Posted on 08/25/2009 9:34:25 AM PDT by Nikas777
Syria: 5th century skeleton found in Byzantine cathedral
Edited by Maha Karim
Saturday, 15 August 2009 13:23
A cathedral with a skeleton remains in it, dating back to the Byzantine era, was unearthed by the Syrian excavation team in Tal Al-Hasaka site, north eastern Syria.
The cathedral ,which dates back to the Early Christianity Era, is 18 meters long, and includes a four meter wide northern hall, a 6.5 meter wide middle hall and a three meter wide southern hall, Al-Hasaka Archeology Director Abdul-Maseeh Baghdo said in a press release on Saturday.
It also includes two column bases, and the floor is inlayed with reddish-yellow baked clay.
In the cathedra's northern hall, an entrance leading to the service area was discovered where a grape squeezer and a skeleton of a human who died of torture were found.
The excavation team also found the cathedral's stairway exit consisting of four steps, with another four steps facing them the opposite way.
Moreover, the team found intact columns reaching five meters in height with ornaments, as well as the cathedral's collapsed ceiling which was built from baked clay and basalt stones.
A bimah - a platform where a religious preacher stands - was uncovered, confirming that this site is a cathedral, according to the Archeological director. (KUNA)
A martyr of the Roman persecution it seems.
ping
And another date for Bill Clinton.
By then the Roman Empire was officially Christian.
5th Century? Roman’s? I don’t think so.
5th Century means the 400s. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, the Eastern Roman Empire fell in 1462.
By the 5th century, it coulda been the Christians doing the torturing, for all we know.
Or it could've been simply a 5th century crime, and maybe that desecration is what led to the cathedral's disuse.
Before the Muslim onslaught people forget that the Zoroastrian Persian/Parthian empire over ran and destroyed many of the Greco-Roman cities before the emperor Heraclius defeated them in what some historians called the world's first Crusade. The Zoroastrians had taken the relic of the True Cross as a war trophy when they looted Jerusalem and destroyed the church that was atop the temple mount.
The Muslims took advantage of this weakness from the war the Romans and Parthians fought to first take over the defeated Persians and then take the Middle East from the weakened Romans.
So, more likely the deceased was a member of one of the Christian sects that did not conform to the Council of Nicea.
Before the Muslim onslaught people forget that the Zoroastrian Persian/Parthian empire over ran and destroyed many of the Greco-Roman cities before the emperor Heraclius defeated them in what some historians called the world's first Crusade. The Zoroastrians had taken the relic of the True Cross as a war trophy when they looted Jerusalem and destroyed the church that was atop the temple mount.
The Muslims took advantage of this weakness from the war the Romans and Parthians fought to first take over the defeated Persians and then take the Middle East from the weakened Romans.
Not likely. The Christians preserved the remains of martyrs form the Pagan Roman period and when Constantine came along they built churches in honor of these saints.
What do you mean? Why don't you think so?
The Western empire collapsed in the 5th century - around the time of this church and the eastern empire ruled an additional 300 years give or take in the middle east before Islam came and 1,100 years out of Constantinople and Antolia/Balkans.
Justinian 1 reconquered and ruled over the some of the old Roman terretories.
Constatniople would be the seat of civilization and culture until it was conquered by the Turks who would rule until WWI.
Read More about Byzantine History
Check out the Empress Theodora!
That would make sense, but then would not the remains be dated earlier than the 5th century?
I just finished reading a book on the Byzantine Empire and yes Emperor Justinian and Theodora were very interesting rulers.
Now according to Wikipedia the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD when the Barbarian invader, Odoacer, forced out the last Roman Emperor (of the West), Romulus Augustus.
I think by the 5th Century the Roman Empire was pretty much Christian was it not?
Oh yes, the Great Schism in the Church which divided Catholic from Orthodox occurred in 1054.
Look up Schism in Wikipedia for verification.
Yes, in fact Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire since the reign of Emperor Constantine in the 300s.
So I wouldn’t think that the person was tortured by the
Romans.
Not likely for being a Christian as Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire by the 5th Century.
Cordially,
I don’t think they dated the bones - just the church.
Is this really a “cathedral”?
Good point. I was also thinking that he might also have been martyred while traveling among the heathens outside the empire.
Young Werther your info is a little off.
Constantine ruled a united empire which became divided again after his death - the division was administrative along cultural lines for ease of administration not for any Christian schism.
This division created the Latin church and the Greek church that later became the Catholic Church is it is now called in the west and the Orthodox Church (though both churches call themselves the same name officially - One Holy and Apostolic Catholic Church - ‘catholic’ is a Greek word that means ‘universal’).
Syria is a dictatorship - but because the ruling Alawites adhere to the Arab nationalist Ba'athist movement Christians live pretty much free from persecution there. It is a paradox that is the middle east.
You misunderstood me. The bones could be the bones of a persecuted Christian from before the time of Constantine reburied in the church as a relic of a martyred saint and these bones would be a few hundred years older than the church that was probably built to house the bones.
That is certainly possible. The point I was trying to make was that the Roman Empire was not persecuting Christians in 5th Century. It was at the time trying to fend off invading barbarian hordes. By 476 AD the Western Empire fell.
I would think the archaelogists who found the bones could determine the age of the bones and therefore whether or not your theory is possible.
Agreed - just a semi-educated guess on my part.
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Thanks Nikas777 and BenLurkin. |
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Amen. And so did Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, and many other places that have been lost to Islam. Pray for us. Pray for Holy Mother, the Church. Pray for the Christian martyrs.
Theodora was one hot babe in her youth and supposedly had a voracious sexual appetite.
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