Archaeologists in Israel have discovered the stays of a nun who practised an extreme type of asceticism.
Dubbed “The Nun of the Rings”, the skeleton of the girl was found buried under the altar within the ruins of a Byzantine monastery that was energetic between the fifth and seventh centuries AD.
She was found certain with around a dozen rings on her arms and hands, 4 on her neck and at the very least 10 on her legs. Her stomach was also covered with iron plates or discs that were attached to the rings.
It is believed that the ring binding was a part of the practice of asceticism or self-flagellation, during which people try to achieve a better spiritual state by eschewing physical pleasures and even by inflicting pain or discomfort on the body.
Although there are written accounts that nuns in addition to monks participated in such practices, that is the primary time that any archaeological evidence for it has been found. The indisputable fact that this nun was buried alone beneath the altar within the monastery suggests she was held in high esteem.
The specific practice of wrapping the body in chains is believed to have begun in northern Syria, from where it spread to Asia Minor after which to the western Christian world in England and France.
The “Historia Religiosa”, written within the fifth century by Theodoret of Cyrrhus, tells the story of two women, Marana and Cyra, who for 42 years certain themselves with chains throughout their bodies.
Other types of asceticism included self-imprisonment, loading the body with heavy weights, sleep deprivation, prolonged fasting, living outdoors or on top of pillars and in some much more extreme cases, throwing oneself into fire or in front of dangerous animals.
Eli Escusido, the Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said, “We have here a captivating discovery, which can require continued research by our researchers on the Israel Antiquities Authority, with a purpose to higher understand the role of girls in religious life and nunhood in that historical period.”
