Religious Communities in Byzantine Palestina: the Relationship Between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, AD 400 - 700
This is an archaeological analysis of the relationship between religious communities in Byzantine Palestina, based on a catalogue of excavated Byzantine sites in the region (forming an appendix to the work). After outlining the historical, archaeological and environmental.contexts of the study, the identification and dating of excavated synagogues and churches are re-evaluated. This shows that, although there are clear-cut examples of Jewish and Samaritan synagogues and Christian churches, these buildings are often so similar that it is difficult to differentiate between them. It is also shown that Jewish and Christian burial practices were so similar that, unless' accompanied inscriptions or symbols, the religious id~tity of burials is often difficult to recogmze. This suggests that different communities shared similar material cultures of religious practice, probably resulting from peaceful inter-communal interaction, and highlights chronological problems in the archaeology of Byzantine Palestina. Spatial analysis of reliably identified religious buildings is then used to show that different religious communities frequently occupied the same landscapes, and even the same settlements. The credibility ofusing
Ribak, Eliya
Religious Communities in Byzantine Palestina: the Relationship Between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, AD 400 - 700. This is an archaeological analysis of the relationship between religious communities in Byzantine Palestina, based on a catalogue of excavated Byzantine sites in the region (forming an appendix to the work). After outlining the historical, archaeological and environmental.contexts of the study, the identification and dating of excavated synagogues and churches are re-evaluated. This shows that, although there are clear-cut examples of Jewish and Samaritan synagogues and Christian churches, these buildings are often so similar that it is difficult to differentiate between them. It is also shown that Jewish and Christian burial practices were so similar that, unless' accompanied inscriptions or symbols, the religious id~tity of burials is often difficult to recogmze. This suggests that different communities shared similar material cultures of religious practice, probably resulting from peaceful inter-communal interaction, and highlights chronological problems in the archaeology of Byzantine Palestina. Spatial analysis of reliably identified religious buildings is then used to show that different religious communities frequently occupied the same landscapes, and even the same settlements. The credibility ofusing
religious communities byzantine relationship judaism_christianity islam archaeological_analysis relationship religious_community byzantine base catalogue excavate byzantine sit region form appendix work outline historical_archaeological study identification date excavate synagogue church re_evaluated show_although clear_cut example jewish synagogue christian_church building often similar difficult differentiate them also_show jewish_christian burial_practice similar unless accompanied inscription symbol religious burial often difficult suggests different community share_similar material_culture religious_practice probably result peaceful inter communal interaction highlight chronological problem archaeology byzantine spatial_analysis reliably identify religious_building use show different religious_community frequently occupy landscape even settlement credibility