The Emergence of Christian Commemorative Architecture in Palestine (Delivered at the "Transformations in Stone" Symposium at Lund University) (original) (raw)

Transformations in Stone: Archaeological Testimonies to Transitions within and between Religious Traditions in Antiquity, 5 March 2020

Abstract

The fourth century saw the emergence of Christian commemorative architecture in Palestine. Beginning with the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under Constantine circa 324 CE, monumental churches were constructed by imperial authority, localizing events in the life of Jesus, while also fundamentally altering the architectural landscape of the region. Their appearance also marked a new development in the way that the life of Jesus could be remembered, experienced, and interpreted. They functioned as commemorative monuments, presenting, interpreting, and instantiating memories of specific events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The aim of this paper is to examine the emergence of the earliest life-of-Jesus churches in order to consider the ways in which these structures functioned simultaneously to commemorate and thus interpret the person of Jesus of Nazareth, while contributing to the formation of Christian identity through the construction of a public memory of Jesus.

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