Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity最新文献

{"title":"An Argument from Silence: The Differing Evidence in the Syriac and Georgian Language Sources","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_009","url":null,"abstract":"This passage is often used as evidence for the relationship between the Iberians and the Syrians in the fifth century, along with passages from the vitae of Symeon the Younger and his mother Martha that were written a century later.2 From this it would perhaps appear that there was regular communication between the two regions that was attested to by the literary sources but, as with all the other evidence examined thus far, this promising beginning is deceiving; there are no other clear references to Iberians found in the early Syriac literature and they do not appear to have played a significant role in the development of Syrian Christianity in general or monasticism in particular. Naturally the argument has been used that since the (As)Syrian Fathers left their homelands to travel to Kartli then there is less likely to be a reference to","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"413 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122793109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Syrians, Assyrians, Orthodox, Chalcedonians and Monophysites or Non-Chalcedonians: The Problems of Identifying the Thirteen Fathers","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_003","url":null,"abstract":"In May 2013 at Bodbe, at the convent that houses the tomb of St. Nino, the legendary evangelist of Georgia, I bought a modern icon of the Thirteen Fathers that is labelled in Georgian characters Asureli Mamebi, which in English is translated as the Assyrian Fathers rather than the Syrian Fathers. Throughout Georgia there are references to these somewhat enigmatic figures in churches, historical and literary sources and in popular culture. TheThirteen Fatherswho came to the country in the sixth century are credited with bringing Christian monasticism and consolidating the process of Christianization begun by St. Nino in the fourth century. Each of these figures is associated with a particular location (Map 2), and in some cases more than one place, in the ancient kingdom of Kartli.1 Known in antiquity as Iberia by the Romans, Kartli was the name chosen by its inhabitants for the region that now makes up central and eastern Georgia. It is notable that none of these Fathers has been linked with a site in Colchis, Egrisi or Lazica, the ancient names for contemporary Western Georgia, which also includes Abkhazia, and which was more firmly under Byzantine influence than the eastern regions of the country that is now known as Georgia by foreigners.2 Despite their pivotal role in Georgian national consciousness, concrete facts about these figures are extremely difficult to establish and they remain for the most part shadowy characters shrouded in legend rather than clearly demonstrable historical figures. To begin with perhaps the most obvious point, we have the question of their origins; they are referred to almost interchangeably","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117129313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Defining the Geographical and Historical Parameters of This Study","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_002","url":null,"abstract":"...The problem becomes acute when considering the architectural traditions of Georgia. Lying just north of Armenia and bordered on the west by the Black Sea, the architecture of this region offers striking similarities with that of Armenia. The small, centrally-planned structures, with their conical roofs and sculptural decoration, bear close resemblance to those found in Armenia. These visual similarities reflect the continuous contact and interrelations between the two lands, most visible in the marchland areas of Tayk‘ and Tao, which have defied a precise identification of an Armeno-Georgian border, and where churches often feature bilingual inscriptions. The closeness of the two traditions, both in ecclesiastical architecture and in almost all other architectural genres, encourages the formulation of a Transcaucasian, rather than strictly Armenian study. The abundance of commonalities discourages drawing an overly rigid line between them, as is common inmuch of the scholarship on the Transcaucasus. The problem of defining “Armenian” and “Georgian” architecture thus remains, as well as how, when, and why to distinguish between them. In some cases, it seems that the term Transcaucasian is more appropriate.1","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134396760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Mystery of the Missing Objects: Do Archaeological Artefacts and Liturgical Objects Support the Story of (As)Syrians in Kartli?","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_005","url":null,"abstract":"One of the assertions anyone exploring the history of the (As)Syrian Fathers encounters in Georgia today is that there is a great deal of physical evidence to attest to the presence of Syrians in late antique Kartli. Given the fact that Syrian-made glass in particular is ubiquitous across the Roman Empire this statement comes as no surprise—it would be more of a shock if there were no evidence of Syrian artefacts in Kartli at the time of its evangelisation and in the centuries immediately following this event. However, when it comes to looking at these claims of Syrian objects in more detail the situation swiftly changes. In the first place there is very little material securely provenanced as Syrian on display in the National Museum collections. At first glance a visitor could attribute this to the fact that currently only a very small selection of the collection is on view to visitors and, in the case of the late antique and early medieval holdings, only themost intrinsically valuable objects are easily accessible to the public in the treasuries of Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia and the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts respectively. Difficult as it is to gather information about Syrian artefacts in Georgia, that task seems simple when set against the difficulty of trying to find evidence of ‘Iberians’ in Syria. Since nobody had set themselves the task of quantifying Georgian material in Syrian collections before the civil war began, it is now unclear when or if such a study will be possible in the future. What we can state is that there are no Georgian inscriptions or artefacts recorded in collections in the Syrian Arab Republic today. On the other hand there is a great deal of archaeological evidence attesting to theGeorgian presence in theHatay region of Turkey, which of course was a province of Syria until 1939. Djobadze extensively surveyed the hinterland of Antioch (modern Antakya) and conducted a series of archaeological explorations that conclusively proved the presence of Georgian monks on Semandaǧ, at the monastery of St. Symeon Stylites the Younger and elsewhere in the vicinity, notably in the region known","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122674249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conclusion","authors":"Emma Loosley Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134251896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Unknown Factors: Evidence from the Cave Monasteries and the Significance of Georgian Vernacular Religion as a Relic of Earlier Ritual Practices","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_010","url":null,"abstract":"Any research question as complex as trying to unravel the level of cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in late antiquity is bound to have many facets to it, particularlywhen the problem is approached in an interdisciplinary manner. Although the previous chapters have largely revealed the same pattern of evidence, with the archaeological, art historical, liturgical and historical data seeming generally to point in the same direction, there are two outstanding issues that have not been resolved and, in both cases, it seems that future research is necessary. The first of these issues is the question of cave monasticism. It will be remembered that the only definitively Syrian early Christian artefact excavated thus far in Kartli or Kakheti was the Symeon Stylites medallion discovered at Davit Gareja in Kakheti.1 For this reason alone it would seem sensible to look at the relationship between this complex and Syria, but as will be outlined below, there are a number of other reasons why it is desirable to undertake a comparative study of cave monasticism across the wider region. Secondly there is the tantalising echo of the Syrian bema liturgy in the use of pre-altar crosses in the Georgian highlands (and previously elsewhere as well) as well as the use of the tau-shaped drosha offering a possibility of interplay between early Christian rituals and vernacular beliefs.2 Accordingly this chapter will offer some context to these two outstanding questions and discuss why these topics appear fruitful areas of future research in the hope of stimulating more interest and debate.","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"93 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127731108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Symeon and His Followers: Stylitism as a Cultural Trend between Syria and Georgia","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_006","url":null,"abstract":"One key piece of evidence a number of Georgian Historians and Art Historians contend proves a tangible link between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity is the popularity of the cult of Symeon Stylites in the country. It is not always entirely clear whether this devotion is directed towards Symeon the Elder of Qalʿat Semʿan or his successor Symeon the Younger of the so-called ‘Miraculous Mountain’ in the environs of Antioch, but there is clearly a deeply rooted veneration of these saints across Georgia. However, as highlighted in the previous chapter, this issue requires further exploration and cannot be accepted simply on the basis of contemporary beliefs about the past. Therefore there are a series of questions that we must consider in order to examine the veracity of these beliefs: When did the cult of Symeon Stylites enter Georgia? What evidence is there for the veneration of the saint(s)? Is there any archaeological or architectural evidence still extant to support Georgian assertions that stylitism becamean accepted ascetic practice amongstGeorgianmonks in late antiquity through to the Middle Ages? With the notable exception of themedallion discussed in chapter three, the first figural representations of Symeon Stylites in Georgian art still extant date from the eleventh century and originate in very different regions of the country. Perhaps the most famous Georgian depiction of Symeon is the metal icon currently on display in the Treasury of the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi. It was originally part of the liturgical treasure of a church in Laghami village, part of the Mestia Community in Svaneti, and comprises a silver-gilt image mounted on a wooden board measuring 35.5cm × 23cm.1 Symeon2 is shown in half-bust format nimbed and wearing a monastic hood","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132263145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Evidence Written in Stone: An Evaluation of the Relationship (or Not) of Syrian and Georgian Ecclesiastical Architecture","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_007","url":null,"abstract":"Anyone seeking to become acquainted with the history of Georgian Architecture will soon become aware of the fact that the field is fraught with methodological problems and has been largely static since the death of Giorgi Chubinashvili in 1973. Chubinashvili was the dominant figure in the field throughout the Soviet era and the subject is still controlled by his students, who have failed to significantly move the discipline forward in the forty-five years since his death. Whilst Chubinashvili may be credited as the founding father of the modern disciplines of art and architectural history in Georgia and is notable for his extensive publications, in common with a number of Soviet scholars his output is now widely viewed as being of variable quality. Particular instances where recent research has proved Chubinashvili’s suppositions to be wrong will be discussed later in this chapter but here it is important to highlight from the outset the fact that his limitations are rooted in three particular issues. The first is that he was handicapped by working on a largely ecclesiastical architectural tradition in a time and place where theological knowledge was unavailable and actively forbidden as an area of research, meaning that he could only study the monuments in a schematic manner that divorced form from function; this facilitated the development of a typology of ecclesiastical architecture that did not question the developing ritual needs of the","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125098980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Parallel Evolution? Issues in Vernacular Architecture and the Development of Church Building in Syria and Georgia","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_004","url":null,"abstract":"Having briefly introduced the regions under discussion in this work and begun to explore some of the linguistic and geographical confusion surrounding the relationship of Kartli and its neighbouring territories in late antiquity, we must now turn to the extant material culture and see if archaeology and art history can cast any light on whether there were trading links or other modes of contact clearly demonstrable between Syria and Mesopotamia and the Caucasus during this period. One logical place to start would seem to be to examine the evolution of Christian architecture in these different regions, given that a Syrian influence is often claimed for a variety of early churches in Georgia. However, before we move on to the specifics it is necessary to provide a brief overview of what we know about the evolution of ecclesiastical architecture both immediately before, and in the generations immediately after, the Peace of Constantine in the first half of the fourth century CE. Whilst it is widely accepted that the first securely dated Christian place of worship anywhere in the world is the house-church at Dura Europos beside the River Euphrates in Syria, it is not until the second half of the fourth century that we find the ‘Church’ as a specific building constructed for Christian meetings and rituals becoming relatively commonplace. After the edict of Milan was promulgated in 313 there was no reason why Christians could not worship openly, but naturally it took time for early adherents of the faith to adapt to their new circumstances. It is therefore in the second half of the fourth century that we begin to find clear archaeological evidence for Christian places of worship in early centres of the faith such as Syria, Asia Minor, Rome and North Africa. Although the traditional conversion narrative places the evangelisation of Iberia/Kartli in the 330s there has long been a belief in Georgian academia that the first churches were extremely small and therefore it was not until the later fifth century or early sixth century that substantial stone-built churches","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115161014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Syrian bema and the Georgian Pre-altar Cross: A Comparison of the Liturgical Furnishings of the Nave in the Two Traditions","authors":"E. Leeming","doi":"10.1163/9789004375314_008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004375314_008","url":null,"abstract":"In his article ‘Les ambons syriens et la function liturgique de la nef dans les églises antiques’1 AndréGrabarmakes reference to the fact that nave-platforms of the Syrian type are, although rare, present in some churches outside northwest Syria and one of the examples he highlights is that of ‘Mzchet.’ In actual fact what Grabar was referring to was the large polygonal platform that dominates the church of Jvari, perched on its mountain outcrop to the east of Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Kartli (Fig. 24). Jvari dates to the first decade of the seventh century and the site upon which the church stands is pivotal in the Christian history of Georgia, as it is believed to be the place where St. Nino, the illuminator of Kartli, raised her cross for the first time. This platform dominates the nave of the centrally planned church where it appears at first glance to be in the centre of the construction. A closer look reveals that it is actually subtly out of alignment with the building; a fact that is surely not coincidental, and the height of this stone structure is further emphasised by the large wooden cross standing at the centre of the platform. This cross is not ancient, but is in fact a replica of an earlier artefact that did not survive the Communist period of Georgia’s history and is one of a presumed line of such pre-altar crosses that have adorned the site. This phenomenon is echoed by the smaller platform that stands to the north side of the sixth century Anchiskhati basilica in Tbilisi. Here the structure is noticably smaller and less dominant, but here too the platform supports a (smaller) cross in a disposition echoing Calvary. So what is the link, if any, between Syria and Georgia if both regions appear to have an unusual disposition of liturgical furniture in their naves? Are these traditions linked or, as Grabar hinted, is this due a com-","PeriodicalId":137518,"journal":{"name":"Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126820675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}