Jan 26, 2025 · Perhaps the earliest portrayal of the cross by Christians occurred in the iconography of their papyrus manuscripts, specifically the Staurogram, or shape of the cross made by the overlapping of the Greek letters “Rho” and “Tau” (). 11 A more obvious depiction of the cross is seen in a third-century gem in the British Museum, which ...

Jul 16, 2024 · Before the cross gained prominence in the fourth century, the second-century church father Clement of Alexandria urged early Christians to use the dove or a fish as a symbol to identify themselves and each other as followers of Jesus. Archaeologists have recovered oil lamps and Eucharistic vessels in the shape of doves from Christian churches ...

Aug 17, 2024 · A 20th century revision by a religious sect, versus historical evidence all the way back to the 1st century (e.g. cross image on the wall after the Vesuvius eruption, etc) is just wishful thinking or anti-Christian bias.

Mahri Leonard-Fleckman is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at College of the Holy Cross, and her training is Hebrew Bible and Near Eastern Studies (PhD 2014, NYU). Leonard-Fleckman’s areas of expertise include literary history and social history, and her current interest is the use (and abuse) of ancient texts in reconstructing ...

Jul 24, 2018 · Under Islamic rule, there was a certain degree of religious tolerance, but this weight shows that there were limitations as well. According to Michael Eisenberg of the University of Haifa, who directs the Hippos-Sussita Excavations, a weight with an overt Christian symbol may have crossed a line—since a Muslim official could potentially have ...

Jan 12, 2024 · Written to the townspeople of ancient Spello, about 100 miles north of Rome, the letter permits them to celebrate a traditional religious festival in their town rather than having to travel outside. In return, Constantine instructs them to erect a temple to his deified ancestors, the Flavians, and worship them.

Nov 13, 2024 · Through July 6, 2025 Museum of the Bible Washington, D.C. museumofthebible.org. An extraordinary mosaic from the area of ancient Megiddo in northern Israel is now on display at the Museum of the Bible.

Dec 18, 2024 · And although his true religious beliefs remain the subject of scholarly discussion, commemorative churches, which embodied the gospel events tied to human salvation as brought by Jesus of Nazareth, bolstered Constantine’s secular authority and were as much a testament to the emperor’s greatness as to the power of the resurrected Jesus.

Mar 10, 2022 · A Giant Jesus and a Walking, Talking Cross: Exploring the Gospel of Peter. The Gospel of Peter is a non-canonical Gospel that was lost to the world until the late 19th-century, when a portion of it was found buried with a monk. This portion, which consists only of the Passion Narrative, is an enigma.

Jul 31, 2020 · THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY depicted in this burial chapel in the Villa Torlonia catacombs in Rome prominently features the Ark of the Covenant flanked by two menorahs, as well as the pomegranate and the etrog fruit.