Carving Graffiti as Devotion

Abstract

This chapter examines how graffiti was inscribed and painted by ancient Jews to communicate with and about the divine. It begins with a discussion of paintings and carvings that cover the surfaces of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—revered by many Christians as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried—and serve as physical vestiges of pilgrims' devotions, rather than marks of defacement. It then considers common assumptions that govern studies of ancient Jewish prayer before analyzing Aramaic and Greek signature and remembrance graffiti in the Dura-Europos synagogue and elsewhere in Dura, as well as devotional graffiti written by Jews in shrines shared by pagans and Christians, such as Elijah's Cave. The chapter suggests that certain acts of graffiti writing are in reality modes of prayer conducted by Jews and their neighbors alike, and that ancient Jews prayed in a variety of built and natural environments.