Wrapped in heavy rings. This is how a team of archaeologists of the Israel antique authority discovered the remains of an individual buried in a Byzantine monastery located about 3 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, which worked Between the V and VII DC centuries. Given the poor state of conservation of the skeleton, its gender could not be determined at first, but the analysis of a tooth carried out by researchers from the researchers of the Weizmann Sciences Institute He has revealed that It is a woman.
The finding, detailed in An article in the Journal of Archaeological Sciencesit is the first archaeological evidence of the world of the ancient phenomenon of this extreme asceticism practice among the nuns.
«The woman was discovered in a single gravewhich was dedicated to it under the church platform as a sign of honor, ”says Israeli researchers Zubair Adowi, Kfir Arbiv and Yossi Nagar. He had about 12 or 14 rings around his arms and hands, four around his neck and at least 10 around his legs. The iron plates or discs in their belly, which were attached to the rings, finished giving the set an appearance of armor. They also found a small cross.
«The nun is an expression of a widespread phenomenon among the Byzantine monks of antiquity, of an individual nature and accompanied by a Excessive extremism», Say Zubair Adawi and Kfir Arbiv, directors of the excavation in the monastery of Khirbat El-Masani on behalf of the Israel antique authority.
The use of heavy iron rings was an extreme and unusual way to practice asceticism for the religious and it was volunteerNot a method of torture or imposed punishment. The monks believed that the more a person of the pleasures were abstained and the body was even punished, the more easily the soul rose to spiritual heights. Among the body’s self -harm methods described, researchers mention “prolonged fasts, tie iron chains and various accessories around the body or bind the body to rocks, load heavyweights, tie the body and place it on a device to force it to remain standing and prevent it pendants, at the top of pillars or even in the treetops, living under the dome of heaven and abandoning the body to the elements, or being in motionless places. In some cases, the monks threw the predatory animals on fire ».
Location of the grave in the Byzantine monastery of Khirbat el-Masani
Matan Chocron, Iaa.
The practice of binding the body with shackles began in northern Syria and Anatolia, expanded to Asia Minor and arrived at the west of Europe: to Italy, France and England. The phenomenon also expanded south, to Jerusalem and Egypt, where there is evidence of a monk called Serapion. Historical sources indicated that practice also existed among women. Teodoreto de Ciro, a historian who lived in the 5th century DC, mentions two women, Marana and Kira, who tied with irons for 42 years.
New questions
The Israel antique authority argues that this discovery raises new questions about The role of women in the Byzantine monastic world. There is written record that many women (such as Agria, Melania la Mayor, Melania the young woman, Susana, Paula, Pominia, Fabiola, Silvia and others) arrived in Jerusalem and settled in the city and its surroundings. Some even established monasteries. Researchers believe it is possible that their ‘Nun of the Rings’ It would arrive from Syria and join a community of monks and nuns, or that it was a local religious who adopted the method. “In any case, it joins the ‘Nun of the chains’ that was discovered decades ago in the excavations directed by Elena Kogan-Zehavi of the Israel antique authority on the path of Jerusalem to Bethlehem, near the Monastery of Mar Elías,” they highlight.
For archaeologist Amit Ram, from the Jerusalem region of the Antiques Authority of Israel, «Ascetic nuns are a fascinating phenomenon in which it is worth stopping ». Traditions and legends such as Santa Pelagia or Santa Marina (also known as ‘Marina La Syria’, V-VI centuries) collect that to participate in the high religious ideals of the ascetics of that time, they were forced to disguise themselves as men and lived as such until their death.
According to the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, ELI Escozido, “it is a fascinating discovery, which will require continuous investigation by the researchers of the Israel antiquities authority, in order to better understand the role of women in religious and monastic life at that time.”
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