St John the Baptist’s Bones? Again

The Huffington Post has some not so new – for those of us following things archaeological – news:

London – It’s a tantalizing find in a Biblical mystery – Oxford University researchers have concluded that a set of skeletal remains which many Bulgarians attribute to John the Baptist probably belonged to a first century male from the Middle East.

While that doesn’t prove that the bones belonged to the man revered by Christians as the forerunner to Jesus, it does mean that those who believe the relics are the remains of the first century saint have a scientific case.

The discovery of a sarcophagus containing a knuckle bone, a tooth, a skull fragment and other remains under an ancient church on an island off Bulgaria’s coast – paired with a small urn bearing a Greek-language reference to John the Baptist – drew enormous interest when it was announced in two years ago.

Officials didn’t wait for scientific evaluation before offering the relics up for public view; thousands waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the bones when they were displayed in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital.

Oxford professor Thomas Higham, whose lab subjected the bone fragments to radiocarbon dating and DNA sequencing, said he was skeptical at first.

“We didn’t expect results that would be consistent with the expected – or hoped for – results of our Bulgarian colleagues,” he said in a telephone interview.  But he promised that the find, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, would stand up to scrutiny.

“We’re very confident about the genetics,” he said.

According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist foresaw the coming of Jesus and baptized him in the River Jordan. The ascetic desert-wandering prophet was later imprisoned and beheaded after criticizing the ruler of Galilee, Herod Anitpas.

Higham’s Oxford colleague Georges Kazan, who has traced the tortured history of John the Baptist’s remains, said it was possible that his relics could have ended up under the fourth century monastery on St. Ivan’s Island (Ivan is the Slavic word for John.)

Nearby Constantinople – now known as Istanbul – was then at the center of the Christian world and the surrounding area was “full of monks and holy relics,” he said. St. Ivan’s Island, along an important Black Sea trade route, would have been made sense as a place to store the saint’s bones.

Then again, Kazan said he had identified more than 25 purported relics of John the Baptist scattered across the world, including 11 purporting to come from his head. Most appear to be bone fragments – i.e. part of a jaw – although some pieces are large enough that they they’re unlikely to be from the same person.

Higham said that, inevitably, some of the relics wouldn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny.

“There are about eight or nine skulls of John the Baptist out there,” he said. “They can’t be all John the Baptist.”

Higham’s research was funded with a grant from National Geographic, whose channel is due to air a documentary on the find, entitled “Head of John the Baptist,” this Sunday.

 

Previously Unknown Christian Archbishopric Discovered in Bulgaria

Sofia News Agency:

Leading Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov has discovered two archbishop’s seals proving the existence of a previously unknown Christian archbishopric in the Middle Ages.

Ovcharov has been excavating the Ancient Thracian rock city of Perperikon in the Rhodope Mountains for the past few years, and his finds have increasingly proven that Perperikon (also known as Hyperperakion) used to be a crucial urban center during the Middle Ages as well in the Byzantine Empire and the First and Second Bulgarian Empire, and not just in the Antiquity period.

The archaeologist presented Monday his latest find at Perperikon – two lead seals that belonged to Constantine, Archbishop of Archidos.

The archbishop’s seals were found in a building in Perperikon together with Byzantine coins from the time of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (r. 969-976), Basil II the Bulgar-slayer (r. 976-1025), and Constantine VIII (1025-1028), i.e. in the late 10th and early 11th century, as well as from the second half of the 12th century.

According to the Bulgarian archaeologists from Ovcharov’s team, the newly found seals prove that a previously unknown Christian archbishopric – the Archidos Archbishopric – existed in the 10th-12th century in the Rhodope Mountains region, today’s Southern Bulgaria, and was headquartered in Perperikon (Hyperperakion).

The name Archidos is Greek. When translated in Bulgarian it means “Ohrid”. However, this toponym does not refer to the town of Ohrid in today’s Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but to the Rhodope Mountain as Archidos was the name the Byzantines used for the Eastern Rhodopes.

Ovcharov says there is evidence to suggest that from the 4th to the 14th century Perperikon was a powerful Christian center with a number of bishop’s basilicas and seals, most of them dating to the 10th-12th century AD.

Over the 2011, Ovcharov’s team has been focusing on the eastern part of Perperikon and its acropolis.

The archaeologist says the complete restoration and conservation of Perperikon’s acropolis should be completed in 3 years, while BGN 4 M have already been secured for lighting and infrastructure of the top archaeological site. A new road connecting the village of Chernoochene near Kardzhali with Perperikon will be opened next week.

The archaeologists are also continuing to uncover the fortress walls of Perperikon, some of which are preserved of up to 3 meters in height.

Interesting stuff.

Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Christian Complex

Novinite:

A large complex of small Christian churches has been gradually unearthed by Bulgarian archaeologists in downtown Sofia during continuing excavations at the construction sites of the Sofia Metro.

During the excavations near the Serdica metro station and the TZUM department store in the downtown of the Bulgarian capital last summer, the archaeologists found the remains of a medieval church.

They have now found two more medieval churches dating back to the 14th and 16th centuries located within 70 m from one another, archaeologist Snezhana Goryanova has revealed.

The northern church is located 30 m away from the Banya Bashi mosque; it was built in the 14th century, during the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396), and is believed to have functioned as a temple until the middle of the 16th century, which is when the second church was built. Sofia was conquered by the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1385 AD.

While the older church has two layers of murals, the second one has six. It is believed to have functioned until the end of the 19th century when it was destroyed for the construction of the Vitosha Blvd and Sofia’s urban planning as the capital of Bulgaria.

Archaeologist Mario Ivanov, who is charge of the excavations near TZUM, said the archaeologists have found items dating back from the 1st to the end of the 19th century. The greatest number of items after from 4th-6th century and the 16th-19th century.

Sofia, called Serdica by the Ancient Thracians, Greeks, and Romans, was the favorite city of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who is known for saying, “Serdica is my Rome.” The city became part of Bulgaria in 805 AD, and was renamed with its Slavic name Sredets.

Biblical Deluge Might Boost Black Sea Tourism

The Black Sea could turn in a worldwide attraction for underwater tourism if countries cash on the story that the Biblical Deluge happened in the area, according to Bulgarian archaeologist Petko Dimitrov.

According to Prof. Dimitrov, who is the director of the Underwater Archaeology unit of the Oceanology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, there are enough findings in the Black Sea’s aquatorium to make it an attractive destination for that kind of tourism.

“If the hypothesis that the Biblical Deluge occurred at the Black Sea is popularized, Bulgaria can draw many more tourists,” said Dimitrov.

He added that a number of underwater museums with special diving access can be created along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

According to him this idea nevertheless has this far not met any support from relevant institutions.

And somehow I think it probably will not…

HT