Pagan Cults Research Articles

King Josiah’s Reform on Pagan Cult of Astral Worship and Its Textual History

King Josiah’s Reform on Pagan Cult of Astral Worship and Its Textual History

The Cult of Mithras in Early Christian Literature – an Inventory and Interpretation

Abstract This article investigates references to Mithraism in early Christian works, dating from the second to fifth centuries AD. It argues that the way the Mithras cult was described and/or addressed transformed as the relative positions in society of Christianity and pagan cults changed. In the earliest period Christianity was only one religious group among many, and its later dominance could not be foreseen. This may have made Christian writers eager to distinguish themselves from other religious groups by a detailed explanation of the differences between their religion and others, and by a careful exposition of what their cult entailed and why other cults were wrong. In later periods, when the position of Christianity was much stronger, a systematic refutation of other religions was no longer necessary. Most references to the cult of Mithras in later periods therefore merely seem to emphasize the superiority felt by Christians over other religions. An Appendix collects all references to the Mithras cult in patristic literature from the second to fifth century AD.

Christianisation and the Afterlife of Pagan Open-Air Cult Sites. Evidence from the Northern Frankish Frontier

In this article we try to explain why some pagan open-air cult sites were used until the twelfth to thirteenth centuries or even later, long after the introduction of Christianity (sixth to eighth centuries) in what are now the Netherlands. To reconstruct the Christianization process we link Milis’ 1986 model of phased Christianization with archaeological data. Findings are mainly compared to contemporary Anglo-Saxon England. As a result of sociocultural, geopolitical and demographic differences reuse patterns turn out to be regionally diverse. Unlike Anglo-Saxon England Christian re-use of pagan cult sites appears to have been very rare. Probably this is because in the large parts of Netherlands Christianization was enforced: conversion was part of aggressive Frankish expansion culminating in the ‘Saxon Wars’. Christianity’s conquest was far from uncontested and the frontier zone changed hands several times. During this period there is some archaeological evidence of both competition and pagan revival. T...

Origen, vías de penetración y expansión de cruces y cruceros en la Península Ibérica

This article aim to clarify the origin of the crosses made of stone spread all over the Spanish geography. These elements were considered as artistic elements and had an simbolic, social and cultural importance. Christian doctrine employed the symbol of the cross in order to christianize certain places or items belonging to former pagan cults. Christianity placed crosses on dolmens, menhirs, paths, bridges, fountains and mountains, with or without pedestal, made either of wood or stone, with different forms and features.

High-Resolution Archaeoenvironmental Study of a Cultic Episode at a Statue-Menhir Copper Age Site (Ossimo Anvòia, Italian Alps)

Nine excavation seasons at Ossimo Anvòia in the Val Camonica (Central Alps, Italy) have brought to light a Copper Age ceremonial area with symbolic monoliths (statue menhirs) in their original position. Hundreds of artifacts and ecofacts indicate ideological activity during the 3rd millennium BC. A large pit (F18) was discovered that was unusual for its great size and the abundance of well-preserved charcoal. The pit housed a fallen monolith (M9) showing complicated reshaping. A detailed spatial study based on 6 radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements combined with charcoal analysis has untangled key information to define the history of feature F18-M9. 14C data show that the burning event occurred most probably in the 4th century AD, not in prehistory. We infer a unique episode of “reconsecration” during the very latest phases of pagan cult activity in the Val Camonica. Further studies are needed to resolve the relationships with other features of the site. In addition, charcoal analysis has produced paleobotanical information for a scarcely known period in the environmental history of the area. A sparse forest with Picea abies, Larix decidua, and Fagus sylvatica existed, associated with areas likely devoted to grazing. There is a remarkable absence of chestnut.

Les anges païens de l’Antiquité tardive

The pre-Islamic eastern Mediterranean world had many forms of paganism, rooted in local tradition and co-existing with Jewish and Christian monotheism. Paganism could sometimes manifest itself through a hierarchy of gods, in which a single supreme deity might suggest a kind of pagan monotheism. Yet all pagans worshipped more than one god, although they nowhere constituted a coherent social unit. In the Qur’ān Muhammad alludes to mushrikūn (cultsharers), who are normally taken to be pagans, although this view has recently been challenged. Inasmuch as angels in pre-Islamic pagan cults illustrate concepts of divine mediation that differ from the monotheist religions, the present study concentrates on the language for angels and their nature among polytheists, in both Semitic and Graeco-Roman contexts. In some places angels are even themselves gods. This naturally complicates any imagined hierarchy that would make them subordinate to a supreme god or a component of one. Analysis of words such as Greek angelos or Arabic malak, together with available epigraphic and literary testimony, confirms the polytheism of pagans, above all among the contemporaries of Muhammad.

High-Resolution Archaeoenvironmental Study of a Cultic Episode at a Statue-Menhir Copper Age Site (Ossimo Anvòia, Italian Alps)

Nine excavation seasons at Ossimo Anvòia in the Val Camonica (Central Alps, Italy) have brought to light a Copper Age ceremonial area with symbolic monoliths (statue menhirs) in their original position. Hundreds of artifacts and ecofacts indicate ideological activity during the 3rd millennium BC. A large pit (F18) was discovered that was unusual for its great size and the abundance of well-preserved charcoal. The pit housed a fallen monolith (M9) showing complicated reshaping. A detailed spatial study based on 6 radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements combined with charcoal analysis has untangled key information to define the history of feature F18-M9.14C data show that the burning event occurred most probably in the 4th century AD, not in prehistory. We infer a unique episode of “reconsecration” during the very latest phases of pagan cult activity in the Val Camonica. Further studies are needed to resolve the relationships with other features of the site. In addition, charcoal analysis has produced paleobotanical information for a scarcely known period in the environmental history of the area. A sparse forest withPicea abies, Larix decidua,andFagus sylvaticaexisted, associated with areas likely devoted to grazing. There is a remarkable absence of chestnut.

Zagłada filozofów helleńskich w Imperium Romanum – obraz mędrców w relacji Sokratesa z Konstantynopola i Hermiasza Sozomena

Socrates of Constantinople, the author of the Ecclesiastical History, distin­guishes between two types of philosophy: one practised by the use of words and the second reflected in deeds. The reason why the latter was considered by Socrates to be the true philosophy was the fact that it was the way to find God. That, at the same time, was the most important exercise for philosophers. According to histo­rians even an ordinary uneducated man, could also practise philosophy. However, Socrates believed that having Hellenic education with philosophical studies, was extremely useful for stopping the paganism, in particular. What is more, it enabled speech enhancement and development of the ability to think logically. He pointed out that a lot of sages were near the discovery of God. But he was aware of the existence of false philosophers with the emperor Julian the Apostate, who, un­like true philosophers, was still subject to the passions. By impersonating of the true philosophers they were cheaters and easily changed their views, in addition professed pagan cults. Sozomen also distinguished two types of philosophy: the Hellenic philosophy and the philosophy of church. Unlike Socrates, Sozomen did not attribute any value to the classical philosophy. He did not divide the philoso­phers into true and false. It seems that the work of Sozomen contains a crucial message. As the period of pagans quickly passed so did their wisdom and those who loved them. Thus, information about the extermination of Hellenistic phi­losophers was included in his Ecclesiastical History. They were replaced with Christian philosophers gathered in the monastic movement developing vigorously.

Mission to the Gentiles: The construction of Christian identity and its relationship with ethics according to Paul

Paul allowed pagans to become members of the newly founded communities of Christ-believers and thus members of God’s covenant people, Israel, without becoming circumcised. However, even if many of the ‘pagan Christians’ who became members of the new messianic movement had a background as God-Fearers in the frame of diaspora synagogues, the radicalism of their ‘step in faith’ can hardly be overestimated. With their turn from different pagan cults and their gods to the mysterious God of Israel and his crucified and risen Son, Jesus Christ, a whole coordinate system of human relationships, expectations, hopes and norms must have changed. This paper explores the construction of Christian identity and its relationship with ethics according to Paul. It is illustrated how Paul himself describes the system of changed relationships: turning away from the idols towards the living God, being in Christ or – together with others – part of the ‘body of Christ’. Moreover, these three dimensions of new relations – to God, to Christ and to the fellow believers in Christ – correspond to three reference points for ethical decisions in Pauline communities: the command to love one another, the idea of human conscience (as a voice coming from God) and the idea of the ‘ethos of Christ’.

Images of the Holy Trinity: Origins, Iconographis Features, Deformations

The history of the image of the Holy Trinity reveals that the interpretation of this Christian mystery posed and still poses a challenge Christianity has attempted to face during general meetings encouraging the publishing of theological tracts and enlightening artists as well as those who commission works of art. Meanwhile, artists have tried to depict the glory of one God in three persons, distorting the image to a greater or lesser degree. Christian images often attributed human qualities to theTrinity of God and bestowed Him with an anthropomorphic silhouette. Some of them went so far as to portray the three-faced Trinity revealing a three-theistic thinking, which was a complete diversion from searching for the image of God in three persons. However, in the Christian iconographic tradition it would have been an absurd thing to do. On the contrary, the majority of the images of the Holy Trinity are worthy of respect even though they do pose a problem that needs to be faced.The doctrine of incarnation enables the portrayal of the face of God the Son. In the Old Testament, God does not disclose His face, whereas in the New Testament He reveals the face of the eternal Incarnate Word, i.e. Jesus Christ. The Church permitted the depiction of both the human form of Christ and His biographic events. Around 730, John of Damascus quoted Basilius the Great and emphasized that image worshipping was not a pagan cult as it was not the matter that was being celebrated but rather that which was being depicted, thus “we honour not the sacred image, but the prototype of which the artistic object is only a reflection.” Subsequently, the latter phrase comprised the base of all defenders of Christian images and was often being repeated in order to prove that the cult of images was based on the worshipping of the depicted persons but not the depictions themselves. Christians followed the conviction that the Son was the consubstantial image of the prototype and that only the Son “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “the expressed image of his person” (Heb. 1:3). Thus, the Holy Spirit, in its turn, is also the image of the Son: “and no one can say “Jesus is Lord,” except the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). It is only through the Holy Spirit that we know the Son of God, God the Christ, and see the Father in the Son. By nature, the Word is the proclaimer of the thought, whereas the Spirit is the revealer of the Word. Therefore, only the Son is the living, true and everlasting image of the invisible God containing the Father in Himself, absolutely identical to the Father and only differing in that He has a cause. However, the christomorphic position has not always been gratifying, and it is sometimes thought that Latin Christianity went too far by depicting God humanly. According to French sociologists, such “human, all too human” (Nietzsche) images of God might have contributed to “discrediting” the very idea of God or even the “exculturation” of Christianity. Contemporary art has also been unable to find the means of depicting the Holy Trinity in such a way that both believers and non-believers would not consider it to be provocative. The problem will never be solved if all traditions, doctrines and disciplines, principles and facts, successes and failures in the field are not accepted.The article considers only some of the interpretation aspects of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The portrayal of the glory of God in three persons, iconographic interpretations and deformations have revealed that throughout the history of Christianity much effort has been made to express “clearly” the essence of the Holy Trinity, and yet the mystery has remained both a mystery and a challenge. As the result, the iconographic history of the Holy Trinity and all the related controversies allow us to reconsider the ontological status of its artistic image.

Die kaiserzeitliche Judengesetzgebung von Konstantin bis zur Veröffentlichung von Justinians Novelle 146 (553)

This treatise, which is less concerned with canonical as with historical questions, tries to derive the development of the relationship between the elites of society and church and Judaism from the relevant legal sources. Within this process, the changes that have evolved in the view taken by research are of particular importance. In contrast to the long-prevailing negative view of imperial and church politics, the approach which has become widely established since the 1980s examines the conflicts between the secular and clerical powers, but also those prevailing within the latter. According to this research the Christian emperors, starting with Constantine, largely continued the politics of pre-Christian emperors as far as Judaism was concerned. Despite frequent anti-Jewish encroachments on the part of clerical institutions, the Christian emperors and the official church (i. e. the bishops) followed in the Pauline and Augustine traditions and basically tolerated the Jews as the only non-Catholic religious group, even after the Edict of Thessalonica of 380 banned all pagan and non-Catholic cults. A clear restriction of the legal and, above all, societal position of Jews is, however, noticeable in the period of Justinian. The more recent research tries to overcome the rather selective and one-sided presentation of former approaches and seeks a more comprehensive and balanced interpretation by differentiating between the sources available and by allocating the sources from each period of reign to the categories »legal privileges, legal protection, approximation and preservation of laws, curtailment of laws and missionary concerns.«

Elijah’s Cave on Mount Carmel and its Inscriptions. Part III

The epigraphic corpus comprises a rich and impressive onomasticon, most of it consisting of Greek personal names well known throughout the Greek, Roman and Byzantine worlds. The 148 Greek inscriptions in Elijah’s Cave, discussed in the present article, have yielded an onomasticon of 59 additional Greek, Latin and Semitic proper names. Together with those 30 names that were engraved in the 22 inscriptions discussed in the previous article, the total number is 89 masculine and feminine proper names, some of which are unfamiliar. Some of the Greek inscriptions can be attributed to the Roman era, when the Cave was used as a pagan cult place or shrine to the god Ba‘al Carmel, with Pan and Eros as secondary deities, and others to the early Byzantine period, being a pilgrimage site dedicated to the Prophet Elijah (Elias). The large number of personal names engraved on the walls of the Cave, attest to the many visitors/ pilgrims to the Cave during the Roman and early Byzantine periods. They also indicate the socio-cultural and religious aspects of the people, whether pagans, Jews or Christians, who visited the Cave and engraved their names and other personal details in the hope of commemoration, prosperity and good fortune.

Religionsskiftet i sen vikingetid – Belyst ud fra Harvey Whitehouses teori om religiøse modaliteter

Religionsskiftet i sen vikingetid – Belyst ud fra Harvey Whitehouses teori om religiøse modaliteter

'PAGANISM' IN LATE ANTIQUITY: THEMATIC STUDIES

The pagan cults of Late Antiquity vary greatly in their characteristics. As a consequence it is almost impossible to assemble them under one single category. The triumph of Christianity was by no means inevitable, and it would be wrong to think that from the accession of Constantine imperial policy was set once and for all in favour of his favoured religion. The religious policies of emperors are reflected in the series of imperial pronouncements collated by the emperors Theodosius II and Justinian. The importance and success of the imperial cult can be explained by the fact that it provided a medium through which the nobility could gain access to prestigious priesthoods, and the Roman state could unify the culturally and religiously disparate peoples within its territory. A common feature of the intellectual landscape of Late Antiquity was the importance given to the ascetic holy man. Keywords: Christianity; Constantine; Justinian; Late Antiquity; pagan

Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity (review)

Reviewed by: Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity Michael Bland Simmons Jeremy M. Schott . Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity. Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008 Pp. 254. As this reviewer has already noted (HTR 102 [2009]: 170 n. 2), this is one of the best books published in recent decades which analyze the works of Porphyry of Tyre and their place in the period just before the reign of Constantine. Schott analyzes how Porphyry and the Christian writers Lactantius, Eusebius, and Constantine employed their respective polemical arguments based on their search [End Page 466] for a "universal philosophy" that transcended ethnic and cultural particularity. The underlying principle for pagan polemics and Christian apologetics was the need of the Roman Empire to control the various ethnic groups that inhabited its provinces: "Ethnography and universal history sought a comprehension of diversity homologous to the imperial desire for control of diverse territories and peoples" (166). In Chapter One, Schott shows how Greek philosophers (e.g., Posidonius, Plutarch, Numenius) sought to "distill a universal philosophy that transcended ethnic and cultural specificity" (11). Early Christian apologists (Justin, Tatian) rediscovered the "ur-theology" of Paul which posited the one Creator of the universe. This enabled them to abandon the errors of polytheism and claim to possess the only universal philosophy which transcended cultural particularity. The chapter ends with an analysis of Celsus's definition of Christian exclusivity as rebellion against ancestral religious customs. Chapter Two deals with Porphyry of Tyre. Schott argues that Porphyry's polemical methodology was centered in "a philosophy that transcended cultural and ethnic particularity" (54). The Philosophy from Oracles and Against the Christians reveal a polemical argument which was developed in conjunction with imperial power and identity politics, with the former aimed at offering a "universal philosophy" and attacking the Christians' rival claims to a universal truth. Chapter Three is devoted to Lactantius's Divine Institutes. Lactantius employed Hermes, contemporary oracles of Apollo, and the Sibylline oracles, and Schott concludes that the Christian Cicero understood history as "a grand history of religions" (96), and thus the traditional pagan cults had a demonic origin. Porphyry failed to recognize the universal validity of Christianity. Lactantius perceived the success of Constantine's reign as being due to the simultaneous acknowledgement that Christianity was the vera religio and the cults of the gentes were falsae religiones. Chapter Four focuses on how Constantine's Oration to the Saints and imperial letters employed Christian apologetics to create an "ideology of Christian imperialism" (113) based on a Christian paideia revealed for all people which further served as a unifying force transcending the erroneous traditions of specific peoples. Included in the latter were Greek philosophers like Porphyry who failed to find the universal philosophy because they were too attached to the error of traditional ancestral customs. Chapter Five contains so much that is commendable, not the least of which is the inclusion by Schott of the often ignored and very significant Theophany of Eusebius, though the Praeparatio and Demonstratio are the main focus. Eusebius wrote them in response to Porphyry's attack upon Christian identity and argued that the anti-Christian writer contradicted himself and failed to acknowledge that the Christian religion is the "true universal philosophy" (140). In the works written after Constantine emerged as the church's benefactor (e.g., Theophany), Eusebius changed his understanding of the interrelationship between empire and church. He now perceived the imperial conquest of peoples and Christian evangelism as "two prongs in the same offensive against native error and barbarism" (157). An epilogue shows how the subjugation by Christian European colonialism [End Page 467] of native cultures in the early modern period might have developed from the interrelationship between Roman imperialism and Christian apologetics of the fourth century c.e. Both served as markers of cultural identity and were based on imperial powers. An appendix very convincingly elaborates upon the evidence addressed in earlier chapters of a close connection between Porphyry's anti-Christian works and the policies of the Diocletianic persecution, as well as the identification of Lactantius's unnamed philosopher (div. inst. 5.2) with Porphyry...

Konversion zur Philosophie in der Spätantike: Kaiser Julian und Synesios von Kyrene (review)

Reviewed by: Konversion zur Philosophie in der Spätantike: Kaiser Julian und Synesios von Kyrene Adrian Guiu Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler Konversion zur Philosophie in der Spätantike: Kaiser Julian und Synesios von Kyrene Potsdamer Altertumwissenschaftliche Beiträge 23 Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2008 This study enters the conversation about the character of conversion with figures like Nock, Stark, Travisano, and Mead. After a discussion of the various possibilities, Tanaseanu-Döbler settles for the following definition of conversion: "Conversion is a modification of the identity structure of a person through which marginal or new identities move to prominent position in the hierarchy of identity and become central for their self-understanding" (23). In order to escape false dichotomies in the explanation of conversion and hoping to provide a broader account of conversion she introduces the notion of a universe of discourse, which is, according to G. Mead whom she cites, "simply a system of common or social meanings" (23). The first part of the work "Philosophy and Ritual in Neoplatonism," provides a methodological background for understanding the connection between cultic practice and theory. By discussing Plotinus, the Chaldean Oracles, Iamblichus's De mysteriis, and Porphyry's Letter to Anebo, Tanaseanu-Döbler offers an insight into a lively debate about the role of ritual in philosophy and constructs a horizon for the subsequent discussion of Emperor Julian and Synesius of Cyrene. The chapter dedicated to Julian establishes that the driving force behind his conversion is the quest for philosophical knowledge and not his attraction for pagan cult (93). Even Julian's practice of theurgy and his interest in the Chaldean Oracles only prove his quest for divine purgation and illumination along philosophical lines. According to Tanaseanu-Döbler, theurgy for Julian is not in contradiction with the spiritual ascent because both are essential to the philosopher. The myths and rituals of paganism are filtered through neoplatonic metaphysics. As does Julian, Synesius partakes of the neoplatonic universe of discourse, in which the allegiance to philosophy and all it entails (detachment, purification, and constant ascent) determines his understanding of social and political presence. Even as bishop of the Christian church in Pentapolis and ambassador in Constantinople, he remains truthful to the philosophical life. In his writings (especially in the hymns), "Synesius employs the 'Christian myth' as an image along with others in order to convey fundamental ideas of neoplatonism as the predicament of the soul imprisoned in matter or the demiurgic and soteriologic [End Page 152] function of divine nous" (251). The passage from pagan to Christian imagery is almost seamless as both are harnessed to the task of giving expression to the neoplatonic vision of the soul's fall and ascent to divine contemplation. Tanaseanu-Döbler concludes that independent of their affiliation to different religious traditions (Julian converts from Christianity to paganism, while Synesius remains affiliated with a Christian community) there are several elements their conversions and individual religion share, and the ancient paideia and neoplatonic philosophy provide the fundamental framework for understanding their experience of conversion. From this perspective the Christian-pagan distinction is not as important. Tanaseanu-Döbler insists, however, on the "religious" character of the process. Philosophy, for both Synesius and Julian, was not a merely theoretical enterprise but was fundamentally a religious exercise that ultimately leads one to divine contemplation; both find their way to philosophy through paideia seen as the continuous purgation and refinement of the soul. For both Julian and Synesius, it is the encounter with a towering figure of a great teacher that triggers their conversion and subsequent intellectual development: for Julian it is Maximus of Ephesus and for Synesius it is Hypatia of Alexandria. Julian and Synesius manage to integrate their different social personae through their allegiance to philosophy as a lived experience. In order analytically to capture this complex situation, Tanaseanu-Döbler distinguishes between religious traditions on the one hand and the individual religiosity constructed though the encounter of these traditions on the other hand. While Julian and Synesius opt for different religious traditions, their individual construction of religion and identity is fundamentally similar and informed by Neoplatonism. Thus, philosophy proves a multivalent universe of discourse, a fulcrum...

Dans les pas de Damascius et des néoplatoniciens au Proche-Orient : cultes et légendes de la Damascène

Damascius’s Life of Isidoros or Philosophical History tells the journey to the Near East of the famous neoplatonist and his teacher Isidoros at the end of the fifth century of the Christian era. In his Paysages reliques, Michel Tardieu has dealt with both men’s tour of Southern Syria. The study is extended here to Damascene, according to the fragments which concern the worship of Theandrios and the foundation of Damascus , where Damascius originally came from. Underestimated or imperfectly commented testimonies ensure that these extracts keep the memory of pagan cults practised in the region under the Roman Empire. Some of them enlighten the exegesis of the philosopher. Damascius was also inspired by the tradition which, ever since the Hellenistic period, placed his city either in the middle of an unspecified Arabia or a little Arcadia of the Near East.

Jaroslavna, Voice of the Russian Earth. A Contribution to the Interpretation of the Igor Tale

Several attempts have been made to read the Igor Tale as a symbolic text. The main focus of these has been the “solar nature” of the male hero. This article, however, zooms in on the symbolic role of Iaroslavna. A meticulous analysis of her magical lament clearly shows Igor's wife to be a character that also gives voice to the Russian Earth. The article further demonstrates the relationship that exists between the “Plach” and the enigmatic end of the Slovo: Igor's visit to the Church of the Holy Mother on the Borichev. Given the knowledge that this site used to be the centre of the pagan cult of Rod and Zemlia, the author ventures to conclude that Iaroslavna and the Mother of God Pirogoshchaia constitute two aspects of the semi-pagan and semi-Christian cult of Mat' Syra Zemlia.

Palladas and the Age of Constantine

This article begins with a review of the traditional dates for Palladas (c. A.D. 360–450) and the current consensus of most scholars (c. A.D. 319–400). The first of these relies almost exclusively on the dubious manuscript lemmata and the second on an interpretation of Palladas' epigrams pertaining to the rise of Christianity and the weakening of the pagan cults, which are supposed to be Theodosian in date. Both timelines are difficult to reconcile with two external clues, which together suggest that his floruit must have been earlier than the second half of the fourth century. Further analysis reveals that the important pagan-Christian epigrams are full of Constantine's political and religious propaganda post-324. Another line of inquiry establishes a new set of dates: c. A.D. 259–340.

THE CONSTITUTION OF MEDINA: A SOCIOLEGAL INTERPRETATION OF MUHAMMAD'S ACTS OF FOUNDATION OF THE UMMA

This study offers a sociolegal interpretation of the ancient extant document generally referred to in modern scholarship as the “Constitution of Medina,” showing it to be a three-part composite document written between 622 and 627. Each part has considerable formal coherence as a legal deed. The first part was the deed of foundation of Muhammad's umma, not yet a community of individual believers but a confederation of clans and their clients unified in the struggle in the path of God. The execution of capital punishment for murder was transferred from the clans to the community. The second part guaranteed religious freedom to Jewish confederates, thus laying the foundation of the later Muslim system of religious pluralism; it created the first Muslim sanctuary (ḥarām) and introduced elements of individual responsibility. The third part, here considered a supplement to the second, concerned the defense of the city of Medina against the Quraysh and added one new Jewish clan to the confederation. Taken together, the three parts of the Constitution of Medina transformed the pagan cult of vengeance into holy warfare.