Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

PL EN


2016 | 29 | 203–224

Article title

The Altar Casket with a Representation of St Thecla ad bestias from the Vicinity of the St Menas Church in Selib (Northern Sudan)

Content

Title variants

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
The excavations in Selib have brought to light a few objects used in the liturgical practices performed in the local churches. Among a dozen or so fragmentarily preserved chalices, juglets and patens, there is a terracotta roundel provided with a circular aperture in the upper side. Made of pinkish red clay, it is decorated with a repeated stamped motif of a haloed orant figure shown en face with arms held parallel to the upper body. It is accompanied by figures of animals set in profile. The masterly execution of the animal figures enables the recognition of the images of lionesses. Consequently the orant figure in between two metopes with a lioness each could only be St Thecla. The author suggests that the Selib roundel plausibly served as an altar casket placed on an altar to house a Eucharistic chalice. An alternative use would have been as a stand for a peculiar Nubian paten(?) with a depression in the bottom. Regardless of the real purpose, in the case of the Selib roundel the label of ‘altar casket’ is valid.

Contributors

  • Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa

References

  • AASS: Acta Sanctorum, Paris 1863–1940
  • Adams, W.Y. 1986: Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia 1, Memoirs of the UNESCO Archaeological Survey of Sudanese Nubia 1, Lexington
  • Antonini, L. 1940: Le chiese cristiane nell’Egitto dal IV al IX secolo secondo i documenti dei papiri greci, Aegyptus 20, 129–208
  • Apocryphal New Testament: The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses, Ed. James, M.R., Oxford 1924
  • ATh: Acts of Paul and Thecla, [in:] Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha post Constantin Tischendorf, Eds Lipsius, R.A., Bonnet, M., Leipzig 1891, 235–272
  • Bourguet, P. du 1991: Thecla, Saint, [in:] Atiya, A.S. (Ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia 2, New York 1991, 540–541
  • Burmester, O.H.E. Khs- 1967: The Egyptian or Coptic Church. A Detailed Description of Her Liturgical Services and the Rites and Ceremonies Observed in the Administration of Her Sacraments, Publications de la Société d’archéologie copte, Le Caire
  • Butler, A.J. 1884: The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt, Oxford
  • Capuani, M. 2002: Christian Egypt. Coptic Art and Monuments through Two Millennia, Cairo
  • Dagron, G. 1974: L’auteur des ‘Actes’ et des ‘Miracles’ de sainte Thècle, Analecta Bollandiana 92, 5–11
  • Davis, S.J. 1998: Pilgrimage and the Cult of Saint Thecla in Late Antique Egypt, [in:] Frankfurter, D. (Ed.), Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt, Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 134, Leiden-Boston-Köln, 303–339
  • Davis, S.J. 2001: The Cult of St. Thecla. A Tradition of Woman’s Piety in Late Antiquity, Oxford
  • Deptuła, A. 2015: Inscriptions from Saint Menas’ church in Selib, [in:] Łajtar, A., Ochała, G., Vliet, J. van der (Eds), Nubian Voices II. New Texts and Studies on Christian Nubian Culture, Journal of Juristic Papyrology-Suppl. XXVII, Warsaw, 119–135
  • Dobrowolski, J. 1988: On the first church on site „D” in Old Dongola, Nubian Letters 11, 1–6
  • Evelyn White, H.G. 1933: The Monasteries of the Wadi ’n Natrûn III: The Architecture and Archaeology, Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition VIII, New York
  • Godlewski, W. 2008: Bishops and Kings. The Official Program of the Pachoras (Faras) Cathedrals, [in:] Godlewski, W., Łajtar A. (Eds), Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference for Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006. Part 1: Main Papers, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.1, Warsaw, 263–282
  • Graf, G. 1938: Ein Alter Kelchthron in der Kirche Abū Sēfēn, Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte IV, 29–36
  • Grossmann, P. 1998: The Pilgrimage Center of Abû Mînâ, [in:] Frankfurter, D. (Ed.), Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt, Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 134, Leiden-Boston-Köln, 281–302
  • Grossmann, P. 2002: Christliche Architektur in Ägypten, Handbuch der Orientalistik 62, Leiden-Boston-Köln
  • Grzymski, K. 1987: Archaeological Reconnaissance in Upper Nubia, Society of the Studies of Egyptian Antiquities Publications XIV, Toronto
  • Johann Georg zu Sachsen, Herzog 1914: Streifzüge durch die Kirchen und Klöster Ägyptens, Leipzig-Berlin
  • Kaminski-Menssen, G. 1996: Bildwerke aus Ton, Bein und Metall, Bildwerke der Sammlung Kaufmann III, Frankfurt a/Main
  • Kiss, Z. 1989: Les ampoules de Saint Ménas découvertes à Kôm el-Dikka (1961–1981), Alexandrie V, Warsaw
  • Kiss, Z. 1990: Évolution stylistique des ampoules de St Ménas, [in:] Godlewski, W. (Ed.), Coptic Studies. Acts of the Third International Congress of Coptic Studies, Warsaw, 20–25 August 1984, Warsaw, 195–202
  • Kötting, B. 1950: Peregrinatio Religiosa. Wallfahrten in der Antike und das Pilgerwesen in der alten Kirche, Forschungen zur Volkskunde 33–35, Münster
  • Langen, L. 1986–1989: A mysterious altar-casket in Abu Sefien Church in Old Cairo, Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte 28, 75–79
  • Leibbrand, J. 1976: Thekla von Ikonium, [in:] Braunfels, W. (Ed.), Lexikon der Christlichen Ikonographie VIII, Freiburg im Breisgau, 432–436
  • Moorsel, P. van 1991: Ein Thron für den Kelch, [in:] Tesserae. Festschrift für Josef Engemann, Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum Ergänzungsband 18, 299–303
  • Nauerth, C. 1982: Nachlese von Thekla-Darstellungen, [in:] Koch, G. (Ed.), Studien zur spätantiken und frühchristlichen Kunst und Kultur des Orients, Wiesbaden, 14–18
  • Neale, J.M. 1850: A History of the Holy Eastern Church, London
  • Nelson-Atkins Museum: http://www. nelson-atkins.org/art/collections/ancient (accessed July 18, 2014)
  • Pillinger, R. 2005: Vielschichtige Neuigkeiten in der sogenannten Paulusgrotte in Ephesos, (dritter vorläufiger Bericht, zu den Jahren 2003 und 2004), Mitteilungen zur christlichen Archäologie 11, 56–62
  • Raible, F. 1908: Der Tabernakel einst und jetzt. Eine historische und liturgische Darstellung der Andacht zur aufbewahrten Eucharistie, Freiburg im Breisgau Renaudot, E. 1716: Liturgiarum orientalium collectio, Paris
  • Schmidt, C. (Ed.) 1905: Acta Pauli aus der Heidelberger Koptischen Papyrushandschrift N. 1, Leipzig
  • Shinnie, P.L., Chittick, N. 1961: Ghazali. A Monastery in the Northern Sudan, Sudan Antiquities Service, Occasional Papers 5, Khartoum
  • Skalova, Z., Gabra, G. 2003: Icons of the Nile Valley, Cairo
  • Smith, W., Cheetham, S. (Eds) 1876: A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, London
  • Şimşek, C., Yener, B. 2010: An Ivory Relief of Saint Thecla, Adalya XIII, 321–334
  • Tamis, R., Persson, J. 2011: Concise Dictionary. Sudanese Arabic-English, English-Sudanese Arabic, Comboni Education Series 1, Khartoum
  • Till, W. 1935–1936: Koptische Heiligen- und Martyrerlegenden, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 102, 108, Rome
  • Vie et miracles: Vie et miracles de sainte Thècle. Texte grec, traduction et commentaire, Ed. Dagron, G., Subsidia Hagiographica 62, Brussels 1978
  • Vita ac miraculis: De Vita ac miraculis D. Theclae virginis martyris Iconiensis libri duo, Ed. Pantinus, P., Antwerp 1608
  • Weitzmann, K. (Ed.) 1979: Age of Spirituality. Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century, New York-Princeton
  • Youssef, Y.N. 2011: The Ark/Tabernacle/Throne/Chalice/Stand in the Coptic Church (revisited), Ancient Near Eastern Studies 48, 251–259
  • Zaloscer, H. 1974: Die Kunst im christlichen Ägypten, Wien-München
  • Zibawi, M. 2004: Koptische Kunst. Das christliche Ägypten von der Spätantike bis zur Gegenwart, Regensburg
  • Żurawski, B. 2003: Survey and Excavations between Old Dongola and Ez-Zuma, Nubia II, Southern Dongola Reach Survey 1, Varsovie
  • Żurawski, B. 2011: Banganarti and Selib. Two field seasons in 2008, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean XX (Research 2008), 251–264
  • 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, Gdańsk
  • Żurawski, B. 2013a: Banganarti and Selib. Season 2010, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean XXII (Research 2010), 273–287
  • Żurawski, B. 2013b: The Earthenware Trays of Lobed Design and the Problem of Communion by Intinction in the Eleventh–Thirteenth Century Nubia, Études et travaux XXVI/2, 773–793
  • Żurawski, B. 2014a: Meroitic to Medieval Occupation Upriver from Dongola. Excavations at Banganarti and Selib in 2010, [in:] Anderson, J.R., Welsby, D.A. (Eds), The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven, 887–900
  • Żurawski, B. 2014b: Kings and Pilgrims. St Raphael Church II at Banganarti, mid-eleventh to mid-eighteenth century, Nubia V, Banganarti 2, Warszawa
  • Żurawski, B. 2014c: Banganarti and Selib: season 2011, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean XXIII/1 (Research 2011), 323–342

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.desklight-8eaf1d2b-ea5f-4b65-a0a0-14cc9ee4a5e8
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.