Bellarmino Bagatti
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Bellarmino Bagatti (November 11, 1905 – October 7, 1990) was a 20th-century Italian
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest of the
Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
.


Life

Camillo Bellarmino Bagatti was born in 1905 in the province of Pisa. At the age of 17 he made his solemn profession in the Order of Friars Minor in the Province of San Francesco on Monte della Verna in Tuscany. In 1928, at the age of 23, he was ordained a priest. Dedicated from a young age to Franciscan art, he was trained in archaeological research at the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, where he graduated (magna cum laude) in June 1934 with an important thesis on the Roman
catacomb of Commodilla The Catacombs of Rome ( it, Catacombe di Roma) are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either i ...
."Padre Bellarmino Bagatti", ''La Civiltà Cattolica'', Edizioni 3037-3042, Rassegna Bibliografica, p. 512 From 1935 he was professor of Jerusalem topography and Christian archaeology at the
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (English: Franciscan Biblical Studies) is a Franciscan academic society based in Jerusalem. It is a center of biblical and archaeological research and studies. Organization Founded in 1924, the Studium Biblicum Fr ...
in Jerusalem where he played, from the beginning, a role of great importance in the publication of unpublished itineraries of the Holy Land, and the archaeological exploration of ancient Christian shrines. In 1941, with Father Sylvester Saller, he began the series Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Collectio Maior and in 1951, with Father Donato Baldi, he founded the magazine ''Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Liber Annuus''. During the Second World War, he was interned by the British authorities, along with other Franciscans of Italian and German nationality, in the internment camp of Emmaus-Qubeibeh. In the decade 1968–1978 he was Director of the Studium and for many years he was also a teacher in the International Theological Study of the Custody of the Holy Land. In the academic year 1973-74 he wanted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Studium and his work was rewarded with a significant letter of gratitude that
Cardinal Jean Villot Jean-Marie Villot (11 October 1905 – 9 March 1979) was a French prelate and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Lyon from 1965 to 1967, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1967 to 1969, Vatican Secre ...
, Secretary of State, addressed to the Minister General of the Order on behalf of
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
. He died on October 7, 1990, in the Franciscan Convent of St. Saviour in Jerusalem. Since 1997 he has been buried in the cemetery of Mount Zion in Jerusalem.


Archaeological excavations

Bagatti was responsible for numerous excavation campaigns in Italy, Palestine, Israel and Jordan; with his studies he made a decisive contribution to the progress of biblical archaeology in the field of Palestinology. * Rome: Cemetery of Commodilla (1933–34) * Jordan:
Mount Nebo Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses ...
(1935) **
Khirbet al-Mukhayyat Khirbet al-Mukhayyat (Arabic: خربة المُخيَّط) also commonly known as the town of Nebo is a village in Madaba Governorate in Jordan. The village is about 3.5 km from Mount Nebo also known as ''Siyagha''. Many Byzantine churches ...
(at different times) * Israel and Palestine **
Church of the Beatitudes The Church of the Beatitudes ( he, כנסיית הר האושר) is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee near Tabgha and Capernaum in Israel. History The church is located on a small hill overlooking th ...
(1936) **
Church of the Visitation The Church of the Visitation (formerly ''Abbey Church of St John in the Woods'') is a Catholic church in Ein Karem, Jerusalem, and honors the visit paid by the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (). Th ...
at
Ein Karem ar, عين كارم , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = Ein Karem IMG 0624.JPG , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Ein Karem , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_ ...
(1938) ** Emmaus-Qubeibeh (1940–44) **
Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity,; ar, كَنِيسَةُ ٱلْمَهْد; el, Βασιλική της Γεννήσεως; hy, Սուրբ Ծննդեան տաճար; la, Basilica Nativitatis is a basilica located in B ...
, Bethlehem (1948) ** Dominus Flevit on the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
(1953–55) **
Basilica of the Annunciation : ''This article refers to the basilica in Nazareth. For information on the church associated with the Blagoveschenskaya Tower in Russia, see Kremlin towers or Cathedral of the Annunciation.'' The Church of the Annunciation ( la, Basilica Annunti ...
, Nazareth (1954-1971) **
Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai The Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai ( ka, ნაზარეთის და სინაის ქართული გრაფიტი) are the Old Georgian pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literall ...
(1955-1960) **
Stella Maris Monastery The Stella Maris Monastery is a Catholic Church, Catholic Christians, Christian monastery for Discalced Carmelites, Discalced Carmelite Monk, monks, located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The main church inside the Stella Maris Mo ...
,
Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
(1960–61)


Dominus Flevit

In 1953 the Franciscans began construction of wall on property they held on the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
. While digging the foundations, workers unearthed ancient tombs. Excavations began at the site, led by Fr. Bellarmino Bagatti, OFM. Over the course of the next two years a Canaanite tomb from the Late Bronze Age, as well as a necropolis used from 136 BC to AD 300 were discovered. A Byzantine monastery from the 5th century was also discovered. Mosaics from this monastery still remain at the site which is now occupied by the
Dominus Flevit Church Dominus Flevit (Latin, "the Lord wept") is a Roman Catholic church on the Mount of Olives, opposite the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel. During construction of the sanctuary, archaeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Cana ...
.


Nazareth

Bagatti carried out extensive excavation at Nazareth from 1954 to 1971 and uncovered pottery dating from the Middle Bronze Age (2200 to 1500 BC) and ceramics, silos and grinding mills from the Iron Age (1500 to 586 BC) which indicated substantial settlement in the Nazareth basin at that time. He also unearthed quantities of later
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
artifacts.B. Bagatti, ''Excavations in Nazareth'', vol. 1 (1969), pp. 272–310. His discoveries indicate that the village now known as
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
was no more than a small
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in the 1st century. Bagatti found a number of kokh-type tombs in the Nazareth area.


Works

Among his writings are: *''Excavations in Nazareth, Volume 1, From the Beginning till the XII Century (1971)'' and ''volume II, From the 12th century until Today'' *''The church from the circumcision: history and archaeology of the Judaeo-Christians''. His thesis on the
Church of Zion, Jerusalem The Church of Zion, also known as the Church of the Apostles on Mount Zion, is a presumed Jewish-Christian congregation continuing at Mount Zion in Jerusalem in the 2nd-5th century, distinct from the main Gentile congregation which had its home a ...
(1976) gained the support of Emmanuel Testa but is not generally accepted by the majority of archeologists.


References


External links


: SBF Studium Biblicum Franciscanum
{{Authority control Archaeology of Israel 1905 births 1990 deaths 20th-century archaeologists