8 Albanians in the Holy Land – Absence of Archaeological Evidence or Evidence of Absence?

Abstract

The existence of Albanian institutions in Jerusalem during the Late Byzantine - Early Islamic periods is attested by two historical texts: the list of Anastas Vardapet, mentioning four monasteries that belong to the community, and The History of the Country of the Albanians by Movses Daskhurantsi (or Kałankatuatsi), which contains a list of ten Jerusalemite monasteries that belong to the Albanians. The discovery and decipherment of the Albanian palimpsests of the collection of St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai open a new chapter in the study of the Albanian community of the Holy Land. Apart from the Sinaitic manuscripts, the Caucasian Albanians left no material traces in the Holy Land, and no archaeological finds clearly associated with Caucasian Albanians were discovered. However, the accurate analysis of archaeological evidence may shed light on the obscure history of the Albanians in the Holy Land and testify to the relations between the Churches of the three Caucasian countries.