Faces of Evil in Nubian Wall-Painting – An Overview

• Authors: Innemée Karel C. , Zielińska Dobrochna
• Languages of publication: EN FR DE IT

Abstracts

EN

In Christian wall-paintings in Nubia a recurring theme is the struggle between Good and Evil. In this article an overview is given of the various ways in which Evil is depicted or personified, ranging from animals to humans and the hybrid ways in which Satan and his helpers are represented. These different ways have been inspired by sources from a canonical biblical, apocryphal and mythological character.

Keywords

EN

Nubia; Christian iconography; mural painting; Devil; warrior saints; Faras; Old Dongola; Banganarti

• Publisher: Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
• Journal: Études et Travaux (Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences)
• Year: 2019
• Volume: XXXII
• Pages: 121-144

Dates

published

2019

Contributors

author

Innemée Karel C.

• University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam / University of Divinity, Melbourne

author

Zielińska Dobrochna

• Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw

References

• Ainalis, Z.D. 2018: From Hades to Hell, Christian Visions of the Underworld (2nd–5th centuries CE), [in:] Ekroth, G., Nilsson, I. (Eds), Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition: Visits to the Underworld from Antiquity to Byzantium, Leiden-Boston, 271–286
• Borgeaud, P. 2010: ‘Silent Entrails’: The Devil, His Demons, and Christian Theories Regarding Ancient Religions, HistRel 50/1, 80–95
• Brenk, B. 1990: Teufel, [in:] Kirschbaum, E. (Ed.), Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie 4, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna, 295–300
• Clédat, J. 1904: Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouit, MIFAO 12, Cairo
• Discourse concerning Hades: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_to_the_Greeks_concerning_Hades (accessed January 10, 2019)
• Godlewski, W. 1982: Some Comments on the Wall Painting of Christ from Old Dongola, [in:] Plumley, J.M. (Ed.), Nubian Studies, Proceedings of the Symposium for Nubian Studies, Sellwyn College, Cambridge 1978, Warminster, 95–99
• Godlewski, W. 1995: The Late Period in Nubian Art – from the Middle of 13th to the End of 14th Centuries, [in:] Gundlach, R., Kropp, M., Leibundgut, A. (Eds), Sudan Past and Present / Der Sudan in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, Nordostafrikanisch-Westasiatische Studien 1, Frankfurt a/Main, 37–63
• Godlewski, W. 2008: Bishops and Kings. The Official Program of the Pachoras (Faras) Cathedrals, [in:] Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference for Nubian Studies, Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006, Part One, Main Papers, PAM Supplement Series 2.1, Warsaw, 263–282
• Godlewski, W. 2013. Dongola – ancient Tungul. Archaeological guide, PCMA Archaeological Guides 1, Warsaw
• Górecki, T. 1980: Z problematyki ikonografii świętych wojowników w malarstwie ściennym katedry w Faras, RMNW 24, 173–259
• Griffith, F.Ll. 1928: Oxford Excavations in Nubia: The Church of Abd el-Qadir near Second Cataract, AAALiv 15, 63–82
• Grotowski, P. 2010: Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints. Tradition and Innovation in Byzantine Iconography (843–1261), The Medieval Mediterranean 87, Leiden
• Hennecke, E., Schneemelcher, W. 1968: Neutestamentliche Apokryphen I, Evangelien, Tübingen
• Hill, C.E. 1989: Hades of Hippolytus or Tartarus of Tertullian? The Authorship of the Fragment De Universo, VigChr 43/2, 105–126
• Innemée, K.C. 2015: The Doors of Deir a-Surian Commissioned by Moses of Nisibis: Some Observations on the Occasion of their Restoration, [in:] Doerfler, M., Fiano, E., Smith, K. (Eds), Syriac Encounters, Papers from the Sixth North American Syriac Symposium, Duke University, 26–29 June 2011, Early Christian Studies 20, Leuven, 193–214
• Innemée, K.C. 2016: Monks and bishops in Old Dongola, and what their costumes can tell us, [in:] Łajtar, A., Obłuski, A., Zych, I. (Eds), Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Warsaw, 411–434
• Innemée, K.C. 2019: A Man in a Vessel, Once More, EtudTrav XXXII, 111–120
• Jakobielski, S. 1979: Dongola 1976, EtudTrav XI, 229–244
• Jakobielski, S., Martens-Czarnecka, M., Łaptaś, M., Mierzejewska, B., Rostkowska, B. 2017: Pachoras, Faras: The Wall Paintings from the Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros, PAM Monograph Series 4, Warsaw
• Jewish Encyclopedia: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com (accessed January 10, 2019)
• Kartsonis, A.D. 1986: Anastasis, the Making of an Image, Princeton
• Kulik, A. 2013: How the Devil Got His Hooves and Horns: The Origin of the Motif and the Implied Demonology of ‘3 Baruch’, Numen 60/2–3, 195–229
• Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en/recherche-globale (accessed January 10, 2019)
• Łajtar, A. 1996: Varia Nubica IV: Das älteste nubische Epitaph mit dem Gebet vom sogenannten Typus Euchologion Mega?, ZPE 113, 101–108
• Łajtar, A. 2003: Catalogue of the Greek Inscriptions in the National Museum at Khartoum (I. Khartoum Greek), OLA 122, Leuven-Paris-Dudley MA
• Łajtar, A. 2009: Varia Nubica XII-XIX, JJP XXXIX, 83–119
• Łajtar, A. forthcoming: The Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre at Bagnanarti. The Evidence of Inscriptions, JJP-Suppl., Warsaw
• Łaptaś, M. 1999: Comments on Wall Paintings from House A in Old Dongola, [in:] Emmel, S., Krause, M. (Eds), Ägypten und Nubien in späntikier und christlicher Zeit. Akten des 6. Internationalen Koptologenkongresses, Münster, 20.-26. Juli 1996, vol. I, SKCO 6, Wiesbaden, 230–237
• Łaptaś, M. 2016: Archangel Raphael as protector, demon tamer, guide and healer. Some aspects of the Archangel’s activities in Nubian painting, [in:] Łajtar, A., Obłuski, A., Zych, I. (Eds), Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Warsaw, 411–434
• Łaptaś, M. 2019: The Position of the Archangel Michael within the Celestial Hierarchy: Some Aspects of the Manifestation of his Cult in Nubian Painting, [in:] Gilhus, I.S., Tsakos, A., Wright, M.C. (Eds), The Archangel Michael in Africa: History, Cult, and Persona, London, 95–108
• Maguire, H. 2018: Why did Hades become beautiful in Byzantine Art?, [in:] Ekroth, G., Nilsson, I. (Eds), Round trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition: Visits to the Underworld from Antiquity to Byzantium, Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean 2, Leiden-Boston, 304–321
• Mango, C. 1992: Diabolus Byzantinus, [in:] Homo Byzantinus, Papers in Honor of Alexander Kazhdan, DOP 46, Washington DC, 215–223
• Martens-Czarnecka, M. 2001: Wall Paintings Discovered in Old Dongola, [in:] Jakobielski, S., Scholz, P.O. (Eds), Dongola-Studien. 35 Jahre polnischer Forschungen im Zentrum des makuritischen Reiches, Bibliotheca nubica et aethiopica 7, Warsaw-Wiesbaden, 253–284
• Martens-Czarnecka, M. 2011: The Wall Paintings from the Monastery on Kom H in Dongola, Dongola 3, Nubia III, Warsaw
• Mauskopf Deliyannis, D. 2014: Ravenna in Late Antiquity, Cambridge
• McMahon, A. 2009: The Lion, the King and the Cage: Late Chalcolithic Iconography and Ideology in Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq 71, 115–124
• Metmuseum: https://www.metmuseum.org (accessed October 23, 2019)
• Moorsel, P. van, Jacquet, J., Schneider, H. 1975: The Central Church at Abdallah Nirqi, The Netherlands excavations in Nubia, Abu Simbel North 1962–1964, Leiden
• Morgan, L. 1995: Of Animals and Men: the Symbolic Parallel, [in:] Morris, Ch. (Ed.), Klados: Essays in Honour of J.N. Coldstream, BICS Supplement 63, London, 171–184
• Nola, A.M. di 1987: Il diavolo. Le forme, la storia, le vicende di Satana e la sua universal e malefica presenza presso tutti i popoli, dall’antichità ai nostri giorni, Roma
• O’Leary, L. de 1974: The Saints of Egypt in the Coptic Calendar, Amsterdam
• Ouspensky, L. 1978: Theology of the Icon, Crestwood NY
• Ravenna: http://03varvara.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/unknown-artist-christ-the-warriorsacellum-archiepiscopale-archiepiscopal-chapel-ravenna-italy-6th-century/ (accessed January 10, 2019)
• Ryś, A. 2013: Przedstawienia świętych wojowników w malarstwie nubijskim, unpublished BA thesis, University of Warsaw, Warsaw
• Sackho-Autissier, A. 2010: Le thème de l’ennemi vaincu dans l’art méroitique, [in:] Baud, M. (Ed.), Méroé, un empire sur le Nil, Paris, 182–185
• Schnackenburg, R., Rahner, K. 1986: Teufel, [in:] Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche 10, Freiburg, 2–4
• Stewart, P. 2012: The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, [in:] Ackeren, M. van (Ed.), A Companion to Marcus Aurelius, Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World 186, Hoboken NJ, 264–277
• Vantini, G. 1990: The Faras ‘Golgotha’ and the Apocrypha, [in:] Scholz, P.O., Müller, C.D. (Eds), Nubica I/II, Cologne, 653–659
• Walter, C. 2003: The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition, Aldershot
• Walters, C.C. 1989: Christian Paintings from Tebtunis, JEA 75, 191–208
• Waszink, J.H. 1933: Tertullian. De Anima mit Einleitung, Übersetzung und Kommentar, Amsterdam
• Woźniak, M. 2013: Iconographie des souverains et des dignitaires de la nubie chrétienne : Les vêtements d’apparat, unpublished PhD thesis, Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris
• Woźniak, M. 2016: The chronology of the eastern chapels in the Upper Church at Banganarti. Some observations on the genesis of “apse portraits” in Nubian royal iconography, [in:] Łajtar, A., Obłuski, A., Zych, I. (Eds), Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Warsaw, 629–646
• Zielińska, D. 2010: The iconographical program in Nubian churches: progress report based on a new reconstruction project, [in:] Godlewski, W., Łajtar, A. (Eds), Between the Cataracts, Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies Warsaw University, 27 August–2 September 2006, PAM Supplement Series 2, part 2, fasc. 2, Warsaw, 643–651
• Żurawski, B. 1999: Medieval Nubian Regalia: Innovation versus Tradition, [in:] Welsby, D.A. (Ed.), Recent Research in Kushite History and Archaeology. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference for Meroitic Studies, London, 223–234
• Żurawski, B. 2012: St. Raphael Church I at Banganarti, Mid-Sixth to Mid-Eleventh Century. An Introduction to the Site and the Epoch, Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 10, Monograph Series 2, Banganarti 1, Gdańsk-Włocławek
• Żurawski, B. with appendices by Łajtar, A., Piasecki, K., Łaptaś, M., Woźniak, M., Osypińska, M., Cedro, A. 2014: Kings and Pilgrims: Saint Raphael Church II at Banganarti, Mid-Eleventh to Mid-Eighteenth Century, Nubia V, Banganarti 2, Warsaw

Identifiers

DOI

10.12775/EtudTrav.32.009