The Afterlife in Early Christian Carthage: Near-Death Experiences, Ancestor Cult, and the Archaeology of Paradise

255 Pages·2018·11.32 MB·English

by  Stephen E. Potthoff

THE AFTERLIFE IN EARLY
CHRISTIAN CARTHAGE
The Afterlife in Early Christian Carthage explores how the visionary experiences
of early Christian martyrs shaped and informed early Christian ancestor
cults and the construction of the cemetery as paradise. Taking the early
Christian cemeteries in Carthage as a case study, the volume broadens our
understanding of the historical and cultural origins of the early Christian
cult of the saints, and highlights the often divergent views about the dead
and postmortem realms expressed by the church fathers, and in graveside
ritual and the material culture of the cemetery. This fascinating study is a
key resource for students of late antique and early Christian culture.
Stephen E. Potthoff is Associate Professor of Peace Studies, Religion, and
Philosophy at Wilmington College, Ohio, USA. His research focuses on
early Christianity and other ancient religions, as well as Native American
spirituality and culture, dreams, and near-death visionary experience.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE EARLY
CHRISTIAN WORLD
Available:
Resurrecting Parts: Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction,
and Sexual Difference
Taylor G. Petrey
The Afterlife in Early Christian Carthage: Near-Death Experiences,
Ancestor Cult, and the Archaeology of Paradise
Stephen E. Potthoff
Forthcoming:
The Legacy of Demetrius of Alexandria (189—232 ce): The Form and
Function of Hagiography in Late Antique and Islamic Egypt
Maged S.A. Mikhail
Visions of God and Ideas on Deification in Patristic Thought
Mark Edwards and Elena Ene D-Vasilescu
The Unbound God: Slavery and the Formation of Early
Christian Thought
Chris De Wet
Material Hybridity: Border Cases in Ancient Christianities
and Judaisms
Eric C. Smith
Aristotle and Early Christian Thought
Mark Edwards
THE AFTERLIFE
IN EARLY
CHRISTIAN CARTHAGE
Near-death experience, ancestor cult,
and the archaeology of paradise
Stephen E. Potthoff
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Stephen E. Potthoff
The right of Stephen E. Potthoff to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Potthoff, Stephen, author.
Title: The Afterlife in Early Christian Carthage: Near-Death
Experience, Ancestor Cult, and the Archaeology of Paradise in the
Ancient Mediterranean World/Stephen Potthoff.
Description: First [edition]. | New York: Routledge, 2016. | Series:
Routledge studies in the early Christian world | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016016005| ISBN 9781138182981
(hardback: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315646121 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Carthage (Extinct city)—Church history. | Christian
cemeteries—Tunisia—Carthage (Extinct city) | Death—
Religious aspects—Christianity. | Future life—Christianity—
History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30–600. | Church history—
Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600.
Classification: LCC BR190 .P68 2016 | DDC 276.11/01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016016005
ISBN: 978-1-138-18298-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-64612-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon LT Std
by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK
FOR PROFESSOR EDWARD LOWE
IN MEMORIAM, FRIEND, MENTOR,
AND CONDUCTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE,
WHO BROUGHT THE LIGHT OF
HEAVEN DOWN TO EARTH.

CONTENTS
List of figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1 Rebirthing paradise in the sacred space
of vision and cemetery 7
Journeys to paradise in the Jewish apocalyptic tradition 10
Otherworld journeys in the Greco-Roman tradition 15
Otherworld journeys, dreams, and visions
in early Christianity 26
The visionary paradise of Perpetua and Saturus 35
Conclusions: ancient martyrs’ visions as near-death
experiences 48
2 Ghosts, graveside dining, and dreams of paradise:
Mediterranean ancestor cult in the early Christian period 50
Ghosts and specters 51
Burial ritual and the presence of the dead 52
Ancestral cult beyond the funeral 58
Realizing the imaginal paradise in the early Christian cemetery 70
3 Mediterranean ancestor cult in Carthage: hungry
ghosts and the Roman cemetery as other world 88
Early Roman burials in Carthage: an overview 89
Plaster burial 94
Grave goods 95
Libation tubes and the tomb as altar 99
Lead curse tablets 100
vii
CONTENTS
Inscriptions 102
Iconography 106
Conclusion 114
4 Dining, divining, and divorcing the dead: the age of Tertullian 116
Tertullian and the presence of the Roman dead 117
Encountering the dead in the Christian community 121
Tertullian on the presence and location of the dead 129
Conclusion 132
5 The age of Cyprian: burial clubs and banquets in paradise 134
Cyprian and the Christian cult of the dead 134
Journeys to paradise in Cyprian’s day 137
6 The age of Augustine: burial ad sanctos, graveside parties,
and the abodes of body and soul after death 146
Augustine’s understanding of death 147
Funerary ritual 150
Augustine on dreams and visions 156
7 Christian burial ad sanctos at Carthage: pressing on
to heaven in the paradisal realm of the cemetery 160
Burial ad sanctos: background and context 164
The archaeology of burial ad sanctos in Carthage 169
Conclusion 182
8 Refreshment and reunion in the garden of light:
sculpting paradise at the grave 183
Grave goods 185
Inscriptions 192
Iconography 195
Conclusion 208
Conclusion 210
Bibliography 216
Index 232
viii
FIGURES
1 Doorway sarcophagus, Vatican Museum 67
2 Sarcophagus with Selene and Endymion,
Museo Capitolino, Rome 68
3 Sarcophagus with Endymion in Dionysian
paradise, British Museum, London 68
4 Fresco, Vibia Hypogeum, Via Appia Antica, Rome 69
5 Cubiculum of the Five Saints, Domitilla Catacomb, Rome 74
6 Fish and bread fresco, Crypt of Lucina, Callixtus Catacomb 76
7 Orant receiving food offering, Callixtus Catacomb, Rome 77
8 Banquet scene, Catacomb of SS. Peter and Marcellinus, Rome 78
9 Banquet scene, Catacomb of SS. Peter and Marcellinus, Rome 78
10 Baptism of Jesus, Catacomb of SS. Peter and
Marcellinus, Rome 79
11 Jacob’s ladder dream, Via Latina Catacomb, Rome 80
12 Orant in paradise with milking shepherd, Coemeterium
Majus, Rome 81
13 Martyrs ascending ladders, Domitilla Catacomb, Rome 82
14 Bureba sarcophagus with Perpetua’s ladder vision 83
15 Bureba sarcophagus, end scenes 84
16 Map of Carthage 89
17 Roman altar tombs, Carthage 90
18 Photo of Roman altar tombs from Carthage 91
19 Roman altar tomb with libation tube opening 92
20 Photo of Roman altar tomb with libation tube opening 92
21 Interior schematic of Roman altar tomb 93
22 Burial vessels for ashes, perfumes, tears, Carthage 95
23 Four Seasons sarcophagus, Carthage 108
24 Dionysus sarcophagus, Carthage 109
25 Roman tomb mosaics, Sfax 112
ix