Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-04

link in this reasoning is furnished by
the BoScoreale treasure in the Louvre
in Paris. comprising numerous cups of
various shapes and designs pertaining
to different periods. The cups of the
Boscoreale treasure have been def
Yftely placed in point of time. ard thus
ut is possible, comparing the Ani.,ch
chalice with them in respect to it's
proportions and general design, to at
tribute it to the latter half of the first
century. Particularly valuable in this
connection is one cup Of the Boscoreale
collection which is positively known
to present the Emperor Augustus in
sculptured ornaments. Likenesses be-
tween the Augustine and Antioch cups
are so numerous as to indicate not
merely the period. but to suggest, If
not to prove, that the artist engraved
the twelve heads on the latter, if not
from life. at least from cotemporaneous
portraits.
1t is believed that these heads on the
Antioch chalice We're made by a con-
verified Greek artist of great ability,
whose enthusiasm and faith in his
new religion says DR.. Eisen, in his
preliminary report printed in recent
issue of the American Journal of
Archaeology. blended admirably with
his classical training as a sculptor"
Furthermore the design and tech
arabesque structure of the outer cup,
as well as the manner of placing
statues inside of loops formed by vine
branches, is often seen on pottery of
the first century B. c. to the first CEN
fury A. D. But one of the most con-
elusive facts in this connection is that
the nimbus and other symbols not
known or used by the Christians of the
first century are absent from the
chalice.
If it is accepted that this is a genuine
A. D.-and it is impossible to stand in
its presence without a feeling of con-
viction, even without scientific knowl-
edge to justify 1.-THE questions arise
as to what it was and what its pur-
pose. What part did it play in the
ancient rites of the church"
That the great chalice of Antioch did
pertain to the church may be deduced
from the fact of its discovery on what
may have been the site of the great
Christian church established by Con-
stantine, which was destroyed by the
earthquake of 500 A. d. A local ira
dition does in truth refer to the site of
the treasure as that of the church of
Constantine, and it is possible that the
subterranean chambers reached by the
Arabs in their well-digging once COM
prised the vaults of the edifice. Or the
treasure may have been buried in some
falling into the hands of Persian in
vaders who from time to time swept
into Syria.
The great earthquake of 526 occurred
at a time when Antioch was the scene
of an assembly of 100000 Christians
The city was leveled by the shock and
so thoroughly destroyed that the in
habitants could not find the site of their
old habitations. Other shocks came in
52S and 5sS. In 53S the most disastrous
of the Persian invasions occurred so
that throughout the sixth century An
tioch was the scene of repeated WISH
tations of man and nature calculated to
cause the burial. accidental or inten-
tional, of everything of value 1t Is
interesting to note that the book covers
found with the chalice are attributed
to the fifth century, indicating that the
burial could not have occurred earlier
than that century. Consequently it may
be deduced that this treasure has been
under ground nearly 1.400 years.
The inner bowl of the chalice, while
of a highly artistic shape, is crude in
his preliminary report was apparently
made hastily and without effort in re-
gard to finish. The edge of the lip collar,
by which it is fastened to the sculp-
tured outer cup, was left uneven and
was not even beveled off as on the Ros-
coreale cups, now in the Louvre. 1t is
held to be incredible that the great ar
fist of the sculptures should have done
the crude work of the bowl. OF it DR..
Eisen says in his report:
* -
There must have been weghty rea-
sons for leaving it in It's crude condition
when there was the opportunity to. alter
it's appearance and give it a proper fin
ish The simplest explanation seems to
be that the inner bowl was a sacred
object which It would have been sacri-
lege to alter. The owners who decided
upon its ornamentation We're probably
Influenced by legends which they be-
lieved and by tradition which had long
been dear to worshiperS. The chalice
must have been communion cup,