The book offers a comprehensive anthropological study of lived Christianity in Jerusalem’s Old City, with a special focus on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Church of the Anastasis. Based on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork, the study explores the experiences of the Rum Orthodox community, examining their internal dynamics and relationships with other Christian groups. Within the Church of the Anastasis, complex interplays emerge, as fragile legal agreements intermingle with ethnic and theological considerations, resulting in a complex reality of shared spaces and coexistence. A materialist lens is employed to study these dynamics, suggesting that the material aspects of religious practices play a crucial role in shaping borders and influencing perceptions of similarities and differences across them. Outside the Church's confines, in the Old City of Jerusalem, lay Christians, especially the local Palestinian Orthodox, engage in 'border-crossing practices', which often deviate from the Orthodox Church's approved practice. These practices reflect the flexible strategies local Christians adopt in their everyday lives in Israel, challenging established norms and boundaries. By capturing these dynamics, the book provides valuable insights into shared sacred spaces and offers a significant contribution to debates in the anthropology of Christianity and its material culture.
Abstract ................................................................................... xi
Acknowledgments .................................................................. xiii
List of Illustrations .................................................................xvii
Transliteration ........................................................................ xxi
Prologue ............................................................................... xxiii
Chapter One. Introduction ........................................................ 1
1.1 Presentation of the topic .............................................. 1
Jerusalem’s Christianity .............................................. 2
Boundaries and borders ............................................... 4
The Anastasis .............................................................. 5
1.2 Theoretical approaches ................................................ 7
Diverse Perspectives .................................................... 9
The Pilgrims presence: An intertwined dynamic ........ 12
Shared borders .......................................................... 13
Local Palestinian Christians: a minority report .......... 16
Border crossing ......................................................... 19
1.3 Materialising the borders ........................................... 20
Material and ethical considerations ........................... 26
1.4 The Anthropology of Christianity .............................. 28
Tracing the Journey of Anthropology of Christianity... 29
Emerging Anthropological Narratives ........................ 30
1.5 Fieldwork methodology ............................................. 31
Accommodation ........................................................ 36
On writing ................................................................ 38
On reading ................................................................ 39
On methodological participation and reflexivity ........ 40
On chanting .............................................................. 41
1.6 Summary and outline ................................................ 43
Chapter Two. Rum Orthodox Jerusalem: The Geographical
and Historical Context ..................................................... 47
2.1 Introduction .............................................................. 47
2.2 Rum Orthodox Jerusalem: The historical context ........ 48
The Byzantine apogee – the Spoudaioi ....................... 49
The Arab conquests ................................................... 50
The Crusader knights ................................................ 52
Theological differences ............................................. 52
Mameluk and Ottoman Jerusalem: The Struggle
for Jesus’ Tomb ................................................. 54
Upholding the Status Quo: British, Jordanian, and
Israeli Rule ........................................................ 57
2.3 Historical consciousness and multitemporality .......... 58
Historical imagination and history ............................ 58
Continuity and Repetition: The Multitemporal
Liturgical Cycle ................................................. 61
Greek versus Orthodox .............................................. 63
The Palestinian Orthodox and ‘border crossing’ ......... 65
2.4 The geographical context........................................... 67
Experiencing the geography ...................................... 68
Spitting and ‘blood drinking’ ..................................... 71
Entering the Anastasis ............................................... 73
Stone of Unction ....................................................... 76
Golgotha ................................................................... 76
The Chapel of Adam – the Greek Treasury ................ 78
The Holy Archway and various chapels ..................... 78
Franciscan chapels in the Rotunda ............................ 79
The Panagios Taphos (Holy Sepulchre) ..................... 80
The Chapels under Coptic and Syriac control in the
Anastasis ........................................................... 82
The Greek Katholikon ............................................... 83
2.5 The Anastasis’ Christian communities ........................ 84
The Franciscan Custodia ........................................... 84
The Armenian Orthodox Brotherhood of St. James .... 85
The Coptic Orthodox community .............................. 86
The Ethiopian Orthodox community ......................... 87
The Syriac Orthodox community ............................... 87
2.6 Summary ................................................................... 88
Chapter Three. The Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem:
Salvation and Reciprocity ................................................ 89
3.1 Introduction .............................................................. 90
3.2 The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre (Agiotaphitiki
Adelphotis) ............................................................... 94
The administration of the monastery ......................... 96
Patriarchal power...................................................... 99
Exchange ................................................................ 103
Agiotaphites and Mar Sabbaites ................................ 106
Money and Religious Economy................................ 110
Clientelist ties and personal connections ................. 112
Morning services ..................................................... 115
Case 1: Archbishop Nikolaos ................................... 118
Case 2: Archimandrite Petros .................................. 122
Tasi ....................................................................... 123
3.3 Tense relations: Boundaries among the local Palestinian
Orthodox Christians ......................................... 126
The Jordanian Law ................................................. 129
Palestinian Orthodox Bishops .................................. 132
Balancing between religion and politics: The
Patriarchal land ............................................... 135
Land and political conflict ....................................... 136
3.4 Summary ................................................................. 139
Chapter Four. The Anastasis’ materiality: Ethics across borders .. 143
4.1 Introduction ............................................................ 144
Everyday life around the holy sites: Guarding the
Tomb of Jesus.................................................. 145
Precedent and the Status Quo Ladder ....................... 148
4.2 Ethics across borders ............................................... 152
4.3 Liturgical things and affect in the transformation of
the Anastasis’ borders ............................................ 160
The process of making the Orthodox space .............. 162
Antimension ............................................................ 168
Affect-inducing things in the drafting of borders ..... 170
The affective interplay of pilgrimage and spatial
borders in the Anastasis ................................... 174
4.4 The State of Israel and the Anastasis’ Communities:
An Ongoing Choreography ..................................... 176
Safety invasions ...................................................... 177
The legal framework since the 1967 occupation ...... 180
The choreography of the Deir es-Sultan dispute ...... 182
Eddie: An ‘Israeli Arab’ police officer ...................... 185
Orthodox Pascha ..................................................... 187
4.5 Summary ................................................................. 189
Chapter Five. The vicinity of the Old City: Border makings and
crossings ....................................................................... 191
5.1 Introduction ............................................................ 191
5.2 Local mixing: ‘Border-crossing’ practices ................. 195
Sunday worship ...................................................... 195
Everyday practices .................................................. 197
Fasting .................................................................... 198
Confession............................................................... 199
Eucharist ................................................................. 200
Mixed Marriages ..................................................... 201
Celebrating feasts multiple times: Samira, John and
Hagop .............................................................. 204
5.3 Understanding ‘Border-crossing’: The factors ........... 206
Familiarity with ‘Otherness’: A common
Mediterranean experience ............................... 207
Living in proximity ................................................. 209
Education ................................................................ 211
Emigration .............................................................. 213
Multilingualism ....................................................... 214
Orthodox and Catholic boundaries .......................... 215
The case of the Rum Catholic Church ...................... 217
Syncretism and ecumenical praxis ........................... 219
Oeconomia .............................................................. 221
5.4 Summary ................................................................. 223
Chapter Six. Light across borders .......................................... 225
6.1 Holy Light ............................................................... 227
Sabt al-Nour and the Israeli presence ...................... 229
Non-Orthodox participation .................................... 236
6.2 Lightmakers and Lightsmashers ............................... 237
Τhe split pillar ........................................................ 239
Choreographic exchange ......................................... 242
Modern Light .......................................................... 244
6.3 Light across borders................................................. 246
6.4 Summary ................................................................. 251
Chapter Seven. Conclusion .................................................... 253
Appendix .............................................................................. 259
Chapter One. Introduction ............................................. 259
Chapter Two. Rum orthodox Jerusalem: The geographical
and historical context ...................................... 260
Chapter Three. The rum orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem:
Salvation and reciprocity ............................ 263
Chapter Four. The anastasis’ materiality: Ethics across
borders .................................................................. 267
Chapter Five. The vicinity of the old city: Border makings
and crossings. ........................................................ 268
Chapter Six. Light across borders ................................... 270
Bibliography ......................................................................... 273
Index .................................................................................... 303
