Enciclopedia Cattolica Vol. I, 1948 Christian archaeology Cemeteries

Ain Zara

Italian original Cite

AIN-ZARA - Christian tomb with inscription.

AIN ZARA. - A locality in Libya, about 13 km south of Tripoli, where a very notable early Christian necropolis has been found, generally consisting of tombs built above ground in the manner of chests, with inscriptions carved and then painted on the plaster. Many of them are preserved. The language is Latin, the use of symbols is not rare; the paleography is very poor, there are many allusions to liturgical texts, and no consular dates. These tombs go back to the first centuries of the Arab domination and are an important document for the fortunes of Christianity in Libya in that very obscure age. The nearby necropolis of En Ngila, situated about 12 km further west, has the same character and a similar value.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: An excellent edition is that of S. Aurigemma, L'area cemeteriale cristiana di Ain Zara presso Tripoli di Barberia, Rome 1932; for Ngila, v. R. Paribeni, in Africa Italiana, 1 (1927), p. 76 ff.

Antonio Ferrua

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By Antonio Ferrua

How we know signed in print

Translated from the Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I (1948), col. 606.

More by Antonio Ferrua: Agricola, Pelagian · Albenga, Diocese of · Agnello of Ravenna · Lamb · Agapete

Cite this article

Chicago

Ferrua, Antonio. “Ain Zara.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, col. 606. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/ain-zara.

MLA

Ferrua, Antonio. “Ain Zara.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, col. 606. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/ain-zara.

BibTeX

@incollection{ec1_ain_zara,
  author    = {Ferrua, Antonio},
  title     = {Ain Zara},
  booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
  volume    = {I},
  pages     = {606},
  note      = {Cited by column},
  publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
  address   = {Città del Vaticano},
  year      = {1948},
  url       = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ain-zara}
}

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