Caesarea Philippi: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Palestine after Herod.png|thumb|right|250px|The Division of [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] Kingdom: <br>{{legend|lime|Territory under [[Herod Archelaus]], from 6 [[Iudaea Province]]}}{{legend|Fuchsia|Territory under [[Herod Antipas]]}}{{legend|orange|Territory under Herod Philip II}}{{legend|silver|[[Salome I]] (cities of [[Jabneh]], Azotas, Phaesalis)}}{{legend|green|[[Syria (Roman province)|Roman province of Syria]]}}{{legend|yellow|Autonomous cities ([[Decapolis]])}}]] |
[[Image:Palestine after Herod.png|thumb|right|250px|The Division of [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] Kingdom: <br>{{legend|lime|Territory under [[Herod Archelaus]], from 6 [[Iudaea Province]]}}{{legend|Fuchsia|Territory under [[Herod Antipas]]}}{{legend|orange|Territory under Herod Philip II}}{{legend|silver|[[Salome I]] (cities of [[Jabneh]], Azotas, Phaesalis)}}{{legend|green|[[Syria (Roman province)|Roman province of Syria]]}}{{legend|yellow|Autonomous cities ([[Decapolis]])}}]] |
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===Herodian city=== |
===Herodian city=== |
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On the death of Zenodorus in 20 BC, the Panion, which included Paneas was annexed to the Kingdom of [[Herod the Great]].<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ''Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan'' I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850434409 p 9</ref> He erected here a temple of "white marble" in honour of his patron. In the year 3 BC, [[Herod Philip II|Philip II]] founded a city at Paneas. It became the administrative capital of Philip IIs (or Philip the Tetrarch) large tetrarchy of Bataea which encompassed the Golan and the [[Hauran]]. [[Flavius Josephus]] in [[Antiquities of the Jews]] refers to the city as Caesarea Paneas; the New Testament as Caesarea Philippi (to distinguish it from [[Caesarea Maritima]] on the [[Mediterranean]] coast).<ref>Matthew. 16:13</ref><ref>Josephus Flavius ''Antiquities of the Jews'' Book 18 chapter 2 para 1</ref> In 14 CE Philip II named it Caesarea (in honour of the [[Roman]] Emperor Caesar [[Augustus]]) and "made improvements" to the city. His image was placed on a coin issued in 29/30 CE (to commemorate the founding of the city), this was considered as idolatrous by Jews but was following in the [[Edom|Idumean]] tradition of [[Zenodorus]].<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) |
On the death of Zenodorus in 20 BC, the Panion, which included Paneas was annexed to the Kingdom of [[Herod the Great]].<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ''Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan'' I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850434409 p 9</ref> He erected here a temple of "white marble" in honour of his patron. In the year 3 BC, [[Herod Philip II|Philip II]] founded a city at Paneas. It became the administrative capital of Philip IIs (or Philip the Tetrarch) large tetrarchy of Bataea which encompassed the Golan and the [[Hauran]]. [[Flavius Josephus]] in [[Antiquities of the Jews]] refers to the city as Caesarea Paneas; the New Testament as Caesarea Philippi (to distinguish it from [[Caesarea Maritima]] on the [[Mediterranean]] coast).<ref>Matthew. 16:13</ref><ref>Josephus Flavius ''Antiquities of the Jews'' Book 18 chapter 2 para 1</ref> In 14 CE Philip II named it Caesarea (in honour of the [[Roman]] Emperor Caesar [[Augustus]]) and "made improvements" to the city. His image was placed on a coin issued in 29/30 CE (to commemorate the founding of the city), this was considered as idolatrous by Jews but was following in the [[Edom|Idumean]] tradition of [[Zenodorus]].<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid pp 20-22</ref> |
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On the death of Philip II in 33 CE the tetrachy was incorporated into the province of [[Syria]] with the city given the autonomy to administer its own revenues.<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) |
On the death of Philip II in 33 CE the tetrachy was incorporated into the province of [[Syria]] with the city given the autonomy to administer its own revenues.<ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid p 23</ref> |
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In 61 AD the king [[Agrippa II]] renamed the administrative capital as Neronias in honour of the Roman emperor Nero, but this name held only till 68 AD. Agrippa also carried out urban improvements<ref>Josephus, Flavius war of the Jews Book 3 chapter 10 para 7 ''As for Panium itself, its natural beauty had been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expenses.''</ref> |
In 61 AD the king [[Agrippa II]] renamed the administrative capital as Neronias in honour of the Roman emperor Nero, but this name held only till 68 AD. Agrippa also carried out urban improvements<ref>Josephus, Flavius war of the Jews Book 3 chapter 10 para 7 ''As for Panium itself, its natural beauty had been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expenses.''</ref> |
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===Byzantium=== |
===Byzantium=== |
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On attaining the position of Emperor of the Roman Empire [[Julian the Apostate]] instigated a religious reformation of the Roman state, this was intended to restore the lost grandeur and strength of the Roman State. He supported the restoration of Hellenic paganism as the state religion.<ref>Brown, Peter, ''The World of Late Antiquity'', W. W. Norton, New York, 1971, ISBN 0393958035 p. 93.</ref> In Panease this was achieved by replacing the Christian symbols. |
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[[Sozomen]] describes the event surrounding the replacement of a statue of Christ:- |
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:”Having heard that at Casarea Philippi, otherwise called Panease Paneades, a city of Phoenicia, there was a celebrated statue of Christ, which had been erected by a woman whom the Lord had cured of a flow of blood. Julian commanded it to be taken down, and a statue of himself erected in its place; but a violent fire from the heaven fell upon it, and broke off the parts contiguous to the breast; the head and neck were thrown prostrate, and it was transfixed to the ground with the face downwards at the point where the fracture of the bust was; and it has stood in that fashion from that day until now, full of the rust of the lightning.” <ref>Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid p 99</ref> |
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==Caliphate== |
==Caliphate== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
{{reflist|2}} |
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===Bibliography=== |
===Bibliography=== |
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Brown, Peter ''The World of Late Antiquity'', W. W. Norton, New York, 1971, ISBN 0393958035 |
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*Flavius, Josephus The Jewish War ISBN 0-14-044-420-3 |
*Flavius, Josephus The Jewish War ISBN 0-14-044-420-3 |
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*Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (1991) A Christological Catechism: New Testament Answers Paulist Press, ISBN 0809132532 |
*Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (1991) A Christological Catechism: New Testament Answers Paulist Press, ISBN 0809132532 |
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Revision as of 19:06, 29 October 2008
- Not be confused with Caesarea Maritima, on the Mediterranean, now Caesarea in Israel, or with Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia.
Caesarea Philippi was an ancient city located at the southern end of Mount Hermon. The city is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew,[1] Mark[2] and also numerous times in Acts. The city was located within the region known as the "Panion" (the region of the Greek god Pan). Today, the city, now no longer extant, is an archaeological site close to the spring called "Banias", located within the Golan Heights.
Pagan associations
Paneas was first settled in the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemaic kings, in the 3rd century BC, built a cult centre to counter the Canaanite one at Dan to the south.
It does not appear in the Old Testament history, though identifications with Baal-Gad and (with less certainty) with Laish (Tel Dan) have been proposed. It was certainly a place of great sanctity from early antiquity, and when Hellenised religious influences were overlaid on the region, the cult of its local numen gave place to the worship of Pan, to whom the cave was dedicated and from which the copious spring feeding the Huela mashes rose and ultimately supplied the river Jordan.
In extant sections of the Greek historian Polybius's history of "The Rise of the Roman Empire", the Battle of Panium is mentioned. The battle of Panium occurred in 198 BC between the Macedonian armies of Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Greeks of Coele-Syria, led by Antiochus III.[3][4][5] Antiochus's victory cemented Selucid control over Phoenicia, Galilee Samaria and Judea until the Maccabean revolt. The Hellenised Sellucids built a pagan temple dedicated to Pan, (a goat-footed god of victory in battle [creator of panic in the enemy], desolate places, music and goat herds), at Paneas.
Roman
Herodian city
On the death of Zenodorus in 20 BC, the Panion, which included Paneas was annexed to the Kingdom of Herod the Great.[6] He erected here a temple of "white marble" in honour of his patron. In the year 3 BC, Philip II founded a city at Paneas. It became the administrative capital of Philip IIs (or Philip the Tetrarch) large tetrarchy of Bataea which encompassed the Golan and the Hauran. Flavius Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews refers to the city as Caesarea Paneas; the New Testament as Caesarea Philippi (to distinguish it from Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast).[7][8] In 14 CE Philip II named it Caesarea (in honour of the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus) and "made improvements" to the city. His image was placed on a coin issued in 29/30 CE (to commemorate the founding of the city), this was considered as idolatrous by Jews but was following in the Idumean tradition of Zenodorus.[9]
On the death of Philip II in 33 CE the tetrachy was incorporated into the province of Syria with the city given the autonomy to administer its own revenues.[10]
In 61 AD the king Agrippa II renamed the administrative capital as Neronias in honour of the Roman emperor Nero, but this name held only till 68 AD. Agrippa also carried out urban improvements[11]
Gospel association
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus is said to have approached the area near the city, but without entering the city itself. Jesus, while in this area, asked his closest disciples what they thought of him. Accounts of their answers, including the Confession of Peter, are found in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Gospel of Thomas.
Here Saint Peter made his confession of Jesus not as the Messiah but as "Lord" and the "Holy one of God", and Christ in turn gave a charge to Peter.[12][13]
Byzantium
On attaining the position of Emperor of the Roman Empire Julian the Apostate instigated a religious reformation of the Roman state, this was intended to restore the lost grandeur and strength of the Roman State. He supported the restoration of Hellenic paganism as the state religion.[14] In Panease this was achieved by replacing the Christian symbols. Sozomen describes the event surrounding the replacement of a statue of Christ:-
- ”Having heard that at Casarea Philippi, otherwise called Panease Paneades, a city of Phoenicia, there was a celebrated statue of Christ, which had been erected by a woman whom the Lord had cured of a flow of blood. Julian commanded it to be taken down, and a statue of himself erected in its place; but a violent fire from the heaven fell upon it, and broke off the parts contiguous to the breast; the head and neck were thrown prostrate, and it was transfixed to the ground with the face downwards at the point where the fracture of the bust was; and it has stood in that fashion from that day until now, full of the rust of the lightning.” [15]
Caliphate
Crusaders
In the 12th century Caesarea Philippi was the principal centre of a crusader Fiefdom along with the Kingdom of Jerusalem within the Lordship of Beirut, until it was captured by Nur ad-Din in 1164.
After the death of Nūr ed-Din in May 1174 King Amaury led the crusader forces in a siege of Caesarea Philippi. The Governor of Damascus allied himself with the crusaders and released all his Frankish prisoners. With the death of King Amaury in July 1174 the crusader border became unstable. In 1177 king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem ("the leper") laid seige to Caesarea Philippi and again the crusader forces withdrew after receiving tribute from Samsan al-Din Ajuk, the Governor of Caesarea Philippi.[16]
In 1179 al-Malik al-Nâsir Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Saladin) took personal control of the forces of Damascus.[16]
The Franks built a castle at Hunin, (Château Neuf) to defend their borders.
Ibn Jubayr the geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus described Caesarea:
- This city is a frontier fortress of the Muslims. It is small, but has a castle, round which, under the walls flows a stream. This stream flows out from the town by one of the gates, and turns a mill…The town has broad arable lands in the adjacent plain. Commanding the town is the fortress, still belonging to the franks, called Hunin, which lies 3 leagues distant from Baniyas. The lands in the plain belong half to the franks and half to the Muslims; and there is here the boundary called Hadd al Mukasimah-“the boundary of the dividing.” The muslims and the franks apportion the crops equally between them, and their cattle mingle freely without fear of any being stolen.”
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ Matthew 16:13
- ^ Mark 8:27
- ^ Perseus Digitital Library. TUFTS University Polybius Book 16 para 18
- ^ Perseus Digitital Library. TUFTS University Polybius Book 16 para 19
- ^ Perseus Digitital Library. TUFTS University Polybius Book 16 para 20
- ^ Wilson, John Francis. (2004) Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850434409 p 9
- ^ Matthew. 16:13
- ^ Josephus Flavius Antiquities of the Jews Book 18 chapter 2 para 1
- ^ Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid pp 20-22
- ^ Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid p 23
- ^ Josephus, Flavius war of the Jews Book 3 chapter 10 para 7 As for Panium itself, its natural beauty had been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expenses.
- ^ Mark 8: 27-33, Mathew. 16; 13-23 and Luke 9: 18-22.
- ^ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (1991) A Christological Catechism: New Testament Answers Paulist Press, ISBN 0809132532 p 62
- ^ Brown, Peter, The World of Late Antiquity, W. W. Norton, New York, 1971, ISBN 0393958035 p. 93.
- ^ Wilson, John Francis. (2004) ibid p 99
- ^ a b Wilson, John Francis. (2004) Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850434409 p 146
Bibliography
Brown, Peter The World of Late Antiquity, W. W. Norton, New York, 1971, ISBN 0393958035
- Flavius, Josephus The Jewish War ISBN 0-14-044-420-3
- Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (1991) A Christological Catechism: New Testament Answers Paulist Press, ISBN 0809132532
- Polybius The Rise of the Roman Empire, Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert Contributor Frank William Walbank, Penguin Classics, 1979 ISBN 0140443622
- Wilson, John Francis. (2004) Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1850434409