キリスト象徴する「よき羊飼い」　金の指輪に…難破船で発見

【エルサレムＡＦＰ＝時事】イスラエル考古学庁（ＩＡＡ）は２２日、地中海に面する古代の港湾遺跡カイサリア沖合で難破船から見つかった金の指輪を公開した。指輪はローマ時代のもので、石の部分にはイエス・キリストを象徴する図像が刻まれている。（写真は石の部分に「よき羊飼い」の図像が彫られた金の指輪。エルサレムでイスラエル考古学庁公開）
　輪の部分が八角形の指輪には緑の石があしらわれており、この石に羊を背負った、ダルマティカ姿の「よき羊飼い」の少年が彫られていた。
　ＩＡＡによると指輪の他に、３世紀のローマ硬貨やワシのブロンズ像、仮面をかぶる人の像、鐘、器なども見つかったという。
　指輪を調査したＩＡＡのヘレナ・ソコロフ氏は、カイサリアは３世紀ローマ帝国の主要な地方都市で、その港は海上輸送の重要拠点だったと説明する。また「よき羊飼い」の図像は初期キリスト教の象徴として存在するが、指輪の石に彫られたものは珍しいと話す。
　ただし当時のカイサリアは民族的・宗教的に多様で、こうした遺物が見つかることも不自然ではないという。指輪は、カイサリアや周辺地域にいたローマ人が所有していたものと考えられる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/12/27-12:38）

Israeli researchers on Wednesday displayed a Roman-era golden ring with an early Christian symbol for Jesus inscribed in its gemstone, found in a shipwreck off the ancient port of Caesarea.
The thick octagonal gold ring with its green gemstone bore the figure of the Good Shepherd in the form of a young shepherd boy in a tunic with a ram or sheep across his shoulders.
The ring was found among a trove of third-century Roman coins, as well as a bronze eagle figurine, bells to ward off evil spirits, pottery, and a Roman pantomimus figurine in a comic mask, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.
A red gemstone with a carving of a lyre was also found in the relatively shallow waters, as well as remains of the wooden hull of the ship, the authority said.
Caesarea was the local capital of the Roman empire in the third century, and its port was a key hub for Rome's activity, according to Helena Sokolov, a curator at the IAA's coin department who researched the Good Shepherd ring.
Sokolov said that while the image exists in early Christian symbolism, representing Jesus as a caring shepherd, tending to his flock and guiding those in need, finding it on a ring was rare.
The presence of such a symbol on a ring probably owned by a Roman operating in or around Caesarea made sense, given the ethnically and religiously heterogenous nature of the port in the third century, when it was one of Christianity's earliest centres.
This was a period when Christianity was just in its beginning, but definitely growing and developing, especially in mixed cities like Caesarea, she told AFP, noting the ring itself was small, implying that it may have belonged to a woman.
And while Christianity was being practised in underground forums at the time, she said the Roman empire was relatively tolerant of new forms of worship including around Jesus, making it reasonable for a wealthy citizen of the empire to wear such a ring.
Alongside the Roman-era finds, IAA divers also discovered in a second wreck nearby a trove of around 560 Mamluk-era coins dating from the fourteenth century.