079
What Is It?
Answer: B. (bread stamp) This eulogia bread stamp was discovered at Caesarea Maritima among the debris of the Byzantine desertion that occurred in about 640 C.E. The stamp would have been pressed into raw bread dough, which was then placed in the oven. The baked loaf then functioned as a eulogia—a small Christian object believed to confer blessings.1
Not to be confused with eucharistic bread, which would have been stamped with a different shape and inscription, eulogia bread was not distributed as part of a communion rite, but instead was given to the faithful most often as they departed after the conclusion of a religious rite or in conjunction with a particular pilgrimage site or feast day. In one suggested reconstruction this stamp reads: “Blessing of the Lord upon us, and of St. Paul,” which may indicate the presence of a shrine to St. Paul on the site where it was found.
This bread stamp is on display at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and is featured in Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology, Volume 1, 2002.
How Many?
Answer: 15,000
Comprising more than 500 documents, the cache of fragments in Cave 4 (some of which are no larger than a half-inch square) is larger than that of any of the other caves at Qumran and makes up about 40% of the total collection of Dead Sea Scrolls.
What Is It? Answer: B. (bread stamp) This eulogia bread stamp was discovered at Caesarea Maritima among the debris of the Byzantine desertion that occurred in about 640 C.E. The stamp would have been pressed into raw bread dough, which was then placed in the oven. The baked loaf then functioned as a eulogia—a small Christian object believed to confer blessings.1 Not to be confused with eucharistic bread, which would have been stamped with a different shape and inscription, eulogia bread was not distributed as part of a communion rite, but instead was given to the faithful most often […]
