Analabos: Origin, Evolution and Terminological Confusion

Abstract

In modern research, as well as in everyday practice, there is a general confusion about ‎the name and the shape of the analabos, one of the original elements of the‎ Byzantine monastic habit. Thus, slavists and archaeologists use this term as an equivalent of the paramand (which is different from the Byzantine paramand in shape and use); ‎byzantinists and art historians see it as an equivalent of the Latin scapular, that is, in fact, an extension of the Byzantine cowl, which we can always see in traditional representations of holy monks. The variety of names ‎and the interpretation of the terms for this attribute is far from clear. Information ‎about the analabos’ original shape can be obtained from early monastic texts, Byzantine literature, Old Russian literature, liturgical monuments, artistic representations of saints in illuminated manuscripts and finds from excavations of Russian monastic tombs. Our analysis reveals the characteristic forms and functions of the analabos at different times, both in the Greek world and in the Slavonic world, and also shows the reasons for the terminological confusion.