Codex Aretinus 405 contains the only surviving copy of Egeria’s Travels.
Lameiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Egeria’s Travels is an early Christian pilgrimage account by an educated and well-traveled woman from the Roman province of Galicia (in modern Spain) that tells of her journey to and around the Holy Land. Dating to the late fourth century, this work is a rich source of geographical and historical information.

The account is unfortunately incomplete and survives in a single manuscript, now in the municipal library of Arezzo, Italy. Egeria’s work appears on pages 31–74 of Codex Aretinus 405, which was produced in the 11th century in the monastery of Monte Cassino. It is debatable how faithfully this copy transmits the original work. The parchment manuscript lacks the beginning and ending as well as four pages in the middle. Due to this state of preservation, the original title has not survived. The customary title derives from the work’s content and is variously given as Itinerarium Egeriae (Egeria’s Travels), Peregrinatio ad Loca Sancta (Pilgrimage to the Holy Sites), or Peregrinatio Aetheriae (Pilgrimage of Etheria).

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The author’s identity is similarly modern conjecture. Addressing her readers repeatedly as dominae (“ladies”), dominae animae meae (“my dear ladies”), and dominae sorores (“sister ladies”), she clearly was a woman—either a nun writing for fellow nuns or a noblewoman writing for her intimate circle of pious friends. The first scholar to publish the manuscript, G.F. Gamurrini, identified her with the fourth-century noblewoman Silvia di Aquitania. She was later identified with Galla Placidia (388–450), a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius I, and with “the religious person” whom the seventh-century hermit Valerius of Bierzo (in Galicia, Spain) praised, in a letter to his fellow monks, for her pilgrimage to the Levant. Since different manuscripts of this letter provide several different spellings of her name, she has been variously known as Aetheria, Etheria, and Egeria, the last of which is currently most widely used.

Although the surviving manuscript of Egeria’s Travels dates from the 11th century, the work was likely composed in the late fourth century. From internal evidence (e.g., historical events and names of local figures), scholars infer that Egeria traveled for three years sometime between 381 and 384. This early date makes her account the first Western report about the Christian communities in the Levant, and possibly the first female author from Spain. The text is written in a peculiar type of Late Latin, which was the original language of the composition. A blend of classical and colloquial constructions reflecting the style of the Latin Bible, Egeria’s style is simple and clear, though with numerous dialectal and regional idiosyncrasies.

Divided into two parts with epistolary features, the work possibly originated as two letters. The first one reports on four trips: (1) to Mt. Sinai and back to Jerusalem, via the land of Goshen (1–9); (2) to Mt. Nebo and the traditional tomb of Moses (10–12); (3) to Carneas in Idumea (13–16); and (4) the return voyage to Constantinople, with stops at Edessa, Charris, Tarsus, Seleucia, and Chalcedon (16–23). The second part concerns the liturgical rites Egeria observed in Jerusalem (24–45), the catechesis prior to and after baptism (45–47), and the anniversary celebrations of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (48–49), after which the text breaks off. It has been suggested that the lost parts of Egeria’s Travels contained descriptions of the holy buildings of Jerusalem, a trip to Egypt, Samaria, and Galilee (with a hike up Mt. Tabor), and details of an excursion into Judea.

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Egeria’s Travels was popular through the Middle Ages, and later works are known to have used Egeria’s account, including the 12th-century Liber de locis sanctis (Book About the Holy Sites) by Peter the Deacon, who apparently had the intact Codex Aretinus at his disposal.

The most recent English translation of Egeria’s Travels, with the facing Latin text, is Paul F. Bradshaw and Anne McGowan’s Egeria, Journey to the Holy Land (Brepols, 2020). The best critical edition of the Latin original appeared in the series Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, vol. 175 (Itineraria et alia geographica, pp. 37–90; Brepols, 1965); a different Latin edition (from Sources Chrétiennes, vol. 296) is available online.

Related reading in Bible History Daily

Pilgrims’ Progress to Byzantine Jerusalem

Where Was Moses Buried?

3 Pilgrimage Paths from Galilee to Jerusalem

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

Text Treasures: The Pilgrimage of Egeria

Past Perfect: A Pilgrim on Mt. Sinai

A Pilgrim’s Journey

This article was first published in Bible History Daily on May 1, 2024.

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Main hall of the Upper Room, located above the site suggested to be the location of the Last Supper. See The Holy Land, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Just outside Zion Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City sits a small building considered by many Christians to be the location of Jesus’s Last Supper, and by Jews and Muslims to be the place of King David’s burial. Known today as the Upper Room or Cenacle, it has been a pilgrimage site for nearly a millennium. Now, an Israeli-Austrian archaeological team has identified more than 40 medieval inscriptions and graffiti carved into the walls of the Upper Room, several of which belong to important historical figures.

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Leaving a Mark on the Upper Room

The Upper Room is one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem and has been a major feature of Christian pilgrimage since at least the fourth century, although the current building was constructed around the 12th century as part of a Latin monastery. Like many holy sites around Jerusalem, including the Holy Sepulchre, centuries of pilgrimage have left their mark on the building.

Digitally remastered black-and-white multispectral image of the “Teuffenbach” coat of arms from Styria. Directly below, the half-erased date 14.. can be seen. To the right are two further inscriptions: the monumental Armenian Christmas inscription and a Serbian inscription “Akakius”. Courtesy IAA, Shai Halevi.

Using cutting-edge multispectral and RTI photography, a joint project by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Austrian Academy of Sciences has identified and studied more than 40 inscriptions and signs around the Cenacle that are barely visible to the naked eye. Among the carvings are several that can be directly linked to famous people or events. One such graffiti is the family crest of Tristram von Teuffenbach of Styria, who traveled to Jerusalem in 1436 with the then future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick Habsburg.

Carved Coat of Arms with the inscription “Altbach”. This image is almost identical to the coat of arms of the modern city of the same name in southern Germany. It appears to have been left by an unknown pilgrim from the local knightly family. The cut drawings above the coat of arms show elements connected to the Last Supper: a goblet, a platter, and a round piece of bread. IAA, Shai Halevi.

One particularly intriguing inscription is written in Armenian and simply reads “Christmas 1300.” Despite its terse nature, the inscription can be tied to the Mongol conquest of Syria and the Levant in 1299. Among the troops fighting on behalf of the Mongols was the Armenian king Hethum II. Alongside the Armenians and other Christian groups from the Caucasus and the Levant, the Mongols successfully drove the Mamluk forces out of the region. Internal conflict, however, made the Mongols’ success short lived. The Armenian inscription is evidence that the troops of Hethum II were among the Mongol forces that reached Jerusalem.

General View of the Hall of the Last Supper on Mount Sion. At the opposite corner, Shai Halevi can be seen documenting an Arabic inscription. IAA, Joshua Faudem.

Another inscription is the signature of one Johannes Poloner from Regensburg, Germany, who recorded his pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1421/22. Several other coats of arms and inscriptions were also found that record the presence of numerous other European pilgrims. However, the largest group of inscriptions belongs to Arabic-speaking Christians; one such Arabic inscription records the pilgrimage of a Christian woman from Aleppo.

Related reading in Bible History Daily

Hunting for the Upper Room in Jerusalem

Did Jesus’ Last Supper Take Place Above the Tomb of David?

Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

Site-Seeing: The Other Upper Room

Archaeological Views: Mount Zion’s Upper Room and Tomb of David

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

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Statue of the Ephesian Artemis. Artisans in Ephesus produced miniature versions of these statues to be sold as religious keepsakes and souvenirs. Photo by John Drummond.

According to Acts 19, there was once a riot in the ancient city of Ephesus instigated by a silversmith named Demetrius. At some point, this particular silversmith saw a dramatic drop in sales and felt his future livelihood to be severely threatened. According to the text, Demetrius produced silver shrines of Artemis and blamed Christians—and their theological views—for people not wanting to buy his wares. He gathered a group of likeminded craftsmen who were equally put out by the growing influence of this new religion and they stirred the city into a frenzy. They claimed that the presence of the apostle Paul and his ilk would destroy Artemis’s reputation and that of her temple in Ephesus, which was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Archaeology can help us better understand why Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen were so worried about this new religious cult. Much like today, there was a very profitable souvenir business in ancient times, particularly during the Roman period, when travel was relatively safe and many people went on journeys to visit far off places. Many of these journeys were religious in nature, and just as the Jews of the Diaspora made pilgrimages to visit the Jerusalem Temple, adherents to traditional Roman religion also made journeys to visit the great temples of their gods. Be it Zeus of Olympia, Athena of Athens, or Artemis of Ephesus, these pilgrims often purchased keepsakes to commemorate their visit or mementos for loved ones who could not make the journey with them. These keepsakes could take many forms, be it glass ornaments with cityscapes or miniature representations of altars or statues within the great temples.

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Four-inch-tall bronze miniature of the Tyche of Antioch from the first century CE. Public Domain.

The Tyche of Antioch, a particularly famous statue of the goddess of Fortune in ancient times created to commemorate the founding of Syrian Antioch in 300 BCE, was recreated in the form of various types of souvenirs, including miniature bronze replicas (see right) and glass perfume bottles. In Athens, a visitor could buy commemorative plaques and lamps with images of the Athena Parthenos or even ceramic replicas of the goddess’s shield. Ephesus was known to have a thriving souvenir trade.

The Ephesian Artemis, a unique depiction of an age-old Near Eastern goddess (see first image above), was often reproduced in miniature. Gold and silversmiths produced statuettes that could weigh between 3 and 7 pounds. Miniature shrines like the ones Demetrius is said to have made were mostly terra cotta. A silver shrine would have been much more prestigious and expensive, meaning Demetrius probably made a pretty good living when business was good. The costly nature of his materials meant that Demetrius needed a steady flow of well-off tourists and pilgrims to visit Ephesus and its famous temple to turn a profit. A threat to the worship of the goddess and the prestige of her temple was a threat to his livelihood.

The new Christian cult and their monotheistic beliefs were indeed a threat to the religious souvenir trade, at least in Demetrius’s day. It wouldn’t be long before Christianity’s own pilgrimage sites spawned an extensive souvenir enterprise that continues to this very day.

For more about ancient souvenirs and keepsakes, see “Precious Memories: Souvenirs of the Roman Empire” by Maggie L. Popkin in the Summer 2024 Issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

BAS Library Members: Read the full article “Precious Memories: Souvenirs of the Roman Empire” by Maggie L. Popkin in the Summer 2024 Issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Holy Land Souvenirs

The Starbucks Guide to Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Biblical Riot at Ephesus: The Archaeological Context

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Two neolithic shrines located in the Khaybar province of Saudi Arabia. Courtesy AASKSA and The Royal Commission for AI-‘Ula.

Some 1,600 monumental stone structures known as mustatils dot the desert landscape of northwestern Saudi Arabia. Constructed out of two long walls connecting thick ends, these rectangular neolithic enclosures were used by the nomadic people of Arabia some 7000 years ago. According to an article published in the journal Plos One, the structures served as a location for sacrifice to an unknown deity or possibly for pilgrimages. This makes mustatils  some of the earliest examples of religious practices in the area and an evidence of a large-scale cultural practice.

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A Desert Shrine

The mustatils–meaning “rectangle,” in Arabic–have long been some of the most enigmatic features of Saudi Arabia’s neolithic landscape. It was only with the excavations of a remote mustatil, 35 miles east of the city of Al-‘Ula, that a plausible hypothesis for their purpose was put forward. Examining the 460-foot-long structure, the team–led by archaeologists from the University of Western Australia–discovered a rich assemblage of animal bones, specifically the horns and skull bones of large ruminants. These bones were found congregated around a large stone erected in a chamber at one end of the mustatil.

Having examined the Al-‘Ula mustatil and others in the region, the team proposes that these structures most likely operated as open-air sanctuary sites for the nomadic peoples, who would gather there and render sacrifices to their god or gods. It is possible that the standing stones are connected to the later pre-Islamic practice of betyls (Arabic for “house of the god”), since they may have functioned as a mediator between the people and their gods for which the sacrifices were made. The Al-‘Ula mustatil has been carbon-dated to the end of the sixth millennium BCE and may be one of the earliest examples of religious practices in the region.

Aerial photo of the Al-‘Ula region with the mustatil visible in the lower center of the image. Courtesy AASKSA and The Royal Commission for Al-‘Ula.

The recovered animal remains apparently accumulated over a period of time, suggesting that the enclosures were used repeatedly. Given this fact and the secluded location of the mustatils, the team further proposed that they may be evidence for a large-scale pilgrimage practice in which a group, or various groups, converged to reaffirm their collective identity through the performance of their religious practices. Based on the prevalence of horns and skull remains, it is likely that only the head of the animal was offered as a sacrifice, while the rest of the carcass was utilized during feasting associated with the ritual. However, so far, no clear evidence of feasting has been found near the mustatils.

Cattle and Cult in Ancient Arabia

Surprisingly, the predominant animal used in these hypothetical performances appears to have been domesticated cattle, which represent nearly 90 percent of the faunal remains. This is particularly striking, as cattle require a large quantity of food and water, both of which are assumed lacking in northwestern Saudi Arabia at the time. The surprising evidence for sacrifices of cattle, therefore, indicates that the climatic conditions must have been much better than assumed and that people assigned extreme value to the sacrifices.

“The predominance of cattle suggests that the region had enough vegetation and water to sustain herding, which could indicate the continuation of the Holocene Humid Period in this region. It suggests that our understanding of the Neolithic period in the Arabian Peninsula needs further revision,” said Melissa Kennedy, director of the excavation.

Found throughout the region, mustatils spread across an area of over 115,000 square miles. “Collectively, what we’ve seen across all these monuments is the suggestion that a large part of northern Arabia was marked by a similar cultic belief and ritual construction, as well as pilgrimage activity – a more connected landscape than was usual for this period,” Kennedy stated.

Read more in Biblical Archaeology Daily:

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The Göbekli Tepe Ruins and the Origins of Neolithic Religion

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library:

In the Beginning: Religion at the Dawn of Civilization

The History of Israelite Religion

Pagan Yahwism: The Folk Religion of Ancient Israel

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The idea that Qumran was connected to the Essenes is widely accepted by many (though not all) scholars. However, the suggestion that it functioned primarily as a pilgrimage site (rather than an agricultural community or rest station, as some have suggested) is a novel interpretation. One of the key problems for earlier theories was that despite having many well-constructed public buildings, Qumran has a significant lack of houses or dwelling spaces. What is more, many of its public buildings and features, including dining areas, ritual baths (mikva’ot), and an expansive plaza, were large enough to hold thousands of people. Yet, the archaeology indicates that only a few dozen people could have lived permanently at the site. This led Vainstub to conclude that Qumran was intended to receive and host far more people than actually lived there.

Qumran Living Quarters
Credit: Wilson44691, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vainstub’s argument centers around the large plaza in the south section of the compound. This open area, which measures nearly an acre in size, was connected to a pantry that contained thousands of dining and serving vessels. The plaza was also connected to a large ritual bath, one of the largest discovered in the southern Levant, that could have served hundreds of individuals. Such massive structures were much larger than what would have been required to meet the dining and purity needs of the few dozen individuals who lived at the site.

Berthold Werner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Vainstub also found that the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves provide some insight into how the site may have functioned. The famous documents contain several references to a yearly ritual that coincided with Shavuot (or the Feast of Weeks). In this ritual, all members of the community, both in Qumran and throughout the land, were required to come together to reaffirm their covenant with God. Although the scrolls do not explicitly mention the location of the ritual, the venue would have to accommodate thousands of people, something which Vainstub argues the public structures at Qumran were easily able to do. Moreover, since this was an annual ritual that lasted only a few days, there would have been no need for extensive living quarters, as those who came would have been able to camp in the open air or in small tents.

Members, Read more about Qumran in the BAS Library:

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The People of The Dead Sea Scrolls by James C. VanderKam

Did the Essenes Write the Dead Sea Scrolls? by Steve Mason

Was It an Essene Settlement? by Alan D. Crown and Lena Cansdale

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Photo: Ari Levi, Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologists have found rare 2,000-year-old measurement tools that indicate a major town square. In a rare find, they unearthed the top of a table used to measure liquids. In that vicinity, there were also dozens of stone weights discovered.

The age of the artifacts and their location, along the path of the Pilgrimage Road from the Pool of Siloam, in the oldest part of Jerusalem known as The City of David, to the Temple Mount, suggest that this was a main city square and trade market used by pilgrims of Jesus’ time, on their way to the Second Temple. As BAS founding Editor Hershel Shanks explains in “The Siloam Pool” (Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2005), Pilgrims traveled this path, especially on the three pilgrim festivals of Passover, Weeks (Pentacost, or Shavuoth) and Tabernacles (Succoth).

The Siloam Pool may have been the spot where Jesus healed the blind man in the biblical telling. The Pool’s usage 2,000 years ago is unclear; it might have provided cooking and drinking water to pilgrims, and may also have been used for ritual bathing prior to going to the Temple.

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The Agoranamos, the officer tasked with supervising measurements and weights for the conducting of trade in the city of Jerusalem, would have used both the stone weights and the measuring table as a standard to help traders calibrate their measurements. Weights were used to verify dry goods, and the measurement table for liquids.

Photo: Ari Levi, Israel Antiquities Authorities

The measurement table would be used to calibrate volumes of liquids, such as wine or oil. The hole beneath the cavity in the table would be blocked by a finger when the liquid was poured in. Then when released, the liquid would drain into a container, thereby verifying the volume of the liquid, and assuring a fair trade.

The measurement table is one of only three discovered from the time of the Second Temple. The other two were found in the Jewish Quarter and in Shu’afat, Northern Jerusalem. The stone weights are much more common, though the hundreds discovered are all unique to Jerusalem in this time period. Archaeologist Ari Levi, a director of the Pilgrimage Road excavations, explains that the city-specific weights show that economic activity was different in Jerusalem than surrounding areas, maybe because of the Second Temple.

Professor Ronny Reich is in charge of researching this discovery for the Israel Antiquities Authority. Read the Israel Antiquities Authority release from Monday, January 6th, 2020.

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Road “Where Jesus Walked” is Re-opened to Public After six years of excavations, Israel has officially opened the ancient Pilgrim’s road, a 2,000-year-old stepped stone path that connected the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus is said to have cured the blind man, to the ancient Jewish Temple, where Jesus would have prayed.

2,000-Year-Old Jerusalem Inscription Bears City’s Name Archaeologists have unearthed a Second Temple period stone inscription that spells the name Jerusalem as Yerushalayim (as it’s spelled in Hebrew today).

Pilgrims’ Progress to Byzantine Jerusalem Jerusalem has been revered as a holy city for millennia—with pilgrims a staple feature in its bustling streets. Egeria’s Travels and the journals of the Bordeaux Pilgrim and the Piacenza Pilgrim demonstrate that this was as true in the Byzantine period as it is today.

The post Market along Jerusalem’s Pilgrimage Road Found appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

Photo: Meg Ramey
Assos Way Location: Northwestern Turkey (Ancient Troad)

Nestled on the Troad Peninsula in western Turkey are the remains of a Roman road that once connected the port cities of Alexandria Troas and Assos, which I have lovingly dubbed “the Assos Way.” It’s a road that’s significant not only for its antiquity but also for one of its most famous pedestrians—the apostle Paul.

According to Acts 20, as Paul made his way down from Macedonia to Jerusalem, he stopped to visit Christians along the Anatolian coast, starting with those in Alexandria Troas. After spending a week there, Paul did something a little unusual. Rather than traveling with his companions by boat around the Troad Peninsula, he instead walked to Assos and rendezvoused with them there.

Whether or not Paul was alone for the entire journey to Assos and why he decided to walk there instead of sailing with his friends have been the subjects of debate. While we cannot know all the details of what did or did not happen and why, we do have a fairly good idea of his route since some of the segments of that old Roman road still exist.

In fact, one of the better-preserved portions of this Roman road along the Assos Way is only about 4 miles (7 km) from Assos. There, travelers coming into the city would have caught some of their first glimpses of the Assos acropolis with the Aegean’s sparkling turquoise waters in the distance. If you’re interested in stepping back into Paul’s sandals, make sure to visit this section of the Assos Way.

In order to find it, drive west from Assos along the main road (Ayvacık Gülpinar Yolu) in the direction of Alexandria Troas. While enjoying some lovely views of the Aegean Sea and Lesvos Island, you’ll pass by old fountains, animal feeding troughs, stone fences, and olive groves.

When you see a sign on your right that reads “Kulaf 7 Tamiş 10,” begin watching for a group of old farmhouses about a mile (2 km) from that sign, in the village of Korubasi. You should be able to park by these houses. If you turn back in the direction that you’ve just come and walk a bit to the left on the right side of the road, you’ll soon discover the stone remnants of the ancient Roman road. From Korubasi, you can follow the road back east toward Assos for a mile to the aforementioned sign. The Roman road ends by this sign, which is also another great place to park.

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This section of the Assos Way is a very flat, gentle walk that should be accessible for anyone not impaired by mobility issues. Those who have the energy, time, and desire to walk into Assos on foot, just as Paul did almost 2,000 years ago, can use the modern road to continue into town.

Now, I’m sure that some of you avid hikers and adventurous pilgrims may share my dream of completing the entire 31-mile (50-km) walk from Alexandria Troas by foot. Unfortunately, it’s currently not recommended to do the walk without an experienced guide, since the trail is not marked out. One hopes, in the not-too-distant future, it will be possible to make the entire journey solo, as the apostle likely did.

Some steps have already been taken to establish the trail and to make the route more accessible. For example, in 2017 Tutku Educational Travel arranged for a group of intrepid Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) members to be some of the first modern pilgrims to retrace that route together. Led by Dr. Mark Wilson (Director, Asia Minor Research Center), Dr. Glen Thompson (Wisconsin Lutheran College), and tour guide Cenk Eronat, they spent three days hiking between the two cities in search of accessible sections of the old Roman road and contributed additional knowledge to develop the Assos Way.

Also, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has caught the vision for preserving and promoting this sacred way, which is important for two historical reasons in addition to its connection with Paul. In antiquity, rather than retracing the steps of the apostle Paul, pilgrims walked this road to visit the Temple of Apollo Smintheus (the Smintheum) located about halfway between Alexandria Troas and Assos. There they worshiped Apollo, the “mice god,” at this famous sanctuary, which is mentioned by Homer in the Iliad (1.39). A visit to the temple remains is certainly one of the highlights of walking the entire Assos Way. They are not to be missed!

Additionally, this road is famous because it is the legendary route that Aeneas used in the Aeneid to escape from Troy after the Trojan War. According to Virgil, Aeneas built his fleet and mustered his men in Antandros, a harbor slightly east of Assos by Mount Ida, and sailed from there to Italy (Aeneid 3.5–6). Therefore, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism intends on way-marking the entire route from Troy to Antandros, not only the “Assos Way” portion. The plan is to promote this 87-mile (140-km) hike to visitors as the “Aeneas Route.”

Until that time, consider doing just the final 6 miles (10 km) into Assos or at least the 1-mile (2-km) accessible portion of the ancient Roman road. Also, keep an eye out in future BAR editions for announcements of upcoming group expeditions arranged by BAS and Tutku to walk the entire Assos Way. Paul may have walked to Assos by himself, but that doesn’t mean that you have to do it alone!

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Meg Ramey is Director of Education Abroad for Tutku Educational Travel. She holds a Ph.D. in New Testament and Literature from the University of St. Andrews, and she edits the Bible in Fiction project for Oxford Biblical Studies Online.

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Five Myths About the Apostle Paul

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