medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi, Stan
Thanks for those photos of the basilica at Tebessa. Herewith a few precisions:
1. As those who have sampled more than just the initial two images will already have observed, this is not a page "on the basilica" but instead a page of views of late antique structures, mostly Christian (because the unifying metadata tag is "basilica"), from various parts of the Roman empire outside of Rome proper.
2. The staircase shown is not part of Christian basilica complex at Tebessa. According to its mouseover, it belongs to the temple of the deified Septimius Severus at Djemila:
http://tinyurl.com/hghjsjj
3. As it happens, there _is_ a similar grand staircase at the western end of the Christian basilica complex at Tebessa:
http://www.vitaminedz.org/les-ruines-de-la-basilique-de/Photos/194012.php
http://www.aeria.phil.uni-erlangen.de/photo_html/topographie/algerien/tebessa2.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/20800336n08/22914135390/
4. But that's not the side stair in question. At this point it will be helpful to look at a plan of the basilica complex, bearing in mind that the basilica itself rests on a raised base well above ground level:
Ground plan (legends in German):
http://tinyurl.com/gujtzwn
Ground plan (legends in French):
https://jahiliyyah.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/plan-de-la-basilique-theveste.jpg
5. On the south side of the nave one can see a plan of the triconch in question: a central square with a curved extension on each of three sides. On the west side it has a further extension consisting of a rectangular corridor or antechamber leading to a slightly larger rectangle of uncertain function. Herewith some views:
a. The side stair leading down to the triconch:
http://www.aeria.phil.uni-erlangen.de/photo_html/topographie/algerien/tebessa1.jpg
b) The triconch itself (the stair now in the middle distance):
http://www.aeria.phil.uni-erlangen.de/photo_html/topographie/algerien/tebessa3.jpg
c) Further views of the triconch (the stair now hidden):
https://assotebessa.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/basilique27.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/h8tkwvu
6. The triconch is generally interpreted as a _memoria_ to St. Crispina. The two scholars who studied it most extensively in the last century, Jürgen Christern and Paul Albert Février, each dated both it and the basilica itself to the fourth century (the basilica has also been dated as late as the seventh-century). Here's a view of the circular inscription (in the previous post I said "inscriptions", erroneously) in the southern conch interpreted by Février as commemorating Crispina's companions (the names are close to what's given for these in the Codex epternacensis of the [pseudo-]Hieronymian martyrology):
http://www.romansociety.org/fileadmin/images/imago/2992.jpg
The other inscriptions shown (and more have been found elsewhere in this structure) presumably record late antique _ad sanctos_ burials.
7. While we're here, a view of the basin in the baptistry (just north of the western extension of the triconch structure but not connected to to it -- it was reached from the atrium of the basilica):
http://tinyurl.com/zer37ao
8. A couple of photos of the basilica taken on 1. January 2015:
a) looking west:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128261537@N08/16163847595/
b) looking east:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128261537@N08/15978128857/
Best again,
John Dillon
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Stan Metheny <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 5, 2016 8:16:03 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] FEAST - A Saint for the Day (December 5): St. Crispina
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Thank you, John.
A Google search found a page from Getty images on the basilica, including a photo of the Staircase (which had it own Google search heading).
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/staircase-of-christian-basilica-in-roman-high-res-stock-photography/185736067
Stan Metheny
On 5Dec, 2016, at 01:35, John Dillon <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
What is known about the Numidian martyr Crispina (d. 304) comes chiefly from her Passio (BHL 1989), which offers a seemingly redacted abstract of her final hearing before a Roman magistrate, and from matter in the following writings of St. Augustine of Hippo: _Enarrationes in Psalmos_ 120 and 137; _ Sermones_, 286. 2 and 354. 5. She was a matron from a wealthy family of Thagura (now Taoura in Algeria) who was tried at Theveste (now Tebessa in Algeria) and who was executed along with a number of named companions whom the Roman Martyrology has elected not to include in its commemoration of her under today (5. December). Crispina and unnamed companions are entered for today, along with another group of martyrs, in the early sixth-century Calendar of Carthage.
Annexed to the late antique Christian basilica at Tebessa (variously dated from the late fourth to the early seventh century) and reached from its right aisle by a flight of descending steps is a triconch structure thought to have been Crispina's martyrium and reported to contain eleven mosaic inscriptions dated to about the year 351 that name various of her companions.
Crispina as depicted (second from left) in the heavily restored later sixth-century mosaic procession of female saints (ca. 561) in the nave of Ravenna's basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (photograph courtesy of Genevra Kornbluth):
http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/ApNNorth19.jpg
A closer view in different light (Crispina now third from left):
http://tinyurl.com/j7s4onu
Best,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
|