![]() Many of these ancient, pre-Christian temples, including the Temple in Jerusalem, were oriented from the east to the west. These buildings tap into a widely held religious history that the deity dwells in the holy place. Many ancient and modern Christians believe that Jesus is physically present in communion – the ritual that in some Christian thought involves the actual transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.Īs such, cathedrals such as the Basilica of San Vitale in Italy, constructed in the sixth century A.D., contain mosaics to depict Jesus as actually present in communion. Such building practices borrowed from two main areas of precursors: ancient temples and places of Roman administration.Īncient temples across cultures, including the one in Jerusalem, generally were thought of as spaces where the god or goddess lived. ![]() With imperial backing, Christians began to build their places of worship, known as “churches” from the Greek kuriake “belonging to the lord,” above ground. The cross as a widely displayed symbol of Christian faith would become more frequent only after the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century A.D. Prominent scenes include depictions of the Bible that highlighted deliverance from death.ĭepictions of Jesus of Nazareth appear in these catacombs, but often borrowing from the likeness of the Greek god Hermes, who functioned as a messenger deity as well as a carrier of souls in the afterlife. In any case, such tombs became the repositories of art expressions in the early decades of the religion. ![]() Other explanations have been offered regarding the regular use of the catacombs as a result. However, such persecutions were periodic and not sustained. ![]() It has traditionally been thought that Christians used such catacombs due to persecutions by the Roman government. ![]()
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