Unusual Byzantine Burial in Jerusalem Analyzed

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL––La Brújula Verde reports that archaeologists uncovered an unusual and surprising burial of a woman interred in the fifth century a.d. at Khirbat el-Masani, north of Jerusalem. The tomb was found among the remains of a Byzantine monastery that flourished between a.d. 350 and 360, when it was positioned along an early Christian pilgrimage route. A heavy chain was wrapped around the neck, arms, and legs of the deteriorated skeleton in accordance with a common custom practiced by ascetic monks at the time. Asceticism was a lifestyle characterized by extreme self-denial and self-torment in order to draw oneself closer to God. Burials displaying acts of asceticism were previously thought to be exclusively male, but peptide analysis of tooth enamel from the remains found at Khirbat el-Masani revealed that the individual was, in fact, female. The discovery has prompted archaeologists to reassess the role of women in extreme Christian religious practices of the Byzantine period. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. To read about analysis of skeletons buried at another Byzantine monastery in Jerusalem, go to "Bad Monks at St. Stephen's."