Mitteilungen zur Christlichen Archäologie, Band 25 (2019)

Excavations at St. Paul’s Catacombs: New Evidence at an Old Site Featuring more than 24 catacombs, the St. Paul’s Catacombs at Rabat have always been considered an important asset for Malta’s archaeological context. This paper gives a preliminary assessment of ongoing post-excavation work following extensive excavations carried out as part of Heritage Malta’s Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project between 2010 and 2015. These excavations revealed that the story of the site dates back to centuries before the first catacombs began to be dug. The initial human intervention at the area appears to have been as a quarry, possibly dating back to the Phoenician-Punic period. This quarry was subsequently used for the excavation of a number of shaft-and-chamber tombs and surface burials of cremated and infant inhumations. The Late Roman catacombs themselves were also part of the investigation; this article is an outline of the main discoveries within one of the excavated catacombs – catacomb 8. The underground burial site provided the largest amount of human bones and artefacts, which may give new insights into this period of the Maltese islands. This paper does not aim to give an exhaustive account or complete results, but instead outlines the highlights of these excavations and some of the preliminary interpretations.', 'ge:Ausgrabungen der St. Paulʼs Katakombe: Neue archäologische Befunde einer Altgrabung Die Katakomben von St. Paul in Rabat, bestehend aus mehr als 24 Anlagen, wurden seit jeher als eine wichtige Stätte Maltas verstanden, um archäologische Zusammenhänge kontextuell besser einordnen zu können. Dieser Artikel ermöglicht erste Einblicke in die vorläufige Auswertung der umfangreichen Arbeiten, die zwischen 2010 und 2015 im Rahmen des Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project der nationalen Agentur Heritage Malta durchgeführt wurden und noch immer stattfinden. Die neuen Grabungen haben gezeigt, dass die Geschichte dieser Stätte weit zurückreicht, noch bevor die Katakomben gebaut wurden. Die ersten Eingriffe in die natürlichen Gegebenheiten bestanden offenbar in einer phönizier-punierzeitlichen Nutzung des Geländes als Steinbruch. In diesem ehemaligen Steinbruch konnten eine Reihe von Schacht- und Kammergräbern sowie Aschebestattungen von Erwachsenen und Kindern an der Oberfläche festgestellt werden. Die Erforschung der spätrömischen Katakomben war per se ein wichtiger Teilaspekt, im Mittelpunkt steht die Katakombe 8. Diese unterirdische Grabstätte beinhaltete die größte Menge an menschlichen Knochen und Artefakten, die neue Einblicke in einen wichtigen Abschnitt der historischen Entwicklung Maltas ermöglichen. Der Artikel zielt nicht darauf ab, eine endgültige Darstellung oder vollständige Ergebnisse zu liefern, sondern umreißt stattdessen die Erkenntnisse der jüngsten archäologischen Untersuchungen und einige vorläufige Interpretationen.']

Keywords: Catacombs, Late Roman Malta, shaft-and-chamber tombs, cremations, inhumations, bones, quarry, ossuary.

The Cubiculum of the Madonna with two Magi in the Roman Catacombs of the SS. Marcellino and Pietro after restoration. Iconographic declinations of the Epiphany scene The author has directed the restoration of cubicle 69, called of the Madonna with two Magi in the Roman catacombs of the SS. Marcellinus and Peter. In the intervention, which took place between 2014 and 2015, laser beam has been used for cleaning in a technological successful way, which now has a wide range of case studies in the conservation of catacomb paintings. The restoration was the occasion for a deepening of the iconographic peculiarity of the cubicle, from which is given the name. The study showed how, in the cemetery ad duas lauros, the scenes of Epiphany, even apart from doubtful cases, always present two Magi on the sides – or beside – of the Virgin and Child, instead of the canons three. It is good to reiterate that the number of the Magi is not mentioned in the Gospel text, but only appears in the subsequent apocryphal production, in relation to the three gifts brought by the dignitaries. The numerical variation, attested also in one case in the catacombs of Domitilla and in some products of the so-called minor arts in the version of four Magi, seems in the whole of the Labicana to be a precise local choice, not so much due to mere compositional reasons or to uncertain experimentation iconographic, but perhaps to a careful reading on the one hand to the Gospel text, on the other anticipating the concept of royalty that the epiphanic situation, especially in the symmetrical scheme in work in cubicle 69, allowed to express.

Keywords: Catacomb, iconography, restoration, fresco, Madonna, Child, Epiphany, Adoration, Magi.

Early Christian Martyrion in Chersonesos “Necropolis of Saints” The article presents an early Christian cave complex located on the slope of Devich’ya Hill on the suburban south eastern necropolis of Chersonesos. In the late 4th / first half of the 5th century the revered crypt was reconstructed into a miniature cult construction of a memorial character with an apse-exedra spanned by a concha. In the rock floor several deepening’s of various sizes were cut for the installation of the altar, altar rood screen and for crypt-repository. In the layer of destruction fragments of four marble round (or sigmoid) tables (mensae) were found. In the second half of 6th century at the earliest the chapel ceased functioning due to the collapse of the rocky vault. In room 3 a bread oven was arranged. Material from its subtraction provides a terminus ante quem for the destruction of the chapel and allows supposedly assigning it to the mid-6th century. In the Middle Byzantine period the oven stopped to be used and the western part of the chapel became a place for dumping of the household garbage from the monastery complex located above on the plateau. It may be considered that for the transformation of the crypt into the memorial chapel there were some imported reasons connected either with the special spiritual status of the buried or with the sacred character of the place itself. The motives should be sought in the early Christian hagiographic sources, reflecting the processes of the formation of Christianity in the region. The attitude to this place as to the sacred one is confirmed by the construction in its immediate vicinity of the over ground church and appearance of a small monastery that continued to keep the memorial functions into the middle Byzantine era.

Keywords: Chersonesos, suburban south-eastern necropolis, Devich’ya Hill, crypt, cave chapel, mensa.

Finger Rings from Crimea with Christian Symbols in the Second Half of the 6th and 7th Centuries Finger rings with Christian symbols were popular during the second half of 6th–7th centuries in the Crimea; these were imported from Byzantium and produced in local workshops using imported patterns. They are represented by four types: I – with the image of the cross; II – with the inscription “ΦΩС ΖΩΗ”; III – with the image of an angel / archangel; IV – with the image of the holy rider. The silver finger rings of types Ia, Ib and II undoubtedly belong to Byzantine products; the same is true for bronze products of types Ic and IIIa. Most likely, the rings with the formula “ΦΩС ΖΩΗ” were made in the jewelry workshops of Constantinople along with objects of the Christian cult, which bore the same inscription. The bronze rings of types IIIb and IV, on the plates of which the images of the holy rider or archangel are carved, were made by local craftsmen using Byzantine patterns. Finger rings from the Crimea with Christian symbols belonged to male soldiers and young women of high social status. Most of the rings came from female burials. In general women wore them around their hands, around the right index finger and in breast necklaces connecting fibulae. Ancient Christians believed that Christian symbols and plots on a rings shield would have the attributes of an amulet protecting the wearer from all kinds of misfortunes. Archaeologists allocate finger rings to the category of “small” finds. These “small” and often nondescript objects, however, are tangible reminders of people who once lived, thought, felt, asked for healing and sought protection from higher powers. The study of finger rings allows us not only to expand our knowledge of the jewelry that existed in the early Middle Ages, but also adds to our knowledge of daily life and the beliefs of the inhabitants of Crimea in the early Middle Ages. Such findings demonstrate the unity of culture in the Christian world and are a vivid example of the close economic and cultural ties of the Crimea with the Byzantine Empire in the early Middle Ages.

Keywords: The Crimea, the early Middle Ages, Christian symbols, finger rings, amulets.