GREEK FUNERARY EPIGRAPHY:
Ancient Greek Inscriptions Reveal Secrets of Elite Byzantine Burials in Israel (Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter).
Ancient Greek inscriptions on grave markers are revealing how Byzantine burials reflected power and family ties at Shivta, a former Christian settlement in Israel’s Negev Desert. Two rediscovered photographs from a 1930s excavation show where tombs were located inside the North Church baptistery, a room used for baptisms.
The graves were apparently reserved mainly for priests and children from influential families, according to a study published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly. Researchers Emma Maayan-Fanar and Yotam Tepper studied two negatives preserved in University College London’s archives. The excavation team led by H. D. Colt photographed the chapel but later removed its inscribed stone markers without leaving a complete record of their positions.
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The underlying PEQ article is open access:
Old Photographs, New Discoveries: Privileged Burials in the North Church Baptismal Chapel in Shivta, Israel
Emma Maayan-Fanarn & Yotam Tepper
Published online: 07 Oct 2026
https://doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2026.2716943
ABSTRACT
This paper presents new insights into the burial practices of Byzantine Shivta, Israel, based on the analysis of two previously unpublished photographs from excavations led by H. D. Colt in the 1930s. The photographs provide the first documentation of the floor of the North Church Baptistery, revealing the spatial arrangement of the burials. By comparing the visible features of the tomb slabs to individual photographs, three out of seven people were precisely identified. They were members of privileged families and their burials follow a certain hierarchy. Baptistery burials, a distinctive feature found nowhere else in the Negev, were reserved mostly for presbyters but also for special family members who died young. The burial dates, spanning from 612 to 679 ce, coincide with major historical events during the seventh century, such as the Byzantine-Sasanian wars, the Islamic conquest of the region, and the first plague pandemic. This study cautiously proposes that the distinctive ornamentation of some slabs, such as the Golgotha cross motif, may have been a response to these events. The study furthermore expands on the dynamic nature of the gradual decline and abandonment processes in Shivta as evidenced in the North Church burial practices.
For more on the archaeology of the site of Shivta, known notably for its churches and its late-antique viticulture, start
here and follow the links.
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