The Catacombs Research Paper
Intro to Christianity
27, May 2009
THE CATACOMBS
The Catacombs have always been of interest to me. I remember my first introduction to the Catacombs which was a story produced by National Geographic and aired on television some years ago. This story sparked my initial interest and intrigued me. I questioned the religious aspect of this practice and I wondered what type of people would do this. My initial thinking was that perhaps this was a cult. Fast forward…Summer 2006; Italy…
It was my first actual visit to the Catacombs; the Catacombs of the Cappuccine, in Palermo, Italy on the southern Island of Sicily. This visit re-sparked my original interest in this type of burial for the dead and created a whole new, albeit unnerving, …show more content…
The caverns and halls were large enough to fit animals, for example: horses. Now, the first thing that came to my mind was how on earth could people live side by side with rotting corpses? In answer to that, the tombs were sealed with thin slats of marble on the walls. “…closed off with marble slabs or tiles.” (page 20, The Christian Catacombs of Rome: History, Decoration, Inscriptions. By; Fiocchi Nicolai, Vincenzo., isbn 3-7954-1194-7, Verlag Schnell & Steiner GmbH, 1999.)
Historically, May 31, 1578 is regarded as the birthday of Christian archeology. It was on this day that the complex on the Via Salaria Vecchia, and now known as the anonymous Catacomb of the Via Anapo, was discovered by accident. (Bignamini, Ilaria. Archives And Excavations Essays on the History of Archaeological Excavations in Rome And Southern Italy from the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century (Archaeological Monograph). Boston: British School at Rome, 2004. Page 25.)
The term Catacomb is derived from the Roman toponym catacumbas, that during the fourth century indicated a location characterized by the ‘presence of hollows’ and wide sandstone cavities. Catacumbas from Greek catacombs, or “near the
27, May 2009
THE CATACOMBS
The Catacombs have always been of interest to me. I remember my first introduction to the Catacombs which was a story produced by National Geographic and aired on television some years ago. This story sparked my initial interest and intrigued me. I questioned the religious aspect of this practice and I wondered what type of people would do this. My initial thinking was that perhaps this was a cult. Fast forward…Summer 2006; Italy…
It was my first actual visit to the Catacombs; the Catacombs of the Cappuccine, in Palermo, Italy on the southern Island of Sicily. This visit re-sparked my original interest in this type of burial for the dead and created a whole new, albeit unnerving, …show more content…
The caverns and halls were large enough to fit animals, for example: horses. Now, the first thing that came to my mind was how on earth could people live side by side with rotting corpses? In answer to that, the tombs were sealed with thin slats of marble on the walls. “…closed off with marble slabs or tiles.” (page 20, The Christian Catacombs of Rome: History, Decoration, Inscriptions. By; Fiocchi Nicolai, Vincenzo., isbn 3-7954-1194-7, Verlag Schnell & Steiner GmbH, 1999.)
Historically, May 31, 1578 is regarded as the birthday of Christian archeology. It was on this day that the complex on the Via Salaria Vecchia, and now known as the anonymous Catacomb of the Via Anapo, was discovered by accident. (Bignamini, Ilaria. Archives And Excavations Essays on the History of Archaeological Excavations in Rome And Southern Italy from the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century (Archaeological Monograph). Boston: British School at Rome, 2004. Page 25.)
The term Catacomb is derived from the Roman toponym catacumbas, that during the fourth century indicated a location characterized by the ‘presence of hollows’ and wide sandstone cavities. Catacumbas from Greek catacombs, or “near the