The church annexes of late antique Cyprus were bustling places of industry, producing olive oil, flour, bread, ceramics, and metal products. From its earliest centuries, the church was an economic player, participating in agricultural and artisanal production.
More than a Church brings together architecture, ceramics, numismatics, landscape archaeology, and unpublished excavation material, alongside consideration of Cyprus’s dynamic and prosperous 4th–10th-century history. Keane offers a rich picture of the association between sacred buildings and agricultural and industrial facilities—comprehensively presenting, for the first time, the church’s economic role and impact in late antique Cyprus.
Catherine T. Keane, Ph.D. (2021), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, is a postdoctoral researcher at Philipps-Universität Marburg. Her publications and research focus on the church’s economic roles and resilience, undertaken at Koç University Istanbul, Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, and the Universität Tübingen.
Contents Foreword Illustrations
1
Introduction 1 Research Context and Significance
2 Methodology and Organisation
2
The Byzantine Empire and Cyprus in Late Antiquity
3
New Roles of the Church in Late Antiquity 1 Shifting Roles of the Church in Late Antiquity
2 The State of Research on the Late Antique Economy and Church
5
The Flour and Bread Industry: Post-Destruction Activity? 1 Bread, Flour, and Grain
2 Cypriot Sites
3 Episcopal Basilica of Amathous
4 Post-destruction Industry: Continuity or Squatting?
5 Summary Remarks
6
Ceramic Kilns: Reinterpreting a Lime Kiln at a Coastal Basilica 1 Description of Kourion’s Coastal Basilica
2 Lime Kiln
3 Phasing of Church and Annexes
4 Regional Context
5 Ceramic Kilns in Cyprus
6 Summary Remarks
7
The Troodos and Copper: Christianising the Landscape 1 Introduction
2 Soloi and Its Hinterland
3 Mitsero and Tamassos
4 Kalavasos and the Vasilikos Valley
5 South-Western Troodos
6 Agios Kononas
7 Polis / Arsinoe
8 Summary of Mining across the Troodos
9 Landscape and Environment
8
The Church and Economy beyond Late Antiquity 1 Beyond Late Antiquity
2 Church-Building Activity
3 Economic Indications
9
Conclusion 1 Summary
2 Discussion
Bibliography Abbreviations
Ancient Textual Editions
Modern Sources
Appendix: Gazetteer Index of Themes Index of Places Index of People
All interested in late antiquity, late antique Cyprus, the Early Byzantine Mediterranean, religious economies, urban studies, Roman economy and agriculture, early Christianity, architectural history, environmental and sacred landscapes, and Mediterranean trade.