Gabriele Castiglia / Philippe Pergola (edd.)

Early Christianity on the Margins (?). The PIAC excavations in Adulis, Eritrea (2017-2020)
= Limina/Limites 16
With texts by Gabriele Castiglia, Marco Ciliberti, Bozana Maletic, Matteo Pola, Marilena Polosa, Elie Essa Kas Hanna, Philippe Pergola
Archaeopress Archaeology 2025
 

Early Christianity on the Margins (?) presents the culmination of a five-year archaeological and research project carried out in successive phases, during which the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana (PIAC) in Rome assumed a leading role in the systematic investigation of some of the most significant sectors of the ancient port city of Adulis, in present-day Eritrea. Between the 1st and the 7th/8th centuries CE, Adulis served as the principal maritime hub of the Aksumite Kingdom – one of the major political and commercial powers of Late Antiquity. The excavations, conducted under the auspices of PIAC, led to the discovery and study of two monumental ecclesiastical complexes datable to the 6th century CE. These churches, remarkable for both their architectural features and archaeological contexts, provide critical new evidence for understanding the development of Christian urban topographies along the Red Sea and the dynamics of Christianization beyond the limes of the Roman and post-Roman world. This volume brings together the results of these investigations, situating Adulis within broader scholarly debates on early Christianity, peripherality, conversion, and cultural exchange in Late Antiquity.