In the ruins of a Byzantine monastery, archaeologists uncovered a tomb containing the remains of a skeleton wrapped in a metal chain. Long thought to be a male religious hermit, new analysis reveals the remains belonged to a woman, reshaping assumptions about who practiced extreme forms of early Christian asceticism—practices undertaken with the firm belief that emulating the suffering of Christ would bring one closer to God. Learn more about this discovery and the history of Byzantine religious asceticism at the link in bio. Photograph by Bridgeman Images
07.26 20:00