International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Rina Talgam
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; 
[e-mail]
Art and the Development of Religious Identities 
in the Holy Land in Late Antiquity
In my paper I wish to demonstrate that from the third century onwards, prior to the victory of 
the church, Jewish art engaged in a deep and meaningful dialogue with Christianity and Christian 
art. Echoes of the polemic conducted in the mixed metropolises of Caesarea and Antioch in the 
third and fourth centuries found their way to the ears of Galilean Jewry. The gradual shift of the local 
polytheistic population towards Christianity and, on a much smaller scale, the partial acceptance 
of Christian ideas by Jews drawn towards 
minut
began during the pre-Constantine era, leading to 
a circumstance in which the “Others” against whom the Jew had to define himself were not only 
pagans but also Christians. Christian presence in the Holy Land became increasingly significant in 

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the second half of the fourth century and during the course of the fifth and sixth. The erection of 
commemorative churches at sites sacred to Christianity both within and outside Jewish settlements, 
the transformation of few synagogues into Christian 
loca sancta
, the beginning of Christian 
pilgrimage, the construction of large churches in mixed cities with Jewish majorities with imperial 
or patriarchal support, and the transfer of Christian clergy all heightened the Christian presence in 
the Galilee, expanding the points of contact between Jews and Christians. For Jews in the eastern 
Galilee, Christianity was an entity that could not be ignored. Churches arose in prominent locations 
in Sepphoris and Tiberias, Christian liturgy also being conducted in Christian holy sites in the 
heart of Jewish villages such as Nazareth, Capernaum, and Cana. The municipal spaces common 
to Jews and non-Jews and the contact with pilgrims afforded an acquaintance that both sharpened 
the controversies and created a basis for mutual influence. The polemics between Christians and 
Jews over the reading of the biblical text, the attitude towards the sacrifices offered in the Temple, 
the priesthood, and the calendar are exemplified in synagogue decorations. Jewish art can only be 
understood by examining the religions and cultures into which it came into contact and its attitude 
towards them and self-definition, being characterized by a conceptual dynamism and a perpetual 
check on the efficacy of its responses and changes.