Page - 91 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

6 Water in Early ChristianRitual: BaptismandBaptisteries inCorinth 91 Fig. 1:Corinth, baths inRoman times. LR: Late Roman. in a public water place nonetheless would not be surprised: Jews practised their own ritual washings,andbaptismpractisedasan immersion intowaterwould firstofall resembleawash- ing connectedwith words whichmight not even have been heard by passers-by. Taking into account that thiswasa religiousact,andknowing thatafterbaptismChristbelieversparticipat- ed inmeetingsheld inprivatehomes,paganCorinthiansprobablywouldhave thoughtof simi- larpaganritualsandgatheringsas in theMysteries,51 althoughthere isnorealparallel toChris- tianbaptism in thepagancults.52 Demeter andKorehada sanctuaryat thehill beneathAcrocorinth (Fig. 1) andEleusiswith itsMystery cult ofDemeter andKorewasnot far fromCorinth. The cult imagesofDemeter and Kore in Corinthwere not exposed to view53 andmight have been part of amystery cult too.54 Althoughwater facilities in the sanctuary apparentlywere no longer in use inRoman times,55 51 Lucian(2ndcenturyAD)calledChristianityanewτελετή(Lucian.DemortePeregrini 11)andCelsus (2ndcentury AD) comparedChristianity to theother τελεταί (Orig. 3, 59). Kloft 2003, 114. 52 Graf 2011, 101f. 110–114. 53 Paus. 2, 4, 7. Reichert-Südbeck 2000, 222. 225–227; Brown2018, 142–144. 54 Reichert-Südbeck 2000, 225, notes the largenumber of cultmembers,most probably exclusivelywomen. 55 Seen.49.