123-474: (Redirected from Beit Govrin ) Beit Guvrin may refer to a succession of settlements and their archaeological remains, in proper chronology: Maresha, later Marisa; and Beth Gabra (also Baetogabra, Betogabris, orBetogabri), later Eleutheropolis, Beit/Bait/Bayt Jibrin, Bethgibelin, and currently Beit Guvrin National Park and Kibbutz Beit Guvrin. Beit Jibrin ,
246-586: A UNESCO World Heritage Site . Eleutheropolis remains a titular see in the Roman Catholic Church . The entire site is located in the Lakhish region of central Israel, between the coastal plain to the west and the Hebron Hills to the east, near the 1949 ceasefire line . Ancient Maresha was identified at Tell Sandahanna, renamed Tel Maresha. The Hellenised city of Marissa included
369-457: A "panic flight" of residents from the town. On October 23, a United Nations -imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin. Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27. In 2008, a former resident of the town who
492-577: A Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea. The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis. Seven routes met at Eleutheropolis, and Eusebius , in his Onomasticon , uses the Roman milestones indicating the city as a central point from which the distances of other towns were measured. The Madaba Map (dated 542-570 CE) shows Eleutheropolis as
615-578: A Palestinian village depopulated in 1948, at the site of Idumean and Judean Beth Gabra, and Roman and Byzantine Eleutheropolis Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park , encompassing the ruins of Bayt Jibrin / Eleutheropolis, as well as Maresha , a city from the Iron Age to the Early Roman period Beit Guvrin, Israel , a kibbutz founded in 1949 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
738-526: A borrowing of Greek ἔθνος ( ethnos ) via Armenian hethanos . The term has recently been revived in the forms "Heathenry" and "Heathenism" (often but not always capitalized), as alternative names for the modern Germanic pagan movement, adherents of which may self-identify as Heathens. It is perhaps misleading even to say that there was such a religion as paganism at the beginning of [the Common Era] ... It might be less confusing to say that
861-422: A cave 5 km east of the village. They had left everything in their home, hoping to return after a few days when the attack would be over. The Israelis , however, did not allow them to return. Several men of Beit Jibreen were killed when they tried to go back. The village was located near the 1949 ceasefire line. In 1949, kibbutz Beit Guvrin , was founded on the former town's lands. The excavated areas of
984-506: A class of subordinate gods/ daimons —see henotheism —or divine emanations . To Christians, the most important distinction was whether or not someone worshipped the one true God . Those who did not (polytheist, monotheist, or atheist ) were outsiders to the Church and thus considered pagan. Similarly, classical pagans would have found it peculiar to distinguish groups by the number of deities followers venerate. They would have considered
1107-509: A creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. In Italy, with the fall of the Papal States the process of Italian unification fostered anti-clerical sentiment among the intelligentsia. Intellectuals like archaeologist Giacomo Boni and writer Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo promoted
1230-625: A cultural and scholarly center, with the establishment of the first Muslim university in 717 under Umar II , attracting scholars from across the Islamic world. Although Harran lost its capital status under the Abbasid Caliphate , it continued to flourish, particularly during the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786–809), when its university became a key center for translation and intellectual activity. The local religion, blending elements of Mesopotamian paganism and Neoplatonism, persisted into
1353-405: A cultural sense. It retained that meaning for roughly the first millennium of Christianity. This was influenced by Christianity's early members, who were Jewish . The Jews of the time distinguished themselves from foreigners according to religion rather than ethno - cultural standards, and early Jewish Christians would have done the same. Since Hellenic culture was the dominant pagan culture in
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#17327823795121476-713: A district centre for surrounding villages. It was captured by Jewish forces during the 1948 war, causing its Arab inhabitants to flee eastward. Today, many of the Palestinian refugees of Bayt Jibrin and their descendants live in the camps of Bayt Jibrin (ʽAzza) and Fawwar in the southern West Bank . The kibbutz of Beit Guvrin was established to the north of Bayt Jibrin, on the villages' lands, in 1949. The archaeological sites of Maresha and Beit Guvrin are today an Israeli national park known as Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park , including their burial caves and underground dwellings, workshops and quarries, which are listed as
1599-625: A large amphitheater . Towards the end of the 2nd century CE, Rabbi Judah the Prince ameliorated the condition of its Jewish citizens by releasing the city from the obligations of tithing home-grown produce, and from observing the Seventh Year laws with respect to the same produce, as believing this area of the country was not originally settled by Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity . The vita of Epiphanius of Salamis , born into
1722-632: A largely pagan city well into the early Islamic period. When the city was besieged by the armies of the Rashidun Caliphate in 639–640, it was the pagan community that negotiated its peaceful surrender. Under the subsequent rule of the caliphates, Harran became a major settlement within the Diyar Mudar region and retained a significant degree of autonomy. During the First Fitna , the people of Harran sided with Mu'awiya I over Ali at
1845-478: A lower city of 320 dunams during its heydays, which surrounded the tell (mound) . It covers the southern part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha archaeological park. Bet Gabra or Betogabris grew around a hill c. 1.5 km north of Tel Maresha, after the demise of Marissa in 40 BCE. The Crusader colony of Bethgibelin stood at what had been the northern margin of the classical city, with its castle built over
1968-428: A medical clinic, a bus and a police station. The town's inhabitants cultivated grain and fruit, and residents from nearby towns flocked to its weekly market or souk . During the winter of 1920-1921 there was a severe outbreak of malaria. 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died with the mortality rate in the district reaching 68 per 1,000. Crops remained unharvested due to lack of people strong enough to work in
2091-607: A military context rather than a religious one is in Tertullian 's De Corona Militis XI.V, where the Christian is referred to as paganus ( civilian ): Paganus acquired its religious connotations by the mid-4th century. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to denote persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. Following the sack of Rome by the Visigoths just over fifteen years after
2214-542: A north-westerly direction, bypassing Idhna on the north, for a total distance of about 25 kilometres (16 mi). Remnants of the aqueduct are still extant. The territory under the administration of Eleutheropolis encompassed most of Idumea, with the districts of Bethletepha, western Edom and Hebron up to Ein Gedi , and included over 100 villages. Bayt Jibrin is mentioned in the Talmud (redacted 5th–6th century CE) under
2337-435: A particular group of people or set of ideas other than their family and political context. If this is the right view of pagan life, it follows that we should look on paganism quite simply as a religion invented in the course of the second to third centuries AD, in competition and interaction with Christians, Jews and others. Defining paganism is very complex and problematic. Understanding the context of its associated terminology
2460-682: A planned and fortified Hellenistic city encircled by a town wall with towers. Two Hellenistic and one Israelite stratum were identified by them on the mound. Between 1989 and 2000, large-scale excavations were held by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) under the direction of Prof. Amos Kloner and conducted mainly in the Lower City of Maresha, concentrating both on the surface and on the subterranean complexes. Excavations continued in several subterranean complexes between 2001 and 2008. The largely preserved remains of
2583-469: A population of 508, with a total of 147 houses, though the population count included men, only. Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 19th century. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary factors that contributed to the decline were the Bedouin raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of
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#17327823795122706-500: A prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus . During the Roman-Byzantine era, water was brought into Beit Gubrin (Bayt Jibrin) via an aqueduct that passed through Wādi el-ʻUnqur , a watercourse that originates from a natural spring to the south-west of Hebron , and running in
2829-514: A sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, which is attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all the Albanian tribes . Historically, the Christian clergy has vigorously fought, but without success, the pagan rituals practiced by Albanians for traditional feasts and particular events, especially
2952-564: A share of property looted from the Muslims. It was on the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela , who found three Jews living there when he visited the country. The Ayyubid army under Saladin sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control as a consequence of his victory at the Battle of Hittin . Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of
3075-477: A subject in their own right." In addition, Petts notes how various spiritual, religious, and metaphysical ideas branded as "pagan" from diverse cultures were studied in opposition to Abrahamism in early anthropology, a binary he links to ethnocentrism and colonialism. Ludwig Feuerbach defined the paganism of classical antiquity , which he termed Heidentum ('heathenry') as "the unity of religion and politics, of spirit and nature, of god and man", qualified by
3198-481: A theological aspect to an ethnological one, and religions began to be understood as part of the ethnic identities of peoples, and the study of the religions of so-called primitive peoples triggered questions as to the ultimate historical origin of religion . Jean Bodin viewed pagan mythology as a distorted version of Christian truths. Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc saw the pagan religions of Africa of his day as relics that were in principle capable of shedding light on
3321-485: A walled city with three towers, a curving street with a colonnade in the central part and an important basilica . In the centre is a building with a yellowish-white dome on four columns. Eleutheropolis was last mentioned in the ancient sources by the near contemporary itinerarium of the Piacenza Pilgrim , about 570. In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Christianity penetrated the city due to its location on
3444-470: A well-known British archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron. In the 1945 statistics , Bayt Jibrin had 2,430 Muslim inhabitants, with a total of 56,185 dunams or 56.1 km (13,900 acres) of land. Of this, 2,477 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 31,616 dunams used for cereals , while 287 dunams (0.28 km (69 acres)) were built-up (urban) areas. Bayt Jibrin
3567-635: Is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism , or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman Empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). Alternative terms used in Christian texts were hellene , gentile , and heathen . Ritual sacrifice
3690-419: Is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century, people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised. The notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition. As such, throughout history it
3813-436: Is debated. In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world . In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-descriptor by practitioners of modern paganism , modern pagan movements and Polytheistic reconstructionists . Modern pagan traditions often incorporate beliefs or practices, such as nature worship , that are different from those of
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3936-452: Is important. Early Christians referred to the diverse array of cults around them as a single group for reasons of convenience and rhetoric . While paganism generally implies polytheism , the primary distinction between classical pagans and Christians was not one of monotheism versus polytheism, as not all pagans were strictly polytheist. Throughout history, many of them believed in a supreme deity . However, most such pagans believed in
4059-504: Is related to pangere ('to fasten', 'to fix or affix') and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag- ('to fix' in the same sense): The adoption of paganus by the Latin Christians as an all-embracing, pejorative term for polytheists represents an unforeseen and singularly long-lasting victory, within a religious group, of a word of Latin slang originally devoid of religious meaning. The evolution occurred only in
4182-553: Is the context in which Early Christianity itself developed as one of several monotheistic cults, and it was in this period that the concept of pagan developed in the first place. As Christianity emerged from Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic Judaism , it stood in competition with other religions advocating pagan monotheism, including the cults of Dionysus , Neoplatonism , Mithraism , Gnosticism , and Manichaeanism . Dionysus in particular exhibits significant parallels with Christ, so that numerous scholars have concluded that
4305-480: The ius italicum and exempting them from taxes. Coins minted by him, bearing the date 1 January 200, commemorate its founding and the title of polis . Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160 acres) (larger at the time than Aelia Capitolina - the Roman city built over the ruins of Jewish Jerusalem ), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueducts and
4428-536: The nahiya (subdistrict) of Hebron (al-Khalīl), which was part of the sanjak ("district") of Gaza . The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their traditional positions as long as they complied with the higher authorities and paid imperial taxes. During Suleiman the Magnificent 's reign, in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle in Bayt Jibrin
4551-530: The Battle of Siffin in 657, which allegedly resulted in a brutal retaliation by Ali, who massacred much of the population. Under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Harran prospered and was selected as the capital by the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II , from 744 to 750. This move may have been influenced by the city's pagan sympathies and its strategic position near the empire's eastern provinces. The city's prominence under Umayyad rule saw it grow as
4674-575: The Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I , murmurs began to spread that the old gods had taken greater care of the city than the Christian God. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos ('The City of God against the Pagans'). In it, he contrasted the fallen "city of Man" with the "city of God", of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence,
4797-557: The French Revolution and saw it as a path to restoring an ancient republic. He took the name Quintus Nautius, claimed Roman priestly lineage, and performed Orphic rites at his home. His followers were mainly his household. In 1799, he published La Thréicie , advocating a revival of paganism in France, condemning Christianity, and promoting universal animation . In the 17th century, the description of paganism turned from
4920-664: The Gheg – Tosk dialectal diversification. Regardless of the Christianization, ancient paganism persisted among Albanians , and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior – where Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society – it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, and later Muslim and Marxist beliefs, that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force. The Albanian traditional customary law ( Kanun ) has held
5043-776: The Israeli Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park . Furthermore, the Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority , conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate. In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis. The remains of the city of Maresha on Tell Sandahanna/Tel Maresha were first excavated in 1898-1900 by Bliss and Macalister , who uncovered
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5166-600: The Israeli Army (IDF) launched Operation Yoav , which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing and strafing attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin. According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, and Israeli Air Force bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off
5289-716: The Kingdom of Jerusalem . In 1135, King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa . In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to the Knights Hospitallers . In 1168, the Hospitallers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish colony, which they named "Bethgibelin". Christian settlers in Beit Jibrin were promised
5412-638: The Maccabees . In 112 BCE, Maresha was conquered and destroyed by the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus I, after which the region of Idumea (the Greek name of Edom) remained under Hasmonean control and Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism . In 40 BCE, the Parthians devastated completely the "strong city", after which it was never rebuilt. After this date, nearby Beit Guvrin succeeded Maresha as
5535-872: The Mani Peninsula —where paganism had endured until the 12th century) encouraged the Medici, descendants of the Maniot Latriani dynasty, to found the Neoplatonic Academy in Florence , helping to spark the Renaissance . In addition Julius Pomponius Laetus (student of Pletho) established the Roman academy which secretly celebrated the Natale di Roma and the birthday of Romulus . The Academy
5658-526: The Peutinger Table in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri . In the Talmud , compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was known as Beit Gubrin or Guvrin . To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin . Another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril , meaning "house of Gabriel". In Arabic , Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin ( بيت جبرين ) means "house of
5781-617: The Qays and Yaman tribo-political factions in southern Palestine. The 'Azza and 'Amr families, part of the Qays confederation, were constantly clashing with the Yaman-aligned Abu Ghosh clan , who were based in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In 1846, the shaykh (chief) of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin"), the leader of the 'Amr clan, and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in
5904-602: The Shfela (Shephelah) in Hebrew. Beit Jibrin's average elevation was of 275 meters (902 ft) above sea level. The region contains a large number of caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries for use as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. There is estimated to be 800 such caverns, many linked by an underground maze of passageways. Eighty of them, known as
6027-539: The classical world ; including those of the Greco-Roman, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic tribes. However, modern parlance of folklorists and contemporary pagans in particular has extended the original four millennia scope used by early Christians to include similar religious traditions stretching far into prehistory . Paganism came to be equated by Christians with a sense of hedonism, representing those who are sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with
6150-678: The shaykh of Bayt Jibrin, as well as by his "castle" or "manor". At the time, the remains of the Crusader fortress still served for defensive purposes in the village. According to Bayt Jibrin's shaykh , in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary." In 1864, however, Muslih's brother told a traveler that Muslih and his property had been seized on "false charges of treason," and that he had been banished to Cyprus and then beheaded . Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Bayt Jibrin had
6273-561: The 10th century, though periodic decrees enforced conversions to Islam, especially under Al-Ma'mun in 830. Nonetheless, Harran retained its heterogeneity, with a population that included Muslims, Christians, Jews, and a variety of other religious groups. The medieval church accused sects deemed heretical such as the Waldensians and Cathars of participating in pagan fertility rites. Arab paganism gradually disappeared during Muhammad 's era through Islamization . The sacred months of
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#17327823795126396-533: The 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time. The tanna Judah b. Jacob and the amora Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin"), later known by its Arabic corruption ad-Dārūm . Excavations at Eleutheropolis show
6519-749: The 7th-century Arab conquest of the Levant , the Arabic name of Beit Jibrin was used for the first time, followed by the Crusaders ' Bethgibelin , given to a Frankish colony established around a Hospitaller castle. After the Muslim reconquest the Arab village of Beit Jibrin was reestablished. During the days of Herod the Great , Bet Gabra was the administrative center for the district of Idumea . In 200 CE, after
6642-604: The 9th century, despite some church ruins from the 4th century indicating early Christian presence. The region's mountainous terrain allowed the Maniots to evade the Eastern Roman Empire's Christianization efforts, thus preserving pagan traditions, which coincided with significant years in the life of Gemistos Plethon . Another safe area for the pagans was the city of Harran which, Despite the persecution of its pagan inhabitants by Byzantine Emperor Maurice, remained
6765-589: The Arab pagans were the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the Islamic calendar. After Muhammad had conquered Mecca he set out to convert the pagans. One of the last military campaigns that Muhammad ordered against the Arab pagans was the Demolition of Dhul Khalasa . It occurred in April and May 632 AD, in 10AH of the Islamic Calendar. Dhul Khalasa is referred to as both an idol and a temple, and it
6888-567: The Arabs following the Muslim conquest ) as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslims under Amr ibn al-As during the mid-630s' Muslim conquest. Amr enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, which he named Ajlan, after one of his freemen. The 1904 Analecta Bollandiana recounts that in 638 the Muslim army beheaded fifty soldiers in Bayt Jibrin from
7011-552: The Bell Caves, are located on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park . Beit Jibrin stood 21 kilometers (13 mi) northwest of Hebron , the district capital during Mandate times. Other settlements near Beit Jibrin included the now depopulated villages of Kudna to the north, al-Qubayba to the southwest, and al-Dawayima to the south, as well as the existing Palestinian towns of Beit Ula to
7134-469: The Byzantine garrison of Gaza who refused to abandon Christianity and who were then buried in a church built in their honor. In the beginning of the power struggle between Ali and Mu'awiya for the position of caliph , Amr left Medina in the Hejaz and took up residence at his estate called Ajlan in Bayt Jibrin with his sons Muhammad and Abdallah. The latter died there. The Umayyad prince and governor of Palestine, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik , received
7257-453: The Crusader castle. From 1191 to 1192, the town was held in probate by Henry of Champagne , as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire. However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under Sultan as-Salih Ayyub . By 1283, the Mamluks had taken control and it was listed as a domain of Sultan Qalawun . The city prospered under
7380-439: The Egypt-based Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station. During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of the Shafi'i (a school of law in Sunni Islam ) qadi (head judge) of that city. Bayt Jibrin and all of Palestine was conquered by the Ottomans after their victory over the Mamluks during the 1516 Battle of Marj Dabiq . Bayt Jibrin subsequently became part of
7503-410: The Genoese Il Basilisco (1979–1989), which released several works on pagan studies, and Politica Romana (1994–2004), seen as a high-level Romano-pagan journal. One prominent figure was actor Roberto Corbiletto , who died in a mysterious fire in 1999.The 1980s and 1990s also saw an increasing interest in serious academic research and reconstructionist pagan traditions. The establishment and growth of
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#17327823795127626-462: The Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements. By the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, freedom of religion was legally established across Russia and a number of other newly independent states, allowing for the growth in both Christian and non-Christian religions. In the 2000s, Associazione Tradizionale Pietas began reconstructing temples across Italy and sought legal recognition from
7749-552: The Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church. Elsewhere, Hellene or gentile ( ethnikos ) remained the word for pagan; and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. Medieval writers often assumed that paganus as a religious term was a result of the conversion patterns during the Christianization of Europe , where people in towns and cities were converted more easily than those in remote regions, where old ways tended to remain. However, this idea has multiple problems. First,
7872-470: The Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire of the newly Christianizing Roman Empire , Koine Greek became associated with the traditional polytheistic religion of Ancient Greece and was regarded as a foreign language ( lingua peregrina ) in the west. By the latter half of the 4th century in the Greek-speaking Eastern Empire , pagans were—paradoxically—most commonly called Hellenes ( Ἕλληνες , lit. "Greeks") The word had almost entirely ceased being used in
7995-575: The Moon and Starhawk 's The Spiral Dance opened a new chapter in public awareness of paganism. With the growth and spread of large, pagan gatherings and festivals in the 1980s, public varieties of Wicca continued to further diversify into additional, eclectic sub-denominations, often heavily influenced by the New Age and counter-culture movements. These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca , which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. The public appeal for pre-Christian Roman spirituality in
8118-532: The Roman east, they referred to pagans as Hellenes. Christianity inherited Jewish terminology for non-Jews and adapted it to refer to non-Christians with whom they were in contact. This usage is recorded in the New Testament . In the Pauline epistles , Hellene is almost always juxtaposed with Hebrew regardless of actual ethnicity The usage of Hellene as a religious term was initially part of an exclusively Christian nomenclature, but some Pagans began to defiantly call themselves Hellenes. Other pagans even preferred
8241-460: The amphitheater built by the Romans were excavated by Kloner. Among other unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen. Less than 10 percent of the caves on Tel Maresha have been excavated. Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin pāgānus "rural", "rustic", later "civilian")
8364-478: The capital ( Ar Ramlah ). It is an emporium for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...." There is no marble quarry anywhere in Israel/Palestine, but al-Muqaddasi probably referred to the underground chalkstone quarries known today as " bell caves ". Surface nari (local name for caliche ) is harder than chalk. In 1099, Crusaders invaded Palestine and established
8487-423: The chief center of the area. In the Jewish War (68 CE), Vespasian slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants of Betaris . According to Josephus : "When he had seized upon two villages, which were in the very midst of Idumea , Betaris [ sic ] (corrected to read Begabris ), and Caphartobas, he slew above ten thousand of the people, and carried into captivity above a thousand, and drove away
8610-545: The context of the 1848 revolutions , leading to the creation of national epics and national myths for the various newly formed states. Pagan or folkloric topics were also common in the musical nationalism of the period. Paganism resurfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th-century Romanticism , in particular in the context of the literary Celtic , Slavic and Viking revivals, which portrayed historical Celtic , Slavic and Germanic polytheists as noble savages . Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in
8733-446: The early 1850s. In 1855, the newly appointed Ottoman pasha ("governor") of the sanjak ("district") of Jerusalem, Kamil Pasha , attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region. Kamil Pasha marched towards Hebron with his army in July 1855, and after crushing the opposition, he ordered the local shaykhs to summon to his camp. Several of the shaykhs , including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey
8856-444: The east and Idhna to the southeast. In 1945 , Bayt Jibrin's total land area was 56.1 km (21.7 sq mi), 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of 287 m (0.071 acres), with 33.2 km (8,200 acres) of cultivable land and 21.6 km (5,300 acres) of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops. The settlement
8979-497: The emperor. The growing religious stigmatization of Hellenism had a chilling effect on Hellenic culture by the late 4th century. By late antiquity, however, it was possible to speak Greek as a primary language while not conceiving of oneself as a Hellene. The long-established use of Greek both in and around the Eastern Roman Empire as a lingua franca ironically allowed it to instead become central in enabling
9102-663: The fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev , the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe , and the Englishman Joseph Jacobs . Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of Romantic nationalism and the rise of the nation state in
9225-578: The fields. The British authorities began a program of sealing open wells, improving drainage and distributing quinine across Palestine. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities , Bayt Jibrin had a population of 1,420, all Muslim, increasing the 1931 census to 1,804, still all Muslim, in a total of 369 houses. On 10 January 1938, during the Palestinian Arab revolt of 1936-1939 , J. L. Starkey ,
9348-523: The fire rituals ( Zjarri ). Pagan Continuity in Mani and Mistra (800–1100) Christianity was introduced late in Mani, with the first Greek temples converted into churches during the 11th century. Byzantine monk Nikon "the Metanoite" (Νίκων ὁ Μετανοείτε) was sent in the 10th century to convert the predominantly pagan Maniots. Although his preaching began the conversion process, it took over 200 years for
9471-563: The foreign invaders were "not of the city" or "rural". The term pagan was not attested in the English language until the 17th century. In addition to infidel and heretic , it was used as one of several pejorative Christian counterparts to goy ( גוי / נכרי ) as used in Judaism, and to kafir ( كافر , 'unbeliever') and mushrik ( مشرك , 'idolater') as in Islam. In
9594-688: The former Arab village of Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by Canaanites . After the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the city of Maresha became part of the Edomite kingdom. In the late Persian period a Sidonian community settled in Maresha, and the city is mentioned three times in the Zenon Papyri (259 BCE). During the Maccabean Revolt , Maresha was a base for attacks against Judea and suffered retaliation from
9717-465: The future, and uninterested in more mainstream religions. Pagans were usually described in terms of this worldly stereotype , especially among those drawing attention to what they perceived as the limitations of paganism. Thus G. K. Chesterton wrote: "The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." In sharp contrast, Swinburne
9840-660: The historical paganism of Classical Antiquity. The 19th century also saw much scholarly interest in the reconstruction of pagan mythology from folklore or fairy tales. This was notably attempted by the Brothers Grimm , especially Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology , and Elias Lönnrot with the compilation of the Kalevala . The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that
9963-488: The largest world religions. Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions and beliefs comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts , and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures known to Classical antiquity . Most modern pagan religions existing today express a worldview that is pantheistic , panentheistic , polytheistic, or animistic , but some are monotheistic . It
10086-464: The majority to accept Christianity fully by the 11th and 12th centuries. Patrick Leigh Fermor noted that the Maniots, isolated by mountains, were among the last Greeks to abandon the old religion, doing so towards the end of the 9th century: Sealed off from outside influences by their mountains, the semi- troglodytic Maniots themselves were the last of the Greeks to be converted. They only abandoned
10209-485: The name Betaris mentioned by Josephus should either be identified with Bittir , or else the 't' amended to gamma , so as to read Begabrin . In the year 200 CE, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus gave it the status of a city under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis (Ἐλευθερόπολις), meaning 'City of the Free', and its inhabitants were given the rank of Roman citizens under the laws of ius italicum . In
10332-550: The name Beit Gubrin. In the Peutinger Tables (393 CE), the place is called Beto Gabra , and shown as 16 Roman miles from Ascalon . The true distance is 20 English miles. The Midrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba, section 67) mentions Beit Gubrin in relation to Esau and his descendants (Idumaeans) who settled the region, and which region was renowned for its fertile ground and productivity. The 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri mentions Bayt Jibrin (the name given to it by
10455-430: The narrow meaning of the word from a broad cultural sphere to a more specific religious grouping. However, there were many Christians and pagans alike who strongly objected to the evolution of the terminology. The influential Archbishop of Constantinople Gregory of Nazianzus , for example, took offence at imperial efforts to suppress Hellenic culture (especially concerning spoken and written Greek) and he openly criticized
10578-403: The news of his becoming caliph in 715 during his stay in Bayt Jibrin. In 750 Palestine came under Abbasid rule. Bayt Jibrin may have already been devastated in 788, but in any event, in 796, it was destroyed by Bedouin tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during a civil war between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it
10701-467: The observation that man in the pagan view is always defined by ethnicity , i.e., As a result, every pagan tradition is also a national tradition. Modern historians define paganism instead as the aggregate of cult acts, set within a civic rather than a national context, without a written creed or sense of orthodoxy . The developments in the religious thought of the far-flung Roman Empire during Late Antiquity need to be addressed separately, because this
10824-511: The old religion of Greece towards the end of the ninth century. It is surprising to remember that this peninsula of rock, so near the heart of the Levant from which Christianity springs, should have been baptised three whole centuries after the arrival of St. Augustine in far-away Kent . According to Constantine VII in De Administrando Imperio , the Maniots were referred to as 'Hellenes' and only fully Christianized in
10947-422: The pagans, before their competition with Christianity, had no religion at all in the sense in which that word is normally used today. They had no tradition of discourse about ritual or religious matters (apart from philosophical debate or antiquarian treatise), no organized system of beliefs to which they were asked to commit themselves, no authority-structure peculiar to the religious area, above all no commitment to
11070-558: The poet would comment on this same theme: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death." Recently, the ethnocentric and moral absolutist origins of the common usage of the term pagan have been proposed, with scholar David Petts noting how, with particular reference to Christianity, "...local religions are defined in opposition to privileged 'world religions'; they become everything that world religions are not, rather than being explored as
11193-707: The powerful", reflecting its original Aramaic name, and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Muslim dynasties. The excavations have revealed no remains older than the Iron Age , a time when the Judahite town of Maresha rose on the tell to the south of Bay Jibrin known in Arabic as Tell Sandahanna and in Hebrew as Tel Maresha. This corresponds to several Hebrew Bible mentions of Maresha. However, local folklore tells that
11316-498: The priestly colleges (such as the College of Pontiffs or Epulones ) and cult practices more meaningful distinctions. Referring to paganism as a pre-Christian indigenous religion is equally untenable. Not all historical pagan traditions were pre-Christian or indigenous to their places of worship. Owing to the history of its nomenclature, paganism traditionally encompasses the collective pre- and non-Christian cultures in and around
11439-581: The recasting of Jesus the wandering rabbi into the image of Christ the Logos , the divine saviour, reflects the cult of Dionysus directly. They point to the symbolism of wine and the importance it held in the mythology surrounding both Dionysus and Jesus Christ; Wick argues that the use of wine symbolism in the Gospel of John , including the story of the Marriage at Cana at which Jesus turns water into wine,
11562-554: The remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Its ruins now stand adjacent to and north of the regional road. The built-up area of the modern Arab village of Beit Jibrin was largely south of the Crusader castle, adjacent to and mainly south of the regional road. Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was built north of the Bethgibelin Castle and former Beit Jibrin. Historically, the site was located on the main road between Cairo and Hebron via Gaza , in an area of plains and soft hills known as
11685-479: The rest of the multitude, and placed no small part of his own forces in them, who overran and laid waste the whole mountainous country." However, it continued to be a Jewish-inhabited city until the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE). Septimius Severus , Roman Emperor from 193 to 211, granted the city municipal status, under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis , meaning "City of the Free", and giving its citizens
11808-735: The restoration of Roman religious practices. In 1927, philosopher and esotericist Julius Evola founded the Gruppo di Ur in Rome, along with its journal Ur (1927–1928), involving figures like Arturo Reghini . In 1928, Evola published Imperialismo Pagano , advocating Italian political paganism to oppose the Lateran Pacts . The journal resumed in 1929 as Krur . A mysterious document published in Krur in 1929, attributed to orientalist Leone Caetani , suggested that Italy's World War I victory and
11931-537: The rise of fascism were influenced by Etruscan-Roman rites. The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence in neo-Druidism as well as the rise of modern Germanic paganism in the United States and in Iceland . In the 1970s, Wicca was notably influenced by feminism, leading to the creation of an eclectic, Goddess -worshipping movement known as Dianic Wicca . The 1979 publication of Margot Adler 's Drawing Down
12054-773: The rise of the Gruppo dei Dioscuri in cities like Rome, Naples, and Messina, which published a series of four booklets, including titles such as L'Impeto della vera cultura and Rivoluzione Tradizionale e Sovversione , before fading from public view ..The Evolian journal Arthos , founded in Genoa in 1972 by Renato del Ponte , expressed significant interest in Roman religion. In 1984, the Gruppo Arx revived Messina's Dioscuri activities, and Reghini's Pythagorean Association briefly resurfaced in Calabria and Sicily from 1984 to 1988, publishing Yghìeia . Other publications include
12177-594: The route between Jerusalem and Gaza . The city's first bishop , Justus , was one of the 70 Disciples . Eleutheropolis was a "City of Excellence" in the fourth century and a Christian bishopric with the largest territory in Palaestina. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis was the seat of Bishop Macrinus , who in that year attended the First Council of Nicaea . Epiphanius of Salamis , Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus ,
12300-649: The spread of Christianity—as indicated for example, by the use of Greek for the Epistles of Paul . In the first half of the 5th century, Greek was the standard language in which bishops communicated, and the Acta Conciliorum ("Acts of the Church Councils") were recorded originally in Greek and then translated into other languages. "Heathen" comes from Old English : hæðen (not Christian or Jewish); cf. Old Norse heiðinn . This meaning for
12423-578: The state, drawing inspiration from similar groups like YSEE in Greece. In 2023, Pietas participated in the ECER meeting, resulting in the signing of the Riga Declaration, which calls for the recognition of European ethnic religions. Public rituals, such as those celebrating the ancient festival of the Natale di Roma , have also resumed in recent years. The idea of practicing Roman religion in
12546-399: The successive Judahite, Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine and Crusader towns have been included in a large Israeli national park with major points of attraction for tourists. There is little focus on any traces of Arab presence within the park, the period from the 7th century onward receiving little attention. Today many of the excavated areas of Maresha and Beit Guvrin can be visited as part of
12669-672: The summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that the British consul in Jerusalem, James Finn , serve as an envoy and arrange a meeting with Muslih. Finn sent his vice-consul to assure Muslih of his safety in Hebron and convinced him to meet with Kamil Pasha. Muslih was well received in Hebron and returned to Bayt Jibrin escorted by twenty of the governor's men. Soon after, the Kamil Pasha paid a visit to Bayt Jibrin to settle affairs and collect
12792-508: The term originated from Gothic haiþno ( gentile woman) being used to translate Hellene in Wulfila's Bible , the first translation of the Bible into a Germanic language . This may have been influenced by the Greek and Latin terminology of the time used for pagans. If so, it may be derived from Gothic haiþi (dwelling on the heath ). However, this is not attested . It may even be
12915-564: The title Beit Guvrin . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beit_Guvrin&oldid=1243101796 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Beit Jibrin Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( Arabic : بيت جبرين )
13038-451: The town's overdue taxes. Kamil Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the local shaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza. In 1838, American archeologist Edward Robinson identified Bayt Jibrin as the site of both ancient Eleutheropolis and ancient Bethgebrim. He cited William of Tyre's reference to the Arabic name. Later travelers who visited Bayt Jibrin during that time were very impressed both by
13161-572: The towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area. In 1896 the population of Bet dschibrin was estimated to be about 1,278 persons. After the British Army captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917–1918, Bayt Jibrin resumed its role as an important town in the District of Hebron. The population was entirely Muslim, and had two schools,
13284-481: The turmoil of the First Jewish–Roman War (64-70) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135), the town became a thriving Roman colony , a major administrative centre and one of the most important cities in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina under the name of Eleutheropolis. The city was then inhabited by Jews , Christians and pagans . Under the British Mandate of Palestine , Bayt Jibrin again served as
13407-729: The word's usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centred on cities. The concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity . Third, unlike words such as rusticitas , paganus had not yet fully acquired the meanings (of uncultured backwardness) used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon (see above). Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). A good example of Christians still using paganus in
13530-420: The years following fascism was largely driven by Julius Evola . By the late 1960s, a renewed "operational" interest in pagan Roman traditions emerged from youth circles around Evola, particularly concerning the experience of the Gruppo di Ur . Evola's writings incorporated concepts from outside classical Roman religion, such as Buddhism , Hinduism , sexual magic , and private ritual nudity . This period saw
13653-705: Was an Arab village in the Hebron District of Mandate Palestine , in what is today central Israel , which was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . It was preceded by the Iron Age Judahite city of Maresha , the later Hellenistic Marissa, located slightly south of Beit Jibrin's built-up area; and the Roman and Byzantine city of Beth Gabra , known from the Talmud as Beit Guvrin (also Gubrin or Govrin, Hebrew : בית גוברין , romanized : Beit Gubrin ), renamed Eleutheropolis ( Greek , Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City") after 200 CE. After
13776-479: Was an integral part of ancient Greco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry ". During and after the Middle Ages , the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in " false gods ". The origin of the application of the term "pagan" to polytheism
13899-469: Was born at Eleutheropolis; at Ad nearby he established a monastery which is often mentioned in the polemics of Jerome with Rufinus and John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Epiphanius also mentions that Akouas , a disciple of Mani , had been the first to spread Manichaeism in Eleutheropolis and the rest of Palestine during the reign of Aurelian (270-275 AD). Beit Guvrin is mentioned in the Talmud in
14022-837: Was dissolved in 1468 when Pope Paul II orderd the arrest and execution of some of the members, Pope Sixtus IV allowed Laetus to open the academy again until the Sack of Rome of the 1527. After the French Revolution , the French lawyer Gabriel André Aucler (mid 1700s–1815) adopted the name Quintus Nautius and sought to revive paganism , styling himself as its leader. He designed religious clothing and performed pagan rites at his home. In 1799, he published La Thréicie , presenting his religious views. His teachings were later analyzed by Gérard de Nerval in Les Illuminés (1852). Admiring ancient Greece and ancient Rome , Aucler supported
14145-427: Was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows: In the 1948 war, the village was attacked by Israeli military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted many refugees from neighboring villages. The fighting and bombing frightened the people. They escaped the fighting and sought shelter in the surrounding hills. [My] family found protection in
14268-488: Was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan derives from Late Latin paganus , revived during the Renaissance . Itself deriving from classical Latin pagus which originally meant 'region delimited by markers', paganus had also come to mean 'of or relating to the countryside', 'country dweller', 'villager'; by extension, ' rustic ', 'unlearned', ' yokel ', ' bumpkin '; in Roman military jargon , 'non-combatant', 'civilian', 'unskilled soldier'. It
14391-495: Was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan . The First Battalion of the Egyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . At the same time, The New York Times correspondent reported that thousands of Jaffa 's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area. In October 1948,
14514-770: Was intended to show Jesus as superior to Dionysus. The scene in The Bacchae wherein Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate . Proto-Albanian speakers were Christianized under the Latin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE, as shown by the basic Christian terms in Albanian, which are of Latin origin and entered Proto-Albanian before
14637-448: Was known by some as the Ka'ba of Yemen, built and worshipped by polytheist tribes. Interest in reviving ancient Roman religious traditions can be traced to the Renaissance , with figures such as Gemistus Pletho and Julius Pomponius Laetus advocating for a revival, when Renaissance magic was practiced as a revival of Greco-Roman magic . Gemistus Plethon, who was from Mistras (near
14760-493: Was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity". However, by 985, Bayt Jibrin seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi : "[Bayt Jibrin] is a city partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. Its territory has the name of Ad Darum (the ancient Daroma and the modern Dairan), and there are here marble [ sic ] quarries. The district sends its produce to
14883-421: Was partially rebuilt in order to protect the main road between Gaza and Jerusalem. In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame seeds , as well as goats and beehives. In the 17th century, Bayt Jibrin may have absorbed residents from Khursa, whose village had been destroyed in an attack by the people of Dura. In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin
15006-474: Was renamed over the centuries. The Aramaic name Beth Gabra , attested from at least the Early Roman period, was preserved by the geographer Ptolemy in the Greek variation of Βαιτογάβρα, Baitogabra , translates as the "house of the [strong] man" or "house of the mighty one". The antecedent might be seen in the name of an Edomite king: Ḳaus-gabri or Kauš-Gabr, found on an inscription of Tiglathpileser III . According to historical geographer A. Schlatter ,
15129-473: Was the seat of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt. In the 1840s, after the Ottomans attempted to crush local leaders in the Hebron Hills for their refusal to pay taxes, the 'Azza family joined a revolt against Ottoman rule. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of the Hebron-area village of Dura . Between 1840 and 1846, hostilities were raging between
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