Easter eggs in the early Church

Abstract

Easter eggs are present in the tradition of the Eastern and Western Church, and in Judaism as well. Despite the seemingly contradiction in the symbolic meaning of the eggs in Judaism (mourning meal), heathen religions (fertility cult) and Christianity (fact of the resurrection), it looks possible to find the common ground for the egg symbol in the early Church. In the period when the egg was added to the Jewish celebration of the Easter (Pesach), mass conversions to Christianity took place in Europe, Mesopotamia and North Africa, where often Jewish believers in Christ became the bishops. The article describes the historical and cultural context of the introduction of the eggs to the Easter celebration in the Coptic, Antiochian and Jerusalem Churches.