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.
Comparing the images with earlier close-up photographs of the slabs allowed the researchers to pinpoint three of seven tombs that held nine people. Costly marble markers carried crosses, names and dates, reflecting the status of those buried inside.
Ancient Greek inscriptions show who received Byzantine burials
The earliest baptistery burial belonged to Abraham, a young son of John, a “vicarius” identified as a military and administrative authority. Abraham died in 612. Another family member was later placed in the same tomb, while priests occupied several graves nearby.
The researchers suggest family connections and service to the church helped determine who could be buried close to the baptismal font.
One inscription describes a priest named John, who died in 614, as having “served the Church in Christ.” His stone may once have carried a metal cross. A slab for another priest, Stephanos, who died in 636, bears an unusual cross motif associated with Golgotha, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Elsewhere in the North Church, people of high standing were buried in its entrance hall and courtyard. But placing graves inside a baptistery was highly unusual in the Negev, the study says.
Burial dates raise questions about plague and conquest
The dates also place these deaths amid military conflict, the Islamic conquest and recurring plague outbreaks. Several people buried at the church died in the 640s, a cluster the researchers say could reflect disease or other upheaval. They found no proof connecting any particular death to warfare or an epidemic.
The final known baptistery burial was that of the priest Salamanos, who died in 679. That date indicates Christian religious activity continued at Shivta decades after the region came under Muslim rule, even as the settlement showed signs of decline. Whether the chapel remained in use for baptisms is unknown.
By locating the graves in historic photographs, researchers have gained a clearer picture of how influential families maintained their standing through religious roles.
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