Over on “Towards an Archaeology of Iconoclasm“, Troels mentions a new study by Jakob Munk Højte on Roman imperial statue bases. Troels then goes on to the question of the mutilation of inscriptions, and mentions a case in the Prytaneion (presidency building) at Ephesus which involves the obliteration of the goddess Artemis’ name (probably by Christians). Troels also promises some more entries on the topic, to which I will look forward.
Troels also mentions the relative commonality of the erasure of an emperor’s name in cases where an emperor was so disliked by other senators that his memory was “condemned” (damnatio memoriae) after his death. I happen to have on hand a photo of an inscription, now in the museum at Ephesus, that involves a dedication to the emperor Domitian in 88-89 CE (by the city of Klazomenae) (IEph 235). After the condemnation of Domitian’s memory, Domitian’s name was erased and the monument was rededicated to the emperor Vespasian. The erasure and re-inscription took place on lines two and four, with Domitian being replaced with “god” (theos) in line two and Germanicus being replaced with “Vespasian” in line four).

You can also check out some other monuments and statues in the Ephesus museum, as well as other Turkish museums, here.

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Respectful Insolence (aka Orac Knows), a blog by an “academic surgeon and scientist” that covers just about everything you could imagine, including science and history (especially WW II and the Holocaust). If you are interested in Roman history and the history of religions in the Roman empire (including Judaism and Christianity, of course), you may (are sure to) find other entries of interest here.

As Jim Davila points out, there is an article in the new issue of the American Journal of Archaeology which argues on numismatic (coin) evidence that the Sardis synagogue dates to the sixth century, about two centuries later than commonly suggested (Jodi Magness, “The Date of the Sardis Synagogue in Light of the Numismatic Evidence,” AJA 109 [2005] 443-47). The mosaic floors in the Sardis synagogue, which is located within the larger Greco-Roman bath-gymnasium complex, had previously been dated to the mid-fourth century based on coins found beneath the intact mosaics of the synagogue floor (primarily during the excavations of the 1960s).

(The main hall of the Sardis synagogue, showing the mosaic floors [ by Phil]).

However, Magness carefully re-evaluates all published reports and descriptions and throws into doubt this evaluation of the numismatic (coin) evidence. She points out how there are indeed coins found under the mosaic floors that date considerably later, including coins from the fifth and sixth centuries under both the forecourt and main hall floors (some of which were perhaps too easily dismissed as “contamination” or explained away in other ways once the fourth century dating was the working hypothesis). If this is indeed a correct revision, then many books and articles on the Sardis synagogue will become obsolete, so to speak. Certainly my discussion of the synagogue on my website (here) will need to be substantially revised if this newer view is true. I am somewhat convinced by Magness’ argument, but will need time to digest this further before deciding whether the suggested sixth century date for the mosaic floors is more likely.
(Right: Photo of the synagogue forecourt at Sardis).

At this point it is worth saying that even if the mosaic floors are sixth century, this does not rule out the possibility that the Jews were making use of the structure before that final, major overhaul. In fact, this is precisely what has been argued by the excavators, including Andrew R. Seager, who suggested that the Jews acquired and used this section of the bath-gymnasium (in so called stage 3) before making the final renovation with the mosaic floors (in stage 4). It is the mid-fourth century date for stage 4 that Magness is challenging.

It is worth briefly placing this discussion within other recent re-evaluations of the dates of other diaspora synagogue buildings and Jewish monuments. On pushing dates back, I have previously discussed Monika Trümper’s recent article which suggests an even earlier date for the synagogue on Delos. On pushing dates forward, Angelos Chaniotis convincingly argues that the donation inscription from Aphrodisias, which includes references to god-fearers, should now be dated to the fourth or fifth centuries, not the second or third (see Angelos Chaniotis, “The Jews of Aphrodisias: New Evidence and Old Problems.” Scripta Classica Israelica 21 [2002] 209-42). It will be intriguing to watch the reaction to Magness’ article and its impact on the study of diaspora Judaism, since the Sardis synagogue is often cited in broader discussions of the relations of diaspora Jews to Greco-Roman culture in the imperial (not later Byzantine) period.

For those of you who are new to the study of inscriptions, or epigraphy, Dr. Prof. Onno van Nijf (University of Groningen) provides a very good online intro with Introduction to Greek and Latin epigraphy: An absolute beginners’ guide. This will help you get your bearings.Van Nijf is also well-known for his study of occupational associations: The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East. Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology, vol. 17. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1997.

I have been meaning to mention Troels Myrup Kristensen’s blog on early Christian iconoclasm (on which he is writing a doctoral thesis in the Department of Classical Archaeology at the University of Aarhus, Denmark). Many of his entries deal with important issues concerning the relation of Christianity to the religions of the Mediterranean world, and he draws heavily on archeological materials. Recently, he has posted an excellent photo of a detailed sarcophagus (now in the Museum at Arles) depicting biblical scenes, as well as a colour photo of a papyrus which relates to iconoclasm. He also discusses religion in late antique Corinth. Just now he raises issues concerning continuities in the transition from”pagan” to Christian. I think the idea of tracking a thesis in progress by way of a blog is an excellent idea. Check it out.

As I am reading in preparation for a course on Christianity in the late medieval and early modern periods, iconoclasm is on my mind (right now I can’t remember the lyrics to that song).

Epigraphists and ancient historians use the term “squeeze” not for a current girlfriend or boyfriend (as in 1950s movies), but for the result of wetting and placing a special thin piece of paper (filter paper) over the face of an inscription which is then rubbed with a squeeze brush. The result is an excellent impression of the texture of the stone, of other markings, and of the letters of the inscription itself. This, then, is an easier way of bringing inscriptions back with you to the office to carefully study the lettering and gaps in the lettering. It is an essential tool in publishing an edition of the inscription in question.There are several online sites which are presently placing photographs of squeezes on the web. A recent email from David Downs, a doctoral student at Princeton Theological Seminary, reminded me that the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies at Ohio State University has a good (and expanding) collection of squeezes, particularly for inscriptions from Athens and from Macedonia.

Even more extensive are the collections made available by Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents. These imaging projects so far include inscriptions from the following regions:

• Athens and Attica
• Peloponnese
• Central Greece
• Aegean Islands
• Asia Minor
• Egypt and the Near East

After writing my previous post on Pergamon (Pergamum), I’ve been thinking that I should make comments regarding online resources for epigraphy and inscriptions (especially from Asia Minor) an ongoing segment of this blog. Although the likes of G.H.R. Horsley’s New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity have thankfully increased the interest in, and use of, inscriptional evidence by scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity, more of this needs to be done. And I believe some scholars of Christian origins remain somewhat hestitant (or even intimidated) by the whole sub-specialty of epigraphy when they don’t need to be.I hope my ongoing comments on epigraphy will help both other scholars (of early Christianity and Judaism) and the interested Joe and Jane to make better sense of inscriptions and the resources (especially online) to study them. Inscriptions provide important glimpses, albeit momentary glimpses, into social and religious realities of life for those living in the world of early Christians and Jews. Inscriptions and the monuments on which they were inscribed often provide an alternative picture of life in the ancient world to that offered by literary evidence produced by the elites.

The supplement to Pergamon inscriptions which I commented on in the previous post required that you know Greek to use it, but there is another resource that will appeal to a broader audience. Some of you may be familiar with the important “God-fearers” inscription (now often dated to the fourth or fifth century) which was discovered at Aphrodisias and revolutionized study of gentiles who were attracted to Judaism in antiquity. But there are many other interesting and important inscriptions which have been discovered in this same city in Asia Minor (Turkey).

Photo of sarcophagi (graves) in the yard of the Aphrodisias Museum (photo by Phil).

The website of the “Inscriptions of Aphrodisias Project” is very promising in providing excellent resources for studying inscriptions. At present, it provides free access to the second (2004) edition of Charlotte Roueché’s Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity: The Late Roman and Byzantine Inscriptions, which includes 250 Greek inscriptions with English translations and extensive commentary. There are plans to continue electronically publishing new finds from Aphrodisias as well. The extensive bibliography section includes links to online articles, including the recent (free access) article by Angelos Chaniotis, “New inscriptions from Aphrodisias (1995-2001),” American Journal of Archaeology 108 (2004), 377-416 (with English translations of the new finds). Also quite interesting are the photographs of notebooks (with documented Greek inscriptions) by early explorers of Aphrodisias, including the notebook of John Gandy Deering (written c. 1811-1813).

If you would like to do a quick photographic tour of the museum at Aphrodisias, including some of its monuments with inscriptions, go to my website here and click on the picture of Apollo at the top-right.

Update: Juan Garcés who is at the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King’s College, London, makes several further comments about this entry (see comments), including the fact that the plan is ultimately to have all of the inscriptions from Aphrodisias online. I just realized that this is the same person who reviewed my book for BMCR (he was very generous).

(My apologies for mispelling Angelos Chaniotis’ name, which is now corrected).

For those of you who can work with Greek inscriptions, I have just discovered that the German Archeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut = DAI) now has (free!) online what they are calling the Supplement zum Corpus der Inschriften von Pergamon (prepared by Helmut Müller). Essentially, the “Commission for Ancient History and Epigraphy” is republishing and updating all inscriptions published by the DAI between 1896-1913, including those published in MDAI(A) (aka, AM) and Max Fränkel’s Inschriften von Pergamon (Altertümer von Pergamon VIII 1/2). So far they have sections for honourary inscriptions, dedication inscriptions, and gymnastic ephebe (“youth”) lists. They have arranged these by the original publication and inscription number (not supplying new numbers, e.g. AM 24, 1899, Nr. 31). You can view each individually (though not all together) in pdf.Thus, for example, you could take a look at a detailed description, an updated bibliography, and the Greek text for the honourary inscription set up by the association of Dionysiac “dancing cowherds” for A. Julius Quadratus, the Roman governor (proconsul) of Asia in 109/110 CE.

I really could have used this a few years back when I was hunting down each of the inscriptions individually and trying to find any more recent discussions of them through mental telepathy. But I’m happy it’s there now nonetheless! Perhaps other archeological institutes will follow the German Archeological Institute’s good example in providing ready and free access to hard-to-find inscriptions.

Welcome to Ben Witherington, who now has a blog. In a recent entry he discusses the plight of the ancient city of Colossae in Turkey, and calls for some action in saving this unexcavated site. That reminded me that about a year ago a student in Australia happened on my website and e-mailed me to say that the university where she attended was in the midst of plans to excavate precisely Colossae. At that point, they had a website (dead link: http://wwwehlt.flinders.edu.au/colossae). Doing a search now, all I can find is a reference to an article on the Flinders University (Adelaide, Australia) site from 2002 by Michael Trainor, “Unearthing Ancient Colossae in Southern Turkey: Theology and Archaeology in Dialogue,” Compass: Review of Topical Theology 36 (2002): 40-46. I wonder what happened to that project? Does anyone know.

UPDATE: Ben Witherington now knows: Government red tape (see comments).

For a brief discussion and photos of the cities of the Lycos (or Lycus) valley, including Hierapolis, Laodicea, and Colossae, go here.

As an aside, I am happy to find that another scholar of ancient religions (Witherington) still likes to endulge his Marvel comic book past from time to time. I also found that the negative reviews of Fantastic Four were overstated. But the acting could have been far better in the sense that, when these four discover they have been genetically altered and now have strange powers, they don’t seem too surprised or upset (with the exception of The Thing). “Hmmm, now I can stretch my body like rubber and squeeze under doors . . . interesting. So as I was saying . . .”

Two recent studies challenge L. Michael White’s suggestion that many synagogue buildings developed from earlier domestic buildings (that is, houses). In the case of the Greek island of Delos, Monika Trümper argues that the building variously identified as either a Samaritan or a Judean synagogue (known as GD80) shows no signs of having been a domestic dwelling. Furthermore, she also challenges those (such as Donald Binder, who also has a very good website) who suggest that the building was previously used by a “pagan” association and only later acquired by the Samaritans. Instead, her interpretation of the remains suggests that the building was used by the Judeans/Jews (or Samaritans) from as early as the second century B.C.E. If this is true, then this would represent the earliest known synagogue building in the dispersion. See the extensive article by Monika Trümper, “The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in the Diaspora: The Delos Synagogue Reconsidered,” Hesperia 73 (2004) 513-598. UPDATE: Article available free online (without original page numbers and without photos and figures) at find articles.

In the case of the port city of Rome, Ostia, Anders Runesson convincingly shows that the archeological evidence previously used to support the notion that the building was originally a house is incorrect. Instead, he argues that “the original edifice was public and monumental, containing a triclinium for common meals, and dated to the late Julio-Claudian period” (first century CE) (p. 171). See Anders Runesson, “A Monumental Synagogue from the First Century: The Case of Ostia,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 33 (2002) 171-220.

The photo to the right shows a menorah (seven-branched candle-holder) on the capital of a column of the Ostia synagogue. For a photographic tour of the various guild-buildings at Ostia, as well as more photos of the synagogue, go to another section of my website here.

It will be interesting to watch the debate develop now as these common notions (at least since the 1990s) concerning the origins of the synagogue are challenged.

Runesson’s excellent survey of research on the The Origins of the Synagogue: A Socio-Historical Study (2001) is among the recent works that convincingly argues that, both socially and architecturally, synagogues have much in common with associations or collegia in the Greco-Roman world. There is an interesting online article by Runesson, which summarizes some of his work, here.

Down in a dusty basement of the British Museum, where few will ever see it, is a very interesting monument involving an association devoted to Zeus Hypsistos (“Most High”; GIBM IV.2 1007; from Panormos, near Kyzikos in Asia Minor).

The “three-storey” relief on this monument depicts the gods to whom the association was devoted, with Zeus (left) alongside Artemis (middle) and Apollo (right). All three deities hold out a libation bowl in their right hands, symbolic of the libations (drink-offerings) which humans offer in honour of these figures.

When the members of associations or guilds in the Roman empire gathered together for a meal, much more than simply satisfying the appetite or merely socializing was going on. Things that we moderns might separate into the categories of “social” and “religious” were intimately intertwined in antiquity, and the sacrificial meal is a case in point. The main way to honour the gods or goddesses was to make offerings of food or animal sacrifices, and in the majority of cases this, by default, included the accompanying meal of the worshipers.

In fact, in some cases it was even imagined that the god threw the banquet and was present with devotees as they shared in a communal meal. One banquet invitation on papyrus (ancient paper made from plants in Egypt) shows that the (Greco-Egyptian) god Sarapis sometimes sent out personal invitations for dinner: “The god calls you to a banquet being held. . . tomorrow from the 9th hour” (trans. by G.H.R. Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, vol. I no. 1). And this is one of those rare cases when an upper-class author (in this case Aelius Aristides of Smyrna) happens to clarify how the members of an association devoted to Sarapis might think about their god’s presence, whether in Egypt or in Asia Minor:

“And mankind exceptionally makes this god [Sarapis] alone a full partner in their sacrifices, summoning him to the feast and making him both their chief guest and host, so that while different gods contribute to different banquets, he is the universal contributor to all banquets and has the rank of mess president for those who assemble at times for his sake . . . he is a participant in the libations and is the one who receives the libations, and he goes as a guest to the revel and issues the invitations to the revelers, who under his guidance perform a dance.” Orations 45.27-28; trans. by Charles A. Behr, P. Aelius Aristides: The Complete Works. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1981 (second century