Baptism in Early Byzantine

Palestine 325-451
 Gorgias Liturgical Studies

42

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Baptism in Early Byzantine
Palestine 325-451

Juliette Day

gorgias press
2009
Gorgias Press LLC, 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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Copyright © 2009 by Gorgias Press LLC
Originally published in
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2009

1
ISBN 978-1-60724-393-9 ISSN 1937-3252
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 Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Early Byzantine Palestine 5
3. Admissible Evidence 9
4. 'Cathedral' Baptism 11
5. 'Evangelical' Baptism 28
6. 'Pilgrim' Baptism 38
7. Conclusion 44
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Map of Palestine in the early fifth century 4
2. The baptistery of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem, according to Vincent and Abel 18
3. The baptistery of the Church of St Theodore, Gerasa 19
4. The courtyard of the Byzantine Patriarchion at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, according to Tinelli 22
5. The Anastasis and Patriarchion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
Jerusalem, according to Corbo 23
6. The church and baptistery at Nicopolis, according to Vincent and Abel 24
7. The church complex at Dor, following Gibson and Dauphin 25
8. The church and baptistery at Acsalon, according to Bagatti 26
9. The cave church with baptismal installation at
Khallat Danabiya, according to Goldfus 35
 1
Introduction

This study aims to bring together the various evidences for the administration
of baptism in Palestine in the period from the inauguration of the Holy Sepulchre
project to Jerusalem achieving patriarchal status. These restrictions of geography
and time serve two purposes: firstly, to further discussion of a distinctive
Talestinian' liturgy against claims for it to be either 'Syrian' or 'Egyptian' or
any other style; secondly, temporally, to assess the situation before Jerusalem
became the supreme power in church administration in Palestine, at which
point it can be assumed that her impact over the liturgy celebrated ceased to be
merely influential and became determinative. This is the period when
Christianity appropriated the land as her own 'holy land' and witnessed an
expansion in an area where previously the church had been a much persecuted
minority.
The evidence presented will be primarily literary, although not strictly
liturgical', and archaeological, but the introductory remarks about Palestine
in the Early Byzantine period will enable a proper contextualization of the
information provided by our sources. The assessment of the information has
led to the positing of 'types' of baptism which can be differentiated by locus,
minister and candidate. This study will, therefore, discuss 'cathedral' baptism,
'evangelical' baptism and the claims for 'pilgrim' baptism.

3
»twAl
 2
Early Byzantine Palestine

Liturgy is not conducted in a vacuum and the history of Christian baptism less
so. Our understanding of how baptism was administered can only be enriched
by considering who was seeking baptism, what was their motivation and where
was baptism administered. These are issues that have been largely ignored by
liturgical scholars, and although only the latter is to be discussed in this work,
a brief attempt will be made here to contextualize the sources with reference to
the geo-political boundaries of Palestine, demography and religion.

What do we mean by Palestine?

Although in the minds of Christian writers of the fourth century and beyond,
the concept of the Holy Land tended to be an all-embracing term for the area
containing the locus of Jesus' ministry, it was by no means considered to be
'Holy Land', even by those Christians who lived there1, nor even by the vast
majority of Palestinians for much of the period of this study.
Palestine as a geographical and political area within the Roman Empire
was a rather insignificant province administered from Caesarea, and under the
jurisdiction of Antioch in the diocese of the Oriens. In 295, Diocletian attached
to it parts of the province of Arabia, namely Sinai and parts of the Transjordan
and reorganized it into Palestina and Palestina Salutaris, the latter governed
from Petra. In 409 it was again reorganized into three provinces: Palestina I -
the central area, still administered by Caesarea and containing the most
Hellenized population; Palestina II - the Northern area, administered by
Scythopolis (Beth Shean) and containing the predominantly Jewish areas of
the Galilee and Samaria; and Palestina III or Salutaris containing the largely
infertile southern desert areas. Evidence will be presented from all three
provinces, but obviously the most comprehensive originate from Palestina I
due to Jerusalem's increasing dominance in the Byzantine period.

Who were the Palestinians?

The hellenization of Palestine, begun under Alexander the Great and
continued throughout the Roman period, makes it impossible to generalize
about Palestinians, in terms of either race or language. The majority of
Palestinians, both Jews and Gentiles, spoke Aramaic (generally called Syriac
in the Christian writings), although this was the language neither of government
nor of the church. Greek was the language of the educated, of immigrants and
of officialdom. Obviously m a n y were bi-lingual, especially in the more

1 See P Walker, Holy City, Holy Places? Christian Attitudes to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in
the Fourth Century (Oxford: OUP. 1990).

5
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

cosmopolitan cities of the coastal region, Mamma and Caesarea, and garrison
towns like Aelia/Jerusalem. Apart from Jerome and Egeria, all our Christian
authors write in Greek, even if their native tongue might be something else.
The Church functioned bilingually in Palestine; both Eusebius and Egeria refer
to interpreters from 'syriac'1; and it is obvious that without an understanding
of Aramaic by members of the clergy, the conversion of the countryside could
never occur.
The different groups living in Palestine can be distinguished in part by
language, in part by religion, but the process of assimilation, especially as
Christianity takes hold, makes it increasingly difficult to maintain these
distinctions.
1. The Jews mainly spoke Aramaic and the largest concentration were in
Palestina II, where entirely Jewish villages could be found, although
there were synagogues in the major towns throughout Palestine. Dauphin
comments that they were distinguishable only by their religious laws
and consequent group identity.2
2. Aramaic-speaking pagans living in the cities and assimilated into
hellenistic culture, as at Gaza for example. These cannot be described as
'Arabs' per se, although in the eyes of Christian commentators their
paganism is indistinguishable from that of
3. The nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists found in the desert areas of
Judea, Sinai and the Negev. This group is also referred to as 'Saracens'
by Jerome and others, from the Greek skenitai. Although the term means
'tent-dwellers', it is used by Jerome to describe the inhabitants of the
city of Elusa3, most of whom would have belonged to category 2.
4. The Arab tribes employed by the empire to patrol the borders (foederati)
could be either Christian or pagan; by converting a tribe could place
itself under imperial protection in a reciprocal relationship. Sozomen
underplays the political importance of conversion for these tribes and
shows them to be purely the objects of monastic evangelism.4
5. The colonizers and military who occupied mostly the cities and retained
a distinctive hellenistic culture whether Christian or remaining pagan.
As Dauphin comments, Christianity muddied these waters further.5 An
individual of Arab descent living in the Negev, for example, may after conversion
give his children biblical, and therefore Greek, names; it is then no longer possible
to distinguish his family from that of, say, a colonizer's when reading

1 Eusebius. The Martyrs of Palestine in Lawlor, H J & Oulton J E L. The Ecclesiastical History
and the Martyrs o/Palestine. (London. 1927). vol II. p 332. Wilkinson. J , Egeria's Travels,
(Warminster, 1971).
2 Dauphin, C, La Palestine Byzantine: Peuplement et Populations. British Archaeological
Reports, International Series 726. (Oxford. 1998), Vol. I. p 131.
3 Jerome, 'Life of Hilarion', 2 5 in R J Deferrari, (ed.). Early Christian Biographies. Fathers
of the Church, vol 15, (Washington. 1977), p 263.
4 Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, VI.38. (ET C Hartranft), Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers,
vol II, (Oxford, 1890).
5 Dauphin, op cit, p 128.

6
 EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE

inscriptions. Similarly, nomads driven to the cities by economic necessity then

become indistinguishable from the local population in the records that survive
to us. Thus it is not very useful simply to say pagans were converted to
Christianity, when the loci of baptism differed and the subjects of evangelism
may be from any one of the above lifestyles.

The Church in Palestine

The pattern of church administration followed that of the provincial
government; thus we do not find bishops in those places associated with Chrisf s
ministry, for example, Bethlehem or Nazareth, but rather in centres of civil
administration, regardless of the size of the Christian population. The bishop
of Gaza attended the council of Nicaea1, but in 395 when Porphyrius became
its bishop we are told that the city had only 280 Christians.2 Similarly the
pretensions of the bishops of Jerusalem in this period aroused considerable
opposition from other Palestinian bishops, particularly those of Caesarea, and
the primacy of the see of Jerusalem was therefore not self-evident to them. The
Canons of the Church Councils of this period reflect this hesitancy about moving
the church's administrative structure away from that of the empire; hence the
diplomatic statement at Nicaea, 'Custom and ancient tradition show that the
bishop ofAelia ought to be honoured; let him have precedence in honour without
prejudice to the proper dignity of the Metropolitan see.'3
The church's hierarchy was predominantly drawn from the Greek-speaking
population, of both earlier colonists and newly arrived immigrants, such as
Peter from Georgia who became Bishop of Maiuma; although the Arab monk,
Elias, did become Patriarch in the late fifth Century. The influx of pilgrims
from all parts of the empire, especially those monks who stayed and later became
important members of the hierarchy, ensured that at Jerusalem at least the
church was very cosmopolitan. The sources do not suggest that the Palestinian
church was split along racial and linguistic lines although Strange presents
some interesting evidence for cultural differencs, with reference to graffiti on
the walls of St Peter's House at Capernaum, 'Here we find . . . evidence that
the various language groups may have already developed ethnic Christianities:
The Aramaic graffiti are quotations from the Bible. The Syriac scratchings are
personal names and puzzling speculative statements. The Greek inscriptions
are . . . liturgical formulas and invocations of the "Lord help" variety/4
In 325 it is quite clear that Christianity was a minority religion. In his
Onomasticon Eusebius notes only three completely Christian communities but
many more entirely Jewish ones, but by the end of the century Dauphin shows

1 Bagatti, B, The Church from the Gentiles in Palestine, History and Archaeology, (Jerusalem.
1970). p 92.
2 Grégoire. H. & Kugener, M-A. Marc le Diacre: Vie de Porphyre, Évêque de Gaza, (Paris,
1930), p 19.
3 Canon 7.
4 Strange. J F, 'Diversity in Early Palestinian Christianity, Some Archaeological Evidences' in
Anglican Theological Review, 65 (1983), p 19.

7
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

that of those places which can be clearly identified as one religion or another 48
are Christian and only 40 are Jewish.1 This testifies to the increasing dominance
of Christianity, but from silence it would be probably more accurate to say that
the land was predominantly pagan, as the Syrian monk Barsauma witnessed
when he journeyed to Jerusalem c400AD, 'Les païens à cette époque étaient
nombreux dans le pays de Palestine et dans les pays de Phènice et des Arabes;
les chrétiens étaient encore peu nombreux dans ces pays, les Juifs at les
Samaritains dominaient et persécutaient les chrétiens de cette région.'2 By the
end of the fifth century, there were more Christians in Palestine than any other
religious group, but Christianity never completely conquered either the strongly
Jewish Galilee or the pagan countryside.
The triumphant tone of much Christian writing, therefore, needs to be treated
with caution. The piecemeal way in which the province was converted can be
shown by the patchy archaeological evidence for Christian presence in the fourth
century.3 The implication for a study of baptism, undertaken by necessity from
Christian sources alone, must be to moderate any conclusions about the numbers
coming for baptism and therefore any about the number, type and prominence
of the installations required.

1 Dauphin, op cit. p 168.

2 Nau, F, 'Résumé de monographes syriaques: Barsauma' In Revue de L'Orient Chrétien, vol
18(1913). p 274.
3 See Dauphin, op cit. p 168.

8
 2
Admissible Evidence

This study aims to look at the administration of baptism within a particular

geographical area, namely Palestine, and within a very specific period, from
the Council of Nicaea and the inauguration of the Holy Sepulchre building
project, until 451 when Jerusalem became a Patriarchate. The main sources for
baptism are Cyril of Jerusalem's Catechetical and Mystagogical Lectures and these
geographical and temporal restrictions enable a closer examination of the
environment in which the liturgy described by him might be assumed to have
been influential.
Two types of evidence will be presented: literary and archaeological.

Admissible literary evidence

None of the literary evidence presented will be drawn from a traditional
liturgical source. There are no extant 'service books' for Palestine like the
Sacramentary of Serapion for Egypt. Our evidence therefore comes from
descriptions of liturgies in sermons, pilgrim accounts, letters and hagiographical
material, which are presumed to have been written before 451, or refer to that
period if clearly of a later date. The inherent problems in our sources are that,
if written long after the events which the author is describing, it is important to
discern what might be assumed to have been the norm in the earlier period
and what belongs to the time of composition. For example:
1. The Life of Porphyrins purports to be a biography of an early fifth century
bishop written by his life-long companion, Deacon Mark; however basic
information such as the names of the bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem
are incorrect. The liturgical information and the descriptions of
Christianity still encountering fierce opposition from pagans accord well
with what we know about these issues from other, seemingly more
reliable, sources. The opinion of the editors is that the errors have occurred
due to a later re-writing of the text but that much basic evidence about
the liturgy, Gaza and its inhabitants is accurate.1
2. The Lives of the Monks of Palestine was compiled in the mid-sixth century
by Cyril of Scythopolis, a disciple of Mar Saba, and contains within it
the rudiments of historiography. He explains his purpose, his sources

4 Grégoire & Kugener, op cit. Peeters' claim that V.Porph is a seventh century compilation in
syriac, which was supported by Barnes' criticism of attempts to place Porphyrius in an
early fifth century context due to the inaccuracies stated above, fail to answer the editors'
opinion that information about Gaza and its church does relect an earlier date. Indeed, as
will be demonstrated, the liturgy described has more in common with Palestine in this
period than with Syria in the seventh century. (Peeters. P. 'La vie géorgiènne de Saint
Porphyre de Gaza' in Analecta Bollandiana 5 9 (1941). Barnes, T D, T h e Baptism of
Theodosius II' in Studia Patristlca 19 (1987).)

9
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

and his methodology, which he seems to follow in his accounts. Cyril

relies on accounts of his subjects by those who knew the monks personally
and arranges his sources in chronological order. Only the first life, that
of Euthymius is useful for our purposes, as Euthymius arrived in Palestine
in 405 and was active in the first half of the century.
3. Interestingly, a source for Palestine which we can accurately date to late
fourth and early fifth centuries, but which must be treated with extreme
caution, is Jerome. From his vantage point in the Latin monastery at
Bethlehem, he seems remarkably ill informed about the topography and
history of Palestine. For some reason he claims that monasticism began in
Palestine with Hilarion around Gaza - a city he probably never visited—
and ignores completely that Chariton was the first monk in the Judean
desert even though Jerome lived on the fringes of that very desert. Similarly
he claims that the city of Dor, 10km north of Caesarea, was in ruins1,
despite the fact that his friend Melanie the Younger stayed there on entry
to Palestine and that archaeological evidence clearly demonstrates that
there was a thriving Byzantine city there. Jerome generally has his own
mysterious agenda which is impossible to fathom, but fortunately much
of his information that we shall use seems without prejudice.
Hagiography needs to be treated with some suspiscion as the author is not
always concerned with historical, nor even liturgical, details, but rather to show
how the saint exhibited a Christian life. The fact that the liturgy was not one of
their main concerns should allow us to posit that they were less likely to
elaborate the tradition they had received, but care must be taken to check the
liturgical information against what we know from elsewhere about Palestine
and ensure that it does not simply reflect the liturgy of the time of composition.

Admissible Archaeological Evidence

A large number of Byzantine sites have been discovered and excavated,
although a very small proportion can be dated to before 451. By far the greatest
number of baptismal installations date from the sixth century and these reflect
a time when the pattern of baptism described below had broken down, and it
was common to find baptisteries in villages and even towns with more than
one installation. Clearly therefore any baptistery that is dated towards the end
of the fifth century or from the sixth century cannot inform us about our period.
The archaeological evidence that will be presented will consist of churches
with baptismal installations, that can be dated to our period by architectural
features, inscriptions, decoration or sometimes written evidence. It is rare to
find a font for this period, as many were destroyed, but what does sometimes
remain is the base of the font or evidence of water containment in a church
complex, for example a depression in the ground connected by water pipes or
a basin with hydraulic plaster.
1 Jerome. Ep. 108.8 (eds. W H Freemantle. G Lewis. W G Martley) NPNFvol VI. (Oxford.
1893).

10
 3
'Cathedral Baptism

In this first section we will investigate the evidence for the administration of
baptism within the cathedral cities of the Province of Palestine.The bishoprics
can, in part, be determined from the lists of signatories to the councils, although
they cannot always be taken as a completely reliable.
The type of evidence is unevenly spread between the literary and the
archaeological. The metropolitan see of Caesarea, despite the vast output of
Eusebius, provides us with no literary evidence for baptism and the
identification of an octagonal building in the excavations as a church is uncertain.
If Caesarea gives us nothing, then Jerusalem and Gaza provide rich literary
evidence, even if for neither is there very clear archaeological evidence. What
is possible, though, is to examine the literary sources for clues as to the location
in which the rite was performed. For the remainder of sees we have either
archaeological evidence or nothing at all. A presentation of the whole should
provide us sufficient detail in order to be able to draw conclusions about the
form and location of baptism in the major cities.

Literary Evidence
Jerusalem
The baptismal liturgy of fourth century Jerusalem is very well recorded in
the following works:
1. The 18 Catechetical Lectures delivered to those preparing for baptism
during a Lent in the 350s, by Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (348-386).1
2. From the 380s there are five Mystagogical Catecheses, delivered in Easter
week to the newly baptized in which the liturgy and theology of baptism
and the eucharist are explained. The unbaptized were forbidden to attend
these services and instruction was therefore reserved until they had
experienced them for the first time. Probably also from the 380s is the
Procatechesis, a sermon delivered on the first day of Lent to those who
had just enrolled as candidates for baptism.2
There is some debate about the authorship of the Mystagogical Catecheses
and they may well owe their final form to Cyril's successor, John, but
none of the arguments seems conclusive.

1 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures in E H Gifford (ed), Nicene and Post-Nicene

Fathers, vol VII. (Oxford, 1893).
2 Cross, F L, S i Cyril of Jerusalem: Lectures ort the Christian Sacraments, (repr. New York,
1986).

11
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451
I
3. Egeria's description of the liturgy at the church of the Holy Sepulchre,
contained in her Travel Diary1 which in some places adds to and
corroborates what we learn from Cyril and in others serves only to
mystify.
The catechumens2 must already have attended the services regularly in order
to find a member of the congregation to stand as godparent to them, and also
as Cyril assumes a certain familiarity with the liturgy and bible by alluding to
well-known passages to explain the points he makes in his lectures. Not all
candidates were accepted, though, and provision was made for people to come
back at a later stage if not considered ready. Egeria describes that on the first
day of Lent the candidates are presented to the bishop and clergy by their
godparents, who are asked, 'Is this person leading a good life? Does he respect
his parents? Is he a drunkard or a boaster?' and 'about all the serious human
vices'.3 If there was no objection their names were written down and their status
changed to photizomenoi - those who are to be enlightened.
During the first six weeks of Lent, they attended the daily exorcisms and
catecheses in the Martyrium. The exorcisms were not performed by the bishop
but by specialist exorcists. In the Martyrs of Palestine, Eusebius describes
Procopius as a reader and '(though it was an office of special labour) as a
banisher of demons'4, but Romanus and Alphaeus were deacons and also
exorcists. Exorcism was therefore the task of the minor orders of clergy and
laymen with special gifts. The practice at Jerusalem was to put a veil over the
face of the one being exorcized, and the exorcist quoted verses from scripture
and breathed on the candidate.5 Cyril attached much importance to the power
of the sign of the cross6 and, although he does not mention it in this context, it
would be an obvious part of the exorcistic ritual. Nowhere in the lectures is
there mention of a formal confession of sin, although there are frequent
exhortations to repentance. Most probably the candidate confessed his sins
and was then exorcized to remove the influence of the devil in the areas of his
life he had mentioned.
The photizomenoi were given a thorough course of instruction in the beliefs
and lifestyle of a Christian. The syllabus of the lectures was: three on repentance
and baptism; two on faith; and the remaining thirteen a line-by-line exposition
of the Creed used in Jerusalem. Egeria gives a slightly different syllabus, 'His
subject is God's Law; during the forty days he goes through the whole bible,
beginning with Genesis, and first relating the literal meaning of each passage,

1 Wilkinson, op cit.
2 Cyril refers to those who have not yet enrolled for baptism a s 'Catechumens', in other
provinces this term was reserved for those who had enrolled.
3 it. Eg. 4 5 . 3 .
4 Mart. Pal., p 3 3 2 .
5 Cyril of Jerusalem in ProCatechesis 9. Cross, op cit.
6 Cat XIII.3.

12
 'CATHEDRAL' BAPTISM

then interpreting its spiritual meaning. He also teaches them at this time all
about the resurrection and the faith.'1 Some caution must be exercised about
how much she understood of the lectures she seems to have heard. The syllabus
of Cyril's lectures follows, by and large, the readings set for Lent in the Armenian
Lectionary, and indeed Cyril's lectures are rich with biblical quotations—it may
well be that the only parts she understood were the quotations from scripture.
There was no instruction during Great Week, as the endless cycle of services
left little time for three hours of catechesis, but at some stage the candidates
were again presented to the bishop by their godparents. As Egeria explains,
'the bishop comes early into the . . . Martyrium. His chair is placed at the back
of the apse, behind the altar, and one by one the candidates go up to the bishop,
men with their fathers and women with their mothers, and repeat the creed to
him.'2
On the Saturday night the congregation assembled in the Martyrium for
the Vigil service of psalms, prayers and a sermon. From sometime after 420
there remains a sermon preached by Hesychius at this service in which he
makes no reference to baptism,3 indicating that the newly baptized did not
arrive in time for the sermon and that the church still contained catechumens
who had not yet been dismissed.
Meanwhile, the candidates for baptism gathered outside the baptistery, in
the porch or antechamber, for a formal renunciation of Satan. They faced West,
stretched out a hand, and repeated the words given to them, 'I renounce you,
Satan, and all your works and all your [the original reading here, surely
erroneously, is 'his'] pomp and all your service'. Cyril explained, after Easter,
the specific things they had renounced—the works are human vices, the pomp
is popular public entertainment, and the service is pagan worship. To balance
the renunciation the candidates declare their allegiance to God by turning to
the East and declaring 'I believe in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy
Spirit and in the repentance of baptism.'4
Moving into the baptistery the candidates undress. Accounts from elsewhere
indicate that there were deaconesses to preserve the modesty of the women,
but neither Cyril nor Egeria mention any in connection with the Jerusalem
church. Once undressed, they were anointed from head to toe with exorcized
oil, ordinary olive oil over which a prayer of exorcism had been said.5
Before the ceremony, the water in the font had been consecrated, 'For just as
the offerings brought to the heathen altars, though simple in their nature, become
defiled by the invocation of the idols, so conversely the simple water having
received the invocation of the Holy Spirit, and of Christ, and of the Father,

1 It. Eg. 4 6 . 2 .
2 It. Eg. 4 6 . 6
3 Hesychius. Homélies Paschales, M Aubineau (ed). Sources Chrétiennes. 187. (Paris,
1972). Horn. III.
4 MCI.
5 MC 11.3

13
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E PALESTINE, 325-451

acquires a new power of holiness.'1 The candidate was led by the hand into the
font and asked if he believed in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and
then after assenting, he was pushed under the water three times to imitate
Christ's three-day burial.2 This understanding of the water ritual representing
only the death of Christ, with no reference to his resurrection, is unique to
Jerusalem. One explanation might be that, as the baptism was administered
solely during the Easter liturgy, the candidates would be expecting the
resurrection to be declared later in the service when the bishop read the Gospel
of the Resurrection from the Anastasis. The baptismal formula is unusual as
the interrogation of faith had taken place before entering the baptistery. It would
be customary to use the formula 'I baptize you in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit' or 'X is baptized in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit". This may indicate that the interrogation of faith in
the Jerusalem rite originally ocurred in the font and that the renunciation/
adherence sequence was introduced later.
On rising from the font the candidate was anointed with chrism. In MC III,
Cyril explains the anointing of each of the senses with scriptural quotations
and allusions, 'And first you were anointed upon the forehead, so that you
might be delivered from the disgrace which the first man, a transgressor, carried
everywhere and so that you might reflect the glory of the Lord by the uncovering
of your face. Then upon the ears, so that you might receive ears to hear the
divine mysteries, about which Isaiah said, "and the Lord has given me ears to
hear" and the Lord Jesus in the Gospels, "whoever has ears to hear let him
hear". Then upon the nostrils so that having received the fragrant oil of God,
you may say, "We are to God a fragrance of Christ in those being saved". After
this upon the breast, in order that having put on the breastplate of righteousness
you may face the works of the devil.' 3 It may well be that these verses
accompanied the ritual act.
Egeria records, but not Cyril, that having put on their white robes they are
taken directly to the Anastasis for a blessing before joining the congregation in
the Martyrium for the celebration of the eucharist.4 Their presence would be
very visible in the week that followed, processing with the congregation to the
churches in Jerusalem and to Bethlehem in their white robes; they would also
receive further instruction on the sacraments of baptism and eucharist in Easter
week.

Gaza
The Life of Porphyrins provides us with accounts of baptisms performed in
Gaza in the early fifth century. Gaza was a prosperous city of an estimated

1 Cat III.3
2 MC II.4.
3 MC III.4
4 It. Eg. 38.1.

14
 'CATHEDRAL' BAPTISM

50,000 inhabitants who in general worshipped the pagan god Marnas (Zeus)
at the Marneion shrine, which was comparable in prestige to the Serapeum in
Alexandria and which shared the same fate. The Gazans were Aramaic speakers,
but had been thoroughly hellenized in their religion as Gaza had shrines also
to Helios, Aphrodite, Apollo, Kora, Hecate and the temples called Hereion and
Tychaion.1 The Life recounts the fierce opposition to Porphyrius' appointment;
as he travels to Gaza the villages en route put up roadblocks and set fire to
dung heaps2; at his first service in the city the very small number of Christians
process to their cemetery church to honour their martyrs and return to find the
city gates shut in their faces3; Porphyrius finds their behaviour so dreadful
that, barely five years after his arrival, he asks the Bishop of Caesarea to relieve
him of his duties and then spends two years in Constantinople4 and in 407
there is a full scale pogrom in which the bishop's house is ransacked.5 It is in
examining how Porphyrius overcame these trials and converted the inhabitants
that the liturgist may glean details of the initiation rite in Gaza.
There are six separate accounts of conversion and reception of converts in
Gaza itself, all of which have the same basic pattern; and there is one of the
reception of an Arian at which the bishop of Caesarea also assisted, which
might indicate that both dioceses followed the same rite. Conversions are
brought about by miracles performed by Porphyrius, he is responsible for
rain, for the safe delivery of a breached baby, by the unexpected death of a
Manichean and through the fear among the pagans after the Marneion had
been destroyed with imperial backing. The existing congregation expressed
unease that those coming to the church out of fear were received so readily,
which gives Porphyrius an opportunity to state his policy for the reception of
converts, which is that, as with a recalcitrant slave who can be turned to good
use by the threat of punishments, so it is with pagans, and, even if their
conversion is not genuine, their childen might be saved through contact with
'good'.6 There is only one account of what might be called a genuine, heartfelt
conversion, that of the 12-year-old Salaphtha who later became an ascetic.7
The table overleaf compares the accounts of conversion and reception of
converts presented in the Life.

1 V.Porph. 64.
2 V.Porph. 17.
3 V.Porph. 20.
4 V.Porph. 32.
5 V.Porph. 95.
6 V.Porph. 73.
7 V.Porph. 97-102.
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

CONVERSION AND RECEPTION OF CONVERTS IN THEL/FE OF PORPHYRIUS

V.Porph §21 §31 §62 §74 §91 §100

Candidates 128 Aelias' 32 men, 300 pagans Followers Salaphtha,

pagans family— 7 women of her aunt
and 64 people Manichean and
further 35 prophet, grand-
Julia mother

Reason for rain safe destruction destruction Julia dies she had
conversion miracle delivery of statue of of suddenly long wished
ofbaby Aphrodite Marneion to become
one, if she
was worthy'

Signed with YES YES YES YES

cross

Sent away YES YES YES

in peace

Catechism YES YES YES YES

Instructed YES YES YES

attend church

Baptism YES YES YES

Robe/schéma YES

Eucharist YES

Post-baptismal YES
catechesis

The pattern that emerges from the evidence above is that individuals presented
themselves to the bishop in person; the first group followed the Christian procession
back to the church and were received by the bishop, and, although Salaphtha had
long wished to become a Christian, she did not act until she had encountered the
bishop personally. In almost every case the candidates are 'signed with the sign of
the cross' and then 'sent away in peace', which presumably means anointing and
some form of blessing. Porphyrius instructs them to attend the catechesis and to
attend church. Only Aelias' family are said to have been made catechumens; for
the rest it is implied that the signing with the cross signifies that. The catechesis was
given at Gaza by the priest Timothy1, as at Jerusalem this task was entrusted to a
senior cleric, however it seems that earlier in his episcopate Porphyrius undertook
the catechesis himself, as Mark writes, Torphyrius received all those who wish to
be baptized, but not without having catechized them for several days, not only
before but after baptism... for he constantly preached the Word... he instructed
them in simple phrases, explaining everything according to scripture.'2

1 V.Porph. 100.
2 V.Porph. 74.

16
 'CATHEDRAL- BAPTISM

There was neither Lenten catechesis nor Easter baptism—indeed the only-
description of an Easter service is the dedication of Eudoxia's church where
there is no reference to baptism.1 The time spent as catechumens seems to be
shorter than at Jerusalem, as the text refers to catechism lasting only a few
days. This can be explained by the embattled situation of the Gazan church
and one can presume that baptism had to be administered before the convert
went off the idea!
The Life does not provide us with the baptismal formula or any further
information about the rite itself. We have no information about exorcisms,
although from Eusebius' Martyrs of Palestine we know that there were exorcists
in the cathedral churches of Caesarea, Scythopolis and Eleutheropolis, so with
some safety it could be assumed that the Gazan church was no different,
especially considering the paganism from which the catechumens had
converted.
There is no reference to a pre- or post-baptismal anointing in the accounts of
conversions in Gaza itself, but when Porphyrius and the bishop of Caesarea
return from Constantinople, they convert the Arian boat captain, whom they
receive back into the church by signing him again, praying over him and giving
him communion.2 His baptism was valid, but the account implies that the final
ceremonies of 'orthodox' baptism were re-applied. This was in accordance with
the seventh canon of the Council of Constantinople which stated that Arians,
amongst other groups, were to be received by anathematizing their heresy and
'they are sealed or anointed with holy chrism on the forehead, eyes, nostrils,
mouth and ears. As we seal them we say "The seal of the gift of the Holy
Spirit.'"3 This corresponds to the description of chrismation given by Cyril in
MC III. The rest of the post-baptismal sequence is no different from Jerusalem—
putting on a (presumably white) robe, receiving the eucharist and post-
baptismal catechesis. These similaritites with the Jerusalem rite can be explained
by Porphyrius' career before he was appointed to Gaza; he arrived in Jerusalem
in 382", was ordained and made Warden of the Cross in 3925, and must therefore
have encountered Cyril and have participated in the baptismal liturgy described
in the Mystagogical Catecheses.
The pattern for the initiation that is presented for both Jerusalem and Gaza
is reception as a catechumen (J and G), catechesis (J and G), renunciation/
adherence sequence (J), pre-baptismal anointing (J), baptism with trinitarian
formula (J and G), chrismation (J and G), putting on white robe (J and G),
receiving communion (J and G) and post-baptismal catechesis (J and G). That
these two cities separated by some distance and whose constituents were quite
different, shared an almost identical structure to the initiation rites may well

1 V.Porph. 92.
2 V.Porph. 57.
3 Tanner, N (ed). Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. (London. 1990).
4 V.Porph. 4.
5 V.Porph. 10.

17
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

indicate that the literary sources present us with the Palestinian baptismal liturgy,
which would have been followed by other sees in the province.
The examination of the archaeological evidence that follows, together with
that of written sources for the architectural arrangements will demonstrate the
type of baptistery required for the performance of such a liturgy in known
cathedral cities.

Archaeological Evidence
Jerusalem
Earlier generations of scholars have tended to conclude from Cyril's tripartite
presentation of the liturgy that a three-roomed baptismal complex was required.
Such a complex can be seen at the church of St Theodore at Gerasa, in Jordan,
where it would seem that candidates waited in the vestibule, then entered the
'pistikon' for the renunciation/adherence ritual and undressed. With modesty in
mind they could enter and leave the font and pass straight into the third room
where they would be chrismated. Vincent and Abel, Crowfoot, Couasnon and
more recently Wharton1 have concluded that the three chapels to the South of the
present Holy Sepulchre complex were the original Constantinian baptistery.

2. THE BAPTISTERY OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM,

ACCORDING TO VINCENT AND ABEL

1 Vincent, H & Abel, F-M, Jérusalem Nouvelle. (Paris, 1914-1926). Crowfoot. J W. Early
Churches in Palestine, British Academy Schweich Lecture, (London. 1941). Couasnon, C,
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, British Academy Schweich Lecture.
(London. 1974). Wharton. A J . The Baptistery of the Holy Sepulcher and the Politics of
Sacred Landscape' in Dumbarton Oaks Papers vol 46 (1992).

18
 'CATHEDRAL' BAPTISM

3. THE BAPTISTERY OF THE CHURCH OF ST. THEODORE, GERASA

This identification is suspect on several grounds . Archaeologically, the claims

for Constantinian remains to the south of the South wall of the Martyrium and
Atrium are very suspect. Wharton substantiates her claim with the statement
that the baptistery would have occupied a 'prominent public site' on the South
rather than 'be embedded in the administrative wing of the church'1. She is
therefore assuming that Christianity had such prominence in early fourth
century Jerusalem that, before 333, the private and secret initiation ceremony
would be so publically acknowledged. As was discussed above, it cannot be
said with certainty that even by the end of the century Christianity was
dominant in Jerusalem. The church at Gerasa can safely be dated to the sixth
century and therefore reflects a later stage of liturgical development—it is more
than likely that the three southerly chapels once served as a baptistery but not
until the seventh century.
Cyril refers directly to the baptistery on only a few occasions. For the
renunciation and adherence the candidates were reminded, 'First, you entered
the antechamber (eis ton proaulion) of the baptismal building (tou baptismatos
oikon).. .'2 He concludes the first lecture with 'and this was done in the exterior

1 Wharton, op.cit.. p319.

2 MC 1.2.

19
 B A P T I S M IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E P A L E S T I N E , 325-451

building7 {en toi exOterOi oikoi).1 The second lecture he tells them will explain that
which was done 'en toi esOterOi oikoi'.2 MC III gives a description of the anointing
with chrism but there is no indication that the candidates have changed location.
MC IV has nothing to contribute and V recommences the description of the
liturgy with the eucharistic actions at the altar of the Martyrium. There are
therefore two specific locations mentioned in MC the proaulion (antechamber),
and the inner room of the baptismatos oikos.
In ProCat 1 Cyril says 'Already you have been brought to the antechamber
of the King's house' (peri to proaulion ton basileion) This is interesting on two
counts. Firstly, the proaulion here is clearly the same as that of MC 1.2 and may
therefore be the correct term for the outer chamber. Piedagnel draws a parallel
with the Latin pronaos which was used to describe the vestibule of the Lateran
baptistery.3 Secondly, Cyril's use of basileios requires attention. Whereas oikos
can have a range of meanings and could indicate part of a building as well as
a complete one, basileios is much more specific. Generally it indicated a royal
palace, although it is used by Eusebius in connection with the buildings at the
Holy Sepulchre to indicate imperial involvement.4 Downey demonstrated that
the terms for church buildings had not yet become fixed in the fourth century,
although the use of basileios may indicate a basilican plan.
The Pilgrim of Bordeaux comments;
'On the left hand is the little hill of Golgotha where the Lord was crucified.
About a stone's throw from thence is a vault wherein his body was laid and
rose again on the third day. There, at present, by the command of the Emperor
Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say a dominicum, of wondrous
beauty, having at the side cisterns from which the water is raised and a bath
behind in which the infantes are washed.'5
The pilgrims' journey is generally dated 333 to 335.6 Thus the building work
would have been at quite an advanced stage with the baptistery as part of the
original plans, but the whole complex, it is assumed, was not yet complete. The
anonymous pilgrim has seen the Martyrium and the Sepulchre but not, it would
seem, the Anastasis/Rotunda. He tells us that there are a basilica, some cisterns
and a balneum.

1 MCI.ll.
2 MC II. 1.
3 Piedagnel, A., Cyrille de Jérusalem.Catéchèses Mystagogiques. Sources Chrétiènnes, 126
(Paris, 1966), p 8 4 n 2.
4 Downey, G, 'Constantine's Churches at Antioch, Tyre and J e r u s a l e m (Notes on
Architectural Terras)' in Melanges de L'Universite Saint Joseph. 3 8 (1962).
5 Translation follows Stewart. A.. 'Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem' in Palestine
Pilgrim Text Society. (London, 1887). p 23.
6 Douglass, L 'A New Look at the Itinerarium Burdigalense' in Journal of Early Christian
Studies, 4. (1996). Douglass' main thesis is that the pilgrim was a woman, but admits
that conclusion offers little to our understanding of the text!

20
 'CATHEDRAL' BAPTISM

What does he understand by basilica? It is obvious that the term is unfamiliar

to him. Basilica denotes an aisled hall but, for the benefit of his readers, he
translates it dominicus—'of or belonging to a master or the Emperor'1—which
in Greek would be basileios. This is the term Cyril uses to describe the baptistery
in ProCat.
Balneum can mean both a place for bathing and the receptacle for bathing,
so does he mean the baptistery or the font? Elsewhere he uses balneum for the
baths of Cornelius at Caesarea (these are presumably the public baths), and
also for the pool at Sichem which was fed by a well. At the Temple Mount he
describes 'excepturia magna aquae subterraneae et piscinae magna opere aedificate',
piscina occurs again for the twin pools at Bethsaida. Presumably he is referring
to the mikoot hewn out of the rock under the Temple Mount and, as these are
individual pools, it must be assumed that he uses balneum to indicate a bathing
complex, ie the baptistery.
This baptistery is located behind the cisterns, which is the common meaning
of tergo from OLD, although a rarer reading of 'the outer covering or surface of
anything (esp ground or water)' is also offered. He might be saying that the
baptistery is above the cisterns—not an improbable suggestion.
It is generally accepted that the Pilgrim's descriptions are accurate. From
the sequence it seems very much as if he is standing in the second atrium,
between the Martyrium and the Sepulchre, and seeing in his mind the
monuments from left to right. Thus we have on his left Golgotha, before him
the tomb and on his right, to the North, the baptistery.
Eusebius makes no reference to any ancillary buildings, neither baptistery,
nor cisterns nor fountains, in his Life of Constantine, but that is of little surprise
considering he also omits Golgotha. Egeria gives only the briefest of details,
'Vigiliae autem paschales sic fiut, quemadmodum ad nos; hoc solum hie amplius fit,
quod infantes, cu baptidiati fuerint et uestiti, quemadmodum exient de fonte, simul
cum episcopo primum ad Anastase ducuntur.' (38.1)2 Notice the sequence of events:
1. baptized, 2. clothed and then 3. leave the 'font'. Clearly by the latter Egeria
means the baptistery and not the pool.
Tinelli3 and Corbo4 in their more recent studies locate the Constantinian
baptistery on the North side of the Rotunda. Their reasons for this are based on
two discoveries in this area:
(a) a font, claimed to be fourth century, and
(b) an inscription in a cistern under the ancillary buildings which repeats a
line from a psalm commonly associated with baptism.
Tinelli argues that the font is very unlikely to have been transferred from
another part of the complex, because of its size and weight. It must therefore be

1 The Oxford Latin Dictionary (OLD).

2 Maraval, P. Égérie:Journal de Voyage, Sources Chrétiènnes 296, (Paris. 1982), p 2 9 0 .
3 Tinelli, C, "Il battistero del S. Sepulchre in Gerusalemme". Liber Annus vol 23, (1973).
4 Corbo, V, II Santo Sepulcro (Jerusalem, 1980)

21
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

at or near its original location.1 However the shape of the font, a quatrefoil
within a square, is closer to fonts of the sixth century and beyond. 2
The enormous cistern, which would probably have supplied water to the
whole community, lies under the courtyard in front of the patriarchion. Near
the vault is a cross in relief, enclosed in a circle adorned with ivy leaves, in
which is written '&WNH K(upio)U EPI TWN UDATWN'.3 In the lavra of St
Firmin in Wadi Michmash, (founded in 515) the monks re-used 'the ancient
Jewish purification pool (mikue) for baptismal purposes after they had sanctified
it with painted crosses . . . accompanied by painted inscriptions in
Syropalestinian language which repeated three times... "The voice of the Lord
is upon the waters"/ 4 Tlnelli refers to a Palestinian custom of indicating the use
of a building by an inscription and believes this verse is a direct reference to
the baptismal liturgy, although Cyril does not quote it anywhere. The
independent evidence from St Firmin's lavra seems to corroborate Tinelli's
conclusion that this cistern must be located in the vicinity of the baptistery.
4. THE COURTYARD OF THE BYZANTINE PATRIARCHION AT THE CHURCH OF
THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM, ACCORDING TO TINELLI

1 Tinelli, p 96.
2 See Ben-Pechat, M. The PaleoChristian Baptismal Fonts in the Holy Land: Formal and
Functional Study' in Liber Annus vol 39 (1989). pp 165-188.
3 Tinelli, p 98.
4 Ben-Pechat. M. 'Baptism and Monasticism in the Holy Land: Archaeological and Literary
E v i d e n c e ' , in G C Bottini et al, C h r i s t i a n Archaeology in the Holy Land, New Discoveries:
Essays in Honour of Virgilio C. Corbo OFM. ( J e r u s a l e m , 1990). p 5 0 3 .

22
 'CATHEDRAL- BAPTISM

Corbo, in the only comprehensive work on the Holy Sepulchre complex,

but one that is not without its inadequacies, supports this view. He considers
the site of the baptistery to have been in room 116 of his plan (which elsewhere
he is able to depict in greater clarity as two rooms). Part of the mosaic floor in
white and polychrome tesserae and the threshhold are still visible. 103 is the
mouth of the cistern which corresponds to 3 in Tinelli's plan, where the baptistery
would have been to the left of N. 2. Corbo considers that this location makes
best sense of the literary evidence1, but one wonders, with Wharton, quite how
much space this location would provide. From the evidence available to them,
this would have been an obvious conclusion; however current excavations
beneath the Coptic Patriarchion buildings may reveal new information.

••' o *>*

16
5. THE ANASTASIS AND PATRIARCHION AT ^
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, I
JERUSALEM, ACCORDING TO CORBO

1 Corbo. I. 134

23
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

The literary evidence therefore informs us of a single room baptistery with

an antechamber, near to some cisterns, which was within the sight of the Pilgrim
of Bordeaux standing in the second atrium. Archaeology provides us with a
cistern inscribed in a way which would indicate the water was used for baptism.
If the suggestion above is correct, that the baptismal liturgy of the Palestinian
bishops was essentially the same, then archaeological evidence of baptisteries
from other Palestinian cathedrals could enable us to discover in what type of
building the rite was performed. There are extant baptisteries in Nicopolis
(Emmaus), Dor and Ascalon which date from the fourth century.

Nicopolis1
Excavated in
the 1920's by
Vincent and
Abel, their plan
shows a two
room structure ® Y-i
RèSERVOtR
on an East- 1
bo
WtiSlifiE. =-«\i-i—i-
West axis situ-
t&iMl'-S
tfcbh
ated to the
North of the
church, in the pìWU^
apse of which is
a quadrilobe
font dug out of
'W I Sir i
the bedrock. e rà&à
SjfVVi*«»
Three steps CV'rvQ s
lead down into
the font and the
archaeologists
believed that it
would have : J ™
been built up
above ground
level. The
water supply to
the font can
also be seen. _ If 1 n
J erf., rt* tiniusq
-tin L
mtVW4S:LEBAPTiSTÊRL.
I .
6. THE CHURCH AND BAPTISTERY AT NICOPOLIS,
ACCORDING TO VINCENT AND ABEL

1 Vincent. H& Abel. F-M. Emmaus, sa basilique et son histoire, (Paris. 1932).

24
 'CATHEDRAL' BAPTISM

Do/-1
Excavated originally in 1952 and then again in the 70's, its identification as
the cathedral of the Bishop of Dor was confirmed by the remarkable discovery
of 'a bishop's ivory sceptre, terminating in the shape of a hand with the three
middle fingers extended in the characteristic episcopal benediction... one finger
was adorned by an ivory ring'.2 Coin evidence allowed dating of the church to
the fourth or early fifth centuries. On the North side of the basilica is a baptismal
complex with an atrium (5), a vestibule (6) and font (7). The atrium gave access
to an antechamber originally paved with marble slabs that led to a shallow
plaster-lined, rectangular basin—such a shape allows the identification of the
font with the grave, a metaphor used by Cyril. The Eastern and Western edges
have 2 steps down into the font. Dauphin relates the structure of the baptistery
to the liturgy described by Cyril of Jerusalem and she believes that, after having
been chrismated in Room 8, the neophytes received communion in room 9.3
This explains the presence of the chapel in this complex, but, as the baptistery
adjoins the church, it would be more likely that the candidates received
communion there with the rest of the congregation.

7. THE CHURCH COMPLEX AT DOR, FOLLOWING GIBSON AND DAUPHIN

Dora-Dor: plan of church — 1) Atrium; 2) Cistern;

3) Northwestern tower(?); 4) Staircase; 5) Atrium;
6) Vestibule; 7) Piscina-, 8) Room 1; 9) Room 2;
10) Northern aisle; 11) Nave; 12) Apse; 13) Southern
aisle; 14) Saints' tomb; 15) External southern aisle
(Hellenistic walls are hatched-in) (S. Gibson)

1 Dauphin, C, 'Dora-Dor: A Station for Pilgrims in the Byzantine Period on Their Way to
Jerusalem' in Y. Tsafrir (ed). Ancient Churches Revealed, (Jerusalem. 1994).
2 ibid, p 92.
3 ibid, p 95.

25
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E PALESTINE, 325-451

Ascalon
Excavated in the 1970s by Bagatti, he suggested that the room to the South
of the Church was a baptistery although no font was discovered on the site.1
The church was dated to the fourth century by architectural decoration. Only
the area marked in bold is certain and the Western area lies under a road!
Ovadiah records that 'From the prayer chamber the worshippers passed via a
corridor into the baptistery which had plastered walls and floor and was
cruciform'.2

e 10
Pa
ln 8.11« Church and Baptistery at Ascalon
8. THE CHURCH AND BAPTISTERY AT ACSALON, ACCORDING TO BAGATTI

1 Bagatti. B. 'Ascalon e Maiuma di Ascalon nel VI seclo' in Liber Annus vol 24 (1974). p
243-9.
2 Ovadiah. A & de Silva. C G. 'Supplementum to the Corpus of the Byzantine Churches in
the Holy Land' in Levant vol 14 (1982). p 123.

26
 'CATHEDRAL- BAPTISM

Gaza
We know of at least four churches in Gaza in the Byzantine period. In the
Life of Porphyrius the author refers to the Irenaion, built before the end of the
fourth century and the Eudoxiana, a grand imperial basilica dedicated in 4071;
two churches were praised by Choricius of Gaza in his panegyrics on the sixth
century bishop Marcianus.2 Current excavations in Gaza have revealed 'fifth to
sixth century A.D. ruins' of a church, a chapel and a baptistery with adjacent
cemetery. The preliminary notice does not identify which of these churches
may have been found, if indeed it is one of the four.3

Conclusion
The 'Cathedral' type of baptism required for its location a two-chamber
baptistery on an east-west axis, as those shown for Nicopolis and Dor—it is
not inconceivable that an antechamber may lie under the road at Ascalon.
Candidates would wait outside the building and then enter the antechamber
for the rites of renunciation and adherence. They would then move eastwards
into the baptistery itself, undress, be baptized, chrismated and robed. The font
would have been either rectangular to imitate a grave, or cruciform to emphasize
identification with the death of Christ. These baptisteries would be attached to
the cathedral church where the newly baptized would be taken to receive
communion for the first time.

1 VPorph 18 & 92.

2 Hamilton. RW. Two Churches at Gaza, as described by Choricius of Gaza' in Palestine
Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement vol 62 (1930). p 178-91.
3 'Gaza Update' in Biblical Archaeology Review vol 24 (July/August 1998). p 12.

27
 4
'Evangelical' Baptism

My second category I have called 'Evangelical' Baptism; it is differentiated

from 'Cathedral' Baptism by loci, ministers and candidates. More specifically
it concerns the conversion and subsequent baptism of rural, nomadic or semi-
nomadic communities by monks in the desert areas of Palestine. In this instance
it is the literary evidence that helps us understand the archaeology, providing
an explanation for the existence of baptismal installations in isolated
monasteries.
As more pilgrims came to Palestine, so many of these were inspired either
to take up a monastic life or continue it in the Holy Land, often in locations
associated with or near to 'sacred sites'. As with their Egyptian counterparts
they were drawn out of the cities to lead an eremitic life. Unlike the Egyptians,
though, Palestine during the fourth century attracted educated church leaders
from the whole empire who settled initially close to Jerusalem and would
eventually take leading positions as Patriarchs of Jerusalem, clergy at the Holy
Sepulchre and bishops of other sees.1
Although the monks withdrew to remote areas to live in caves, lavras or
coenobia, the deserts were not completely depopulated areas. Much of the Judean
desert had sustained life until the third century when the economy foundered
and many of the rural poor migrated to the towns and cities. This accounts for
the ease with which the monks were able to establish themselves near to water
supplies with little animosity. Many of the caves in which these monks set up
their homes display signs of previous habitation, by shepherds, robbers or
bandits. It is remarkable that, apart from some isolated incidents, the monks
did not encounter such opposition from those living off the desert as, for
example, Porphyrius did in Gaza. Not only did these deserts sustain a particular
lifestyle but those in the south of the country were traversed by trade routes to
Arabia and Egypt. The desert populations had had little or no contact with
Christianity before the fourth century.

Literary Evidence
Jerome's Life of Hilarión, written c391 when he was in Bethlehem, probably
draws on a now lost biography of Hilarión by Epiphanius, later Bishop of
Salamis, Cyprus, whose family had been converted by the monk. Hilarión was
from the region around Gaza, a pagan who had been sent to Alexandria for his
education and had remained in Egypt with St Anthony. On his return to Palestine
he installed himself in the desert around Maiuma and, as was the Egyptian

1 For the development of monasticism in Palestine in this period see D Chitty, The Desert a
City, (Oxford. 1966) and J Binns, Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ: The Monasteries of
Palestine, 314-631, (Oxford. 1994).

28
 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM

custom, Hilarión remained a layman. He performed exorcisms on all ranks of

people and even on a camel, resulting in great popularity in his home region.
Around 350, Hilarión was in Elusa:
'On this occasion, it happened that, accompanied by a great procession
of monks, he arrived at Elusa on the very day when the townspeople
had assembled in the temple of Venus to celebrate a solemn festival in
her honour. N o w the Saracens worship this goddess as the morning star
and to her cult is their nation dedicated. The town itself is, for the most
part, semi-barbarian, because of its location. When it was heard that St
Hilarión was passing through (for, he had frequently healed many
Saracens by snatching them away from the Devil), the men swarmed
out with their wives and children to meet him and, with their heads
reverently bowed, cried out in Syriac: "Barech", that is "Bless us!" He
received them graciously and humbly and besought them to worship
God rather than idols. Weeping and looking up into heaven, he promised
them that, if they would believe in Christ, he would come to them
frequently.... They did not allow him to go away until he had planned
a church for them, and the priest of Venus, wreathed as he was, was
marked with the sign of Christ/1
Jerome's prejudiced account demonstrates that he had never been to Elusa,
far from being 'for the most part, semi-barbarian, because of its location', Elusa
was a city of cultivated pagans that produced some famous rhetoricians, most
notably Zenobius, the teacher of Libanius. 2 Secondly, he calls them 'Saracens',
when, although it is possible that some of those present might have been semi-
nomads, the festival was primarily that of the townspeople. Jerome does show,
though, that Christianity came to Elusa in the fourth century; a bishop of Elusa
attended the Council of Ephesus in 431, but even by the mid-fifth century
Christianity had only a toe-hold on the town.
Hilarion's popularity in the region was the result of his exorcistic and miracle-
working activitities, and from Jerome's account it seems as if Hilarión was
recognized as someone with special powers by the desire to receive a blessing
from him. It would seem that Hilarión and his monks had made a specific
journey to Elusa (his lavra was in the desert around Gaza). Was this with the
express purpose of disrupting the pagan festival? If so, he must have succeeded.
The 'signing' which he administered to the pagan priest would seem to be
either an exorcistic rite or that of admission to the catechumenate. The latter is
possible in light of Hilarion's promise to return to them often. There is no
evidence in the Life that he performed baptisms.

1 V HUarion 25.
2 Mayerson, P.The City of Elusa in the Literary Sources of the Fourth-Sixth Centuries', in
Monks, Martyrs, Soldiers and Saracens:Papers on the Near East in Late Antiquity (1962-
1993) (Jerusalem. 1994).

29
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

Jerome considers Hilarion to have been the first monk in Palestine, although
at about the same time Chariton established himself in a cave at Pharan in the
Judean desert region. His activities can be dated more accurately as Bishop
Macarius of Jerusalem consecrated this lavra, sometime between 325 and his
death in 333. The Life tells us that Chariton had the power to 'cast out demons'
and 'cured diseases of both kinds, of the mind as well as of the body, by invoking
the name of the Saviour Christ'1, 'accordingly, as time went by, an innumerable
crowd of pagans and Jews were induced to receive the saving bath, as a
consequence of the miracles made by God through the holy man; and more
than that they were even drawn to enter the monastic life from what he taught
them and by the example he set before their eyes'.2
Those living around the sites of Chariton's three monasteries, Pharan, Douka
and Tekoa (or Souka/Old Laura) in the Judean desert, became Christians by
conversion due to a miracle or exorcism, followed by some catechesis and then
baptism. The location of his monasteries would suggest that the candidates
were Aramaic-speaking villagers and nomads. This is one of the few references
to the conversion of Jews, for, although they were the subject of negative
preaching, there seems to have been no concerted effort to convert them. The
anonymous author explains why it has taken several centuries for this life to
be written, 'as in truth, not only were the God-loving monks rare, but even the
Christians were few.. .'3, another indication of the slowness with which the
countryside was converted.
Sozomen devotes a chapter of his History to the spread of Christianity among
Arab tribes in Palestine from the middle of the fourth century. He records the
career of Queen Mavia and her successful fight against the Roman army in
c375.
'About this period the king of the Saracens died and the peace which
had previously existed between that nation and the Romans was
dissolved. Mavia the widow of the late monarch, after attaining to the
government of her race, led her troops into Phoenicia and Palestine, as
far as the regions of E g y p t . . . This war was by no means a contemptible
one, although conducted by a woman.
' . . . the Romans found it necessary to send an embassy to Mavia to
solicit peace. It is said that she refused to comply with the request of the
embassy, unless consent were given for the ordination of a certain man
named Moses, who practiced philosophy in a neighbouring desert, as
bishop over her subjects. This Moses was a man of virtuous life, and
noted for performing the divine and miraculous signs. On these
conditions being announced to the emperor, the chiefs of the army were

1 Di Segni. L. (translator). 'Life of Chariton' in Wimbush. V., Ascetic Behavior in Greco-

Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook, (Minneapolis. 1990).
2 V. Chariton 14.
3 V. Chariton 42.

30
 •EVANGELICAL" BAPTISM

commanded to seize Moses, and conduct him to Lucius. [Moses refuses

to be ordained by Lucius]... Having again protested, upon oath, that he
would not receive ordination from them, he went to the Saracens. He
reconciled them to the Romans, and converted many to Christianity,
and passed his life among them as a priest, although he found few who
shared in his belief.'1
Sozomen cites this as evidence of the conversion of 'Saracens'. However
Shahid argues that this tribe was already Christian and their fight against the
empire was directed against the Arian Valens. It is this which lies behind Moses'
refusal to be consecrated by Lucius of Alexandria, and which lies behind the
rather unusual conditions of peace—Ma via wished to ensure that her tribe had
an 'orthodox' bishop. Far from finding few who shared his belief, Moses would
have found committed Christians, 'the sincerity and seriousness of their
Christian confession are most sharply reflected in their stand against the Arian
emperors of the fourth century and the Chalcedonian emperors of the sixth on
purely doctrinal grounds, since none of their interests, material or other, could
have been served by opposition to the empire on whose subsidy they
depended.' 2 Mavia's tribe must presumably have been converted sometime
towards the middle of the fourth century.
The importance of the desert monks for converting Arab tribes is better
demonstrated in the accounts of Zocomus and Aspebetus.
'It is said that a whole tribe, and Zocomus, their chief, were converted to
Christianity and baptized about this period, under the following
circumstances: Zocomus was childless, and went to a certain monk of
great celebrity to complain to him of this calamity . . . The monk desired
Zocomus to be of good cheer, engaged in prayer on his behalf, and sent
him away with the promise that if he would believe in Christ, he would
have a son. When this promise was confirmed by God, and when a son
was born to him, Zocomus was initiated, and all his subjects with him.'3
In 405, Euthymius, a monk and priest from Armenia, arrived on pilgrimage
to Palestine. He decided to stay, then spent some years at Chariton's monastery
at Pharan, and six years later moved into a cave of his own.4 Around 420,
Terebon, the paralysed son of a Persian commander, dreamt that he could only
be healed by Euthymius. The child's father, Aspebetus, took his whole tribe to
Euthymius' cave where the child was duly healed through prayer and by 'sealing
with the cross'—here presumably an exorcistic anointing.5 The heathens 'begged
to receive the seal in Christ'—here presumably baptism, and again Cyril of

1 Sozomen, EH, VI.38.

2 S h a h i d . I.. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, (Washington. 1984). p 10.
3 Sozomen. EH, VI.38.
4 Cyril of Scythopolis. 'Life of Euthymius' in RM Price & J Binns. Cyril of Scythopolis: The
Lives of the Monks of Palestine, (Kalamazoo. 1991).
5 V. Euthym 18.

31
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E P A L E S T I N E , 325-451

Scythopolis records, T h e miracle-working Euthymius, perceiving that their

faith in Christ came from the soul, ordered a small font to be constructed in the
corner of the cave—the one preserved even now—and, after catechizing them,
baptized them all in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. He
kept them with him for 40 days, enlightening and strengthening them with the
word of God, and then let them depart, no longer Agarenians and Ishmaelites
but now descendants of Sarah and heirs of the promise, transferred through
baptism from slavery to freedom.'1 Aspebetus returns sometime later with even
more candidates for baptism, and eventually Euthymius designs a church for
them and assigns a priest and deacon to serve them. 2 Cyril writes that Those
who had already been baptized came and settled there and others too who
arrived gradually were baptized by him' 3
Cyril wrote his Lives in the sixth century, by which time 'Saracen' had become
the standard term for 'Arab' however in this account Aspebetus' tribe are also
called 'barbarians'. Although they may well have had a semi-nomadic existence,
we are told that Aspebetus and his brother were 'of exceptional intelligence
and adorned with conspicuous wealth'. 4 Cyril aims to record how 'Aspebetus,
though a pagan and a Persian subject, became an ally of the Romans' 5 , and his
tribe's conversion meant they could be considered as foederati, that is
mercenaries, paid by the empire to patrol the borders, a function they had
previously performed for the Persian king. Aspebetus' tribe merely changed
sides and cemented their new alliance by conversion. This according to Shahid
is an example of the beginnings of Arab Christianity6, which progresses further
through the appointment of Aspebetus (now Peter) as Bishop of the Arab
Encampments (or Paremboles) before 431, as he was present at the Council of
Ephesus. 7
The initiation performed by Euthymius is much closer to that of the Cathedral
type, discussed above. In his healing of Terebon, Euthymius 'seals with the
cross' which may well have functioned as a pre-baptismal exorcistic anointing;
he ensures they are properly catechized, baptizes them with a Trinitarian formula
in a font quarried for the purpose in the cave-chapel, and gives them some sort
of mystagogical catechesis. In contrast with the Cathedral style they have not
spent time as 'hearers', there are no godparents, no indication of an adherence/
renunciation sequence, no post-baptismal anointing and no role for the bishop.
In the Sinai desert, another Moses was converting both nomads and villagers:
'A certain Moses (in R a i t h o u ) . . . practised monasticism for 73 years . . .
For God did many mighty deeds by means of him. For he gave him
power over wicked spirits [and by completely curing many he attached

1 V.Euthym 21-22.
2 V. Euthym 24.
3 V. Euthym 25.
4 V.Euthym 21.
5 V. Euthym 18.
6 Shahid. p20.
7 V. Euthym 32.

32
 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM

to the Christ nearly all the people] in that desert, and also the . . .
inhabitants of Pharan and made them Christians. [For seeing the signs
and wonders which] the man of God, Father Moses did, they believed in
the Father and the Son and in the Holy Spirit. And they were persuaded
to receive holy baptism.'1
The sequence here is again: conversion following a miracle, confession of
faith and baptism.

COMPARATIVE TABLE FOR 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM

Monk Chariton Hilarion Moses Euthymius

Location Ain Pharan Elusa Pharan Judean Desert

Judean desert Sinai desert

Estimated date 313-333 313-356 Before 359 420

Candidates: race 'Jews and 'Saracens' Arabs 'Persians'

Arabs' (Arabs)

Language Aramaic 'Syriac' Arabic?

(Aramaic)

Religion Judaism and Pagan— Pagan Pagan

pagan Venus cult ('heathen')

Lifestyle Fixed and Fixed and Foederati

semi- nomadic
nomadic

Following a miracle Occasionally YES YES YES

Pre-baptismal Assumed Assumed YES YES

catechesis

Exorcism Assumed

Pre-baptismal YES YES

anointing/exorcistic
signing

Immersion YES YES YES

Post-baptismal
anointing

Post-baptismal YES
catechesis

Remain in contact YES YES YES

with monk

X Ammonius, The Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert' in AS Lewis (transl), Horae Semiticae
IX, (Cambridge. 1912). p 4.

33
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

Archaeological Evidence
Of the 63 monastic institutions identified in the Judean desert only a few
have connections to baptism1—either by the existence of fonts or baptisteries
or by literary evidence. These are Ain Pharan, St Euthymius, St Martyrius,
Penthucla and the monastery of John the Baptist on the Jordan, Douka and
Khallet Danabiya.
For Pharan and St Euthymius there is literary evidence but no archaeological
evidence. This is curious in the case of the latter, as a quarried font that could
be seen in the sixth century might have been presumed to remain—although
the cave of St Euthymius underwent many changes in its growth into a large
monastery in the sixth century. Of the other monasteries listed their baptismal
installations were built in the late sixth century and only Khallet Danabiya
could possibly date from our period. It was flourishing in the fifth and sixth
centuries but Goldfus believes pottery evidence dates it from the mid-fourth
century.2
The church in this complex measures 25m x 9m and has been quarried out
of the rock. It is orientated east-west and the south side remains partially open.
To the south of the Eastern apse of the chapel is a square hollow hewn into the
rock in which a row of white tesserae covered with hydraulic plaster may have
been the baptismal font. Hydraulic plaster is, as its name suggests, 'waterproof'
plaster and is applied to basin and particularly fonts to stop the water draining
away. Going westwards from number 8 in the plan we have what appears to
be a corridor, bordered on the north by a now missing chancel screen and on
the south by the wall of the church. The complex had a sophisticated water
collection and retention system and we can see a channel in room 8 that fed the
font from above.

1 Hirschfeld, Y. 'List of the Byzantine Monasteries in the Judean Desert' in CAHL.

2 Goldfus, H. 'Khallat ed-Danabiya: A Desert Monastery' in CAHL

34
 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM

1. Apse
2. Diakonikon
3. Burial compartments
4. Ancient water cistern
4a. Main water cistern
5. Entrance to the western burial cave
6. Enclosure wall of the church area
7. Gatehouse
8. Baptistery?

9. THE CAVE CHURCH WITH BAPTISMAL INSTALLATION AT

KHALLAT DANABIYA, ACCORDING TO GOLDFUS

35
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y B Y Z A N T I N E PALESTINE, 325-451

A church and baptistery found at Magen, may be linked with the ministry
of Hilarion. Tzaferis suggests that, 'Nearby is the tomb of Sheikh Nuran, a
sacred pilgrimage site of the local Bedouins. Although we have no way of
knowing whether such a sheikh ever existed, we can translate the same Nuran
(meaning "light" or "lamp" in Arabic) to the Greek Lichnos. An ancient
settlement in the northwestern Negev bearing this name is noted by Jerome as
a place visited by St Hilarion . . I n the northern chapel, the baptistery, there
is a rectangular font, with four steps leading down into it. Unusually it seems
only deep enough for an adult to sit and not stand. It has been dated by the
excavator to the late fourth or early fifth century. Its location would suggest
that it was used for the reception of nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples even if
the connection with Hilarion is conjectural.

Conclusion
Although the literary evidence presented for monks baptizing outweighs
the archaeological evidence for the period to 451, in the late fifth and especially
the sixth centuries we find many more baptismal installations in Palestinian
monasteries. One suggestion for this has been that they were for the baptism
of monks. In the Egyptian Pachomian monasteries it was customary for
unbaptized monks to be catechized during Lent and then to be baptized in
front of the whole community gathered at Phbou for Easter.2 However the
recruitment pool for the Palestinian monasteries was quite different: the earliest
monks in the Judean desert settled there after making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
and the holy places, most of them had decided their vocation before they set off
and many already had positions of authority in their home church. Euthymius
was a priest and in charge of the monks in his home diocese3; Cyril of Scythopolis
had made his monastic profession before journeying to Jerusalem and then
staying at the monastery of Mar Saba4; Melanie the Younger and her husband-
brother had vowed themselves to celibacy before going on pilgrimage and
founding two monasteries in Jerusalem5; a bishop John ran away from his
diocese to become an ordinary monk at Mar Saba6, leading to obvious problems
when Saba decided it was time he got ordained. The monastic biographers
inform us that, in general, they were baptized Christians before they became
monks, so there would not have been such numbers of unbaptized to warrant
baptisteries in the monastery church and their existence cannot be put down to
the needs of the community alone.

1 Tzaferis, V. 'Early Christian Churches at Magen', in Ancient Churches Revealed

2 T h e Boharic Life of Pachomius', 8 1 in A Veilleux, Pachomian Koinonia, vol I. Cistercian
Studies Series, 45, (Kalamazoo, 1980), p 105.
3 VEuthym 10.
4 Cyril of Scythopolis, 'Life of Sabas', 180. In Price & Binns. op at.
5 Gorce, D., Vie de Sainte Melanie. Sources Chretiennes 90. (Paris 1962).
6 Cyril of Scythopolis, 'Life of J o h n the Hesychast', 2 0 7 . In Price & Binns. op cit.

36
 'EVANGELICAL' BAPTISM

It has been shown above that the Palestinian monks began the conversion of
the countryside, as Shahid comments, 'the (most) important instrument of
Christianization was the monastery not the church. The anchorites and eremites
of early Christian times found the desert a congenial place of retreat, and so
where the church could not function for geographical or other reasons, the
monastery could and did/ 1
The liturgy used by the monks to receive converts was a watered down
version of that with which they were familiar, necessitated by their location
and the mobility of the candidates. It seems as if some attempt at instruction
was made, and any pre-baptismal exorcistic anointing depended on whether
the candidate was converted following some form of exorcism; otherwise our
records are silent. Except for the case of Aspebetus' tribe, the immersion did
not take place in a specific location, athough the archaeological evidence
demonstrates that this was beginning to be considered in the construction of
monasteries. There is no reference to chrismation—presumably this was the
preserve of the bishop—but neither is there any instance of candidates being
sent to a bishop for 'confirmation'; it can be assumed then that their baptism
was not considered 'incomplete' and they were admitted to communion
immediately.

1 Shahid, p 19.

37
 5
'Pilgrim' Baptism

Jerusalem and Palestine in these centuries created a new type of Christian

worship—that which depended on the physical concrete remains of biblical
events. The liturgical acts described by Egeria at each of the places she visited
demonstrate a sort of memorial synaxis that we can safely assume was not
unique to her and her party An additional liturgical act that some archaeologists
and historians have presumed to have occurred was that of the baptism of
pilgrims at the holy places. This claim will be critically examined here.
The evidence for pilgrimage prior to the fourth century is scant. Eusebius
referred to Alexander from Cappadocia who became Bishop of Jerusalem
towards the middle of the third century and had travelled to Palestine to
'worship there and to examine the historic sites'1, and even though Origen
seems to have had some idea of the geography his attitude is nowhere near
that of Egeria. Eusebius had assisted the identification of the holy places through
his Onomasticon, but this was never intended to be a pilgrim guide.

Literary Evidence
Gregory of Nyssa expressed his ambivalence towards the benefits of
pilgrimage to the Holy Land2, which involved at its heart a desire to retain
interest in local martyrs and to build up local shrines3, never once does he
complain about catechumens seeking baptism outside his jurisdiction. Gregory
Nazianzen's Homily on Baptism of 381, rebukes those who think that baptism
gains greater efficacy if administered by an important person, 'Do not say, "A
Bishop shall baptize me,—and he a Metropolitan,—and he of Jerusalem (for
the Grace does not come of a place, but of the Spirit),—and he of noble birth,
for it would be a sad thing for my nobility to be insulted by being baptized by
a man of no family." Do not say, "I do not mind a mere Priest, if he is a celibate,
and a religious, and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be
defiled even in the moment of my cleansing.'"4 At issue here is not the fear that
his congregation was running off to Jerusalem, but that they misunderstood
the nature of baptism.
Eusebius records that on his death-bed Constantine said that he wished he
had been baptized in the river Jordan and that he had seen the holy places for
himself; The hour is come in which I too may have the blessing of that seal
which confers immortality; the hour in which I may receive the seal of salvation.

1 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History. ET G A Williamson. (London. 1965). Book VI. 11.

2 Gregory of Nyssa. 'On Pilgrimages', (ed. W. Moore), NPNF, vol V, (Oxford. 1893).
3 Unpublished paper by Dr Brouria Ashkelony of the Hebrew University. Jerusalem.
4 Gregory Nazianzen, Homily 40, 'On Baptism', xxvi, (ET C G Brown. J E Swallow). NPNF,
vol VII, (Oxford, 1893).

38
 'PILGRIM' BAPTISM

I had thought to do this in the waters of the river Jordan, wherein our Saviour,
for our example, is recorded to have been baptized: but God, who knows what
is expedient for us, is pleased that I should receive this blessing here/1 Is this
wishful thinking on Eusebius' part? We know that, although making a huge
financial commitment to Jerusalem and the surrounding area, he made no effort
whatsoever to fulfil this desire, sending Helena instead to supervise the building
projects on his behalf. He does not even attempt to attend the dedication of the
Holy Sepuchre complex despite insisting that the Synod of Tyre decamp to
Jerusalem for what, to all intents and purposes, was an imperial event. It may
be that Eusebius is making a political point: would it not have been fitting for
the first Christian emperor to have been baptized where Christ was? Constantine
may have regarded this as his unique right, as it certainly was not common
desire in the early fourth century. Whatever Constantine may have said (and
we must bear in mind that Eusebius was not an eyewitness) he never had any
intention of going to Palestine and showed no interest in the Jordan, indeed
imperial patronage for the Place of Baptism was not forthcoming until
Anastasius' reign (491-518).
It is the belief that Constantine expressed a generally felt desire among
fourth century Christians for baptism in the Holy Land, which has fed the
claims that pilgrims travelled with the express aim of getting baptized there.
Mara val states that 'on relèvera le gôut manifestent beaucoup de pèlerins anciens
pour le baptême ou la profession monastique dans les lieux saints, en particulier
à Jérusalem, au Jourdain ou même dans les martyria célèbres, comme si le
sacrement conféré en ces lieux ou l'acte religieux qu'on y accomplissaient avait
une vertu particulière.'2
The principal locations for 'pilgrim baptism' might be presumed to be those
connected with baptism or its symbolism in the New Testament, so the following
sites will be discussed:
1. Aenon, near Salim, 8 miles from Scythopolis.
2. Bethabara, the place of Christ's baptism in the Jordan.
3. Bethany - erroneously identified as the Place of Baptism in John's Gospel.
4. Bethsur - where Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch
5. The Anastasis in Jerusalem.
Aenon was identified in the Onomasticon by Eusebius and was visited by
the Pilgrim of Bordeaux and Egeria. Egeria records that she was taken by the
local priest to the spring where John the Baptist baptized and that, 'It is from
that spring that the village has this excellent supply of clean water . . . He led
us along a well kept valley to a very neat apple-orchard and there in the middle
of it he showed us a good clean spring of water which flowed in a single stream.
There was a kind of pool in front of the spring at which it appears holy John the

1 vc IV. 42
2 Maraval, P. Lieux Saints et Pèlerinages d'Orient: Histoire et Géographie. Des Origines à la
Conquête Arabe (Paris. 1985) p 148.

39
 BAPTISM IN E A R L Y BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

Baptist administered baptism . . , n Her account includes a description of a

baptism ceremony at that location but Egeria did not witness this baptism,
neither did she participate in it. The local priest describes to her the customary
Easter ritual, when baptism was administered to members of the local church,
saying nothing about baptism at any other time. The structure of this liturgy is
not dissimilar to that administered at Jerusaelm and Gaza, namely immersion
followed by procession to the main church for the eucharist at the Easter vigil.
Bethany/Bethabara In John's Gospel (1.28), it says that Christ was baptized at
Bethany, a statement which exercised the patristic exegetes. Metzeger comments,
'Origen, who in his travels was unable to locate a Bethany by the Jordan adopted
the reading Bethabara which he apparently found in a few copies current in his
day . . . and to which he was attracted because of its edifying etymology: " . . .
for it yields the meaning 'House of Preparation'..." Chrysostom, perhaps
following Origen, also declares that instead of Bethany, "the more accurate of
the copies" read Bethabara; for he explains "Bethany is neither beyond the
Jordan nor in the desert but is somewhere near Jerusalem.'" 2 Eusebius in the
Onomasticon followed Origen and identified Bethabara as the place where John
baptized. 3 Although Origen interpreted Bethabara as the House of Preparation,
the name in fact means 'place of passing over' and the place had long been
identified as the point at which the Hebrews crossed into the Promised Land.
When Egeria travelled from Jerusalem, across the Jordan to Mount Nebo she
must surely have passed close by Bethabara but she makes no mention of it,
either on the way there or back. She was a very thorough pilgrim, eager to see all
the sites and pray at them, and this is just the sort of location we would expect
her to comment on. If we contrast her report of Aenon, which she visits because
of its connection with a biblical baptism and reports on how baptism was
administered there in her own day—could we not expect her to provide the
same information for the more important site where Christ himself was baptized?
Her silence can only be accounted for by assuming that neither was Bethabara
on the pilgrim itinerary nor was it normal for baptisms to take place there.
Egeria's omission is all the more astonishing as she took with her local
guides, 'With us came some holy men from Jerusalem, a presbyter and deacons,
and several brothers.. .'.4 We might rightly expect these men to know the sacred
topography of the Holy Land, but it is clear that the Jerusalem church made
nothing of the site. The clergy and congregation would happily go to Bethlehem
and back, but never once, it seems, descended to the Jordan. The feast of
Theophany, the most obvious time for Christ's baptism to be recalled, was
kept at Bethlehem and we know that the Jerusalem church persisted with Easter
baptisms until the sixth century. 5

1 It. Eg. 14.1

2 Metzger, B M, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. (London. 1971). p 199.
3 Eusebius. Onomasticon. 182.
4 It Eg 10.
5 Barsanuphe et Jean de Gaza. Correspondance, (Solemnes, 1972). Letter 821.

40
 'PILGRIM' BAPTISM

The Pilgrim of Bordeaux has, it seems, seen 'The Place' but does not name
it, Tive miles from there (the Dead Sea) in the Jordan is the place where the
Lord was baptized by John.'1 Similarly Jerome's description of Paula's journey
refers to The Place' as follows, 'Scarcely had the night passed away when
burning with eagerness she hastened to the Jordan, stood by the brink of the
river, and as the sun rose recalled to mind the rising of the sun of righteousness;
how the priest's feet stood firm in the middle of the river-bed; how afterwards
at the command of Elijah and Elisha the waters were divided hither and thither
and made way for them to pass; and again how the Lord had cleansed by his
baptism waters which the deluge had polluted and the destruction of mankind
had defiled.' 2 By the time of her visit (Paula died in 404) the double identification
of the site seems to have been made, but Jerome emphasizes the universal
benefits of baptism and not that of specific individuals nor even his own. As
neither of these descriptions names Bethabara, it is possible they were shown
part of the Jordan but not necessarily a specific location. It might well be that
the place was unmarked in this period, which would also explain Egeria's
silence.
Ben-Pechat claims that 'Baptism in the Holy River was certainly prestigious
and desired by everyone who was about to become a Christian; we have
numerous testimonies of the annual baptismal ceremonies that took place at
the site of Jesus' baptism' 3 He cites, however, Constantine's unfulfilled wish
and the Pilgrim of Bordeaux's visit from the fourth century and then the account
of the Piacenza Pilgrim of the Epiphany ceremonies in the sixth century; but
the former do not refer to actual baptisms and other evidence cannot be said to
be 'numerous'.
One actual record of baptism in the Jordan, however, comes from the sixth
century 'Life of Rabbula', who became Bishop of Edessa in the early fifth century.
The anonymous author of this panygeric informs us that after having witnessed
a miracle he is catechized by Eusebius of Qennesrin and some time after decides
to become a monk but first wished to make a journey to the Holy Land, probably
during the 380s, where, we are told, he was baptized in the Jordan. Some caution
must be exercised with this account, and Peeters warns, 'ce voyage de Rabboula
en Terre Sainte est peut-être un fait réel; mais il faut convenir qu'il est relaté en
des termes qui ont plus d'une fois servi aux hagiographes.' 4 His baptism in the
Jordan seems improbable as he had already been catechized by his bishop soon
after he had converted, and it would seem that his later desire to become a
monk indicates a sincere conversion. It would be unlikely, therefore, that he

1 It Burg, 598.
2 Jerome, Letter 108 to Eustochium, NPNF?
3 Ben-Pechat, M, 'Baptism and Monasticism in the Holy Land: Archaeological and Literary
Evidence' in CAHL, p 515.
4 Peeters, P, 'La Vie de Rabboula, Évèque d'Êdesse', Recherches de Science Religieuse, vol
18 (1928) p 174. I am grateful to Dr Sebastian Brock for this reference.

41
 BAPTISM IN EARLY BYZANTINE PALESTINE, 325-451

would have postponed baptism. If, as Peeters suggests, some aspects of his
journey to the Holy Land are the product of a pious imagination, it may well be
that the author is assuming Rabbula was baptized in the Jordan, as it was
something that did occur when the work was composed, but from the evidence
above we can see that this claim is anachronistic.
Bethsur was visited by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, 'Fourteen miles away (from
Bethlehem) is Bethsur, at which is the spring where Philip baptized the eunuch'1,
and by Paula,'... she began to move along the old road which leads to Gaza,
. . . silently meditating on that type of the Gentiles, the Ethiopian eunuch, who
in spite of the prophet changed his skin and whilst he read the Old Testament
found the fountain of the gospel. Next turning to the right she passed from
Bethzur to Eshcol.. .'2. Neither mentions baptisms taking place there.
Jerusalem—the Anastasis To make the transfer from death to life through the
vivid ritual of the baptism ceremony in the very place where Christ died and
rose from the dead would have been a powerful event, an issue which was
exploited by Cyril and his liturgy. We know that the church was the focus for
pilgrims, many monks and nuns especially were lodged in its precincts to
participate more easily in the services. However, Egeria explicitly states that
unless you were known to the clergy it was extremely unlikely that you would
be accepted for baptism.3 The whole process, as she describes it, would render
it impossible for the average pilgrim to attend an extended catechesis and find
a godparent from the local congregation who knew the candidate well enough
to vouch for their lifestyle. Egeria's description of the actual baptism ceremony
on Easter night is sketchy. It is most likely that she was in the Martyrium with
the rest of the congregation and was not an eyewitness herself. Baptism at the
Holy Sepulchre was of the fixed local community.

Archaeological Evidence
Another possible type of pilgrim baptism might have been that administered
by the monks to pilgrims who stayed with them en route to Jerusalem. This has
been suggested by some archaeologists to explain the presence of baptisteries
in monasteries.
One of the tasks of a monastery was hospitality, but they were also the
objects of tourism. This is well illustrated by a passage from the Life of
Euthymius, 'a crowd of Armenians, about four hundred in number, on their
way from the holy city to the Jordan, deviated off the road to the right and
arrived at the laura... On seeing them, the elder . . . said "Serve these people
with something to eat.'"4 In the sixth century monastery of St Martyrius there
is both a baptistery, an extensive guesthouse with provision even for separate

1 It Burg. 5 9 9 .
2 Jerome. Ep 108.11
3 It Eg, 3 8 . 1 .
4 Cyril of Scythopolis. Lives of the Monks of Palestine, eds RM Price and J Binns,
(Kalamazoo. 1991) p 22.

42
 'PILGRIM' BAPTISM

stabling for their animals and a separate chapel. The Armenians are not recorded
as having attended any liturgies and at St Martyrius an effort had been made
to keep pilgrims out of the monastery.
The monastic baptisteries of this period, as has been shown, were not built
for pilgrims, indeed it would be difficult to conceive of a motivation for
pilgrimage by the unbaptized, when the risks of the journey might mean one
died before reaching one's goal. It is also improbable that someone would
make the journey to Jerusalem with the aim of being baptized there only to
give up and have it done somewhere en route.

Conclusion
The records left by pilgrims give us some idea about who they were—in
many cases they were monks themselves, many of whom stayed on in Palestine,
in the desert or in the cities; bishops and clergy also visited, Egeria says there
were usually 40 bishops for Encaenia; and of course the ridiculously wealthy
ladies so far encountered—Helena, Melanie the Younger and Paula. All these
were baptized and committed Christians before their journey.
If Baptism did not occur at those places associated with it in the Gospel
accounts, what did the pilgrims do there? It seems that a form of 'ritual washing'
was undertaken at sacred springs or streams. Maraval comments that 'les pèlerins
se baignaient dans le Jourdain, réactualisant au contact des eaux dans lesquelles
fut baptisé le Christ le grâce de leur propre baptême',1 although he provides no
evidence of this for the early period. At Aenon and at Livias, the spring of Moses,
Egeria comments that the water tasted sweet, and we can assume therefore that
she drank some of it; and about Aenon she reports 'a great many brothers, holy
monks from different parts, [who] travel there to wash at this place'.2 The number
of sacred sites connected with water increased in subsequent centuries: in the
sixth century the Piacenza Pilgrim refers to washing in the springs at Cana and at
Siloam 'to receive a blessing'3; in the seventh century, Arculf is recorded as having
washed his face in the spring at Bethlehem at the site where the water from
washing the newly born Jesus was thrown4; again in the account of the Epiphany
ceremonies in the Jordan in the sixth century the pilgrims bathed themselves in
the Jordan after the ceremony of the blessing of the waters had taken place. None
of these washings can be called baptism, as they were undertaken by those already
baptized. It would seem therefore that in the fourth and early fifth centuries the
evidence for the baptism of pilgrims in Palestine is non-existent, and what some
commentators have interpreted as baptism was in fact some form of ritual washing
at a sacred spring or similar, to receive much the same benefit as touching and
seeing the biblical sites.

1 Maraval. Lieux Saints, p 148.

2 It Eg. 14.1.
3 Piacenza Pilgrim. 4. in Wilkinson, J . Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades. (Warminster.
1977) p 41.
4 ibid, p 42.

43
 6
Conclusion

The Palestine presented here varies considerably from the impression given by
Christian commentators from the Byzantine period, whose triumphalism
following Nicaea would lead to the conclusion that the province, and indeed
the whole empire, was rapidly converted and that the liturgy and church
architecture developed accordingly
We have demonstrated that the 'official' church, represented by the bishop
and his clergy in the cities had a complex, structured and ritualistic method of
receiving converts to Christianity but that this was only possible when dealing
with a relatively stable population and administered in a designated location.
This pattern, however, was neither convenient nor appropriate amongst the
rural, nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples that formed the majority of
Palestinians. These candidates were not in a position to attend an extensive
catechesis, which may well have been confined to an explanation of the
supernatural powers displayed by a monk in healing or exorcism, or more
general preaching. A 'signing with the Cross' may be all that corresponded to
a pre-baptismal, exorcistic anointing, but all were immersed. Only in the case
of Aspebetus, did Euthymius aim to administer anything like a 'cathedral rite'.
In general their conversion was brought about by the chance encounter of a
monk in the deserts and rural areas in which the candidates lived, people with
whom the church had previously had no contact. This type of baptism can
therefore be called 'evangelical' in a way that the more reticent reception of
converts by the hierarchy cannot. The survey of the written and archaeological
evidence for pilgrim baptism has produced no confirmation that this occurred.
The breakdown of the diocesan bishop's control over baptism began,
therefore, in the deserts and not with the influx of pilgrims. In the following
centuries the bishop's responsibilty for baptism would be further eroded as
increasing numbers sought baptism; especially after Justinian's edict of 529
requiring conversion to Christianity, and it is from this later period that the
majority of baptismal complexes date.

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