Professor emerita Susan Stevens returning to give lecture at Randolph

Susan Stevens

Susan Stevens, Randolph College professor of classics emerita, will discuss her research in North Africa during a lecture later this fall. 

The lecture, “Bir el Knissia Basilica in Carthage,” will focus on the basilica, its design, and its primary function as a place of burial and as a pilgrimage destination renowned for its wealth of holy sites. 

It is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. in the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College. 

Trained as a classical philologist specializing in Latin with research as an archaeologist, Stevens is a specialist in the archaeology of North Africa and has directed excavations at Carthage and Lamta (Tunisia). 

These excavations have resulted in the publication of numerous articles and three books, the most recent of which—”Bir el Knissia at Carthage: a martyrial basilica complex. Second and Final report”—was released in March 2024. 

The Bir el Knissia basilica, sanctified by the presence of martyrs in tombs and memorials, was built on the outskirts of the city shortly after the Byzantine emperor Justinian wrested Carthage from the Arian Vandals (534), in part to celebrate the restoration of the African church to the Nicene creed. 

The old-fashioned design of the complex harkened back to the three old martyrial basilicas on the outskirts of the city by reflecting their primary function as places of burial ad sanctos, a medieval custom of burying the dead near the tombs of saints and other holy sites, and the original role of martyrs in shepherding the deceased to salvation. 

Bir el Knissia was also part of a route around, and perhaps through, the city, a coordinated enterprise in which considerable funds were invested; it proclaimed the Byzantine capital as a pilgrimage destination, renowned, like Rome, for its wealth of holy sites. 

Stevens’  lecture is free and open to the public; visit www.maiermuseum.org for more information.