Tuesday, March 11, 2025

More on that excavated chained nun

THE EXTREME ASCETICISM STORY from last month has started getting more media attention, including another article from the Jerusalem Post. That and the Times of Israel article linked to below give some additional information on late-antique ascetic nuns and religious extreme asceticism.

The nun who lived in chains: First-ever evidence of extreme asceticism found near Jerusalem. Asceticism is the practice of denial of physical or psychological desires in order to attain a spiritual ideal or goal, often self-inflicted (JOANIE MARGULIES, Jerusalem Post)

Chained in faith: 5th-century female skeleton may be world’s 1st self-mortifying Christian nun. Cutting-edge technology allows a team of Israeli researchers to determine that mysterious ironclad remains found in a church near Jerusalem belonged to a woman (ROSSELLA TERCATIN, Times of Israel)

Background here.

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