Search results for: byzantine in All Content

Maria Virgo - a special patron Ottonian rulers?

Maria Panna – szczególna patronka władczyń ottońskich?

Author(s): Grzegorz Pac / Language(s): French,Polish,German,Italian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Roman Michałowski; medieval history; Church history; Christianity in the early Middle Ages; Pope Gregory VII; Dictatus pape

An anniversary publication for the renowned medieval historian Professor Roman Michałowski. The articles collected in the volume address the widely understood issues of medieval political and religious culture as well as the history of the Church in that period. Their authors, experts on the Middle Ages, come from Poland and from abroad and are not only historians but also archaeologists.

Bracelet with Arabic Inscription and Leonine Mask Found in Costeşti Town of the 14th Century (Moldova)

Браслет с арабской надписью и львиной личиной с городища Костешть XIV в. (Молдова)

Author(s): Ana Boldureanu / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Pruto-Dniester interfluve; 14th c.; Golden Horde; bracelet; lion mask; Arabic inscription; “knot of happiness”

A bronze bracelet and a fragment of another bracelet of the same type, found in the Golden Horde settlement of Costeşti (Ialoveni district of the Republic of Moldova), were brought for identification to the National Museum of History of Moldova in the summer of 2015. The items correspond to the band-shaped bracelet type, whose ends do not connect. The ends of both objects are decorated by stylized leonine mask. Their surface is covered by identical Arabic inscriptions separated by an ornament named «the lucky knot»and set reversed to each other. The inscription on the bracelet contains wishes of prosperity, health and luck. All these symbols, considered to have magical functions, could have been interpreted by their wearers as amulets.

Ancient Russian Treasure Hoard from Novi Bezradychi of Kyiv Oblast

Древнерусский клад из с. Новые Безрадичи Киевской области

Author(s): Liudmila V. Strokova / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Ancient Rus’; 11th—13th centuries; Tumoshch town; hoards; jewelry; torques; bracelets

The collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine contains a hoard found in the village of Novi Bezradychi (Kyiv oblast, Obukhiv region). The hoard was handed over to the Museum in 1988. Near the place where the hoard was found, in the village of Stari Bezradychi, there are ramparts of the Ancient Rus’ fort dated back to the 11th — 13th centuries and identified by the researchers as the Ancient Rus’ town of Tumoshch, which is mentioned in chronicles. To date, the hoard has not been introduced into scientific discussion. The hoard contains six items: twisted torques and twisted bracelets, as well as two unidentifiable fragments of décor. A feature of the hoard is the lack of locks and tips for the torques and bracelets; and this complicates the dating of that complex. The bracelets and torques fall within the turn of the 11th and the 12th centuries through the end of the 12th century, but the crinum-shaped ornaments on the decorative plate are characteristic of the second half of the 12th — the mid of the 13th century. Generally, this set of items can be dated to the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries through the second half of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century. The preservation of the hoard and the broken-off jewelry tips make it possible to consider the hoard as a stock of raw material for craftsman’s work and probably possessed by a jeweler. Burying of the hoard could well have been caused by the Polovtsian raids, as well as by seizing and plundering of Kyiv by the troops led by Andrey Bogolyubski in 1169, and also by the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

Precious Ornaments on Old Russian Icons: Evidence of Carved and Cast Images from the Thirteenth Century

Драгоценные украшения на древнерусских иконах по «свидетельству» резных и литых образков XIII века

Author(s): Irina A. Sterligova / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Old Russian icons; thirteenth century; precious ornaments; carved and cast images

The iconography of a number of small Old Russian icons from the first third of the thirteenth century, made of stone, clay or copper alloy, confirms the tradition, known from written sources, of votive ornaments in the form of gold and silver collars, both wound and sickle-shaped, on particularly venerated icons. The paper examines the sources of this tradition and the influence upon it of international contacts: similar ornaments on sacred images may be traced in Western Europe and among the Cumans. The miniature icons that have been discovered, which reproduce the form of the most venerated icons, supplement our idea of the religious art of Old Rus’, the canon of which was received from Byzantium, but was realised in an original manner, reflecting local realities and artistic tastes.

The Mystery of One Portrait: Maria Vladimirovna Staritskaya or Maria (Lupu) Radziwill?

Загадка одного портрета: Мария Владимировна Старицкая или Мария (Лупу) Радзивилл?

Author(s): Lilia Zabolotnaia / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Maria (Lupu) Radziwill; Maria Vladimirovna Staritskaya; 17th century; portrait; costume; Rosenborg; State Historical Museum (Moscow)

The main objective of this study is an attempt to identify one of the portraits of Maria (Lupu) Radziwill, lost more than 300 years ago. The original of the portrait was found by the author in 2019, in the Rosenborg Castle (Copenhagen, Denmark). A copy of the portrait is kept in the State Historical Museum (Moscow). Both in Rosenborg and in Moscow, until now, the portrait was considered a portrait of Maria Vladimirovna Staritskaya. The author, based on comparative and retrospective methods of historical research, in terms of chronology and typology compared already known, attributed images and systematized the data for constructing the arguments. The basis for the refutation of the existing attribution of the portrait was the mismatch of the costume of the depicted lady with the Russian style, era, etc. According to the author of the study, it is the costume of the portrait’s heroine that irrefutably indicates that this is not Maria Vladimirovna Staritskaya, but Maria (Lupu) Radziwill, since it reflects her national origin.

Pewter Jewelry in the Urban Jewelry Set in 12th—13th cc. (According to the Materials from Excavations in Tver)

Украшения из легкоплавких сплавов в городском ювелирном наборе XII—XIII вв. (по материалам из раскопок Твери)

Author(s): Irina A. Saprykina / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Old Russia; Tver; Medieval Age; jewelries; tin; imitations; style

The article adresses a series of pendants of tin and fusible alloy, found during excavations at the stadium “Khimik” (the Tver Kremlin) in 2013. Tin jewelry mainly belong to the urban jewelry collection, which finds analogies in hoards, concealed during the events of 1234—1238. Tin, in relation to the analyzed decorations, is a kind of a ‘simulacre’ of a high status precious metal (silver) and was used to manufacture overall pretty good ‘imitations’ of higher-status types of jewelry.

Metallurgical Furnaces on the Burial Mounds (discovery of the medieval metallurgy district in Pskov during excavations in 2016—2019)

Горны на курганах (открытие средневекового металлургического квартала в Пскове при раскопках 2016—2019 гг.)

Author(s): Elena V. Salmina,Sergey A. Salmin / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Medieval Rus; Pskov; metalworking; industrial district; metallurgical furnace; metallurgical hearth;jewelry;

The rescue archaeological excavations, held on the territory of the former thermal electric power plant in Pskov prior to its renovation, revealed a medieval “metallurgy quarters” which existed on this territory in the 13th—16th centuries beyond the fortification walls. The manufacturing center occurred on the site of the burial grounds of the 10th — first half of the 11th cc. thus having destroyed many burial mounds. It is indicative that the raw materials used by the local metallurgists contained a significant amount of fragmented and deformed jewelry, some of which may have highly likely come from the destroyed burials. To date, no clusters of industrial complexes that occupied such an area in the absence of residential development have been found on the territory of Medieval Pskov. The discovery of such a production quarter in Pskov allows us to revise both the history of urban development and the organization of production processes in one of the largest urban centers of North-Western Russia.

Revisiting the Ancient Technique of Tar-making

К вопросу о древней технологии смоловарения

Author(s): Tatiana B. Senichenkova,Sergei O. Uriupov / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Old Rus; Staraya Ladoga; Viking Age; gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS); pine resin; tar

The substance in a clay pot found during excavations in Ladoga was considered using GC-MC as a product of coniferous resin heat-treating, possibly used for ancient ships’ sealing. Substances of almost the same composition were found on wooden paddles (mops) used as tools for tarring.Examined samples originate from the different areas of the settlement are chronologically distant by at least one century. This suggests existence of a stable technique created empirically by Ladoga craftsmen who used it for a long period of time.

The Grave of an Allegedly “Conquest Period Hungarian Warrior” Found in 1959, at Tei Lake near Bucharest

The Grave of an Allegedly “Conquest Period Hungarian Warrior” Found in 1959, at Tei Lake near Bucharest

Author(s): Erwin Gáll / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Bucharest; Lake Tei; 10th century; material culture; “Hungarian warrior”

In 1959, a brief, quarter page long report concerning a 10th century grave of a “Hungarian warrior” who died in the battle against the Bulgars was published by Sebastian Morintz and D. V. Rosetti. However, they did not clarify when and how the finds were recovered; the excavation project documentation has no records provided concerning the grave itself. Consequently, the author supposes that the finds recovered at Lake Tei near Bucharest were uncritically interpreted as a grave from the 10th century. These finds are without clear archaeological context and documentation, and should be removed from the list of 10th century Hungarian graves outside of the Carpathian Basin.

Jewellery Consumption in Wallachia and Moldova, 17th—18th centuries

Jewellery Consumption in Wallachia and Moldova, 17th—18th centuries

Author(s): Florentina Niţu / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Wallachia; Moldavia; 17th—18th centuries; jewelleries consumption; luxury;fashion;

The study explores the evolution of jewellery consumption in Wallachia and Moldova, during the 17th—18th centuries, from the perspective of the luxury consumption at the level of the elite. The documents that were analysed highlight a transition from oriental luxury, introduced through Phanariot rulers to Western luxury, directly inspired by contact with travellers or foreign officers and ambassadors passing through the Principalities, but also indirectly through fashion magazines. On the other hand, we can see that jewellery is closely related to fashion and follows the trends and consumer options in connection to it. They mark the social or political position, but also the cultural values adopted by the elite, which are expressed through in fashion choices. There are jewels that are neutral in terms of western or oriental influence, just as belt clasp (paftale) are directly related to the oriental costume. After the middle of the eighteenth century, we notice a mutation in the dowry sheets regarding the relationship between jewellery and clothing, in favour of the latter; the typology of jewellery is limited, but we find valuable jewellery, adorned with diamonds or diamonds and, also, the number of some of the pieces increases (rings, for example).

Atimia in Ancient Athens

Jak pozbawiać „czci” Atimia w starożytnych Atenach

Author(s): Jan Kucharski / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Atimia; disenfranchisement; Greek law; Athenian society

In this paper I discuss the workings of atimia, the penalty of disenfranchisement, in Classical Athens. Having briefly surveyed the substantial aspects of this form of punishment, i.e. the limitations it imposed on a person affected by it on the one hand, and the crimes and misdemeanors subject to it on the other, I proceed to examine in detail the procedural vagaries of its imposition. In conclusion, I argue that atimia was a legal and moral factor of pivotal importance in promoting socially acceptable and desirable patterns of behaviour among the citizens of Classical Athens.

Responsible Midwifery or Reckless Disbelief?

Responsible Midwifery or Reckless Disbelief?

Author(s): Mark Mattison / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Mary; Mariology; Salome; midwifery; virgin birth

The most disquieting pericope in The Protevangelium Jacobi is Salome’s violation of Mary to confirm her virginity. This essay considers whether Salome could have originally been depicted as a well-meaning midwife performing a postpartum physical examination. There are obstacles to this reading. Most challenging is Salome’s declaration to a midwife in 19:3: “unless I insert my finger and examine her condition, I won’t believe that a virgin has given birth.” An early editor could have subverted this narrative by incorporating this allusion to John 20:25, transforming Salome from a responsible midwife into a convenient literary foil to a virgin birth.

A Coptic and an Arabic building inscription between Aswan and Kom Ombo

Eine koptische und eine arabische Bauinschrift zwischen Assuan und Kom Ombo

Author(s): Tonio Sebastian Richter / Language(s): English,French,German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Coptic; Arabic epigraphy; Fatimid Egypt; road network

The present article suggests a hypothetical localization and provides a reconstructed text of a Coptic inscription which was seen by Urbain Bouriant on the road along the east bank of the Nile, halfway between Assuan and Kom Ombo. Bouriant edited this inscription twice in the 1890s, presenting it, together with an Arabic inscription that lay underneath, as a bilingual report on roadwork, and dated it to year 409 of Diocletian, resp. 7[3] Hiğri, i.e., AD 693. This article argues that, on the contrary, the two inscriptions are of different and much later date, and commemorate two distinct (albeit similar) events.

Nubian cathedrals with granite columns: A view from Sai Island

Nubian cathedrals with granite columns: A view from Sai Island

Author(s): Henriette Hafsaas-Tsakos,Alexandros Tsakos / Language(s): English,French,German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Nubian cathedral; church; Sai; granite columns

With the purpose of providing insights into the position of the church on Sai Island among the bishoprics of Christian Nubia, the paper contextualizes archaeologically well-known Nubian cathedrals with monolithic granite columns as roof supports (Old Dongola, Faras and Qasr Ibrim), presenting them against the background of historically known bishoprics from medieval Nubia and archaeologically attested episcopal churches. Four granite columns at the locality 8-B-500 on Sai Island, identified with the site of a medieval cathedral, are compared with like roof supports from other Makurian buildings of the kind to show that the church was constructed at the beginning of the 8th century AD and modeled on the Church of Granite Columns from Old Dongola.

The ‘bead-side’ story of medieval and post-medieval Nubia: Tentative approach to the bead collection of the Museum of Archaeology University of Stavanger, Norway

The ‘bead-side’ story of medieval and post-medieval Nubia: Tentative approach to the bead collection of the Museum of Archaeology University of Stavanger, Norway

Author(s): Joanna Then-Obłuska / Language(s): English,French,German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Beads; pendants; Lower Nubia; medieval; post-medieval; modern

The paper presents a group of beads and pendants from the collection of the Museum of Archaeology University of Stavanger, Norway, derived from excavations carried out by the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia. The finds come from burials at Debeira, Sahaba and Abka, and a church site at Sidi Amir el-Sahaba, and cover a timespan from the Christian period through modernity. A few are currently introduced in terms of the material they were made from and most are paralleled by bead finds from other Nubian sites, but some types remain unidentified. Despite not being well dated or properly provenanced in many cases at this time, they are presented here in order to ‘thread’ them into the Nubian bead story from medieval and post-medieval times.

The Handicapped Under Part of Europe: (En)Gendering Regional In-Betweenness

The Handicapped Under Part of Europe: (En)Gendering Regional In-Betweenness

Author(s): Dimitar Kamburov / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

THE TEXT REVISITS THE BALKAN INVENTION BY THE WEST AND PROVIDES A SCHEME OF REGIONAL REACTIONS. THE PARADOX OF MASCULINE IMAGE OF THE BALKANS REQUIRES RE-EXAMINING OF THE IMAGERY OF INVISIBILITY, MONSTROSITY, HYBRIDITY, INBETWEENNESS, UNDER PART AND VISCERA OF THE EUROPEAN CORPUS. THE STIGMA OF THE DEGENERATE NEGLECTED MALE INSCRIBES THE BALKANS INTO THE CONDITION OF BASTARDISED FOREFATHERS. FOREFOTHERS. FOUR MAIN BALKAN ARTISTIC AND DISCURSIVE RESPONSES ARE EXAMINED: OF THE DECENT OTHER, OF THE EUROPEAN AFFILIATE, OF THE BALKANIST CRITIQUE, AND PARTICULARLY OF FESTIVE INTERAGENCY.

"A theory of justice" and the reconnection of Romanian political philosophy to contemporary sources of modernity

„O teorie a dreptății“ și reconectarea filosofiei politice românești la sursele contemporane ale modernității

Author(s): Laurenţiu Gheorghe / Language(s): Romanian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Political philosophy; Rawls John; teory of justice; interwar traditions; contemporary perspectives;

After 1990, the Romanian political philosophy freed from the compulsory official Marxist dogma had to choose between a range of inadequate options from the viewpoint of current reality: reconnecting with the interwar tradition but in a different historical context; replaying the cold war ideological clash this time from the anti-Marxist perspective, that seemed redundant given the political and economic failure of Marxism or embracing the western post modern discourse, that didn’t reflect in any way the current Romanian political and social realities. Faced with these alternatives it was necessary to regain a philosophical experience of the transition from modernity to post-modernity that will enable the adequate approach to the realities of the transition from communism to post-modern capitalism. Given this context, from a certain philosophical perspective, the study of Rawls from A theory of Justice to Political Liberalism provided a unique opportunity to escape tradition without canceling it, to overcome the socialist-capitalist dichotomy and to connect to contemporary philosophical debates without losing the local perspective.

Church and Change with a Special Focus on the Romanian Institutional Ecclesiology

Church and Change with a Special Focus on the Romanian Institutional Ecclesiology

Author(s): Dan Sandu / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Orthodox Church; change; theology; Romanian history; Church history; communism; secularisation;

Pre present context views the Church as a construct of human mind, promoting religiosity and a certain ritual (mostly needed by the people with no reference to a living God) whose main role is to provide social services in a given society, or, in a more plastic exposure, "the club of Christ". And this is in general accurate given that she passed through history making use of the same means and instruments of any human organisation. Her transcendent dimension was entrusted to the mystical minds and liturgists who defined her as a boat of salvation and the foretasting of the Kingdom. Is such an institution subject to change? If yes, what can be changed and when, in what extent and for what length? The study aims at a few attempts to accept change as a form of subsistence. The faithful have their own expectations from the main Church, the experiences of the Romanian Church members abroad bring new challenges facing this conservative institution. One cannot speak of real change, but rather an adaptation to the new context where the mythical approach of religion leaves more room for the rational approach and even to the pluralistic one. This is presented as the normal evolution of the future religion which expects to be more spiritual than institutional, in line with the new discoveries of neuroscience, evolution and hard sciences, towards an integral (even super-integral) approach.

Rejoice, "the divine Source of Paradise." The Mother of God in the Pentecostal Hymnography

Réjouis-toi, «la divine Source du Paradis». La Mère de Dieu dans l’hymnographie du Pentecostaire

Author(s): Gherasim Soca / Language(s): French / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: the Life-Giving Spring; Theotokos; hymnography; Resurrection; healing;

In the theology and hymnography of the liturgical period of the Pentecostarion, the Theotokos holds a prominent place as the one chosen by God the Father to offer human nature to His Incarnate Son and, therefore, as the first one to see her Resurrected Son. God granted her the fullness of spiritual gifts, so that she may personify the highest state which can be reached by a human united with God. Possessing Full of divine gifts and love, the Holy Virgin imparts these gifts to people and becomes a divine source of blessings and healings. The hymnography of Pentecostarion abounds in metaphors and epithets expressing the attributes of the Theotokos, far outnumbering those describing her Son, Jesus Christ. Which is the spiritual and theological significance of these qualifiers of the Theotokos? What place does she hold in the mystagogy of the Pentecostarion? What occasioned a feast dedicated to Our Lady, at the end of the Bright Week, and what do the hymns of this feast convey? What is the significance of healing, in this mystagogical context? The present paper addresses these questions, aiming to provide better understanding and experience of the services during this liturgical period.

Salus Populi est Suprima Lex and "Pandemic" Challenges of the Roman Era

Salus populi est suprema lex ele sfide della "pandemia" di epoca romana

Author(s): Ines Matešković Matić / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Antonine plague; Cyprian plague; Justinian plague; COVID-19;

Various diseases and epidemic are as old as humanity and have always been integral part of human life, but today, at a time when we are facing a pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, it is worth remembering that epidemics and pandemics also shape history. The aim of this study is to show the extent of the epidemics that marked the Roman Empire: Antonine plague, Cyprian plague and Justinian plague. and to analyze the impact of these phenomena on the legal system. The author offers a concise overview of the Antonine plague, when witnesses reported that up to two thousands people died every day in Rome and deaths throughout the empire exceeded millions; the Cyprian Plague which at its peak caused five thousand deaths a day in Rome alone and unleashed political anarchy in the 3rd century; and eventually the Plague of Justinian, the epidemic that struck Constantinople and was the first documented pandemic in history , which caused tens of millions of deaths across the Mediterranean and Europe, and its though to have contributed to the end of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Using the historical - legal method, the author wants to show the impact of these epidemics on legislation and thus confirm the similarity with the consequences of the COVID- 19 pandemic that we are facing today and that confirms the maxim Salus Populi Suprema Lex.