Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Souvenir Mold, Exposing the Rise of Christian Pilgrimage Tourism

[carlos]

Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Souvenir Mold, Exposing the Rise of Christian Pilgrimage Tourism

https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-discover-1400-year-old-souvenir-mold-exposing-the-rise-of-christian-pilgrimage-tourism/

 

I found this article interesting. Pilgrims from all of Europe and North Africa who visited Palestine in the Middle Ages used to bring home souvenirs: small earthen vessels, named ampullae, filled with water, oil or earth from the "holy places". Many of these have been found throughout Europe. Now for the first time archeologists excavating the ruins of a monastery named Hyrcania have found a mold used to manufacture those flasks almost in industrial scale. The mold has a cross (this is from the 6th or 7th centuries) and the inscription: “Lord’s blessing from the holy places.”

 

It's clear that tourism and souvenirs are not a recent invention. 

[Doug]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Souvenir Mold, Exposing the Rise of Christian Pilgrimage Tourism

https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-discover-1400-year-old-souvenir-mold-exposing-the-rise-of-christian-pilgrimage-tourism/

 

I found this article interesting. Pilgrims from all of Europe and North Africa who visited Palestine in the Middle Ages used to bring home souvenirs: small earthen vessels, named ampullae, filled with water, oil or earth from the "holy places". Many of these have been found throughout Europe. Now for the first time archeologists excavating the ruins of a monastery named Hyrcania have found a mold used to manufacture those flasks almost in industrial scale. The mold has a cross (this is from the 6th or 7th centuries) and the inscription: “Lord’s blessing from the holy places.”

 

It's clear that tourism and souvenirs are not a recent invention. 

 

False religion has always been a business, hasn't it?    Selling idols, images or icons, and charging for "services".

Edited yesterday at 03:19 PM by Doug
make it better

[carlos]

21 hours ago, Doug said:

False religion has always been a business, hasn't it?    Selling idols, images or icons, and charging for "services".

 

Sure, false religion and business have always gone hand in hand. 

Although I think this is a bit different. Those flasks were not intended to be idols, just a souvenir from the holy land. Maybe some people treated them as holy, but it seems that was not the idea. 

In any case, it's interesting that even in those ancient times they were producing these souvenirs in large scale. 

[Doug]

7 hours ago, carlos said:

 

Although I think this is a bit different. Those flasks were not intended to be idols, just a souvenir from the holy land. Maybe some people treated them as holy, but it seems that was not the idea. 

In any case, it's interesting that even in those ancient times they were producing these souvenirs in large scale. 

 

Interesting distinction.  I can imagine a tourist coming back from Rome with a souvenir T-shirt  "I went to the Vatican and all I got is a lousy T shirt".  I wouldn't view the T shirt as an idol. 

So, I'm trying to imagine a tourist in the year 600 C.E. coming back from a Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Lands with a small vessel decorated with an ornate cross and the Greek inscription "Lord's blessing from the holy places"  merely as a reminder of their vacation.  It's possible!

 

This got me thinking about the televangelists that used to beg for money on TV.  They offered "seed" gifts to make the transaction feel more real.  Popular gifts were "anointed" prayer cloths, or handkerchiefs.  The preacher would claim to have personally prayed over the cloth, maybe even wiping his forehead with it, and it would bring luck and fend off calamity.

Another hot gift was a small bottle of Jordan River water, or olive oil, and the donor was told to dab some on their doorposts (seriously!!).

 

Jim Bakker took a new approach , he offered Survival Food Buckets to his donors, to survive the coming apocalypse.  Jim is still working the gullible.  After doing 5 years in prison, his ministry was ordered to pay $156,000 in restitution after he falsely claimed "Silver Solution" cured COVID19.

 

Oh, well.  From the Byzantine era down to today, "there's nothing new under the sun".