Archaeology
Traces of Bahrain’s lost Christian community found in Samahij
Archaeologists from the University of Exeter, in collaboration with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, have discovered the first physical evidence of a long-lost Christian community in Samahij, Bahrain.
In the Arabian Gulf, the Church of the East, known as the Nestorian Church, was one of three major branches of Nicene Eastern Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies.
The Church of the East had its own interpretation of Christian theology and liturgy, which according to tradition, was founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first century AD. Islam swept the entire Arabian region in the 7th century AD, heralding the beginning of the Islamic era in Bahrain.
Recent excavations of a mound previously occupied by a mosque in Samahij have uncovered the remains of an earlier structure that contained a kitchen, a refectory, a workroom, and three domestic rooms.
Archaeologists suggest that the structure likely served as the palace for the Bishop of the diocese, which according to historical sources was called the Meshmahig or Mašmahig.
“The building was very well-constructed with stone walls, plastered inside, and with plaster floors. Sockets and holes indicated where doors and benches had been fixed internally, and the kitchen contained several hearths made from the bases or tops of amphorae like storage vessels,” said the archaeologists.
Excavations also unearthed carnelian semi-precious stone beads, Indian ceramics, used glassware, small wine glasses, and copper coins minted in the Sasanian Empire. Additionally, spindle whorls and copper needles used in textile production were found.
Evidence of the structure having a Christian association is from the discovery of three plaster crosses found in situ, and by graffiti scratched into the plaster that show the Chi-Rho and a fish, both early Christian symbols.
Professor Timothy Insoll of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, said: “This is the first physical evidence found of the Nestorian Church in Bahrain and gives a fascinating insight into how people lived, worked and worshiped.”
Header Image Credit : University of Exeter
Sources : University of Exeter
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeology
Ornate grave goods found in Murom burial ground
Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been excavating a burial ground associated with the Finnic Muromians.
The Finnic Muromians were groups of settlers that lived within the vicinity of the Volga and Oka rivers. They spoke Muromian, an Uralic language that became extinct following their assimilation by the Slavs.
The burial ground, which dates from the early 10th century AD, was discovered on the eastern bank of the Oka river, located in the Nizhny Novgorod Region of Russia.
A total of seventeen burial pits have been identified, nine of which have been severely damaged through looting.
The surviving 8 burials contain the remains of four children, two women, and two men.
The men were accompanied with an ornate collection of grave goods, including arrowheads, knives, bronze bracelets, iron plates, a bronze buckle, and a whetstone.
At the bottom of one of the pits is a heavily corroded axe, along with a flint that has traces of iron-coated embossed leather and textile threads.
The burials containing women were also accompanied with high status funerary goods, such as a necklace of red-brown prismatic and dark blue berry-shaped beads of Byzantine origin, signet ring-shaped pendants, plate bracelets, a bronze spiral, and a silver ring.
Traces of wood within the pit fillings suggest that they originally contained a wooden structure, similar to a log house made of thin beams and covered with birch bark.
According to the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “The culmination of the discoveries at the site were two clay vessels, testifying to direct and close contacts between the right-bank Muromians and the Old Russian population.”
Header Image Credit : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Sources : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeology
Ghastly finds at gallows execution site
![](https://conspirazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/gast2-S78Iej.jpeg)
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt are currently excavating the site of a former gallows in Quedlinburg, Germany.
Gallows are usually wooden structures made of two vertical posts, a horizontal crossbeam, and a hanging noose. They have been used for executing criminals by hanging, a prevalent form of capital punishment in Europe since the Middle Ages.
Archaeologists are currently excavating a gallows site on Galgenberg, or ‘Gallows Hill,’ which was used for public executions by the courts in Quedlinburg from 1662 to 1809.
Excavations have revealed complete and partial burials in the area, along with bone pits containing multiple bundled burials, likely the result of mass executions carried out in a short period.
Image Credit : LDA
According to the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt, “these discoveries provide unique insights into penal practices from the Middle Ages and early modern times.”
A burial unrelated to the gallows has also been unearthed, featuring a wooden coffin containing the skeletal remains of an individual buried with a rosary chain.
Archaeologists propose that the burial’s characteristics suggest that the individual was likely a suicide victim, denied burial in consecrated ground so was placed in the cemetery near the gallows.
Also discovered is a so-called ‘revenant grave’, where the skeletal remains of a man was found placed on his back with several large stones placed across his chest.
According to the researchers, the stones were likely placed to prevent the individual from rising as a revenant, which are described as animated corpses in the verbal traditions and lore of many European ethnic groups.
In medieval times, those inflicted with the revenant condition were generally suicide victims, witches, corpses possessed by a malevolent spirit, or the victim of a vampiric attack.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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