Bulla Regia I: a new church and Christian cemetery

Abstract

This paper reports the preliminary results from two short seasons of fieldwork that the Tunisian–British Bulla Regia Archaeological Report was able to undertake in September 2016 and 2017. In 2016, the work focused on a geophysical survey of the western cemetery and revealed a complex landscape of funerary enclosures and mausolea outside the protected boundaries of the site, likely to be of Roman date. In 2017, photogrammetric techniques were used to record and plan a Late Antique church and cemetery that was discovered during a rescue excavation in 2010. The church consists of three naves and a series of funerary annexes, which contained burials covered by mosaic or stone epitaphs, including those marking the graves of two bishops and two priests. The church is surrounded by an extensive cemetery with a variety of different tomb types, such as mosaic caissons and simple stepped masonry tombs. The mosaics, inscriptions and finds (ceramics, glass, coins) support a fourth to sixth/seventh century date for the church and cemetery.

Urban transformation in the Central Medjerda Valley (north-west Tunisia) in late antiquity and the middle ages: a regional approach

“…Multiple churches built in the fourth-fifth centuries have been excavated at Bulla Regia (Figure 8). The earliest of these was likely a funerary church erected on the western edge of the pagan cemetery, possibly over an earlier mausoleum (Chaouali et al 2018; see Figure 8A). This complex contains the church itself, a series of funerary chapels, a walled funerary enclosure, and an extensive cemetery with over 300 recorded burials, including two bishops, Armonius and Procesius (Chaouali 2019).…”

“…It is presumably also in this period that the second smaller church on the same plan was built; the mosaics are in a similar style (Duval 1969). At the same time, the funerary church was repaved in stone covering and closing off the interior of the church for burial (Chaouali et al 2018). The so-called 'Church of Alexander' at Bulla Regia also dates to the sixth or seventh century.…”

“…At Chimtou, the large basilica was abandoned in the second half of the seventh century and subsequently collapsed, as is apparent from a massive layer of debris containing large quantities of interlocking tubes from the vaults of the church. At Bulla Regia, both the Church of Alexander and the outlying funerary church were destroyed by fire in the late seventh century or later; in the latter a funerary chapel was used for storing broken columns (Chaouali et al 2018). In contrast, a possible bishop of the eighth century (Mesnage 1912, 50) and a series of later tombs cut through the mosaic floor of the two-basilica episcopal complex at Bulla Regia also indicate that Basilica 1 continued to be used for burial into at least the eighth century; one of these tombs, a child burial contained Umayyad copper coins (Duval 1969, 229).…”

“…(A) Funerary church at Bulla Regia (after Chaouali et al . 2018). (B) Double basilica complex at Bulla Regia (after Baratte et al .…”

“…At the same time, the funerary church was repaved in stone covering and closing off the interior of the church for burial (Chaouali et al . 2018). The so-called ‘Church of Alexander’ at Bulla Regia also dates to the sixth or seventh century.…”