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Religion and the ancient Church

Here is something longer and more conclusive than the usual: a lecture I gave (online) at the SBL 2023 convention. what makes ancient churches special? The relations between populations in the Late Antique Levant can be examined through various cultural facets. When we come to differentiate between these populations, religion and cult are major distinctions. In this paper we will present finds from churches in Provincia Phoenicia which reflect the socio-economic relations between Christians and Jewish populations across Phoenicia and Palestina. The cultural-religious-economical border between western and eastern Galilee has been demonstrated before: Christian village churches in the west, Synagogues in eastern Galilee. This division follows the border between Provincia Phoenicia and Provincia Palestina. Recent research that was conducted on the churches of Phoenicia with the aim of characterizing their regional affinities, showed that although the border was clear-cut, there were local cultural changes — evident by specific features in churches. The community's wealth invested in the churches makes them a primary source of evidence to socio-economic relations: the richly decorated mosaics, architecture, and furnishing, all housed in a predominant building. Basilical Churches are mostly considered to be rather uniform, with minor regional verities. But a thorough examination of formerly excavated churches in the western Galilee, and excavations of a few more, showed some specific architectural features in Phoenician churches: Flight of stairs ascending from the atrium to the narthex, galleries in the hall, the use of pedestals, and some typical architectural decorations. The most prominent feature in the churches in western Galilee, which is found across Phoenicia, is the Phoenician Bema. This is an extension of the bema into the nave, encompassing lecterns that bring the reader closer to the laymen. The Phoenician Bema appears in the 6th C. CE, either as an addition to an existing church, or as an original feature in a newly built church. A comparable arrangement is known as the Syrian Bema in northern Syria from the 4th C. CE, and as the Ambo from the late 6th C. CE in Palestina and Arabia. Two lecterns in front of the bema are attested also in late antique liturgical texts of the West-Syrian Diaphasic Church (dubbed qestromo). This tradition is kept today by the heir to the West-Syrian Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church. This linkage, between physical finds and church liturgy, is very rare in research. Surprisingly, the Phoenician Bema is also found in churches in the regions of Tefen and Beth HaKerem, which belongs to Palestina. According to inscriptions, these Churches were using the era of Palestina. This means that the region was inhabited by Christians from Phoenicia, who penetrated the Jewish sphere of Palestina's Galilee, practiced Phoenician rite, and accepted the civilian rule of Palestina. The cultural-religious-economical border was breached as an unpopulated region was inhabited; the newcomers kept their cultural-religious connection while accepting the local civilian order.