Baptism in Early Byzantine Palestine 325-451 9781463219697

Table of contents :
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Early Byzantine Palestine
3. Admissible Evidence
4. 'Cathedral' Baptism
5. 'Evangelical' Baptism
6. 'Pilgrim' Baptism
7. Conclusion

Citation preview

Baptism in Early Byzantine Palestine 325-451

Gorgias Liturgical Studies

42

This series is intended to provide a venue for studies about liturgies as well as books containing various liturgies. Making liturgical studies available to those who wish to learn more about their own worship and practice or about the traditions of other religious groups, this series includes works on service music, the daily offices, services for special occasions, and the sacraments.

Baptism in Early Byzantine Palestine 325-451

Juliette Day

gorgias press 2009

Gorgias Press LLC, 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2009 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2009

1

ISBN 978-1-60724-393-9

ISSN 1937-3252

Published first in the U.K. by Grove Books, 1999.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents 1.

Introduction

3

2.

Early Byzantine Palestine

5

3.

Admissible Evidence

9

4.

'Cathedral' Baptism

11

5.

'Evangelical' Baptism

28

6.

'Pilgrim' Baptism

38

7.

Conclusion

44

ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Map of Palestine in the early fifth century

4

2. The baptistery of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, according to Vincent and Abel

18

3. The baptistery of the Church of St Theodore, Gerasa

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4. The courtyard of the Byzantine Patriarchion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, according to Tinelli

22

5. The Anastasis and Patriarchion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, according to Corbo

23

6. The church and baptistery at Nicopolis, according to Vincent and Abel

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7. The church complex at Dor, following Gibson and Dauphin

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8. The church and baptistery at Acsalon, according to Bagatti

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9. The cave church with baptismal installation at Khallat Danabiya, according to Goldfus

35

1

Introduction This study aims to bring together the various evidences for the administration of baptism in Palestine in the period from the inauguration of the Holy Sepulchre project to Jerusalem achieving patriarchal status. These restrictions of geography and time serve two purposes: firstly, to further discussion of a distinctive Talestinian' liturgy against claims for it to be either 'Syrian' or 'Egyptian' or any other style; secondly, temporally, to assess the situation before Jerusalem became the supreme power in church administration in Palestine, at which point it can be assumed that her impact over the liturgy celebrated ceased to be merely influential and became determinative. This is the period when Christianity appropriated the land as her own 'holy land' and witnessed an expansion in an area where previously the church had been a much persecuted minority. The evidence presented will be primarily literary, although not strictly liturgical', and archaeological, but the introductory remarks about Palestine in the Early Byzantine period will enable a proper contextualization of the information provided by our sources. The assessment of the information has led to the positing of 'types' of baptism which can be differentiated by locus, minister and candidate. This study will, therefore, discuss 'cathedral' baptism, 'evangelical' baptism and the claims for 'pilgrim' baptism.

3

»twAl

2

Early Byzantine Palestine Liturgy is not conducted in a vacuum and the history of Christian baptism less so. Our understanding of how baptism was administered can only be enriched by considering who was seeking baptism, what was their motivation and where was baptism administered. These are issues that have been largely ignored by liturgical scholars, and although only the latter is to be discussed in this work, a brief attempt will be made here to contextualize the sources with reference to the geo-political boundaries of Palestine, demography and religion. What do we mean by Palestine? Although in the minds of Christian writers of the fourth century and beyond, the concept of the Holy Land tended to be an all-embracing term for the area containing the locus of Jesus' ministry, it was by no means considered to be 'Holy Land', even by those Christians who lived there1, nor even by the vast majority of Palestinians for much of the period of this study. Palestine as a geographical and political area within the Roman Empire was a rather insignificant province administered from Caesarea, and under the jurisdiction of Antioch in the diocese of the Oriens. In 295, Diocletian attached to it parts of the province of Arabia, namely Sinai and parts of the Transjordan and reorganized it into Palestina and Palestina Salutaris, the latter governed from Petra. In 409 it was again reorganized into three provinces: Palestina I the central area, still administered by Caesarea and containing the most Hellenized population; Palestina II - the Northern area, administered by Scythopolis (Beth Shean) and containing the predominantly Jewish areas of the Galilee and Samaria; and Palestina III or Salutaris containing the largely infertile southern desert areas. Evidence will be presented from all three provinces, but obviously the most comprehensive originate from Palestina I due to Jerusalem's increasing dominance in the Byzantine period. Who were the Palestinians? The hellenization of Palestine, begun under Alexander the Great and continued throughout the Roman period, makes it impossible to generalize about Palestinians, in terms of either race or language. The majority of Palestinians, both Jews and Gentiles, spoke Aramaic (generally called Syriac in the Christian writings), although this was the language neither of government nor of the church. Greek was the language of the educated, of immigrants and of officialdom. Obviously m a n y were bi-lingual, especially in the more

1

See P Walker, Holy City, Holy Places? Christian Attitudes the Fourth Century (Oxford: OUP. 1990).

5

to Jerusalem

and the Holy Land in

BAPTISM

IN

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PALESTINE,

325-451

cosmopolitan cities of the coastal region, Mamma and Caesarea, and garrison towns like Aelia/Jerusalem. Apart from Jerome and Egeria, all our Christian authors write in Greek, even if their native tongue might be something else. The Church functioned bilingually in Palestine; both Eusebius and Egeria refer to interpreters from 'syriac'1; and it is obvious that without an understanding of Aramaic by members of the clergy, the conversion of the countryside could never occur. The different groups living in Palestine can be distinguished in part by language, in part by religion, but the process of assimilation, especially as Christianity takes hold, makes it increasingly difficult to maintain these distinctions. 1. The Jews mainly spoke Aramaic and the largest concentration were in Palestina II, where entirely Jewish villages could be found, although there were synagogues in the major towns throughout Palestine. Dauphin comments that they were distinguishable only by their religious laws and consequent group identity.2 2. Aramaic-speaking pagans living in the cities and assimilated into hellenistic culture, as at Gaza for example. These cannot be described as 'Arabs' per se, although in the eyes of Christian commentators their paganism is indistinguishable from that of 3. The nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists found in the desert areas of Judea, Sinai and the Negev. This group is also referred to as 'Saracens' by Jerome and others, from the Greek skenitai. Although the term means 'tent-dwellers', it is used by Jerome to describe the inhabitants of the city of Elusa3, most of whom would have belonged to category 2. 4. The Arab tribes employed by the empire to patrol the borders (foederati) could be either Christian or pagan; by converting a tribe could place itself under imperial protection in a reciprocal relationship. Sozomen underplays the political importance of conversion for these tribes and shows them to be purely the objects of monastic evangelism.4 5. The colonizers and military who occupied mostly the cities and retained a distinctive hellenistic culture whether Christian or remaining pagan. As Dauphin comments, Christianity muddied these waters further.5 An individual of Arab descent living in the Negev, for example, may after conversion give his children biblical, and therefore Greek, names; it is then no longer possible to distinguish his family from that of, say, a colonizer's when reading 1 2 3 4 5

Eusebius. The Martyrs of Palestine in Lawlor, H J & Oulton J E L. The Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs o/Palestine. (London. 1927). vol II. p 332. Wilkinson. J , Egeria's Travels, (Warminster, 1971). Dauphin, C, La Palestine Byzantine: Peuplement et Populations. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 726. (Oxford. 1998), Vol. I. p 131. Jerome, 'Life of Hilarion', 2 5 in R J Deferrari, (ed.). Early Christian Biographies. Fathers of the Church, vol 15, (Washington. 1977), p 263. Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, VI.38. (ET C Hartranft), Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol II, (Oxford, 1890). Dauphin, op cit, p 128.

6

EARLY

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PALESTINE

inscriptions. Similarly, nomads driven to the cities by economic necessity then become indistinguishable from the local population in the records that survive to us. Thus it is not very useful simply to say pagans were converted to Christianity, when the loci of baptism differed and the subjects of evangelism may be from any one of the above lifestyles. The Church in Palestine The pattern of church administration followed that of the provincial government; thus we do not find bishops in those places associated with Chrisf s ministry, for example, Bethlehem or Nazareth, but rather in centres of civil administration, regardless of the size of the Christian population. The bishop of Gaza attended the council of Nicaea1, but in 395 when Porphyrius became its bishop we are told that the city had only 280 Christians.2 Similarly the pretensions of the bishops of Jerusalem in this period aroused considerable opposition from other Palestinian bishops, particularly those of Caesarea, and the primacy of the see of Jerusalem was therefore not self-evident to them. The Canons of the Church Councils of this period reflect this hesitancy about moving the church's administrative structure away from that of the empire; hence the diplomatic statement at Nicaea, 'Custom and ancient tradition show that the bishop ofAelia ought to be honoured; let him have precedence in honour without prejudice to the proper dignity of the Metropolitan see.'3 The church's hierarchy was predominantly drawn from the Greek-speaking population, of both earlier colonists and newly arrived immigrants, such as Peter from Georgia who became Bishop of Maiuma; although the Arab monk, Elias, did become Patriarch in the late fifth Century. The influx of pilgrims from all parts of the empire, especially those monks who stayed and later became important members of the hierarchy, ensured that at Jerusalem at least the church was very cosmopolitan. The sources do not suggest that the Palestinian church was split along racial and linguistic lines although Strange presents some interesting evidence for cultural differencs, with reference to graffiti on the walls of St Peter's House at Capernaum, 'Here we find . . . evidence that the various language groups may have already developed ethnic Christianities: The Aramaic graffiti are quotations from the Bible. The Syriac scratchings are personal names and puzzling speculative statements. The Greek inscriptions are . . . liturgical formulas and invocations of the "Lord help" variety/4 In 325 it is quite clear that Christianity was a minority religion. In his Onomasticon Eusebius notes only three completely Christian communities but many more entirely Jewish ones, but by the end of the century Dauphin shows 1 2 3 4

Bagatti, B, The Church from the Gentiles in Palestine, History and Archaeology, (Jerusalem. 1970). p 92. Grégoire. H. & Kugener, M-A. Marc le Diacre: Vie de Porphyre, Évêque de Gaza, (Paris, 1930), p 19. Canon 7. Strange. J F, 'Diversity in Early Palestinian Christianity, Some Archaeological Evidences' in Anglican Theological Review, 65 (1983), p 19.

7

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325-451

that of those places which can be clearly identified as one religion or another 48 are Christian and only 40 are Jewish.1 This testifies to the increasing dominance of Christianity, but from silence it would be probably more accurate to say that the land was predominantly pagan, as the Syrian monk Barsauma witnessed when he journeyed to Jerusalem c400AD, 'Les païens à cette époque étaient nombreux dans le pays de Palestine et dans les pays de Phènice et des Arabes; les chrétiens étaient encore peu nombreux dans ces pays, les Juifs at les Samaritains dominaient et persécutaient les chrétiens de cette région.'2 By the end of the fifth century, there were more Christians in Palestine than any other religious group, but Christianity never completely conquered either the strongly Jewish Galilee or the pagan countryside. The triumphant tone of much Christian writing, therefore, needs to be treated with caution. The piecemeal way in which the province was converted can be shown by the patchy archaeological evidence for Christian presence in the fourth century.3 The implication for a study of baptism, undertaken by necessity from Christian sources alone, must be to moderate any conclusions about the numbers coming for baptism and therefore any about the number, type and prominence of the installations required.

1 2 3

Dauphin, op cit. p 168. Nau, F, 'Résumé de monographes syriaques: Barsauma' In Revue de L'Orient Chrétien, vol 18(1913). p 274. See Dauphin, op cit. p 168.

8

2

Admissible Evidence This study aims to look at the administration of baptism within a particular geographical area, namely Palestine, and within a very specific period, from the Council of Nicaea and the inauguration of the Holy Sepulchre building project, until 451 when Jerusalem became a Patriarchate. The main sources for baptism are Cyril of Jerusalem's Catechetical and Mystagogical Lectures and these geographical and temporal restrictions enable a closer examination of the environment in which the liturgy described by him might be assumed to have been influential. Two types of evidence will be presented: literary and archaeological. Admissible literary evidence None of the literary evidence presented will be drawn from a traditional liturgical source. There are no extant 'service books' for Palestine like the Sacramentary of Serapion for Egypt. Our evidence therefore comes from descriptions of liturgies in sermons, pilgrim accounts, letters and hagiographical material, which are presumed to have been written before 451, or refer to that period if clearly of a later date. The inherent problems in our sources are that, if written long after the events which the author is describing, it is important to discern what might be assumed to have been the norm in the earlier period and what belongs to the time of composition. For example: 1. The Life of Porphyrins purports to be a biography of an early fifth century bishop written by his life-long companion, Deacon Mark; however basic information such as the names of the bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem are incorrect. The liturgical information and the descriptions of Christianity still encountering fierce opposition from pagans accord well with what we know about these issues from other, seemingly more reliable, sources. The opinion of the editors is that the errors have occurred due to a later re-writing of the text but that much basic evidence about the liturgy, Gaza and its inhabitants is accurate.1 2. The Lives of the Monks of Palestine was compiled in the mid-sixth century by Cyril of Scythopolis, a disciple of Mar Saba, and contains within it the rudiments of historiography. He explains his purpose, his sources 4

Grégoire & Kugener, op cit. Peeters' claim that V.Porph is a seventh century compilation in syriac, which was supported by Barnes' criticism of attempts to place Porphyrius in an early fifth century context due to the inaccuracies stated above, fail to answer the editors' opinion that information about Gaza and its church does relect an earlier date. Indeed, as will be demonstrated, the liturgy described has more in common with Palestine in this period than with Syria in the seventh century. (Peeters. P. 'La vie géorgiènne de Saint Porphyre de Gaza' in Analecta Bollandiana 5 9 (1941). Barnes, T D, T h e Baptism of Theodosius II' in Studia Patristlca 19 (1987).)

9

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PALESTINE,

325-451

and his methodology, which he seems to follow in his accounts. Cyril relies on accounts of his subjects by those who knew the monks personally and arranges his sources in chronological order. Only the first life, that of Euthymius is useful for our purposes, as Euthymius arrived in Palestine in 405 and was active in the first half of the century. 3. Interestingly, a source for Palestine which we can accurately date to late fourth and early fifth centuries, but which must be treated with extreme caution, is Jerome. From his vantage point in the Latin monastery at Bethlehem, he seems remarkably ill informed about the topography and history of Palestine. For some reason he claims that monasticism began in Palestine with Hilarion around Gaza - a city he probably never visited— and ignores completely that Chariton was the first monk in the Judean desert even though Jerome lived on the fringes of that very desert. Similarly he claims that the city of Dor, 10km north of Caesarea, was in ruins1, despite the fact that his friend Melanie the Younger stayed there on entry to Palestine and that archaeological evidence clearly demonstrates that there was a thriving Byzantine city there. Jerome generally has his own mysterious agenda which is impossible to fathom, but fortunately much of his information that we shall use seems without prejudice. Hagiography needs to be treated with some suspiscion as the author is not always concerned with historical, nor even liturgical, details, but rather to show how the saint exhibited a Christian life. The fact that the liturgy was not one of their main concerns should allow us to posit that they were less likely to elaborate the tradition they had received, but care must be taken to check the liturgical information against what we know from elsewhere about Palestine and ensure that it does not simply reflect the liturgy of the time of composition. Admissible Archaeological Evidence A large number of Byzantine sites have been discovered and excavated, although a very small proportion can be dated to before 451. By far the greatest number of baptismal installations date from the sixth century and these reflect a time when the pattern of baptism described below had broken down, and it was common to find baptisteries in villages and even towns with more than one installation. Clearly therefore any baptistery that is dated towards the end of the fifth century or from the sixth century cannot inform us about our period. The archaeological evidence that will be presented will consist of churches with baptismal installations, that can be dated to our period by architectural features, inscriptions, decoration or sometimes written evidence. It is rare to find a font for this period, as many were destroyed, but what does sometimes remain is the base of the font or evidence of water containment in a church complex, for example a depression in the ground connected by water pipes or a basin with hydraulic plaster. 1

Jerome. Ep. 108.8 (eds. W H Freemantle. G Lewis. W G Martley) NPNFvol VI. (Oxford. 1893). 10

3

'Cathedral Baptism In this first section we will investigate the evidence for the administration of baptism within the cathedral cities of the Province of Palestine.The bishoprics can, in part, be determined from the lists of signatories to the councils, although they cannot always be taken as a completely reliable. The type of evidence is unevenly spread between the literary and the archaeological. The metropolitan see of Caesarea, despite the vast output of Eusebius, provides us with no literary evidence for baptism and the identification of an octagonal building in the excavations as a church is uncertain. If Caesarea gives us nothing, then Jerusalem and Gaza provide rich literary evidence, even if for neither is there very clear archaeological evidence. What is possible, though, is to examine the literary sources for clues as to the location in which the rite was performed. For the remainder of sees we have either archaeological evidence or nothing at all. A presentation of the whole should provide us sufficient detail in order to be able to draw conclusions about the form and location of baptism in the major cities. Literary Evidence Jerusalem The baptismal liturgy of fourth century Jerusalem is very well recorded in the following works: 1. The 18 Catechetical Lectures delivered to those preparing for baptism during a Lent in the 350s, by Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (348-386).1 2. From the 380s there are five Mystagogical Catecheses, delivered in Easter week to the newly baptized in which the liturgy and theology of baptism and the eucharist are explained. The unbaptized were forbidden to attend these services and instruction was therefore reserved until they had experienced them for the first time. Probably also from the 380s is the Procatechesis, a sermon delivered on the first day of Lent to those who had just enrolled as candidates for baptism.2 There is some debate about the authorship of the Mystagogical Catecheses and they may well owe their final form to Cyril's successor, John, but none of the arguments seems conclusive.

1 2

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures in E H Gifford (ed), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol VII. (Oxford, 1893). Cross, F L, S i Cyril of Jerusalem: Lectures ort the Christian Sacraments, (repr. New York, 1986).

11

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I 3. Egeria's description of the liturgy at the church of the Holy Sepulchre, contained in her Travel Diary1 which in some places adds to and corroborates what we learn from Cyril and in others serves only to mystify. The catechumens2 must already have attended the services regularly in order to find a member of the congregation to stand as godparent to them, and also as Cyril assumes a certain familiarity with the liturgy and bible by alluding to well-known passages to explain the points he makes in his lectures. Not all candidates were accepted, though, and provision was made for people to come back at a later stage if not considered ready. Egeria describes that on the first day of Lent the candidates are presented to the bishop and clergy by their godparents, who are asked, 'Is this person leading a good life? Does he respect his parents? Is he a drunkard or a boaster?' and 'about all the serious human vices'.3 If there was no objection their names were written down and their status changed to photizomenoi - those who are to be enlightened. During the first six weeks of Lent, they attended the daily exorcisms and catecheses in the Martyrium. The exorcisms were not performed by the bishop but by specialist exorcists. In the Martyrs of Palestine, Eusebius describes Procopius as a reader and '(though it was an office of special labour) as a banisher of demons'4, but Romanus and Alphaeus were deacons and also exorcists. Exorcism was therefore the task of the minor orders of clergy and laymen with special gifts. The practice at Jerusalem was to put a veil over the face of the one being exorcized, and the exorcist quoted verses from scripture and breathed on the candidate.5 Cyril attached much importance to the power of the sign of the cross6 and, although he does not mention it in this context, it would be an obvious part of the exorcistic ritual. Nowhere in the lectures is there mention of a formal confession of sin, although there are frequent exhortations to repentance. Most probably the candidate confessed his sins and was then exorcized to remove the influence of the devil in the areas of his life he had mentioned. The photizomenoi were given a thorough course of instruction in the beliefs and lifestyle of a Christian. The syllabus of the lectures was: three on repentance and baptism; two on faith; and the remaining thirteen a line-by-line exposition of the Creed used in Jerusalem. Egeria gives a slightly different syllabus, 'His subject is God's Law; during the forty days he goes through the whole bible, beginning with Genesis, and first relating the literal meaning of each passage,

1 2 3 4 5 6

Wilkinson, op cit. Cyril refers to those who have not yet enrolled for baptism a s 'Catechumens', in other provinces this term was reserved for those who had enrolled. it. Eg. 4 5 . 3 . Mart. Pal., p 3 3 2 . Cyril of Jerusalem in ProCatechesis 9. Cross, op cit. Cat XIII.3.

12

'CATHEDRAL'

BAPTISM

then interpreting its spiritual meaning. He also teaches them at this time all about the resurrection and the faith.'1 Some caution must be exercised about how much she understood of the lectures she seems to have heard. The syllabus of Cyril's lectures follows, by and large, the readings set for Lent in the Armenian Lectionary, and indeed Cyril's lectures are rich with biblical quotations—it may well be that the only parts she understood were the quotations from scripture. There was no instruction during Great Week, as the endless cycle of services left little time for three hours of catechesis, but at some stage the candidates were again presented to the bishop by their godparents. As Egeria explains, 'the bishop comes early into the . . . Martyrium. His chair is placed at the back of the apse, behind the altar, and one by one the candidates go up to the bishop, men with their fathers and women with their mothers, and repeat the creed to him.'2 On the Saturday night the congregation assembled in the Martyrium for the Vigil service of psalms, prayers and a sermon. From sometime after 420 there remains a sermon preached by Hesychius at this service in which he makes no reference to baptism,3 indicating that the newly baptized did not arrive in time for the sermon and that the church still contained catechumens who had not yet been dismissed. Meanwhile, the candidates for baptism gathered outside the baptistery, in the porch or antechamber, for a formal renunciation of Satan. They faced West, stretched out a hand, and repeated the words given to them, 'I renounce you, Satan, and all your works and all your [the original reading here, surely erroneously, is 'his'] pomp and all your service'. Cyril explained, after Easter, the specific things they had renounced—the works are human vices, the pomp is popular public entertainment, and the service is pagan worship. To balance the renunciation the candidates declare their allegiance to God by turning to the East and declaring 'I believe in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit and in the repentance of baptism.'4 Moving into the baptistery the candidates undress. Accounts from elsewhere indicate that there were deaconesses to preserve the modesty of the women, but neither Cyril nor Egeria mention any in connection with the Jerusalem church. Once undressed, they were anointed from head to toe with exorcized oil, ordinary olive oil over which a prayer of exorcism had been said.5 Before the ceremony, the water in the font had been consecrated, 'For just as the offerings brought to the heathen altars, though simple in their nature, become defiled by the invocation of the idols, so conversely the simple water having received the invocation of the Holy Spirit, and of Christ, and of the Father,

1 2 3 4 5

It. Eg. 4 6 . 2 . It. Eg. 4 6 . 6 Hesychius. Homélies 1972). Horn. III. MCI. MC 11.3

Paschales,

M Aubineau (ed). Sources Chrétiennes. 187. (Paris,

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acquires a new power of holiness.'1 The candidate was led by the hand into the font and asked if he believed in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and then after assenting, he was pushed under the water three times to imitate Christ's three-day burial.2 This understanding of the water ritual representing only the death of Christ, with no reference to his resurrection, is unique to Jerusalem. One explanation might be that, as the baptism was administered solely during the Easter liturgy, the candidates would be expecting the resurrection to be declared later in the service when the bishop read the Gospel of the Resurrection from the Anastasis. The baptismal formula is unusual as the interrogation of faith had taken place before entering the baptistery. It would be customary to use the formula 'I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit' or 'X is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit". This may indicate that the interrogation of faith in the Jerusalem rite originally ocurred in the font and that the renunciation/ adherence sequence was introduced later. On rising from the font the candidate was anointed with chrism. In MC III, Cyril explains the anointing of each of the senses with scriptural quotations and allusions, 'And first you were anointed upon the forehead, so that you might be delivered from the disgrace which the first man, a transgressor, carried everywhere and so that you might reflect the glory of the Lord by the uncovering of your face. Then upon the ears, so that you might receive ears to hear the divine mysteries, about which Isaiah said, "and the Lord has given me ears to hear" and the Lord Jesus in the Gospels, "whoever has ears to hear let him hear". Then upon the nostrils so that having received the fragrant oil of God, you may say, "We are to God a fragrance of Christ in those being saved". After this upon the breast, in order that having put on the breastplate of righteousness you may face the works of the devil.' 3 It may well be that these verses accompanied the ritual act. Egeria records, but not Cyril, that having put on their white robes they are taken directly to the Anastasis for a blessing before joining the congregation in the Martyrium for the celebration of the eucharist.4 Their presence would be very visible in the week that followed, processing with the congregation to the churches in Jerusalem and to Bethlehem in their white robes; they would also receive further instruction on the sacraments of baptism and eucharist in Easter week. Gaza The Life of Porphyrins provides us with accounts of baptisms performed in Gaza in the early fifth century. Gaza was a prosperous city of an estimated

1 2 3 4

Cat III.3 MC II.4. MC III.4

It. Eg.

38.1.

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50,000 inhabitants who in general worshipped the pagan god Marnas (Zeus) at the Marneion shrine, which was comparable in prestige to the Serapeum in Alexandria and which shared the same fate. The Gazans were Aramaic speakers, but had been thoroughly hellenized in their religion as Gaza had shrines also to Helios, Aphrodite, Apollo, Kora, Hecate and the temples called Hereion and Tychaion.1 The Life recounts the fierce opposition to Porphyrius' appointment; as he travels to Gaza the villages en route put up roadblocks and set fire to dung heaps2; at his first service in the city the very small number of Christians process to their cemetery church to honour their martyrs and return to find the city gates shut in their faces3; Porphyrius finds their behaviour so dreadful that, barely five years after his arrival, he asks the Bishop of Caesarea to relieve him of his duties and then spends two years in Constantinople4 and in 407 there is a full scale pogrom in which the bishop's house is ransacked.5 It is in examining how Porphyrius overcame these trials and converted the inhabitants that the liturgist may glean details of the initiation rite in Gaza. There are six separate accounts of conversion and reception of converts in Gaza itself, all of which have the same basic pattern; and there is one of the reception of an Arian at which the bishop of Caesarea also assisted, which might indicate that both dioceses followed the same rite. Conversions are brought about by miracles performed by Porphyrius, he is responsible for rain, for the safe delivery of a breached baby, by the unexpected death of a Manichean and through the fear among the pagans after the Marneion had been destroyed with imperial backing. The existing congregation expressed unease that those coming to the church out of fear were received so readily, which gives Porphyrius an opportunity to state his policy for the reception of converts, which is that, as with a recalcitrant slave who can be turned to good use by the threat of punishments, so it is with pagans, and, even if their conversion is not genuine, their childen might be saved through contact with 'good'.6 There is only one account of what might be called a genuine, heartfelt conversion, that of the 12-year-old Salaphtha who later became an ascetic.7 The table overleaf compares the accounts of conversion and reception of converts presented in the Life.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

V.Porph. V.Porph. V.Porph. V.Porph. V.Porph. V.Porph. V.Porph.

64. 17. 20. 32. 95. 73. 97-102.

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CONVERSION AND RECEPTION OF CONVERTS IN THEL/FE OF PORPHYRIUS V.Porph

§21

§31

§62

§74

Candidates

128 pagans and further 35

Aelias' family— 64 people

32 men, 7 women

300 pagans Followers of Manichean prophet, Julia

Reason for conversion

rain miracle

safe delivery ofbaby

destruction destruction Julia dies of statue of of suddenly Aphrodite Marneion

she had long wished to become one, if she was worthy'

Signed with cross

YES

YES

YES

YES

Sent away in peace

YES

YES

YES

Catechism

YES

Instructed attend church

YES

Baptism

YES

YES

§91

YES

YES

§100 Salaphtha, her aunt and grandmother

YES YES

YES

YES

Robe/schéma

YES YES

Eucharist Post-baptismal catechesis

YES

The pattern that emerges from the evidence above is that individuals presented themselves to the bishop in person; the first group followed the Christian procession back to the church and were received by the bishop, and, although Salaphtha had long wished to become a Christian, she did not act until she had encountered the bishop personally. In almost every case the candidates are 'signed with the sign of the cross' and then 'sent away in peace', which presumably means anointing and some form of blessing. Porphyrius instructs them to attend the catechesis and to attend church. Only Aelias' family are said to have been made catechumens; for the rest it is implied that the signing with the cross signifies that. The catechesis was given at Gaza by the priest Timothy1, as at Jerusalem this task was entrusted to a senior cleric, however it seems that earlier in his episcopate Porphyrius undertook the catechesis himself, as Mark writes, Torphyrius received all those who wish to be baptized, but not without having catechized them for several days, not only before but after baptism... for he constantly preached the Word... he instructed them in simple phrases, explaining everything according to scripture.'2 1 2

V.Porph. 100. V.Porph. 74.

16

'CATHEDRAL-

BAPTISM

There was neither Lenten catechesis nor Easter baptism—indeed the onlydescription of an Easter service is the dedication of Eudoxia's church where there is no reference to baptism.1 The time spent as catechumens seems to be shorter than at Jerusalem, as the text refers to catechism lasting only a few days. This can be explained by the embattled situation of the Gazan church and one can presume that baptism had to be administered before the convert went off the idea! The Life does not provide us with the baptismal formula or any further information about the rite itself. We have no information about exorcisms, although from Eusebius' Martyrs of Palestine we know that there were exorcists in the cathedral churches of Caesarea, Scythopolis and Eleutheropolis, so with some safety it could be assumed that the Gazan church was no different, especially considering the paganism from which the catechumens had converted. There is no reference to a pre- or post-baptismal anointing in the accounts of conversions in Gaza itself, but when Porphyrius and the bishop of Caesarea return from Constantinople, they convert the Arian boat captain, whom they receive back into the church by signing him again, praying over him and giving him communion.2 His baptism was valid, but the account implies that the final ceremonies of 'orthodox' baptism were re-applied. This was in accordance with the seventh canon of the Council of Constantinople which stated that Arians, amongst other groups, were to be received by anathematizing their heresy and 'they are sealed or anointed with holy chrism on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears. As we seal them we say "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"3 This corresponds to the description of chrismation given by Cyril in MC III. The rest of the post-baptismal sequence is no different from Jerusalem— putting on a (presumably white) robe, receiving the eucharist and postbaptismal catechesis. These similaritites with the Jerusalem rite can be explained by Porphyrius' career before he was appointed to Gaza; he arrived in Jerusalem in 382", was ordained and made Warden of the Cross in 3925, and must therefore have encountered Cyril and have participated in the baptismal liturgy described in the Mystagogical Catecheses. The pattern for the initiation that is presented for both Jerusalem and Gaza is reception as a catechumen (J and G), catechesis (J and G), renunciation/ adherence sequence (J), pre-baptismal anointing (J), baptism with trinitarian formula (J and G), chrismation (J and G), putting on white robe (J and G), receiving communion (J and G) and post-baptismal catechesis (J and G). That these two cities separated by some distance and whose constituents were quite different, shared an almost identical structure to the initiation rites may well 1 2 3 4 5

V.Porph. V.Porph. Tanner, V.Porph. V.Porph.

92. 57. N (ed). Decrees 4. 10.

of the Ecumenical

Councils.

17

(London. 1990).

BAPTISM

IN

EARLY

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

indicate that the literary sources present us with the Palestinian baptismal liturgy, which would have been followed by other sees in the province. The examination of the archaeological evidence that follows, together with that of written sources for the architectural arrangements will demonstrate the type of baptistery required for the performance of such a liturgy in known cathedral cities. Archaeological Evidence Jerusalem Earlier generations of scholars have tended to conclude from Cyril's tripartite presentation of the liturgy that a three-roomed baptismal complex was required. Such a complex can be seen at the church of St Theodore at Gerasa, in Jordan, where it would seem that candidates waited in the vestibule, then entered the 'pistikon' for the renunciation/adherence ritual and undressed. With modesty in mind they could enter and leave the font and pass straight into the third room where they would be chrismated. Vincent and Abel, Crowfoot, Couasnon and more recently Wharton1 have concluded that the three chapels to the South of the present Holy Sepulchre complex were the original Constantinian baptistery. 2. THE BAPTISTERY OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM, ACCORDING TO VINCENT AND ABEL

1

Vincent, H & Abel, F-M, Jérusalem Nouvelle. (Paris, 1914-1926). Crowfoot. J W. Early Churches in Palestine, British Academy Schweich Lecture, (London. 1941). Couasnon, C, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, British Academy Schweich Lecture. (London. 1974). Wharton. A J . The Baptistery of the Holy Sepulcher and the Politics of Sacred Landscape' in Dumbarton Oaks Papers vol 46 (1992).

18

'CATHEDRAL'

BAPTISM

3. THE BAPTISTERY OF THE CHURCH OF ST. THEODORE, GERASA

This identification is suspect on several grounds . Archaeologically, the claims for Constantinian remains to the south of the South wall of the Martyrium and Atrium are very suspect. Wharton substantiates her claim with the statement that the baptistery would have occupied a 'prominent public site' on the South rather than 'be embedded in the administrative wing of the church'1. She is therefore assuming that Christianity had such prominence in early fourth century Jerusalem that, before 333, the private and secret initiation ceremony would be so publically acknowledged. As was discussed above, it cannot be said with certainty that even by the end of the century Christianity was dominant in Jerusalem. The church at Gerasa can safely be dated to the sixth century and therefore reflects a later stage of liturgical development—it is more than likely that the three southerly chapels once served as a baptistery but not until the seventh century. Cyril refers directly to the baptistery on only a few occasions. For the renunciation and adherence the candidates were reminded, 'First, you entered the antechamber (eis ton proaulion) of the baptismal building (tou baptismatos oikon).. .'2 He concludes the first lecture with 'and this was done in the exterior 1 2

Wharton, op.cit.. p319. MC 1.2.

19

B A P T I S M IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E P A L E S T I N E ,

325-451

building7 {en toi exOterOi oikoi).1 The second lecture he tells them will explain that which was done 'en toi esOterOi oikoi'.2 MC III gives a description of the anointing with chrism but there is no indication that the candidates have changed location. MC IV has nothing to contribute and V recommences the description of the liturgy with the eucharistic actions at the altar of the Martyrium. There are therefore two specific locations mentioned in MC the proaulion (antechamber), and the inner room of the baptismatos oikos. In ProCat 1 Cyril says 'Already you have been brought to the antechamber of the King's house' (peri to proaulion ton basileion) This is interesting on two counts. Firstly, the proaulion here is clearly the same as that of MC 1.2 and may therefore be the correct term for the outer chamber. Piedagnel draws a parallel with the Latin pronaos which was used to describe the vestibule of the Lateran baptistery.3 Secondly, Cyril's use of basileios requires attention. Whereas oikos can have a range of meanings and could indicate part of a building as well as a complete one, basileios is much more specific. Generally it indicated a royal palace, although it is used by Eusebius in connection with the buildings at the Holy Sepulchre to indicate imperial involvement.4 Downey demonstrated that the terms for church buildings had not yet become fixed in the fourth century, although the use of basileios may indicate a basilican plan. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux comments; 'On the left hand is the little hill of Golgotha where the Lord was crucified. About a stone's throw from thence is a vault wherein his body was laid and rose again on the third day. There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say a dominicum, of wondrous beauty, having at the side cisterns from which the water is raised and a bath behind in which the infantes are washed.'5 The pilgrims' journey is generally dated 333 to 335.6 Thus the building work would have been at quite an advanced stage with the baptistery as part of the original plans, but the whole complex, it is assumed, was not yet complete. The anonymous pilgrim has seen the Martyrium and the Sepulchre but not, it would seem, the Anastasis/Rotunda. He tells us that there are a basilica, some cisterns and a balneum.

1 2 3 4 5 6

MCI.ll. MC II. 1. Piedagnel, A., Cyrille de Jérusalem.Catéchèses Mystagogiques. Sources Chrétiènnes, 126 (Paris, 1966), p 8 4 n 2. Downey, G, 'Constantine's Churches at Antioch, Tyre and J e r u s a l e m (Notes on Architectural Terras)' in Melanges de L'Universite Saint Joseph. 3 8 (1962). Translation follows Stewart. A.. 'Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem' in Palestine Pilgrim Text Society. (London, 1887). p 23. Douglass, L 'A New Look at the Itinerarium Burdigalense' in Journal of Early Christian Studies, 4. (1996). Douglass' main thesis is that the pilgrim was a woman, but admits that conclusion offers little to our understanding of the text!

20

'CATHEDRAL'

BAPTISM

What does he understand by basilica? It is obvious that the term is unfamiliar to him. Basilica denotes an aisled hall but, for the benefit of his readers, he translates it dominicus—'of or belonging to a master or the Emperor'1—which in Greek would be basileios. This is the term Cyril uses to describe the baptistery in ProCat. Balneum can mean both a place for bathing and the receptacle for bathing, so does he mean the baptistery or the font? Elsewhere he uses balneum for the baths of Cornelius at Caesarea (these are presumably the public baths), and also for the pool at Sichem which was fed by a well. At the Temple Mount he describes 'excepturia magna aquae subterraneae et piscinae magna opere aedificate', piscina occurs again for the twin pools at Bethsaida. Presumably he is referring to the mikoot hewn out of the rock under the Temple Mount and, as these are individual pools, it must be assumed that he uses balneum to indicate a bathing complex, ie the baptistery. This baptistery is located behind the cisterns, which is the common meaning of tergo from OLD, although a rarer reading of 'the outer covering or surface of anything (esp ground or water)' is also offered. He might be saying that the baptistery is above the cisterns—not an improbable suggestion. It is generally accepted that the Pilgrim's descriptions are accurate. From the sequence it seems very much as if he is standing in the second atrium, between the Martyrium and the Sepulchre, and seeing in his mind the monuments from left to right. Thus we have on his left Golgotha, before him the tomb and on his right, to the North, the baptistery. Eusebius makes no reference to any ancillary buildings, neither baptistery, nor cisterns nor fountains, in his Life of Constantine, but that is of little surprise considering he also omits Golgotha. Egeria gives only the briefest of details, 'Vigiliae autem paschales sic fiut, quemadmodum ad nos; hoc solum hie amplius fit, quod infantes, cu baptidiati fuerint et uestiti, quemadmodum exient de fonte, simul cum episcopo primum ad Anastase ducuntur.' (38.1)2 Notice the sequence of events: 1. baptized, 2. clothed and then 3. leave the 'font'. Clearly by the latter Egeria means the baptistery and not the pool. Tinelli3 and Corbo4 in their more recent studies locate the Constantinian baptistery on the North side of the Rotunda. Their reasons for this are based on two discoveries in this area: (a) a font, claimed to be fourth century, and (b) an inscription in a cistern under the ancillary buildings which repeats a line from a psalm commonly associated with baptism. Tinelli argues that the font is very unlikely to have been transferred from another part of the complex, because of its size and weight. It must therefore be

1 2 3 4

The Oxford Latin Dictionary (OLD). Maraval, P. Égérie:Journal de Voyage, Sources Chrétiènnes 296, (Paris. 1982), p 2 9 0 . Tinelli, C, "Il battistero del S. Sepulchre in Gerusalemme". Liber Annus vol 23, (1973). Corbo, V, II Santo Sepulcro (Jerusalem, 1980)

21

BAPTISM

IN E A R L Y

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

at or near its original location.1 However the shape of the font, a quatrefoil within a square, is closer to fonts of the sixth century and beyond. 2 The enormous cistern, which would probably have supplied water to the whole community, lies under the courtyard in front of the patriarchion. Near the vault is a cross in relief, enclosed in a circle adorned with ivy leaves, in which is written '&WNH K(upio)U EPI TWN UDATWN'.3 In the lavra of St Firmin in Wadi Michmash, (founded in 515) the monks re-used 'the ancient Jewish purification pool (mikue) for baptismal purposes after they had sanctified it with painted crosses . . . accompanied by painted inscriptions in Syropalestinian language which repeated three times... "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters"/ 4 Tlnelli refers to a Palestinian custom of indicating the use of a building by an inscription and believes this verse is a direct reference to the baptismal liturgy, although Cyril does not quote it anywhere. The independent evidence from St Firmin's lavra seems to corroborate Tinelli's conclusion that this cistern must be located in the vicinity of the baptistery. 4. THE COURTYARD OF THE BYZANTINE PATRIARCHION AT THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM, ACCORDING TO TINELLI

1 2 3 4

Tinelli, p 96. See Ben-Pechat, M. The PaleoChristian Baptismal Fonts in the Holy Land: Formal and Functional Study' in Liber Annus vol 39 (1989). pp 165-188. Tinelli, p 98. Ben-Pechat. M. 'Baptism and Monasticism in the Holy Land: Archaeological and Literary E v i d e n c e ' , in G C Bottini et al, C h r i s t i a n Archaeology in the Holy Land, New Essays in Honour of Virgilio C. Corbo OFM. ( J e r u s a l e m , 1990). p 5 0 3 .

22

Discoveries:

'CATHEDRAL-

BAPTISM

Corbo, in the only comprehensive work on the Holy Sepulchre complex, but one that is not without its inadequacies, supports this view. He considers the site of the baptistery to have been in room 116 of his plan (which elsewhere he is able to depict in greater clarity as two rooms). Part of the mosaic floor in white and polychrome tesserae and the threshhold are still visible. 103 is the mouth of the cistern which corresponds to 3 in Tinelli's plan, where the baptistery would have been to the left of N. 2. Corbo considers that this location makes best sense of the literary evidence1, but one wonders, with Wharton, quite how much space this location would provide. From the evidence available to them, this would have been an obvious conclusion; however current excavations beneath the Coptic Patriarchion buildings may reveal new information. ••' o *>*

5. THE ANASTASIS AND PATRIARCHION AT THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM, ACCORDING TO CORBO

1

16

^ I

Corbo. I. 134

23

BAPTISM

IN

EARLY

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

The literary evidence therefore informs us of a single room baptistery with an antechamber, near to some cisterns, which was within the sight of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux standing in the second atrium. Archaeology provides us with a cistern inscribed in a way which would indicate the water was used for baptism. If the suggestion above is correct, that the baptismal liturgy of the Palestinian bishops was essentially the same, then archaeological evidence of baptisteries from other Palestinian cathedrals could enable us to discover in what type of building the rite was performed. There are extant baptisteries in Nicopolis (Emmaus), Dor and Ascalon which date from the fourth century. Nicopolis1 Excavated in the 1920's by Vincent and Abel, their plan shows a two room structure on an EastWest axis situated to the North of the church, in the apse of which is a quadrilobe font dug out of the bedrock. Three steps lead down into the font and the archaeologists believed that it would have been built up above ground level. The water supply to the font can also be seen.

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6. THE CHURCH AND BAPTISTERY AT NICOPOLIS, ACCORDING TO VINCENT AND ABEL sa basilique et son histoire, (Paris. 1932).

24

'CATHEDRAL'

BAPTISM

Do/-1

Excavated originally in 1952 and then again in the 70's, its identification as the cathedral of the Bishop of Dor was confirmed by the remarkable discovery of 'a bishop's ivory sceptre, terminating in the shape of a hand with the three middle fingers extended in the characteristic episcopal benediction... one finger was adorned by an ivory ring'.2 Coin evidence allowed dating of the church to the fourth or early fifth centuries. On the North side of the basilica is a baptismal complex with an atrium (5), a vestibule (6) and font (7). The atrium gave access to an antechamber originally paved with marble slabs that led to a shallow plaster-lined, rectangular basin—such a shape allows the identification of the font with the grave, a metaphor used by Cyril. The Eastern and Western edges have 2 steps down into the font. Dauphin relates the structure of the baptistery to the liturgy described by Cyril of Jerusalem and she believes that, after having been chrismated in Room 8, the neophytes received communion in room 9.3 This explains the presence of the chapel in this complex, but, as the baptistery adjoins the church, it would be more likely that the candidates received communion there with the rest of the congregation. 7. THE CHURCH COMPLEX AT DOR, FOLLOWING GIBSON AND DAUPHIN

Dora-Dor: plan of church — 1) Atrium; 2) Cistern; 3) Northwestern tower(?); 4) Staircase; 5) Atrium; 6) Vestibule; 7) Piscina-, 8) Room 1; 9) Room 2; 10) Northern aisle; 11) Nave; 12) Apse; 13) Southern aisle; 14) Saints' tomb; 15) External southern aisle (Hellenistic walls are hatched-in) (S. Gibson) 1 2 3

Dauphin, C, 'Dora-Dor: A Station for Pilgrims in the Byzantine Period on Their Way to Jerusalem' in Y. Tsafrir (ed). Ancient Churches Revealed, (Jerusalem. 1994). ibid, p 92. ibid, p 95.

25

BAPTISM

IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E

PALESTINE,

325-451

Ascalon Excavated in the 1970s by Bagatti, he suggested that the room to the South of the Church was a baptistery although no font was discovered on the site.1 The church was dated to the fourth century by architectural decoration. Only the area marked in bold is certain and the Western area lies under a road! Ovadiah records that 'From the prayer chamber the worshippers passed via a corridor into the baptistery which had plastered walls and floor and was cruciform'.2

e

10

Pa ln 8.11« Church and Baptistery at Ascalon 8. THE CHURCH AND BAPTISTERY AT ACSALON, ACCORDING TO BAGATTI

1 2

Bagatti. B. 'Ascalon e Maiuma di Ascalon nel VI seclo' in Liber Annus vol 24 (1974). p 243-9. Ovadiah. A & de Silva. C G. 'Supplementum to the Corpus of the Byzantine Churches in the Holy Land' in Levant vol 14 (1982). p 123.

26

'CATHEDRAL-

BAPTISM

Gaza We know of at least four churches in Gaza in the Byzantine period. In the Life of Porphyrius the author refers to the Irenaion, built before the end of the fourth century and the Eudoxiana, a grand imperial basilica dedicated in 4071; two churches were praised by Choricius of Gaza in his panegyrics on the sixth century bishop Marcianus.2 Current excavations in Gaza have revealed 'fifth to sixth century A.D. ruins' of a church, a chapel and a baptistery with adjacent cemetery. The preliminary notice does not identify which of these churches may have been found, if indeed it is one of the four.3 Conclusion The 'Cathedral' type of baptism required for its location a two-chamber baptistery on an east-west axis, as those shown for Nicopolis and Dor—it is not inconceivable that an antechamber may lie under the road at Ascalon. Candidates would wait outside the building and then enter the antechamber for the rites of renunciation and adherence. They would then move eastwards into the baptistery itself, undress, be baptized, chrismated and robed. The font would have been either rectangular to imitate a grave, or cruciform to emphasize identification with the death of Christ. These baptisteries would be attached to the cathedral church where the newly baptized would be taken to receive communion for the first time.

1 2 3

VPorph 18 & 92. Hamilton. RW. Two Churches at Gaza, as described by Choricius of Gaza' in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement vol 62 (1930). p 178-91. 'Gaza Update' in Biblical Archaeology Review vol 24 (July/August 1998). p 12.

27

4

'Evangelical' Baptism My second category I have called 'Evangelical' Baptism; it is differentiated from 'Cathedral' Baptism by loci, ministers and candidates. More specifically it concerns the conversion and subsequent baptism of rural, nomadic or seminomadic communities by monks in the desert areas of Palestine. In this instance it is the literary evidence that helps us understand the archaeology, providing an explanation for the existence of baptismal installations in isolated monasteries. As more pilgrims came to Palestine, so many of these were inspired either to take up a monastic life or continue it in the Holy Land, often in locations associated with or near to 'sacred sites'. As with their Egyptian counterparts they were drawn out of the cities to lead an eremitic life. Unlike the Egyptians, though, Palestine during the fourth century attracted educated church leaders from the whole empire who settled initially close to Jerusalem and would eventually take leading positions as Patriarchs of Jerusalem, clergy at the Holy Sepulchre and bishops of other sees.1 Although the monks withdrew to remote areas to live in caves, lavras or coenobia, the deserts were not completely depopulated areas. Much of the Judean desert had sustained life until the third century when the economy foundered and many of the rural poor migrated to the towns and cities. This accounts for the ease with which the monks were able to establish themselves near to water supplies with little animosity. Many of the caves in which these monks set up their homes display signs of previous habitation, by shepherds, robbers or bandits. It is remarkable that, apart from some isolated incidents, the monks did not encounter such opposition from those living off the desert as, for example, Porphyrius did in Gaza. Not only did these deserts sustain a particular lifestyle but those in the south of the country were traversed by trade routes to Arabia and Egypt. The desert populations had had little or no contact with Christianity before the fourth century. Literary Evidence Jerome's Life of Hilarión, written c391 when he was in Bethlehem, probably draws on a now lost biography of Hilarión by Epiphanius, later Bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, whose family had been converted by the monk. Hilarión was from the region around Gaza, a pagan who had been sent to Alexandria for his education and had remained in Egypt with St Anthony. On his return to Palestine he installed himself in the desert around Maiuma and, as was the Egyptian 1

For the development of monasticism in Palestine in this period see D Chitty, The Desert a City, (Oxford. 1966) and J Binns, Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ: The Monasteries of Palestine, 314-631, (Oxford. 1994).

28

'EVANGELICAL'

BAPTISM

custom, Hilarión remained a layman. He performed exorcisms on all ranks of people and even on a camel, resulting in great popularity in his home region. Around 350, Hilarión was in Elusa: 'On this occasion, it happened that, accompanied by a great procession of monks, he arrived at Elusa on the very day when the townspeople had assembled in the temple of Venus to celebrate a solemn festival in her honour. N o w the Saracens worship this goddess as the morning star and to her cult is their nation dedicated. The town itself is, for the most part, semi-barbarian, because of its location. When it was heard that St Hilarión was passing through (for, he had frequently healed many Saracens by snatching them away from the Devil), the men swarmed out with their wives and children to meet him and, with their heads reverently bowed, cried out in Syriac: "Barech", that is "Bless us!" He received them graciously and humbly and besought them to worship God rather than idols. Weeping and looking up into heaven, he promised them that, if they would believe in Christ, he would come to them frequently.... They did not allow him to go away until he had planned a church for them, and the priest of Venus, wreathed as he was, was marked with the sign of Christ/1 Jerome's prejudiced account demonstrates that he had never been to Elusa, far from being 'for the most part, semi-barbarian, because of its location', Elusa was a city of cultivated pagans that produced some famous rhetoricians, most notably Zenobius, the teacher of Libanius. 2 Secondly, he calls them 'Saracens', when, although it is possible that some of those present might have been seminomads, the festival was primarily that of the townspeople. Jerome does show, though, that Christianity came to Elusa in the fourth century; a bishop of Elusa attended the Council of Ephesus in 431, but even by the mid-fifth century Christianity had only a toe-hold on the town. Hilarion's popularity in the region was the result of his exorcistic and miracleworking activitities, and from Jerome's account it seems as if Hilarión was recognized as someone with special powers by the desire to receive a blessing from him. It would seem that Hilarión and his monks had made a specific journey to Elusa (his lavra was in the desert around Gaza). Was this with the express purpose of disrupting the pagan festival? If so, he must have succeeded. The 'signing' which he administered to the pagan priest would seem to be either an exorcistic rite or that of admission to the catechumenate. The latter is possible in light of Hilarion's promise to return to them often. There is no evidence in the Life that he performed baptisms.

1 2

V HUarion 25. Mayerson, P.The City of Elusa in the Literary Sources of the Fourth-Sixth Centuries', in Monks, Martyrs, Soldiers and Saracens:Papers on the Near East in Late Antiquity (19621993) (Jerusalem. 1994).

29

BAPTISM

IN

EARLY

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

Jerome considers Hilarion to have been the first monk in Palestine, although at about the same time Chariton established himself in a cave at Pharan in the Judean desert region. His activities can be dated more accurately as Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem consecrated this lavra, sometime between 325 and his death in 333. The Life tells us that Chariton had the power to 'cast out demons' and 'cured diseases of both kinds, of the mind as well as of the body, by invoking the name of the Saviour Christ'1, 'accordingly, as time went by, an innumerable crowd of pagans and Jews were induced to receive the saving bath, as a consequence of the miracles made by God through the holy man; and more than that they were even drawn to enter the monastic life from what he taught them and by the example he set before their eyes'.2 Those living around the sites of Chariton's three monasteries, Pharan, Douka and Tekoa (or Souka/Old Laura) in the Judean desert, became Christians by conversion due to a miracle or exorcism, followed by some catechesis and then baptism. The location of his monasteries would suggest that the candidates were Aramaic-speaking villagers and nomads. This is one of the few references to the conversion of Jews, for, although they were the subject of negative preaching, there seems to have been no concerted effort to convert them. The anonymous author explains why it has taken several centuries for this life to be written, 'as in truth, not only were the God-loving monks rare, but even the Christians were few.. .'3, another indication of the slowness with which the countryside was converted. Sozomen devotes a chapter of his History to the spread of Christianity among Arab tribes in Palestine from the middle of the fourth century. He records the career of Queen Mavia and her successful fight against the Roman army in c375. 'About this period the king of the Saracens died and the peace which had previously existed between that nation and the Romans was dissolved. Mavia the widow of the late monarch, after attaining to the government of her race, led her troops into Phoenicia and Palestine, as far as the regions of E g y p t . . . This war was by no means a contemptible one, although conducted by a woman. ' . . . the Romans found it necessary to send an embassy to Mavia to solicit peace. It is said that she refused to comply with the request of the embassy, unless consent were given for the ordination of a certain man named Moses, who practiced philosophy in a neighbouring desert, as bishop over her subjects. This Moses was a man of virtuous life, and noted for performing the divine and miraculous signs. On these conditions being announced to the emperor, the chiefs of the army were

1 2 3

Di Segni. L. (translator). 'Life of Chariton' in Wimbush. V., Ascetic Behavior in GrecoRoman Antiquity: A Sourcebook, (Minneapolis. 1990). V. Chariton 14. V. Chariton 42.

30

•EVANGELICAL"

BAPTISM

commanded to seize Moses, and conduct him to Lucius. [Moses refuses to be ordained by Lucius]... Having again protested, upon oath, that he would not receive ordination from them, he went to the Saracens. He reconciled them to the Romans, and converted many to Christianity, and passed his life among them as a priest, although he found few who shared in his belief.'1 Sozomen cites this as evidence of the conversion of 'Saracens'. However Shahid argues that this tribe was already Christian and their fight against the empire was directed against the Arian Valens. It is this which lies behind Moses' refusal to be consecrated by Lucius of Alexandria, and which lies behind the rather unusual conditions of peace—Ma via wished to ensure that her tribe had an 'orthodox' bishop. Far from finding few who shared his belief, Moses would have found committed Christians, 'the sincerity and seriousness of their Christian confession are most sharply reflected in their stand against the Arian emperors of the fourth century and the Chalcedonian emperors of the sixth on purely doctrinal grounds, since none of their interests, material or other, could have been served by opposition to the empire on whose subsidy they depended.' 2 Mavia's tribe must presumably have been converted sometime towards the middle of the fourth century. The importance of the desert monks for converting Arab tribes is better demonstrated in the accounts of Zocomus and Aspebetus. 'It is said that a whole tribe, and Zocomus, their chief, were converted to Christianity and baptized about this period, under the following circumstances: Zocomus was childless, and went to a certain monk of great celebrity to complain to him of this calamity . . . The monk desired Zocomus to be of good cheer, engaged in prayer on his behalf, and sent him away with the promise that if he would believe in Christ, he would have a son. When this promise was confirmed by God, and when a son was born to him, Zocomus was initiated, and all his subjects with him.'3 In 405, Euthymius, a monk and priest from Armenia, arrived on pilgrimage to Palestine. He decided to stay, then spent some years at Chariton's monastery at Pharan, and six years later moved into a cave of his own.4 Around 420, Terebon, the paralysed son of a Persian commander, dreamt that he could only be healed by Euthymius. The child's father, Aspebetus, took his whole tribe to Euthymius' cave where the child was duly healed through prayer and by 'sealing with the cross'—here presumably an exorcistic anointing.5 The heathens 'begged to receive the seal in Christ'—here presumably baptism, and again Cyril of

1

2

3 4 5

Sozomen, EH, VI.38.

S h a h i d . I.. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, (Washington. 1984). p 10.

Sozomen. EH, VI.38. Cyril of Scythopolis. 'Life of Euthymius' in RM Price & J Binns. Cyril of Scythopolis: The

Lives of the Monks of Palestine, (Kalamazoo. 1991). V. Euthym 18.

31

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325-451

Scythopolis records, T h e miracle-working Euthymius, perceiving that their faith in Christ came from the soul, ordered a small font to be constructed in the corner of the cave—the one preserved even now—and, after catechizing them, baptized them all in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. He kept them with him for 40 days, enlightening and strengthening them with the word of God, and then let them depart, no longer Agarenians and Ishmaelites but now descendants of Sarah and heirs of the promise, transferred through baptism from slavery to freedom.'1 Aspebetus returns sometime later with even more candidates for baptism, and eventually Euthymius designs a church for them and assigns a priest and deacon to serve them. 2 Cyril writes that Those who had already been baptized came and settled there and others too who arrived gradually were baptized by him' 3 Cyril wrote his Lives in the sixth century, by which time 'Saracen' had become the standard term for 'Arab' however in this account Aspebetus' tribe are also called 'barbarians'. Although they may well have had a semi-nomadic existence, we are told that Aspebetus and his brother were 'of exceptional intelligence and adorned with conspicuous wealth'. 4 Cyril aims to record how 'Aspebetus, though a pagan and a Persian subject, became an ally of the Romans' 5 , and his tribe's conversion meant they could be considered as foederati, that is mercenaries, paid by the empire to patrol the borders, a function they had previously performed for the Persian king. Aspebetus' tribe merely changed sides and cemented their new alliance by conversion. This according to Shahid is an example of the beginnings of Arab Christianity6, which progresses further through the appointment of Aspebetus (now Peter) as Bishop of the Arab Encampments (or Paremboles) before 431, as he was present at the Council of Ephesus. 7 The initiation performed by Euthymius is much closer to that of the Cathedral type, discussed above. In his healing of Terebon, Euthymius 'seals with the cross' which may well have functioned as a pre-baptismal exorcistic anointing; he ensures they are properly catechized, baptizes them with a Trinitarian formula in a font quarried for the purpose in the cave-chapel, and gives them some sort of mystagogical catechesis. In contrast with the Cathedral style they have not spent time as 'hearers', there are no godparents, no indication of an adherence/ renunciation sequence, no post-baptismal anointing and no role for the bishop. In the Sinai desert, another Moses was converting both nomads and villagers: 'A certain Moses (in R a i t h o u ) . . . practised monasticism for 73 years . . . For God did many mighty deeds by means of him. For he gave him power over wicked spirits [and by completely curing many he attached 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

V.Euthym 21-22. V. Euthym 24. V. Euthym 25. V.Euthym 21. V. Euthym 18. Shahid. p20. V. Euthym 32.

32

'EVANGELICAL'

BAPTISM

to the Christ nearly all the people] in that desert, and also the . . . inhabitants of Pharan and made them Christians. [For seeing the signs and wonders which] the man of God, Father Moses did, they believed in the Father and the Son and in the Holy Spirit. And they were persuaded to receive holy baptism.'1 The sequence here is again: conversion following a miracle, confession of faith and baptism. Monk

COMPARATIVE TABLE FOR 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM Chariton Hilarion Moses Euthymius

Location

Ain Pharan Judean desert

Elusa

Pharan Sinai desert

Judean Desert

Estimated date

313-333

313-356

Before 359

420

Candidates: race

'Jews and Arabs'

'Saracens'

Arabs

'Persians' (Arabs)

Language

Aramaic

'Syriac' (Aramaic)

Religion

Judaism and pagan

Pagan— Venus cult

Pagan ('heathen')

Pagan

Fixed and seminomadic

Fixed and nomadic

Foederati

Lifestyle

Arabic?

Following a miracle

Occasionally

YES

YES

YES

Pre-baptismal catechesis

Assumed

Assumed

YES

YES

Exorcism

Assumed

Pre-baptismal anointing/exorcistic signing

YES

Immersion

YES

YES

YES

YES

Post-baptismal anointing Post-baptismal catechesis Remain in contact with monk X

YES YES

YES

YES

Ammonius, The Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert' in AS Lewis (transl), Horae IX, (Cambridge. 1912). p 4.

33

Semiticae

BAPTISM

IN E A R L Y

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

Archaeological Evidence Of the 63 monastic institutions identified in the Judean desert only a few have connections to baptism1—either by the existence of fonts or baptisteries or by literary evidence. These are Ain Pharan, St Euthymius, St Martyrius, Penthucla and the monastery of John the Baptist on the Jordan, Douka and Khallet Danabiya. For Pharan and St Euthymius there is literary evidence but no archaeological evidence. This is curious in the case of the latter, as a quarried font that could be seen in the sixth century might have been presumed to remain—although the cave of St Euthymius underwent many changes in its growth into a large monastery in the sixth century. Of the other monasteries listed their baptismal installations were built in the late sixth century and only Khallet Danabiya could possibly date from our period. It was flourishing in the fifth and sixth centuries but Goldfus believes pottery evidence dates it from the mid-fourth century.2 The church in this complex measures 25m x 9m and has been quarried out of the rock. It is orientated east-west and the south side remains partially open. To the south of the Eastern apse of the chapel is a square hollow hewn into the rock in which a row of white tesserae covered with hydraulic plaster may have been the baptismal font. Hydraulic plaster is, as its name suggests, 'waterproof' plaster and is applied to basin and particularly fonts to stop the water draining away. Going westwards from number 8 in the plan we have what appears to be a corridor, bordered on the north by a now missing chancel screen and on the south by the wall of the church. The complex had a sophisticated water collection and retention system and we can see a channel in room 8 that fed the font from above.

1 2

Hirschfeld, Y. 'List of the Byzantine Monasteries in the Judean Desert' in CAHL. Goldfus, H. 'Khallat ed-Danabiya: A Desert Monastery' in CAHL

34

'EVANGELICAL'

BAPTISM

1. 2. 3. 4. 4a. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Apse Diakonikon Burial compartments Ancient water cistern Main water cistern Entrance to the western burial cave Enclosure wall of the church area Gatehouse Baptistery?

9. THE CAVE CHURCH WITH BAPTISMAL INSTALLATION AT KHALLAT DANABIYA, ACCORDING TO GOLDFUS

35

BAPTISM

IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E

PALESTINE,

325-451

A church and baptistery found at Magen, may be linked with the ministry of Hilarion. Tzaferis suggests that, 'Nearby is the tomb of Sheikh Nuran, a sacred pilgrimage site of the local Bedouins. Although we have no way of knowing whether such a sheikh ever existed, we can translate the same Nuran (meaning "light" or "lamp" in Arabic) to the Greek Lichnos. An ancient settlement in the northwestern Negev bearing this name is noted by Jerome as a place visited by St Hilarion . . I n the northern chapel, the baptistery, there is a rectangular font, with four steps leading down into it. Unusually it seems only deep enough for an adult to sit and not stand. It has been dated by the excavator to the late fourth or early fifth century. Its location would suggest that it was used for the reception of nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples even if the connection with Hilarion is conjectural. Conclusion Although the literary evidence presented for monks baptizing outweighs the archaeological evidence for the period to 451, in the late fifth and especially the sixth centuries we find many more baptismal installations in Palestinian monasteries. One suggestion for this has been that they were for the baptism of monks. In the Egyptian Pachomian monasteries it was customary for unbaptized monks to be catechized during Lent and then to be baptized in front of the whole community gathered at Phbou for Easter.2 However the recruitment pool for the Palestinian monasteries was quite different: the earliest monks in the Judean desert settled there after making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the holy places, most of them had decided their vocation before they set off and many already had positions of authority in their home church. Euthymius was a priest and in charge of the monks in his home diocese3; Cyril of Scythopolis had made his monastic profession before journeying to Jerusalem and then staying at the monastery of Mar Saba4; Melanie the Younger and her husbandbrother had vowed themselves to celibacy before going on pilgrimage and founding two monasteries in Jerusalem5; a bishop John ran away from his diocese to become an ordinary monk at Mar Saba6, leading to obvious problems when Saba decided it was time he got ordained. The monastic biographers inform us that, in general, they were baptized Christians before they became monks, so there would not have been such numbers of unbaptized to warrant baptisteries in the monastery church and their existence cannot be put down to the needs of the community alone.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Tzaferis, V. 'Early Christian Churches at Magen', in Ancient Churches Revealed T h e Boharic Life of Pachomius', 8 1 in A Veilleux, Pachomian Koinonia, vol I. Cistercian Studies Series, 45, (Kalamazoo, 1980), p 105. VEuthym 10. Cyril of Scythopolis, 'Life of Sabas', 180. In Price & Binns. op at. Gorce, D., Vie de Sainte Melanie. Sources Chretiennes 90. (Paris 1962). Cyril of Scythopolis, 'Life of J o h n the Hesychast', 2 0 7 . In Price & Binns. op cit.

36

'EVANGELICAL'

BAPTISM

It has been shown above that the Palestinian monks began the conversion of the countryside, as Shahid comments, 'the (most) important instrument of Christianization was the monastery not the church. The anchorites and eremites of early Christian times found the desert a congenial place of retreat, and so where the church could not function for geographical or other reasons, the monastery could and did/ 1 The liturgy used by the monks to receive converts was a watered down version of that with which they were familiar, necessitated by their location and the mobility of the candidates. It seems as if some attempt at instruction was made, and any pre-baptismal exorcistic anointing depended on whether the candidate was converted following some form of exorcism; otherwise our records are silent. Except for the case of Aspebetus' tribe, the immersion did not take place in a specific location, athough the archaeological evidence demonstrates that this was beginning to be considered in the construction of monasteries. There is no reference to chrismation—presumably this was the preserve of the bishop—but neither is there any instance of candidates being sent to a bishop for 'confirmation'; it can be assumed then that their baptism was not considered 'incomplete' and they were admitted to communion immediately.

1

Shahid, p 19.

37

5

'Pilgrim' Baptism Jerusalem and Palestine in these centuries created a new type of Christian worship—that which depended on the physical concrete remains of biblical events. The liturgical acts described by Egeria at each of the places she visited demonstrate a sort of memorial synaxis that we can safely assume was not unique to her and her party An additional liturgical act that some archaeologists and historians have presumed to have occurred was that of the baptism of pilgrims at the holy places. This claim will be critically examined here. The evidence for pilgrimage prior to the fourth century is scant. Eusebius referred to Alexander from Cappadocia who became Bishop of Jerusalem towards the middle of the third century and had travelled to Palestine to 'worship there and to examine the historic sites'1, and even though Origen seems to have had some idea of the geography his attitude is nowhere near that of Egeria. Eusebius had assisted the identification of the holy places through his Onomasticon, but this was never intended to be a pilgrim guide. Literary Evidence Gregory of Nyssa expressed his ambivalence towards the benefits of pilgrimage to the Holy Land2, which involved at its heart a desire to retain interest in local martyrs and to build up local shrines3, never once does he complain about catechumens seeking baptism outside his jurisdiction. Gregory Nazianzen's Homily on Baptism of 381, rebukes those who think that baptism gains greater efficacy if administered by an important person, 'Do not say, "A Bishop shall baptize me,—and he a Metropolitan,—and he of Jerusalem (for the Grace does not come of a place, but of the Spirit),—and he of noble birth, for it would be a sad thing for my nobility to be insulted by being baptized by a man of no family." Do not say, "I do not mind a mere Priest, if he is a celibate, and a religious, and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be defiled even in the moment of my cleansing.'"4 At issue here is not the fear that his congregation was running off to Jerusalem, but that they misunderstood the nature of baptism. Eusebius records that on his death-bed Constantine said that he wished he had been baptized in the river Jordan and that he had seen the holy places for himself; The hour is come in which I too may have the blessing of that seal which confers immortality; the hour in which I may receive the seal of salvation. 1 2 3 4

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History. ET G A Williamson. (London. 1965). Book VI. 11. Gregory of Nyssa. 'On Pilgrimages', (ed. W. Moore), NPNF, vol V, (Oxford. 1893). Unpublished paper by Dr Brouria Ashkelony of the Hebrew University. Jerusalem. Gregory Nazianzen, Homily 40, 'On Baptism', xxvi, (ET C G Brown. J E Swallow). NPNF, vol VII, (Oxford, 1893).

38

'PILGRIM'

BAPTISM

I had thought to do this in the waters of the river Jordan, wherein our Saviour, for our example, is recorded to have been baptized: but God, who knows what is expedient for us, is pleased that I should receive this blessing here/1 Is this wishful thinking on Eusebius' part? We know that, although making a huge financial commitment to Jerusalem and the surrounding area, he made no effort whatsoever to fulfil this desire, sending Helena instead to supervise the building projects on his behalf. He does not even attempt to attend the dedication of the Holy Sepuchre complex despite insisting that the Synod of Tyre decamp to Jerusalem for what, to all intents and purposes, was an imperial event. It may be that Eusebius is making a political point: would it not have been fitting for the first Christian emperor to have been baptized where Christ was? Constantine may have regarded this as his unique right, as it certainly was not common desire in the early fourth century. Whatever Constantine may have said (and we must bear in mind that Eusebius was not an eyewitness) he never had any intention of going to Palestine and showed no interest in the Jordan, indeed imperial patronage for the Place of Baptism was not forthcoming until Anastasius' reign (491-518). It is the belief that Constantine expressed a generally felt desire among fourth century Christians for baptism in the Holy Land, which has fed the claims that pilgrims travelled with the express aim of getting baptized there. Mara val states that 'on relèvera le gôut manifestent beaucoup de pèlerins anciens pour le baptême ou la profession monastique dans les lieux saints, en particulier à Jérusalem, au Jourdain ou même dans les martyria célèbres, comme si le sacrement conféré en ces lieux ou l'acte religieux qu'on y accomplissaient avait une vertu particulière.'2 The principal locations for 'pilgrim baptism' might be presumed to be those connected with baptism or its symbolism in the New Testament, so the following sites will be discussed: 1. Aenon, near Salim, 8 miles from Scythopolis. 2. Bethabara, the place of Christ's baptism in the Jordan. 3. Bethany - erroneously identified as the Place of Baptism in John's Gospel. 4. Bethsur - where Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch 5. The Anastasis in Jerusalem. Aenon was identified in the Onomasticon by Eusebius and was visited by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux and Egeria. Egeria records that she was taken by the local priest to the spring where John the Baptist baptized and that, 'It is from that spring that the village has this excellent supply of clean water . . . He led us along a well kept valley to a very neat apple-orchard and there in the middle of it he showed us a good clean spring of water which flowed in a single stream. There was a kind of pool in front of the spring at which it appears holy John the

1

2

vc IV. 42 Maraval, P. Lieux Saints et Pèlerinages d'Orient: Histoire et Géographie. Des Origines à la Conquête Arabe (Paris. 1985) p 148.

39

BAPTISM

IN E A R L Y

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

Baptist administered baptism . . , n Her account includes a description of a baptism ceremony at that location but Egeria did not witness this baptism, neither did she participate in it. The local priest describes to her the customary Easter ritual, when baptism was administered to members of the local church, saying nothing about baptism at any other time. The structure of this liturgy is not dissimilar to that administered at Jerusaelm and Gaza, namely immersion followed by procession to the main church for the eucharist at the Easter vigil. Bethany/Bethabara In John's Gospel (1.28), it says that Christ was baptized at Bethany, a statement which exercised the patristic exegetes. Metzeger comments, 'Origen, who in his travels was unable to locate a Bethany by the Jordan adopted the reading Bethabara which he apparently found in a few copies current in his day . . . and to which he was attracted because of its edifying etymology: " . . . for it yields the meaning 'House of Preparation'..." Chrysostom, perhaps following Origen, also declares that instead of Bethany, "the more accurate of the copies" read Bethabara; for he explains "Bethany is neither beyond the Jordan nor in the desert but is somewhere near Jerusalem.'" 2 Eusebius in the Onomasticon followed Origen and identified Bethabara as the place where John baptized. 3 Although Origen interpreted Bethabara as the House of Preparation, the name in fact means 'place of passing over' and the place had long been identified as the point at which the Hebrews crossed into the Promised Land. When Egeria travelled from Jerusalem, across the Jordan to Mount Nebo she must surely have passed close by Bethabara but she makes no mention of it, either on the way there or back. She was a very thorough pilgrim, eager to see all the sites and pray at them, and this is just the sort of location we would expect her to comment on. If we contrast her report of Aenon, which she visits because of its connection with a biblical baptism and reports on how baptism was administered there in her own day—could we not expect her to provide the same information for the more important site where Christ himself was baptized? Her silence can only be accounted for by assuming that neither was Bethabara on the pilgrim itinerary nor was it normal for baptisms to take place there. Egeria's omission is all the more astonishing as she took with her local guides, 'With us came some holy men from Jerusalem, a presbyter and deacons, and several brothers.. .'.4 We might rightly expect these men to know the sacred topography of the Holy Land, but it is clear that the Jerusalem church made nothing of the site. The clergy and congregation would happily go to Bethlehem and back, but never once, it seems, descended to the Jordan. The feast of Theophany, the most obvious time for Christ's baptism to be recalled, was kept at Bethlehem and we know that the Jerusalem church persisted with Easter baptisms until the sixth century. 5 1 2 3 4 5

It. Eg. 14.1 Metzger, B M, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. (London. 1971). p 199. Eusebius. Onomasticon. 182. It Eg 10. Barsanuphe et Jean de Gaza. Correspondance, (Solemnes, 1972). Letter 821.

40

'PILGRIM'

BAPTISM

The Pilgrim of Bordeaux has, it seems, seen 'The Place' but does not name it, Tive miles from there (the Dead Sea) in the Jordan is the place where the Lord was baptized by John.'1 Similarly Jerome's description of Paula's journey refers to The Place' as follows, 'Scarcely had the night passed away when burning with eagerness she hastened to the Jordan, stood by the brink of the river, and as the sun rose recalled to mind the rising of the sun of righteousness; how the priest's feet stood firm in the middle of the river-bed; how afterwards at the command of Elijah and Elisha the waters were divided hither and thither and made way for them to pass; and again how the Lord had cleansed by his baptism waters which the deluge had polluted and the destruction of mankind had defiled.' 2 By the time of her visit (Paula died in 404) the double identification of the site seems to have been made, but Jerome emphasizes the universal benefits of baptism and not that of specific individuals nor even his own. As neither of these descriptions names Bethabara, it is possible they were shown part of the Jordan but not necessarily a specific location. It might well be that the place was unmarked in this period, which would also explain Egeria's silence. Ben-Pechat claims that 'Baptism in the Holy River was certainly prestigious and desired by everyone who was about to become a Christian; we have numerous testimonies of the annual baptismal ceremonies that took place at the site of Jesus' baptism' 3 He cites, however, Constantine's unfulfilled wish and the Pilgrim of Bordeaux's visit from the fourth century and then the account of the Piacenza Pilgrim of the Epiphany ceremonies in the sixth century; but the former do not refer to actual baptisms and other evidence cannot be said to be 'numerous'. One actual record of baptism in the Jordan, however, comes from the sixth century 'Life of Rabbula', who became Bishop of Edessa in the early fifth century. The anonymous author of this panygeric informs us that after having witnessed a miracle he is catechized by Eusebius of Qennesrin and some time after decides to become a monk but first wished to make a journey to the Holy Land, probably during the 380s, where, we are told, he was baptized in the Jordan. Some caution must be exercised with this account, and Peeters warns, 'ce voyage de Rabboula en Terre Sainte est peut-être un fait réel; mais il faut convenir qu'il est relaté en des termes qui ont plus d'une fois servi aux hagiographes.' 4 His baptism in the Jordan seems improbable as he had already been catechized by his bishop soon after he had converted, and it would seem that his later desire to become a monk indicates a sincere conversion. It would be unlikely, therefore, that he

1 2 3 4

It Burg, 598. Jerome, Letter 108 to Eustochium, NPNF? Ben-Pechat, M, 'Baptism and Monasticism in the Holy Land: Archaeological and Literary Evidence' in CAHL, p 515. Peeters, P, 'La Vie de Rabboula, Évèque d'Êdesse', Recherches de Science Religieuse, vol 18 (1928) p 174. I am grateful to Dr Sebastian Brock for this reference.

41

BAPTISM

IN

EARLY

BYZANTINE

PALESTINE,

325-451

would have postponed baptism. If, as Peeters suggests, some aspects of his journey to the Holy Land are the product of a pious imagination, it may well be that the author is assuming Rabbula was baptized in the Jordan, as it was something that did occur when the work was composed, but from the evidence above we can see that this claim is anachronistic. Bethsur was visited by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, 'Fourteen miles away (from Bethlehem) is Bethsur, at which is the spring where Philip baptized the eunuch'1, and by Paula,'... she began to move along the old road which leads to Gaza, . . . silently meditating on that type of the Gentiles, the Ethiopian eunuch, who in spite of the prophet changed his skin and whilst he read the Old Testament found the fountain of the gospel. Next turning to the right she passed from Bethzur to Eshcol.. .'2. Neither mentions baptisms taking place there. Jerusalem—the Anastasis To make the transfer from death to life through the vivid ritual of the baptism ceremony in the very place where Christ died and rose from the dead would have been a powerful event, an issue which was exploited by Cyril and his liturgy. We know that the church was the focus for pilgrims, many monks and nuns especially were lodged in its precincts to participate more easily in the services. However, Egeria explicitly states that unless you were known to the clergy it was extremely unlikely that you would be accepted for baptism.3 The whole process, as she describes it, would render it impossible for the average pilgrim to attend an extended catechesis and find a godparent from the local congregation who knew the candidate well enough to vouch for their lifestyle. Egeria's description of the actual baptism ceremony on Easter night is sketchy. It is most likely that she was in the Martyrium with the rest of the congregation and was not an eyewitness herself. Baptism at the Holy Sepulchre was of the fixed local community. Archaeological Evidence Another possible type of pilgrim baptism might have been that administered by the monks to pilgrims who stayed with them en route to Jerusalem. This has been suggested by some archaeologists to explain the presence of baptisteries in monasteries. One of the tasks of a monastery was hospitality, but they were also the objects of tourism. This is well illustrated by a passage from the Life of Euthymius, 'a crowd of Armenians, about four hundred in number, on their way from the holy city to the Jordan, deviated off the road to the right and arrived at the laura... On seeing them, the elder . . . said "Serve these people with something to eat.'"4 In the sixth century monastery of St Martyrius there is both a baptistery, an extensive guesthouse with provision even for separate 1 2 3 4

It Burg. 5 9 9 . Jerome. Ep 108.11 It Eg, 3 8 . 1 . Cyril of Scythopolis. Lives of the Monks of Palestine, (Kalamazoo. 1991) p 22.

42

eds RM Price and J Binns,

'PILGRIM'

BAPTISM

stabling for their animals and a separate chapel. The Armenians are not recorded as having attended any liturgies and at St Martyrius an effort had been made to keep pilgrims out of the monastery. The monastic baptisteries of this period, as has been shown, were not built for pilgrims, indeed it would be difficult to conceive of a motivation for pilgrimage by the unbaptized, when the risks of the journey might mean one died before reaching one's goal. It is also improbable that someone would make the journey to Jerusalem with the aim of being baptized there only to give up and have it done somewhere en route. Conclusion The records left by pilgrims give us some idea about who they were—in many cases they were monks themselves, many of whom stayed on in Palestine, in the desert or in the cities; bishops and clergy also visited, Egeria says there were usually 40 bishops for Encaenia; and of course the ridiculously wealthy ladies so far encountered—Helena, Melanie the Younger and Paula. All these were baptized and committed Christians before their journey. If Baptism did not occur at those places associated with it in the Gospel accounts, what did the pilgrims do there? It seems that a form of 'ritual washing' was undertaken at sacred springs or streams. Maraval comments that 'les pèlerins se baignaient dans le Jourdain, réactualisant au contact des eaux dans lesquelles fut baptisé le Christ le grâce de leur propre baptême',1 although he provides no evidence of this for the early period. At Aenon and at Livias, the spring of Moses, Egeria comments that the water tasted sweet, and we can assume therefore that she drank some of it; and about Aenon she reports 'a great many brothers, holy monks from different parts, [who] travel there to wash at this place'.2 The number of sacred sites connected with water increased in subsequent centuries: in the sixth century the Piacenza Pilgrim refers to washing in the springs at Cana and at Siloam 'to receive a blessing'3; in the seventh century, Arculf is recorded as having washed his face in the spring at Bethlehem at the site where the water from washing the newly born Jesus was thrown4; again in the account of the Epiphany ceremonies in the Jordan in the sixth century the pilgrims bathed themselves in the Jordan after the ceremony of the blessing of the waters had taken place. None of these washings can be called baptism, as they were undertaken by those already baptized. It would seem therefore that in the fourth and early fifth centuries the evidence for the baptism of pilgrims in Palestine is non-existent, and what some commentators have interpreted as baptism was in fact some form of ritual washing at a sacred spring or similar, to receive much the same benefit as touching and seeing the biblical sites.

1 2 3 4

Maraval. Lieux Saints, p 148. It Eg. 14.1. Piacenza Pilgrim. 4. in Wilkinson, J . Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades. (Warminster. 1977) p 41. ibid, p 42.

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6

Conclusion The Palestine presented here varies considerably from the impression given by Christian commentators from the Byzantine period, whose triumphalism following Nicaea would lead to the conclusion that the province, and indeed the whole empire, was rapidly converted and that the liturgy and church architecture developed accordingly We have demonstrated that the 'official' church, represented by the bishop and his clergy in the cities had a complex, structured and ritualistic method of receiving converts to Christianity but that this was only possible when dealing with a relatively stable population and administered in a designated location. This pattern, however, was neither convenient nor appropriate amongst the rural, nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples that formed the majority of Palestinians. These candidates were not in a position to attend an extensive catechesis, which may well have been confined to an explanation of the supernatural powers displayed by a monk in healing or exorcism, or more general preaching. A 'signing with the Cross' may be all that corresponded to a pre-baptismal, exorcistic anointing, but all were immersed. Only in the case of Aspebetus, did Euthymius aim to administer anything like a 'cathedral rite'. In general their conversion was brought about by the chance encounter of a monk in the deserts and rural areas in which the candidates lived, people with whom the church had previously had no contact. This type of baptism can therefore be called 'evangelical' in a way that the more reticent reception of converts by the hierarchy cannot. The survey of the written and archaeological evidence for pilgrim baptism has produced no confirmation that this occurred. The breakdown of the diocesan bishop's control over baptism began, therefore, in the deserts and not with the influx of pilgrims. In the following centuries the bishop's responsibilty for baptism would be further eroded as increasing numbers sought baptism; especially after Justinian's edict of 529 requiring conversion to Christianity, and it is from this later period that the majority of baptismal complexes date.

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