2009‬م‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 247‬‬

‫‪Fig 248‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :249‬صورة لألب ميشيل بيتشريللو أثناء العمل في الموقع‪.‬‬ ‫(© أسامة حمدان)‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ : 250‬صورة توضح نتائج العمل‪.‬‬ ‫(© أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 249‬‬

‫‪Fig 250‬‬

‫صورة رقم ‪ :251‬نشاطات مع األطفال من اجل تقريبهم من تراثهم الثقافي‪ ©( .‬أسامة حمدان)‬

‫‪Fig 251‬‬

Fig. 252 “Treasure of Bethlehem”. Enamelled Episcopal crosier in the shape of a snake, framing the figure of Christ in relief, ad 1144-1162 (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 253 “Treasure of Bethlehem”. Silver candlestick inscribed in Latin: “Cursed be he who takes me away from the holy grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem”, ad 1144-1162 (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 254 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. XVIIIth-century vase decorated with birds (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 255 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. XVIIIth-century platter bearing Franciscan emblem and depiction of the Holy Sepulchre aedicula (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 256 Nazareth. Romanesque capital from the Crusader basilica of the Annunciation (XIIth century). The Risen Lord shows doubting Thomas his wound, saying: “Do not doubt, but believe” (John 20, 27) (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 257

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. Angel on wall-painting fragment from the Mediaeval basilica of Gethsemane (XIIth century) (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 258

Fig. 259

Caphernaum: pottery and glass from the House of St Peter, 1st century ad (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Caphernaum: Graffiti in Greek on a fragment of plaster wall coating from the domus-ecclesia: “O Lord Jesus Christ, have pity on …” (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 260

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem: Ossuary (1st Century ad) from Dominus Flevit (Photo Garo Nalbadian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 261 Herodion: 1st century ad Greek ostracon (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 262 . Inscription in Georgian (VIth century ad) from the Georgian monastery of Bir el-Qutt in the Judaean desert (Photo E. Alliata, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig.263

Byzantine terracotta ampulla found in Silwân, Jerusalem extra muros. In the centre, cross of Calvary opens up into a flower of life (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 264

Palestinian pottery from the time of Jesus (1st century ad) (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 265

Byzantine terracotta oil-lamp with VIth century inverted Greek inscription (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 266 Byzantine terracotta oil-lamp (Vth-VIth century) inscribed in Greek: “May the Light of Christ shine beautifully for all!” (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 267

Gilded bronze Crusader-period crucifix (XIIth century) found in Jerusalem (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 268 Byzantine lead seal (Xth century) depicting the Virgin orans as Meter Theou - Mother of God (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 269

Fig. 270

Roman double glass bottle for make-up, found near Bethany (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Roman glass bowl (Photo Garo Nalbandian, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 271

Olive wood model of the Holy Sepulchre with mother-of-pearl inlay (XVIIth-XVIIIth century). (Photo Silvano Migani, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 272

Nabatean god Dusares riding a camel on coin of Bostra (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 274

Fig. 273

Goddes Artemis, Tyche of Gerasa, on Hellenistic coin of the city (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Bronze mould for seal depicting Madonna and Child (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 275 St Francis and St Clare depicted on a page of a XIVth-century English antiphonary (Ms H, fol. 83) gifted by King Henry IVth of England to the friars of Mount Zion (Photo E. Alliata, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 276 Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. Jar with the Franciscan Cross of the Holy Land and the lion of the Republic of Venice (XVIIIth century) (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 277

Pharmacy of St Saviour’s Convent, Jerusalem. Blue jar with griffons as handles (XVIIIth century) (Photo Angelo Tosi, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 27 8

Funerary bust from a IIIrd-century tomb in Palmyra with an inscription in Palmyrenean, “Maliku son of Maliku” (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 279 Italian antiphonary penned in 1662 by Fr Giacomo of Monza and used for centuries by the friars of St Saviour’s Convent in Jerusalem (Photo Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)

Fig. 280 Vienna Schatz: Modello in legno e madre perla del Santo Sepolcro (Cortesia di Vienna Geistliche Schatzkammer)

Fig. 281 Modello in legno e madre perla della Chiesa della Natività. Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti e delle Porcellane (Cortesia di Palazzo Pitti )

Fig. 282

Fig. 283

Gioco da tavola prodotto a Betlemme nel 1950, ora nel Museo della Madre Perla della Custodia di Terra Santa - Gerusalemme (© C. Benelli)

Tirocinanti durante l’ultimo corso di formazione di madre-perla a Betlemme (© C. Benelli)

Fig. 284

Prodotti di Madre Perla lavorati dai tirocinanti durante l’ultimo corso di formazione a Betlemme (© C. Benelli)

Fig. 285

La strada da Gerusalemme a Betlemme ora è chiusa dal Muro (© C. Benelli)

Fig. 286 Jawa, Jordan, 1986-1987. From l. to r., Basilio Rodella, Michele Piccirillo, Gianbattista Massolini in preparation for the 1989 Massolini Calendar dedicated to Jordan (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Fig. 287 Michele Piccirillo and Gianbattista Massolini during the photographic campaign for the Sinai Calendar 1994 (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Fig. 288 Michele during the official presentation of the Iraq Massolini Calendar 2006 at Palazzo della Loggia, Brescia, December 2005 (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Fig. 289 At the official presentation of the Massolini Calendar “Tessere di Pace”, Museo Diocesano, Brescia, December 2007. From l. to r., Mario Massolini, son of Gianbattista, Michele Piccirillo, Gianpietro Rigosa, Basilio Rodella. (Courtesy Basilio, Matteo Rodella BAMSphoto - Brescia)

Michele Piccirillo 1944 - 2008

We are His Saplings

Index of Places A Acco 72 Adra (see also Der’a) 49 Africa 111, 123 ‘Ain Duk 70 ‘Ain al-Kanisah (see also ‘Ayn al-Kanisah) 47, 51 ‘Ain Karim (see also ‘Ein Karim)105, 112, 127 Ainon Saphsaphas 51 Ajlun 51, 136, 137 Allenby Bridge 27, 142 Amarna 108 Amman (see also Philadelphia ) 32, 40, 45, 49, 50, 51, 76, 77, 81, 120, 131, 132, 135, 136, 145 Anastasis, Jerusalem 34 Andrew, Church of St (Mar Zaqqa, Jericho) 66, 70, 72, 134, 149, 150 Anne, Church of Sainte- (Jerusalem) 75, 134, 136, 141 Anne, Church of St (Sepphoris)107 Annunciation, Church of the (‘Ain Karim) 39, 106, 109, 152 Antakya 32 Antioch 30, 31, 32, 35, 109, 110, 133, 143, 145 Aphamea 66, 70 Apostle Church (Madaba) 66 Aqsa, al- 43, 71 Arabian peninsula 122 Armenia 122, 123 Ascension, Church of the (Mt Olives, Jerusalem) 106, 107, 146 Ashqelon 30 Asia 33, 131 Asia Minor 33, 131 Assisi 27, 28, 29, 39, 44, 136 Athens 32, 53 ‘Ayn al-Kanisah (see also ‘Ain al-Kanisah) 30, 33, 38, 43, 52, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147 ‘Ayn Qattara 51, 147 ‘Ayoun Musa 77, 78, 83, 150 B Bab ed-Dhra’ 107, 108 Babylon 122 Badiyya, Kh. el- 49 Baisan 29, 35, 142 Balqa 39, 40, 129 Balqis 111 Barada 37 Beer Sheva 30 Beirut 25, 27 Beit Imrin 72 Beotia 32 Bethany 29, 35 Bethfage 107, 112 Bethlehem 25, 26, 27, 28, 51, 52, 72, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 118, 122, 127, 133, 151

Bet She’an 29, 35 Bilad al-Sham 29, 42, 46, 57, 66, 70, 149, 150 Bir el-Qutt 107, 152 Bir Zeit 72 Bishop Sergius, Church of (Umm al-Rasas) 31, 32, 38, 46, 47, 63, 64, 144, 147, 149 Bosra 48, 49, 79, 81, 129 Bureikut (see also Horvat Berachot) 35 Burnt Palace (Madaba) 31, 32, 46, 50, 66 Burz, al- 78, 80, 81, 133, 150 C Caesarea 110, 111, 131 Calvary (Jerusalem) 36, 42, 63, 152 Cana (see also Kafr Kenna) 107, 109, 135 Capharnaum 105, 106, 107, 110, 112, 133 Capitolias (Beit Ras) 81 Cappadocia 122 Carthage 40, 130, 132 Casanova di Carinola 27 Caserta 27 Catherine, Monastery of St (Sinai) 122 Cedron valley (Jerusalem) 106 Celaenae 36 Constantine 33, 37, 48 Constantinople 31, 34, 35, 36, 44, 128, 135, 145 Copenhagen 46 Costanza , Mausoleum of Sta (Rome) 43 Cyprus 123 D Dahar 72 Damascus 25, 27, 37, 51, 129, 131, 142, 145 Damietta 42, 146 Daphne 30, 32, 35 Daria, Kh. 49 Dayr al-Qattar al-Byzanti 91 Dayr al-Sa’nah 80, 150 Dead Sea 32, 51, 53, 54, 61, 94, 107, 132, 147 Der’a (see also Adra) 49 Dome of the Rock (Al-Qods, Jerusalem) 43, 72, 129, 131, 132, 146, 150 Dominus Flevit (Jerusalem) 105, 106, 109, 110, 111, 112, 127, 137, 152 Doura 83 Duwayr, Kh. ed- 49, 134 E Edessa (Urfa) 30, 35, 43, 137 Egypt 28, 42, 51, 108, 121, 122, 124, 126, 134, 146 ‘Ein Karim (see also ‘Ain Karim)108, 137 Eleona 34 Elias, Mary and Soreg Church of (Jarash) 28, 30, 49, 50 el-Khadir (Madaba) 46, 50 el-Khasneh 121 Emmaus (Qubeibeh) 25, 27, 108, 127

313

En-Gedi 7 Esbous (see also Hesban) 49 Ethiopia 51, 122 Euphrates 32, 33, 35, 38, 145 F Flagellation Convent (Jerusalem) 30, 41, 43, 57, 105, 111, 120 Florence 18, 57, 63, 69 G Gadara 96, 109 Galicia 122 Galilee 29, 106, 107, 109, 110, 129 Galla Placidia Mausoleum (Ravenna) 43, 144, 146 Gallipoli 115 Gaulanitis 35, 40 Gaza 30, 33, 38, 40, 43, 50, 69, 72, 96, 129, 132, 133, 135, 136, 142, 145 Genoa 110 Geon 33 George, Church of St (Kh. al-Mukhayyat) 23, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 49, 66, 70, 72, 95, 101, 106, 109, 140, 142, 143, 145, 146, 149 Gerasa (see also Jarash) 46, 48, 49, 133, 135, 152 Gethsemane 40, 106, 152 Ghôr 81, 93 Golgotha (Jerusalem) 34, 108 Gualdo 39 H Haghia Sophia (Constantinople) 34 Hama 43, 132, 136, 146 Haram al-Sharif (Al-Qods Jerusalem) 43 Harbiye 32 Hauran 66 Hayyan al-Mushrif 134, 135, 150 Hebron 27, 59, 72 Herodion 106, 107, 110, 129, 133, 137, 152 Hesban (see also Esbus) 43, 65, 131, 142 Hippolytus Hall (Madaba) 32, 46, 50, 66, 146, 149 Holy Land 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 34, 35, 37, 39, 42, 45, 52, 57, 60, 71, 72, 94, 96, 97, 105, 107, 110, 111, 118, 120, 121, 122, 124, 126, 127, 131, 132, 138, 140, 143, 153 Holy Martyrs (al-Khadhir), Church of (Madaba) 46, 50, 61, 136 Holy Places 27, 57, 105, 111, 118, 122 Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem) 27, 35, 42, 51, 52, 53, 63, 71, 108, 109, 111, 118, 122, 140, 152 Horvat Berachot (see also Bureikut) 35, 138 Husn, al- 49 I Ijnisinya 72, 128 India 122

Indian Ocean 122 Iraq 66, 122, 153 Irbid 80, 137 Istanbul 116, 132, 133, 135 Istra 52 Italy 28, 29, 30, 37, 42, 50, 53, 60, 66, 110, 122, 129, 140 J Jabaliyah 33, 38, 132, 145 Jabr 49 Jarash/ Jerash/ Jérash 30, 34, 46, 48, 129, 75, 79, 91, 137, 150 Jenin 27, 72 Jericho/ Jéricho 26, 29, 32, 39, 42, 50, 61, 66, 69, 70, 71,72, 73,74, 81, 97, 100, 109, 118, 119, 127, 128, 132, 133, 134, 149, 150 K Kafr Kenna (see also Cana) 107 Kafr Yasif (Acco) 72 Kaloa 49 Karak/Kerak 40, 49 Kastron Mefaa/Mephaath (see also Umm al-Rasas) 28, 47, 63, 129, 135, 142, 147 Khadhir, al-, Church of (see also Holy Martyrs) 46, 50, 61, 136 Khan al-Wakala 71 Khatib, Kh. 70, 121 Khirbet es-Samra 82, 132 Kourab, al- 80 Krak des Chevaliers 121 Kufr 72 Kursi, Kh. 49, 77, 80, 86, 136, 150 L Lazarium (Jerusalem) 34 Lazarus (Brother of Martha and Mary )107, (Hospital of St) 109 Lebanon 51, 66, 120, 124, 126 Libya 122 Lisan Peninsula 132 Listib, Kh. 49 Livorno 54 Lot and Procopius, Church of SS (Kh. al-Mukhayyat) 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 45, 50, 61, 65, 66, 142, 143, 144, 145, 149 M Margat 121 Maria Maggiore, Sta (Rome) 28 Maiumas Gazae (see also el- Mînâ) 30 Ma’rib 39 Massa 116, 117 Massuh 43, 49 Mecca 43

314

Mediterranean 51, 122 Memorial of Moses (Mt Nebo) 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 43, 57, 59, 60, 107, 137, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148 Mesopotamia 32, 35, 110, 122 Middle East 21, 23, 25, 42, 45, 46, 50, 124, 126, 134 Mînâ el- (see also Maiumas Gazae) 30 Mird 78 Moab 29, 57, 129, 132, 134, 148 Monza 110, 153 Moscow 52 Moses, Basilica of (Mt Nebo) 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 41, 43, 45, 47, 52, 57, 59, 60, 61, 107, 137, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148 Mount Nebo 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 65, 66, 105, 107, 135, 136, 137, 140, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 148, 150 Mount of Olives 35, 106, 152 Mount Thabor 107, 108 Mount Zion 42, 108, 110, 153 Mukhaytim (Gaza) 33, 38, 145 Mukhayyat, Kh. al- 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 40, 41, 45, 47, 50, 52, 57, 60, 61, 65, 70, 77, 107, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150 Mukkawer 65 Munya, Kh. 51, 135 N Nablus 71, 72, 95, 98, 99, 128 Nativity Churc (Bethlehem) 118 Nazareth 39, 72, 105, 107, 109, 112, 127, 135, 138, 152 Near East 35, 53, 120, 121, 122 Nebo (see also Mount Nebo) 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 65, 66, 105, 107, 112, 135, 136, 137, 140, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 148, 150 Nile 32, 38, 41, 134 Nimrin 79 Nimrud 109 Nisf Jubayl 35, 41 Nisibis 35, 41 Nitl 31, 38, 39, 40, 51, 135, 145, 147 Nitle, Kh. 70 O Orient 54, 74, 122, 123, 128, 131 Oxyrhynchus 42 P Palazzo Venezia 46, 50 Palestine 28, 29, 40, 41, 42, 52, 54, 66, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 94, 95, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 121, 122, 127 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135 Palestinian Territories. 69, 71, 98, 125

Palmyra 111, 153 Pella 49 Peraea 107 Persia 35, 123 Perugia 27 Petra 47, 52, 121 Philadelphia (see also Amman) 49, 131, 136 Philistia 122 Phison 33 Phoenicia Libanensis 35 Phrygia 36 Piazza Armerina (Villa del Casale) 31, 138 Pisa 123 Pontus 122 Potenza 120 Priest John, Church of (Kh. al-Mukhayyat) 30, 31, 32, 65, 66, 143, 145 Procapis’ hermitage (Mt Nebo) 30 Provincia Arabia 35, 39, 46, 49, 105, 110, 129, 137 Q Qala‘at Sem‘ân 34, 121 Qam 81, 150 Qasr al-Abiadh 91, 151 Qasr Hallabat 58 Qarn al-Kabsch, Kh. 52 Qasr Hisham 69, 70, 71, 150 Qastal 32, 128 Qubbat es-Sakhrah (Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem) 116 Qubeibeh 25, 108, 127 Qumran 107 Quweismeh, al- 51, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 86, 135, 150 R Ramallah 72 Ramthaniyye, Er- 35, 40, 130 Ras Siyagha (see also Mount Nebo) 57 Ravenna 28, 43, 140, 142, 144, 145, 146 Rihab 48, 49, 78, 79, 82, 88, 89, 127, 131, 134, 150 Rome 27, 28, 43, 45, 46, 50, 53, 106, 111, 120, 122, 133, 134, 146, 149 Rusafa (see also Sergiopolis) 35, 121 S Sabastiya 26, 71, 72, 73, 74, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 128, 129, 151 Sama ar-Rusan 78, 80, 81, 133, 150 Samaria 69, 95, 97, 99, 110, 129, 130, 132, 136, 138 Saviour, Convent of St (Jerusalem) 18, 58, 105, 108, 110, 111, 152, 153 Sepphoris 109 Sergiopolis (see also Rusafa) 35, 137 Shahba 66, 71, 132 Shawan 72 Shellal Church 30, 138

315

Shummash 31, 32, 40, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51, 63, 64, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149 Shuneh 79, 82, 150 Siyar al-Ghanam 107, 129 Sinai 29, 51, 121, 122, 133, 147, 153 Sion 34 Sirdab 150 Siyagha (see also Mount Nebo) 52, 57, 60, 61, 66, 107 Stephen, Church of St 31, 32, 40, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51, 63, 64, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149 Sudan 51, 123, 147 Sunnâ’ family Church 50, 145 Suwayfiyah 107 Suweida 50, 145 Sydnaya 121 Syria 32, 33, 35, 39, 42, 43, 49, 50, 51, 66, 70, 71, 95, 110, 111, 120, 121, 122, 124, 126, 130, 132, 133, 136, 145 T Tabarka 37 Tabgha 107, 133 Talfit 72 Tanagra 32, 137 Tantour/Deir al-Musmar, Kh. 49 Tayba 72 Tayyibat al-Imam 43, 136 Tell Yahudiyyeh 108 Thalassios 76 Theotokos Church (see also Virgin Church, Madaba) 29, 30, 33, 36, 38, 43, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 59, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147 Tiberias 36, 106, 110 Tigris 33, 38 Tisbeh 49 Toledo 54, 142 Topkapi, Museum 116 Transjordan 95, 105, 106, 110, 137 Tubas 72 Tunis 37, 138 Turkey 122

Vienna 46, 153 Villa del Casale 31 Virgin Church, Madaba (see also Theotokos Church) 43, 46, 49, 50, 146 W Wadi an-Natrun 121 Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah 30, 33, 43, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145 Wadi Feiran 121 Wadi Habib 121 Wadi Kanisah 52 Wadi Murabba’at 107 Wadi Rajib 51, 136 Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem) 105 West Bank 50, 69, 72, 96, 97 Y Yadudah 49 Yajuz 49 Yakto 32 Yammit 30 Yemen 35, 39, 51, 122 Z Zeugma 32, 33, 130, 134 Ziziah 81 Zoara 93 Zuqrit 49

U Umbria 39 Umm al-Jimal 83 Umm al-Rasas/Umm er-Rasas (see also Kastron Mefaa/ Mephaath) 28, 31, 32, 38, 40, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52,53, 63, 64, 65, 66, 135, 136, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149 Umm Jarrar, Kh. 35 Umm Qais (Gaddara) 96 Uruk 109 ‘Uyun Mousa 31, 33, 37, 40, 41, 43, 45, 52, 144, 145, 146 V Venice, Palazzo 53, 110, 131, 153 Via Dolorosa (see also Way of the Cross, Jerusalem) 105, 111

316

Index of Personal Names A Aaron 43 Abdallah II, King of Jordan 95 Abdul Hamid II, Sultan 95 Abela, Fr John 47, 123 Abraham 43, 51, 75 Adam 36, 38, 39, 40, 43, 133 Adkins, Fr Fabian 57 Adonis 32, 40 Agapios, Bishop 49, 92 Amico, Fr Bernardino 93 Amphitrite 33 Ananias 110 Anastasia 87 Anastasius 39, 87 Anne, Sainte- 75, 107, 134, 136, 140 Anthony 107, 122 Antipas 107 Archaelaus 107 Archangels (Michael and Gabriel) 49 Aretas 39, 51, 147 Assurnasirpal 109 Atlas 37 Audelos, al- 51 Augusta 95 Augustus, Emperor 95, 107, 110 Auxentios 35 Axiopistos, Bishop 49 B Bagatti, Fr Bellarmino 28, 30, 39, 45, 46, 60, 77, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 127, 128, 135, 137, 138, 146 Baldwin I, Latin King of Jerusalem 109 Baldwin II, Latin King of Jerusalem 108 Baptist, St John the 34, 35, 40, 43, 48, 95, 96, 97, 99, 107, 123, 151 Baramki, D.C. 69, 81, 128 Bartholomew 106 Basil, St 48 Basileidos 109 Ben Sira 9 Boemundus, Prince 109 Boselli, Giacomo 110 C Cassianus Bassus 37 Choricius 40, 129 Christ 28, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 51, 76, 78, 92, 106, 107, 108, 134, 145, 151, 152 Clement VI, Pope 42 Columella 37, 127, 129, 131 Constantine 33, 37, 48 Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus 37

Corbo, Fr Virgilio 28, 60, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 120, 129, 137 Cornelius 111 Cosmas and Damian 49 Cyprian of Carthage 40, 130, 132 Cyrus 36 D Damian, Church of St 28, 49 Daniel 81 Dante Aleghieri 45 Domitius 106 Dorado, Rafael 105 Dubois, Emile 105 E Edward III 110 Egeria/Etheria 27, 34, 35, 122, 131, 138 Elijah 36, 46, 65, 107 Eliodoros 109 Ephrem 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 128, 129, 131, 133, 134 Euremios, mosaicist 65, 142 Eusebius 131, 133 Euthyme 76, 77, 131 Evagrius Ponticus 28, 131 Eve 36, 37 F Farid al-Masri 33 Farina, Fr Alberto 28 Féderlin, Fr Jean-Louis 75 Franciscan 21, 25, 27, 28, 34, 39, 41, 42, 45, 52, 53, 54, 57, 65, 97, 105, 107, 108, 110, 111, 118, 121, 124, 126, 135, 148, 152, 153 Francis of Assisi 27, 28, 29, 136 G Gaios 78 Gallienus, Emperor 110 Gê 30, 32, 43 Gellon, St 49 George 23, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 49, 66, 70, 72, 95, 101, 106, 109, 140, 142, 143, 145, 146, 149 God 28, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 61, 98, 109, Gyllou 109 H Hamilton 32, 69, 132 Haroun 43 Hassan, Prince al- 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 122 Henoch 36, 43 Henry IV of England 110 Hera 37 Heraclius, Emperor 48 Herod Antipas 107 Herod the Great 95 Honorius III, Pope 109 Hippolytus 32, 46, 50, 66, 146, 149

317

Hisham, Caliph 32, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 143, 150 Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 32 Hussein 60, 69 Hippolytus 32, 46, 50, 66, 146 , 149 Hyksos 106, 134 I Ibrahim 43, 111, 112, 113, 140 Idris 43 Ioannis 92 Isaac 41 Isaiah 29, 33, 36, 49 ‘Issa 43 Italian 45, 48, 50, 51, 57, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 97, 108, 110, 120, 122, 127, 128, 153 J Jacob 43 Jacques de Vitry 29, 130, 132 James 29, 106 Jean 76, 78, 81, 100, 128, 130, 132, 137 Jerome 28, 57, 60, 61, 63, 96, 103, 108, 122, 132, 147 Jesus 29, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 51, 106, 107, 108, 109, 121, 122, 135, 152 Job 53, 70, 97, 123 John 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 49, 57, 65, 66, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 106, 107, 108, 110, 123, 129, 133, 137, 140, 143, 145, 151, 152 John Climacus 28, 129, 133 John of Edessa 35 John of Gaza 40, 43, 133 John of Parma 29, 133 John Paul II, Pope 27, 57 John the Baptist 34, 35, 40, 43, 48, 95, 96, 97, 99, 107, 151 Joseph 43, 75, 106, 138 Josephus Flavius 109 Joshua 28, 142 Josiah 107 Judah 111 Judas Iscariot 34 Julius 37 Justinian 31, 35, 38, 134 K Kasiseos 77, 83 Khadir, el- 46 50 Koiomos 65 L Lazarus 107, 109 Loffreda, Fr Stanislao 106, 107, 128, 129, 133, 134 Longinus 51 Lot 32, 53, 88, 122 Lucia Septimia Sebaste 95 M Magdalene 106 Makarios 92 Malik 32, 42, 146 Marie-la-Grande 41, 111, 145

Martha 106, 107 Mary 30, 41, 106, 107, 109, 128 Mary of Magdala 41 Massolini 51, 53, 120, 121, 122, 123, 147, 153 Matthew, St 106 Melania the Elder 35, 134 Mena, Pedro de 41, 142 Menas 49, 108, 134 Mihaic, Fr Jerome 28, 45, 147 Moses 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 41, 43, 45, 47, 52, 57, 59, 60, 61, 107, 137, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148 Moussa 43 N Narcissus 32 Neptune 33 Noor, Queen of Jordan 50, 149 O Omri 95 Orfali, Fr Gaudenzio 105, 106, 107, 135 P Pacher, Friedrich 110, 112, 136 Pachomius 121 Palladius 86 Paul 27, 47, 48, 49, 57, 110, 121, 128, 130, 136, 137, 140 Paul, Bishop 49 Paula 96 Paul of Thebes 121 Peter, St 48, 106, 107, 110, 111, 145, 152 Philemos 48 Philip 107 Phocas 48 Polyeuctos 48, 49 Pompey 95 Pontius Pilate 107 Poseidon 32, 33 Poverello of Assisi 27 Prophet Elijah 46 Tiberius 107 Tiffany 27, 134, 140 Q Qaya 78 R Robert of Anjou 42 Romanos 49 Rosalia 40 S Sabas 83 Salah ad-Din (Saladin) 42, 95, 96, 97, 99, 130, 151 Salamanios 29, 65 Saller, Fr Sylvester 28, 30, 45, 46, 77, 105, 106, 107, 108, 137 Salome 106 Sancha of Majorca, King of Naples 42 Saul 110

318

Savignac, Père R. 82, 83, 84, 88, 137 Saviour 59, 105, 108, 110, 111, 152, 153 Sepp, Prof Johann Nepomuk 110 Septimius Severus 95 Sergius, St 34, 35, 39, 49, 51, 133, 135, 145 Sergius, Bishop 31, 32, 38, 46, 47, 63, 64, 144, 147, 149 Sergius and Bacchus, SS 34 Shimon 106 Simeon 106, 109 Sin-Kasid 109 Soelos 65 Solomon 109 Sophia 34, 48, 49, 134 Spijkerman, Fr Augusto 105, 106, 107, 110, 111, 129, 137 Steinhausen, Fr Cleophas 105, 108 Stephen 31, 32, 40, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51, 63, 64, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149 Sunnâ’ Family 33, 38, 46, 50, 145 Symeon Stylites 34

Zurbarán, Francisco de 41, 128, 145

T Tabita 106 Theodolus 107 Theodore 32, 33, 38, 48, 49, 107, 145 Theodosius 38, 49 Theodosius II 38 Theotokos 29, 30, 33, 36, 38, 43, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 59, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147 Thetis 32, 33 Thomas, St 106 Thomas of Celano 28, 34, 39, 42, 138 U Ulpius 83, 87 Usama Ibn Munqid 98 V Valentinian 38 Varos 49 Viaud, Fr Prosper105, 106, 107, 138 Vitale 28, 140, 142, 145, 146 W Walid 32, 129 Winkler 57 X Xenophon 36, 129, 138 Y Yahya 43, 96, 99, 100, 151 Ya’qubi 39 Yazid bin Abd al-Malik 32 Yusuf 43 Z Zachary 106 Zechariah 98 Zeus 37

319

Index of Semitic Names A Aaios 83 Abd 32, 76, 91, 146 Aboubos 84 Adday 81 Aianios /Aianes 83 Aion 32, 43 Alamos (see also ‘lm) 87 Anios/Annaios/Annios 85 Aous/Aousos 84 Assoubos 78, 79 Audelos 51 Ausala/Ausèlos/Ausallas 84 B Besôn 76 G Gaianos/Gaianus 77 aius/os 78 H Habbiba 76, 77 Hasan/Assan 83

Q Qaya 78 Qayouma 80 R Rhaïtou 76 S Sabbat/Sabetos 85 Samsaios/Samséos/Samsos/Sommaseos 78 Saola 77 Shummash 78 Soados 85 Sobaios 88 Soual 86 Soubiba/Soubibôn 76 Soula 86 Surôn 76 T Tausis/Tousis 86 Thaimos-Themos 85 Z Zabd 86

I Ilmos (see also ‘lm) 87 K Komas/Komes 87 Kaiama(s) 87 Kaianus 31, 143 Kasiseos 83 Képha 83 L ‘lm = Alamaos/Ilmos/Olemos 87 M Mariam 92 N Naueiman/Noaimath 85 O Ouaddos 87 Olemos (see also ‘lm) 87 Olesos 87 320

General Index A Abba 51 Abbasid 48 abbess 27 Abbot 106, 107 ab origine mundi 46 Abyssos 32 acanthus 29, 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, 144 acropolis 33 advent 33, 42 agriculture 52 Aiôn 32, 43, 83 alabaster 108 Ala Secunda Felix 48 Alexandrian 32, 110 alphabet 107 altar 33, 36, 37, 41, 53, 110, 144, 145 amphitheatre 31 amphora 30 ampullae 108, 118 amulets 109 anemone 40 angel 108 antiphonal 35 antiphonaries 108, 110 Antonianum, Pontifical University 111 Apocryphal Infancy Gospels 29 Apostles 29, 32, 33, 35, 36, 47, 106, 110, 143, 144 apothecary 110 apple 37 apricot 37 Arabian 122, 132 Arabic 30, 105, 107, 111, 120, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137 Aramaic 40, 65, 92, 94, 109, 131, 132, 137 arboriculture 37 archaeological park 49, 50, 52, 60, 66, 69, 147, 149 Archimandrite 51 Armenian(s) 23, 29, 30, 140, 142 arrowheads 53 Art Nouveau 27 Association Terra Santa, ATS 97 Assyrian 109, 111 Autumn 28 Ayyubid 107 108 B Banu Ghassan/ Ghassanids 34, 39, 40, 51 baptistery 27, 31, 32, 38, 41, 45, 59, 142, 143, 145, 146, 148 barley 31, 37, 38, 109 basilica 33, 43, 47, 51, 53, 57, 59, 60, 61, 65, 95, 99, 106, 137, 152 basket 30, 31, 37, 143

bear 29, 31, 32, 39, 109, 110, 124, 126 beasts 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 39, 142 bells 108 birds 32, 34, 36, 38, 39, 120, 143, 152 boars 31 botanist 105 breviary 110 bronze 106, 108, 109, 110, 112, 152 Bronze Age 52, 95, 105, 107, 108 bullae 109 Byzantine 21, 23, 27, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 45, 46, 49, 50, 51, 61, 63, 65, 70, 71, 72, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 148, 151, 152 Byzantium 45, 46, 47, 72, 127, 131 C cage 32 calamus 37 Calendar 51, 53, 120, 121, 122, 123, 153 camel 32, 40, 152 candles 35 candlesticks 108 canopic jars 108 capitals 98, 99, 106, 107, 151 cardo 46, 50 carillon 108 castrum 46, 47, 48, 149 cathedral 27, 32, 41, 43, 47, 96, 97, 98, 99, 142, 151 celebratio Nili fluvii 92 cella trichora 60, 148 cenobitic 51 censer 109 centurion 111 Chalcolithic 52 chalice 145 chanting 35 chapel 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 47, 59, 63, 64, 110, 137, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148 chariot 33 cherry 37 chora 34 Christian 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 57, 60, 64, 65, 93, 95, 96, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 121, 122, 124, 126, 127, 128, 131, 132, 135, 137, 138, 140 Christological 34, 43 Christo-Palestinian 40, 94, 145 church 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 70, 71, 72, 94, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 118, 122, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150 Cinnamon 37 CISS 50, 70, 71, 97 Cohors Italica 111 Collegio Serafico 27 Constantinian 106

321

convent 30, 41, 43, 57, 105, 108, 110, 111, 120, 152, 153 copper 108, 109 Copt 72, 108, 111, 121, 122 cornucopia 32 cosmic 29, 43 cosmos 38, 43 Council of Constantinople 36 Croatian 57 crosier 108, 151 cross 30, 33, 36, 38, 40, 43, 47, 51, 98, 107, 109, 111, 145, 152 crown 33, 40 Crusader 96, 97, 98, 99, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 121, 127, 145, 151, 152 Custody of the Holy Land 27, 42, 60, 71, 72, 97, 105, 110, 111, 118, 121, 122, 124, 126, 140 cylinder 107, 109 D Davidic 106 Decapolis 49, 53, 105, 109, 110, 133, 137 deer 30, 32, 36, 144 Department of Antiquities of Jordan 49, 51, 66, 95, 136 Deuteronomy 31, 37, 38, 40, 61 dog 31, 32 dolphins 33 domus ecclesia 106 donkey 29, 31, 142 ducks 32 Dutch 105 E Eagle 17, 43, 146 Earth (see also Gê) 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 41, 43, 123 Easter 34 Eden 36, 38, 134 eels 33 Egyptian 42, 105, 106, 108, 129 elephant 32 empire 35 ephah 37 Epiphany 34 Equites Promoti Indiginae 47 Ethiopians 122 Eucharistic 30, 37, 40 eulogia 115 evergetes 47, 49 evil 28, 42 F faience 108 fallah 29 fish 32, 33 fishing 32, 34 flock 31 flowers 30, 32, 33, 39, 41, 106, 143

flute 31 foederati 47 formas lapideas 116 fortification 48, 98, 99, 151 fortresses 106 Four Seasons 33 fox 31 Franciscan 21, 25, 27, 28, 34, 39, 41, 42, 45, 52, 53, 54, 57, 65, 97, 105, 107, 108, 110, 111, 118, 121, 124, 126, 135, 148, 152, 153 frankincense 37 fruit(s) 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 95, 106, 124, 126, 143 G garden 36, 37, 38, 39 gazelles 33, 36, 144 Gê 30, 32, 43 Genesis 33, 38, 40, 41 geometric patterns 106 Geoponika 37, 131 Georgian 35, 107, 111, 122, 137, 152 glass 27, 106, 109, 140, 147, 152 Gnostic Gospel 34 Goat 31 goddesses 108 gods 108 gold 71, 108, 109 golden 33, 37, 106 Golgotha 34, 108 Gospel 30, 34, 41, 42, 106, 121 graffiti 91, 106, 137 grape 29 Great Palace 31, 129, 132, 135, 137 Greek 28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 38, 39, 42, 43, 46, 48, 63, 65, 94, 95, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 122, 123, 127, 130, 131, 137, 142, 145, 152 grotto 106, 108, 151 Gyllou 109 H hare 31, 36, 38 harp 35 hat 32, 76 heaven 33, 34 Hebrew 37, 92, 95, 107, 110, 111 hegumen 30 Hellenistic 31, 32, 71, 95, 99, 105, 107, 108, 134, 151, 152 henna 37 heritage 23, 39, 42, 49, 50, 52, 53, 61, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 96, 97, 98, 99, 111, 122, 128, 149, 151 hermit 51, 63 Herodian 95, 106, 107 Hesperides 37 hippocampi 33 holy 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 57, 60, 61, 63, 71,

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72, 94, 96, 97, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 120, 121, 122, 124, 126, 127, 131, 132, 136, 138, 140, 143, 144, 146, 152, 153 honey 38 horse 31, 109 horseback 31, 32, 109 hospital 26, 109, 123 house 33, 38, 106, 109, 145 hunting 31, 133 hymns 35, 36, 37, 39, 129, 133, 134 hypodektai 47 I iconophobic 48, 98 Imbomon 34 Isra’, al- 43 Imperial 34, 130 incense 35, 109 incense shovels 109 inhabited scrolls 29, 30 inscription 30, 33, 46, 47, 48, 49, 63, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 134, 136, 145, 147, 149, 152, 153 J Jebusite 106, 137 Jewish 97, 101, 106, 110, 134, 137, 138 John Rylands Library 42 Judaeo-Christian 39, 105, 106, 109 Justinianic 31 K karpophoroi 30 King 17, 33, 36, 37, 38, 42, 50, 59, 95, 107, 108, 109, 110, 153 kingdom 40, 41 knife 29, 31 Kush, Kingdom of 122 L Lakhmid 35 lamb 33, 37, 41, 111, 144, 145 lamellae 109 lamps 106, 108, 109 Last (Judgment, Supper) 40 Latin 40, 42, 83, 89, 108, 111, 121, 137, 151 Lauds 30 Legenda Aurea 110 library 42, 70, 105 lily 40 limes 35 lion(ess) 31, 32, 33, 153 liturgy 34, 35, 108 lotus 32, 40 Louvre Museum 33, 35

M Maccabees, Book of 109 Macedonians 95 Mâdrâshe 35 Man 28, 34, 36, 38, 39, 42, 65 Mankind 36 map 28, 32, 41, 46, 50, 66, 99, 121, 122, 127, 135, 136, 137, 138, 142, 146, 151 marble 59, 99, 106, 111, 151 martyr 32, 33, 38, 48, 145 martyrdom 110, 132 masks 33, 108 master 57, 118 Matins 30 Mediaeval 27, 41, 42, 96, 97, 105, 108, 111, 122, 133, 145, 152 Megalopsychia 32, 130 Melkite 40 Memorial 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 43, 57, 59, 60, 61, 64, 107, 137, 138, 140, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148 Mesopotamian 108, 109 Messiah 36 Messianic 33 mi’râj 43, 146 milk 30, 31 Ministry of Education 66, 98 misericordia 28, 38 Missal 110 Moabite 107 monk 35, 47, 51, 120, 121 monogram 106 Monophysite 34 Mosaic(s) 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 57, 63, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 98, 99, 106, 107, 111, 118, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 142, 143, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151 Mosaic School 29, 42, 49, 50, 57, 65, 66, 67, 70, 129, 149 mother-of-pearl 26, 52, 71, 109, 110, 118, 140, 152 museum 66, 98, 105, 106, 118, 120 Muslim 15, 42, 43, 46, 95, 96, 98, 117, 122, 123, 129 must 31 Mycenean 106 myrrh 37 mystical lamb 111 N Nabatean 110, 152 narthex 49, 51, 148 Nativity, basilica of the 115, 116, 117, 153 necropolis 95, 106, 107 Nestorian 35, 128 New (Testament) 36, 41, 42, 133, 137 NGO 50, 70, 71, 97 Nilotic 32 nosokomeion 80 Notitia Dignitatum 47, 63 Nubian 122

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numismatic 105, 110 nymphs 37 nut trees 37 O Ocean(us) (see also Okeanos) 32, 33, 34, 122, 134 octopus 33 Old (Testament) 28, 33, 36, 41, 61, 95 Olive 152 orphanotrophum 111 Oslo Agreement 69, 72, 73, 95, 96, 132 ostracon 107, 108, 137, 152 ostrich 32 Ottoman 40, 46, 50, 51, 71 oxen 31 P Palestinians 69, 70, 72 palmiped 32 palm tree 30 panther 32 papyrus 42, 83, 107 Paradise 27, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 66, 129, 131, 132, 133, 145 Pardons 35 parrots 35 partridges 32, 142 pastophorion 30 Pastoral 31 pastoralism 34 patrikios 35 peace 25, 28, 30, 36, 41, 42, 43, 50, 53 peach 37 peacocks 30, 145 pear 37 Pentateuch 36 Pentecost 34 Persians 95 personifications 33, 38, 43 Petra Papyri 47 pharmacy 105, 108, 110 phoenix 30, 129, 143 Phylarch 51, 145, 147 Pilgrim 21, 108, 109, 110, 111, 117, 123, 125, 135, 141 pilgrimage 21, 27, 34, 35, 40, 96, 110, 124, 126 pistachio 37 Platonism, Neo 111 ploughman 31 plum 37 pomegranate 37 Poseidon, House of 32, 33 pottery 28, 108, 137 Prehistoric 52 presbyterium 50 Primacy 107 procurators 107 Protoevangelium 29

Psalm 33, 122 putto (see also putti) 32, 144 Q quadriburgium 46 R Rabbinic 109 ram 41, 145 relic 35 Renaissance 31, 108, 130 Republic 110, 120, 153 restoration 28, 29, 33, 45, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 61, 63, 65, 66, 71, 108, 109, 111, 145, 146, 147, 148 resurrection 40, 43, 106 Revolt (Jewish) 106, 110 Rodismos 40 Roman 27, 35, 37, 42, 46, 49, 50, 52, 63, 66, 71, 95, 96, 98, 99, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 138, 151, 152 Romanesque 106, 152 rose 36, 38, 40, 41, 47, 49, 51 S Safaitic 111 saffron 37 saints 34, 75, 81, 107, 119 Samaritan 107 sanctuary 34, 38, 52, 60, 95, 106, 144 Sanskrit 37 sarcophagus 106, 108 Satan 36 scarabs 106, 108 scrolls 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, 43, 107 sea horses 32, 33 seals 108, 109 Seasons 29, 32, 33, 43, 144 Semitic 122, 136 Septuagint 35 Sepulchre 27, 35, 42, 51, 52, 54, 63, 71, 108, 109, 111, 117, 123, 141, 152 Sermon on the Mount 107 serpents 33 sheep 31, 36 shekel 110 shield 32 shrimps 33 sigillata, terra 108, 133 silver 106, 109, 110, 145 soldiers 32, 53 Song of Songs 34, 37 spear 31, 32 Spring 30, 32, 36, 38, 39, 52 stelae 108 stigmata 43, 110

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Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 21, 23, 25, 28, 29, 41, 50, 57, 61, 63, 66, 69, 105, 111, 112, 113, 122, 127, 128, 135, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153 stylite 47, 51, 142 Sultan 42, 95, 138, 146 Summer 28, 29, 33, 42, 45, 50 swans 32 sword 31, 32 synagogue 30, 70, 106, 107, 110, 127, 135, 142 Syriac 30, 35, 111, 128, 132, 133 T Taba Agreement 95, 96 Tabernacle 36, 38 tablets 109 tabula ansata 47 Temple 36, 37, 49, 144 Terra Promissionis 27 tessera(e) 17, 27, 69, 123 tetradragm 110 Thalassa 32, 33, 35, 43, 144 Thamudic 111 theologian 34 Theology 28, 34, 35, 140 tholia 32 Torah 36 tortulae 115 tourism 65, 66, 96, 97, 120 Transfiguration 34, 107 tribes 35, 47, 51, 65 Trisagion 36 Triumph of the Cross 34 troparion/troparia 3 True Cross 35 Tyche 49, 152 Typikon 34

Waqf 95, 96, 98 weights 109 wheat 31, 37, 38, 39, 144 White Fathers (Pères Blancs) 140 winepress 29, 31 Winter 59 wisdom 27, 34, 41, 121 wolf 33 woman 30, 31, 32, 143 Worcester Hunt 31, 32 Z zebra 32

U Umayyad 29, 32, 37, 46, 49, 50, 61, 63, 69, 128, 132, 136, 143, 146, 150 UNESCO 52, 132 USAID 50 ushabti 108 V venationes 31, 32, 38 Vespers 30 vine 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 106, 142, 143, 145 Virgin 35, 43, 46, 49, 50, 106, 128, 130, 146, 147, 152 Visitation, Church of the 108 W waders 32 walnut, trees 37

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BAR S2248 2011

In Memoriam: Fr Michele Piccirillo, ofm (1944-2008)

DAUPHIN & HAMARNEH (Eds)

Celebrating his life and work Edited by

Claudine Dauphin Basema Hamarneh

IN MEMORIAM: FR MICHELE PICCIRILLO

B A R

BAR International Series 2248 2011