The monk in chains

During archaeological excavations carried out at the site of Khirbet el-Masani, about four kilometers northeast of Jerusalem, the skeleton of a Byzantine monk was discovered, dating back to the fifth century. AD, buried with heavy iron chains weighing tens of kilograms.
The tomb is associated with a Byzantine-era monastic complex that has been excavated extensively since 2017 by a team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquity Authority, led by Dr. Gaby Mazor.
The site, one of the rural monasteries located around Jerusalem, includes the monastery proper, a post house for travelers and a church with three apses, built of finely worked limestone.

The building was identified as the church dedicated to San Zaccaria by its builder, the priest Sabinus.
As the excavations continued, near two closed cells in the shape of a niche located in the central apse of the church, a cist tomb was found, i.e. formed by a stone box, containing a skeleton chained with iron rings.
Constraints were placed around the neck, hands and feet.
It is probably a Byzantine ascetic monk. In fact, in this period some monks chose a life of physical and sensory deprivation to devote themselves to prayer and spiritual life. According to written sources, in some cases asceticism took extreme forms: the monks lived on top of columns, in the desert or chained themselves to a stone.

Asceticism is a religious current typical of Syria in the 4th-5th century AD, where famous ascetic monks lived, such as Simeon Stilita who lived, according to legend, for 37 years on top of a column.
The fact that traces of religious practice can also be found in this very distant area opens the door to new studies on its real diffusion.
The chained skeleton of Khirbat el-Masani, who was probably a monk who lived in the monastery attached to the church or nearby, is not a unique find.
In fact, in 1991 the archaeologist Elena Kogan-Zehavi made a similar discovery in Khirbat Tabaliya, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Agnese Picco
NP February 2023