Jerusalem is a city holy to three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. From the Byzantine period, Christian pilgrimage here and to other holy sites became a mass phenomenon after Saint Helen was said to have miraculously discovered the ‘True Cross of Christ’, and her son Constantine the Great had built churches in this area. Thousands of Christian believers made their way to holy sites in Palestine, Egypt and other places in order to physically experience salvation history and seek divine intervention in their lives.
Numerous travel reports, pilgrim guides and other written sources highlight important aspects of pilgrimage. In addition, many well-preserved churches, monasteries, hostels and other buildings, as well as rich archaeological findings, provide us with a vivid and synthetic picture of the history of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the course of these religiously motivated journeys, people of the three ‘religions of the book’ came into contact and interacted in a multitude of ways.
This three-day conference will explore the concrete aspects of pilgrimage, with a strong focus on the material record, including archaeology. Special emphasis will be placed on the interaction between the three ‘religions of the book’ in the course of Holy Land pilgrimage. The conference will include a field trip on December 7th for the participants.
The conference will be organised by a steering committee comprising:
Prof. Dr Gideon Avni, Israel Antiquities Authority
Prof. Dr Falko Daim, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, Germany
Prof. Dr Benjamin Kedar, Israel Academy of Science, Jerusalem
Prof. Dr Johannes Pahlitzsch, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
Prof. Dr Joseph Patrich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Dr. Amnon Ramon, Yad Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem
Prof. Dr Claudia Rapp, Austrian Academy of Sience, Vienna, Austria
Dr. Jon Seligman, Israel Antiquities Authority
