International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Jacob Ashkenazi
Kinneret Academic College on the Sea of Galilee,
Department of Land of Israel Studies, Jordan Valley, Israel; 
[e-mail]
Mordechai Aviam
Kinneret College, Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology,
Department of Land of Israel Studies, Jordan Valley, Israel; 
[e-mail]
Galilee in Late Antiquity – Societies and Landscapes in Change
The substantial economic growth in the Levant during Late Antiquity is readily apparent 
from the contemporaneous upsurge in new rural settlements. An integral part of this development 
was the marked transformation of the religious built environment (cultural landscape), as private 
churches, martyria, and monasteries were erected throughout the East Mediterranean countryside.
Following up our earlier studies on the Galilean Byzantine period countryside, we will show 
that monastic compounds buoyed the community’s agricultural production. The lion’s share of 
monasteries near villages was established by local magnates. Owing to these compounds’ agricultural 
arms, such as wine presses, they had a strong impact on both the faith and economic fortunes of the 
rural Christian masses. By introducing local and regional factors, we will expound on the influence 
of monastic and other ecclesiastical ventures on the Galilean rural society. Besides catering to 
the flock’s liturgical and spiritual needs, the monasteries improved the local agricultural yield. In 
presenting this case, we aim to introduce a new paradigm for comprehending socio-economic and 
religious developments in rural societies in the Late Antique Levant.

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NARRATING EVENTS AND PORTRAYING CHARACTERS 
IN THE WORKS OF THE LATE BYZANTINE WRITERS – PART 1
Conveners: 
Ruth Macrides
, 
Maja Nikolić