Archaeologists discovered five 1,300-year-old liturgical breads charred inside an oven in the city of Karaman, in southern Turkey. The archaeological site is located in the territory of the ancient province of Irenópolis, part of the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages.
Dated between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, communion breads display Christian-themed designs – one of them representing Christ the Sower, accompanied by an inscription in Greek: “With our thanks to the Blessed Jesus”.
The pieces of food survived for around fourteen centuries thanks to a combination of factors: the intense heat of the oven charred the bread; As a result, the low oxygen content and stable temperatures inside the compartment preserved the surface details of the five loaves, including the inscription and printed images.
Communion bread shows how Christianity mixed with rural life in the Byzantine Empire
The discovery reignites the debate about the Christian practices in provincial regions in the early Byzantine period. As well as the way in which the sacred and the Christian faith were manifested in the daily lives of ancient rural communities, even in simple actions such as cooking.
Unlike the figure of Christ Pantokrator (or Sovereign Christ), more widespread in Byzantine arts, the figure of Christ Sower explicitly links faith, work and fertility. That suggests a devotion shaped by the local agricultural economy, in addition to drawing a parallel between bread – in the representation of the body of Christ in Holy Communion – and the habits of worshiping the divine.
In addition to the bread with Christ the Sower, four other units have cross-shaped prints. They are compatible with liturgical use, possibly designed as eucharistic or communion breads.
The preservation of the set makes the Topraktepe breads unique examples of Christian material in Anatolia, an important region for both the Byzantine and Roman Empires.
Eirenópolis: Christian life in the Byzantine provinces gains new archaeological evidence
According to historians, Eirenópolis – whose name means City of Peace – had ecclesiastical relevance in the historical region of Isáuria, under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Thus, the new excavations helped to materialize ritual life outside the large centers.
The Gratitude Inscription and Agricultural Iconography reinforce the idea that food and devotion were intertwined, converting bread into an object of worship. Ongoing research should detail preparation techniques, ingredients and symbolism of the artifacts, expanding the understanding eucharistic practices and Christian iconography in provincial contexts of the early Middle Ages.
Furthermore, the Eucharistic bread is the center of the Christian liturgy: in Communion, it becomes the body of Christ. In Eastern Churches, leavened bread is commonly used, associated with life, resurrection and spiritual plenitude, while in the West the unleavened host is common.
There is also the blessed, but not consecrated, bread distributed to the faithful at the end of the celebration, which shows that the bread had varied ritual uses.
In the Bible, in John 6:35, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, he who believes in me will never thirst.”
