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Excavations link ancient prison to apostle's last days
The Daily Telegraph ^ | 25 June 2010 | Nick Squires

Posted on 06/25/2010 9:48:55 AM PDT by Palter

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1 posted on 06/25/2010 9:48:57 AM PDT by Palter
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To: Palter
Interesting, but I thought we basically already knew this.

2 posted on 06/25/2010 9:50:37 AM PDT by Genoa (Titus 2:13)
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To: Palter

I absolutely adore St. Peter. I love reading about him. I am comforted knowing that he had flaws just like all of us but in the end he died a martyr and I am so proud of him.


3 posted on 06/25/2010 9:51:33 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy (For victory & freedom!!!)
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To: Palter

The Crucifixion of St Peter by Michelangelo
4 posted on 06/25/2010 10:03:42 AM PDT by Palter (Kilroy was here.)
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To: Palter

once again my ignorance,
Is Saint Pete’s Cathederal built where the man died?


5 posted on 06/25/2010 10:07:54 AM PDT by Joe Boucher (Just say NO to RINOs. (FUBO))
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To: Saundra Duffy

Conversely, today I consider hard times to having a hard time finding a parking spot to go shopping. How much we have changed in two millenia.


6 posted on 06/25/2010 10:09:43 AM PDT by LouAvul
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To: Joe Boucher

St. Peter’s Basilica


7 posted on 06/25/2010 10:11:16 AM PDT by Palter (Kilroy was here.)
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To: Palter

Maybe they expect to find a note in a bottle with the message,
“Help! Am being held prisoner. Peter”.


8 posted on 06/25/2010 10:30:56 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: Joe Boucher

His tomb (confirmed by studies of the bodies found there) is directly beneath the high altar. Whether that was the original place of burial after his crucifixion or his remains were moved there before the first church was built (the current St. Peter’s Cathedral was built during the Renaissance over the site of a much smaller church), I’m not sure.


9 posted on 06/25/2010 10:33:42 AM PDT by katana (For what is an Irishman ? But a .......)
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To: Palter
"It was converted from being a prison into a focus of cult-like worship of St Peter by the seventh century at the latest, maybe earlier.

No Christian ever worshipped St. Peter. This is very badly worded. One prayed and may pray to St. Peter to ask for intercession with the Lord Jesus, but that is not worship.

10 posted on 06/25/2010 10:34:06 AM PDT by TheGeezer
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To: katana

Thanks for the informed post.
Hope just maybe ya taught more than just i something.


11 posted on 06/25/2010 10:40:31 AM PDT by Joe Boucher (Just say NO to RINOs. (FUBO))
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To: Palter

That’s gtreat Palter,
But it did nothing to answer anything.


12 posted on 06/25/2010 10:41:54 AM PDT by Joe Boucher (Just say NO to RINOs. (FUBO))
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To: Joe Boucher

Same place.


13 posted on 06/25/2010 10:44:19 AM PDT by Palter (Kilroy was here.)
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To: Joe Boucher

St. Peter’s is built over the place where his bones were found. This site was outside of the walls and was at the edge of a Roman necropolis. The site was venerated by Christians although it was kept hidden and was initially marked only by a rock (Peter, or rock).

A church was built there in the 3rd century after the persecutions ceased and the spot has been accepted ever since as the burial site of St Peter, and different tombs and churches have been built over it through the centuries. The bones themselves seem to have been lost and found several times, and a big project was carried out in the 1940s to find and identify them. It was very secretive partly out of fear that Hitler would try to get hold of the bones.

The current St Peter’s was built in the 1500 and 1600’s. The tomb that is under the main altar now houses the bones of St. Peter, as identified in the 1950’s.

It’s worth a trip. If you ever go there, make sure you visit the Scavi (excavations) of the Roman necropolis that is right next and under St. Peter’s.


14 posted on 06/25/2010 10:49:53 AM PDT by livius
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To: katana; Joe Boucher

The excavations in the 1940s and 50s revealed some fascinating stuff. First, the church sits right on top of a 1st century necropolis/cemetery—filled with mostly pagan tombs. But in one area is the famous red wall, which has a structure built around 150 or so—this may be the “tropaion” or trophy/monument to the Apostles mentioned by a Roman clergyman, Gaius, as quoted in Eusebius. There is also other literary evidence that mentions the shrine having been developed around this time.

The cemetery was located on a hill, the top of which was sheared off in the 300s, and soil was also mounded up in places so that the Church’s altar could sit directly above one particular tomb—which Vatican officials were quick to identify—with good reason—as Peter’s tomb. There are inscriptions mentioning Peter in this general area, and if I remember right there were even fragments of purple-dyed “royal” cloth found in the space.

Basically, the architects in the time of Constantine (300s) had gone through *enormous* effort, including reconfiguring the whole hill, to locate the main altar directly above this one particular tomb.

Probably the basic tradition is correct—Peter died in Rome in the AD 60s and his remains were collected and deposited here in this tomb. The tomb was known and venerated by a select few, but because of persecution it wasn’t really advertised until the era of Constantine.


15 posted on 06/25/2010 10:59:57 AM PDT by Claud
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To: LouAvul

The march of technological progress has softened the will of man.


16 posted on 06/25/2010 11:08:22 AM PDT by Ro_Thunder (The press wants “Camelot II - The Return of JFK”, and not “Peanuts II - that’s all you’ll have)
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To: Claud
Thanks, excellent detail! Dialogs like this no doubt bore the crap out of those who aren't cursed with historians' disease (like my wife and kids), but so be it.

As a side note, the professor who taught the "Ancient Near East" course I took in college in the 70's used a modern translation of the Bible as his main text source. In spite of all the subsequent archaeology that verifies so much of it as historically accurate, I doubt whether he would be allowed to do that today.

17 posted on 06/25/2010 11:18:20 AM PDT by katana (For what is an Irishman ? But a .......)
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To: Joe Boucher

The largest Christian church in the world is St. Peter’s Basilica, built over the tomb of St. Peter. St. Peter’s is not the cathedral church of Rome, St. John Lateran is. The term basilica refers to a church given special designation by the Pope.

The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is built over the burial place of St. Paul the Apostle.


18 posted on 06/25/2010 11:20:40 AM PDT by iowamark
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To: Ro_Thunder
I don't think technology is as much to blame as is liberalism. Liberals condition themselves to cherish their personal feelings and wants above even the lives of their children. Liberals care nothing about anything or anyone but themselves. Technology re abortions is just a means to their end.

Liberals are demons. Not all demons realize who they work for. Satan is the true head of the DNC.

19 posted on 06/25/2010 11:21:19 AM PDT by LouAvul
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To: Saundra Duffy

I just finished a paperback book By Archbishop Timothy Dolan, called “To Whom Shall We Go? Lessons from the Apostle Peter” and it is a geat read if you love St. Peter, I highly recommend it. You will also see a side of Archbishop Dolan you would not expect, so open about his life and family. I loved pages 150-152 especially where he writes about how St. Peter asks to be upside down because he is not worthy of being crucified in the same manner of our Lord.


20 posted on 06/25/2010 11:31:33 AM PDT by Citizen Soldier ("You care far too much what is written and said about you." Axelrod to Obama 2006)
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