Re: The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome

Peter Alaca wrote:
Christians and death: A study of the origins
of the christian catacombs of Rome

Abstract
This Ph.D. dissertation addresses the question of
whether the famous catacombs of Rome are a
Christian invention. Traditionally archaeologists
believe this to be the case. Recently, however,
the idea that the catacombs are a typically
Christian invention, has been questioned on the
basis of a new analysis of the pertinent literary
sources. Such a state of affairs illustrates a
basic problem, or rather dichotomy, in current
catacomb archaeology: the question of the
catacombs’ origin is usually addressed on the
basis of either the archaeological or the
literary evidence (cfr. Chapter 1:
historiographical study). Such an approach is
problematic, not only for methodological reasons,
but also because it prevents us from gaining a
better understanding of how the catacombs came to
be.

In this dissertation I specifically seek to unite
both approaches in an attempt to reconstruct how
and why the early Christian catacombs of Rome
came into existence. Topographically, the
relevant archaeological evidence included in the
chapters 2 through 4, derives from the city of
Rome and its direct surroundings.
Chronologically, it covers the period from
Augustus to the early fourth century A.D.
Comparing the Christian archaeological materials
with the pagan archaeological materials, I argue
that despite formal similarities, these early
Christian cemeteries differ clearly, on a
conceptual level, from their pagan counterparts:
they are patently less luxurious and unmistakably
designed to accommodate relatively large groups
of people.
In Chapter 5 and 6 I turn to an analysis of the
literary sources with special emphasis on the
question of who was responsible for the burial of
those we encounter in Rome’s extensive
necropoleis. Chapter 5 addresses evidence from
the pagan world, including evidence on the city
or state as organizer of burials, the collegia,
the family, the emperor as well as individuals.

From all the evidence collected it follows that:
1. the family played a central role in taking
care of burial; and 2. “public display” was a
central notion that helps shape pagan burial
customs and pagan funerary architecture. Chapter
6 addresses evidence from the Christian world,
including evidence on individuals, (pagan)
collegia, the family, and the Church as being the
agents responsible for proper burial. Here it
could be shown that the early Christian catacombs
of Rome owe their origin to the involvement of
the families and the early Church (before 250
A.D. it were primarily families who felt
themselves responsible for also burying the poor,
after this date the Church took over this role).
“Public display” does not seem to have played a
prominent role in early Christian cemeteries.
There the proper burial of the poor was the
overriding concern.

This dissertation concludes, therefore, that the
catacombs of Rome are a typically Christian
invention. Although it is true that early
Christian funerary architecture has pagan roots,
there are clear differences with the pagan world
both in terms of how the respective cemeteries
were designed as well as in terms of how burial
of one’s co-religionists was conceived.

R.M.G. Jonckheere (2006)
Christenen en de dood: Een studie naar het ontstaan van de christelijke catacomben te Rome.
Proefschrift Universiteit Utrecht

The full dissertation (in Dutch) is 4.2 mb
and can be downloaded here:
<http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2006-0511-200023/index.htm>

The point is not whether they exist: they clearly do. It is whether they are Christian. I have looked at quite a few of the decorations, both in books and on the Web, and cannot see anything Christian in them.

--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management decisions. -From “Rollerball”
.

Relevant Pages

  • The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome
    ... of the christian catacombs of Rome ... Christian invention. ... with the pagan archaeological materials, ...
    (soc.history.ancient)
  • Re: The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome
    ... of the christian catacombs of Rome ... Christian invention. ... with the pagan archaeological materials, ...
    (soc.history.ancient)
  • Re: The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome
    ... of the christian catacombs of Rome ... Christian invention. ... I believe that the Jewish and Christian burials in the catacombs are roughly simultaneous, ... The article in Nature plays a little loose with the dating, since the earliest Christian catacombs date to the late second century, which even Rutgers in works published in 1995 and 1998 states explicitly and lays out the evidence. ...
    (soc.history.ancient)
  • Re: The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome
    ... of the christian catacombs of Rome ... Christian invention. ... I believe that the Jewish and Christian burials in the catacombs are roughly simultaneous, ... The article in Nature plays a little loose with the dating, since the earliest Christian catacombs date to the late second century, which even Rutgers in works published in 1995 and 1998 states explicitly and lays out the evidence. ...
    (soc.history.ancient)
  • Re: The origins of the Christian catacombs in Rome
    ... of the christian catacombs of Rome ... Christian invention. ... I believe that the Jewish and Christian burials in the catacombs are roughly simultaneous, ... The article in Nature plays a little loose with the dating, since the earliest Christian catacombs date to the late second century, which even Rutgers in works published in 1995 and 1998 states explicitly and lays out the evidence. ...
    (soc.history.ancient)