The two human skeletons discovered recently in an
Early Christian tomb on the St. Ivan (St. John) Island in the Black Sea off the
coast of Bulgarian resort Sozopol most probably belonged to Syrian monks who
brought with them the relics of St. John the Baptist found on the same island
in 2010.
The two human skeletons and a ram skeleton were
discovered in August 2015 by Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Kazimir
Popkonstantinov inside the Early Christian tomb on the St. Ivan Island off the
coast of the town of Sozopol (the same island where relics of St. John the
Baptist were found in the summer of 2010) which was found and opened in mid
July 2015.
Popkonstantinov has revealed his latest conclusions
about the 2015 summer discoveries that he has made amidst the ruins of the
Early Christian monastery “St. John the Baptist” on the St. Ivan Island now
that the summer excavations have been completed, and the skeletons have been
examined by anthropologists, reports the Bulgarian daily 24 Chasa.
The archaeologist has been excavating the Early
Christian monastery for several years now; he made global headlines back in
2010 with the discovery of relics of St. John the Baptist; the fact that the
relics belonged to a Middle Eastern man who lived in the 1st century AD has
been confirmed by the analysis of scholars from Oxford University.
Upon the discovery of the reliquary containing the
relics of St. John the Baptist back in 2010, Popkonstantinov and his team found
next to it a matchbox-sized box made of sandstone (the type of sandstone found
in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Palestine); on it, there were an
inscription in Ancient Greek, reading “God, save your servant Thomas (Toma). To
St. John. June 24.” The date is the Christian feast day of St. John the
Baptist, believed to be his birthday.
Popkonstantinov now says he has reasons to believe the
two men whose skeletons he found buried in the Early Christian tomb from in the
4th-5th century AD that he discovered in July-August 2015 most probably
belonged to Early Christian monks from Syria.
The archaeologist also thinks one of the two men might
be the “Thomas (Toma)”, the man from the above-mentioned sandstone box
inscription who brought the relics of St. John the Baptist to the small Black
Sea island off the coast of Bulgaria’s Sozopol giving the start of the Early
Christian monastery named after the saint.
The tomb in question was found at a depth of 3.5
meters during excavations north of the altar of the monastery basilica which
dates to the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century AD. At the
time, Sozopol and the St. Ivan Island were territory of the Eastern Roman
Empire known today as Byzantium. In front of the tomb, the archaeologists
discovered part of a sanctuary lamp, which is taken as evidence that it was the
burial place of a senior clergyman.
Popkonstantinov notes that the basilica whose ruins he
has been studying appears to be very similar to the Early Christian churches in
Syria known as “Syrian-type basilicas”.
“This discovery [i.e. the tomb] has no parallels in
Bulgaria but also in Palestine and in Syria where one would expect to find such
because the first basilica of the monastery has very close resemblance to
churches in Syria known as the Syrian-type basilica. It is a little known fact
that lots of Syrian population settled in today’s Bulgarian territories,
especially on the West Coast of the Black Sea, in the 5th-6th century AD,” the
lead archaeologist is quoting as saying.
“The patriarchal monastery “St. John the Baptist” on
the St. Ivan (St. John) Island is the largest and most ancient island monastery
from the 5th century in the entire Black Sea. The archaeological excavations in
2015 have helped us clarify its early history,” Popkonstantinov adds.
Together with his colleagues, Assoc. Prof. Rosina
Kostova and Milen Nikolov, the Director of the Regional Museum of History in
Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Burgas, he has established that the newly found
Early Christian tomb, which is 2.8 meters long and 1.8 meters wide, was built
at the same time with the basilica.
The tomb of the two alleged Syrian monks, of which one
may have brought the St. John the Baptist’s relics, while both men may have
co-founded the monastery on the St. Ivan Island, is adjoined to the northern
wall of the altar section of the basilica.
The structure of the Early Christian tomb on the St.
Ivan Island is unlike any other ancient tomb found in Bulgaria. Its floor and
walls are tiled with 18 large equal-sized tiles, while its roof consisted of an
arched structure. Photo; 24 Chasa daily
The structure of the Early Christian tomb on the St.
Ivan Island is unlike any other ancient tomb found in Bulgaria. Its floor and
walls are tiled with 18 large equal-sized tiles, while its roof consisted of an
arched structure. Photo: 24 Chasa daily
“After completing the excavations we have found that
the way [the tomb] was built differs from all other known tombs in Bulgaria
from this time period. Its foundation is tiled with 18 tiles of equal size
covering all four walls. Above the tiles comes the arched structure of the
roof. The floor is tiled with the same kind of tiles,” Popkonstantinov
explains.
The two skeletons, both of whom we about 1.60 cm (app.
5 feet 2.5 inches), were found on the floor of the tomb, lying about 40 cm (1.3
feet) from one another. Next to them the archaeologists have found 40 iron
nails which apparently held together the respective wooden coffins.
The anthropological analysis of the bones performed by
Assist. Prof. Viktoriya Ruseva has revealed that the skeleton found in the
northern section of the Early Christian tomb belonged to a man aged between 50
and 60, and the skeleton found in the southern section was 45-50 years old. The
joints of both men show alterations caused by arthrosis.
The ram skeleton was found 25 cm above the younger
man’s skeleton; it is especially interesting because the sheep bones are
absolutely intact in terms of their anatomical positions.
The Bulgarian archaeologists who have studied the tomb
believe that both it and the first basilica on the St. Ivan Island off the
coast of Sozopol were built at the same time, and that both were destroyed
simultaneously by a powerful earthquake. As were the rest of the monastery
buildings.
The natural disaster that affected the Early Christian
monastery supposedly led the monks to serve a prayer for mercy.
“The sheep was placed in the tomb as a votive
offering, and on top of one of the buried men. According to the Syrian and
Palestinian tradition, a tomb for the founders of the monastery is built next
to the altar section of the basilica. The monastic brotherhood deemed the two
founders of the monastery saintly men, pleaders before God,” Popkonstantinov
elaborates.
Bone material from the skeletons of the two alleged
Early Christian Syrian monks will be sent to the laboratories at Oxford
University in the UK and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark which also
examined the relics of St. John the Baptist found near Bulgaria’s Sozopol in
2010.
The results are expected to provide information about
the age of the two men, when they were buried, what diseases they had, etc.
Bone material from the ram will be sent to a laboratory
in Mannheim, Germany, in order to find out when the animal was buried. This
information is expected to reveal in what year the earthquake occurred that
shattered the tomb and the first basilica built at the monastery on the St.
Ivan Island in the Black Sea.
“We are now firmly convinced that the first monastery
was not destroyed by an invasion but by this natural disaster. We and our
colleagues from abroad are very impressed with the discovery. No tomb of
monastery founders, one of whom probably was the Thomas (Toma), has ever been
found during excavations,” Popkonstantinov says.
“This is the only monastery dedicated to St. John the
Baptist where a reliquary with the relics of the saint has been found during
archaeological excavations together with an inscription on a sandstone box in
which they were transported. This is the first case in world Biblical and
Christian archaeology in which relics of St. John the Baptist have been found
in an archaeological environment. This is the first time that we have learned
the name of the bearer of the relics – Thomas (Toma) – who is most probably one
of the founders of the monastery, and was buried in this tomb together with the
other founder,” elaborates the archaeologist.
Popkonstantinov points out that several hundred
tourists and pilgrims from abroad, including Muslims who also worship St. John
the Baptist, visit the ruins of monastery on the St. Ivan Island off the coast
of Sozopol every day.
Despite this interest, the funding of the Bulgarian
government for the archaeological excavations of the St. John the Baptist
Monastery is meager – about BGN 15,000 (app. EUR 7,300) per year. However, the
excavations are supported by the St. John the Baptist Foundation which provides
money for the digs and the conservation of the archaeological structures every
year.
Back in 2010 during excavations of an ancient
monastery on the St. Ivan (St. John) Island in the Black Sea, off the coast of
Bulgaria’s Sozopol, to the north of Burgas, Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Kazimir
Popkonstantinov discovered a reliquary containing relics of St. John the
Baptist. The relics of St. John the Baptist, which consist of small bone
particles from a skull, jaw bone, arm bone, and tooth, have received lots of
international interest in the years since then, and in February 2015 CNN
reported that Oxford University scholars had confirmed the possibility of their
authenticity by concluding that they belonged to a man who lived in the Middle
East at the same time as Jesus Christ.
Also check out our other recent stories about the
excavations of the St. John the Baptist Monastery on St. Ivan (St. John) Island
in the Black Sea of the coast of Bulgaria’s Sozopol:
Archaeologist Finds Two Human Skeletons, One Ram
Skeleton in Early Christian Tomb on St. Ivan Island in Black Sea Off Bulgaria’s
Sozopol
Bulgarian Archaeologist Discovers Early Christian Tomb
of Senior Clergyman on Sozopol’s St. John Island in Black Sea
Bulgaria’s Sozopol to Celebrate 5 Years since
Discovery of St. John the Baptist Relics with Archaeological Exhibit
St. John the Baptist Relics Found in Bulgaria’s
Sozopol ‘Could’ Be Authentic, Oxford Archaeology Dating Expert Finds
Background Infonotes:
The history of the resort town of Sozopol (Apollonia
Pontica, Sozopolis) on Bulgaria’s Southern Black Sea coast started during the
Early Bronze Age, in the 5th millennium BC, as testified by the discoveries of
artifacts found in underwater archaeological research, such as dwellings,
tools, pottery, and anchors. In the 2nd-1st millennium BC, the area was settled
by the Ancient Thracian tribe Scyrmiades who were experienced miners trading
with the entire Hellenic world. An Ancient Greek colony was founded there in
620 BC by Greek colonists from Miletus on Anatolia’s Aegean coast. The colony
was first called Anthea but was later renamed to Apollonia in favor of Ancient
Greek god Apollo, a patron of the setters who founded the town. It became known
as Apollonia Pontica (i.e. of the Black Sea). Since the Late Antiquity, the
Black Sea town has also been called Sozopolis.
The Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica emerged as a
major commercial and shipping center, especially after the 5th century AD when
it became allied with the Odrysian Kingdom, the most powerful state of the
Ancient Thracians. As of the end of the 6th century BC, Apollonia Pontica
started minting its own coins, with the anchor appearing on them as the symbol
of the polis. Apollonia became engaged in a legendary rivalry with another
Ancient Greek colony, Mesembria, today’s Bulgarian resort town of Nessebar,
which was founded north of the Bay of Burgas in the 6th century BC by settlers
from Megara, a Greek polis located in West Attica. According to some historical
accounts, in order to counter Mesembria’s growth, Apollonia Pontica founded its
own colony, Anchialos, today’s Pomorie (though other historical sources do not
support this sequence of events), which is located right to the south of
Mesembria. Apollonia managed to preserve its independence during the military
campaigns of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon under Philip II (r. 359-336
BC), and his son Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BC). Apollonia, today’s
Sozopol, is known to have had a large temple of Greek god Apollo (possibly
located on the Sts. Quiricus and Julietta Island, also known as the St. Cyricus
Island), with a 12-meter statue of Apollo created by Calamis, a 5th century BC
sculptor from Ancient Athens. In 72 BC, Apollonia Pontica was conquered by
Roman general Lucullus who took the Apollo statue to Rome and placed it on the
Capitoline Hill. After the adoption of Christianity as the official religion in
the Roman Empire, the statue was destroyed.
In the Late Antiquity, Apollonia, also called
Sozopolis lost some of its regional center positions to Anchialos, and the
nearby Roman colony Deultum (Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultensium). After the
division of the Roman Empire into a Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman
Empire (today known as Byzantium) in 395 AD, Apollonia / Sozopolis became part
of the latter. Its Late Antiquity fortress walls were built during the reign of
Byzantine Emperor Anasthasius (r. 491-518 AD), and the city became a major
fortress on the Via Pontica road along the Black Sea coast protecting the
European hinterland of Constantinople.
In 812 AD, Sozopol was first conquered for Bulgaria by
Khan (or Kanas) Krum, ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire (632/680-1018 AD) in
803-814 AD. In the following centuries of medieval wars between the Bulgarian
Empire and the Byzantine Empire, Sozopol changed hands numerous times. The last
time it was conquered by the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396 AD) was during
the reign of Bulgarian Tsar Todor (Teodor) Svetoslav Terter (r. 1300-1322 AD).
However, in 1366 AD, during the reign of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander (r.
1331-1371 AD), Sozopol was conquered by Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy from 1343 to
1383 AD, who sold it to Byzantium. During the period of the invasion of the
Ottoman Turks at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th
century AD, Sozopol was one of the last free cities in Southeast Europe. It was
conquered by the Ottomans in the spring of 1453 AD, two months before the
conquest of Constantinople despite the help of naval forces from Venice and
Genoa.
In the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Sozopol was
a major center of (Early) Christianity with a number of large monasteries such
as the St. John the Baptist Monastery on St. Ivan Island off the Sozopol coast
where in 2010 Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov made a
major discovery by finding relics of St. John the Baptist; the St. Apostles
Monastery; the St. Nikolay (St. Nikolaos or St. Nicholas) the Wonderworker
Monastery; the Sts. Quriaqos and Julietta Monastery on the St. Cyricus (St.
Kirik) Island, the Holy Mother of God Monastery, the St. Anastasia Monastery.
During the Ottoman period Sozopol was often raided by
Cossack pirates. In 1629, all Christian monasteries and churches in the city
were burned down by the Ottoman Turks leading it to lose its regional role. In
the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829, Sozopol was conquered by the navy of the
Russian Empire, and was turned into a temporary military base. After Bulgaria’s
National Liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, Sozopol remained a major
fishing center. As a result of intergovernmental agreements for exchange of
population in the 1920s between the Tsardom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of
Greece, most of the ethnic Greeks still remaining in Sozopol moved to Greece,
and were replaced by ethnic Bulgarians from the Bulgarian-populated regions of
Northern Greece.
The modern era archaeological excavations of Sozopol
were started in 1904 by French archaeologists who later took their finds to The
Louvre Museum in Paris, including ancient vases from the beginning of the 2nd
millennium BC, the golden laurel wreath of an Ancient Thracian ruler, and a
woman’s statue from the 3rd century BC. Important archaeological excavations of
Sozopol were carried out between 1946 and 1949 by Bulgarian archaeologist Ivan
Venedikov. The most recent excavations of Sozopol’s Old Town started in 2010.
In 2011-2012, Bulgarian archaeologists Tsonya Drazheva and Dimitar Nedev
discovered a one-apse church, a basilica, and an Early Christian necropolis.
Since 2012, the excavations of Sozopol have been carried out together with
French archaeologists. In 2010, during excavations of the ancient monastery on
the St. Ivan (St. John) Island in the Black Sea, off the coast of Bulgaria’s
Sozopol, Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov discovered a
reliquary containing relics of St. John the Baptist. In 1974, the Bulgarian
government set up the Old Sozopol Archaeological and Architectural Preserve.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου