Church of Kish

Church of Kish Church of Saint Elishe Սուրբ Եղիշէ Եկեղեցի Holy Mother of God Church Սուրբ Աստուածածին եկեղեցի
Shown within Azerbaijan
Basic information
Location	Kiş, Shaki, Azerbaijan
Geographic coordinates	41.248933°N 47.193067°E / 41.248933; 47.193067
Affiliation	Caucasian Albanian
Architectural description
Completed	12th-13th century

The Church of Kish (Azerbaijani: Kiş məbədi), also known by different sources as Church of Saint Elishe (Armenian: Սուրբ Եղիշէ եկեղեցի) or Holy Mother of God Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Աստուածածին եկեղեցի), is a 12th or 13th century church located in the village of Kiş approximately 5 km north of Shaki, Azerbaijan. It has functioned at different times as an Caucasian Albanian Apostolic church a Chalcedonian church within the Georgian Orthodox Church and as an Armenian Apostolic church.

History

Layers of History

Storfjell was amazed at the correlation between the building that is standing today and similar structures in North Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey but felt this was not to be unexpected since those places were cradles of early Christianity. "The Kish church was right at home among those Byzantine structures in terms of both size and shape. In the Middle East, the Islamic conquest basically put an end to the Byzantine era in the middle of the 7th century - in 648 AD. But the architectural style suggests that the Kish church might be earlier than that." Though tradition and legends hold that the church at Kish was built in the latter part of the 1st century AD, Storfjell says that there has never been any evidence of any church being built before the 4th century anywhere in the world. The oldest known church to date is in Aqaba, Jordan. However, it seems clear that the site was in use long before the church was built there. "Possibly, it has been viewed as a holy place for millennia," observed Storfjell. Archeologists have identified at least seven different layers of data at the Kish site and believe that the church was reconstructed at least four times. Each layer, or "stratum", represents a period of occupation at the settlement. The earliest stratum, naturally, is the layer on the bottom. Within the church building itself, the archeologists have dug deep enough to reach sterile clay, meaning that there are no cultural material remains lower than this level. In the oldest layer inside the church, ceramics were found that date to the Early Bronze Age of the Kur-Araz culture, about 3000 BC. This calculation was based on the types of artifacts found there - in other words, comparing them with other ceramics that have been unearthed in Azerbaijan and determining if they were made on a potter's wheel or shaped by hand, and how the clay was worked and fired.

The next layer indicates that the area was used as a graveyard prior to the church's construction. Archeologists are not sure yet about the dating of the burials, but estimate that they may have occurred during the first few centuries AD. When Storfjell left Baku in September this year, he carried out the bones of four different people in his suitcases so that they could be dated using the carbon-14 Method.

"We found a lot of skeletal material," Storfjell recalls. "One grave was very unusual. It had one skeleton with all of its bones connected in the right places, but on top of it there were six skulls arranged in a sort of oval, right over the lower abdomen and pelvic area. I've never seen anything like it before. The skulls belonged to people who had already been dead for some time when the other person was buried. They were buried a second time with this person. It looked like most of their other bones were there because there were enough femurs (thigh bones) to account for the number of skulls that we had. But they were carefully arranged - the femurs were in one area, sort of grouped together. This grave predates the church."

Albanian, Not Armenian

"We have clear evidence that this church was built as an Albanian Diophysite church," says Storfjell. While Armenians might beg to differ, he explains how the church's own architecture shows it was not originally a Monophysite church.

"In the 5th and 6th centuries there was an intense theological debate in the Eastern church regarding the nature of Christ, whether he was both human and divine, or only divine, overshadowing his human nature. At that time, the Caucasus Albanian church took the position of the Diophysites, the group that perceived Christ as having a dual nature - both human and divine. Today's Western church, both Protestant and Catholic, also holds the Diophysite position. The Armenian church, however, took the position of the Monophysites, who said that Christ's nature was altogether divine, even though he took on a human body.

"In a Diophysite church, the apse - the area where the altar is located - is much closer to the level of the church's floor, in order to symbolize the incarnation, or humanity, of Christ. In the earliest phase of the church in Kish, the difference in elevation is about 30-40 cm (1 foot, 4 inches), which shows that they believed that God had come closer to humanity in the person of Jesus. However, in the last three phases of this church, the difference between the church floor and the apse was 70-90 cm, which indicates a change in theology."

This doesn't necessarily mean that Armenians were actively using the church, Storfjell says, only that it was influenced by Monophysite theology. "The Armenians were not the only Monophysites. There were also some groups in North Syria and North Iraq in those early periods that held this belief as well."

"Armenians claim that any church on Azerbaijani territory was built by Armenians," Mammadova says, a notion that has contributed plenty of controversy to her own research on ancient Azerbaijani churches. She argues that an ancient text proves the Armenians wrong in this particular case: "In a 7th-century text, 'History of Albania,' historian Moses Kalankatui writes that 'the church in Kish is the mother of the Albanian churches.'

"Of course, there are also churches that were built by Armenians," she continues. "They built churches in Shusha, Karabakh and Shamakhi. We don't deny that. But the origins of most Christian churches on the territory of Azerbaijan are Albanian. In the 19th century, when Armenians were transplanted in Azerbaijan from Turkey and Iran, they found these ancient Albanian churches and monasteries that weren't being used. Instead of building new churches, they renovated the existing ones that had fallen into disrepair. Even though these churches now have Armenian signs, they were originally Albanian, not Armenian," she insists.

Research and dating

In 2000-2003 the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a joint project between Azerbaijan Architecture and Construction University and the Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise for the archaeological research and restoration of the church of Kish. Dr. Vilayat Karimov of Baku's Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography served as the director of excavations, and the archaeological advisor for the project was J. Bjørnar Storfjell. Radiocarbon analysis of various objects found on the site showed that the cultic site found beneath the altar of the church dates to about 3000 B.C., while the construction of the existing church building dates to about the 12th century (990-1160 A.D.).

The existing church building cannot be dated to the times of St. Elishe, but the archaeological evidence demonstrates that the church is located on an ancient cultic site. It is very unlikely that St. Elishe built in Kish a church in the modern understanding of this word. Even if the person did exist, it appears likely that he built only the altar or used an existing pagan cult structure.

Bjørnar Storfjell stated that there's clear evidence that this church was built as Diophysite church. Excavations revealed that the church represented two different periods of use, with two different corresponding floor levels. According to Storfjell, since the architecture of the apse of the original church in Kish suggests a diophysite Christology, and since the Georgian Church was the only diophysite church existing in the Caucasus in the late medieval period, it seems reasonable to suggest that the Kish church was built as a Georgian church and was later taken over by monophysites.

Gallery

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  Front view of the church in the village of Kish in Azerbaijan.

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  Rear view of the church in the village of Kish in Azerbaijan

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  Dome of the church in the village of Kish

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  A crypt with burials in the church of Kish

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  Interior of the Church of Kish

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  Ancient chandelier in the church

External links

• Research on Armenian Architecture: Kish village, Shaki District, Republic of Azerbaijan
• About the Kish Church Reconstruction Project, Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:1 (Spring 2003), p. 33.
• The Kish Church: Digging up History: Norwegians Help Restore Ancient Church, Azerbaijan International, Vol. 8:4 (Winter 2000), pp. 18-19.
• Photos the Church of Kish
• "The Church in Kish: Carbon Dating Reveals its True Age," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:1 (Spring 2003), pp. 33-39.
• The Kish Church // Norwegians Help Restore Ancient Church