In early Christian Holy Land, private churches rose as acts of faith — and displays of power
During 4th-7th century CE, new research shows, Christian elites built numerous private churches, while Jewish donors appeared to pool their resources in a communal synagogue
Rossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
A quest for prestige coupled with the desire to celebrate one’s favorite saint fueled the construction of hundreds of churches in the land of Israel, and in the greater Near East region during Late Antiquity (4th-7th centuries CE), new research by an Israeli scholar has shown.
Many of these churches were lavish structures built inside private homes, with doorways that opened both onto the family’s living space and out to the street. The choice of construction funded by Christian patrons appears to stand in stark contrast with that of Jewish donors from the same period and regions, as the latter poured their resources into one centralized synagogue that served as the focal community center for the whole village.
“In classical times, under Greek and Roman rules across the ancient world, affluent people used to contribute to the public sphere,” Prof. Jacob Ashkenazi from the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee told The Times of Israel in conjunction with the publication of a new paper in the Levant journal.
“They funded the construction of bathhouses, theaters and amphitheaters, and sponsored public spectacles and festivals,” he added. “These acts served a dual purpose: they were seen as the elite’s civic duty, while also reinforcing their social prestige. In Christian times, the phenomenon just slightly transformed, as the wealthy started to fund churches.”
For decades, the expert noted, archaeologists surveying and excavating sites in areas including modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and even Saudi Arabia recorded a surprising number of churches.
“In the Roman province of Palestine alone, more than 700 churches have been documented in archeological contexts, not to mention the churches mentioned in historical sources,” Ashkenazi said. “It is really unbelievable.”
The researcher experienced the phenomenon first-hand a few years ago as he worked on a project to research the Christian landscape in the Galilee.
“Just in the area of Western Galilee, my colleague Prof. Motti Aviam and I excavated seven churches but surveyed over 70,” he said. “For example, the remains of a small village in a site known as Khirbet Bata inside the modern city of Carmiel had seven small Churches.”
For Ashkenazi, this work served as the initial spark that led him to question why so many churches were found in such small communities.
He soon realized that the practice was widespread. The village of Hippos in the Galilee had about 2,000 residents and eight churches (six of them appeared to have been built as private churches). At Khirbet al-Samra in the territory of the Syrian city of Bostra, scholars identified at least eight churches, mostly dated to the early 7th century. Umm al-Jimal in northern Jordan, a village of around 3000 people, boasted at least 15 churches.
“Scholars traditionally explained this phenomenon by pointing to the proliferation of Christian denominations during a period of intense religious conflict within the Church,” Ashkenazi said, referring to major synods such as those held in Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus, which grappled with theological disputes. “As a result, numerous Christian groups had emerged.”
However, Ashkenazi said this interpretation is inconsistent with the inner architecture, design, and artifacts uncovered in the churches, which do not reflect theological differences.
“I concluded that religious disputes are not enough to justify the number of churches and that the explanation was much simpler,” he said. “At a time when everyone was a believer, wealthy individuals sought to both give and receive by building churches that would serve the community while affirming their social status.”
Many churches, one synagogue
The multiplicity of churches in Christian communities is at odds with how Jewish communities in the Near East functioned in Late Antiquity.
“Synagogues were also lavishly decorated, presented mosaics and inscriptions paying tribute to their donors,” Ashkenazi said. “However, synagogues were public buildings, they served as community centers, where people gathered, met, learned and read the Torah.”
According to the scholar, private synagogues almost did not exist. Each village would have only one synagogue.
“Synagogues served a different purpose than churches and therefore needed to be the one place where all the community came together,” he said.
The writing on the wall (and floor)
Sometimes, rural elites would offer a contribution to erect their village’s central church; however, more often they built their own, still making them accessible to the community through a public entrance in addition to the private one.
According to Ashkenazi, a wealth of information about the churches comes from the inscriptions paying tribute to their patrons.
“Most inscriptions start with the donor’s name and sometimes mention other family members, such as his wife and children,” Ashkenazi said. “A few years ago, I found an inscription in the remains of a small church in Horvat Hesheq, between Carmiel and Maalot. The inscription mentioned the patron [Demetrius, a deacon] and also his grandparents, parents, sisters and daughters.” The church he funded was small but beautiful, noted Ashkenazi.
The researcher explained that inscriptions in churches that served as the main sanctuary of the village or towns generally mentioned the name of the bishop first.
“Usually these central churches were larger and carried inscriptions at the entrance, or next to the altar, that began with the Greek words ‘In the time of’ followed by the name of the bishop,” Ashkenazi said.
According to Ashkenazi, private churches were often tied to the veneration of lesser-known or locally revered saints.
“We see people embracing the cult of saints who were almost private to their families, or at least specific to their local communities,” he said. “For instance, in the entire Roman province of Palestine, only three churches were dedicated to St. Peter — arguably a universal figure. In contrast, around 20 were devoted to St. George, who was still a local saint in the 5th century, long before he rose to broader fame in the Middle Ages.”
“Interestingly, we find almost no evidence of saint cults in public churches,” he added. “It seems that people who built private churches sought a more personalized form of religious expression.
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