One of the aims of the pilgrims when they visited the holy sites was to take something of the blessing - eulogia in Greek- of the site back home with them, to serve as a remedy or source of protection. Such "souvenirs" often consisted of oil from the lamps that burned at the holy sites, water from the Jordan River, or earth from a place associated with a holy person. To transport these substances, a variety of containers were used, among them small flasks known as ampullae made of pottery, metal, or glass.

Some of the containers have clear provenances, such as the St. Menas ampulla, from the saint's center west of Alexandria in Egypt, and the ampullae from Ephesus in Asia Minor (Turkey). Eulogia vessels are also known from Qal'at Sem'an in northern Syria, which was a large pilgrimage center of Symeon Stylites, the monk who lived on top of a column. Containers similar to these have been discovered in Israel, probably brought here by pilgrims who had stopped at other holy sites en route to the Holy Land, or by pilgrims from the Holy Land who had visited these sites and brought souvenirs home with them.

The pottery eulogia containers, which were excavated in Israel and apparently produced here, are mainly decorated with crosses or geometric designs, and thus it is difficult to assign them to specific pilgrimage centers.

	Local eulogia ampulla decorated with circles Pottery Ramat Rachel, Byzantine period Israel Antiquities Authority, 67-1173/1
	Pottery eulogia ampulla from Asia Minor depicting on one side a man riding a horse and on the other a woman(?) rider Mamilla excavations, Jerusalem, Byzantine period Israel Antiquities Authority, 98-3816
	Pottery eulogia ampulla from Syria depicting a saint on a column Caesarea, Byzantine period, H 10.5 Israel Antiquities Authority, 99-4430

Photos: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem / by Avraham Hay

In the Days of Jesus |In the Early Church |Pilgrimage |Images & Symbols |Monasticism in the Holy Land