Michele Bacci (ed.), The Milk Grotto. Historical, Archaeological, and Anthropological Perspectives (Collectio Minor 48), Milano 2025
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As pilgrims to Bethlehem well know, most of the holy spots that are worthy of worship are not to be found on the earthly surface, but rather in underground environments, as in the case of the Nativity cave, and the nearby Grottos. A few meters from these caves there is another one that is universally known as the Milk Grotto, which differs from other loca sancta in its distinctive character. Its public worship was nurtured and kept alive mainly by the local population and particularly by women, Christian and Muslim, who recognized in the whitish powder of its rocky walls a powerful remedy against the momentary loss of breast milk.
The present book can be considered as the biography of a very special locus sanctus, whose multiple lives, thanks to the collaboration of Michele Bacci with two scholars with different backgrounds, are described and interpreted from three different viewpoints: cultural-historical, anthropological, and archaeological.
In his text, Bacci analyses the history of the site and the cultic phenomena associated with it from the first documented moments in the 12th century until our times. Annette Hoffmann’s article delves into the history of the cultic practices associated with the holy site, and more specifically with the habit of ingesting its chalky earth in the aim to obtain the restitution of lacking milk. Carmelo Pappalardo investigates the history of the built structures that are to be found in the plot of ground located above the Milk Grotto.
With essays by Michele Bacci, Annette Hoffmann and Carmelo Pappalardo.
Contents
Preface (Michele Bacci)
Cultic Identities and Experiential Dimensions of the Milk Grotto (12ᵗʰ-20ᵗʰ Century) (Michele Bacci)
The Holy Family’s Dwelling Places in Bethlehem
Locating Mary’s Lactation
Ground-Level and Underground Holy Spots
Spatial and Temporal Sequences along the Way to Beit Sahur
The Chapel of Saint Joseph
Shifting Traditions: Paula and Eustochium’s Burial Site
Redefining the Cultic Identity of the Milk Grotto
Embodied Experiences of the Site’s Materiality
Transformations of the Milk Grotto in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Concluding Remarks
«As if it were white cheese»: The Rock of the Milk Grotto and the Idea of its «Transubstantiation» (Annette Hoffmann)
Archaeological Investigations in the Milk Grotto (Carmelo Pappalardo)
Historical Background
The Franciscan Shrine
The Research of Bellarmino Bagatti
The Construction of the New Sanctuary
The 2005 Excavation
The Mosaics
The Arabic Inscription
Ceramics and Small Finds
Commentary on Ceramics and Glasses
Contexts, Phases and Dates
Conclusions
Plates
Anthology of Written Sources on Bethlehem’s Milk Grotto, 12ᵗʰ-First Half of the 19ᵗʰ Century (Michele Bacci)
Bibliography
Edited Texts (Other than Holy Land Travelogues and Descriptions)
Holy Land Travelogues and Descriptions
Literature