Writing in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is an exceptional epigraphic site. A major restoration campaign (2013–2020) and the recent bibliography dedicated to the building allow us to question hundreds of inscriptions and graffiti which appear on the mosaics, paintings, and walls of this shrine built on the presumed birthplace of Christ. The site exhibits a graphic symphony—if not cacophony—in Latin, Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Slavic, and Rus scripts, made by pilgrims and travellers as well as the authorities and the different religious communities over the centuries.

The goal of this book, which gathers epigraphists from different backgrounds, as well as historians, art historians, and restorers, is to approach those writings from a variety of perspectives. Which typologies of graphic acts are uncovered and can we escape from the labels ‘graffiti’ and ‘inscriptions’? What purpose do they serve? With which materials and using which techniques where they created, and by whom? Where were they located in the complex of the Church, which includes the caves, the cloister, and the monastic buildings?

This study explores the stratigraphy of the writings and offers several plans detailing their distribution, revealing a new chapter in the history of the building, in its use by pilgrims. It highlights the various actors in epigraphic communication and the interactions between these graphic acts in the different writings and languages. All these inscriptions and graffiti enable us to build a comprehensive picture of the rich heritage offered by this unique holy site.

1. Introduction: The Epigraphic Landscape of the Complex of Nativity Church in Bethlehem
Estelle INGRAND-VARENNE and Clément DUSSART

2. The Discovery and the Conservation of Graffiti on the Columns of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: The Voice of the Restorers
Marcello PIACENTI

Part I

3. Quotations and Glorification: Bethlehem’s Conciliar Texts in Local Context
Megan BOOMER

4. The Tree of Abraham in the Nativity Church and its Epigraphic Exegesis
Estelle INGRAND-VARENNE

5. Typographical Transcription of the Inscriptions from the Holy Land: Francesco Quaresmio and the Publishing Adventure of the Historica, Theologica et Moralis Terræ Sanctæ Elucidatio
Délia PRETEUX

Part II

6. Towards a Periodisation of Graffiti
Carlo TEDESCHI

7. How to do Graffiti? Scratching, Incising and Engraving Stone in Bethlehem
Thierry GRÉGOR

8. Portraits, Graffiti, and Tattoos: Visual Indicators of Individual Piety on the Columns and Walls of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem
Michele BACCI

Part III

9. The Greek Graffiti in the Grotto of the Bathing
Rachael Helen BANES

10. The Earliest Graffiti in Latin Characters in the Church of the Nativity
Clément DUSSART

11. The Arabic Inscriptions of the Basilica of the Nativity: Inventory and Research Perspectives
Anna LAGARON-KHALIFA

12. Armenian Inscriptions and Graffiti of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem
Khachik A. HARUTYUNYAN

13. Ancient Georgian Inscriptions of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and ‘Bethlehems’ in Georgia
Georgi GAGOSHIDZE

14. East Slavic Inscriptions in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Alexey A. GIPPIUS, Juriy A. ARTAMONOV, and Ilya V. ZAYTSEV

15.Conclusion: Between Graphic Symphony and Cacophony
Estelle INGRAND-VARENNE and Clément DUSSART