As the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday, a team of archaeologists found the skeleton of a nun in a grave with heavy iron rings around her arms, legs and neck.
The remains were found around three kilometres northwest of the Old City of Jerusalem at the site of a Byzantine monastery that existed from the 5th to 7th century AD.
According to the press release, an examination of the tooth enamel revealed that the skeleton was that of a woman.
The woman was found in a single grave under the church altar, which was dedicated to her as a sign of honour. There were 12 to 14 rings on her arm, 4 around her neck and at least 10 around her legs. The iron plates on her stomach, to which the rings were attached, gave the skeleton the appearance of wearing armour.
Overall, the remains were in a poor condition.
Known from historical sources
The discovery of the dead nun is a further expression of extreme asceticism, which was widespread among Byzantine monks and apparently also nuns, the researchers emphasise.
At the time, the monks sometimes inflicted physical harm on themselves. It was believed at the time that "the more a person renounces pleasure and even tortures the body, the higher the soul rises to spiritual heights".
According to the researchers, historical sources from the late antique Eastern Roman Empire show that wearing iron rings was a well-known but rather unusual form of extreme asceticism.
Although the theologian Theodoret of Cyrrhus (393-ca. 460) reports of two women who bound their bodies with chains for 42 years, there has been no archaeological evidence of this phenomenon among women to date.
The find also suggests that the method of binding one's own body came from Syria and spread from there.
The nun probably also came from Syria and probably joined a community of monks and nuns who had settled near Jerusalem.