Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters

The article presents two unpublished letters from Maltese archaeologists (Giovanni Gatt Said and Paolo Bellanti) to Giovanni Battista de Rossi and Alfred Louis Delattre, the most important early Christian archaeologists of the Mediterranean in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The t...

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Main Author: Chiara Cecalupo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2022-04-01
Series:Bulletin of the History of Archaeology
Online Access:https://www.archaeologybulletin.org/articles/661
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author Chiara Cecalupo
author_facet Chiara Cecalupo
author_sort Chiara Cecalupo
collection DOAJ
description The article presents two unpublished letters from Maltese archaeologists (Giovanni Gatt Said and Paolo Bellanti) to Giovanni Battista de Rossi and Alfred Louis Delattre, the most important early Christian archaeologists of the Mediterranean in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The two texts have recently been discovered in the Vatican Library and in the Archive of the Missionaries of Africa in Rome respectively. Both deal with topics of great importance for Maltese Christian archaeology: St Paul’s Grotto in Rabat and the evolution of Christian underground tombs and Christian lamps. The two authors appealed to two authorities in the field of scientific research at the time to allow Maltese archaeological research to advance. These letters are presented here with the full text and critical commentary, with the aim of using them as good examples to contribute to the reconstruction of the history of Christian archaeological research on the island, and to understand the role of their authors in the reconstruction of the problematic past of the Church of Malta.
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spelling doaj.art-6993efcb66f94b21baf02c0f095ae03a2022-12-22T02:23:38ZengUbiquity PressBulletin of the History of Archaeology2047-69302022-04-0132110.5334/bha-661607Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown LettersChiara Cecalupo0Universidad Carlos III de MadridThe article presents two unpublished letters from Maltese archaeologists (Giovanni Gatt Said and Paolo Bellanti) to Giovanni Battista de Rossi and Alfred Louis Delattre, the most important early Christian archaeologists of the Mediterranean in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The two texts have recently been discovered in the Vatican Library and in the Archive of the Missionaries of Africa in Rome respectively. Both deal with topics of great importance for Maltese Christian archaeology: St Paul’s Grotto in Rabat and the evolution of Christian underground tombs and Christian lamps. The two authors appealed to two authorities in the field of scientific research at the time to allow Maltese archaeological research to advance. These letters are presented here with the full text and critical commentary, with the aim of using them as good examples to contribute to the reconstruction of the history of Christian archaeological research on the island, and to understand the role of their authors in the reconstruction of the problematic past of the Church of Malta.https://www.archaeologybulletin.org/articles/661
spellingShingle Chiara Cecalupo
Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
Bulletin of the History of Archaeology
title Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
title_full Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
title_fullStr Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
title_full_unstemmed Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
title_short Christian Archaeology in Malta between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Two Unknown Letters
title_sort christian archaeology in malta between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from two unknown letters
url https://www.archaeologybulletin.org/articles/661
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