Landscape, Space, and Presence in the Cult of Thekla at Meriamlik

• Autores: Troels Kristensen
• Localización: Journal of early Christian studies: Journal of the North American Patristic Society, ISSN 1067-6341, Nº. 2, 2016, págs. 229-263
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Located at the crossroads between east and west, Seleukeia grew into an urban center of regional importance and played a particularly important role in negotiating the Seleukid dynasty's relationship with the important priest-kingdom of Olba, twenty kilometers north of the city.52 Although the city was not located directly on the coast, the Kalykadnos (modern Göksu) was navigable all the way up to Seleukeia, which made it an important trans-shipment point for goods going north through the Taurus mountains to central Anatolia.53 During the reign of Diocletian, it became the metropolis of the province of Isauria. Besides the acropolis already discussed, Seleukeia consisted of a lower city where the remains of a theatre, a stadium, a very large cistern, and the so-called Temple of Zeus (converted into a church in late antiquity) have been located. A visit with the bishop was typical for Egeria's arrival in a new place, and similar to her earlier visit to Edessa, we can assume that such meetings resulted in an invitation to see (and learn more about) the region's Christian monuments.63 In the case of Egeria, the city of Seleukeia functioned as a gateway into the sacred presence of Thekla, even if her cursory description and rather singular perspective make it difficult to generalize about the level of control that the bishop of Seleukeia possessed over the sanctuary in the late fourth century.64 At a more symbolic level, the relationship between city and sanctuary was worked out in both the Life and especially the Miracles. [...]towards the end of the Life, both the city of Seleukeia (27.26-29) and the river of Kalykadnos are praised (27.29-37): "The city is situated at the beginning of the boundaries of the East, a first rank place and above every city of Isauria," and it proceeds to describe the city's beauty, climate, and the eloquence of its rhetoricians, amongst other things in the ancient rhetorical mode of civic praise.65 Seleukeia is then compared with Tarsus, Paul's home city, a comparison that emphasizes the close connection between apostle and martyr by integrating Thekla's sanctuary into a broader sacred geography.66 In the Miracles, Thekla's role and relationship to Seleukeia is further addressed. [...]in Mir. 5, the city is saved by Thekla when a group of bandits stage a surprise attack by night.67 Consequently, in Mir. 6, she is described as Seleukeia's "defender (...), protector (...), mother (...), and teacher (...),"68 strongly pointing to the allevading influence of Thekla on a whole series of aspects of civic identity. [...]I would like to thank the Danish Council for Independent Research for funding my Sapere Aude project, "The Emergence of Sacred Travel: Experience, Economy and Connectivity in Ancient Mediterranean Pilgrimage" (www.sacredtravel.dk).