The Lord’s Table, Refrigerium, Eucharist, Agapè, and Tables for Ritual Meals in al-Bagawat and in Monasteries (original) (raw)
Related papers
Internal Arrangements in some Early Christian Basilicas of the Eastern Mediterranean
Hortus Artium Medievalium, 2018
This paper would suggest how -despite the apparent resemblance— the perception of the interior of three aisled basilicas were very different to each other; this is because there were different categories of clerics and faithfuls and who were asked to follow certain paths or/and to hold a certain position before or during the celebrations. These positions or common movements were driven by the presence of fixed or mobile separations and certain liturgical furnishings such as ambos and secondary tables. Consequently the various positions, together with the disparate revetments used into the spaces derived from these divisions and their degree of brightness, could completely change the perception of the inner space of the different categories of the faithful who moved in these spaces.
A RECONSIDERATION OF THE HADRIANIC FORUM-BASILICA AT SILCHESTER
2007
The Hadrianic forum-basilica at Silchester, which overlies the earlier Flavian timber model, is unusual in having a single aisle rather than the more normal pair of aisles created by stylobate columns supporting a clerestory. This design was the result of a modification to the original Hadrianic plan which, if fulfilled, would have created an even more atypical design. The original Hadrianic design incorporated semi-circular apses at the ends of the basilica but the evidence is that this design was never fully consummated. The apses were removed before the building was completed and replaced by new north and south range structures. This article attempts to determine the original design intent and why it was abandoned, the considerations that led to the new design and the details of these new arrangements.
Thanks to significant literary, archaeological, epigraphic and iconographic evidence we can analyse the altars of the martyrial sanctuary of St. Felix at Cimitile, near Nola (Naples, Italy), between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (fig. 1), and the modalities of deposition of the relics inside them (fenestellae, loculi, capsules) 2. After the excavation and restoration campaigns directed by Gino Chierici between 1931 and 1960 3 , nine altars remained in situ, either preserving the original configuration or having undergone limited adaptations to better assist new trends and changed liturgical needs, consistent with development over the centuries. According to the available data, we can subdivide the altars of Cimitile into three types 4 : box (I), sarcophagus (II) or blockaltars (III) 5. In type I, the table rested on four chancel screens supported by corner pillars, while in type II, it was placed on four walls covered externally with marble slabs. The type III can be grouped into two variants based upon the position of the altar relative to the wall of the presbytery: those of variant IIIa, which are set against the wall, are distinguished by the presence of a fenestella on the front (west) (IIIa1) or due to the lack of a deposit of relics (IIIa2); the first ones are surmounted by a small niche (variant IIIa1a), and adhere to the rectilinear wall (variant IIIa1b) or are positioned inside a large niche (variant IIIa1c). The altars of variant IIIb, which allowed the celebrant to turn the structure around, instead, have the fenestella on the back (east) side. To better understand the reasons of the transformations, determined by the adaptation to the new liturgical needs or by the archaeological interventions, I have grouped the altars into two clusters dating back to the 4 th-7 th century (type I) and 8 th-10 th century (type II, variants IIIa1a, IIIa1b); I will discuss elsewhere the liturgical installations erected between the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age (variants IIIa1c, IIIb) 6 .
Early Christian Buildings in the Northern Cemetery of Sopianae.pdf
To date we have known more than 30 buildings from the cemetery. Of these buildings the most important ones are presented in this paper. The main questions are dealt with: When? Who? What kind of Christians? What kind of rituals did the Christians keep inthe cemetery? Some answers can be given accurately and some are speculative.
2020
Over 2000 fragments of marble architectural décor were discovered at the site, most of them simple slabs of different colors, types and sizes (see Chapter 24). In this large marble assemblage, 38 fragments can be attributed to the category of liturgical furniture dated to the Byzantine period. As with other marble finds, these elements of marble church décor were prefabricated and imported into Palestine from known quarrying sites located mainly in Asia Minor and Greece (Castagnino Berlinghieri and Paribeni 2011). The marble fragments of liturgical furniture are presented here in catalogue form, divided into groups according to their original purpose, and numbered consecutively in Figs. 7.1-7.7. Most of the finds belong to various types of chancel-screen panels (Nos. 1-28) decorated in high relief or openwork; a fragment of a chancel-screen post (No. 29) and colonnettes (Nos. 30-34) were also found. The catalogue also includes parts of decorated wall revetments (Nos. 35, 36), and fragments of thin marble slabs, most probably reliquary lids (Nos. 37, 38). All the fragments, except one, were produced of white and various shades of pale gray Proconnesian marble; one panel was made of local limestone (Arabic: mizzi aḥmar; No. 31). The catalogue entries provide the provenance: stratum, locus no., basket no., archaeological context; state of preservation; description, including height (H), width (W), thickness (Th) and diameter (D), when relevant; and parallels. Most of the finds are fragmentary, but can still be easily reconstructed based on the numerous parallels discovered in situ, in their ecclesiastic architectural contexts, at Byzantine sites in the provinces of Palaestina and Arabia. As the decorative repertoire of Byzantine liturgical furniture is well known, only a few parallels are cited here. We also present possible reconstructions of the various decorative patterns of the chancel-screen panels based on the known finds (Figs. 7.8-7.13).