Researchers at the University of Haifa have identified a find near the baptismal font in the Byzantine cathedral in Susita that has no known parallel, and suggest that it was used for anointing oil in the anointing ceremony that accompanied baptism.
A rectangular marble item with three hemispherical depressions, discovered next to the baptismal font in the Byzantine cathedral in the ancient city of Susita, is not known from research parallels and may contribute to understanding how the baptism ceremony was performed in the Sea of Galilee region during the Byzantine period. The find is described in a new study by researchers at the University of Haifa, recently published in the journal PEQ, Published in England. The cathedral, the seat of the city's governor, is located within the Susita National Park, which is managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. "Near the baptismal font, we began to uncover amazing ritual items that only after research did we realize how unique they are for understanding the worship in the cradle of Christianity near the Sea of Galilee," said Dr. Michael Eisenberg, of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the School of Archaeology and Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa, who has been directing the excavations at Susita for many years.
The cathedral located in the Susita National Park is the central one of about seven churches that operated in the city during the Byzantine period and one of the most prominent in the area around Lake Kinneret. Susita was the only Christian city around the lake and controlled a large area that included the southern Golan Heights and eastern Kinneret, an area identified in Christian tradition with the activities of Jesus. The study was conducted by Dr. Eisenberg and Dr. Arleta Koblewska, from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, who examined the entirety of the findings and their contribution to understanding the formation of the baptismal ceremony in the area.
The current excavation focused on a hall that was annexed to the church to the south, where a room containing a baptismal font and many ritual items were partially exposed. This is the only church known to the study to contain two halls designated for baptism. This space is called the potisterion in Greek, meaning the hall of illumination, as also indicated in the inscription discovered in the cathedral. Another potisterion was uncovered at the site in the past and is the largest among the Byzantine churches in Israel. The large hall was used for the baptism of adults, while the smaller one that was now uncovered was used for the baptism of infants and children. The dating of the find revealed that the southern hall was built in 591 AD and destroyed in the earthquake of 749, an event that left the marble and bronze items buried in the landslide until their exposure.
The results of the study indicate that the collection of ritual objects uncovered in the southern hall includes: a bronze candlestick, the largest ever uncovered in Israel, and a marble box for preserving holy relics, known as a reliquary, also the largest of its kind discovered. Alongside these items, the researchers found a rectangular marble item with three hemispherical depressions, which was found next to the baptismal font. After extensive examination and comparison, the researchers determined that the object has no known equivalent in the study, and the proposed explanation is that the item was used for three oils during an anointing ceremony that was held as part of the baptismal ceremony. "The baptismal ceremony was one of the central events in the life of the Christian community and gradually took shape during the Byzantine period. In different regions, formulas and rituals with unique characteristics developed, many of which are not documented in the sources. This find allows us a glimpse into the way in which the ceremony was designed and conducted in the Byzantine Christian community in Susita," concluded Dr. Eisenberg.
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