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Jewish
and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land |
| By Yael Israeli and David Mevorah |
The Temple Scroll, columns 41-44,
Qumran, 1st century BCE – 1st century CE, Parchment.
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“Jesus, Jesus (Yeshua) son of Joseph”.
Hebrew inscription on a stone ossuary. Jerusalem,
1st century CE, Israel Antiquities Authority.
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Christian Chancel Screen, Church of Massuot Yizhaq,
Marble , 6th century CE.
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Animals and hunting scenes with a Greek inscription: “the
deeds of Alexander”, Mosaic floor, Church at
Kissufim, Negev, Stone and glass, Israel Antiquities
Authority.
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Graffito of Menorah (seven
branch candelabrum), Jewish Quarter, Jerusalem, 1st
century BCE, Plaster, Israel Antiquities Authority.
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Reconstruction of the Apse
and Bema (presbytery) of a typical Holy Land Byzantine
Church.
Credit: Courtesy of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Curated
and organized by The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
April
1, 2006 - October 22, 2006 Maltz
Museum of Jewish Heritage,
Beachwood, OH
877.665.4849; www.maltzjewishmuseum.org
December
7, 2006 -
April 15, 2007
The
Museum of Art,
Fort Lauderdale, FL
954.525.5500;
www.moafl.org
June 16,
2007 - October 14, 2007
Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University,
Atlanta,
GA
404.72.4282; www.carlos.emory.edu |
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Jesus of Nazareth, Pontius Pilate,
and the Last Supper are names which conjure up images of
one of western civilization’s
most dramatic stories – that of the birth of Christianity. Cradle
of Christianity: Treasures from the Holy Land explores
this monumental moment in history of early Christian and
Jewish life through a synthesis of literary sources and archaeological
finds. Organized by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem
and drawn from its unique archaeological holdings from the
ancient Land of Israel, this major international exhibition – currently
on view at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, in Cleveland,
and traveling to Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta – presents
some of the most significant biblical artifacts ever found,
including the newly restored sections of the Temple Scroll
among some other 150 archaeological treasures.
The Holy Land
occupies an honored position in the storehouse of associations
of Christian believers throughout the world, many of whom
are familiar with its sites and landscapes even if they never
visited the country. This is not surprising, for Christianity
played a central role in one of the major chapters in the
history of this land: Through the power of Christianity and
in its name, commemorative buildings and places of worship
were built, roads were laid, and settlements were established.
Owing to Christianity, this region, which in the Roman period
was little more than a remote province in the eastern part
of the Empire, became a focus of interest and a thriving
center. The country’s
culture and landscape and the spiritual world of its inhabitants
two thousand years ago were essential factors in the crystallization
of the ideas of Christianity and in the formation of its
visual heritage; to a large extent, they were also instrumental
in shaping the histories of Europe and the Mediterranean
countries, and their influence is still felt today. The
beginning of this historical process lies in the figure
of Jesus of Nazareth, an itinerant preacher with a charismatic
personality and extraordinary powers, who lived most of
his short life in the Galilee and spent his final days
in Jerusalem.
A
great deal is now known about the time when Jesus lived – the
last century of the Second Temple period – from the
writings of Josephus and other Roman historians, and from
the extensive excavations carried out in this country,
especially in Jerusalem. The literature of the period,
which describes life in this country during those fateful
days, has enabled us to reconstruct the atmosphere during
the time of Jesus and his disciples, to gain a better understanding
of the background to his preaching, and to grasp the intense
sense of messianic expectation and hope for redemption
that prevailed at the time. A reconstruction of the personal
history of Jesus, however, is a far more difficult task,
for among the stories, legends, and beliefs that have come
into being in the course of two thousand years of religious
devotion, it is difficult to distinguish between historical
reality and the layers of tradition and interpretation
that have been added onto it.
Although literary sources
attest the existence of Christian communities in the country
already in the second half of the first century – that is to say, not long after
Jesus’ crucifixion – no finds of this period
or of the following two hundred years that may be conclusively
identified as Christian have been discovered here. Elsewhere,
however, there is significant evidence of the beginnings
of Christian congregational activity, and Christian artworks
of the period have come to light.
The earliest finds related
to the story of early Christian communities in the Holy
Land date from the fourth century. But from that time onward,
for almost four hundred years – the
period scholars call the early Byzantine period – Christianity
was a dominant factor in the life of the country, and its
imprint can be seen in almost every sphere. The abundance
of finds bears witness to the spread and consolidation
of Christianity and to the economic prosperity it brought,
thanks to the generous support of the Byzantine authorities
and the widespread phenomenon of pilgrimage to the holy
places. Throughout most of this period, Christians were
not the majority in the land, but they were undoubtedly
an important and influential minority. Jerusalem was almost
entirely Christian, but in other regions there were concentrations
of people of other faiths: Jews, mainly in eastern Galilee;
Samaritans in the central region and in Samaria; and a
large pagan minority in the south. In the seventh century,
the eastern Mediterranean became part of the Muslim world,
but – as excavations of recent years have revealed – Christian
and Jewish life went on. Many of the churches remained
in use for dozens of years after the Muslim conquest, and
the destruction and abandonment that finally overtook them
were gradual, the result of the severance of ties with
the wealthy heart of the Empire.
Cradle of Christianity attempts
to reconstruct life in the Christian communities of this
country during the first centuries of Christianity, focusing
on two periods of major consequence for religious history:
the Herodian Period and the 1st century ce, which saw the
life of Jesus of Nazareth and the final days of the Second
Temple; and the period of the concurrent development of
formative Judaism and Christianity in the Holy Land in
the 4th to 7th centuries ce. This is apparently the first
time that an attempt has been made to assemble such a wide
variety of artifacts – architectural
elements, ritual objects, personal articles belonging to
the inhabitants of the country, and souvenirs made for
pilgrims – in a single exhibition. The objects in
the exhibition are on loan from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
and from the Israel Antiquities Authority. The majority
of them were unearthed in excavations during this past
century, and some are on view to the public for the first
time.
Among 150 archaeological treasures on view, one of
the most important objects is the Temple Scroll, considered
by its size and subject to be one of the most important
of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are housed in the Museum’s
Shrine of the Book. Cradle of Christianity also
includes the burial ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest—who,
according to the New Testament, delivered Jesus to the
Romans—and a stone inscription bearing the name of
Pontius Pilate. These two artifacts represent the only
surviving physical testimonies of these prominent figures
from the story of the trial of Jesus. In addition, the
exhibition presents the only archaeological evidence of
the practice of crucifixion to have been discovered—the
Heel Bone of Yehohanan, Son of Hagkol, punctured by an
iron nail (replica); a stone inscription from the Temple
Mount reading “To the place of Trumpeting…”;
and a graffito of the Menorah, dating to the first century
BCE, which is the oldest representation of the menorah
that stood in the Temple of Jerusalem.
The exhibition itself
is divided into several parts. It begins with a section
that offers glimpses into the world in which Jesus lived
some two thousand years ago. The second section is devoted
to the structure of the church building and the liturgy,
which is exhibited by means of a reconstruction of the bema (presbytery) of a
church, complete with its furnishings, ritual objects,
and treasures. A further section deals with pilgrimage,
which was a surprisingly widespread phenomenon at the time,
and which shaped, perhaps more than any other factor, the
social and economic character of the Holy Land. Finally,
a separate section treats the topic of motifs, symbols,
and artistic expressions attributable to the Holy Land.
These are usually found on small artworks and everyday
items, which provide important evidence of life in this
land during the early Byzantine period. Though they have
received little attention in major museum exhibitions,
these modest objects may, in fact, be an echo of the impressive
works of art that once decorated the main religious buildings
of this land, but which have been lost with the passage
of time. |
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| Yael Israeli and David Mevorah are the
curators for the Cradle of Christianity exhibition. |
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Photo credit
Image 1, 2, 4, 5: Courtesy of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; image 3: Courtesy
of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Photo by Avraham Hay Christian; image 6: Courtesy
of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Photo by Avraham Hay |
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