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Authors

Talila Michaeli

Abstract

Traces of simple wall paintings, painted in fresco technique with reddish brown paint, were found in Arcosolium Cave 4 at Ben Shemen. The depiction of a wreath might be connected with Christian funerary art, symbolizing the victory of Christ and his believers; however, the wreath may have framed an inscription with the name of the deceased or his portrait. The dating is difficult, since reddish brown monochrome paintings appear in Israel in tombs dating from the mid-third to the fifth centuries CE. Therefore, only a general date can be attributed to the paintings: the final phase of the Roman or the early Byzantine period.

Keywords

Lod Shephelah, burial, art, Christianity

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