'The
Vessels of the Potter Shall be Broken'
| Bautch, KC, RJ Bautch, G Barkay, SG Sheridan.
(2000). "'The Vessels of the Potter Shall be Broken': Material culture
from the tombs of St. Stephen's monastery." Revue Biblique, 107:561-590. |
 |
PDF Format |
Abstract:
The focus
of this study is the material culture from a repository in one of the burial
caves of the monastery of St. Stephen in Jerusalem. This investigation
was conducted in the context of a larger project aimed at reconstructing
life at a well-documented Byzantine monastic community by synthesizing
the biological, historical, and archaeological records. An inventory
of 202 items including pottery sherds, glass, fragments of clay oil
lamps, jewelry, and a devotional object are presented herein.
Though the items indicate a broad temporal spectrum beginning in Iron Age
II and continuing through the Ottoman period, a majority derive from the
late Roman and Byzantine periods. Particularly noteworthy are the fragments
from oil lamps and glass vessels dating from the late Roman and Byzantine
periods, common finds from burial caves of those periods. As a whole the
collection is peculiar as it lacks necessary and anticipated diagnostic
sherds, intact vessels, or groups of sherds capable of restoration, possibly
indicative of significant looting of the material culture from these tombs.
Thus, while of minimal utility for understanding social or symbolic aspects
of ancient burial practices, the collection does enhance a temporal placement
for the human remains with which they were commingled. Viewed in
concert with the chemical analyses, osteological evidence, and textual
record, this rather sparse collection helps corroborate a Byzantine placement
for the skeletal remains interred in repository 6 of cave complex 1 at
St. Stephen's monastery.
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