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Oaks Papers, Number
Contents?Dumbarton 1 ANTHONY
inByzantine
kaldellis?Historicism and Literature
Thought 25 TASSOS
61,2007
papacostas?The
History
and Architecture at
of Saint John Chrysostomos cyril mango?Preface, Cyprus,
of theMonastery Koutsovendis, MICHAEL
grunbart?Appendix
157 Christopher
macevitt?The
Chronicle of the First Crusade,
Matthew
of Edessa: Apocalypse, and theArmenian Diaspora
183 LYNDA garland?Mazariss Further Reflections
Journey
and Reappraisal
Settlement Patterns inAnatolia New
Evidence
Dumbarton 217 michael
from
Oaks
267
c
Settlement
2005 and Economy
East
and Industry in Byzantine Anatolia: from Amorium
gunder
varinlioglu?Living Rural Habitat and Landscape
319 alan
walmsley?Economic in theTowns
of Settlement ca.
21-24 April
s. lightfoot?Trade
The Evidence
287
and the Levant:
Archaeology
Symposium,
decker?Frontier
in the Byzantine
toHades:
in a Marginal in Southeastern
Developments and Countryside
Environment: Isauria and theNature
of Syria-Palestine,
ce
565-800
FieldworkReport
O. KO^YIGiT, H. YAMAN, 353 C S. LIGHTFOOT, O. KARAGIORGOU, P. linscheid, and J. FOLEY?The Amorium Project: Excavation
and Research
in 2003
386 Abbreviations 389 Dumbarton
Oaks
Symposium
2006:
Becoming
Children andChildhood inByzantium
Byzantine:
SettlementPatterns inAnatolia and theLevant: New EvidencefromArchaeology Dumbarton Oaks Symposium, 21-24 April 200s
Abbreviations AAJord AArchArSyr AASS AB ActaAntHung AIPHOS
A]A AnatAnt AnatArch
Annual oftheDepartment ofAntiquities ofJordan
et d 'histoire, Revue d archeologiques arabes syriennes. archeologie vols. 16-26 (Note: Before 1966,Annales archeologiques de Syrie, AArchSyr) Acta sanctorum, 71 vols. (Paris, 1863-1940)
Annales
Analecta
Bollandiana
Acta Antiqua, Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae et d'histoire orientales et slaves Annuaire de Vlnstitut de philologie
AmericanJournal ofArchaeology Anatolia
Antiqua
Anatolian
Archaeology:
Reports
on Research Conducted
ed.G. Coulthard (London) AnatSt
ANRW ARAM ArtH ArSonTop
Atiqot Atlal BAR BASOR BBSS BCH
BMGS BNJ BSI
BSOfAjS ByzF
BZ CAH CahArch
CCEC
Ara$tirma
Bulletin
de correspondance hellenique
Byzantinisch-neugriechischejahrbucher Byzantinoslavica
Bulletin oftheSchool ofOriental [andAfrican] Studies Byzantinische
Forschungen
ByzantinischeZeitschrift CambridgeAncientHistory Cahiers
archeologiques
Cahiers du Centred*Etudes Chypriotes
international des Etudes Byzantines: Actes vols. (Berlin, 1862-77) inscriptionum graecarum, 4 national de la recherche scientifique
Corsi di cultura sulV arte ravennate e bizantina
Classical Quarterly Corpus
CSHB
Corpus Aelriov
DOS
Toplantisi
Byzantine andModern GreekStudies
CSCO
DOP
Sonu?lan
Bulletin ofBritishByzantine Studies
Corpus Centre
Aikr.XpKTT.ApfcET. DM
Notes
Atiqot.Journal oftheIsraelDepartment ofAntiquities,Jerusalem Atlal: TheJournal ofSaudi Arabian Archaeology BritishArchaeological Reports Bulletin oftheAmerican Schools ofOrientalResearch inJerusalem
CIG
CQ
Society,Museum
MajallatArdm ArtHistory
Congres
CorsiRav
ABBREVIATIONS
Welt AufsteigundNiedergangderRomischen
CEB CNRS
Turkey,
Studies
American Numismatic
ANSMN
386
Anatolian
in
Orientalium Scriptorum Christianorum scriptorum historiae byzantinae
tyjsXpio-nccvixfjg Ap^uioXoyix^ Damaszener Mitteilungen Oaks Papers Dumbarton
Dumbarton Oaks Studies
Erotipeia;
EChQ EI2 EO Eit.Er.Bv^.ZTc. E7t.Kev.E7tKrT.Ep. E7t.Mecr.ApX'
EtBalk GRBS HA
Hist Art ICS IM IN] IRAIK IstMitt
JEH JESHO JFA JHS JMA JNES JOB
JRA JRIBA JSAH KazSonTop Kp.Xpov. Kv7tp.E7t. LRCW LSJ
Eastern ChurchesQuarterly
Encyclopedia ofIslam, 2nd ed.,vol. 1 (Leiden-London i960-) Echos d 'Orient Eitsrrjpli; Emtpeiac; Bv^avrivoov ZkovSoov tov ETterrjpic, KivTpov ETtiaTYjiJiovixoovEpsvvcov tovMetrcticovixov ETtsTYjplq Ap^eiov
Etudes balkaniques
and Byzantine
Greek, Roman, Handes
amsorya
Histoire de IArt IllinoisClassical Studies Istanbuler Mitteilungen Israel Numismatic
Journal v Russkogo arkheologicheskogo instituta Konstantinopole Istanbuler Deutsches Institut, Mitteilungen, Archaologisches Istanbul Abteilung Izvestiia
Journal ofEcclesiasticalHistory Journal oftheEconomic and SocialHistory oftheOrient Journal ofField Archaeology Hellenic Studies Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of
Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantinistik, vol. 18- (Vienna, 1969(Note: Before 1969,Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantinischen
MedE MM
Kazi
Sonu$lan
Toplantisi
KprjTixa Xpovixd KvTtpiaxal Z7tovSai Late Roman
Coarse Wares
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. Monumenta Medieval
Muze
NC Neo<; EJX. OC
Asiae Minoris
(series) S. Jones et al.,A Greek-English
Lexicon
Antiqua
Encounters
F.Miklosich sacra
MuzKazSem
)
JOBG) Gesellschaft, Roman Journal of Archaeology Journal oftheRoyal InstituteofBritishArchitects Historians Journal oftheSocietyofArchitectural
(Oxford, 1968) MAMA
Studies
and J.Mulier, Acta 6 vols. (Vienna, etprofana, (^ali^malan
Kurtarma
et
diplomata
graeca medii aevi?
1860-90) Kazilan Sempozyumu
TheNumismatic Chronicle [andJournal the of RoyalNumismatic Society]
Nioc, EViyjvoizvTJ^oov Oriens christianus
OCA
Orientalia
Christiana
analecta
OCP
Orientalia
Christiana
periodica
ABBREVIATIONS
387
ODB
OKS PEQ
PG
PLP
The Oxford Dictionary ofByzantium, (New York-Oxford, 1991)
PPSb PrOC
ProSocAnt QDAP RDAC REArm REB
RendAccNap RES
RevBibl RivBiz RN
ROC RQ RSBN RSE SBMiinch SBS ScritCiv TIB
ZbLik Umet ZPapEpig
388
ABBREVIATIONS
et al., 3 vols.
Ostkirchliche Studien PalestineExplorationQuarterly
cursus completus, Series graeca, ed. J.-P.Migne, Patrologiae in 166 pts. (Paris, 1857-66) Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, ed. E. Trapp Prosopographisches
161 vols, et al.
1976-1995)
(Vienna, PO
ed. A. Kazhdan
Patrologia
orientalis,
ed. R. Graffin, F. Nau,
PravoslavnijPalestinskijSbornik Proche-Orient
vol. 1- (Paris, 1903-
)
Chretien
ProceedingsoftheSocietyofAntiquaries TheQuarterly oftheDepartment ofAntiquities inPalestine Report oftheDepartment ofAntiquities,Cyprus Revue des etudes armeniennes Revue des etudes Byzantines
RendicontidelVAccademia di archeologia,letteree belleartidiNapoli Revue des etudes slaves
Revue biblique Rivista di Bizantinistica Revue
numismatique
Revue de VOrientChretien Altertumskundeundfur RomischeQuartalschriftfurchristliche Kirch engeschichte Rivista di studibizantini e neoellenici Rassegna di studiEtiopici SitzungsberichtederBayerischenAkademie derWissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische
Klasse
Studies inByzantine Sigillography Scrittura Tabula
e civilta
imperii byzantini,
ed. H. Hunger
Zbornik za likovneumetnosti PapyrologieundEpigraphik Zeitschriftfur
(Vienna,
1976-
)
Historicism in Byzantine Thought and Literature Author(s): Anthony Kaldellis Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 1-24 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472046 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:41 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected].
Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
http://www.jstor.org
Historicism inByzantineThoughtandLiterature AnthonyKaldellis has
MUCH
viewed Roman pedigree
been
written
about how
the Byzantines their past, especially how they synthesized the and Christian traditions to create a sacred imperial
for themselves.1 We
also have many surveys of Byzantine that is, of the authors and texts that told the story of
historiography, New Rome from its foundation
to its final demise.2 But, despite much we we more still know little about what progress in these fields, might on broadly call Byzantine historical thought. The former studies focus on dates, sources, style, and bias (usually contempo ideology, the latter we or What lack are analyses of the rarypolitical religious). underlying mental framework and the intellectual skills that guided the approach
to the past, cut across genres, and a rich shaped theway inwhich body of evidence was ultimately represented. In other words, how was histor ical truth constituted? How was the rawmaterial found in the sources,
its nature, cognitively processed? one to In this essay I will attempt to aspect of bring light only one moreover thatwas what I have called Byzantine historical thought, not limited to the historians proper but is reflected in a diverse range whatever
of texts. It is a matter of curiosity that, it shaped historical although more evident in this is of historical aspect writing, Byzantine thought other types of literature. I label ithistoricism, a term that requires clari fication in that ithas stood for very different things during the past two centuries.31 will use ithere to refer to the awareness of long-term and deep historical change, in other words to the perception that the
course of history fundamentally alters how people think and live and how societies are In the past, many Byzantines organized. approaching to over their own realized that theywere not permitted simply carry ethical values, religious beliefs, political system, and material circum stances and to the past on the apply them assumption that theywere simply universal and self-evident. Rather, they first had to historicize
their own position
by tracing its origins and defining
its
contingent
i See, e.g., E. Jeffreys, "The Attitudes of Byzantine Chronicles towards Ancient
I am referring to the surveys of K. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen
History," Byzantion 49 (1979): 199-238. For what the past looked like to a Byzantine historian around 800, see I. Sevcenko,
Litteratur von Justinian
"The Search for the Past in Byzantium around the Year 800," DOP 46 (1992):
profane Literatur der Byzantiner, 2 vols. (Munich, 1978); and A. Karpozilos,
279-93.
Bu^avTivoi'IcrTopncoi Kai Xpovoyp&fyoi,
2
bis zum Ende des
ostrbmischen Reich es ($27-14$3) (Munich, 1891);H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche
2 vols. (Athens, 1997-2002).
A new multi
volume survey is being prepared byW. Treadgold, The Early Byzantine Historians (New York, 2007). For a survey, see G. G. Iggers, "Historicism: The History and Meaning 3
of the Term," Journal of the History 56 (1995): 129-52.
ofIdeas
existential scope, and then to do the same the people of the regarding to write. whom wanted about past they This recognition, whether made in Byzantium or in early modern times, is a positive achievement and may even be called a breakthrough if it attains the level of conscious reflection and systematic application; it then gives rise towhat modern
Other
forms of historicism
philosophers call "the historical sense." emerge from this but should be treated sep
instance themodern notion that any system arately?for philosophical of the past cannot simply be true, given that, in the end, itmerely reflects the "age" inwhich itwas produced. The first is a factual observation conclusion about history, the latter a strongly relativist philosophical thesis, however, (that perhaps has yet to be proven).4 The philosophical
influenced the historical scholarship from which it origi greatly nated, especially in Byzantine studies. Even when studying authors of scholars casually assume the past who are not primarily philosophers, that their works must be "limited" by their "age" and must therefore reflect its intellectual shortcomings. Though true in a general sense, in an exercise in a priori practice this assumption unfortunately becomes has
to we often know little about any past "age" begin reasoning, because literature and with. Thus long-standing prejudices against Byzantine the "mental limitations" of itswriters, coupled with dated Hegelian
about theMind of this or that People, are introduced to generalizations fill the gap between the historicist imperative and what scholars actu abuse of the historical sense often leads to amisunder ally know?this in question and betrays the laudable original standing of the authors intention to understand them in their authentic context.5 defined strictly and limited to the avoidance of in examining the past, and to a sense of the fundamental
Historicism?here anachronism
to be an essentially modern widely believed One "knows," for instance, that itwas the humanists development. who first cultivated the historical sense. of the Italian Renaissance
difference of that past?is
aware that they were creating new modes of expression and at the same time that theywere recreating those thought, and believing of antiquity, theywere led to postulate (or invent) the three periods of to have we still use, each ofwhich was supposed European history that to be now had a distinctive boundaries Historical style and values. observed and so humanism "overcame ... the ancient vision of a static
Acutely
4
For arguments that philosophical is not necessarily correct
5
(though not that it is necessarily false), see (still) L. Strauss, Natural Right and
Reinterpretation," 206-52, here 251-52.
2
ANTHONY
Historicism
KALDELLIS
(London,
1996).
"The Historical
of Agathias:
Byzantion
1.For a survey History (Chicago, 1953), chap. of postmodern philosophical historicism, see P. Hamilton,
See, e.g., A. Kaldellis,
and Religious Views
historicism
A
69 (1999):
Anachronism had to be avoided and reality,rigidand unchanging."6 theoriginal evidence consulted.The passion forantiquity led to an
remains, which were now brought to bear on the the past. Furthermore, the very awareness of change understanding of made history an existential predicament and eventually prompted new "not only did the government and princes vary, but the philosophies: the customs, themode of life, the religion, the language, the dress, laws, interest in itsmaterial
too, once Caesars
the names.men
and Pompeys, So Machiavelli.7
have become
Peters, Johns, and Matthews." To be sure, recent scholarship has shown that many writers and artists of the Renaissance chose to critical methods disregard the in their time and routinely violated the developing being pioneered historical sense for a variety of "creative" reasons. Itwas probably not until the nineteenth century that the historical sense became fully "sixth sense."8 This called it our modern ingrained, when Nietzsche be the explained partly by extremely rapid changes development may of our times, which create conditions of instant historical "otherness" and alienation. Never
before has so much
depended ancient and medieval
that may partly explain why so far as we have in this direction. go
a fact history, thinkers did not
on
Simply put, for them much less over the course of centuries and millennia: "The guidelines of changed Mediterranean life as the art of the possible could be summed up in the no even writings of Homer precisely because discontinuity remotely can be like that to which a modern, post-industrial society exposed had come between the men of the fourth century [A.D.] and their even if late modernity
era that is the only instinctively to exercise such a power historicizes everything, allowing "History" sense was not ful dominion over philosophy, the historical altogether in the past, a conclusion that is sometimes asserted with little lacking Yet
models."9
nuance
or concession. Our
survey of Byzantine literature below will in fact uncover "a as embedded in a web of general picture of humans cultural practices, which differ profoundly from epoch to epoch and to place place."10 Personally, I doubt that any human beings who have ancestral
traditions
(that change inevitably) and foreign neighbors (who are inevitably different) can lack a historical sense of this kind. Some ancient Egyptians, for example, realized that Egyptian art had passed 6
at times made through different stages and
E. Garin, Italian Humanism:
Histories
Ricerche (Bari, 1954), 158, 201-10. The stan
Mansfield
The Renaissance
in English
is by P. Burke,
Sense of thePast
(New York,
efforts to
i97o)> who cites many supporting texts (the book is virtually an anthology). Niccolo Machiavelli, Florentine 7
Philosophy and Civic Life in theRenaissance, trans. P.Munz (Oxford, 1965), 8; see also eRinascimento: Studi e Garin, Medioevo dard discussion
conscious
8 Modern
1.5, trans. L. F. Banfield and H. C.
(Princeton, 1988), 14-15. See P. Levine, Nietzsche and the Crisis of theHumanities
I995)? 25-26 for context. 9
P. Brown, Society and theHoly
inLate
(Berkeley, 1982), 92 (on whether
Antiquity the emperor Julian's infatuation with Homer was atavistic). 10
Levine, Nietzsche,
25.
(New York,
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
3
revive past forms. "The Egyptians the greatest historical perspective.
of the fourth century B.C... had The Late Period favored archaism
which was practiced with such skill, that is, with awareness of ithas "tricked many modern change, that
in various media," self-conscious
was from the Old Such a ruse experts into thinking it Kingdom."11 could hardly be pulled off by people "trapped" in their own "age." return for the last time to the philosophical implica Finally?to should not "blame" or tions of historicism in modern thought?we look down upon cultures for not
or any other premodern intellectual the inherent historicity of human thought,
the Byzantines
recognizing because that historicity has yet to be proven in a philosophi
especially
cally rigorous way. The main part of this study will proceed as follows. First, a group of texts from the twelfth century will be presented which reveal how developed ers. After
sense could be among some Byzantine writ will be of factors offered by way of expla it about Byzantine intellectual culture that collec
the historical
that a number
nation: what was
of sophistication? I will present additional tively enabled this degree in literature and thought under those headings. of historicism examples of this problem, in connection Certainly others have studied aspects
individual authors or periods, especially the twelfth century,12 but so far there has been no systematic study of the sources and methods I offer such a study here in recognition of historicism in Byzantium. of the dramatic but still only partial swing in current opinion in favor I have linked it to the more cultural productions. of the Byzantines'
with
in widely debated philosophical problemsofmemory and history the a say in broader debates. one day have hope that the Byzantines may The texts I have selected for immediate attention are the three
romance novels of the twelfth century, written probably in the 1140s: Eustathios and Dosikles; Rhodanthe Theodoros Prodromos's (or Niketas and and Makrembolites' Hysminias\ Eumathios) Hysmine and Charikles. A fourth novel, Konstantinos Drosilla Eugenianos's survives only in fragments and and Kallithea, are texts between nine and eleven books long will not be discussed. The or about 120 pages; they are told in the third person and in verse, except forHysmine and Hysminias, which is in first-person prose. Moreover all have the same basic plot, which is that of the ancient romance novels
Manasses'
Aristandros
that they all imitate: a young couple in love run away and are separated ii
and P. Especially R. Macrides Fourth "The Kingdom and the Magdalino, 12
The Gift of theNile: to Egypt from Aeschylus
Ph. Vasunia,
Hellenizing Alexander
(Berkeley, 2001), 129-30;
see also
I. Shaw, ed., The Oxford History ofAncient Egypt (Oxford, 2000), 357-58 for archaizing art in the Third Intermediate Period.
4
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
Rhetoric of Hellenism,"
in The Perception
of thePast in Twelfth-Century Europe, P. Magdalino (London, 1992), 117-56.
ed.
by pirates, barbarians,
shipwrecks,
or wars, yet amazingly
theymanage
topreservetheirvirginity. make friends(whohave Along theway they had similarexperiences)and finallyreuniteandmarry.Despite this similarity
the novels are highly varied and idiosyncratic; focuses more they might be worlds apart. Eugenianos
in outline,
conceptually on the elaboration
on the of the plot; Makrembolites subjective expe rience of eros, his theme is the second-order rela though underlying and art (techne), especially the art of the eros, nature, tionship among novelist; and Prodromos takes as his themes war and religion.While ismore "artistic" in both treatment and Makrembolites subject matter, Prodromos
ismore
imitating Platonic philosophical, themes of political philosophy.
dialogues
and
discussing The trend is toward more
attention to these novels?to scholarly to their allusions to ancient literature and
their generic complexity; intertextual use of the ancient novels in particular; and to their literary motifs and strategies.We will not discuss these aspects here, except to our chief theme. The the key feature of the novels for degree required by are learned; that is, are imitations of an our purposes is that they they are in verse rather ancient genre, near-perfect ones in fact, though they are written in classical than prose (except forMakrembolites). They set in an
antiquity, unspecified period of pre-Roman Hellenic and required a high level of scholarship, literary and historical, such as in the twelfth century. The sheer self-con existed only in Byzantium
Greek,
sciousness of this enterprise is remarkable. As a general or Christian references the Hellenist temporary disrupt
rule, no con illusion. The
novelists do not openly the chronological and acknowledge religious lies that between them their and models?a gap strategy that enables, or requires, their readers to imagine themselves among the (pagan and
readers of the original novels. Of course we, along with the know well that in a has much perfectly original audience, happened never thousand years and sowe look for hints. The novels oblige, albeit we will see, are As allusions deliberate and contemporary obviously.
Greek)
executed with great skill. In addition, indirect references to the authors themselves emphasize the distance that separates these fictions from
one of his charac their Byzantine creators. For instance Eugenianos has ters claim as his own models heroes from the ancient novels (6.386-390, 440-451),
saying that they lived "long ago."14 But how long ago can they
The novels are conveniently published 13 with Italian translation in F. Conca, // romanzo bizantino del XII 1994). For a general TheMedieval
Beaton,
ed. (London, is outdated
secolo (Turin, introduction, see R. Greek Romance.
2nd
1996), chaps. 4-5, which in some respects; for various
regarding the novels'
arguments and absolute
relative
ibid., 79-81,
chronology, 211-12; and P. A. Agapitos, "Poets and Painters: Theodoros Prodromos' Dedicatory Anonymous
Verses
of His Novel
Caesar,"/QB 173-85, here 181,184-85.
to an
50 (2000):
For literary readings of these exempla, see C. Jouanno, "Nicetas Eugenianos, un heritier du roman grec," REG 102 (1989): 346-60, here 350-53; J. Burton, "Reviving the Pagan Greek Novel in a Christian 14
World,"
GRBS
39 (1998): 179-216, here
257-59
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
$
have lived in this timeless world? Spoken by one of the characters about the authors models, this claim in fact alludes to the chronological gap
from his predecessors. Likewise, at the end of separating Eugenianos Makrembolites' novel, the first-person narrator assumes a detached a perspective and wonders who might possess such perfect "Atticizing"
nature of the events that as could faithfully reflect thewondrous He expresses the hope that even if the other gods transpired (11.19). to his love, the arts ofHermes will do not establish eternal memorials style
is born much
later" to immortalize
them through narrator thus alludes to the author, the power of rhetoric (11.22). The to his rhetorical skill thatwe are meant to admire.15 specifically As a setting inwhich to develop their deeper and broader themes eros and the novelists recreated an image of antiquity logos, regarding and to their free of anachronism, chiefly of reference to Christianity enable
"one who
own
is almost Byzantine world. This rule occasionally broken, though to To achieve this effect, they had deploy formi always deliberately. dable scholarly skills and knowledge of antiquity, put themselves in a classical
frame of mind,
and fashion an illusion that could convince
This means, exacting peers and patrons.
among other things, that they
had a highlydevelopedhistoricalsense.Itmight be objected thatwhat the novelists were imitating were the ancient novels themselves and not life in antiquity directly, and there is some truth in this.However, it is unlikely that they could have succeeded in this experiment unless
itwere informedby a high levelof independenthistorical scholarship,
for the Byzantine novels are not restricted in their plots, settings, situ ations, dialogue, and characters to the equivalents that are found in the ancient novels. In other words, the artificial Hellenic world of the not be simulated sowell merely by imitatation Byzantine novels could of the ancient novels themselves. Besides we have independent evidence about at least one of the novelists, Prodromos, who was a first-rate clas sical scholar.16 And we will discuss below education
the ability to write
inmore detail what kind of
in classical Greek
already presupposed
in Byzantium.
did this historicism entail in practice? First, the novels are What and obsessively pagan. Not only do the protagonists, with thoroughly whom we are apparently meant to sympathize, believe in the gods; they to them, festivals are holding constantly talking about them, praying
in their honor, and yes, even sacrificing to them. It ispossible that this exceeds that in the ancient novels, going well beyond the religiosity of the ancient world itself.But on the whole the nov day-to-day piety criticism on this point is either too elists get the details right.Modern strict or subjective in evaluating what is "authentically" ancient, what the product ofmimesis of the ancient novels.17 It Byzantine, and what is important that the novelists do not apologize or ever comment on
6
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
15
See Beaton, Medieval
86-87; Agapitos,
Greek Romance,
"Poets and Painters,"
183-84. See, in general, A. Kazhdan (in col laboration with S. Franklin), Studies on
16
Byzantine Literature
of theEleventh and
Twelfth Centuries (Cambridge, 17 Macrides and Magdalino,
1984), chap. 3. "The Fourth
151;R. E. Harder, "Religion und Kingdom," Glaube in den Romanen der Komnenenzeit," imByzanz
inDer Roman
der Komnenenzeit:
Symposiums Referate des Internazionalen an derFreien Universit at Berlin, 3 bis 6 April 199S, ed. P. A. Agapitos and D. R. Reinsch (Frankfurt am Main, 2000), 55-80, here 69-72 (perhaps too strict); and C. Jouanno, "A Byzantine Novelist Staging the Ancient Presence, Form, and Function
Greek World: of Antiquity
inMakrembolites'
and Hysminias"
Hysmine
in 'Hnp6oJ\r]\ffr] rrjc.
arb (ZvfavTivb [ZV$l(rT6pr}fia., cLpXcuorriTCLc. and M. Paschalis (Athens, ed. S. Kaklamanis 2005),
17-29.
the poet of who like Beowulf, religion (as did, say, wise wrote about pagan heroes for a Christian society). Furthermore, as ancient world at face value requires accepting its taking this religion virtuous. Cities and individuals are praised for their piety. There is no narrators do not themselves believe in the sign that the gods, which their characters'
places
readers in the position
their Christian
of
having
to
suspend,
not
theirdisbelief,butpreciselytheirbeliefinorderto enjoythefiction.By
in the firstperson, Makrembolites compounds the illusion by us view theworld and partake making through the eyes ofHysminias in is is a sacred of the which he directly paganism steeped (Hysminias Prodromos does is even bolder, in that he speaks in the herald). What third person but makes many comments that imply his throughout speaking
own belief in the pagan it and their benevolence gods (e.g., 1.65-67: was reasonable that a 6.84-88: one goddess should help the Rhodians; cannot escape fate, for the are everywhere, etc.). This radically gods the actual author from his authorial persona and presents us disjoins a narrator-author who
with
of one work
chooses to act pagan, choice thatMakrembolites' (a
even if only for the
purposes pagan first-person narrator does not have, as he is in a pagan "trapped" age). Finally, the narrators characters and firmly believe that the gods intervene in their stories and
sometimes
they do just that, though usually indirectly, through dreams, omens, oracles, and miracles.18 Timeless fictions that do not reflect contemporary mentalities make
modern
historians,
who
are historicists
themselves,
uncom
to historicize the novels accordingly been made in them allusions to Christian and Byzantine reali
fortable. Efforts have
by discovering are we must be careful in ties. These findings generally plausible, but them. First, we must accept that the evaluating setting of the novels is of unlike that the utterly Byzantine authors themselves, being Greek rather than Roman;
pagan rather than Christian; and, with the excep tion of Prodromos, based on city-states, not empires. The polarities of their moral universe are also those of the ancient novels and not of
versus freedom, town chance versus providence, Byzantium: slavery vs. country, Hellenism vs. barbarism, nature vs. techne. Everyday life, social relations, and manners of speech likewise do not to correspond the experience of any Byzantine. The novelists even used ancient and archaic expressions thatwere not current in Byzantium illusion of authenticity.19 18
A dream sent by Dionysos:
Niketas
Apollo:
sent by (?): ibid., 11.14; Selene saves
Hermes
Eustathios Makrembolites,
Prodromos, Rhodanthe
Hysmine 8.7,11.17; an (apparent) omen
Hysminias sent by Zeus:
ibid., 6.10,10.11; an oracle of
the
ibid., 10.13; a dolphin
Eugenianos, Drosilla and Charikles 6.664 668; the regular miracle ofArtemis's statue: and
to enhance
Kratandros
H avayivvnaic rfiv ypaftfidToovxara. rov IB' aloova sic to Bv%&vtiov xai d"0/zrjpoc
in the fire:Theodoros and Dosikles
393; a Delphic oracle: ibid., 9.190-233. A. Basilikopoulou-Ioannidou, 19
1.386
(Athens, 1971-1972), 85; for the question of what world the novels reflect exactly, see Beaton, Medieval
Greek Romance,
esp.
183 (above, n. 13).
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
7
Aside from Prodromos,20 what purpose do Christian allusions serve in the novels? In the case ofMakrembolites, are faint, consist they not is of of foot the practice ing exclusively Christian) washing (which and some that the echoes of the martyrs. possibly language sufferings are Their purpose, in any case, is literary; that is, they either merely illus trative or subordinated
to the own themes. development of the novels no conclusions The case of about Christian They suggest topics.21 more is We have, for instance, erotic lan complex. Eugenianos slightly
guage that seems to echo the Song of Songs; a character declaring that a can the young couple together and god had brought asking, "Who a to separate those whom god has united?" (3.12, also 7.264; alluding a Matthew 19:6); and marriage at the end that, contrary to ancient prac tice, takes place inside a temple with the priest presiding (we find this in Prodromos as well). But these allusions are too few and ambiguous to establish "a Christian
context" for the novels "despite the ostensibly we have seen, the context was antique settings."22As thoroughly pagan. No reader would have concluded that these characters were Christians "I give thanks to given that they constantly say such things as, you, son of Zeus, the greatest of the gods" (8.73-74). Their polytheism is too explicit for "Zeus" to be a classicizing name for the Christian that his of Beowulf, once he acknowledges God (by contrast, the poet as heroes are pagans, has them talk about God thereafter though they at heart,
was not were not). No, to make his readers more trying Eugenianos refers to the god in question, "comfortable" with the material. Drosilla as a Christian would as anax, not (7.210).We are deal Dionysos, kyrie a context that must necessarily dena ing here with thoroughly pagan
ture and subvert any Christian references that are worked into it. For one scholar has that Eugenianos was interpreting suggested example ... "the Song of Solomon against orthodox opin sexually and literally are on likewise used in connection with ion."23 Jesus' words marriage that leads to elopement; the erotic infatuation inspired by Dionysos the work, only now it has same line is used again toward the end of become "those whom the,gods have joined" (9.186). In Eugenianos's fiction, the gods prevail in the end. Because the study of the novels
is in its infancy, we do not know whether they were meant to suggest general arguments about pagan Here we are interested only in and Christian practices and beliefs. 20
I intend to discuss Rhodanthe
Dosikles
and
inmore detail in a separate study
on Hellenism
inByzantium:
The Transforma
tions ofGreek Identity and theReception of theClassical Tradition (Cambridge, 2007). 21 Burton, "Reviving the Pagan Greek Novel,"
8
208-13
ANTHONY
(above, n. 14). P. Roilos,
KALDELLIS
(Amphoteroglossia: A Poetics of the Twelfth Greek Novel [Washington,
Century Medieval
2005], 210-23) has recently argued for extensive use of the Song of Songs in
D.C,
Eugenianos. 22 Pace E. Jeffreys, "The Depiction of Female Sensibilities in the Twelfth Century,"
in To Bv?dvrto copifzoyia aJkoLyic,: EniXoyiq, xcu xpoitoi ix
theirimplicithistoricism,inhow theycarefullyavoided anachronism. A fewlapsesmay be allowed.One scholarhas suggestedthatthetemple
On
in Prodromos
resolves the problems created by Rhodanthes and situates the novel in contemporary Byzantine debates.24 was an the other hand, it is actual anachronism, possible that this
marriage abduction
for the classical texts typically read by Byzantine scholars do not specify the institutions of Greek marriage. On thewhole, however, the histori cist achievement
of the novels
is
impressive; nothing like itwould be centuries. for We can see this ifwe compare many possible them to the contemporary Old French (vernacular) romans dantiquite. So far these different traditions?Western and Byzantine?have been in theWest
in tandem only in attempts to discover which "influenced" the other. Current in my view) to scholarship tends (rightly, regard them as independent or internal largely independent developments.2 tenuous or Whatever links may be prosopographical chronological established between their patrons, in the end they remain very differ studied
ent kinds of
world
romans are vernacular and a literary exercise. The depict that isquite thoroughly medieval despite their ostensible ancient
or no historical setting. Little scholarship influenced their composi a with Latin tion, beyond familiarity epic. The comparison, then, is like that between the historical novels of Robert Graves and the episodes ofXena, Warrior Princess. A fairer would be with Walter comparison
on Alexander epic (late twelfth century), which imitated Vergil and Lucan and "demonstrates a sense of sophisticated the past and its difference from the present."26 Still, its reconstruction of ancient mentalities and realia is shaky and itsChristian outlook is, of Chatillons
Latin
in contrast to the is Byzantine novels, pervasive and intrusive.Walter in out of his ancient keeping the twelfth century setting,
uninterested
thoughhe could probablyhave done sohad he sethismind to it.
So what enabled Byzantine writers to compose novels that most classicists today, given a blind test,would fail to as identify Byzantine, but would safely classify as pagan and ancient? The remainder of this studywill present some of the general and specific aspects of Byzantine intellectual life that contributed to this achievement. It will not be to for them; our to is possible give exhaustive documentation goal only understand how a historical sense it and how found emerged expression in various sites of Byzantine literary culture. Imust stress at the outset that the novels were scholarly achievements, written by men who had J.Burton, "Abduction and Elopement in the Byzantine Novel," GRBS 41 (2000): 377 409, here 405-8. The episode of trial by fire 24
in Prodromos was certainly an intentional anachronism; itwill be discussed in the sepa rate study of thatwork mentioned
above.
Cf. E. Jeffreys, "The Comnenian Background to the Romans d'Antiquite" 25
Byzantion Magdalino, oi Amours:
50 (1980): 455-86 withP. "Eros the King
and the King Some Observations on Hysmine
andHysminias"DOP46
x6
M. K. Lafferty, Walter ofChdtillon's Epic and theProblem of
Alexandreis; Historical
(Turnhout, 1998), Understanding 61.1 thank Tia Kolbaba for this reference.
(1992): 197-204.
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
9
spent a good portion of their lives studying ancient literature and who, as and students of philosophy, rival their modern coun philologists was also the age of Ioannes Tzetzes and terparts. The age of the novels this learned aspect of Byzantine Eustathios of Thessalonike. Amazingly culture has received almost no attention
in our times.
Prejudice,
and
the inherentphilological difficulty of the topic,has ensured that the world
and themind
of the Byzantine
classical
scholar has remained
in
so hostile to its on the topic is single monograph the reader can scarcely find a page that does not contrive subject that some way to dismiss Byzantine scholars as idiotic and incompetent.27 the dark for us. The
at the view of the past, mentioned As we saw above, the historical sense emerges beginning of this study. of fundamental historical change, whether along with the experience or as is rhetorical and aesthetic this political during the Renaissance Let us return to the Byzantine
and economic
as
during
the Industrial Revolution.
Such
transforma
be experienced, divide History subjectively they may into Periods, during each ofwhich the parameters of human existence are believed to be radically different in some important way from what came before and what came afterward. One such transformation that tions, however
view of the past was of course the conversion shaped the Byzantine one chose to date it of the ancient world to Christianity. Whenever a not in the modes of human itmarked clear break merely exactly, inGods overall plan for the salvation of humanity. The but worship rooted in the nature was as that is,metaphysically "objective," change
of theuniverse,as could be imagined.By itselfit sufficedto abolish even set the stage for a any notion of a uniform, unbroken past, and number of historicist exercises. For what else may we call the tale of the
Seven Sleepers of Ephesos, who fell asleep in a cave during the Decian and awoke some two hundred persecutions of the mid-third century II? Such a premise empire of Theodosios years later in the Christian
to elicit reflection on what had changed in the perfectly designed In one version, one of the youths named Iamblichos runs meantime. coins.28 It is not into trouble when he tries to buy food with Decian
was
one of the most successful modern exponents of "the surprising that and social life" style of religious, cultural, definitively Late Antique
began
one ofhis books bydeclaringthat"Iwish thatI had been one of
the Seven Sleepers of Ephesos."29 and anguish The convulsions
of the long transformation from left a deep and permanent mark on
to Christianity scholars, we must remember, spent most of their Byzantium, whose time in the company of pagan texts, a preference that sometimes paganism
in anxiety attacks. This is not the place to discuss the recep it to say that in Orthodox tion of Greek wisdom Byzantium. Suffice the "otherness" of the pagan inheritance was never forgotten and never
resulted
IO
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
27
N. G. Wilson,
(London,
Scholars ofByzantium
1983).
of the Seven YoungMen of in PG 115:427-448. Ephesos, P. Brown, TheMaking 29 ofLate Antiquity 28
Memoir
(Cambridge, Mass.,
1978), 1.
fullyovercome,which spurredthehistoricistimaginationby creating of antiquity. Of course fault linesand requiringthe special treatment
many Byzantines were content to simply dismiss the pagans of antiq or Roman and the famous writers. uity, both the average ancient Greek
were In some circles, exempted from this though, many of the authors or blanket condemnation due to their literary perfection (e.g.,Homer) All this iswell known. What moral proximity to Scripture (e.g., Plato). ismore interesting, however, is that some Byzantine scholars went even farther by attempting to rehabilitate classical pagans in general based on their historicist view of the past and often in times of crisis, when
seemed on the verge of collapse. At such times these scholars questioned the premises of their own culture and won the Byzantine
Empire
dered why the ancients, who were pagans and thus could not have ben efited from God's grace, had fared somuch better.
1080 A.D., the jurist and officialMichael Attaleiates high a inwhich he recounted and tried to History completed explain the dramatic decline of the empire in the eleventh century. This work has in a unfortunately received little attention. Yet fascinating digression, Attaleiates wonders why Byzantine generals were miserable failures Around
counterparts were glorious victors.We need on every nuance of this expound complex argument. Attaleiates concedes that the ancient Romans knew nothing of God's logos, of new the Incarnation, and of the religious conditions of the dispensa to over their ene tion (which he lists), but still they prevail managed
when
their ancient Roman
not
our of a "natural greatness ofmind." More important for then argues that the ancient Romans purposes, Attaleiates faithfully to own customs their adhered and the ritual demands of their own reli
mies because
as a Roman gion (which, jurist, he knew fairlywell); thus they entered on the to enter battle in high spirits.30This rehabilitation ability hinges the of a distantly related mindset view and the world foreign people customs and values, which satisfies the modern defini their through
as "a as embedded in a general picture of humans to web of cultural practices, which differ profoundly from epoch epoch to a even and place It also reveals if theoreti place."31 willingness, only tion of historicism
cal, to prefer "foreign" cultural practices on pragmatic grounds. One century later the student of Eustathios and bishop of Athens
Michael
Choniates
found himself
in a similar situation.
Witnessing a the rapid of the from empire disintegration provincial standpoint, his love of antiquity, which, up to that had remained bound point,
within
the aesthetic
active existential
30
to take on an limits imposed by his faith, began role and challenged the confidence of his Christian
optimism. Up to then, in his sermons to the people of Athens, he had granted the superiority of the ancients inmany respects, but had always maintained that "we" are more blessed on account of the Christian
Michael
Attaleiates, History
ed. and trans. I. Polemis 338-43. See A. Kaldellis, Argument
193-195,
(Athens, 1997), "A Byzantine
for the Equivalence
ofAll
Religions: Michael Attaleiates on Ancient and Modern Romans," International Journal of theClassical 31
Tradition
Levine, Nietzsche,
HISTORICISM
14 (2007):
1-20.
25.
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
II
so far to that of the ancients. Yet superior imperial and administrative corruption and indifference took a heavy
faith, which was decline
toll on this view. In an angry letter to an official in Constantinople view, was not doing enough to help the provincials, who, inChoniates' the bishop of Athens
exclaims on the blessedness
of "those men,"
that
"I do not reproach them for their distorted reli he bursts out, "but rather call them blessed because even though gion," in this way virtue and beauty, theyworshipped they practiced daring the sea and long trips so as to order and adorn human life." This letter is, the ancient Greeks.
is important for our thesis because, as noted, inmany of his sermons had set up the ancient Greeks and his own contemporary Choniates Christians as two different cultural "paradigms" that involved different
virtues and beliefs, the former worldly, the latter spiritual. Apparently he was personally capable of switching between them, at least to a when he realized that the empire needed much more degree, especially virtue if itwas to survive. And, like many modern histori "worldly" ans, he was prepared to "forgive" the ancients their vices based on an that served them sowell. He understanding of their "age" and values evaluated and redeemed the Greeks by applying a historical and com parative perspective.32 In the case of Choniates
and other Byzantines who wrote about the Athens of their time, this historical perspective was deeply shaped ruins of antiquity. The sheer contrast between the classical glory by the of the ancient city,which they had imagined through their education,
which theybeheldwhen they and thephysicaldecayof theancientcity,
first saw it in the eleventh and twelfth century, stimulated their histori cal sense and caused them to ponder the fateful gap that lay between
What was leftof all thatglory?Did Athens themand sage antiquity.
tomake up for all ithad lost?And, now have any redeeming qualities toward the end of the twelfth century, why were the ancients virtuous and victorious whereas we are sowretched
and worthless?
Laments
and
amid the ruins played a large role in pushing these thoughts nostalgia to the fore, as theywould later for the nineteenth-century European that is the right travelers, who have unfairly received the credit?if word?for
imagining
The bishops of Athens in the twelfth century were stimulated by
Romantic
Hellenism.
and their correspondents the ancient ruins into asking these "deep" historical questions, even answers (at least, unlike if they usually did not produce interesting to racist To vent not the European travelers, they did prejudices). give this degree, then, we should be more cautious in accepting blanket statements such as that the Byzantines
as
archaeology."33
In this context
commissioned
12
ANTHONY
it is
significant a painting of Athens
KALDELLIS
"had no perception
that Choniates in the classical
of history
seems period,
to have a work
32
Michael
Choniates,
Letter 50.42-46,
Epistulae, ed. F. Kolovou (Berlin, 2001), 69. See Macrides "The Fourth Kingdom," and Magdalino, inMichaelis
Choniatae
141-44 (above, n. 12) For Theodoros on theGreeks, see A. Garzya, Metochites "Byzantium," inPerceptions of theAncient Greeks, ed. K. Dover (Oxford, 1992), 29-53, here 32-36. P. A. Agapitos, "Byzantium in the 33 Poetry of Kostis Palamas and C. P. Cavafy," KAfznoq: Cambridge Papers inModern Greek 2 (Cambridge, 1994): 1-20, here 6, citing I examine the archaeological in a study imagination of Byzantine Athens on The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and
C. Mango.
Pilgrimage 2008).
inByzantine Athens
(Cambridge,
monuments and political institutions.34 This highlightingitsancient would certainlytellusmuch abouthow and towhat degree thepresent argument about Byzantine historicism applied also to the realm of art, a not treat in the present discussion. I general problem that do was not the to The transition from paganism Christianity only
major rupture in the Byzantine view of the historical continuum. There was also the transition from the of the Old Testament dispensation to that of the New Testament. The Byzantines the Old accepted as an
Testament Mosaic
expression of God's will and law but believed that the Law had effectively been annulled by the Incarnation. How,
then,could itbe explained thatGod had gone to all thattroublein the firstplace and had not just revealedthefull extentofHis Word from the beginning? theologians
The
solution proposed for this dilemma by prominent such as Eusebios of Caesarea rested on historicist premises.
it isunderstood Roughly put, when in fact contain the entire Christian
spiritually, theOld Testament does message, and many of the ancient
Patriarchs understood its full implications. But God did not deem the "childish and imperfect" race of the Jews to be ready for this revelation and so, it to them in an through Moses, he communicated imperfect way, through the "external props" of the Law, which was "necessary in the historical circumstances."35 This, the Byzantines would later accept, was one
human stage inGod's prudent management?oikonomia?of salvation. Likewise Theodoros the Stoudite raised the distinction
in theAge of Law and the Age of Grace rebutting iconoclast were on that based the of arguments graven images in the prohibition we see to which Old Testament.36 Again history divided into periods between
different rules, both human
and divine,
are
to
apply. One cannot an absolute in the past, in this case the Israelites, judge people by must concessions make for the limitations of their standard, but "age." supposed
In thiscase theirreligionisfound to be falsewhen judgedby absolute standards, but relatively truewhen viewed in historicist perspective. an overall Eusebios framed this argument within theory of the evolution of human society from savagery to civilized religion.
to them other such theories that had available Byzantines a invoked the different stages of history, each subject to different set of "rules." Plato in book 3 of the Laws and Polybios in book 6 of the
Later
Histories
produced
schematic versions of the ascent of humanity
P? Speck, "Eine byzantinische Darstellung der antiken Stadt Athen," 34
EAXrjvixd 28 (1975): 415-18. T. Barnes, Constantine 35 (London, cussions;
standard that
seemed to apply to theOld see R. L.Wilken, The Christians
as theRomans and Eusebius
1981), 184-85, citing previous dis see also 101,181. For Julian's attack
on the double
Christians Testament,
from
Saw Them (New Haven,
30-630 apresJ.-C.
1984),
in the Christian 184-96. For periodizations view of history, see, in general, H. Inglebert, Interpretatio Christiana: Les mutations des savoirs (cosmographie, geographic
phie, histoire) dans VAntiquite chretienne,
ethnogra
36
Theodoros
(Paris, 2001), 512-22. the Stoudite, First
Refutation of the Iconoclasts 5, in PG 99: 333. See, in general, K. Parry, Depicting theWord: Byzantine Iconophile Thought of theEighth and Ninth Centuries (Leiden, 1996), 49.
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
13
savagery to civil society and on to history proper. Such theories cer at least one later a little-known trea Byzantine version, tainly inspired tise by Eustathios of Thessalonike, inwhich natural progress accounts a for much and God, comparatively remarkably speaking, "plays minor role." The Mosaic Law (whose flaws are not explained) and the
for only two of the many stages of progress in own Christian this account. Moreover, Eustathios suggests that his was to a level of barbarism below the stage of virtue society reverting
Incarnation
account
formerly attained talents
by human
on
beings
the basis
of their natural
alone.37
The details
their of these theories do not concern us here?only had a developed "historical sense" and
testimony that the Byzantines
realized thatdifferentperiods had to be understood and judged by
contexts. unexpected in For claims, and in attempt countering example, "both own house rules, to canonists of the ing update their apologists and use made great of the argument of histori church of Constantinople were different then' in the cal relativity?that days of the early 'things church councils, when Rome was still an imperial capital and pagan ismwas still rife."38Not only did they realize that important matters different standards. This
skill came
in
handy the papal
in
had changed within the Church; they seemed willing and capable of canons to themodes and orders of the past, interpreting the according were men different. and "the times" when We
have, then, in various
(usually polemical) had occurred even within
tion that great changes itself and not only between faith. To
the
degree
contexts a
recogni
Christian
history the pagan past and the advent of the new that the Old Testament was a part of Christian
a different of God's grace. The dispensation represented was believed true of the the when age, Holy Spirit Apostolic to have been more actively present than in later periods. This age was very distinct, at least in the Christian categorization of history, and history, same was
it
later ages. St. could be used as a conceptual springboard for defining was claimed by her fifth Thecla, for instance, the follower of St. Paul, century hagiographer as among the first saints of the age that immedi that of the Apostles, and the first among women ately followed upon (with Franklin), Studies on Literature, 178-80 (above, n. 18). Byzantine The text is Eustathios of Thessalonike, 37
Kazhdan
On the Obedience Appropriate to a Christian Regime (Or. 3), ed. T. L. F. Tafel, Eustathii metropolitae Thessalonicensis Opuscula (1832; repr.Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert, 1964), 13-29.
14
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
38
Macrides
and Magdalino,
"The Fourth
145 (above, n. 12). Kingdom," R. Macrides, 39 "Perception of the Past in To in the Twelfth-Century Canonists," Bv?dvrto kcitA tov 120 aiwva: Kavovixo dlxaio, xpdro<; xai xoivoovla, ed. N. Oikonomides
(Athens, 1991), 589-99, esp. 591: "a sense of context and relativity."
generally.40 tion of God
But that age was brief and its uniqueness was more a func s moment of great plan than of human history. Another
even ness,withwhich theByzantines identified thoughtheyknew that itwas
was the and the period of irretrievably lost, reign of Constantine we now call the later the ecumenical Christian empire in general (which or Roman empire late antiquity). All educated Byzantines knew that their empire had once encompassed thewhole of Christendom and had not limited to the been inhab genuinely multiethnic, Greek-speaking itants of the Balkans and Asia Minor. that time the Church During
Fathershad governedtheChurch, and theCouncils had defined the
the heretics. The often stood figure of Constantine new in for thewhole capi period and, because of his foundation of the tal,was the chief source of legitimacy for the Byzantine Empire in the middle period. A collected volume has been published on the continual renewal of his image in later Even Justinian, not a periods.41 popular in the twelfth century for emperor in later periods, served as a model faith and defeated
the Italian ambitions of the emperor Manuel IKomnenos.42 We must be careful in the significance of this period evaluating to cite a for the present discussion. It is one great emperor of the thing as a past like Constantine legitimating authority for the present and to
a as to someone in produce legal argument why particular deserves to inherit his title; or to art and literature of a imitate the consciously
as in later Byzantine centuries. But glorious past age, happened often a historicist to it is another formulate thing explicitly theory regarding a certain not of The the has been written on segment past. yet study how later Byzantines viewed the Christian or empire of late antiquity, to what
to degree they managed synthesize its various elements into a coherent whole in their minds. To my later Byzantine knowledge on writers to the barbar what the loss of theWest rarely commented ians and the loss of the East
to the Arabs
had really meant and what events had introduced. With fundamental historical the changes those Arabs they certainly did not enter into debate on thematter. But in the to confront the encroach they had Europe that claimed many of the same political and cultural origins as the Byzantines did. This forced many to think hard about the overall trajectory of East-West relations and about twelfth and thirteenth centuries
ments
of a western
the cultural Against
changes that those relations presupposed. theLatins, the statesman and historian Georgios
S. F. Johnson, The Life and Miracles of Thekla: A Literary Study (Washington, D.C, 2006), 21-23. For the effort to fashion a
40
sense of continuous mated
revelation that approxi the one granted to theApostles, see
J.Meyendorff, Byzantine
Theology:
Historical
In a treatise Akropolites
Trends and Doctrinal
Themes
(New York, 1979), 9-10. P. Magdalino, ed., New Constantines: The Rhythm ofImperial Renewal in
41
Byzantium, 4th-i3th Centuries; Papers from the Twenty-Sixth Spring Symposium
ofByzantine
Studies, St. Andrews, March
1992 (Aldershot, U.K.). 42
P. Magdalino,
Komnenos,
The Empire of Manuel
1143*1180 (Cambridge,
I
1993),
passim.
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
15
(1217-1282) tried to find a common ground between the Byzantines and the "Italians." He found it in precisely the period of late antiquity, when Greeks and Latins had fused into a together single, Roman, and Christian commonwealth. He concludes his treatise with a remarkable passage
that should be better known:
our ancient It seems, O Italians, that you no longer remember harmony. ...But no other nations were ever as harmonious as the Graikoi and the Italians. And
came to this was only to be expected,for science and learning
theItaliansfrom theGraikoi.And afterthatpoint, so thattheyneednot
use their ethnic names, a New
Rome was built to complement theElder one, so that all could be called Romans after the common name of such same same name it.And just as great cities, and have the faith and the for so too did most noble name they received that from Christ, they take upon
(ethnikon) name [i.e., ofRoman]. And every was common to them: else magistracies, laws, literature, city councils, thing was not common to law courts,piety itself; so that there was nothing that those ofElder and New Rome. But O how things have changed!4* themselves the national
This
is the most
statement
explicit
I have been able to find that
theperiod of lateantiquity,definedbyAkropolites as thatfollowing the foundation
of New
a set of by unique and even literarymodes and orders. legal,
Rome, was
religious, national, political,
characterized
Still,Akropolitesprobablybelieved thattheItalianshad deviatedfrom that ancient cultural order while
the Byzantines
had not.
one thousand years old history, then, already by of the middle Byzantine period, could be perceived as dis
Even Christian the middle
saw on different writers. We though grounds by different how Byzantine historians represented these changes on the political continuous,
and cultural level. Hagiographic compilations of the middle period also reveal on the one hand "a detached historical and scholarly inter on the other hand, the efforts to render est in previous periods, while, saints' Lives more
accessible
stem from the desire
...
to preserve
the
memory of the saints and to promote their cult." The point at which "the Byzantines began to draw a line between the age of the saints and their present time" coincided with the reign of Herakleios (610-641 that is,more or less where modern historians place the end of A.D.),
43
late antiquity.44 This coincided with other major rifts; for instance the noted that afterHerakleios VII Porphyrogennetos Konstantinos
44
to use Greek regu to a great emperors "Hellenized degree [i.e., began cast off their ancestral Roman that is,Latin.45 This language," larly] and was in hagiography independent of the change development, of course, not in Latin written been saints' lives had noted above, because the to
l6
We begin with.
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
are
dealing,
then, with
independently
overlapping
Latins
Georgios Akropolites, Against the 2.27, in Georgii Acropolitae opera,
ed A. Heisenberg, 1978), 2: 64.
rev. P.Wirth
(Stuttgart,
C. Rapp, "Byzantine Hagiographers as Antiquarians, Seventh to Tenth
Centuries," ByzF21
(1995): 31-44, here 31
and 44. Konstantinos VII Porphyrogennetos, On the Themes I pref., in Costantino A. Pertusi Porfirogenito de Thematibus, ed.
45
(Vatican City, 1952), 60.
interestsindifferent aspectsof thepast,whichwas possible because of thesheercomplexityofByzantinecultureand thediverseoriginsof its constituent parts. Still this coincidence that something important had changed
indicates a general awareness in the reign ofHerakleios for
both saints and emperors. The scholarly interest in previous periods could be placed in the service of less "detached" pious goals. The tenth-century author of the Fool practiced a "deliberate historicism, the life of St. Andreas
as he to create a work set in the fifth-century reign of the attempted no source written after the fifth emperor Leo I." For example, he cites century and avoids mentioning any building put up after that age, all
and in all "so scholarship has only recently successfully that modern with considerable effort been able to prove the existence of certain anachronisms with respect to the architectural development of the
literature in particular is a breeding ground for capital."46 Apocalyptic both historicist fiction and scholarship. Forgery, to use an ugly word, are different. its makes full use of scholarly methods; goals, however, tries to keep one step ahead of the critic?on the latter's The forger own The chase may last for centuries and the fraud may prove ground. more persuasive than the truth.47A number of Byzantine theologians to the Platonist scholar Porphyrios's demonstra responded passionately tion that the book of Daniel
was
aMaccabean
creation and not what
it claimed to be, a prophecy of the Babylonian age (Porphyrios also were a recent Zoroaster that the of And revelations proved forgery).48 a certain Theodoros the presbyter argued in favor of the authenticity of the treatises of pseudo-Dionysios theAreopagite against the claims of unknown detractors who had insisted, among other things, that the
in those works was not com presupposed It would seem, then, that these patible with their putative early date. were more in Byzantium than their critics,whose argu popular forgers did not circulate much ments, unlike theworks of pseudo-Dionysios, environment
ecclesiastical
or survive. Photios,
our sole source for Theodoros, seems by contrast, unimpressed by the arguments for authenticity, because he writes noth ing about them.49
an we should Forgery is exciting site for the study of historicism, but more were into be broadly probably looking hagiography. Many vitae P. Alexander,
The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition (Berkeley, 1985), 8,126 27. See also L. Ryden, "The Date of the Life 46
ofAndreas Salos," DOP 32 (1978): 127-55. For an example from polemical literature, see D. M. Olster, Roman Defeat, Christian Response, and theLiterary Construction of theJew (Philadelphia,
1994), 158.
47
For the theme in general, see A. Grafton,
Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity inWestern Scholarship (Princeton, 1990). Porphyrios, Against frag. 43, in Porphyrius, "Gegen die Christen,"is Biicher (Berlin, 1916), 67-73. For discussion, seeWilken,
Christians,
34); Zoroaster:
Photios, Bibliotheke Photius:
(London,
the Christians
48
49
Wilson,
137-43 (above, n.
cod. i, trans. N. G.
The Bibliotheca: A Selection
1994), 26-27. For forgery in antiq Speyer, Die literarische
uity ingeneral, seeW.
Falschung im heidnischen und christlichen Altertum: Ein Versuch ihrerDeutung (Munich, 1971), esp. 195-99 for early Byzantium.
Porphyrios, Life ofPlotinos 16.
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
17
written
lived in the past, sometimes the distant past, for historical imagination and opportunities
about saints who
which
afforded many As literary elaboration.
far as I know, Byzantine hagiography has not been studied systematically from this point of view, but the evidence that could be used is actually abundant. Consider, for instance, the life ascribed to Georgios, patriarch of Alexandria of John Chrysostomos to has John travel to Athens in the early seventh century. Georgios in about 367,While there, he debates with the complete his studies to effect some conversions. It and manages city's leading pagan notables would be reasonable to dismiss this episode as fictional, on the grounds that it reflects the topos of study inAthens (modeled, for instance, on Gregorios
of Nazianzos),
mirrors
to the pagan phi speech in to the irresistible temptation
St. Paul's
on the and gives Areopagus, losophers to have the Christian orator defeat pagan intellectuals on their home But one scholar has defended the historicity of this account on ground. the basis of authenticating contemporary signs, for instance the moti vation of one quasi-pagan prefect, who hints that he is only outwardly to conform with the of the emperors and so obtain a Christian religion
office (the fact that there were two emperors is also true to the date). This policy reflects the circumstances of themid-fourth century far better than those of the early seventh. In addition, the Parthenon is said to be flourishing as a pagan temple of Athena, whereas in the seventh century itwas a church of theMother of God. Other examples
public
so too obvious anachronisms (which may, accord may be cited, though to this argument, have crept into the account at a later date).50 ing
The problem is that we lack standards by which to evaluate the relative merits of historicity, invention, and historicism in such debates
about specific texts, precisely because these questions have not yet been For instance, deliberate historicism in to systematic analysis. subject the service of literary invention may easily be mistaken for historicity, and vice versa. Nor
need we assume
that each hagiographer followed a each vita. The fifth-century author
rule in thismatter throughout single for example, tries in some respects of the Life and Miracles ofJhecla, context of his heroine, but sometimes to capture the post-Apostolic he violates this recreation by introducing the technical terminology of theology. post-Nicene Let us then turn to a different and seemingly more relevant body there is in fact little of evidence, the Byzantine historians. However,
for this aspect of the historical sense in their works, which because historiography at first may seem paradoxical sight, especially has long been regarded as themost successful and competent genre of This paradox is largely removed when we consider Byzantine research. evidence
able and thoughtful among them wrote contemporary narratives and therefore had little reason to comment on the stages of that the most
l8
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
$o
Georgios
ofAlexandria,
Life ofloannes
Chrysostomos 4, inDouze recits byzantins sur Saint Jean Chrysostome, ed. F. Halkin a (Brussels, 1977), 69-285, here 82-84. For discussion, see F. R. Trombley, Hellenic c. 370-529, Religion and Christianization, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 2001), 1: 295-303, 333-41. of 51 Johnson, The Life and Miracles Thekla, 33-35, 43, 62 (above, n. 39).
world history or on the distant past. But the correct principles were in historian of thewars of the 550s as well as a there too. place Agathias,
noted charitablythatone should judgedecisions "by poet and lawyer, the original circumstances of the event and not by its later outcome," that is, one should correct for the historians' hindsight.52 And we saw that the "alien" past was not necessar above in the case of Attaleiates
to the outlook of the present, but often the opposite: ily subordinated Attaleiates looks to the pagan past to find a model for the Byzantines so he is to go to emulate in their present crisis, and in doing willing to be the rather considerably beyond what many scholars have taken limited intellectual horizon of the Byzantines. Indeed, when histori
as that "the not transcend their ans say such Byzantines could things mean one of two things: either that the Byzantines mentality,"53 they could not transcend what scholar x believes their "mentality" was, in
or else the claim is true, case the claim is almost always wrong; but it is a vacuous tautology. was For example, many today believe that the classical tradition
which
for the Byzantines only a source of rhetorical expression that never affected theway inwhich they thought. The "content" of that thought even if the "form" seemed clas was always fundamentally Byzantine, sical. Byzantine scholars, we are asked to believe, were educated in the
or not to absorb a classics but somehow managed single idea insight from that education that called into question their commitment to the autocratic, theocratic, and superstitious beliefs that are usually posited
as the basis of their own Byzantine "mentality." But the tide is turning constructs. It is against such monolithic becoming increasingly appar was almost as flexible as their ent that the of the mentality Byzantines
was often politics and that dissent inspired by the modes and orders eras. a trivial or Far from of previous historical purely rhetorical being exercise, the classical tradition preserved and made accessible the fun damental
alternatives of politics and philosophy. For example, on the basis of his research into theRoman Republican tradition, the sixth-century antiquarian and bureaucrat Ioannes Lydos as Rome's sole age of "freedom," compared to postulated the Republic
the regime of the Caesars was a steadily deteriorating tyranny. view was based on a division of Roman history into periods, each
which His with
its own characteristic
circumstances
style of rule brought into being by specific was not alone in this. and personalities.54 Lydos Setting
52 Agathias, TheHistories 4.26.6, ed. R. Keydell, Agathiae Myrinaei Historiarum Libri Quinque (Berlin, 1967), 157. 53 DOP
C. Mango, "Diabolus Byzantinus," 46 (1992): 215-23, here 221.
Ioannes Lydos, On Powers or The 54 Magistracies of theRoman State, ed. and trans. A. C. Bandy (Philadelphia, 1983), on which see A. Kaldellis, "Republican Theory and Political Dissidence BMGS
29 (2005):
in Ioannes Lydos,"
1-16.
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
19
aside the pagan critic of monarchy Zosimos (ca. 500), some twelfth century historians also broke ideologically with Byzantine monar it took under the Komnenoi. One chy, especially with the form that was
influenced here by his own researches into the In the eleventh century, the historian, Republic.55 philosopher, and courtier Michael Psellos had unfavorably compared the regime of
of them, Ioannes Zonaras,
Konstantinos
IX Monomachos
to theAthenian
democracy, which he exact point of his apparently considered "well-regulated," though the not clear.56 In other words, itwas is because of their comparison only classical paideia that many Byzantines could even imagine the funda
alternatives. A similar argument has been made about the orator and philosopher of the early empire Dion Chrysostomos (ca. 100) who, amonarchical to under regime, managed "accurately por despite living ... and consistently. Whatever tray a democratic world imaginatively the correspondences with the complex realities of the day, the themes and the language in the story are classical, or classically inspired."57 The in the context of the present argument is not arbitrary citation ofDion
mental
same classical in that he received purely comparative, roughly the education as his Byzantine counterparts would a thousand years later. It isnow time to explain more contributed precisely how this education to the historical sense.
or
The greatest contribution to the historical sense made by the obses sion with the classics in Byzantium was probably not philosophical and it certainly was not political. Itwas linguistic. Many Byzantine writers aimed to imitate classical prose and purify their language of the quality of any post-classical, demotic, or Latin taint. Accordingly their Atticism was the mark of their culture (or of their "barbarism," on how the results were there was con judged). Obviously depending in siderable variation here, and different standards were championed different periods and by different scholars. Still, especially with regard to "often are to rhetoric, complain that Byzantine Byzantinists right literature is so addicted to classical citation that it is infuriatingly vague reference to historical figures and events that, in the absence of external evidence, texts transmitted
and timeless, with
such little unequivocal
to date."58 Even for native speak impossible this effect is still difficult to achieve. It requires many to compose and declaim in a years of training and practice. The effort anonymously ers of Greek,
are almost
See P. Magdalino, "Aspects of Twelfth Kaiserkritik" Speculum Century Byzantine
2 For a study of grafia), vols (Milan, 1984). this text, see A. Kaldellis, The Argument of
58 (1983): 326-46.
Psellos' Chronographia (Leiden, 1999). 57 J.Ma, "Public Speech and Community in theEuboicus," in S. Swain, ed., Dio
55
Michael
Psellos, Chronographia 6.134, ed. S. Impellizeri and trans. S. Ronchey,
56
Michele
20
Psello: Imperatori di Bisanzio
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
(Crono
Chrysostom: Politics, Letters, and Philosophy (Oxford, 2000), 108-24, nere 122.
58
M. Alexiou, After Antiquity: Greek
(Ithaca, Language, Myth, and Metaphor 2002), 104. For the imitation of antiquity in general, see H. Hunger, "On the Imitation ofAntiquity in Byzantine (MIMHSIS) Literature," DOP
23-24
(1969-1970):
17-38.
or koine was itself a creative act of purified Attic linguistic anachro nism that activated the classicist fiction: the contemporary world was made to disappear as author and audience temporarily entered a skill rhetor fully reconstructed illusion of antiquity where the Byzantine could play at being a new Demosthenes "hyperattic" Assembly ofAthens.59
and cast his audience
as a new
the very language of so much Byzantine litera ture sense to step into the historical the rhetor by requiring spurred the shoes of his classical models and describe theworld through their In other words,
This practice has given rise to the accusation of "reverse anachronism"; that is, instead of imposing the signs and values of the present upon the past, Byzantine writers distorted their own present terminology.
it artificially by making this theory, though more
seem like the classical past. There is truth in as a characterization of style than as general
an indictment of factual representation. The theory has perhaps pre a maturely become largely unchallenged doctrine in Byzantine studies, but in fact very few concrete instances have come to light where lin case. Moreover it reflects an guistic classicism distorts the facts of the
inadequate understanding of Byzantine classicism, which involved far more than mere verbal affectation.60 Be that as it may, the paideia of most Byzantine scholars valorized the classical "stance" and mandated the avoidance
of
linguistic anachronism. us back to the we This brings twelfth-century novelists with whom in that their recreation of was began, antiquity fundamentally rhetori it that the constituted revival and imitation of an cal, especially given ancient genre. As literary artifacts, these novels must be read against the renewed cultivation of rhetoric in the twelfth century and its exper iments in both old and new forms. As with the popularity of the novel
in the period of the Second Sophistic, the genre enabled the sophists new and perform their skills in challenging ways. Prodromos, for instance, seems to have "planned the novel to include one rhetorical tour de force in each book."61 to
A
genre that is usually given little attention, the progymnas mata, was in fact an important forum for this kind of literary prac were exercises in various tice. Progymnasmata categories of rhetoric See, e.g., Nikephoros Basilakes, 59 Oration for thePatriarch Nikolaos Mouzalon 1-2, inNicephori Basilacae Orationes et epis tolae, ed. A. Garzya (Leipzig, 1984), 75-76. 60 The classic indictment isC. Mango, Byzantine Literature as a Distorting Mirror: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered before the University ofOxford on 21May 1974 (Oxford, 1975), but itnever attempts to actually prove the case. For a broader view of Byzantine
classicism, Caesarea:
see A. Kaldellis,
Procopius of Tyranny, History, and Philosophy
at theEnd
ofAntiquity (Philadelphia, 2004), esp. chap. 1. E. Jeffreys, "The Novels ofMid-Twelfth 61 The Literary and Century Constantinople: Social Context," inAETOS: Studies in Honour
ofCyrilMango Presented toHim on ed. I. Sevcenko and I. Hutter 14,1998, April
"Prodromos'
prime motivation inwriting the [novel] was arguably to produce a superla tive act ofmimesis." For the variety of styles
and genres, see F. Meunier, Prodrome:
'Rhodante
"Theodore
etDosikles';
grec ou roman byzantin?" RivBiz 195-227, here 199-206,
Roman i (1991):
226. For the novels
as rhetorical performances, see now Roilos, Amphoteroglossia (above, n. 21).
(Stuttgart, 1998), 191-99, here 193; cf. 194:
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
21
thatusually took theirthemesfromGreek myth and history (a few themes). From
had Christian
the twelfth century we have over fifty
byNikephoros Basilakes and about half a dozen byNikephoros
but it is likely that most educated Byzantines would Chrysoberges, written have them as part of their training. Some take the form ofwhat
say in a specified unforeseen or unlikely circumstance and required that the orator put himself in the position of a Greek god, hero, or historical figure and speak accordingly.62 A recent study of the so-and-so would
rhetorical curriculum of the early empire and late antiquity has brought in this mode of education: attention to the important role of history
is in some sense "It is generally accepted that ancient historiography rhetorical; what is interesting here is that ancient rhetoric turns out to be so historical. History was at the center of a young man's training:... could not learn how to argue without learning how to argue about the formal category of "narrative," the rhetor Ailios history." Under
One
Theon
had discussed
the art of credibility: "In order for the narrative include words that are suitable for the char
to be credible, one should
acters, the actions, the places, and the times."63More or less the same curriculum and textbooks were used later in Byzantium. For example, the ancient author of the Psellos attests that some accused Heliodoros, novel Aithiopika,
of not making
his lead character "Charikleia's
speech or feminine but, contrary to the art {techne), her lan raised to a more sophistic tone." But Psellos defends in her Heliodoros pagan?con by placing the character proper?and not know how to text: "I this do praise adequately. The author myself has not introduced a character like ordinary girls, but an initiate and most of her lamentations one who comes from Pythian Apollo; hence contain oracles."64 Rhetorical education, then, included instruction in sound womanly guage has been
historicist imagination, to the degree that theworld was known to have in important ways since classical times. changed are of interest because the orator had The pagan progymnasmata
in the role, remove anachronisms from to immerse himself completely and render a convincing (and titillating) his language and thinking, account
of, say, how Zeus
gazed
amorously
at Io (the cow) or how
is Pasiphae fell in lovewith thebull. The pagan flavorof thesepieces 62
For the later texts, see A. Pignani, ed., emonodie
Niceforo Basilace: Progimnasmi (Naples, 1983); and F.Widmann, Progymnasmata
"Die
des Nikephoros 12-41,
(1935-1936): Chrysoberges,"fiN/i2 in general, see 241-299. For progymnasmata H. Hunger, "On the Imitation of Antiquity," 19-21; and Die
hochsprachlicheprofane Literatur der Byzantiner, 2 vols (Munich, 1978), 1: 92-120;
22
ANTHONY
for their literary artistry,
KALDELLIS
A. Littlewood, Classical
"A Byzantine Oak
and its
64
Geometres,
Progymnasmata
i"JOB
C. A. Gibson,
32
"Learning Greek History in theAncient Classroom: The Evidence of
63
(2004):
on
Progymnasmata," CP 99 116 and 120; Roilos, here 103-29,
the Treatises
Amphoteroglossia,
62-65
(above, n. 21).
Psellos,
between
"What Is the
theNovels Which
Deal
and Leukippe?" 36-41, in Psellus: The Essays on Euripides and
with Charikleia
29
(1980): 133-44; Roilos, Amphoteroglossia, 40 (above, n. 21).
Michael
Difference
Acorn: The Literary Artistry of
Michael
George ofPisidia and onHeliodoros and Achilleus Tatius, ed. and trans. A. R. Dyck (Vienna,
1986), 92-93.
luxuriant and unapologetic. The illusion is,moreover, convincing, and were twelfth-cen I doubt that our classicists could easily tell that these as not should dismiss progymnasmata tury compositions. We merely
formal imitations, forwe still have to explain why theywere written at all, and why sowell. It seems rather that theywere composed precisely because they enabled the sophists to perform this kind of role-playing. It has been that literary formalism was a pretext for the covert suggested were in erotic ordinarily suppressed; after all, pleasures that indulgence a we have to in variety of forms and perversions, is the explain why eros, theme ofNikephoros Basilakes' progymnasmata along with as in the the conquest of nature by skill (techne)?just contemporary twelfth-century novels.65
dominant
the historical sense is not limited tomodernity, even now if it is only thatHistory has become fundamental to all thinking about human beings and has been taken to be some kind of refutation To conclude,
that as itmay, it is to be hoped that additional research, and the removal of past prejudices, will reveal that even themost "naive" it to cultures had a sense of historical good creative change and used
of Truth. Be
effect. It has been demonstrated,
for instance, that the poet of Beowulf who self-consciously sang of pagan heroes before a Christian audience, had a clear and sophisticated awareness of historical change and deliber
success even in the realm ately avoided anachronism, with considerable The same may one of too, day be shown about Homer archaeology.66 who had a sense of how the heroic age differed from his own time and were to what conceptual adjustments and "material" touches required avoid anachronism and confer authenticity. For it has been example, avoided the name Hellenes not because his own suspected thatHomer were not yet using it in the eighth century B.C., but because people he knew that the heroes had not used it in the age of Agamemnon. Thucydides' contrary inference may yet be refuted.67
The Byzantine view of the past was complex enough sense of anyone who tried to make developed historical We have examined various ruptures that the Byzantines a
in the historical
to
require sense of it.
recognized of their own past?whether political, or some of the ways inwhich linguistic?and
continuum
religious, ecclesiastical, or own they coped with them purposes. This exploited them for their does not mean, of course, that every Byzantine writer was at all times aware of all these factors. It was
6$
H.-G.
Beck, Das
byzantinische
Jahrtausend (Munich, 1982), 144-47. 66 R. Frank, "The BeowulfPoet's Sense of History," inBeowulf: A Prose Translation, ed. N. Howe,
trans. E. T. Donaldson
York, 2002), 98-111.
(New
generally
one
group
that practiced,
6j See J.Hall, Hellenicity: Between Ethnicity and Culture (Chicago, 2002), 125-26. For archaizing elements inHomer, see B. B. Powell, Homer Greek Alphabet For Homer as
Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery, trans. K. Windle and R. Ireland (Oxford, 2004).
and the Origin of the
(Cambridge, "archaeologist,"
1991), 190-91. see J. Latacz,
HISTORICISM
IN BYZANTINE
LITERATURE
23
say, linguistic hyper-Atticism and another that produced apocalyptic A synoptic picture has been reasons forgeries. presented here that, for of space, has fused periods, genres, and cultural groups. Also, just because they were capable of in cer making historicist distinctions tain contexts, this does not mean
that the outlook
of the Byzantine as ours is. fundamentally historicist Byzantine historians so knew from history thatmuch had changed, theymade the necessary authors was
inherited and mostly followed an educational adjustments. Rhetors from that stressed Atticism and classical system antiquity role-playing, were but this does not mean that they what conceptualized they doing as a historicist exercise. would have understood They probably readily the notion were
to them, but explained ultimately they valorized the not In short,many linguistic aspect of theirwork, anything historical. were was part of Byzantines capable of historicism either because it or were their training or because knew well history they sufficiently or motivated a devel not because had by controversy, they intelligent it
or were committed to a historicist theory of historical change Here we can locate the difference: it is not true that paradigm. only modern thinkers are capable of historicism, but only they operate in an oped
intellectual environment defined by it.Historicism for the Byzantines was a skill that became useful in certain contexts, not an outlook on life and history. The articulated
nature
of Byzantine
which were
culture, different
sites of
in governed by Christian, Roman, a flexible various combinations and permutations, required mentality on a to of basis what and what accept capable case-by-case deciding to to the Old Testament, a part of This both reject. applied Scripture and Greek
elements
yet linked to the past of the Jewish nation, as well as toGreek paideia, which was both the essence of a good education and the carrier of all that the Church
condemned.
The past was always relevant to the a matter for ongoing and often
present, but its precise validity was contentious debate. ?The
Ohio State University
readers formaking I thank the journal's the substance of the argument.
24
ANTHONY
KALDELLIS
suggestions
that improved
The History and Architecture of the Monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos at Koutsovendis, Cyprus Author(s): Tassos Papacostas, Cyril Mango, Michael Grünbart Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 25-156 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472047 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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TheHistory andArchitectureofthe Monastery ofSaint atKoutsovendis,Cyprus JohnChrysostomos Tassos
Papacostas,1
with a prefacebyCyrilMango
and an appendix byMichael Tf
he
Grunbart
restoration
in of the wall paintings fragmentary at Koutsovendis of Saint John Chrysostomos was carried out under the (northeast of Nicosia) auspices in 1963 and 1968-69. of Dumbarton It was hoped Oaks thereaf the monastery
ter to conduct
detail
a final to campaign in order clarify certain points that had remained unresolved, but the Turkish occupation
of of
a permanent obstacle. the Nicosia plain, the
northern Cyprus (1974) created what became of its strategic position overlooking monastery was turned into an army post and all our attempts to visit it proved fruitless. Because
we decided a to present to the delay public account of our illustra descriptive findings with full photographic as we last saw it in tion to document the condition of themonument After
considerable
at the same time
a at body providing scholars large with to the art. of important new material of history Byzantine relating With the generous assistance of the A. G. Leventis Foundation this 1969, while
account, written
in collaboration with (the late) by the undersigned and Susan Boyd, was published inDumbarton Oaks E.J. W. Hawkins was at to It intention time the follow my up Papers 44 (1990): 63-94. the inevitably dry description with an essay devoted to the history of the monument,
its architecture,
and especially the iconography and as the years of the but style paintings, passed, my scholarly activities took me farther and farther from Byzantine Cyprus. I invited, there on to Dr. Tassos take the section devoted to fore, Papacostas history and architecture and Dr. Maria Parani to tackle the paintings. To
both of them I passed on all the relevant materials inmy possession. I am to say that Dr. a much better on has done his glad Papacostas job
part than Iwould have been able to do. Dr. Parani's contribution will, I hope, follow shortly. It remains to pay tribute to the departed, especially A. H. S. who the Chrysostomos ("Peter") Megaw, strongly recommended
to Dumbarton project Ernest Hawkins, who
Oaks directed
and
took an active
the work
but in several other Chrysostomos, Cypriot of them Cyprus owes a great debt.
interest in it, and
of restoration not
at only as churches well. To both
i
A significant part of the research and writing up of this paper was carried out at Oaks in 2004 during a Summer Fellowship, forwhich I am most grateful. I should also thank the two anonymous
Dumbarton
readers for their valuable
towhom I am indebted for of Cyril Mango, his help throughout the preparation of this paper, and of course formaking these notes available
tome.
I am also particularly Griinbart for agreeing to
grateful toMichael undertake
the task of editing and translating to of the Black Mountain
the letter ofNikon
?Cyril
Mango
comments, which
helped to improve this study. Large parts of what follows are based on the extensive notes
George of Koutsovendis.
Chronology ofDated Events 1081 1084 1085 1088
4 April:
accession
of Alexios
IKomnenos
3December:
Seljuks capture Antioch finishes copying Arabic Life of John of Damascus monk Michael 4 December: on Patmos of monastery of Theologian by Christodoulos April: foundation
1090
in and presbyter Gerasimos copies Jer. Saba 259 Cyprus consecration ofkatholikon at Koutsovendis 9 December:
1091
February/March:
1089/90
monk
already under rebel Rhapsomates
Cyprus
beforeOctober: foundationofTheotokosAlypos byEpiphanios Paschales
1091/92 1092 1093 1094 1095
en route toAntioch in John Oxeites Cyprus receives Christodoulos Eumathios Philokales 16March:
death of Christodoulos
io98
in Euboea
of Patmos
against (Jaka inAegean attend Blachernai and John Doukas Cypriot prelates ? and Manuel subdued by John Doukas Rhapsomates Philokales
as military Cyprus attacks Laodicea
sent to
19August: fleet from Cyprus 21October: Crusader siege of Antioch
to Cyprus Symeon II of Jerusalem flees 3June: Crusaders capture Antioch
begins,
synod Boutoumites
commander
supplies
sent from Cyprus
capture Jerusalem from Artuqids to ?Theoktistos (later hegumen of Patmos) flees from Palestine Cyprus financial contribution from Cyprus toHoly Sepulcher finishes Sinait. gr. 741/742 at St. Sabas 25 January: Gerasimos Antiocheites 26 August:
1099
in Euboea
sent
?John Doukas
?Eumathios 1097
of Patmos
Fatimids
?26April: death ofGeorge ofKoutsovendis
(later hegumen of Patmos) leaves Koutsovendis 15July: Jerusalem inCrusader hands Philokales attested as doux of Cyprus Eumathios (?): Pisan fleet attacks Cyprus August/September leaves Antioch John Oxeites ?Theoktistos
1100 1102/3
Eumathios Constantine
1105 1105/6 1107/8
TASSOS
at
Panagia Phorbiotissa I over Bohemund
victory of Alexios Philokales Eumathios Nicholas
iin/12
Eumathios
1116/17 1118
Sabas becomes
PAPACOSTAS
ofMont-Pelerin
Mouzalon
as doux of Cyprus as sebastos
Philokales
replaces Eumathios Philokales attested at Constantinople becomes patriarch of Jerusalem
John VIII fresco decoration
15August:
construction
Katakalon
1108/9 mi
1121
26
Eumathios
helps with
Philokales
for Patmos
entrusted with abdicates
ofAsinou
command
from metropolitan
recorded as doux of Cyprus patriarch of Jerusalem
Philokales
death of Alexios
forNikephoros
Ischyrios
of Attaleia throne of Cyprus once more
IKomnenos
Philokales attested as sebastos, megas doux andpraitor 25August: Eumathios 12June: first notice recording Maronite monastery at Koutsovendis
1141
io
notice July: second
recording
Maronite
monastery
at Koutsovendis
1152 Neophytos (laterRecluse) atKoutsovendis underhegumenMaximos 1153
8
third notice recording Maronite
September:
at Koutsovendis
monastery
1155/56 Renaud de Chatillon raidsCyprus, battlenearDikomo 1156/57 John IX Chrysostomitesbecomes patriarchofJerusalem 1157
Neophytos
hegumen death of Theoktistos
1161
leaves Koutsovendis
Neophytos marriage
by Euphrosynos
for Paphos
IKomnenos
ofManuel
succeeded
of Patmos
1158 fleetfromEgypt attacksCyprus 1159
at Koutsovendis
becomes parekklesiarches Maximos of Koutsovendis
toMaria
of Antioch
1162 Raymond ofTripoli raidsCyprus 1166 Nikephoros II recordedas patriarchofJerusalem 1177
Recluse) attested as oikonomos of Koutsovendis John (brother ofNeophytos in Leontios Cyprus patriarch of Jerusalem
1183
fresco decoration
1184
Isaac Komnenos
1176
by Theodoros Apseudes seizes power in Cyprus
at Enkleistra
ofNeophytos
1187 ThirdCrusade proclaimed 1191 Saladin has churchof SaintGeorge ofLydda demolished Richard
earliest mention 1192
1196 1197 1204
1209 1214
1219
rebellion against Templars, Guy de Lusignan established as Lord of Cyprus for Leo Authentes fresco decoration at Panagia ofArakas at Lagoudera
Latin Church establishedon Cyprus
secures crown for Amaury de Lusignan royal Cyprus Crusaders capture Constantinople
Cypriot clergy(andJohnofKoutsovendis?) traveltoNicaea John recorded as hegumen
of Koutsovendis
? 12April: death ofNeophytos theRecluse
1223
earliest mention
1229
outbreak
1231
19May: destruction
1232
captures Cyprus and sells it to Templars of Buffavento castle
Lionheart
Leo ofApsinthiotissa (hegumen of civil war (Lombard war) Kantara monks burned at the stake of mills
at
toNicaea)
Kythrea
15June:battleofAgridi
1238/39 1301 1473 1489 1522
at Koutsovendis recording Maronite monastery sojourn of Ramon Lull at Koutsovendis
fourth notice
September: x5August: pilgrims from Kyrenia Venice takes over government of
Apsinthiotissa
Cyprus
on to Queen Caterina Cornaro Apsinthiotissa pilgrimage as October: Koutsovendis mentioned dependency ofApsinthiotissa
1564
lastmention
1570
Koutsovendis
1571
to
ofMaronite
monastery
at Koutsovendis
ransacked by Ottoman invading toOttomans fall ofNicosia
9 September: 5August: Famagusta
surrenders toOttoman
army, hegumen
captured
army
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
27
15721575 1589 1600 1629 1683
hegumen of Koutsovendis appointed bishop of Limassol of Amathus attested at Constantinople bishop Germanos icon of Chrysostomos hegumen Parthenios
dedicated
at Koutsovendis
of Koutsovendis
testifies against archbishop Athanasios
on monasteries
report of Latin bishop of Paphos van Bruyn visits Koutsovendis April: Cornelis
1735 April (?):Vasilii Barskii atKoutsovendis fromNicosia
to Koutsovendis
via Kythrea
1816
to Koutsovendis via Kythrea 3-4 April: Ali Bey from Nicosia von visits Otto Richter Koutsovendis March: Friedrich 16-17
from Nicosia
1821
10
1750 1767 1806
April: Alexander Giovanni Mariti
from Bellapais visits Koutsovendis Drummond
1862
executed by Ottoman July: hegumen of Koutsovendis at Koutsovendis April: Franz Unger
1878
Britain
1891 1893 1896
takes over administration
authorities
of Cyprus
katholikonofKoutsovendis demolished and replacedbynew church
Mrs. Lewis at Koutsovendis April: Camille Enlart visits Koutsovendis
1916 George Jeffery publishesplan of demolishedkatholikon 1937
field trip of George Soteriou to Koutsovendis declared Ancient Monument Koutsovendis
1942
Holy Trinity
1931
1956-59 i960 1963-69 1974 1989 2007
28
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Holy Trinity
ruinous apse rebuilt restored by Department
of Antiquities
from Britain
Cyprus gains independence Oaks frescoes ofHoly Trinity cleaned and conserved by Dumbarton as ceases Koutsovendis monastery, buildings occupied by Turkish military functioning of Europe delegation gains access toparekklesion: frescoes found concealed, Council door valves still in situ but icons missing wooden Koutsovendis
remains
inaccessible
History TheFounderGeorgeand theTypikon
The monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos, also known as the village of the same name, on the south ern foothills of the The circumstances Kyrenia Mountains (figs, i, 2). of its foundation and its early history have not been recorded in any
Koutsovendis,
detail visited
lies near
sources. The accounts of travelers who surviving medieval in the seventeenth and later centuries show the monastery
in
that by that time themonastic community had lost all memory of its to a origins, attributing the foundation princess who, following the cure from a disease first of her pet at a spring, dog and then of herself resolved to build amonastery
on the site.2 Whatever
the origin of this not it is confirmed by the few avail charming legend (see pp. 92-93), able pieces of relevant information. These shall be presented below we in an attempt to reconstruct the community's early history. As was founded in the late eleventh century a shall see, Koutsovendis by certain monk main church, the George, and its no-longer-surviving was consecrated in 1090. katholikon, The period the foundation of Koutsovendis remains preceding among the least known in the medieval history of Cyprus. After its in 965, the island sinks into in 1042/3 in connection with
II Phokas reconquest by Nikephoros almost total obscurity.3 It ismentioned
the revolt of Theophilos Erotikos that was caused by high taxation, as we see shall and, below, reappears again in history only toward the end of the century. There is, however, one event of cardinal impor tance that should be considered
in any assessment
of conditions
on
Cyprus during thisperiod, namely thefallofAntioch to theSeljuks in late 1084. The
subsequent
enhanced
the eyes of the imperial government 2 C. Mango, "The Monastery of St. Chrystomos at Koutsovendis (Cyprus) and ItsWall Paintings, Part I: Description," DOP 44 (1990): 64-67. For other similar
148). A similar tradition (dog cured at spring) is reported at other shrines on the
Actes du XVe Congres International d'Etudes Byzantines, Rapports et co-rapports
island (J.Hackett
V.5 (Athens, 1976): 3-13; J.-C. Cheynet, "Chypre a la veille de la conquete franque," inActes du colloque Les Lusignans et Voutre
see, for example, (1821) inD. W. Martin, English Texts: Frankish and Turkish Periods (New York, 1998), 196, and F. von Loher, Cypern: Reiseberichte uberNatur und Landschaft, Volk und Geschichte
(Stuttgart, 1878), 81-85. In 1908 itwas reported thatwater from a nearby spring was chemically analyzed and found to have medicinal
qualities,
allegedly beneficial to those suffering from skin dis eases (I. Peristianes, Fzvixr\ iaropla Tfjqvrjaov Kvnpov oltzortiv &px&ioT&Tc*)V %p6voov [iexpl rfjc dyylixijc xaroxr\c [Nicosia,
1910],
and C. Papaioannou,
'IiTToplarr\cOp$o86%ov Exx'Xrjo'tcccrfjcKvitpov
accounts of the foundation
John Carne's
importance of the island in in may well Constantinople
[Athens, 1923-32], 2:148-49). T. Papacostas, "A Tenth-century
3
Inscription from Syngrasis, Cyprus," BMGS 26 (2002): 42-45. 4
J.-C. Cheynet, Pouvoir
et contestations
a Byzance (963-1210) (Paris, 1991), 56.On Cyprus in themiddle Byzantine period, see G. Hill, A History ofCyprus (Cambridge, The 1940), 1: 295-321; C. Galatariotou, Making
ofa Saint: The Life, Times, and
ofNeophytos theRecluse (Cambridge, 1991), 40-67; C. Mango, "Chypre, carrefour du monde byzantin," Sanctification
mer, Poitiers-Lusignan 20-24 octobre 1993: Auditorium duMusee Sainte-CroixPoitiers (Poitiers, 1995), 67-77;
A. Guillou,
"La
geographie historique de Tile de Chypre pendant la periode byzantine (IVe-XIIe
s.),"
inMateriauxpour (IVe-XXe
une histoire de Chypre s.), Etudes Balkaniques, Cahiers
Pierre Belon
5 (Paris, 1998), 11-32; and T. Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus: The of Its Churches, 650-1200" Testimony (D. Phil, diss., University of Oxford,
1999).
in
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
29
c>
Rizokarpaso
Lythrankomi
# Trikomo
Koutsovendis
.
Soloi
\Kykko
Yialia- UWm M
W
Peristerona
^"-
Famagusta
"Asinou
._
^^AMMm^
Nicosia?
#Machairas
^Co^antia)
Larnaca
Stavrovouni
^P^^^T^^^^^^]j|F
Enkleistraof St. Neophytos
MESAORIA
. Y?ri
^^^^^^^M^^^^^fonastery
Kantara
tT A
Kyrenia
Lefkara ?S ap Amathus
Kourion.
^^
MEDITERRANEAN
S?^
o o
5o km
the loss of its Syrian outpost, and it is not at all in northern Syria was improbable that the collapse of Byzantine rule some elements from there emigration of Orthodox by accompanied to As we shall see shortly, the community that founded our Cyprus.5 monastery had probably been affected by these events. The time of the foundation of Koutsovendis coincides with be connected
with
Fig. i Map ofmedieval (based on <mBi: 568)
Cyprus
on
in the of 1091 Cyprus: beginning the island is reported to have been in the hands of (February/March) it is not known how much earlier the rebel Rhapsomates, although at least one other in the same troubled period, gained control.6 Yet, another
major
monastic Alypos
rebellion
was also founded on the island: the Theotokos community at Yeri, on the outskirts of Nicosia, was established in or
shortly before October
Paschales,
magistros Epiphanios 5
A similar movement
1091when
from Asia Minor
may have also taken place in the same period: T. Papacostas, "Architecture et com munautes Xlleme
etrangeres a Chypre aux Xleme et siecles," in Identites croisees en un
milieu mediterraneen: Antiquite-Moyen
30
TASSOS
Le cas de Chypre:
Age. Colloque
PAPACOSTAS
international,
its ktetor, the otherwise an uncial
donated
unattested
gospel
lectionary
Rouen, mars 2004, ed. S. Fourrier and G.
de Jean l'Oxite contre Alexis
Grivaud
REB
(Mont-Saint-Aignan,
2006),
The date is based on themention
of
the rebellion by John Oxeites who was still at Constantinople, before his departure for Antioch
Ier Comnene," "Defection
et soumission de la Crete sous Alexis
223-40. 6
28 [1970]: 35;Gautier,
via Cyprus
(P. Gautier,
"Diatribes
Comnene,"
REB
35 [1977]: 220-22,
J.-C. Cheynet, Pouvoir Byzance,
963-1210
Ier and
et contestations a
[Paris, 1991], 97-98).
MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
Acheiropoietos -
^^~^
V,
AT
..yXapithos
j ^
Uv^'L'C/Nv^'-
r?
v- ^\
n V
^-^Maigi-
x
<"^-i x
\
,
^ r~~''"^v-v__Kyrenia ?^ -&^>^
. -
,T
_ #|
r/TVidi^
0"
'^
)
\
'-T'
\
^ ?' ,'
v^ 1 r>' -._ ~~"-v
*'_,'"
-1
1
1
'
1
'~~~'
~
\ v O / -
< 1
'
1
0
!
i
5 1 ' 1' 1 1
' /'
^
n
cap-""
s
'
~
,
\1 \
^~^ ^s~-
' y 934 N
\
, C*-~?/,
' - '
\ km ' m 1 100 \
'
!
., \ ov
' Kythrea
- -Z-'^
\ '
/
\^,-, \800 m N ^r-N? - -_-"/x-.
MiaMilea ~'~--^-J&
,'
"-----' """ ~'" 10
'
\
; >/""',,.. .Nicosia
/
600
\ 1 ,'"
,'
j.. /^'''om o -5 io,miles
m ---. 400m
A
~~~"\ ^ '-*---_--'
300'in 200 m_"
--_
. j.- ,' I-1
to his foundation.7 The monastery of the Panagia Apsinthiotissa, only a short distance to the west of Koutsovendis, not recorded although until the early thirteenth century, was also probably set up at around the same time; as we
Antiphonetes^
iStJoTinXhrysostomos Sykhari*^0.^ Vouno,\ <* 1 ' /^^Koutsovendis /
O/' -Dikomo/
v;
\" -7'^ - S
~
>
^Apsinj^^
;' \
I ^-^X.?_r"~^"-^"^'^N-T--^ r_^ ; ^ -^H'' ' v ^ / 8i# y y
" """ /' x StHilarion
shall see later on, the architecture of its church is
Fig. 2 Map
of the region of Koutsovendis (T. Papacostas, based on theAdministration
and Road Map Department
ofCyprus 1:250,000, of Lands and Surveys 1996)
related to that of our katholikon, and its frescoes also point to a late eleventh or early-twelfth-century date.8 The well-known monastery of Kykko was founded during this period too, an era that witnessed a wave
of new monastic establishments lasting through the end of a the twelfth century and and unprecedented growth fueling parallel on the island. This course not in is of building activity development to rest of the it in the Cyprus, for the peculiar empire experienced course of the eleventh century, too. As J.Darrouzes noticed, however, "Tfjs vizzpaylac, ?eoroKOD rfjsAXimou outw Tfj<; ?7rovo^a^o^?vy]<; totj Tzpiov" "H pipXioGrjKr]tov (K. Chatzeioannou, 7
Carpentras Kai to xeipoypacjjo no. 10," in Ta ev hiao-Kopa B' TfjcdsxasTiac 1969-1979: tov Topoc TifirjTixbqam efidoprjvTCLXpova also See J. o-vyypayia [Nicosia, 1979], 74). Darrouzes,
"Notes pour servir a l'histoire
de Chypre [deuxieme article]," Kvizp. En. 20 "Autres manu (1956)144, and Darrouzes,
scrits originaires de Chypre,"
.Risi? 15 (1957):
141-42. 8
Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 1:113-14 (above, n. 4); for the church and "H [lovy\ refectory, see A. Papageorgiou, Reports of theDepartment A\j/iv9iG0Ticrcry]<;," ofAntiquities, Cyprus (1963): 73-83. The precise date of Kykko's foundation has not been recorded; for some preliminary 9
thoughts see T. Papacostas,
Landholdings
and Venetians
in 12th
century Cyprus," BZ 92 (1999): 481-82; see also n. 148 below. Some fortymonasteries are thought to have been active at some point in the course of this period on the island, perhaps as many as thirty being new foundations Cyprus,"
(Papacostas,
"Byzantine
1:105-6).
"Secular
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
31
was founded most was concen by the time Koutsovendis activity was trated in the central and western Byzantine regions.10 Yet Cyprus movement. of this clearly part to our understand The evidence Koutsovendis provides is central at least some of the causes of these ing of developments, both within
the local (Cypriot) and thewider (Byzantine) context.The most
in this respect is the monastery's unpublished in amanuscript that probably dates from liturgical typikon, preserved the early thirteenth century: the Par. gr. 402 (olim Colbert. 6040) is a at the at the bombycine of 279 folios, mutilated both beginning and important document
and closing chapters of the typikon are therefore
end.11 The opening
missing.Although onlya calendaroffixedfeasts,followedby theorder to Pentecost
for Lent
and the period from Easter the sixth Sunday of Easter?Sunday
(interrupted after of the Blind?on f. 279V), and
not a founder s charter, the contain unique typikon does fore crucial evidence for the history of our establishment. occurs
and there The most
the name of the founder
in two
important places; it provides and the date of consecration. Under 26 April we read:'Ioreov
oti Kara
to rot) aylou narpbq Y\\L(bv rccvrY\vxr)v Y\\iipay kTcirekovyLtv \Lvy\\L699', Kout?ou(?Ivti evxcoGpoviao-fzw [sic] Kai rov rov ytaprvpoc, ctyiov otyiov npoK07riou KaTgreGyjcav Istyava Kai roi) nepaot) \iaprvpoq laKco^oi) ryj<; ayia<; \Laprvpoc,Map(va<; ancestor of the maternal (f. 56r-v) [The conception of Saint Anne, and the enkainia
God,
Chrysostomos, Koutzouvindis
which
of the holy church of our saintly Father John at the mountain was founded in of Cyprus
in the year 6599 (1090), at whose consecration were relics of the holy martyr Prokopios, of the holy martyr
deposited James the Persian,
The typikon and of the holy martyr Marina.]12 contains no further information about the ktetor. George is,however,
mentioned io
in the correspondence
J.Darrouzes,
"Le mouvement
dations monastiques
au Xle
des fon
siecle," TM 6
(1976): 159-76, and, for the concomitant monu building activity, C. Mango, "Les ments de l'architecture du Xle siecle et leur signification historique (1976): 352-55.
32
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
et sociale," TM 6
ofNikon ii
of the Black Mountain.13
Extracts were published by A. in Opisanie liturgicheskich
Dmitrievskii
rukopisei, khraniashchikhsia
v bibliotekach
pravoslavnago vostoka (Petrograd, 1917), 3:121-27. The lack ofmarginal notes, nor mally so common inmanuscripts from Cyprus, may suggest that itwas
little used.
12
For both extracts, see ibid., 3:121-23.
13
This was
firstnoted by B. Englezakis,
inEixocri fcslirai 8icc rrjvExxknalav Kinpov (40c, ewe.200c alcbv) (Athens, 1996), 28-30.
Nikon of theBlackMountain andHis Circle The
late-eleventh- or twelfth-century
Sinait. gr. 436
(441) preserves
theonly complete textof theTaktikon byNikon (ca. 1015-1100/10),
a collection
of various writings including thirty-six (mostly unpub lished) letters addressed largely tomonks and dealing with ecclesias tical matters and liturgical practice.14 These provide vital information
on the milieu
from which George issued. In the table of contents (f. 4v), the title of letter no. 9 appears as Tov olvtov eiq rov Kvpiv Tscopyiov same to rov Y\yov[Levov toD kyr Georgios, KouT^oufJgvTi [from the hegumen of (the monastery of) Koutzoubenti].15 opens the actual letter (f. 82v-85r: see Appendix).
The
same
heading Before discussion
of its contents, and in order to place this letter in itsproper context, a is necessary. brief excursus on the career ofNikon Nikon hailing from the region of Constantinople, Although started his monastic
life on the Black Mountain
near Antioch
per in the late 1040s, at the monastery of the Theotokos, where he haps a former was tonsured by its founder Luke, bishop of Anazarbos. to Nikon undertook Luke's and reorganize problematic monastery after the founder's
1050s?) succeeded him at its helm. an increasingly difficult situation, however, he
death
(late
to cope with left to settle at themonastery
Unable
the nearby Wondrous from the Theotokos, Nikon
was
of Saint Symeon the Younger Stylite on He was followed Mountain. by other monks
was community subsequently dissolved. soon entrusted with the to resolve supervision of efforts whose
the problems the monasteries under the jurisdiction of plaguing the patriarchate of Antioch. But resistance and open hostil facing once he fled after the more, ity again, Seljuk conquest of Antioch (December 1084), although Saint Symeon affected.1 It is during this period that Nikon
itself was
not
directly some at the time spent before traveling farther south,
monastery of the Savior in Laodicea to Palestine and Saint Sabas (Mar Saba).17 Sometime after 1084 he tou Roidiou on the Black Mountain,18 where settled at the Theotokos he could
at last devote most
of his time to his writings while
On the date of themanuscript, see 14 T. Yiangou, Nixoov b MavpopeiTnc.: Bloc,, epyo,xavovixrj hiBacrxctkla,
also
being prepared by a team at theUniversity of Wiirzburg under Christian Hannick. U. Porfirii, Catalogus codicum 15 manuscriptorum Graecorum qui in monasterio Monte
Sanctae Catharinae
in
Sina asservantur, ed. V. Benesevic
(Saint Petersburg, 1911), 1: 239. Saint Symeon continued to function
16
and was not captured and looted until later, perhaps in the early 1090s, although itwas soon restored (Yiangou, Nlxoov, 109 n.
17
Sinait. gr. 436 (441), f. 72v-73r;
Yiangou, Nlxoov, 72. 18 R. Allison, "Roidion: Typikon of Nikon of the Black Mountain for the Monastery and Hospice of theMother of God touRoidiou," inByzantine Monastic
Foundation
Complete Translation Founders' J. Thomas
Documents:
A
of the Surviving
Typika and Testaments, ed. and A. Constantinides Hero
(Washington, D.C,
2000),
1: 425-26.
130,137
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
33
(1089-1100). After the serving the patriarchate under John Oxeites in 1100, we hear no more of Nikon, latter's departure from Antioch who presumably died soon thereafter.19 towrite to Nikon was prompted George after the latter requested from the monk Klemes works
information
about
and some clarifications
the reliability of Nikon's the fast of the Theotokos
concerning an issue with which Nikon (preceding the feast of the Dormition), was concerned throughout his monastic career.20 In his letter greatly to Nikon read carefully what he repeat urges his correspondent to as his edly refers "paltry books," presumably his Hermeneiai in some known as the Pandektai and inmodern manuscripts
(also litera
to
in books that Klemes, now with Nikon in George to have left at (or sent to) Koutsovendis. He possibly
ture), available Syria, appears
explains at lengthhow he compiledhisworks andwhat his guiding to read the relevant letter
and also advises George
principles were,
(about fasting)which he had senthim for forwardingto a certain
lines 76-78). He then reassures (f. 84c Appendix answer to any future queries, and requests George of his willingness from him and from his own (Nikon's) fathers and brothers who are abba Gerasimos
with George (onCyprus) toprayforhim (f.84V:Appendix lines 90
was in touch 93). This letter shows beyond any doubt that George on a basis with Nikon, whom he knew personally, as well as regular also with other members of the latter's entourage, and that Nikon knew other members of the Koutsovendis community. Nevertheless instead of it remains unclear why George chose to contact Klemes to Nikon about his reservations. The reference to writing directly must have suggests strongly that this monk, whom Nikon firstmet while at Luke's monastery where the former had also been
Gerasimos tonsured
(f. 152V),was
also on Cyprus. It is important here to investi for it illus evidence concerning this Gerasimos,
gate the manuscript trates most monastic world maintained effectively the links that the across the sea between the and Syrian mainland, providing Cyprus the backdrop forGeorge's activities. is in fact the addressee of no fewer than four letters Gerasimos from Nikon,
included
in the Taktikon.
For earlier bibliography and a recon see Yiangou, biography, Nlxcov, 41-54, and R. Allison, "Black 19
struction ofNikon's
Regulations ofNikon of the inByzantine Monastic Black Mountain,"
Mountain:
Foundation
Documents,
date of death ofNikon,
1: 377-78. On see also W.
the
J.Aerts,
"Nikon of the Black Mountain, Witness to the First Crusade?
34
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Some Remarks
on
Two
of these discuss
His Person, His Use of Language
fasting, and His
Work, Named
Taktikoni, esp. Logos 31," inEast and West in theMedieval Eastern
I. Antioch from theByzantine theEnd of theCrusader until Reconquest Acta of theCongress Held at Principality.
Mediterranean
Hernen
Castle
and M. Metcalf 20
inMay
2003, ed. K. Ciggaar 126.
(Leuven, 2006),
Yiangou, M#wv,
254-64.
while the remaining two deal with the Iberians and the Tzatoi (Chalcedonian Armenians),21 and were probablywritten between 1084 and 1092,although the letteron theDormition fast (f. 149V 158V)may be somewhat later. It is only in the latter, however, that we hear of Gerasimos's whereabouts, at Jerusalem clearly in Palestine, of the Judean desert, rather than on Cyprus: and in the monasteries Kaieav laupa whether
ev sic,ralepoaokvyLctelcraigi?rov ayloic,Tiarpbc,y\[Lcbv2a(2arr\v eire eic,rov aylou EvQvytiov eire eic,rov ctyiovXapiToovo<;... [and
you are in Jerusalem at the laura of our father among the saints Sabas, or at (the laura of) Saint Euthymios, or at (the laura of) Saint Chariton ...] (f. i57r).22There is perhaps additional evidence of
presence in Palestine. A Sinai Triodion now divided in towhich it two parts (Sinai 741 and 742) bears a colophon according was at the laura of Saint Sabas near Jerusalem for John, monk copied at in Ascalon, the church of Saint George and priest by the monk Gerasimos's
in January the manuscript 1099. It is very likely that the scribe is the same person as Nikon's correspondent who had presumably leftnorthern Syria after the Seljuk
Gerasimos
Antiocheites,
who
finished
as Theodore
A Yiangou suggested.23 roughly contemporary was a Saba also 259) (Jer. manuscript copied by monk and presbyter on in 1089/90, but this time almost called Gerasimos Cyprus, certainly since its donor was the kouboukleisios Basil from the village of Babla, conquest,
in the southern foothills of the Troodos
Until recently Mountains.24 two was the identity of the scribes homonymous accepted; the latter would therefore confirm the presence of Gerasimos manuscript on recent studies, however, have cast doubt over the Cyprus. More identification.25 There is, nevertheless, yet another witness proposed that may provide evidence for the presence ofNikon's correspondent on the island. In the poetic colophon of the late-eleventh-century Athos Lavra asks Isaac of Antioch, whose Ti7 its author, the monk Euthymios, to works the manuscript be the spiritual contains, guide and teacher a monk at the monastery of the volume's sponsor Gerasimos, of Koutsovendis:
Kat)?V]f*a, r(cov) 21
K7rplcov }jlovy\<jycovvr^ov^e: a?uytcov: rov ay^iBvpXlovra,
yepaaiytov
Sinait. gr. 436 (441), f. 70V-73V, The latter two were
149V-158V, 232v-24or. published
in Benesevic,
Catalogus,
601; Yiangou, Ntxcov, 141-45. 22 Yiangou, Ntxcov, 95 n. in. D. Harlfinger, D. R. Reinsch, 23 J.A. M.
1: 586
des Katharinen-Klosters
aufdem Berge Sinai, 9. bis i2.Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1983), 37; Yiangou, 24
Dated and
Sonderkamp, Specimina Sinaitica: Die datierten griechischen Handschriften
Nlxoov, 95.
C. Constantinides
25
First suggested byA. Ehrhard in "Das in Palaestina, griechische Kloster Mar-Saba seine Geschichte
and R. Browning, from Cyprus to
Greek Manuscripts the Year 1570 (Washington, 1993), 63-68 no. 4.
D.C.-Nicosia,
und seine litterarischen
Denkmaler,"
RQ 7 (1893): 64, accepted by M. Vogel and V. Gardthausen inDiegriech ischen Schreiber desMittelalters und der Renaissance
(Leipzig, 1909), 65, and rejected inHarlfinger, Specimina Sinaitica, 38.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
35
otvrov,row aova Sf*7rXy|
if the vague reference to the is an allusion "pride of Cyprus" to the from the island, then we should per origin of this Gerasimos in one of his letters men haps reject the identification, for Nikon tions en passant that he and Gerasimos grew up together (ex:rauSoGev
more,
in the rruvaveTpa4>oi<; [zoi), presumably region of Constantinople.27 But these two pieces of information of course need not be mutually exclusive. And the of both the Lavra manuscript considering dating and Nikon's letter to and their links with Koutsovendis, George, still seem
we are far from certain?that likely?although with only one person here. Gerasimos then may have spent dealing some time on to Palestine or Cyprus before moving by early 1099, it does
he may have the mainland. Nikon's
indeed moved
several times between
the island and
letters constitute our most
tion for communications
source of informa important between Cyprus and the region of Antioch, these were developed during this period, at
and the degree to which least within the ecclesiastical
This close relationship was of sphere.28 course due to their to the island's role as geographical proximity and a station sea route from and the Aegean along the Constantinople
to both theHoly Land and Syria.JohnOxeites, who had heard of
rebellion on Cyprus while still at Constantinople,29 Rhapsomates' himself spent some time on the island on his way from the capital we know one to his see in late 1091 or early 1092. This again from mentions which monk from Antioch another of Nikon's letters, yet rendering based on the in text published by C. Constantinides inMedieval Cypriot "Poetic Colophons 26
Diplomatic
in "The Sweet Land of Cyprus": Papers Given at the Twenty-fifth
Manuscripts,"
Jubilee Spring Symposium ofByzantine Studies, Birmingham, March 1991, ed. A. A. M. Bryer and G. S. Georghallides
(Nicosia,
1993), 322-23. 27
Sinait. gr. 436 (441), f. 234r.
writing in the a tradition c, 15th reports according to close links which the island maintained 28
Leontios Machairas,
with the patriarchate
of Antioch
before
the change of rule at the end of the 12th c.
36
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Lead
Seals from Cyprus [Nicosia, 2004], 224, no. 148; and A.-K. Wassiliou andW. Seibt,
(M. Pieris and A. Nicolaou-Konnari, tvcKvnpov:
AsovtIov MaxotipA Xpovixo
byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Osterreich 247-48 no. 254). About one the Recluse was century laterNeophytos
Die
dinlcopaTixr} ixSoarj tcov Xtipoyp&yoov [Nicosia, 2003], 148. R. M.
napAT^rjlrj
[Vienna, 2004],
trans, and ed., Leontios
Dawkins, Makhairas:
Recital Concerning
also in touch with events at Antioch
the Sweet
Land ofCyprus Entitled "Chronicle" [Oxford, 1932], 1:142). Note that a member of the powerful Brachamios
family of Antioch,
the
kouropalates Elpidios (known exclusively from sigillographic evidence), was serving the imperial administration as doux of Cyprus
in the later nth c. (J.-C. Cheynet
and J.-F.Vannier, Etudes prosopographiques [Paris, 1986], 63; D. M. Metcalf, Byzantine
(H.
"Saints de Chypre," AB 26 [1907]: 211-12, 281-82; N. Papatriantaphyllou
Delehaye,
inAylov Theodorides and T. Yiangou NeocpvTov rov EyxXetcrrov Zvyypdfifca,rct,5 vols. [Paphos, 1996-2005], 3:42 and 333). The patriarch's logos,which refers to the troubles facing the empire, including the Cyprus revolt, is dated to February/March 29
1091: Gautier,
"Diatribes,"
35 (above, n. 6).
who had been toCyprus and met up with thenewly electedpatri arch thereto briefhim on the situationof theAntiochene church (f. woman on was likewise i8ov). The story of a practising magic Cyprus related toNikon by a presbyter who had also made the journey to the island (f. 204r).30 Moreover,
informs us that the name
Nikon
was
of Antioch
s new
at the monastery of in only Hodegon of the patriarchate, but also in Laodicea
not
patriarch proclaimed ametochion Constantinople, and Cyprus. Although there is no record of a patriarchal metochion on the island, it is reasonable to assume that one may have existed:31 exten isknown to have owned a Sepulcher dependency and sive properties on Cyprus the twelfth century, while themon during on asteries of both Saint Theodosios of Judea and Saint Catherine theHoly
Sinai also possessed estates on the island during the same period.32 to a circle of monks active in Nikon and belonged clergymen Antioch and its region that included thewell-known Georgians Giorgi and Ep'rem Mcire (the latter a correspondent ofNikon), and of course the patriarch John Oxeites.33 George, although clearly not as learned inmatters ecclesiastical as some of these men, probably came from the same milieu, as did Gerasimos. At which monastery
Mt'ac'mindeli
on the mainland
a monk, however, George may have initially been are not told. That of Saint on theWondrous Mountain Symeon is a strong candidate, for, as we learn from the Koutsovendis typikon
we
set up on (May 24), the community that George subsequently Cyprus was and "great support" of Symeon placed under the protection Kai fzsyav f. 153V"). Another strong (7rpooTaTr]v CLvr{kr\)mrupav [sic]: indication to the same effect is that when a parekklesion was added to the katholikon
at
George's
new monastery
Yiangou, Nlxcov, 139,188 n. 4, 276 (above, n. 14).
30
itwas dedicated
(Constantinides
to the
and Browning, Dated Greek [above, n. 24]; on p.
87 no.io
(ca. 1079/80-1089?), Nikephoros Mauros found near Dekelia on the south-east coast
Manuscripts, 90 it is suggested that themanuscript may have originated from Koutsovendis, citing E. Lappa-Zizeka and M. Rizou-Kouroupou,
of Cyprus, may indicate the existence of patriarchal estates with which Mauros, who
KardXoyoc ifarjvixaiv xeipoypdpoov rov Movaelov Mirsvdxn (iooc-i6oc cti.) [Athens,
31
Ibid., 197; the seal of Patriarch
spent his reign at Constantinople, was pre sumably in touch (Metcalf, Byzantine Lead Seals, 385 no. 486);
in later centuries both
II (1395 Ignatios II (1341-1366) and Michael 1412) ofAntioch found refuge on the island, although again there is no specific informa tion on a metochion
(C. A. Papadopoulos,
IfTTopLa.rf{CExxlncriac AvTioxeiac [Alexandria,
1951], 962-68,976-77). the oikonomos
of theHoly is recorded Sepulcher's Cypriot possessions, in a colophon dated to ca. 1150-80
32
Barnabas,
I99IJ> 56; in the latter there is no evidence for such a claim, which is perhaps based on themonastery's much later status as a of theHoly
dependency
Sepulcher). The in properties are mentioned
patriarchate's
The Life ofLeontios Patriarch
ofJerusalem, text, translation, and commentary by D.
Tsougarakis
(Leiden, 1993), 116-22. For
Saint Theodosios J.Richard,
tion franque," innpaxTixa
tov AevTepov
Aie^vovqKvTtpokoyixov ZvvsSplov, 20-2$ Aicpikiov 1982 (Nicosia, 1986), 2: 61-75, and J. Pahlitzsch, Graeci und Suriani im Paldstina
der Kreuzfahrerzeit:
Beitrage zur Geschichte desgriechisch orthodoxen Patriarchats von Jerusalem
und Quellen
(Berlin, 2001), 174. Yiangou, Nlxoov, 105 (above, n. 14); W. Z. Djobadze, Materials for the Study 33
in theWestern ofGeorgian Monasteries Environs ofAntioch on the Orontes (Louvain, 1976), 73; E. Khintibidze, Georgian Byzantine Literary Contacts
(Amsterdam,
1996), 64.
of Judea and Sinai, see
"Un monastere
grec de Palestine
et son domaine orthodoxe
chypriote: Le monachisme et l'etablissement de la domina
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
37
not the most common of dedications but encountered Holy Trinity, at the main church of the Mountain monastery on theWondrous too, built during Symeon's lifetime in the mid-sixth century.34 This dedication, as we shall see later, has certain implications as far as the date of the parekklesion and the possible relationship between are Philokales Eumathios and George concerned. patron The cation Antioch.
its
same document
indi may contain one further possible of the community's and therefore of George's links with reference to stipulations concerning the procedure
A
Olympus Annunciation
in the typika of the Bithynian to follow when the feast of the
Easter week (eripa spppela 7rep!rrjs eopTY\q Kara Se EvayyekiayLOv- evpiQr\ to!; t6v"OXu|Z7tov tu7tikoi<; yivo^evv] it [another interpretation concerning the feast of the Annunciation; falls
rov
during
was found among the typikaof (Mount) Olympus]: f. 140V) is per haps
related to monastic
usage
introduced
to Antioch
by Patriarch
Theodosios III Chrysoberges (1057-59) fromhis (unnamed) former
in conclusive evidence monastery Bithynia. Although in one of his letters to Gerasimos Nikon does mention
is
lacking, that one
such novelty (concerningtheAugust fast)was indeed brought by
the patriarch from Olympus.35 Another piece of evidence, however, over cast doubt the above interpretation: a very similar but not may identical stipulation concerning the same feast, "according to the also appears in the twelfth-century synaxarion typika of Olympus,"
The occurrence of this particular rubric in the two Evergetis.36 some calendars (of Evergetis and Koutsovendis) requires explanation, a two which only detailed study of the documents and their sources of
will perhaps provide.37 in Palestine
George
no evidence on when and in Unfortunately Nikon's writings contain left northern Syria. His departure may what circumstances George or to the volatile be linked to the dissolution of Luke's Theotokos, 34 Englezakis, Eixoai Mskirou, 29 (above, n. 13); P. van den Ven, La vie ancienne de S. Symeon Stylite lejeune ($21-592) (Brussels, 1962-70), 1: 88; see also J. Lafontaine
Galesios, Trebizonde, Athenes, Thessalonique
Itineraires archeologiques dans la Recherches sur le dAntioche: region
Sinait. gr. 436 (442), f. 151V,and see Yiangou, Nlxoov, 50. On the fast Documents Monastic Foundation Byzantine
Dosogne,
etsur Viconographie de S. Symeon (Brussels, 1967), 108-10, andW. Z. Djobadze, Archaeological Investigations in theRegion West ofAntioch-on-the-Orontes monastere lejeune
(Stuttgart, 1986), 75-79. On other nth-c. shrines dedicated to theHoly Trinity (in Athens
38
eglises et lesmonasteres des grands centres byzantins: Bithynie, Hellespont, Latros,
TASSOS
and on Chalke)
PAPACOSTAS
see R. Janin, Les
(Paris, 1975), 73, 336. 35
5:1711-12 (above, n. 18). 36
Dmitrievskii,
Opisanie,
(above, n. n). P. Gautier mentions 37
1: 443-44
only en passant that some lost typika fromMount Olympus were used as sources for the Evergetis text:
"Le typikon de la Theotokos Evergetis," REB 40 (1982): 8. Bithynian monastic usage was in this period, as a refer clearly widespread ence to the Twv'OXu^7riTd)v wpo^oyiov (horologion of themonks of Olympus), which Kyrillos Phileotes used to recite while still a layman (mid-nth c), attests (E. Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille lePhileote, moine byzantin [+1110] [Brussels, 1964], 119).
situation
that resulted from the Seljuk
advance
into Anatolia
and
northern Syria after 1071.During this period Antioch was ruled by PhilaretosBrachamios, beforefalling to theTurks inDecember
1084 after years of internal unrest. The impact of these events on is relatively well docu the region's monastic and lay communities it has been suggested that the family of mented.38 For example, in Palermo Admiral George of Antioch, patron of the Martorana (1143-51), may have fled their native city at that time. The Georgian of the region of Antioch were badly affected saw above that Nikon himself had to leave Saint too.39We Symeon seems to have aban after the conquest of Antioch, while Gerasimos
monastic
communities
Much more detailed the region information is altogether. contained in the fascinating and little-known prologue to an Arabic
doned
a monk at Saint copied byMichael, of Nikon's circle. This text provides evidence on the havoc wrought by the Seljuk
vita of Saint John of Damascus Symeon and another member and concrete
valuable
advance: After the capture of the city on 3December 1084, many of its inhabitants in the citadel. Michael, who sought refuge happened to be in the at an in the hid abandoned house. the time, city During to to the citadel join the other fugitives, but night he made his way up
when he reached the gate the next morning a band of Turks appeared and captured him together with many other prisoners. After a fright the captives were led into ameadow ening march down themountain, were left to go free. So they unexpectedly impressed and grate one year later, as a thanks ful was Michael by his swift release that
where
giving fordeliverancefromhis ordeal,he decided to copy the lifeof JohnofDamascus whose feastdaycoincidedwith theend ofhis brief but
traumatic
adventure.40
The events outlined above provide aplausible framework forGeorge's from Antioch. Several references in the Koutsovendis departure typikon, however, suggest that he did not immediately head forCyprus. Like Nikon, and perhaps at the same time as he, traveled to George on on adherence Palestine. In fact, several occasions, the typikon insists to Palestinian of the Judean desert custom, referring to monasteries such as Saint Sabas
38
A. E. Dostourian,
Armenia
39
ed. and trans.,
and the Crusades,
Centuries: Edessa
and Saint Euthymios
Tenth to Twelfth
The Chronicle of Matthew
(Belmont, Mass., B. Lavagnini,
committente,"Z)OP4i
of e il
(1987): 343-44; 80 (above, n. 33).
Djobadze, Materials, G. Graf, "Das arabische 40 Original der Vita des hi. Johannes von Damaskus," Der Katholik:
Wissenschaft und kirchliches Leben 93 (4), 12 (1913): 166-70; see also Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur (Vatican, 1947), 2: 69-70,
1993), I25
"L'epigramma
(f. 195^ 2i2r-v, 213V, 25rv).
Hemmerdinger, Jean Damascene
5 vols.
and B.
"La vita arabe de Saint et BHG
884," OCP
28
(1962): 422-23.
Zeitschrift fur katholische
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
39
Even more
one instance it important, in implies that the monks of had been physically present in Palestine, and on the feast of Saint Euthymios theywould visit this saint's monastery (20 January:
Koutsovendis
toD ctyiov ovrec, ev f. ioir): crvvayd)\ieQa elc, \lovy\v [sic], nalaicrrivyp we are in Palestine, we at Yictxei TOicofzev rr\v aypU7rviav [when gather the saint's monastery and conduct the It thus seems almost vigil there]. certain that the community of Koutsovendis was first constituted in Palestine by refugees from the region ofAntioch before they settled on contacts with themainland. Cyprus, where theymaintained move
to Such peripatetic forced by the circumstances communities, out of their initial retreat, are not unknown in this period;
is a case in point: warfare in fleeing Palestine (ca. 1070?), Christodoulos settled on Mount Latros, where he spent several years. He was nevertheless forced to abandon Latros, too, as a result of Turkish raids and sought refuge together with some of his monks at Strobilos on the coast. After only a few months at themonastery of a local man called Arsenios Skenourios, and fearing that of Christodoulos
of Patmos
the advancing Turkish threat, he moved yet again with his monks to the nearby island of Kos (1080), on a property offered by Skenourios his monastic himself. Finally, in 1088, Christodoulos exchanged estates on Kos for the deserted island of Patmos, where he founded
that was to flourish Theologian in a trajectory contemporary with in the following century.41 Thus, and strongly reminiscent of George's peregrinations, Christodoulos fled trouble on the continent and found refuge on a nearby island. to In the context of Palestinian sojourn, it is interesting George's at Koutsovendis to the note that, typikon, the katholikon according was dedicated to John is somewhat curious, for This Chrysostomos. the monastery
dedicated
to John the
enormous success of his writ the cult of Chrysostomos, despite the never became he was buried in particularly popular.42 Although ings, a the church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, only couple of none seems to obscure shrines in the capital were dedicated him, while to be recorded
41
MM
6: 60-65,
"Christodoulos:
in its environs
a (except for dubious
and P. Karlin-Hayter,
Rule, Testament and Codicil
for theMonastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos," in Documents Byzantine Monastic Foundation 2: 564-65, 580-82 (above, n. 18). of Christodoulos
Among the lead seals of this period, only a few dozen bear depictions of themajority of course Chrysostomos,
42
belonging to (largely lay) individuals called John; seals with the Baptist (Prodromos) on the other hand are almost thrice as
40
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
numerous
case inHieria).
(information taken from the elec
of the Prosopography of the World, King's College London Byzantine tronic database
[http://www.pbw.kcl.ac.uk]). R. Janin, La giographie 43
ecclesiastique de Vempire byzantin, vol. i,Le siege de Constantinople et lepatriarcat oecumenique, 2nd ed., part 3,Les eglises et lesmonasteres
(Paris, 1969), 271-72. A church dedicated is to Chrysostomos (at Constantinople?) mentioned in the Life ofLazaros ofGalesion, AASS Nov.
3 (Brussels,
1910), 538, and
the Cellarer, The Life ofLazaros ofMt. Galesion, ed. and trans. R. P. H.
Gregory
Greenfield
2000), (Washington, D.C, 186 n. 426; a monastery in the capital with the same dedication is also recorded in the same period
in the Life ofMeletios V. Vasil'evskii,
of
"NikoXAov
Myoupolis: tov viov," PPSb 6 Me0wvy]<; Bloc.Mekvziov shrines (apart (1886): 4. No Chrysostomos from the one atHieria)
are recorded in the
areas covered by R. Janin in his Grands Centres, 36 (above, n. 34).
On Cyprus itselfa church of "S. JoannisChrysostomi prope pala tium regisCypri" inNicosia is recordedonly in the fifteenthcen tury.44In the regionofAntioch, which was his birthplace afterall, he was
as the the titular saint of a cave, recorded byNikon dwelling of his father Luke the latter's early days, and of place spiritual during a church built in the later tenth century by archbishop Theodoulos over was to of Seleucia what be Chrysostomos's house.45 thought a with links the Syrian metropolis George's presumably played key role in his choice of dedication. As we saw earlier, he had probably been a monk
at Saint Symeon; of Luke's community
member
This would to
he may have also been a at an earlier at the Theotokos stage. offer an additional clue concerning his attachment
Chrysostomos. But George,
like Nikon,
as demonstrated
above, was
also
familiar with
a monastery to John is dedicated Chrysostomos near the Jordan River. It is briefly described by a visit in the first decade of the Russian monk Daniel, who paid the twelfth century (1106-8), and later on in the same century
Palestine.46
And
in fact attested
by the Cretan pilgrim John Phokas itwas 5 stadia distant from Kalamon,
informs us that (1177), who which lies between Jericho assume a link between the to
and the Jordan.47 It is very tempting and Palestinian Cypriot Chrysostomos
monasteries
to
explain the such a desert; Judean relationship not is nevertheless in any way warranted suggestion by the avail able evidence. The only certainty is that George, together with other members of the community that he founded on Mount the
of Koutsovendis
Koutsovendis, via Palestine. points
toward
came from the almost certainly region of Antioch, Nikon's address to them as his fathers and brothers the same conclusion.
R. Lefevre, "Roma e la comunita etiop ica di Cipro nei secoli XV eXVI," RSE i.i (1941): 76, and E. Cerulli, Etiopi inPalestina: Storia della comunita Etiopica di
44
Gerusalemme, 45
with
2 vols. (Rome, 1943-47), 2:2. ygpeov, on ev cupxfi
"EXgygv6 toiovto;
ore elq ty\v^copav tovty\v [sic] eicryjXGovgK ra 7ri(7T?co;Kivr]9el<;, 7rapcpKV]<7a e\c, 7ro^Xfj<;
tou gvayioi<; Avcbrepa (xgprjev rX6(X?vo<; ?KgtKaroiKgtv [This gerow used to say that "in the beginning, when motivated bymuch faith I firstcame to this land, I settled in the upper parts, in the cave of Saint John Chrysostomos, wishing to dwell there"] (Yiangou, Nlxcov, 44 [above, n. 14]), and H. Zayat, "Vie du patriarche melkite d'Antioche Christophore (+967) par le
protospathaire Document
Ibrahim b. Yuhanna.
inedit du Xe siecle," PrOC
Leader
z
(1952): 336-37. See also K.-P. Todt, Region und griechisch-orthodoxes Patriarchat von Antiocheia inmittelbyzantinischer Zeit und imZeitalter
(969-1204), 2 vols. (Wiesbaden, 1998), 2: 797. A (late antique?) church whose remains were der Kreuzziige
reported near Teknepinar, to thewest of is also said to have been dedicated
Antioch,
to Chrysostomos (Lafontaine-Dosogne, Itineraires archeologiques, 48 [above, n. 34]). A chapel of John Chrysostomos in 46 what used to be a monk's atMar
Saba
dwelling exists in the Judean desert too,
although it is not known at what period the cave (complex 37) acquired its new function and dedication (J. Patrich, Sabas,
MONASTERY
A ofPalestinian Monasticism: Comparative Study inEastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries [Washington, D.C, 1995], 75> 85-86). 47
M. Garzaniti, Daniil
Itinerario
in Terra Santa
Egumeno, (Rome, 1991), 108; in PG 133:9530-0.
account of John Phokas A lead seal (uth/i2th c.) and a i2th-c.
manuscript (Venice marc, suppl. gr. 1,14) also testify to the existence of thismonas "Repertoire alphabetique des de Palestine," ROC 5 [1900]: 22,
tery (S. Vailhe, monasteres
V. Laurent, Le corpus des sceaux de I'empire byzantin, vol. 5.2,Veglise [Paris, 1965], no. 1580, and E. Mioni, Venetiarum
Bibliothecae
diviMarci
codices graeci manuscripti,
3 vols.
[Rome, 1967], 1.1:19).
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
41
George inCyprus The
establishment
of monasteries
on
from the Cyprus by monks is a in this recurring theme period. The
Syro-Palestinian mainland of the Machairas story of the foundation
in the mid monastery an in this twelfth century provides interesting parallel respect.48 as we held mainland establishments considerable And saw, just on the island where they maintained metochia. The pres properties ence of too, on the island must be surely linked Georgian monks, in the to that of several communities region of Georgian monastic a at in Yialia north-western Cyprus, Antioch: Georgian monastery where
its ruins are still to be seen, is first recorded
in a manuscript there is further evidence
and colophon of the later tenth century, in the following centuries.49 The community of for its functioning some link with at Asinou may have maintained Panagia Phorbiotissa too, in particular with the laura of Saint Sabas: in the Par. gr. 1590 on the deaths of hegumens of Asinou
Palestine
the notices
the
during
twelfthcenturydescribe them as "disciples"of Saint Sabas (parr];
been a disciple of the father's iioLrpoTTctropoq2a(2a TtttyvKCdc, [having how f. father Sabas]: io8v, i4ir), although exactly this should be inter remains uncertain. The manuscript itself (copied in 1062/63) preted more secure evidence for such links: its script not only bears provides all the hallmarks of the Cypro-Palestinian milieu, but it is also closely related to that of another manuscript whose place of copying may in have been in Palestine: the Laurent. San Marco 787 was produced to be identified with touKalamiou, 1049/50 at the Theotokos perhaps in the Judean desert.50 By the twelfth cen themonastery of Kalamon were in the nature of tury both manuscripts Cyprus.51 Thus, although remains and the Judean desert monasteries some of itsmonks and its founders, like George of perhaps
the links between Asinou unclear,
Koutsovendis,
may have arrived on the island from Palestine.
I. P. Tsiknopoullos, Kvizpiaxa (Nicosia, 1969), 1-68, P. Agathonos,
48
Tvmxd
Jty/oz; Netlov Tvmxrf Ai&Tatyc. (Machairas, 2001); see New also C. Mango, Byzantium: The Empire of Rome (London, 1980), 120-22, A. Bandy, "Rule ofNeilos, Bishop of Tamasia, for the Monastery
of theMother of God
of
P. Canart
remains cautious
about the
identification of the two monasteries:
"Les
ecritures livresques chypriotes du milieu Xle siecle au milieu du XHIe et le style
BvfavTivd xeipoypcupa oltcotcl
inCyprus," inByzantine Monastic Foundation Documents, 3:1107-75 (above, n.
tvc.Mixp&c. AcrlcLc.(Athens, (zovacrTripioL also For the Judean Kalamon, 2004), 76.
18), and N. Coureas, The Foundation Rules of Makhairas and CypriotMedieval Monasteries: St.Neophytos (Nicosia, 2003).
dedicated
49
W. Z. Djobadze,
"Observations
on the
in Georgian Monastery Cyprus," OC 68 (1984): 196-209, and (above, n. 33). Djobadze, Materials of Yalia
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
(Galia)
du
ScritCiv 5 ?epsilon?," palestino-chypriote (1981): 29 n. 36; further bibliography in S. Kotzampase,
Machairas
42.
50
to theVirgin
according
to the
testimony of the early-i2th-c. Russian pil see D. Pringle, The Churches of grim Daniel, the Crusader Kingdom ofJerusalem: A 1: Corpus, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1993-98), the a of 197-201; (different?) monastery Theotokos
of Kalamon
is attested in 1054
cen (possibly in Bithynia?) (Janin, Grands n. and tres, 154-55 [above, 34], Kotzampase, 76-77). There was BvtyvTivdxupoypaya, also a Georgian monastery of theValley of twv Ka^Auwv (presumably called in the region of Antioch, but its dedication (perhaps to Saint Michael or the Reeds inGreek)
Saint George) Materials, 51
remains uncertain
(Djobadze,
91-94).
Constantinides
Greek Manuscripts,
and Browning, Dated no. 1 (above,
49-54
"Autres manuscrits," n. 24), and Darrouzes, n. the history of this For 144-45 (above, 7). see the relevant monastery, chapter by Gilles Grivaud Oaks
in the forthcoming Dumbarton of the church ofAsinou.
publication
arrival on Cyprus, as well as the reasons It may be remain a matter of that led him speculation. on a Mount assumed that the establishment of monastic community The
date of
George's there, must
Koutsovendis
preceded
the consecration
of the katholikon
in 1090 by
a shortperiod of time. IfGeorge leftnorthernSyriaaftertheSeljuks'
arrival and also spent some time in Palestine, then his establishment a on Mount Koutsovendis may have taken place only few years before the consecration.
on the enkainia, relics of three to the typikon entry and Prokopios, were namely James the Persian, Marina, on that occasion. It is unclear where in the katholikon
According martyrs,
deposited in view of his likely sojourn in Palestine it George obtained them, but to assume that would not be unreasonable theymay have originated there.52 It is important to note that there is further evidence concern at around the same ing the circulation of relics of James the Persian a monk of the near Tours in time: Guillermus, abbey of Cormery
France who had traveled to theHoly Land and served under Alexios at considerable in the I Komnenos early years of his reign, acquired in expense what was believed to be the saint's head from a monastery
Nikomedeia. In 1103,bywhich timehe had become bishop of Salpi in
numerous other relics, includ Apulia, he donated this together with one of the True Cross, to his former ing monastery.53 on A particle of the True Cross (to tijziov \vkov) ismentioned too (f. 19V, 87v~9ir, in our several occasions i7iv-i73r, typikon was on out eve of It of the the 22or-22iv). brought skeuophylakion the Exaltation
52
of the Cross
The relic of Prokopios
(13 September),
(martyred in
Palestine during Diocletian's persecutions) is attested in the late nth c. at Naissus (Nis), fromwhere part of it (an arm) was carried raid; away to Sirmium during a Hungarian I in 1165 (loannis itwas restored byManuel Cinnami
[Bonn, epitome, ed. A. Meineke 1836], 227, P. Stephenson, Byzantium's
Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204 [Cambridge, 189-91). A monastery dedicated to Prokopios is attested in this period in the 2000],
104). region ofAntioch (Djobadze, Materials, "Acta translationis SS. Reliquiarum in 53 Monasterium Instrumenta Cormaricenum," Ecclesiae Turonensis
LVIII,
tomum XIV Galliae
Christianae
Instrumenta ad col. 76-78,
Gallia Christiana
14 (1856). On Guillermus and the relevant source evidence see J.
Shepard, "Cross-purposes: Alexius Comnenus and the First Crusade,"
in
on the eve of Epiphany
The First Crusade: Phillips
Origins and Impact, ed. J.
(Manchester,
1997), 116-18, and
especially Shepard, "How St. James the Persian's Head Was Brought to Cormery. A Relic Collector around the Time of the First Crusade,"
inZwischen Polis, Provinz
und Peripheric: Beitrage zur byzantinischen Geschichte und Kultur, ed. L. M. Hoffmann and A. Monchizadeh
(Mainz, 2005), 287
335. The head of James the Persian
is attested
in later centuries too, after the Fourth Crusade when
itwas
taken from
to Soissons by Bishop Constantinople de Cherisy, while during the
Nivelon
Palaeologan period itwas said to be housed in the capital in the Pantokrator monastery, with another relic at Saint Stephen of (P. Riant, Depouilles religieuses enlevees a Constantinople au XIHe siecle par lesLatins [Paris, 1875], 190, and Riant,
Mangana
Exuviae
sacrae constantinopolitanae
MONASTERY
[Geneva, 1876]), 1: 8; G. Majeska, Russian Travelers toConstantinople in theFourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries [Washington, D.C, 1984], 43, 95,153,163,187, 293, 387); yet another relic of the saint appears in an inventory of 1200 from Patmos (C. Astruc, "L'inventaire dresse en Septembre 1200 du tresor et de la bibliotheque de Patmos. Edition diplomatique," TM$ [1981]: 21). In modern times themonasteries of Kykko and Machairas,
as well as numerous
shrines
outside Cyprus, have claimed to possess relics of all three saints mentioned in con nection with the Koutsovendis (O. Meinardus,
enkainia
"Relics in the Churches
and Monasteries Studien
of Cyprus," Ostkirchliche 19 [1970]: 19-43, and Meinardus,
"A Study of the Relics of Saints of the Greek Orthodox
Church," OC
54 [1970]: 195-96,
211-12, 243-45).
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
43
(5 January), on the third Sunday of Lent, and on iAugust, when the are told of the True Cross took place. We blessing nothing, how its ever, about origin. The association of Cyprus with relics of the to go back to the Passion is supposed discovery of the True Cross
The traditionlinking the by SaintHelena in the fourthcentury.54 to the island with the journey empress-mother's Holy Land, how ever, is not reported until the late medieval period. The full story a is (?) text preserved in a later manu given in fourteenth-century
Museum Add. 34554) and is also known throughthe script(British
chronicle
of Leontios
to this account, on According and having left the True Cross there,
Machairas.55
her way back from Jerusalem Helena disembarked on the south coast of Cyprus with
the crosses of
the two thieves and four small crosses made
True Cross.
from the footpiece of the a vision and later on a miracle, she founded
Following
two shrines inwhich she deposited part of these relics (atTochni
and Stavrovouni). the late attestation Despite the cult of the Cross
on
Byzantine period, when Helena story is alluded Russian
monk
Saint Helena
there is no doubt that legend, was well in the middle developed Cyprus relics of the Passion are recorded and the of the
to. The
earliest
such allusion
is due
to the
a cross erected (1106-8), who mentions by on Stavrovouni with nails from the True Cross. More Daniel
important, according the story of the Cross
to a tradition first recorded as this was known
in 1109 and relating in Palestine
to Crusaders
at that time,one half of theTrue Cross had been leftbyHelena in
the other half was taken to Constantinople; the Jerusalem while former was later cut into nineteen pieces, two of which found their the Recluse way to Cyprus.56 Indeed, in the mid-n6os, Neophytos to the set out from his Holy Cross, hermitage, which he dedicated to obtain a within the and from one, acquired presumably particle overseas he also reports island (no journey is mentioned); having
experienced J-Mateos,
54 Ms.
Sainte-Croix
a vision or dream
inwhich
Le typicon de lagrande eglise: no. 40, Xesiecle (Rome,
1962), 356-57. The historicity of the discovery is not in question, although the role of W. Drijvers, in it remains doubtful (J. Helena ofConstantine Augusta, theGreat and theLegend ofHer Finding of the True Cross [Leiden, 1992], 83-93). For a
Helena
theMother
more detailed discussion
of the relevant
issues than the one that follows, see Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," (above, n. 4).
1: 95-99
he was urged to venerate
T. Papadopoullos, "'Ek xfj<; 55 tou itaTpiapx^ov Ap^aioxATy)*; icnropiac. ty\c, &7ia<;,EX?VYi<; Igpoo-oXu^iwv.'H g7rto-Kg"\|ac. gi<; naXaio-Tivrjv Kai Ki)7rpov," Nea Zicbv (1952): 29; Pieris and Nicolaou-Konnari, AeovTlov MaxcaipcL Xpovixb TnqKvitpov, 65-68 1: 4-8 (Dawkins, ed., Leontios Makhairas, [above, n. 28]). On preserved G. Grivaud,
the date of the source
in the i6th-c. BM Add.
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
34554, see
"Formes etmy the de la strateia
a Chypre," EtBalk
5 (1998): 47-48.
A. Frolow, La relique de la Vraie Croix: Recherches sur le developpement d'un culte 56
(Paris, 1961), 310-11. On Daniel,
44
the
see n. 47.
crossofChrist onMount Olympus (Stavrovouni)near his nativevil Cross relics are attested following century they changed hands among officials of the Latin at to which and the Premonstratensian church, abbey of Bellapais, of Lefkara.57 lage inNicosia, where
In the
a
a certain was (both in by particle bequeathed Roger the Norman 1245).58 Relics of the Passion kept in various churches and monaster
in the accounts of later ies on the island are frequently mentioned chroniclers, pilgrims, and travelers, most notably in 1340 when the cross of Tochni, stolen twenty-two years earlier, was rediscovered and in a new monastery the Lusignan court.59
built and decorated with patronage
ever, falls to Koutsovendis,
in 1090 (assuming
housed
The honor of the earliest record of a Cross
from
relic on Cyprus, how that the typikon dates
from the time of the monastery's foundation, an issue that will be examined later on). Before this date there appears to be no explicit
mention
of relics associated with
the Crucifixion
on the island in the
sources. This
is surprising, to say the least, in view of the is even more later attestations. What is the lack startling of any evidence for either the cult of the Cross or theHelena link in texts emanating from late antique Cyprus.60 Even the Inventio Crucis, a treatise with on the story of the particular emphasis discovery of
surviving numerous
some scholars to have been writ the True Cross, which is thought by ten on the island same at by the sixth-century author who composed theLaudatio contains no reference S. Barnabae, Salamis/Constantia 57
Tvizixct, jj Tsiknopoullos, Kvnpiaxa (above, n. 48), I. E. Stephanes inAylov NeoytiTov tov EyxleicTov ZvyypdftftctTa,2:33 (above, n. 28), and C. Mango and E. J.W. Hawkins, "The Hermitage of St. Neophytos and ItsWail-Paintings," DOP 20 (1966): 124 n. 12; see also Galatariotou, TheMaking of a Saint, 116 (above, n. 4). 58
P.-V. Claverie,
"Apud Ciprum Nicossiam: Notes sur les relations cyprio auvergnates au XHIe siecle," 'En.Kiv. 'Etcictt. 'Ep. 31 (2005): 50, and N. Coureas and C. Schabel, The Cartulary of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom ofNicosia (Nicosia, 1997), 126. 59
Pieris and Nicolaou-Konnari,
Max&ip&Xpovixo (Dawkins, 62-72);
AeovTiov
TncKvnpov, 87-88,101-7 1: 38,
ed., Leontios Makhairas,
for various accounts
see, for exam
ple, C. D. Cobham, Excerpta Cypria: Materials for a History ofCyprus (Cambridge,
1908), 14, 23; G. Grivaud,
1990), i2o; Iodoci aMeggen
Patricii
Lucerini, Peregrinatio Hierosolymitana (Dillingen, 1580), 70-71; E. de Lusignan, Description de toute I'isle de Cypre (Paris, 1580), f. 64r. 60
The 7th-c. Cypriot patriarch of John theAlmsgiver is said to
Alexandria
have acquired a golden pectoral cross con taining a particle of theTrue Cross and formerly belonging to the bishop of Tiberias who had fled toAlexandria during the Persian advance into Palestine (H. Delehaye, "Une vie inedite de Saint Jean l'Aumonier," AB 45 [1927]: 24, and E. Lappa-Zizicas, "Un epitome de laVie de S.Jean l'Aumonier par Jean et Sophronius,"^4.6 88 [1970]: 277); the subsequent
fate of the precious
relic is not
recorded, although it is likely that the patri arch would have taken itwith him when he returned to his native island where he died in 619/20.
Excerpta Cypria nova: Voyageurs occiden taux a Chypre au XVeme siecle (Nicosia,
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
45
to a local cult or relics.61 Thus, in view of the lack of secure
whatsoever
relics on Cyprus before the late eleventh century, cannot be the question of the origin of the Koutsovendis particle answered with any degree of certainty. George and his monks may have acquired it locally; theymay as well have brought itwith them to the of the cult from the mainland, perhaps contributing growth on the island. for Cross
evidence
is choice of location for his establishment puzzling. George's icon linked There is no reference in the typikon to any miraculous with the foundation, such as those that allegedly prompted the estab
lishment of many amonastery on the island and elsewhere, nor is any tradition associated with one attested in later centuries. Neither did
man. or tomb of a holy develop around the hermitage We therefore have to seek the causes behind George's decision else where than in any religious association of the locality itself. The site overlooks the island's central plain and is only a short which had replaced Salamis/ from Nicosia distance (figs, i, 2),62 the monastery
as the island's administrative
in capital one to times. It is even closer of the main passes middle Byzantine across the The road connecting above Kyrenia Mountains, Kythrea.63 via the northern coast with the central plain and Salamis/Constantia Constantia
and ecclesiastical
downhill (eastofKoutsovendis) thispass andChytroi/Kythreafarther
in late have been in use during later antiquity64 and may centuries too for, although the early capital lay in ruins by this period, was never abandoned. Information on the latter is neverthe Kythrea less very sparse. Itwas an episcopal see since late antique times, and its best-known incumbent had been the ninth/early-tenth-century Saint is attested
are attested after Demetrianos, no bishops Although there is no doubt that the diocese continued functioning until the
Demetrianos.
century, when
thirteenth 61
Text in PG 87.3: 4015-88;
disagreement
itwas
about whether the two
"Alexander theMonk,"
ODB
1:60,
and P. Van Deun and J.Noret, Hagiographica laudatio auctore Cypria: Sancti Barnabae Alexandro monacho et Sanctorum Bartholomaei
etBarnabae
vita emenologio
imperiali deprompta. Vita sancti Auxibii [Turnhout, 1993], 15-16; see also Englezakis, 26 [above, n. 13]).Although no cross relic is attested on the island in late
Eixoai Mslirai,
antiquity, ithas been suggested that the ciborium-like structure in the east atrium of the sumptuous
46
TASSOS
5th-c. Campanopetra
PAPACOSTAS
into that of Nicosia,
at Salamis/Constantia
there is
homonymous authors, both called Alexander theMonk, are one and the same person (A. P. Kazhdan,
incorporated
basilica
may have been erected
to house precisely such a relic (C. Delvoye, "La place des grandes basiliques de Salamine de Chypre dans l'architecture paleochretienne," in Salamine de Chypre: Histoire et archeologie. Etat des recherches: Yon [Paris, Lyon, 13-17 mars 1978, ed. M. 1980], 316, and G. Roux, La basilique de la [Paris, 1998], 245-47). Campanopetra It took Vasilii Barskii only three hours 62 to ride to themonastery
fromNicosia
in
1735 (A. D. Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account of inCyprus Cyprus: Bars'kyj's Travels [Altamont, New York, 1996], 28). 63
in "Byzantine Nicosia," D. ed. Michaelides the Ages, through
T. Papacostas,
Nicosia
route (forthcoming). The most important to Nicosia across themountains, linking Kyrenia, followed the defile below the castle see p. 85. of Saint Hilarion: Saint Spyridon is said to have used this 64 road on his way from Tremithus to Kyrenia in the 4th c. (P. van den Ven, La
legende
de Saint Spyridon eveque de Trimithonte [Louvain, 1953], 63). The evidence from milestones
and the Tabula Peutingeriana
is examined by R. Mitford ("Roman Cyprus," inANRW1, 7.2, ed. H. Temporini [Berlin New York, 1980], 1333-35,1340). For a more detailed discussion, see now T. Bekker Nielsen,
The Roads
(Copenhagen,
ofAncient Cyprus
2004),
153-55, 250-52.
sees.65A hint con
the reduction of the island's Orthodox
following
at cerningthecontinuingcultofDemetrianos Kythrea afterhis death (ca. 913?) isprovided by themanuscript thatcontainshis vita (Sinait.
local shrine it appears to have been written for his main force behind Kythrea's But the driving during the twelfth century.66 survival was surely its economic rather than its religious significance. gr. 789):
for its fresh-water springs, themost important on in the island. From them an aqueduct supplied Salamis/Constantia late antiquity.67 In the later medieval period (and presumably earlier were to the too), they powered several mills, and those belonging king 8 a considerable economic asset for the crown in times. Lusignan location was clearly neither remote nor iso Thus the monastery's concerns of his, lated. Had inaccessibility and isolation been major
The area was known
George would whose wooded
have settled perhaps instead in theTroodos Mountains, an ideal retreat for ascetic life, as attested valleys offered
by the monastic Esaias of Kykko
communities
must
accustomed
founded
the same time by and Ignatios ofMachairas.
at around
or later on byNeophytos south Yet he opted for the benign seclusion ofMount Koutsovendis's ern flank. We not he should forget, however, George's background: have been
close contact with centers
in communities that were in living the hierarchy of the secular church in nearby urban earlier, at around the Jerusalem). As mentioned to
(Antioch, same time and within
monastery was become obvious
from Koutsovendis, another walking distance and, as will established, namely Apsinthiotissa, two the and later architecture below, history of the
are It is therefore most unfortu closely interconnected. nate that no information has survived concerning the circumstances of Apsinthiotissa's which have perhaps provided would foundation,
monasteries
some clues about Koutsovendis
too.
The possibility that George wished to be within easy reach of the seat of ecclesiastical (and secular) power on the island may perhaps account for his selection ofMount Koutsovendis. It does not, how ever, explain how he was able to acquire the land on which the mon astery was built. There is no indication that he was either a native of inherited estates there (although neither pos can of course be excluded), or that he sibility disposed of the financial
the island and owned
6$
Coureas
and Schabel, The Cartulary, (above, n. 58), and
(1907): 214-16;
see also Darrouzes,
"Autres
216-19 and 249-52
manuscrits,"
P.W. Edbury, "Latin Dioceses and Peristerona: A Contribution to the
J.-P. Sodini, "Les inscriptions de l'aqueduc de Kythrea a Salamine de Chypre," inEvtyvxlot.Melanges offertsa Helene Ahrweiler (Paris, 1998), 2: 619-34.
of Lusignan Cyprus," En. Kiv.
Topography Enio-T. 'Ep. 8 (1975-77): 45-5L 66 H. Gregoire, "Saint Demetrianos,
eveque de Chytri (ile de Chypre)," BZ16
154 (above, n. 7).
In the 16th c. more
reported (R. de Mas
Chyprepar Florio Bustron
[Paris,
1996], 29). The royal mills are first attested in 1210 and then 1886, repr.Nicosia,
67
68
Vilede
than 50mills are
Latrie, Chronique
de
MONASTERY
again in 1220 (J.Delaville Cartulaire
de S.Jean de Jerusalem 1894-1906],
le Roulx,
general de Vordre des Hospitaliers 1100-1310 [Paris,
2:122, and Coureas
The Cartulary,
and Schabel,
167-68).
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
47
to assist his soon after the latterwas fledgling community. Yet, was initiated and an ostenta set up, an ambitious building program tious church was built for its needs. Both the architecture and decora
means
in shall see later, are quite exceptional on the island at that the context of what we know about monuments
tion of the katholikon,
as we
a George perhaps enjoyed the generosity of wealthy unattested itwas soon to patron who would have also donated the land. And time.
attract yet another patron, imperial circle.
this time a well-known
member
of the
The Death ofGeorge
lived, we do not know. 1090 George longer beyond to the Nikon's letter to him is dated by Theodore Yiangou period in in Antioch and after the arrival of John Oxeites 1092 early prob in 1097, on the basis of ably before the appearance of the Crusaders How
much
internal evidence
contained
terms used byNikon and vice versa (he is his son:
in the letters.69The
in relation to George lines 5, 36) f. 82V; see Appendix f. 83r; George father: spiritual would suggest that George was his senior by at least a few years. Nikon himself is thought to have been born around 1025; by the mid-i09os he would have been in his seventies. George, being older, cannot have to describe himself
is his
Yet some evidence tantalizing longer. still alive toward the turn of the century. lived much
In his testament, dated
to 1157,Theoktistos,
was suggests that he
hegumen
of themon
of Patmos (1127-1157/58), relates astery of Saint John the Theologian career: while still a young man he trav how he started his monastic trou eled to Palestine, where he joined a virtuous old ascetic. When ble befell the region because of repeated Saracen raids (Sia ?gto<; tcov eKelae avve^eiq e6Souc.Kai eizr\pe\ac),he left for Cyprus, 2apaKy]vwv where he stayed with a monk whose fame attracted him. This was none other than our George: 7rpoc,tov 7ravoaid)TOTOV ytovajov, ycvpbv Kai
y\yov]ievov ryjc, Kara
evayearariqc, rr\v vrjcrovKvitpov Kai Sia ra^ecoc. g<j>orry](7a y\ \lovy\c,, g7rovo[>ia?sTOi, Kovr^ovfieivirov otvrov ]ie cf>r][zv)<; 8e \ierov izokv o"uvco0y]aao"Y]<;.Toijtou ryjs ayaGyjc. avrov Kai rac. cruvoSoi7r6pouc, Tibiae, evyac, izpbc,Kvpiov eKSripiaavroc. . . . I tcov e^eiae his [Attracted by good reputation, \a$cbv e%j\k?ov of to the the hegumen went all-holy monk kyr George, quickly is called on the island of Cyprus which the most holy monastery a But when after short while he passed away I left Koutzoubeinitou. Tecopyiov
as my me his venerable companion. blessing taking with to he joined where his made Theoktistos Patmos, way (MM 6:106)] at time the lead under that of John the Theologian, the monastery that place,
Iasites Iasites. At some later stage, he accompanied ership of Joseph a Alexios from to Constantinople, where they obtained chrysobull
48
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
69
Yiangou, Nlxcov, 142 (above, n.14).
I Komnenos
awarding
their monastery
an annual
grant of wheat
from Crete.
Two chronological indicationsin this textmay help establishthe too: the journey, and therefore ofGeorge's death, raids" that forced Theoktistos out of Palestine; the
date of Theoktistos's first is the "Saracen
is the Let us examine the latter hegumenate of Joseph Iasites. of Patmos, first. Iasites was the immediate successor of Christodoulos second
who
died on 16March
Iasites'
1093. During
hegumenate
at least two
were grantedto themonasterybyAlexios I; he held office chrysobulls
sometime before that of the emperor (d. 1118), for the even more to Patmos after latter is reported to have granted privileges not the demise of Iasites.70 Since the chrysobulls have been preserved, to ascribe them a date. This leaves us with a it remains impossible wide chronological framework, extending from 1093 to an indeter until his death
minate
date before and
Theoktistos
1118. Era Vranousi
Iasites
assumes
that the journey of took place shortly after
to
Constantinople said above concerning 1093.71What George's advanced age sup at Patmos this in Iasites' arrived ports (Theoktistos assumption early in that Theoktistos makes and so does the hegumenate), following: was
no reference to the Crusaders,
"Saracen
raids" that caused
his departure from Palestine and the date from before the capture of
itmust
Jerusalem in July 1099. Now, themajor military confrontation in the area between 1093 and 1099 was the fall of Jerusalem to Artuqid-held in the summer before the Crusader conquest Egypt It is unrest event the caused this (26 August 1098).72 probably by to that flee. If this is indeed so, he must have prompted Theoktistos the Fatimids
of
reached Cyprus in the course of 1098.73 At about the same time, the patriarch of Jerusalem Symeon II to also fled Cyprus. The temptation to link the two men's journeys
is strong but Had the impressionable perhaps misguided. young Theoktistos traveled in the retinue of the he would have patriarch, it. is to mentioned What the latest more, discus probably according source evidence, the date of sion of the conflicting Symeon's departure from Jerusalem appears to be somewhat earlier (late 1097?).74What 70
P. Gautier,
Christodoule 1093),"REB
"La date de lamort de
de Patmos
(mercredi 16mars
25 (1967): 35-38; E. Vranousi,
Historiens
Orientaux
Runciman, A History (Cambridge,
i: 197-198, and S. of theCrusades
1951), 1: 265-67.
73
Aelr. Xpiar. Ap%. ^gipoypa^wv rfjc fzovyj^," Ex. 4 (1964): 347-48.
Cypriot sojourns of Theoktistos
E. Vranousi, "Zap(2a<;, 71 Ka6rjyoi?u?vo<; rfj<; (xovfj;YlctTyLov," EXXrjvtxd 19 (1966): 220. Academie des Inscriptions et Belles 72
"Symeon II. und die Errichtung der latein ischen Kirche von Jerusalem durch die
Lettres, Recueil des historiens des Croisades,
Pahlitzsch, Graeci und Suriani,
(above, n. 32), dates the Palestinian
Ibid., 79-83.
tenutopresso la Pontificia 10-12 aprilei996,
ed. K. Elm and C. D. Fonseca
"O Ka9r)you[i?vo<; rrj; (-tovrjc naTfxou'Iwo7]<|> 'laa'iTY\qKai r\ap^ai6Tgpyj avaypacj>f]
74
nazionale
Universita delLaterano 161-62 and
to ca. 1100.
See also Pahlitzsch,
(Vatican,
1998), 346-47. There is no specific indica tion that Symeon, who ascended the patriar chal throne after 1088 and before late 1094, and thus possibly after the departure of George from Palestine, either knew or met the latter. But nothing rules itout entirely.
inMilitia Sancti Sepulcri: Idea e Istituzioni. Atti del colloquio inter
Kreuzfahrer,"
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
49
may havehappened is thatTheoktistosheard of thedestinationof the
aware of the of George (yet another patriarch and, good reputation indication of George's Palestinian connections), perhaps reported by monks such as the scribe Gerasimos, he decided to set off for Cyprus too.
from Shortly thereafter he witnessed George's death. Knowing the typikon that this occurred on 26 April, we must assume that the year was most probably 1099.
The Typikon
some additional information on Koutsovendis: typikon provides at least twelve monks, lowest being the gate included personnel
The
the steward (obcov6[xo<;), as appears keeper (irvktopoq) and the highest from the ritual washing of their feet in the narthex by the hegumen
are the sac (f. 242r, 245r).75 Also mentioned Maundy Thursday ristan f. 19V,22or, etc.), the precentor (yzavovcLpyr^: f. (6KKly]orapj(r]<;: f. 256V, 267V, etc.) and the lamplight 209V), the cellarer {^{fkapirr^: on
f. 19% 42V, etc.; or ycavhY\kcmrai:f. 59V, 263V, etc.). (ycav$Y\k<X7trY\<;: There are also numerous references to the buildings of the monastery and to individual monks or hegumens whose deaths are commemo ers
rated. These
elements, discussed
further below, provide chronological references for the dating of our document. as we have seen, was in the The manuscript, probably copied is it contains that of the The date thirteenth century. only early consecration of the church in 1090.1 have suggested above that the
death of George, whose mnemosyna are celebrated on 26 April, may have occurred in 1099. The patron of the monastery's north church, on 13 is commemorated March: to pyjfxocruva Eumathios Philokales,
(f. i2iv). The year of his death, however, remains all that can be said is that he is known to have been still
rov Q)ikoK<xkov unknown;
ref 1118 (see p. 70 below). Our next chronological erence is yet again related to a commemoration that has caused a mild controversy among scholars: Taxiov on Kara ravrY\v rr\v rjjxspav active
inAugust
emrekovyiev Tcoavvoi) rov
rov ctyiovnarpoq rov yeyo^ivov Xpvo-oo-royLirov
ra pvjfxocmva
7][xwvKai Sea-TOTou ycvpov TtoLrpiap-fcov'lepocrokvjxuv
[f.i45r][on thisday (April 24) we celebrate themnemosyna of our
who became patri holy father and lord kyr John Chrysostomites, of course refers to a member arch of Jerusalem]. "Chrysostomites" at our This patriarch must have held of the community monastery.76 75
As we shall see later on, the data for
period suggest similar numbers c. this through the 19th On the narthex and n. 122 see and below, 346. p. ceremony, the Ottoman
50
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Could themonk Gregorios j6 Chrysostomites, known from his surviving 12th c. seal, have been a member of the community, too? See V. Laurent, Le corpus des sceaux 5.2, L'eglise, 257-58, no. 1382 (above, n. 47).
Koutsovendis
officeafterthefoundationofKoutsovendis and of coursebefore the copyingof ourmanuscript,hence during the twelfthcentury.Two incumbents
named
John ascended
the throne of Jerusalem
during
thisperiod: JohnVIII held officefromaround 1105to shortlybefore
and John IX, who was also throne in 1156/57 and the patriarchal a is recorded with in Neither office for short period only.77 remained however. To confuse things further, a the epithet Chrysostomites, is attested of Jerusalem named John Merkouropoulos patriarch as the author of vitae of John of Damascus and of in this period 1116/17when his successor an icon painter, ascended
is attested;
is also known as the patriarch John author of two treatises on the azymes. Several problems are raised by
Kosmas
of Maiouma,
a
while
the above evidence. Here
I shall be concerned
only with
those that
relate directly to our discussion.
JohnVIII was bishop ofTyre and Sidon beforehis appointment
throne. It has correctly been pointed out that his to is too close to the foundation of Koutsovendis patriarchal reign a career to in have started monastic allow enough time for him Cyprus before moving to Palestine, becoming bishop there, and then, around to the patriarchal
cannot have been our and there Chrysostomites to no is other option but identify the latter with John IX. But then Peter Plank has shown that there is the question ofMerkouropoulos.
1105, patriarch.78 He
he is also to be identified with John IX: a treatise on the transfer of states that in 1116/17 Sabas, the of Caesarea bishops metropolitan Philippi, became patriarch of Jerusalem "before Merkouropoulos"; this fact excludes the possibility that Merkouropoulos may have no we to iden VIII thus have other alternative but been John and con to the unavoidable tify him with John IX.79 All this then leads must be John IX, whose clusion that our Chrysostomites family name was The year of his death, commemorated Merkouropoulos. in Koutsovendis's the fact that he was toMaria
of Antioch
is not recorded. from liturgical typikon, Judging I absent from thewedding ofManuel Komnenos in 1161,which was
attended by the patriarchs of and Alexandria, Johannes Pahlitzsch con
Antioch, Constantinople, cludes that the seemay have been vacant by then. At any rate John was no successor II presumably longer alive by 1166when his Nikephoros is first attested.80
77
Pahlitzsch, Graeci und Suriani,
101-9,
(above, n. 32), and P. Plank, "Ioannes IX. von Jerusalem (1156/57-vor 140-45
1166), Patriarch
im Exil," inHorizonte
der
Christenheit, Festschriftfiir Friedrich Heyer zu seinem 85. Geburtstag, ed. M. Kohlbacher and M. Lesinski
78
Englezakis, (above, n. 13).
79
J.Darrouzes,
Edition
Eixotn [leleTca, 27-28 "Le traite des transferts.
critique et commentaire," REB
42
(1984): 183. 80
Pahlitzsch,
Graeci und Suriani,
144.
(Erlangen, 1994), 176-91.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
51
The
two more mnemosyna, both on 19 January, and themonk Kosmas Chrysostomites Nikephoros
typikon includes
for the hegumen a (f. ioir: Toii bcxiovnarpbc, v]fzcov: hegumen too?). Since both perhaps are otherwise unattested, the only safe assumption is that their floruit
be placed during the twelfth century. As we shall see at a later more evidence for other in the 1150s, recorded stage, there is hegumens
must
His the Recluse who was tonsured at Koutsovendis. by Neophytos brother John also joined the community, to become oikonomos by 1176 and then hegumen shortly before around 1214.81Our typikon for that contains no commemoration for John (or for Neophytos time one of the monastery's most illustrious surely by this not itmay have been This would alumni). suggest (but prove) that does not yield any informa compiled before John's death. Neophytos
matter,
are therefore forced tion on the latter, nor does any other source.We to assume that it demise ofNeophytos probably took place after the himself (who died shortly after 1214).82 This would provide a termi
as it is in the Par. gr. 402 nus ante quern for the typikon preserved and confirm the early-thirteenth-century date initially proposed for the manuscript. The question
now
is, to what
extent this text can be considered
the original typikon? In other words, iswhat we have a copy of an earlier lost original that incorporates later additions, or was a typ more ikon for the community at Koutsovendis composed only after than a century following its constitution? To begin with, a termi nus post quern for its composition, and consequently for the setting up of the monastic
is furnished by the mention
community,
of the
Akolouthia of theThreeHierarchs by John (Mauropous),metropoli
even after 1081.83 (f. io8r), who died after 1075, perhaps Ifwe assume that the text we have is a later copy of a lost original, examined above may derive from mar then the various mnemosyna tan of Euchaita
Indeed the latter in an earlier (and now lost) manuscript. usage in may be surmised from the frequent mentions of monastic a not was time after Palestine, which imply that it very long composed the establishment of the community on Cyprus, when the memory ginal
notes
of its Palestinian
81
Galatariotou,
65,180
interlude was
TheMaking
still relatively fresh.
of a Saint,
(above, n. 4).
to his A reference by Neophytos brother as "blessed" (tov uaicapiou [lov
82
a avTa8iX<^ov) in textwritten shortly after 1206 (?) is too vague to be interpreted as an indication that John was dead (C. Chatzipsaltes, "Neo^vTou nptafivTipov \Loya%ovKai iyyCKtivTov (?ipXioypaiKdv ?v oTjueicoua. EiSVj(7?i<;tiv?<; ugpt xrjc Ki>7rpc*>
52
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
^ovfjcTwavvou tou Xov<jo<jt6[lov," Emo-T. Ep. 6 (1972-73): 126. G.
En.Kivr.
suggests that the Recluse died on 12April 1219 (G. Christodoulou, "Un Canon inedit sur la Theosemie de Christodoulou
son frere, Neophyte leReclus compose par Jean le Chrysostomite," REB 55 [1997]: 252). A. Karpozilos, ZvpfioXr) o~tt]iiekirn rov 83 rov epyov tov 'Icodvvrj xai Mctvponodoc. filov (Ioannina,
1982), 49-50,162-66.
Another possible indicationof an earlydate is the omission of the transfer of the relic of Lazaros
from a provisional to a itself after his death Galesion
of Galesion
more permanent on Mount sepulcher in 1053.The date of the translation is not known,
it appears although in the second half of the eleventh century, soon
to have occurred
after the composition of the saint's vita (written in or shortly after 1058),which also ignores this event.84 In that Lazaros had been to the in his early days (ca. 1009/10), during his travels and considering his later notoriety, one would expect the local com munities, from which George and his followers hailed, to have kept
Wondrous
Mountain
alive the memory of his passage from Saint Symeon and perhaps to a interest in his relic's fate. But the cult of Lazaros particular display did not develop until the early thirteenth century, and the translation only appears (on 17 July).85
in late versions of the Constantinopolitan is Thus its absence from our document
synaxarion perfectly under
standable, provided that we accept an early date for its composition. itmay be reasonable to assume that the various com Although notes before their memorations started as incorporation marginal into the typikon, the same cannot be said of another type of informa con tion contained therein. On numerous occasions the stipulations to on be followed cerning the liturgical procedure specific feastdays
refer to the various buildings of the monastery (which, incidentally, leave no doubt as to the identity of the establishment for which it
was written). The on countless occa trapeza is of course mentioned sions.We hear of the monks' cells (f. 9V, 12V,etc.) and the hegumen's a a a of wine and cellar storeroom, apartments, granary, (i]yov\Leveiov, as a fountain as rov Ke^Xapiov, cbpeiov,oivo^oelov: f. 172V), well ($pvcrr\ in the vSaroq: f. 9ir), presumably courtyard of the monastery. There is also mention
types of semantron used by the com munity (crVjpavTpov: f. i25r; avyL$o\ov: f. 237V, 24or, etc.; (2apsa: f. 73V, ii2v, etc.; a(Sy]pov: f. 42V, 134V, etc.). More important, no fewer than of the various
four churches are also mentioned: A.
The
no "great church" (f. 58V, 59V), clearly the monastery's (f. 221V, 258r), longer surviving katholikon of 1090, with itsdiakonikon bema (f. 59V,24ir, etc.), and a narthex (f. 2v, 59V,etc.) with lateral apses 84
Greenfield, Lazaros
ofMt. Galesion, 9, (above, n. 43). According to his vita, Lazaros was provisionally buried in the narthex of the church at his monastery on 52, 63-64
Mount
until the new hegumen to be elected by the community would make a final decision (AASS Nov. 3 [Brussels, Galesion,
1910], 587-88); Lazaros was eventually suc ceeded by his brother Ignatios, who presum ably proceeded
to organize
85
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, e codice Simondiano nunc Berolinensi / adiectis synaxariis selectis opera et studio Hippolyti Delehaye (Brussels, 1902), 826; the commemoration of the relic's transfer is also absent from the typikon of the Great Church
(Mateos, Typicon, 344 [above,
n. 54])
the transfer.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
53
f. 222r) [see pp. 125-27] and "royal doors" (^copoi: leading into the naos is often ((JaaiXucal nvkan f. 22r, 6or, etc.).86 A skeuophylakion to as referred the repository of the True Cross relic (f. 19V, 171V, etc.)
and must have been very close to or perhaps part of the main church. The latter's furnishings included the altar table (ayia TpaTO^a: f. 2211), a movable two icon/relic stand (xsTpa7roSov: f.niv), probably fixed rov icon stands f. (7rpoo*Kuvv)f*aTO (3r][*aT0<;: 263V), pews (KaGeSpai: f. 256V), and a six-light fixture (e?acj>coTOv:f. 263V).
own bema B. The (f. 58v) Holy Trinity (f. 42V, 58r, etc.) with its and narthex (f. 59r-v, 135V)whose north door is also mentioned (f. course is This of its the well known for 59v). surviving parekklesion,
in connection with the cel Thc\ovrr\p mentioned ebrations on the eve of Epiphany was perhaps adjacent to this, pos sibly inside the narthex, although the wording of the relevant rubric ev tco ev tco vaco is rfjc; ambiguous (elepvji^eGa itcuvrec, \ovrr\p\ r\yovv we out in the church is into all the which louter, go ayiac; TpiaSoc, [and fresco decoration.
of theHoly Trinity]: f. 87r).87 C.
outside
The
"Theotokos
of the cemetery" (f. i8ir, 226r, etc.), clearly and downhill from it (f. 264V), surely to be to the one of the now-ruinous contiguous churches
the monastery
identified with
south of the compound, usually perhaps with the northernmost, referred to as the Panagia Aphendrika. D. The church of Saint Lazaros (f. 228v),88 perhaps also in the to be identified with the ruin known as cemetery and, if so, possibly
the Savior, adjacent to the Panagia Aphendrika, which fresco. well-known Lamentation (Entombment) The
remains of these structures will
contains
inmore
be examined
the
detail
later on. For now, only their presumed dates are relevant. The katho likon is the only securely dated church, consecrated in 1090. Its apsed
added very soon thereafter and before the construction of the Holy Trinity. The latter's narthex was also built very soon after the completion of the parekklesion. The Savior chapel outside the
narthex was
same too. Thus monastery was erected during the contiguous period, as well as one of the churches and nartheces within the compound, were all built in succession within a few years quick nearby chapels, of themonastery's foundation. This poses of course no problem as far 86
On
the use of the latter term at
see L. Rodley, "Evergetis: Where Evergetis, It Looked Like," in The ItWas andWhat Theotokos Evergetis and Eleventh-Century ed. M. Mullett and A. Kirby Monasticism, (Belfast, 1994), 25-26;
see also R. Taft,
"The Pontifical Liturgy of theGreat Church in According to a Twelfth-Century Diataxis
54
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
British Museum
Codex
Add.
the narthex
ithas been suggested that the Xouxpov and the 45iaXr]were one and the same (Rodley, "Evergetis," 27-28).
"Le typikon
88
case of Evergetis
34060,"
OCP 45 (1979): 284 n. 12. 87
At the Kecharitomene
housed
zphiale
(P. Gautier,
de la Theotokos Kecharitomene,"
REB
43
[1985]: 127). It is unclear what the relation ship (if any) between this louter and the fountain mentioned above may be; in the
Englezakis, (above, n. 13).
Eixocri pelercci, 635 n. 3
as the
is concerned.
typikon
But
there does
seem to be a
discrepancy
with regardto thePanagia Aphendrika, forthe surviving(albeitruin ous) structure appears to belong to a slightly later period, probably itmay the second half or the end of the twelfth century. Although
in the current state of our knowl have replaced an earlier building, no to is evidence should one support or deny this. How edge there in our text, if this was indeed itsmention explain, then, composed or very at the time of the foundation thereafter? monastery's shortly
The only answer must be that this resulted from additions made by the early-thirteenth-century scribe to integrate within the liturgical
program thenewly (re?)builtchurch.
so far suggests that the typikon in its original form probably dates from the last years of the eleventh or the very early twelfth century, perhaps after the death of the founder George. is close to Its calendar it usage, from which Constantinopolitan This
discussion
differs in a few, sometimes
items. In that significant an edition of the text is some of itsmost important lacking, only In will be with dealt addition to the commem here.89 peculiarities orations examined above (19 and January: Kosmas Chrysostomites nevertheless
hegumen
John Chrysostomites, salient features: 17October:
13March:
Nikephoros,
The
26
April:
May,
Philokales, note the
24 April: following
translation of the relic of Saint Lazaros
from Cyprus to Constantinople in the day Constantinopolitan church built
Eumathios
founder George),
in
by Leo VI,
(of Bethany) on this commemorated
synaxarion, and the enkainia to house it, commemorated
Constantinople are both absent from our calendar.90
of the on 4
3November
(f. 39r): The enkainia of the church of Saint George at Lydda and deposition of the saint's body. This most probably refers to the consecration of the late antique church and not to that of one successors: demolished
of itsmedieval
at the orders of al-Hakim
in
the early eleventh century, the church was soon restored, and rebuilt once more 1150-70. during the twelfth century, probably around In 1191 Saladin had at least part of it The destroyed.91 synaxarion Its liturgical prescriptions
require a will which be separate study, only possible once the text has been edited. 89
90
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
Synaxarium, 146, 658 (above, n. 85). They are also omitted from the calendar of the Evergetis synaxarion
(J.E. Klentos,
"Byzantine Liturgy inTwelfth-Century
Constantinople: An Analysis of the Synaxarion of theMonastery of the Theotokos Evergetis [Codex Athens Ethnike Bibliotheke Notre Dame,
788]" [Ph.D. diss., University of 1995], 81). The typikon of the
Great Church
commemorates
the transla
tion on 4 May On
(Mateos, Typicon, 280-82). the year of the translation (ca. 900) and
MONASTERY
Lazaros's
cult in Cyprus,
see R.Jenkins,
B. Laourdas,
and C. Mango, "Nine Orations of Arethas from Cod. marc, gr.524," BZ 47 (1954): 6-11, and C. Walter, "Lazarus a
Bishop," REB
27 (1969): 200-2.
Pringle, The Churches of theCrusader Kingdom, 2: 9-27 (above, n. 50). 91
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
$5
does not include the consecration
of Constantinople
until the post while the of the Great Church omits it Byzantine period,92 typikon It does, however, appear as a minor feast in the list of altogether.93 It important feastdays compiled by Nikon of the Black Mountain.94 is also included
in
synaxaria of Palestinian origin from the Georgian later tenth century and inMelkite calendars, starting with the Sinait. in 1095).95As we shall see below, there Arab. 417 (copied inDamietta are further links between
the typikon and theMelkite
tradition.
6 November (f.4or): Saint Demetrianos ofKythrea (Chytroi,very
near Koutsovendis). As in the previous case, Demetrianos only in late versions of the Constantinopolitan synaxaria.96 27 November
The Palladios. (f. 52V): Hosios commemorates known Palladios,
synaxarion on 28 January. On Cyrrhus,
appears
Constantinopolitan from Theodoret
that day the typikon,
of
like that of the
Great Church, has onlyEphraim the Syrian (f. 107V).97 TheMelkite
Palladios's memory on 27 November, that the homonymous hosioi in the two tradi tions are one and the same person, for in both cases Palladios's main
calendars,
however,
celebrate
too, and demonstrate
feat is said to have been the resurrection of a merchant whom accused
of
he was
murdering.98
9 December
of Saint John Chrysostomos (f. 56r-6ov): Enkainia On of Koutsovendis.99 this day some thirteenth-century and later to celebrate the enkainia of Saint Sabas typika from Palestine appear seem, though, that these derive directly or indi (Mar Saba). Itwould not the other way round) rectly from the Koutsovendis typikon (and for, as we shall see shortly, in some cases the copyist expresses his lack
in is of comprehension about this stipulation, which perfectly clear the Par. gr. 402. Of course only a full study of these manuscripts will 92
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
Synaxarium, 189-192 and note on 3Nov. For example the i2th-c. Par. gr. 1591has the enkainia added in a latermarginal note, perhaps written
in Cyprus
"Autres manuscrits,"
(Darrouzes, 153 [above, n. 7]). On
epigraphic evidence from Syria implying the celebration of the enkainia on this day as early as the 7th c, see S. Benay, inscriptions chretiennes," EO 4 "Quelques (1900-1901): 93
95.
So does the Evergetis calendar
(Klentos, "Byzantine Liturgy," 81;Mateos, Le typicon, 88 [above, n. 54]). 94 Yiangou, Nlxcov, 243 (above, n. 14).
56
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
G. Garitte, Le calendrierpalestino 95 gtorgien du sinaiticus 34 (Xe siecle) (Brussels, J958)> 374~75> and J.-M. Sauget, Premieres recherches sur Vorigine et les caracteristiques des synaxaires melkites (Xle-XVIIe siecles) (Brussels, 1969), 41-44, 312-13. Around the the Par. gr. 402 was copied, a former bishop of Lydda, Esaias, was time when
appointed
archbishop
of Cyprus
(ca. 1203)
episcopate des derniers archeveques grecs de Chypre, de Jean le Cretois [1152] a Germain (V. Laurent, "La succession
Pesimandros and J.Richard,
[1260]," REB "TI owxaar]
totj ufiaaiooviKoii fiaaikzlov
7 [1949]: 35-37, Kai oi paa?i<; [1192-1205],"
in IcrTopta TfjgKvnpov 4: Meacucovixbv Pao~iXeiov?EvsToxpctTia,
ed. T.
[Nicosia, 1995], 1:14). Papadopoullos Eastern Orthodox Church, 96 Synaxarium, 97 98 99
198.
Ibid., 429-30;
Mateos,
Typicon, 214.
Sauget, Premieres recherches, 318-22. The detailed prescriptions for this
celebration were published inDmitrievskii, n. 11).
Opisanie,
(not in full) 3:121-23
(above,
afford firm conclusions
about
their inter-relationship;
for our pur
will have to suffice. poses thefollowingpreliminaryremarks
to contain the 9 December earliest among these documents enkainia is the Coisl. 361,which dates from the thirteenth or the fourteenth century. It was written for Saint Sabas and merely adds Kai rov rov vaov to the usual commemoration of the ?yK<xivicr[iov The
Conception
of Saint Anne, without that it is the consecration
ing perhaps of Saint Sabas
any further information, imply of the church at themonastery
that is celebrated.100
text closest
to our
in the fifteenth-century typikon appears Jer. Sab. 635,which was also written for Saint Sabas (f. 6r).101Largely it includes the latter's refer based on the Koutsovendis document, The
ences to Palestinian
custom
(f. i88r, i92r, 20ir-v, 220V; the provision for visiting Saint Euthymios on 20 January is, however, omitted: f. a nor ii4r), although their phrasing sometimes implies community course no sense in resident outside which of makes Palestine, mally the case of Saint Sabas.
It also repeats some of the peculiarities regard itself (enkainia of Saint George: f. 70V), but there are
ing the calendar also minor differences
is omitted on 11 Arsenios of Alexandria (e.g., relic is now included: f. July, but the transfer of Lazaros of Galesion's are left out: the 174V").References blatantly specific to Koutsovendis
various mnemosyna and themonastery's churches are not mentioned, a few references to the church of the although Holy Trinity have inad in (f. 220V, 237V). Two Cypriot bishops who are com vertently crept in the Par. gr. 402 are also left out (Herakleidios on 17 memorated on 6 November). 9 December, September, Demetrianos Concerning is the scribe very forthright: he omits the detailed prescriptions of the akolouthia,102 admits that the reference to the enkainia is beyond his to the church comprehension, and wonders whether itmight pertain at on of John Chrysostomos the monastery Mount "Koutzoubades," to that if this is indeed the case then it is unnecessary concluding own at his perform the akolouthia community.103 a The scribes of two other a con typika, using model that included on 9 December but not the name of the church itpertained, were left utterly perplexed. The Sinait. gr. no9
secration celebration
towhich ioo
Ibid., 3:130. A i3th-c. date for the manuscript is suggested by R. Devreesse, Catalogue des manuscrits grecs II. Lefonds Coislin (Paris, 1945), 340. 101
A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus,
'Iepoo-olvfciTixrj fiifiXioSrjxw (Saint Petersburg, 1894), 2.2: 624-26. 102
The prescriptions for the enkainia of the Evergetis church on December 29 in that
monastery's
i2th-c. synaxarion are similar
but much Synaxarion
less elaborate
(R. H.Jordan,
of theMonastery
Evergetis, September-February 2000],
The
of the Theotokos [Belfast,
368-70).
AgT eibevai oti yyKOpr\Ta[ [101rivo; %ctpiv evTctvQa y\tcov gyKcavicov&K.dXovQia lyycenai.
103
Mrj7roTg ovv gTu^g yevecrBai elq tovto KaT'gviauTov, toi> volov gKgivovTfjcj [zovfjc;
opo<; tov Kovt%ov$cl8(ov), iv Itei ,<;4>o8',Kai ?K tovtov ?TU7rw9y]"^a^XficrGaiKar' iviavTov y\ ToiavTY\ &icdXovQia Kai si tovto, ouk ?7ravayK?<;TtkiiaQcu tolvty\v7rap'r]ucov (Papadopoulos-Kerameus, 2.2: 625-26). (Zt(2Xto$r}xri,
lepoo-olvfitrixr}
8r\Xa8y]tov ev ctyioic;noLTpbc;y\[lO)v'Io)Avvov TOVXpUCTOCTTOptOK, TOV TO KOLTCt IvSpvQeVTOC,
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
57
was
on Crete in 1464 copied by the priest George Tzengaropoulos, while the sixteenth-century Patmos 555was written in Palestine. In both
cases the scribe was
nection
unaware totally that the enkainia
and
refer to the church might in our this is also implied 361. The question that arises then, espe
suggested at Saint Sabas itself.104As we
first manuscript,
the Coisl.
con
of the Koutsovendis
saw above,
in view of the Koutsovendis cially community's links with Palestine, at the iswhether the selection of 9 December Cypriot monastery has
to do with any celebration at Saint Sabas on that day. But anything had a consecration been traditionally celebrated there on 9December, it have caused so much confusion to the copyists of the Jer. would Sab. 635 and the Patmos 555,who were after all writing at Saint Sabas the enkainia at itself?The most compelling evidence for dissociating on same at Saint the Koutsovendis from any similar celebration day comes from earlier written at the latter, as for example typika has the the twelfth-century Sinait. gr. 1096, which on 9 December
Sabas
feast of Saint Anne
ismore, we know from and nothing more. What that the two main churches at the Great Laura
Cyril of Skythopolis of Saint Sabas, the Theoktistos and that of the Theotokos,
were
conse
Had cratedon 12December (of490) and 1July(of501),respectively.105
at any enkainia celebration been taking place in the medieval period Mar Saba, one would expect it to be on one of these dates. But as far as one can tell from the this was not the case.106 published material,
from these manuscripts suggests is that by or a copy of it, the thirteenth century the typikon of Koutsovendis, as to it the prototype its served somehow found Palestine, where way the evidence
What
for liturgical calendars there.107This is surprising, to say the least, for of the Judean desert had their own long tradition the monasteries
think of a reason why theywould rely on a liturgical This matter of course requires further inves typikon from elsewhere. the scope of the present study. The transmission of tigation, beyond texts across the sea in itself is nevertheless not surprising: there is no lack of evidence concerning either the movement of manuscripts and one cannot
or the links of the same period, during the of Saint Sabas with the island,108where it isknown to have
from Cyprus monastery
104 Dmitrievskii,
to Palestine
Opisanie,
3: 229-30,
392
(above, n. 11). Ibid., 3: 35; E. Schwartz, Kyrillos von On the Skythopolis (Leipzig, 1939), 104,117. see Patrich, Sabas, evidence, archaeological 105
69-75
(above, n. 46).
It is therefore somewhat surprising that the Georgian calendar, which of course
106
origins, appears to be the a consecration at one to commemorate only
has Palestinian
58
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Saint Sabas on 12December
(earliest manu
scripts: 10th c.) (Garitte, Le calendrier, 408 [above, n. 95]). 107 As mentioned
earlier, there are no
marginal notes to provide information about the history of themanuscript. 108 A ioth/nth-c.
seal of the laura was
found in the region of Limassol (Metcalf, no. 495 [above, Byzantine Lead Seals, 389 n. 28]).
three the mid-sixteenth possessed villages by century.109Moreover, as we saw above, a former monk of Koutsovendis became patriarch
of Jerusalem in themid-twelfthcentury, while theHoly Sepulcher
extensive properties on the island. These links surely provided to travel. formanuscripts of opportunities plenty So, to return to the enkainia, as the evidence stands, itwould owned
seem that the selection of 9 December
for the consecration
of the
monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos was not related to any outside factor but perhaps only to George's personal choice. It is not known whether he had any special devotion to Saint Anne. Because there are no relevant clues, this issue must
The
remaining peculiarities the inclusion or omission ily
concern in the primar typikon calendar of particular commemorations:
28 January (f. 107V): Ephraim
the Syrian (see 27 November
of Philagrios tradition Constantinopolitan 9
February:
Koutsovendis
therefore remain unresolved.110
commemorated Cyprus, on this day, is absent
bishop of Soloi
rated on this day in the Constantinopolitan in the Koutsovendis typikon.112 109
Constantinides
and Browning, Dated 31-34 (above, n. 24);
A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus,
AvdXexTCL
(Saint 1891-98), 4: 473. For a manu
lepoo-oXvfimxfjcZTdxvoloylac Petersburg,
in
the
from
the
calendar.111
17 February: Auxibios,
Greek Manuscripts,
above).
script copied in 1334 on Cyprus by themonk of Saint Sabas see Papadopoulos
calendars, does not figure
preceding the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and following Christmas, the enkainia of the church of the Anastasis in Jerusalem were celebrated, most notably, as in our typikon, on 13 September, according to the Constantinopolitan
Gabriel
and Palestinian
'Iepoo-olvfiiTtxri Pi/2Xio$rjx?],2.2: 717 (above, n. 101). The unsubstantiated claim of Papadopoulos-Kerameus that
Sundays
Kerameus,
was a dependency of Saint (repeated by S. Vailhe in "Le monastere de Saint-Sabas," ?0 3 [1900]: 172-73, and, more recently, by J. Patrich,
Nestorian Church,
thePresent, ed. J. Patrich [Leuven, 2001], 5) seems to be based on this reference and on the later status of themonastery chion of theHoly Sepulcher. no
as a meto
Itmay be of some significance in the early part of the ecclesiastical
(September-December),
between
that year
the days
in the Jacobite
and on four consecutive
inNovember
Sabas
tradition, but also on two
inNovember
calendar,
Koutsovendis
"The Sabaite Heritage: An Introductory Survey," in The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from theFifth Century to
is commemo
in Cyprus, who
and December
calendar
Sundays in the
(Eastern Orthodox
Synaxarium, 42 [above, n. 85]; Premieres recherches, 117, 234 Sauget, [above, n. 95]; Garitte, Le calendrier, 90 [above, n. 95]; M. Black, "The Festival of
Encaenia
Ecclesiae
in the Ancient
with Special Reference Syria," JEH
to Palestine
5 [1954]: 78-85).
in
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
Synaxarium, Typicon, 228. The Evergetis typikon also omits Philagrios 454; Mateos,
(Klentos, "Byzantine Liturgy," 84 [above, n. 90]). 112 Eastern Orthodox Church, Synaxarium, 469, Mateos, Typicon, 234. The same observation made in the previous note concerning the Evergetis calendar applies to this case too. Auxibios also appears in the Georgian calendar, but on 19 February
(Garitte, Le calendrier, 162).
Church and
The founder
and the community at Koutsovendis would have been aware that various traditions celebrated the enkainia during this period, which may have possibly affected their choice for the consecration of their own church.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
59
24 February (f.n6r): Invention (discovery)of thehead of John the
andMelkite Baptist. The Constantinopolitan synaxaria commemorate on this day both the First and Second Invention.113 Like our typikon (f. i55r), they celebrate the Third Invention on 25May.114 According to the and (much later) Maronite calendars, however, the Georgian February commemoration signals the Second Invention, while the on 26 October.115 The latter is absent from both our First is celebrated document
and theMelkite
and Constantinopolitan
calendars.
Since no martyr with this (f.n9r): a certain martyr Nikon. name appears to be commemorated we may on this anywhere day, a mistake assume that this is for Konon the cautiously probably 5March
Gardener,
whose
memory
in the Constantinopolitan
is celebrated
calendar on this day.116
25May (f. i5$r):Third Inventionof thehead of John theBaptist (see under 24 February
above).
mar (f. i55r): Holy martyr Therapon. Two homonymous are commem tyrs, a priest from Sardis and a bishop on Cyprus, to the orated on the previous days (25 and 26 May), according was which that the relic add latter's synaxaria, Constantinopolitan at the time of the Arab translated from the island to Constantinople 27 May
one our typikon celebrates. Other calen "the holy martyr Therapon" on dates preced our tradition, however, has the same typikon. The Melkite ing that of date as our document.117 raids. It is not clear which
dars also commemorate
in Cyprus June 13 (f. 157v): Triphyllios bishop of Leukosia ev The g7ri7rpq)). Constantinopolitan U3
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
485-87; Mateos,
Typicon, 238 Synaxarium, 40; Sauget, Premieres recherches, 137, 258. 114
Eastern Orthodox
Church,
Synaxarium, joy; Mateos, Typicon, 299; Sauget, Premieres recherches, 148; the Third in the Evergetis calendar too (Klentos, "Byzantine Liturgy," 84). On the complicated issue of the three Invention appears
Inventions, see C. Walter,
Go
"The Invention of
(Tpi<(>u^Xiou calendars Eastern Orthodox
Church,
in his Traite historique detail by C. Ducange du chefde S.Jean Baptiste, contenant une
Synaxarium, 511-12. 117 Eastern Orthodox
Church,
discussion exacte de ce que lesAuteurs
Synaxarium, 710; Mateos, Typicon, 298; Sauget, "Le calendrier maronite," 275;
theWest was examined
anciens & modernes
en ont ecrit,&particu
lierement de ses trois Inventions 115
n6
in considerable
(Paris, 1665).
Garitte, Le calendrier, 51,100,165,
368;
J.-M. Sauget, "Le calendrier maronite du manuscrit Vatican Syriaque 313," OCP 33 (1967): 237, 257, 275. The Maronite calendar,
John the Baptist's Head in theWall-calendar at Gracanica. Its Place in Byzantine
the earliest surviving specimens date from the 16thc, commemorates the
Iconographical Tradition," ZbLikUmet/ Recherches sur Vart 16 (1980): 73. The fate of the Baptist's relics in both Byzantium and
Second
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
of which
Invention on 25 rather than 24
February;
the Georgian
synaxaria on the
ignore theMay of the Third Invention.
other hand
commemoration
Sauget, Premieres recherches, 148; Garitte, Le calendrier, 233. On Therapon see H. Delehaye, "Saints de Chypre," AB 26 (1907): 247-49, Hundred
and C. Kyrris, "The 'Three Alaman Saints' of Cyprus:
Problems of Origin and Identity: A Summary," in "The Sweet Land ofCyprus," 207-12 (above, n. 26).
see and celebrate his memory on 12June instead, while ignore his the same date as our synaxaria maintain typikon.118 Georgian
the
11July (f. i66r):The killing ofArsenios, patriarchofAlexandria (rrj avrfi yjf-tepa Kpaeviov not commemorated
7rarpiapj(ot; Ale^avSpeiccc, in the Constantinopolitan
is Arsenios r) crcf>ayr)). calendars, and rather
as he is also ignored by theMelkite synaxaria. He served surprisingly from 1000 to 1010,when, according toYahya ofAntioch, he patriarch was put to death at the orders of al-Hakim.119 In that Yahya's chron are not (he gives two dates entirely concordant ological indications that correspond to 4 July and 7 July), it ispossible that the date given
our The community showed interest by typikon should be preferred. in Arsenios he also acted as patriarch of Jerusalem perhaps because of the the see's vacancy following the death inConstantinople during Orestes (986-1006).120 patriarch 16
to of the Mandylion of Edessa the typikon prescribes readings of the Holy Mandylion (avayvcbcrsi<;
(f. i8iv-i82r): Transfer On this occasion Constantinople. August
from a certain
aizb rov whether
hypomnema
ioTopiKofi vi:o[LVY\[Laroq this refers to theDiegesis
Constantinople
rov
otyiov [iav$vkiov). It is unclear composed after the relic reached
in 944, or to some other text.121
expect a calendar of saints used in amonastery on Cyprus to on martyrs and to place particular emphasis saintly bishops linked the island. This is definitely not the case with our document, though: themost prominent such saints who appear in theConstantinopolitan
One would
no means all) are indeed included, but there is (although by no discernible com clearly important, the above Cypriot bias. More on some contents its of it certain has shown that bears affini mentary calendars
tieswith
calendars directly stemming from the Palestinian tradition. is of course not in view of the evidence surprising presented above about the background of the founder George and the relations
This
of the Koutsovendis Indeed,
n8
of Palestine. community with the monasteries it another indication of their close links. strong provides yet
Eastern Orthodox
PO 23 (Paris, 1932), 462, 496;
Church,
see also
Synaxarium, 748; Mateos, Typicon, 312; Garitte, Le calendrier, 251. Triphyllios is
B. Pirone, trans., Yahya al-Antaki, Cronache dell'Egitto fatimide
e dell'impero
absent from theMelkite
(937-1033)
1998), 243, 253.
calendars
and from
the Evergetis synaxarion. I. Kratchkovsky and A. Vasiliev,
119
Histoire de Yahya-ibn-Said
d'Antioche,
120
(Milan,
I.Kratchkovsky
de Yahya-ibn-Said
bizantino
and A. Vasiliev, Histoire
d'Antioche, PO 18 (Paris,
1924), 105 (Pirone, Yahya,
115-16).
121
A. Cameron, "The History of the Image of Edessa: The Telling of a Story," in Okeanos: Essays Presented to Ihor Sevcenko on his Sixtieth Birthday by his Colleagues and Students, ed. C. Mango and O. Pritsak (Cambridge, Mass., 1983), 91-93. The text is published in PG 113: 424-53.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
6l
ThePatron Eumathios Philokales on the eastern inscriptions preserved piers of the northern state that church at Koutsovendis, the Holy Trinity of the typikon,
Two
itwas built byEumathios Philokales.Although Eumathios isknown
from several other sources, these inscriptions are the sole testimony of his involvement with our monastery. The commemoration in the name no further informa typikon mentions his family only, giving tion His career has concerning his relationship with Koutsovendis. been discussed
on several occasions
to the dossier,
been added
the facts that are known Eumathios
itmay be desirable about him.
to a family belonged service toward the middle
government retained it until Philokales
but, since some new data have to present once again
in that rose to prominence of the eleventh century and
the Latin
mentioned
conquest of Constantinople.123 in our sources is that embodiment
The
first
of upward
career is in the Novel of 996 (Christian mobility whose castigated name not rose to the Born a positions of simple villager, he given). hebdomadarios koitonites (chamberlain), and finally (palace servitor), (head of the emperor's private vestiariurn), while using protovestiarios
his influence to acquire his native village. He had his properties con fiscated and was returned to his original status by order of Basil II. The offices of koitonites and protovestiarios indicate that Philokales was
a eunuch.124 It is not, however, certain that he was
Philokales obvious
clan that emerged some seventy years later.As will become are attested in the elev below, although a dozen Philokalai
enth and
twelfth centuries,
it is
122
C. Mango and E.J. W. Hawkins, "Report on Field Work in Istanbul and (1964): 335-39; Cyprus, i962-i963,"DOPi8 Hill, A History ofCyprus, 1: 299-304 (above, n. 4); A. Bon, Le Peloponnese byzan tinjusquen 1204 (Paris, 1951), 197-99; R. Guilland, "Etudes de titulature et de byzantines.
Les chefs de la
prosopographie marine byzantine: Drongaire de la flotte, grand drongaire de la flotte, due de la flotte, BZ 44
(1951): 224-25; V. Laurent,
megaduc," Les sceaux byzantins du medailler Vatican (Vatican, 1962), 55-58; E. A. Vranousi,
eyypa
BvfavTiva
personnages
byzantins de VAlexiade: Analyse
prosopographique etsynthese (Leuven, 1980), 79-82; E. Malamut, Les tiesde Vempire byz antin, VHIe-XIIe siecles, 3 vols. (Paris, 1988), 2: 507-8.
In that certain erroneous state
ments concerning Eumathios
6z
TASSOS
related to the
PAPACOSTAS
tend to be
impossible
to reconstruct
even a
repeated, it isworth pointing out that he nonetheless has no connection with the Cretan
inscription published by S. N. "Et>[zaGioc 6OiXoKaXr^,
Marinatos,
rod pu^avrivoO TekevTaloc; crTpaTY\yb<; Et. En. Gfiuaroc.Kp^Trjc," Bv%. En. 7 (1930): 388-93, as already shown by V. Laurent, "Bulletin de sigillographie byzantine 1930," Byzantion 6 (1931): 801-2, andD. "Mfi^irai 7T?plrfjc 8ioiK7]TiKrj<; Kai Tfjc.?7rap^iaKfj<; SioiKrjCT?W<; ?iaip?a?co<; ?v tw Pu?avrrv4> Kparei," En. EtBv%. Zn. 17
Zakythinos,
for this period, was descended Byzantine Philokalai;
Byzantine magnates of Cyprus after 1191 and the rise of local Greek families in later centuries, see A. Nicolaou-Konnari, "Greeks," inCyprus: Society and Culture 1191 and C. Schabel 1374, ed. A. Nicolaou-Konnari (Leiden, 2005), 41-57. Note
guygvwv,"Papadopoullos, IcTopla, 4,1: 855 (above, n. 95) suggests that the Bisaces may n. origin (cf. 221). and P. eds., J. Jusgraecoroma Zepos, num, 8 vols. (Athens, 1931), 1: 265. It is con
and he was not present at
have been of Catalan
the Blachernai
synod, as claimed by Laurent.
124
A. P. Kazhdan
"Philokales," ODB
and A. Cutler, 3:1656. In the 16th c. the
noble clans of Cyprus were said to include the "Bisasces ou Philocaliens" (Lusignan, f. 82V. [above, n. 59]); it is unlikely, however, that this family,which is not attested in other sources from the island
Description,
also thatW. H.
Rudt de Collenberg in the tables accompany ing his "Ao[zrjKai 7rpoeXguo7]ty[c,Tct^ewc,twv
(1941): 265-67; 123
from the
for the fate of the
ceivable that he may have come from was customary to Paphlagonia, where it castrate male children in the hope of obtain exam ing palatine service for them; see, for Eastern Orthodox Church, Synaxarium, ple, 721 (above, n. 85).
partial genealogyof thefamily,since theblood relationshipbetween these individuals
remains unknown.
1066 we meet
In
Andronikos Philokales, military governor of the of who acted as imperial repre province {katepano} Bulgaria, sentative in the rather obscure revolt of the people of Larissa inwhich An Nikoulitzas the younger was eleventh-century implicated.125 seal of an Andronikos vestarches and katepano, presum Philokales, to the ably belongs military governor of Bulgaria.126 Contemporary with our Eumathios was theprotonobelissimos and epi tou kanikleiou
took part in the conciliar session held at same who in June of in late 1094, the Blachernai palace surely the I of the treasonable intentions of the same year had warned Alexios The seal of aManuel Philokales who held Nikephoros Diogenes.127
Manuel
Philokales,
who
the dignity ofproedros may belong either to a namesake or to the same person from an earlier stage in his career.128 The Blachernai meeting
was attended by yet another Philokales, the prefect of Constantinople whose Michael, family name, although omitted from the acts, is in the attested A few other mem securely sigillographic record.129 bers of the family in this period are known exclusively from their seals: the strategos Nikephoros the protospatharios, Philokales, hypa tos, and later vestarches John Philokales, and zproedrissa and later (?) nun Eudokia
Philokalina.130
An
otherwise
unknown
member
of the
one of the above?) appears to have founded the monastery family (or at of the Pantokrator rov <3>ikoKCtkovor (frikoKctXkovqat Thessalonike some unrecorded date before 1112.131
125
G. G. Litavrin, Sovety i rasskazy
Kekavmena: Xiv.
Sochinenie vizant. polkovodtsa (Moscow, 1972), 264,544 n. 1003
(also in B.Wassiliewsky Cecaumeni
and J. Jernstedt,
Strategicon: Et incerti scriptoris
De
officiis regiis libellus [Saint Petersburg, 1%96], 72); see also P. Lemerle, Prolegomenes
a une idition critique et commentee des "Conseils etRecits'"de Kekaumenos (Brussels, i960), 21-22 n. 4, 41-56; and Cheynet, Pouvoir et contestations (above, n. 4), 72. For the date of his appointment (1065), see N. Banescu, "Ein neuer KaTg7ravco BovXyapiaq," BZ 25 (1925): 331-32, and Banescu, Les duches byzantins de Paristrion et de Bulgarie (Paradounavon)
127
(Bucharest,
126 Two specimens, found at Preslav and near Sirmium (I. Iordanov, Pechatite ot strategiiata v Preslav (971-1088) [Sofia, 1993], 160-61 no. 323, and L. Maksimovic
and M.
"Les sceaux byzantins de la region
P. Gautier,
"Le synode des Blachernes
REB 29 (fin 1094). Etude prosopograpique," text in PG 241; (1971): 127:9720; Alexiad,
L'administration
centrale [Paris, 1981], 54-55
no. 122, 567-68 no. 1033). Strategos: Iordanov, Pechatite, 180 no. 373; protospatharios, hypatos, and vestarches: W. Seibt, Die byzantinischen 130
9.2, ed. D. R. Reinsch
Bleisiegel in Osterreich (Vienna, 1978), 283; another seal of a John Philokales may
268 (ed. B. Leib, Anne Comnene, Alexiade
belong to this or to another homonymous individual (SBS 6 [1999]: 124 no. 1243);
and A. Kambylis, Annae Comnenae Alexias (Berlin, 2001), 1: [Paris, 1945], 2:170).
See also n. 149 below.
128
J.-C. Cheynet, C. Morrisson, andW. Seibt, Les sceaux byzantins de la collection Henri DOC 129
1946), 144.
Popovic,
en Serbie," SBS 3 [1993]: 117-18 no. 3; see also Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier, 137 [above, n. 52]). danubienne
Seyrig (Paris, 1991), 50-51 no. 52, and no. 47.2.1245. Gautier,
"Le Synode," 241-42;
he
appears asproedros and mystikos, and then as protoproedros, eparchos, and mystikos (C. Stavrakos, Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel aus der mit Familiennamen Sammlung des Numismatischen
Museums
proedrissa: Iordanov, Pechatite, 189-90 no. 396, and Seibt, Bleisiegel, 282-83 no- J49 is attested in a 131 Its hegumen Hilarion sale document
of that year: N. Oikonomides,
Actes de Docheiariou:
Edition diplomatique see also (Paris, 1984), 68; Janin, Grands
Centres, 418-19 Magdalino, Monasteries
(above, n. 34), and P.
"Byzantine Churches and in Thessalonica," REB 35
(1977): 282.
Athen
[Wiesbaden, 2000], 396-98 no. 270; V. Laurent, Corpus des sceaux, vol. 2.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
63
More
Philokalai
are
attested
in the decades
the
preceding
A Philokales (Christian name conquest of Constantinople. a not contingent of the Byzantine army during given) commanded identical to the the Hungarian campaign of 1167 and is perhaps
Latin
Philokales
is later attested
who
as doux
of Dalmatia.132
A
second
Eumathios Philokales, described as a very rich man, was prefect of III and was sent in 1196-97 on an under Alexios Constantinople to be to the German is emperor Henry VI.133 He embassy probably or was father-in-law Philokalios who identified with the Philokales
of Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos and was appointed by him
ton sekreton upon the dismissal from that post of the his logothetes is Philokales torian Niketas Choniates (1204).134 A third Eumathios as a secretary attested by his seal, whose inscription describes him and grandfather ofzsebastos.135 (grammatikos) The evidence for officials bearing the name Philokales
after 1204
is A Philokales (Christian name unknown) problematic. or mentioned with the title megas doux in 1214 1215,when he sent a II Eirenikos at Nicaea letter to the patriarch Theodoros concerning is more
the affairs of the Orthodox
population that this Philokales was
of Constantinople.136
There
a Byzantine who presumably is the identity of the owner certain in is less What the city. remained of a seal from the same period (early thirteenth century): its obverse bears a standing figure of a saint identified by a Greek inscription as Nicholas, while the reverse shows a shield flanked by two stars and a is little doubt
Greek
abbreviation
doux
formegas
Latin by the circular as same this be the Could
surrounded
inscription Sigillum Filocari megadoucis. the patriarch's correspondent? Another
piece of evidence may sug of the establishment of the Latin empire
gest otherwise: in the wake who had acquired the island of we hear of a Philocalus Navigaioso the title of megadux was bestowed by the Lemnos and to whom had anything (Latin) emperor.137 It ishighly unlikely thatNavigaioso Ioannis Cinnami Epitome, 271. See also II Comnene (1118-1143) F. Chalandon,/e^n 132
I Comnene
etManuel
(1143-1180)
(Paris,
and Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier, 262 (above, n. 52). 1912), 489-90,
133 Nicetae Bekker
Choniatae Historia,
ed. I.
in C. N. Sathas, Me
Bi^Xio^rjxn,
7 vols. (Venice, 1872-94),
419; Mango
and Hawkins,
7:
"Report," 336
(above, n. 122). See also F. Dolger, Regesten des Ostromischen der Kaiserurkunden Reiches von S6S-14S3, vol. 2, /025-1204, rev. ed. P.Wirth (Munich, 1995), 2: 323 no. 1638; Seibt, Bleisiegel,
64
TASSOS
315-16 no. 173 (above, n.
PAPACOSTAS
Meacaoovixrj
BifiXioSrjxr], 7: 445. See also
Laurent, Sceaux byzantins, 55-56 (above, n. 122), and R. Guilland, "Les logothetes. Etudes
(Bonn, 1835), 630-31; Theodore
Skoutariotes
130); and J.-C. Cheynet, "Les sceaux du musee d'Iznik," REB 49 (1991): 234-35. 134 Nicetas, 749; Skoutariotes in Sathas,
sur l'histoire administrative
de
l'empire byzantin," REB 29 (1971): 84. Laurent, Corpus des sceaux, vol. 2,
135
L'administration
centrale, 667 no. 1192
(above, n. 129). 136 A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus, "0g6Swpo<; EiprjviKo;, 7raTpiap?vj<; it oiKou^gvnc6<; evNiKaia," BZ10 (1901): 189; has been suggested that he may be identical
with the prefect Eumathios
and with the
V. logothetes attested in 1204 (V. Grumel, Les and Darrouzes, Laurent, regestes des J. de Constantinople
actes du Patriarcat 1932-79], 137 from
[Paris,
1.4: 26).
Spink Auction the Collection
132: Byzantine
Seals
2 ofGeorge Zacos, part no. 160 1999), 25 [by J.-C.
(London, 25May see G. L. F. Tafel Cheynet]. On Navigaioso, and G. M. Thomas, Urkunden zur alteren
und Staatsgeschichte: Venedig, 3 vols. (Vienna, 1856-57), 2: 3, andB. Hendrickx, "Les institutions de l'empire Latin de (1204-1261): La cour et les Constantinople 9 (1977): 210. BvfavTivd dignitaires,"
Handels-
todo with theByzantinePhilokalai; and theheraldic emblemon the seal, much more
it inscription, suggests that probably rather than the correspon lord of Lemnos
than the Latin
to theWestern belongs dent of the patriarch. Our Eumathios Philokales,
to the other relationship is not known, makes his first appear Philokalai of Constantinople ance in the historical record in 1092 in Euboea, where he received whose
Christodoulos of Patmos. The latterhad fled to Euripos fromhis newly founded monastery
because
of the threat posed
by the raids
of (Jaka (Tzachas), theTurkish emir of Smyrnawho had built a
fleet and was
islands and the west coast of ravaging the Aegean The source that relates this incident, the encomium
Asia Minor.138
(1157-70), by Athanasios, patriarch of Antioch refers to Eumathios without his family name, but there can be little is described as "that famous man, doubt that itwas Philokales. He of Christodoulos
(6 nokbq eycelvbc,Kai rf\Kara Koayiov 7r?pi<J>aveia7repi(&?7rro<;),139as "exercising the rule of the west ern as an "old friend parts" (tcov Sutikcov jxepcovdipjr\y SiS7rcov) and conspicuous
by his worldly
distinction"
Kai 7ra!<; Kara and spiritual son of the Saint" (7raXai crirvy]6v]<; 7re<j>i>KW? izvbvjjlclrep fzaKaplco).140This latter piece of information may suggest was a native of like Christodoulos, that Eumathios, Bithynia, perhaps or in the Latros, where region ofMount possibly that he had served a
monastic life.141On large part of his earlier a Euboea received the help he expected, including cargo ship loaded with wheat. It has been suggested that Eumathios was at the time the civilian and the governor {praitor) of Greece Christodoulos
spent Christodoulos
Peloponnese,142
but the evidence
is slim; he could
as well have been
military governor. soon thereafter, in the context We hear again about Eumathios of military operations undertaken by Alexios I. The main threat the
out of emperor had to face was the one that had forced Christodoulos same Patmos: the raids of (Jaka. During the period Crete and Cyprus had also revolted in the sense that officials posted there had made as we saw in the pre independent of imperial authority; this before section, 1091, perhaps happened February/March in 1090 (or counter To these possibly earlier?). developments Alexios
themselves vious
The departure of Christodoulos from is dated to 1092 by Vranousi, BvfavTivd eyypacpa, 1: 51*?53* (above, n. 122) (he is attested on Patmos inMarch 1091). 138
Patmos
In that he died in Euripos inMarch 1093, his meeting with Eumathios must have taken place during the preceding months.
^he use or*eKgivo; probably also implies that Eumathios was dead at the time of writing (after 1143). 139
K. Voines, AxoXovSla
A possible link between the region of Bithynia and a later Philokales (the late 141
i2th-c. prefect Eumathios)
has been tenta
lepd tov bcriovxai Seotpopov ncLTpbcr\y.6)vXpio'TodovXovtov
tively suggested by Cheynet in "Les sceaux du musee d'lznik," 235 (above, n. 133).
SavfiaTovpyov, 3rd ed. (Athens, 1884), 151, and E. Vranousi, Td dyioXoyixd xel^ieva tov bclovXpi
142
140
MONASTERY
Vranousi, BvfavTivd iyypcupct,1:
52*-54*.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
6$
built a fleet which
he placed under the command of his brother-in law John Doukas,143 on whom the title of megas doux was conferred. Doukas in concentrated his ships at Euripos preparation for sailing to Crete.144 This is to have occurred in the course of usually thought in the narrative of its place provided by Anna source evi Komnene.145 A recent and thorough investigation of the dence, however, has shown that the dating implied by the sequence of events in theAlexiad to be trusted. is not always 1092, primarily because
career of John Using primarily the information concerning the Peter Frankopan Doukas, argues convincingly that he cannot have emir before 1094.146 The duration of this cam been sent against the is not known but, his successes in western Asia paign following to first before Minor, Doukas proceeded Constantinople heading for the islands. Because he is attested in the capital toward the end of the year, attending
the synod of Blachernai, it is possible that his was (Jaka took place shortly before the synod. This
campaign against also attended by an unspecified number of bishops from Cyprus and their (unnamed) If the above sequence of events is metropolitan.147 indeed correct, then the island was presumably still in the hands of the rebel at that time. Nevertheless, not
appear
ney, although
the anomalous
situation does
to have the prelates from the jour prevented making of course it is not known whether they traveled to the
capital on purpose or iftheyhad alreadybeen there(havingperhaps
fled their sees earlier?).We should also remember that the journey of some to three years earlier from Constantinople John Oxeites Cyprus seems to have been unaffected too. and then from there to Antioch Rhapsomates' tions between
little impact on communica the island and the outside world. rebellion must have had
soon left for Euboea in preparation for his expedition to Doukas the islands. Crete was dealt with first and without much ado, for the rebel Karykes was
slain by the islanders themselves. The situation in was effort, for the rebel there, Rhapsomates,
more
Cyprus
required to in negotiate and then engaging captured only after first attempting and Manuel battle the expeditionary force commanded by Doukas ! Polemis,
143 D.
(London, 144
(2000):
in the Life ofMeletios
(Vasil'evskii,
v?ou," 27-28
of
"Bloc.MekeTiov
rot)
Alexis
et soumission de la Crete sous
Ier Comnene,"
and, more
REB
35 (1977): 215-27
recently,A. Savvides, "Can We Refer to a Concerted Action among
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
122-34.
P. Frankopan, "Challenges to Imperial Authority in Byzantium: Revolts on Crete 146
and Cyprus at the End of the nth c,"
[above, n. 43]).
See, for example, P. Gautier,
"Defection
66
Rapsomates, Caryces and the Emir Tzachas between A.D. 1091 and 1093?," Byzantion 70
A
1968), 66-70.
Reported
Myoupolis 145
7fceDoukai:
toByzantine Prosopography
Contribution
Byzantion
74 (2004):
382-402,
and, on
Frankopan, "The Imperial in the Reign Governors of Dyrrakhion of Alexios I Komnenos," BMGS 26 (2002):
Doukas,
65-103.
Gautier, "Le synode," 217, 219, 270-72 (above, n. 127). Itmay be significant that, with the notable exception ofNiketas of 147
no prelates from the region affected by (^aka's raids, from themain sees of the eastern Aegean and the west coast of
Mytilene,
Asia Minor Rhodes),
(Smyrna, Ephesos, Miletos, nor any from Crete are recorded in
the synodal list.
Boutoumites.148
the amount
inmind
Bearing
of time Doukas
spent
to fighting(Jaka,returning Constantinople, and preparing thefleet we
of time may may assume that a considerable length have lapsed until Rhapsomates (who is generally assumed to have been governor, but whose position is not defined in the sources)149 was in Euboea,
as late as 1095, or finally subdued. This may therefore have taken place even later. Thus like have remained in Crete, may Cyprus, perhaps rebel hands for perhaps as many as five years, or possibly even longer. the suppression of the revolt of Rhapsomates, the Following to overhaul
of Cyprus by a civil Kai in the governor (Kpir% person of appointing si;ifj&)TV]s) a certain a man of proven a com ability, and military Kalliparios, in the of mander Eumathios Philokales, person (aTpaT07rs?ap?y]<;) who was given ships of war and cavalry to maintain security. The emperor
decided
the administration
not appear to have to corresponded designation stratopedarch does so an established and rank150 may imply any extraordinary command, unless it ismerely a generic term used byAnna Komnene. The date of
arrival on Cyprus (1095?) and the of his stay there length are not known. He may have been involved in the a expedition of Byzantine fleet of twenty-two vessels from Cyprus to the Syrian coast, Eumathios's
is attacked on August 19 of 1097.151He securely attested again on the island, with the title of doux, in 1099, when he was directed to take possession from Raymond de Saint-Gilles, count
when
was
Laodicea
of Toulouse,
of the towns ofMaraqiya
is reported in Boutoumites later (Cypriot) sources to have served as doux of the island and to have been involved 148 Manuel
with the foundation Nicolaou-Konnari,
ofKykko
(Pieris and
Asovtiov Mctxctipd
Xpovixo T7)c. Ktinpov, 86-87 (ed. Dawkins, 1: 36-38 [above, n.28]), Leontios Makhairas, and C. N. Constantinides,
'HAir\yr\
1:110-12
149 Skoulatos, Les personnages, 271 (above, n. 122), goes beyond the evidence in calling him doux of Cyprus. He may have been krites or kourator (Cheynet, Pouvoir et con testations, 97 [above, n. 4], and detailed discussion
inD. Kourbetes,
gty\vKvnpo Va.-tyQ\LctTY\
tov "'H gtolcfy\
en'iAXg^iou A'
Kq[lvy)vov [7rgp.1091-1095]," BvfavTiaxd [2000]:
20
187-94). Frankopan, "Challenges," discusses the possibility that he may be identical with Nikephoros
(Maraclea) 150 Alexiad,
on the
and Banyas
IX.ii.4, Reinsch
1: 263 (ed. Leib, 2:164
Kambylis, n. 127]); R. Guilland,
and [above,
"Etudes surl'histoire
administrative
de l'empire byzantin. Le stratopedarque et le grand stratopedarque," BZ 46 (1953): 67-68. On the other hand, seals of Isaac Komnenos
(shortly before the and of doux of Antioch Romanos 1055) Skleros (ca. 1057) describe them as crTpaT07r??ap^y]c ty\(, Avaro^yjc; (G. Zacos and A. Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals I [Basel, 1972], 3:1453-54 no. 2680; J.-C Cheynet, Sceaux de la collection Zacos [Bibliotheque nationale de France] se rap orientates de VEmpire [Paris, 2001], 20-22 no. 5). byzantin 151 This incident is reported in a much
portant auxprovinces
later source, Kamal
al-Din (Ibn al-Adim), des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Recueil des historiens des Croisades: inAcademie
Historiens
Orientaux
3:578.
Diogenes.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
6j
Syrian coast.152 He also then established a garrison at Laodicea.153 In the same year he beat off a Pisan fleet that had (August/September?), It isnot known whether Eumathios descended on Cyprus to pillage.154 or remained on the island throughout the latter half of the 1090s, he left and returned as doux
whether
can we
shortly before 1099. Nor
tell ifhe played any role in the collectionof funds said to have been
sent from to Jerusalem to ransom the Cyprus Holy Sepulcher, threat ened by the Muslims into Palestine. the Crusader advance during In 1102-3 he was ordered to use his to ships help Raymond with the construction of the fortress of Mont-Pelerin overlooking Tripoli.155 Anna Komnene's is confused concerning these events chronology too, but if it is true, as she implies, that Eumathios was responsible we can for the construction ofMont-Pelerin, only conclude that he was
serving Constantine
was as doux by Cyprus until 1102/3,when he replaced whom we find in office at the time of the Katakalon,
in
152 Alexiad, XI.vii.4, 1: 343-44
Kambylis, 153
Cafari, De
Reinsch
i: 1352 (ed. Leib, 3: 44).
(ed. Leib, 3: 34). Germaniae
Historica,
in Cyprus and theCrusades: at the International Conference Given Papers the and Crusades,"Nicosia, 6-9 "Cyprus Crusade,"
18, ed. L. T. Belgrano (Rome, 45: 38-42: "In tempore enim captio 1890), arma manebat, nisi ecclesia nis Antiochiae Scriptores
September 1994, ed. N. Coureas
episcopalis ubi clerici morabantur. Et tunc temporis Greci per imperatorem Alexium... civitatem, et duo castra quae desuper erant,
Smith (Nicosia,
and J.Riley
1995), 5.
bant. Archantus
R. B. C. Huygens, Guillaume de Tyr: 2 vols. (Turnhout, 1986), 1: 375; Chronique, Reinsch and Kambylis, XI.vii.6, Alexiad,
Cypri, et Filocarius vocabatur, 20 salandrios etmilites et clientes multos ibi tenebant."
Midler-Wiener,
155
et duas turres iuxta introitum portus, tene unus qui tenebat insulam
1: 345 (ed. Leib, 3: 35). On
H.
... ruled the city and the Emperor Alexios two castles standing above and the two
there
and soldiers and many
vero praedicti Graeci Lauticiae earn tenebant, Vananeam Sarraceni" [In fact
"Marachiam
Laodicea, Saracens],
was held by the Greeks from while Banyas was held by the
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
a I'histoire
original construction are, unfortunately, meager. The castle had been built by no3: see J.Richard, "Le chartrier de Sainte Marie-Latine de Saint-Gilles
et l'etablissement aMont-Pelerin,"
relations XHe-XVe study 6.
des
et du royaume franc de Jerusalem, vols. [Paris, 1934], 1: 319, 371-72).
Croisades
Contribution
de Raymond in Orient
et Occident au Moyen Age: Contacts
the context appears to point to
the year 1099 (R. Grousset, Histoire
Salame-Sarkis,
d'architecture et de ceramique (Paris, 1980). The elements thatmay be attributed to the
allies.] Since Cafari next writes,
Maraqiya
1966),
P. Deschamps,
de Tripoli et de sa region a I'epoque des Croisades: Problemes d'histoire,
towers by the entrance to the harbor. A gov ernor who ruled over the island of Cyprus twenty chelandia
(London,
La defense du Comte de Tripoli et de la Principaute dAntioche (Paris, 1973), 293-95, 367-71; and especially
42-43;
copal church where some clergy remained. And then at the time the Greeks under
and was called Filocarius maintained
the castle seeW.
Castles of the Crusades,
trans. J.M. Brownjohn
[At the time of the capture of Antioch, it (Laodicea) was deserted, except for the epis
68
and Kambylis, See also A. S.
of Byzantine Savvides, "The Consolidation Power in Cyprus on the Eve of the First
liberatione civitatum
Orientis, Monumenta
Reinsch
154 Alexiad, XI.x.6,
and
3
siecles (London,
et 1976),
Byzantine expedition toCilicia led byManuel Boutoumites (1103)156 and who had also servedon the island in thepast, probably in the (late?) 1080s.157 From Cyprus
to where he Constantinople, proceeded acces seems to have been awarded the rank of sebastos, the highest Eumathios
sible to persons who did not belong to the imperial family. At the same time we should note that the vast majority of persons given this title were prompted by Alexios sources
related to the emperor by marriage, and this has indeed the suggestion that Eumathios may have been rewarded
He appears as sebastos in our imperial bride.158 in no5 in connection with his next known assignment, with
an
court and was to travel to the shortly before. This Hungarian escort to I Piroska, the daughter of King Laszlo Constantinople name of Eirene, was to marry the future (Ladislas) who, under the
or
John II Komnenos.159 Eumathios may have remained in the capital until 1108 or 1109160when he was entrusted by the emperor with the In this connection Anna Komnene command of Attaleia. gives the
was a most Eumathios following sketch of him: "This Philokales skilful man who surpassed most of the nobility not only by birth,
but also by prudence; liberal inmind and hand, faithful toGod
and to his friends, singularly devoted to his sovereigns, he was, how in ever, altogether uninitiated military training; for he knew neither to how draw the string of the bow to his breast, nor how to protect
himself with a shield. But in other respects he was very astute, namely means in setting ambuscades and the of vari enemy by vanquishing ous
devices."161
i$6
Alexiad, XI.ix.3, Reinsch and 1: 349 (ed. Leib, 3: 41). The seal of
Kambylis,
doux of Cyprus andprotonobelis simos, should be dated to his second tenure
Katakalon,
(Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals I, 3:1452-53 no. 2679 [above, n. 150]). 157 His first tenure, in view of the revised chronology of the events of the early 1090s, must be placed before the rebellion of and thus probably in the later Rhapsomates, 1080s.When Blachernai
he attended the synod of in late 1094, he had the title of
protokouropalates, whereas while doux of Cyprus he was only kouropalates (Gautier, "Le synode," 247-48, and V. Laurent, Documents
de sigillographie byzantine: La collection C. Orghidan [Paris, 1952], in no. 205; Laurent, Sceaux byzantins, 57 n.4 [above, n. 122]). In 1095, after defeating the he was promoted to nobelissimos
Cumans,
{Alexiad, X.iii.i, Reinsch
and Kambylis,
i: 287 [ed. Leib, 2:194]).
The immediate
eldest children, the twins Alexios
early '80s (A.-K. Wassiliou
andW.
Seibt, Die
byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Osterreich, und Provinzialverwaltung [Vienna, 2004], 2: 247-48). For a list of Byzantine
Zentral-
officials in Cyprus, see Cheynet, "Chypre a la veille de la conquete franque," 73 (above, n. 4), and Kourbetes, "H oracry] tod Pa-^o^arr]," 192-93 (above, n. 149). The Empire of Manuel 158 P. Magdalino,
I
Komnenos, 206. On
and Maria,
were born shortly before the feast of Saint Demetrios in 1106?or possibly (26 October)
(or somewhat earlier?) predecessor of as doux of Cyprus was Elpidios Katakalon Brachamios, in office in the 1070s and/or
1143-1180 (Cambridge, 1993), the title see L. Stiernon, "Notes de
titulature et de prosopographie byzantines. Sebaste et gambros," REB 23 (1965): 226-32. 159 Skoutariotes in Sathas, Ms(TOLioovixr\
1105, since the next incident recorded by is the fall of Constantine's statue in
Anna
the Forum of Constantinople inApril 1106 (Alexiad, XII.iv.4, Reinsch and Kambylis, 1: 369-70
[ed. Leib, 3: 66]). K. Barzos (H yeveaXoyla tcovKofivnvtiv [Thessaloniki, 1984], 1: 204-5, 339> 348) suggests 1104/5 for themarriage and late 1106/early 1107 for the birth of the twins, without justifying either date. 160 Essai
In 1109, according to F. Chalandon, sur le regne d'Alexis Ier Comnene (1081
1118) (Paris, 1900), 254-55. 161 Alexiad, XIV.i.3, Reinsch Kambylis,
and
1:425 (ed. Leib, 3:142).
Bi^XioSrjxrj, 7:181-82 (above, n. 133). The precise date of themarriage is not known: it cannot be later than 1105, since John's
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
69
From Constantinople
led his forces to Atramyttion,
Eumathios
which he founddesertedand in ruins;he refortified itand brought in new
settlers. From
there he marched
southeast. On
being informed a at he sent detachment of his troops Lampe,162 them. The Turks were defeated and massacred with excep
that the Turks were
against tional cruelty. Eumathios
then occupied Philadelphia, where he was emir of but besieged by the superior forces of Hasan, Cappadocia, ruse to induce the enemy to divide his army and defeated managed by it Anna does not pursue her narrative any further piecemeal.163 and fails to inform us whether
Eumathios
the command
assumed
ofAttaleia. Ifhe did, he did not keep it long,forby nn-12 he was
once as doux. When the emperor sentManuel again Cyprus, as to Boutoumites his ambassador the king of Jerusalem Baldwin I, to win the latter's support of duke Antioch, against Tancred, hoping he instructed him to receive a large sum of money and as many ships as he needed from Eumathios, rov TvjviKauTa SouKa Kvitpov (the then back
in
doux of Cyprus), and then sail to Tripoli, tomeet Bertrand, son and successor of Boutoumites of Toulouse. did so and depos Raymond care in of the for the ited the money bishop of Tripoli; safekeeping
but the embassy, afterwasting a good deal of time, achieved no result and even had some trouble in recovering the funds that had been left at died. It isworth recording Tripoli, for Bertrand had meanwhile
addressed to the latter's son: "If you the threat that the Byzantines ... a do not return the money to us you will not in the future receive nor will the doux of Cyprus of necessities from Cyprus large supply be your helper, as a result of which you will die of hunger." In the end the ambassador parted with the sum that had been intended for and used to purchase Bertrand; the restwas returned to Eumathios horses from Damascus, Edessa, and Arabia.164 thoroughbred comes to next from a document dated Eumathios reference Our to 25 August
in Crete.165 The case was
tribunal of the military Eladas, who is described pansebastos
over water in a village dispute rights to the not before a civil but judge brought a certain John governor (katepano) of Crete,
1118, concerning
a
as the oiKeioc; "of our holy lord, the av9pco7ro<; Eumathios doux Philokales, sebastos, megas zvApraitor, kyr
as sug Not near Lopadion/Ulubad, B. Alexiade Leib (Anne Comnene, gested by i6x
[Paris, 1945], 3: *43 n- 3)> but between Choma
and Polybotos
(Alexiad, XI.v.6, Reinsch and Kambylis, 1: 338 [ed. Leib, 3: 27]). According to P.Wittek, "Von der byz antinischen Byzantion ofApamea
70
TASSOS
zur tiirkischen Toponymie," 10 (1935): 26 n. 2, itwas southwest in Pisidia.
PAPACOSTAS
See also L. Robert,
6:95 from a document
in the
Villes d'AsieMineure:
165 MM
Belke and N. Mersich,
monastery of Patmos. For its interpretation see N. Oikonomides,'Oi avQevTou tcov
Etudes degeographie ancienne, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1962), 358, and K.
(Vienna, 163
Phrygien und Pisidien
Alexiad, XIV.i.4-7,
Kambylis,
tov A' KprjTiKcov to 1118," innenpayfceva,
1990), 321-22. 1:425-27
Reinsch
and
(ed. Leib, 3:143-46).
Reinsch and 164 Alexiad, XIV.ii.6-14, 1: Leib, 429-34 3:148). See (ed. Kambylis, also Dolger, Regesten, 2:172-73 nos. 1250b, 1250c, i25od, (above n. 133).
AteSvovcKprjToXoyixov ZvveSptov 1981), 2: 308-17.
(Athens,
our lord."The officeofmegas doux, createdaswe have seen forJohn of the imperialnavy.166 Doukas, denoted the commander-in-chief The holder of that importantpost acquired direct jurisdictionover thus displacing the doux of and the Peloponnese, also acquired the position of praitor, that is, that theme. Eumathios the theme ofHellas
civil governor of the same theme, which no doubt gave him access to considerable revenues. He may have been an absentee governor who and was represented at local level by "his resided at Constantinople men," like the katepano of Crete. This is the lastwe hear of Eumathios Philokales.
As we
saw earlier, his death, which
occurred
on 13March
of an unrecorded
to the monas year (after 1118),was communicated in its and was tery at Koutsovendis typikon. registered a series of lead is further illustrated The career of Eumathios by
as follows:167 in seals that may be ascending order of rank arranged 1.Tov <$>ikoKctXXov<; Ev\naQiov fxayiarpou.168 2. cnc?7roic; \ieK0Dp07ralar(y]v) tov Oi^oKaAVjv, \ir\rep Ei)[xa9iov - a ? t \ 169 rov ayvr) Aoyov. 3.Nobelissimos
and doux
4. Protonobelissimos 5.Tov OiloKotAvp,
(unpublished).170 and doux (unpublished).171
[iy\repctyvr),(jbv\arpr\v creftotcrrbv EiifxaGiov
avayvcopi^g.172 Kai
6.?eoroKg (3or|9ei Sodk!Kai 7rpairopiT^XaSo^ Et)[^a9tcpf^gyaXco
I\ekoixovY\(Tov repOiloKciXy].173 In that other persons with the name Eumathios
Philokales
are
recorded at the end of the twelfth century (above, p. 64), one may at first hesitate in attributing all the above seals to our Eumathios, but in so Laurent is probably All they add to our right doing. knowledge to is his normal of the man progression from magistros kouropal and his ates, then nobelissimos, sebastos, protonobelissimos, finally uncertainty
over the
name spelling of his family
(with one or two
166 H. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer, la marine de guerre, la politique et les institu
186-87 no. 531; and Stavrakos, Bleisiegel mitFamiliennamen, 395-96 no. 269 (dated
tionsmaritimes de Byzance aux VHe-XVe siecles (Paris, 1966), 186-87. I owe particular thanks to John 167
169 Laurent, Les bulles metriques, no. 147.
for his help with the sigillographic especially with the unpublished seals. To this date no seals of Eumathios
Nesbitt
material,
have been found on Cyprus (Metcalf, Byzantine Lead Seals, 127 [above, n. 28]). 168 B. A. Pancenko, "Katalog molivdovu lov"IRAIKis (1908): 95 no. 346 (366); V. Laurent, Les bulles metriques dans sigillographie byzantine
la
(Athens, 1932),
to the 1070S/80S [above, n. 129]).
170
DOC,
52
no. 58.106.908.
specimens, one found in Serbia Sceaux (Laurent, byzantins, 55-58 no. 68 and [above, n. 122], and Maksimovic
172
Popovic,
58.106.4101 and 55.1.3868. No.
55.1.3869 in the same collection belongs to a Philokales, also doux and protonobelissimos; but his
"Sceaux byzantins,"
140-41 no. 32
[above, n. 126]). 173
Several specimens: Fogg Art Museum, Whittemore Collection, no. 584; DOC, nos. 171
Two
J.Nesbitt
and N. Oikonomides,
Catalogue ofByzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in theFogg Museum ofArt 1994), 2: 68 no. 22.15. (Washington, D.C,
firstname is not clearly legible, although it could be Eumathios; unlike the other seals that bear a bust of theVirgin, this has a standing Virgin with hands upraised.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
71
lambdas) and his devotion stages of his career.174 Anna
Komnene's
to the Virgin Mary, assessment
positive
at least in the later
of
the
character
of
to Alexios, motivated does not perhaps by his loyalty to as evil, have been shared. Others him appear universally regarded avaricious, and an oppressor of the Church. This unfavorable judg
Eumathios,
ment is reflectedin two texts.The firstis the Phileotes, Life ofKyrillos
which
records that on one occasion
Lake Derkos, Philokales.
northwest
(near the doux Eumathios by in these words: "Why have you
of Constantinople)
saint addressed
The
the saint was visited at Philea
him
come here, you lone wolf, who have no respect for the shepherd and his He then accused him of and rend the flock asunder?" mercilessly dogs vanity, avarice, and licentiousness and of oppressing the poor.175 This incident isperhaps to be dated between the two tenures of Eumathios as doux
of Cyprus: order of incidents although the chronological related in the vita is often blurred, they still follow a rough sequence; and the chapter that follows that on Eumathios (36) contains one of the very few datable stories in the text, inwhich Saint Kyrillos fore
I over Bohemund. Thus Eumathios's visit tells the victory of Alexios at around the time of his mission took (ca. place Hungarian perhaps 110 5) and at any rate before the death in n 10 (?).176 ofKyrillos The same text contains some evidence that has been misinter to link the toponym Koutsovendis with Eumathios. preted and used reconstruc This interpretation has considerable implications for the a In tion of the monastery's passage from the vita, the early history. his visit to Kyrillos: y\vyap k?kikj>go<; during 6 avvjp 7rpo<;toix; 7roSa<; ai)Toi3.177 Based on this passage, it has been
doux
is described
thus
alleged thatEumathios
was probably lame in both legs,178 and here
its origin remains uncertain, the toponym comes into play. Although one is from KOUTcra(j>gVTV]<; (lame widely accepted and likely derivation none area was is the that The owned lord).179 by implication, then,
J.-C. Cheynet,
des 8. Internationalen
theless been challenged by P. Karlin-Hayter, who argues for 1120 instead, in "L'edition de
sceaux "L'iconographie des in Siegel und Siegler: Akten des Comnenes," Symposions fiir Sigillographie, ed. C. Ludwig
Byzantinische (Frankfurt am Main,
2005), 62 n.45.
175 M. Kaplan, "In Search of St. Cyril's Philea," inWork and Worship at the Theotokos Evergetis ioso-1200, Papers of theFourth Belfast Byzantine International Colloquium, Portaferry, Co. Down, 14-17 and A. Kirby September 199s, ed. M. Mullen (Belfast, 1997), 213-21; Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille, 146-53
72
mo
(2December of AM 6619) is given in the text: Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille, 260, 489 n.165;it: nas never
The first seal (magistros) has Saint Theodore and Saint George on the obverse: 174
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
(above, n. 37).
176
Thedateof
la vie de S. Cyrille
le Phileote par E.
Sargologos," Byzantion 34 (1964): 609-10. 177 Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille, 147. TheMaking ofa Saint, 178 Galatariotou, 194 (above, n. 4). S. Menardos,
"To7twvu^ik6v ty\c, Kvizpov," ASrjvd, 18 (1906): 399 (also in Menardos, Tonoovvy.ixou xal Xctoypacpixai 179
fieXeTCLi[Nicosia, accepted,
1970], 67); etymology
among others, by Galatariotou,
TheMaking
ofa Saint, 194, but refuted by Eikocti peAiTai, 30 (above, n. 13),
Englezakis, who traces its origin (without justifying it) to Y.OLTt$ctTY\$ (sic). The Italian/French etymology
(from couche/cuccia
and vento)
who
(inH lepd suggested by Tsiknopoullos tov KovT^ov^ivSrj xal
(lovrj tov Xpvaoo-Topov
tol iepd ctvTJjg xTto-fiaTct[Nicosia, dismisses
that proposed
1959], 19)
byMenardos,
is
considering that entirely unconvincing, the toponym is attested well before the Latin conquest.
it from whom other than the supposedly lame Eumathios, acquired its name; he therefore was not the patron of the merely parekklesion but of the entire foundation, built on his land. There are two serious of the problems with this suggestion. First, the above interpretation relevant passage from the vita is incorrect. The text clearly states that Philokales was merely crouched by the feet of Kyrillos and certainly the toponym is attested for the first time nothing more.180 Second, well before the recorded involvement of Eumathios with Cyprus and even before his earliest attestation
in the sources, which,
as we have
to 1092. already seen, dates In our typikon "Koutsovendis" refers specifically to the moun was tain upon which built (Par. gr. 402 f. $6r: the monastery at around the same time it also appears as Kovrt,ovfiivri), although the monastery's name (Lavra Ti7 f. 78V: Kovvr^ovfte, Sinait. gr. 436 Later on Theoktistos of Patmos calls the (441) f. 4V.: Kovrlovftevn). while Neophytos the Recluse talks of monastery Kodt^od^sivItod, of Kour^oD^gvSr] the mountain (see p. 48 above).181 It is almost cer tain then that the monastery derived the name it became by which known
from the mountain
itself.182 In the absence of firm evidence,
be difficult to postulate that the latter and the surrounding to Eumathios tenure in only belonged region Cyprus, during his but that thiswas the case already before 1090. As we shall see shortly, there may be another explanation for his patronage of themonastery. itwould
not
Whoever
the Kovrva^evrry; who
perhaps
gave his name
to the area
was, he isdefinitelynot to be identified with Philokales,whose busy career in the service of Alexios
would
be rather difficult to imagine
had he been incapacitatedby a condition affectinghis legs.Equally would have certainly mentioned important, Anna Komnene to on his comment it in her least alluded military skills. Our
second
or at
text is the
long and obscure poem by in around 1111 as arch Nikolaos Mouzalon justifying his resignation an office towhich he had been at the of bishop Cyprus,183 appointed a emperor's insistence. Nikolaos paints horrifying picture of condi damning
tions inCyprus as he experienced themduringhis (probablybrief) tenure:
of the clergy, spoliation of churches, and ruthless were farming population, who deprived of all their set upon the taxman's and exactions, gains by strung up by dogs if corruption oppression of the
18o As translated by the editor of the text ("l'homme s'etait jete a ses pieds"):
As did thehomonymous nearby village, attestedmuch later (G. Grivaud, "Villages 182
Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille, 374. 181 See Tsiknopoullos, Kvnpittxd Tvnixd, 75 (above, n. 48), and Stephanes inAyiou
desertes a Chypre [finXlle-fin XIXe siecle]," MeleTtu xou 'YnopvrjftaTa3 [1998]: 464). In this
NeocpvTOV tov EyxXelcrTov, ZvyypdfCf/ctTa,2:30 (above, n. 28).
munity were known as XpucroorofziTai and not by an epithet deriving fromKoutsovendis.
context note also that themembers of the com
MONASTERY
183
S. I. Doanidou,
NiKo^aot;
"'H 7rapairy|0"ic Anb rrjc
tov Mou?aXwvo<;
apxi27ricrK07ry|c Ku7rpou," E~Xkr\vixd7 (1934): See also P. Maas, 112.41-114.85,121.356-59. "Zu dem Abdankungsgedicht des Nikolaos BZ 35 (1935): 8-10.
Muzalon,"
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
73
to pay, and forced to live "on the diet of John the Baptist." The cause of these illswas a sinister pair of officials, "the dragon and the
unable
simi lion" (v. 64), of whom one, described as "the Devil's disciple, is lar in all respects to his teacher" was certainly Eumathios?he KaKiav 6 \ikvri; soriv zvyLaBr\qei<; designated by the transparent pun the dioiketes, may have been the other, presumably (v. 41)?while named
Eusebios
(see v.48:
6
S'suas^v)*;,
rov Sarav c^eu,
ae^cov
\l6vov).
Nikolaos Rebuffed by both inhis attemptsto discipline the clergy,
came to saw himself to abandon Cyprus, which he regard obliged as "a to be shunned": r\7rpivKi)7repo<; [sic], aXXa vvv <j>euKTy] dungheap
K07rp0(; (v. 999).184 Even in the monastery does not appear of his memorial
whose
benefactor
he was,
to have been while highly regarded: service is very laconically mentioned
Eumathios
the celebration
in the typikon, were two without any laudatory epithets, his inscriptions dedicatory a fact towhich we owe their preservation; and deliberately obscured, western face of the south pier the flanking possible that if the was as it bema carried his portrait founder, destroyed.185 of the Holy The question now arises whether the parekklesion or the second tenure was built and decorated during the first Trinity a date. as doux of Neither of Eumathios inscription bears Cyprus.186 it is
was left on the wall In the paintings, the choice preliminary report Itwould seem though that the evidence favors the first period open.187 he (ca. 1099-1103). Line 7 of the inscription [to expiate the wrongs is d)v KaKco; has erred in committing] Traperj^aXv]) (7rpo<; e?ilacr[z6v a of the usual formula 7rp6<;acj>soTVajxapxicov simply poetic paraphrase not such as those that and does imply any particular misdeeds, is no reason to reject More important, there complains of. no doubt on earlier based the statement of Theodoros Skoutariotes,
Mouzalon
sources, that Eumathios
was
sebastos around
1105; hence he would
himself by the lower title of protonobelissimos concerns the presence, among possible objection the frescoes of the church of the Holy Trinity, of a saint inmonk's
not have described in ca.
1111-12. A
costume
named
If he was
Meletios.
meant
to be Meletios
of
an earlier date would be automatically excluded; (d. 1105), Myoupolis but the saint in question should more probably be identified with the 184
For a recent discussion
of Eumathios's see A. A.
relationship with Mouzalon, H $vt,avTivr\ Kinpoc.
Demosthenous,
(96$
1191). TXtxoc. xcu nvevfiXTixoc.noXmo-fibc (Thessaloniki,
2002),
185 Mango, 78-79
74
TASSOS
33-36.
"Monastery (above, n. 2).
PAPACOSTAS
of Chrysostomos,"
80-81 Skoulatos, Lespersonnages, was n. states Eumathios that 122), (above,
186
doux of Cyprus for twenty years (starting in 1092) and that he was in office as such in 1105,when Alexios I ordered him to des to patch a certain Niketas Chalintzes Tripoli to confirm the loyalty ofWilliam,
nephew of Raymond de Saint-Gilles. The authorities he cites for the events of 1105 are Alexiad, XI.viii.5 is not named)
(where the doux of Cyprus
and the passage
n. 153 above), which
of Cafari
is unrelated
187 Mango and Hawkins, (above, n. 122).
(see
to them.
"Report,"
337-39
fourth-century bishop
of Antioch.188 One
further indication would
push thedate towardtheearlypart ofEumathios's firsttenure.In the previous section,a likelydate forthedeath ofGeorge ofKoutsovendis in 1099 was
is also the year when Eumathios suggested (p. $0),which same office is attested for the first time as doux of Cyprus, the assigned
tohim inboth inscriptions. Did Eumathios offerhis patronageonly after the founder's
death,
or did he act in concert with
him? The
to the as we saw, of the parekklesion Holy Trinity, which, on at at also used the main church Saint Symeon theWondrous some that Mountain, suggests part in it, and George probably played dedication
was
thus that Eumathios the death
church of the Holy earlier. Nevertheless numerous which
became
involved with
of the founder.189We
Koutsovendis
shall assume,
before
therefore, that the
at the latest, or Trinity dates from 1099 slightly Philokales' benefaction remains to be explained;
other monasteries
were active on the island at that time on
he could have bestowed
his
largesse, after all. easy reach of Nicosia
to within and close to being at the foot of the Koutsovendis also lies Kythrea, homonymous peak, in the Kyrenia mountains the second is (954m asl), which highest crowned by a castle. The latter is first recorded in the (Latin and Old In addition
French)
sources of the Third Crusade
as
a certainly corruption of the mountain's was Buffavento built in a strategic and
"Buf(f)event,"190 almost Greek name. The castle of
over impregnable position the access routes to the pass above cen the island's looking Kythrea, tral plain and a coast and the Sea of Cilicia. large stretch of the north
Its date of construction ing of its
buildings castle, together with was most
has not been
recorded and what
is not
particularly helpful the others of the Kyrenia
is left stand
in this respect. But
this
range (Saint Hilarion, I the reign of Alexios
probably erected during hence possibly under the supervision of Philokales him selfwho, aswe saw earlier, was to get involved with the construction of as well a few years later. Mont-Pelerin Although Buffavento contains no clues that might relate its architecture with that of our monastery Kantara),
Komnenos,191
and thus with
the period of Eumathios, the presumably contempo we as castle of see later on. Eumathios Saint Hilarion shall does, rary and may have become familiar with the community of Koutsovendis, 188 Meletios ofMyoupolis, commemorated on i September, is absent from the calendar of saints in themonastery's typikon.
grateful for countless discussions concerning the various issues raised by the fresco deco
189 The study of the iconographic program in the parekklesion may possibly offer fur
190
Guerre Sainte, histoire en vers de la troisieme
ther clues in support of this suggestion; has been undertaken byMaria Parani
croisade (1190-1192) (Paris, 1897), 54, and M. R. Morgan, La Continuation de Guillaume
(University of Cyprus),
towhom
it
I am most
ration and the involvement of Philokales. G. Paris, Ambroise: L'estoire de la
de Tyr (1184-1197)
("Paris, 1982), 118,121. In
MONASTERY
later Greek
sources Buffavento
Castle of the Lion
is called
(eiaTb [sic] K&vTpov tov
\eovTOLv) (Pieris and Nikolaou-Konnari, Xpovixo tvcKvnpov, [ed. Dawkins, Leontios Makhairas,
Aeovnov Maxoapd 415-16 1: 600]). 191
Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus/' 1: 44-49 (above, n. 4).
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
75
indeedwith the founderGeorge himself,during his (unrecorded) involvement with
the construction
of the nearby castle and his pre to oversee the visits from Nicosia project. This may
sumably frequent offer a plausible explanation for his patronage of this particular lishment in the closing years of the eleventh century.
TheMonk Neophytos theRecluse Neophytos Koutsovendis. monastery
the Recluse
was
the most
illustrious
estab
inmate
of
on the His writings provide important information in the second half of the twelfth century, which will be
examined below. Neophytos fled fromhis native Lefkara (in the southeastern man
foothills of the Troodos) of 18 to escape themarriage
young for him. Two months
later he was
to the monastery in 1152 as a his had that parents arranged
and returned to his apprehended his parents of his vocation. Back
to convince but managed at the monastery he since he was joyfully received the tonsure, but Maximos him to tend a completely illiterate, the hegumen appointed This he did for five years, during which period he acquired vineyard.192 his first letters and learnt the psalter by heart. He was then promoted two a to assistant sacristan duty he performed for (parekklesiarches), a years. All this time he was consumed by longing for the solitary life, home,
of his youth, he was not allowed by his hegumen to embrace. He then went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hoping to find in Palestine a hermit who would accept him as a disciple. His search,
which,
because
in a vision that the proved vain. Admonished Lord had another place inmind for him, he returned to the monas find on the tery of Saint John Chrysostomos, thinking that he would a suitable retreat. The Mount Koutsovendis superiors of the slopes of such a plan, and Neophytos monastery, however, opposed departed to find a to once time this ship that Paphos, where he hoped again, the Latros inAsia Minor. take him toMount would Imprisoned by a of all the on and robbed harbor guards suspicion of being fugitive off into the hinterland of Paphos money he carried, he wandered
which
lasted sixmonths,
the famous in June 1159 found the cave that was to become rest was These details to of life. his the he where Enkleistra, spend in his His association with the typikon.193 gives himself Neophytos lasted, therefore, a total of seven years monastery of Chrysostomos and
192
The, ev toiac,?oi>7rai<; (or you7rai<;)
KaXou^gvai<;
c/L^izekovc, Ka^Xigpygtv
(Tsiknopoullos, Kvnptccxd g7rgTpdt7rr)v Tvnixd, 75,118 n. 75.24 [above, n. 48]; tov EyxXsla-Tov Stephanes inAyiov NeocpvTov n. 28]). The mon 2:31 [above, Zvyypdfifia.Tct, astery's vineyards are also attested in its typikon: Par. gr. 402 f. 177r.
j6
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
193
Tsiknopoullos,
74.-76;
Stephanes
Kvnpiaxd Tvmxd, inAylov NeoytiTov tov
EyxXeldTov ZvyypdpfictTa, 2:30-34 (above, n. 28). For a survey of Neophytos's life, and earlier bibliography, see Galatariotou, TheMaking
n. 4). of a Saint, 13-18 (above,
(he saysso himself). In his rock-cutcell he had his almamatermen and althoughhe never returnedto it in tioned in an inscription,194 which person,Neophytos remained in touchwith that institution, to the his younger brother John had meanwhile posi joined, rising tion of oikonomos by 1176195 and of hegumen by around 1214. must have witnessed the John and the monks of Koutsovendis armies that of Buffavento besieged the castle Lionheart. of Richard 1191, during the conquest Cyprus by to some sources the self-proclaimed emperor of Cyprus
arrival of the Crusader inMay
According Isaac Komnenos
was led in the castle and the siege sought refuge The by Richard himself.196 subsequent capture and imprisonment of Isaac marked the end of his rule over Cyprus. Meanwhile Neophytos, confined
had
in his Enkleistra,
in an area that was
the events of 1191,was presumably his brother. It was the Lord's
hardly affected by of informed kept developments by
to John that addressed his Interpretations of Neophytos Commandments Ssottotikcov evrokcbv: 1176), (Tpppelai
ca. 1179), ofFifty Chapters (Bi^Xiov 7rgvr]VTaKovTaK6(f>alov: on his letter the Divine Sign (nspl rvj<;0eoo7]fzelac, avriypa[X[xa 7rpo<; rov i'Siov aSsl
the community
at Koutsovendis,
as his letter to themonk
and priest
shows.198
Euthymios Chrysostomites A note in the Coisl. gr. 105 (f. 2v) records the donation of that to the Enkleistra in manuscript by John September 1176,while shortly after receiving his brother's Iheosemeia John wrote a kanon on the at Lefkara. Recluse, preserved in an eighteenth-century manuscript note Another (undated) manuscript (Vind. phil. gr. 330 f. 132V) by
Neophytos himself shows thatJohnhad traveledtoConstantinople
(or perhaps Nicaea?).199 The note in question quotes two synodal deci IMystikos sions, the first of the patriarch Nicholas 912 (901-907, as the other of Kamateros described vnb 925), John (1198-1206), rf\q
rov ftaaikeiac; Kketyov Ayyekov (see below), authorizing megalosche moi monks to perform the liturgy. This is followed by two statements The fragmentary painted inscription the Recluse's career (Mango and Hawkins, "The Hermitage," 174 [above,
194
described
appointed him as his successor and had himself, as we have already seen, been to in the 1090s, it is conceivable Koutsovendis
n. 57]).
that Leontios may have made
195 In 1177 the newly appointed patriarch of Jerusalem, Leontios, spent some time on Cyprus on his way from Patmos to Palestine
the Cypriot monastery John. On Patmos
contact with
and its oikonomos
the date of Leontios's
arrival on
(early 1130s?) see ibid., 172-73.
197
For a recent edition of these texts see
Ay tovNeoTov tov Eyx\eio~Tov, ZvyypdfipcCTa (above, n. 28). Discussion
198
A. Karpozilos
ZvyypdftpctTa, 5:439-43, and TheMaking ofa Saint, 268. "Un Canon inedit," Christodoulou,
196 Morgan, Continuation de Guillaume de Tyr, 118,121 (above, n. 190). Other sources
Galatariotou,
claim that the siege was
247-59;
hegumen Theoktistos
Lusignan.
(1127-57/58), who
MONASTERY
inAylov NeocpiTov tov
EyxleiaTov
(Tsougarakis, The Life ofLeontios, m-26 [above, n. 32]); considering that he had started his career on Patmos in the days of
led by Guy de
of
dates and bibliography inGalatariotou, TheMaking ofa Saint, 180, 268-80.
199
Chatzipsaltes, Bt^Xioypa
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
77
an unknown author) in the first person. The first urges his (by a to officiate without hin spiritual son, certain monk Theosteriktos,
made
in the light of the above decision. The second may be rendered as follows: "I, too, the humble monk and recluse having Neophytos, tome from the read the above in a booklet (Iv nvi cr^eSapicp) brought
drance
7roXeco<;) bymy blessed brother $a<Ji\evov<JY\c; imperialcity (arcorf\c;
John Chrysostomites,
did not let itbe consigned
to oblivion, but have
brought it into the light."
The question now arises at what date and forwhat purpose John made this trip. It has already been pointed out that Neophytos's typ ikon in its second and final edition of 1214 contained amemorandum to "the brethren of the monastery of who Chrysostomos an excommuni are in the Imperial City," concerning the lifting of The text of the cation that had been imposed on certain persons.200 memorandum is, unfortunately, lost, because a folio ismissing at this addressed
It does not necessarily follow that the from the manuscript. too, was written in 1214; itmay well have been com memorandum, consid earlier and included in the typikon because Neophytos posed ered its content to have particular value. point
the reasons that opinions have been expressed about one proposes to his monks may have led John and Constantinople: that they may have fled there after the establishment of Latin rule Several
on
therefore after 1191 and presumably before the Latin Cyprus, itself in 1204.201 Another view suggests conquest of Constantinople to consult monks traveled to Constantinople that the Koutsovendis with the bureaucracy of the patriarchate of Jerusalem, since itwas assumed that their monastery was subject to the patriarchs and that this period.202 the latterwere living in exile in Constantinople during we see later, are erroneous. As shall Both assumptions, however, Koutsovendis the Ottoman
a dependency of the Holy only became conquest of Cyprus in 1570-71.
Sepulcher
after
it has been shown that of Jerusalem, for the patriarchs to their see.203 The of designation by 1206/7 they had returned as 6 vicb Kamateros the patriarch ry\c, (iacriXeiac; AXel;iou John As
"the one who lived in the reign of Alexios Angelos," Ayyslou, the note with that the patriarch was already dead when implies was written. the text in Furthermore, the synodal decisions
rov
200
7rpo<;touc, iv Tfj PaaiXiSi twv 7t6Xgwv
dSeXfyoix; i>7r6[rvr|o-ic. 102 (Tsiknopoullos, Kvnpiaxd Tvnixd, [above, n. 48]; Stephanes inAyiov NeocpvTov tov EyxXelcTTOvZvyypdft/zaTa, 2:66).
XpuaooTOfdTac,
V dyioc.NeocpvToc. xal eyxXeio~Tocxcu r\ npecrftvTepoc.fiovaxbc. 201
78
I. P. Tsiknopoullos,
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
iepd avTov fiovrj(Paphos, 1955), 41, and tov Tsiknopoullos, H iepd [iovr\ Xpv
Chatzipsaltes,
BifiXioypcMpixdv
o-n/zeloofia,128-30. 203 Pahlitzsch, Graeci und Suriani, (above, n. 32).
257
was
question
annotated
by another
hand
before
itwas
brought
to Cyprus byNeophytos's brother.Hence the lattermust have made his journey afterConstantinople fell intoLatin hands. The of his visit
remains elusive. has cautiously Englezakis in the summer of 1209, that this may have taken place suggested to seek confirmation when Bishop Sabas of Paphos went toNicaea purpose
for the election
of Esaias
to the vacant throne of metropolitan vis-a of the island's Church the position
and to discuss Cyprus, vis the new state of affairs the establishment of a resulting from is Latin church.204 Although this the way the monks' plausible, is described, the destination customary terms employed for using (the queen of cities, the imperial city), indicates Constantinople that
this was
probably if they did make
monks,
not Nicaea.
the Koutsovendis Perhaps the journey to Nicaea, also took the
to visit seems certain is that What opportunity Constantinople. Saint John Chrysostomos and the Enkleistra were at that time on the island. The establishments among the most prominent are our monastery in another writings ofNeophytos important for contain for evidence the too, respect they unique concerning much-discussed
issue of theMaronite
presence
at Koutsovendis.
TheMaronite Community atKoutsovendis
A
been much dence.
notes
in Syriac and Arabic testifies on monastery Cyprus. The latter has linked to Saint John Chrysostomos of Koutsovendis. Since has been written about this issue, let us first look at the evi
small dossier of manuscript to the existence of aMaronite
The
earliest notice
in date
(12 June
1121) is in Syriac
and
is found in theVatic. Syr. 118 {Homilies ofJacob ofSarug, tenth/
eleventh
century), where it as follows:
translates
it is
repeated twice (f. 261V, 262r). Leroy de nom, "Moi, l'humble Simeon, moine
ces
ce livre, aupres de notre Tres Bienheureux lignes dans des Maronites, le saint Pierre, patriarche qui habite monastere de Maiphuk dans le val territoire de Batroun, d'Elige, au monastere m'a donne le de de Saint lorsqu'il pouvoir presider j'ai ecrit Pere Mar
Jean de Kuzbandu (KWZBNDW)
en l'ile de Chypre, a l'epoque
le monastere de Mar Jean. En voici les qui habitaient moine; Moyse, pretre; Joseph, moine et cuisinier (ou sont charge du vestiaire); Georges, moine; Daniel, moine. Ceux-ci et servent le pretres Seigneur. L'an 1432 des Grecs (= 1120/21), le 12 des moines
noms: David,
a Dieu. Amen."205 The second notice juin. Gloire (10 July 1141) is in Arabic, on f. 252 of the same and is thus rendered manuscript, Assemani: "Anno Graecorum bene 1452 (Chr. 1141) mense by
dicto Tamuz Maronitarum,
(Julio) die decima, convenit me Petrum Patriarcham in Antiocheno Throno sedentem, Jacobum nomine,
MONASTERY
204
Englezakis, (above, n. 13).
Eixoat
fieliTcti, 269-70
205 J. Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques a peintures conserves dans les bibliotheques d'Europe et d'Orient; contribution a Vetude de Viconographie des eglises de langue syri aque (Paris, 1964), 235 n. 2.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
79
ex ex Botrensis, filius David Monachus oppido Ramath, Dioceseos ex ex monasterio et mea dedi Deo, eique potestatem Chaphtun; ut praeesset Monasterio S. in in Johannis abjectione, Cuzapanta suum custodita a Deo insula Cypro: prout consensum propriis sub filii Monachi, Esau scilicet scriptionibus firmatum hue miserunt Monachus
horum
prior, eius frater, Laus Domino
et Elias,
et Johannes Monachus,
et Jacobus
nostro, Amen."206
third notice
(8 September 1153),also inArabic, is to be found in the famous codex (Laurent. Plut. I.56), in sixth-century Rabbula the margin off. 7V.Here is Leroy's translation: "L'an 1465 des Grecs, le 8 du mois d'Elul (= Sept. 1153) est venu chez moi, Pierre, patriarche sur le trone d'Antioche, au couvent N.-D. de des Maronites, siegeant The
le val d'Elige, le jeune moine Isai'e du monastere de couvent de Saint-Jean moines 1'ai fait des du superieur je de Kuzbandu dans l'ile de Chypre, selon la lettre qu'il m'a apportee ce a savoir lemoine Gabriel et ecrite par lesmoines (de monastere), dans
Maiphuk Kozhai'a
et
son compagnon Michel. A Dieu
le moine
Simon
et le moine
Habacuc
et le moine
la
gloire, Amen."207 The fourth and last notice is dated
to the year 1238/39 and is, once in the Rabbula codex, f. 8r. It is in Syriac and reads in Leroy's again, translation: "L'an 1550,moi, Pierre, patriarche des Maronites, siegeant
sur le troned'Antioche, appeleJeandu village de GZG ethabitant le
monastere
beni de N.-D.
Est venu chez moi mon
de Maiphuk.
frere
dont le nom est Qasa Matti (le pretre a dire moine). Et il re^ut de moi et chaste Matthieu), (e'est vierge trois cents dinars et une fiole de mourrhon (saint chreme) pour le du monastere
de Kusbandu,
ecrit en arabe, Il a pris en plus un livre de la loi mosai'que ainsi que la Loi et le livre de la foi. A Dieu la gloire, Amen."208 the These notices have been repeatedly quoted and discussed,
monastere.
or not the Maronite establishment was being whether on Mount to the monastery founded identical by George Before attempting to explain the notices we should Koutsovendis.209 examine more closely the information they provide. The first three
main
issue
concern
206
the appointment
S. E. Assemani,
of heads
Bibliotheca Orientalis
(Rome, 1718), 1: 307 and Assemani, thecae apostolicae Vaticanae
Biblio
codicum manu
scriptorum catalogus (Rome, 1759), 1.3: 114-15. An English translation is provided 1: 305 n. 1 by Hill inA History ofCyprus, n. 4). (above, 207 208
8o
Leroy, Les manuscrits, Ibid., 146 n. 2.
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
146 n. 1.
to a community
of monks
by the
Hill, A History ofCyprus, i: 305; C. Kyrris, "Military Colonies in Cyprus in 209
the Byzantine Purpose
Period: Their Character,
and Extent," BSl 31 (1970): 177-79;
Mango, "Chypre, carrefour," 6; Galatariotou, TheMaking of a Saint, 6^-66 (above, n. 4); Englezakis,
Etxoai
fzeXhai, 28-30.
Maronite
patriarch,210 west of Batrun.211
1121
resident
in the monastery
Appointed abbot: Symeon. Resident members:
priest Moses;
George, Daniel. abbot: David Appointed
1141
Resident members:
of Maifuk,
monks David,
of themonastery
south
Joseph,
of Chaphtun.
Esau, Elias, John, Jacob.
Appointed abbot: Isaiah of themonasteryofKozhaia.
1153
Resident members:
Gabriel,
Michael.
Simon, Habacuc,
was facts are immediately apparent: theMaronite community turnover the small (five to sixmembers, the and of abbot) including the monks was fairly rapid, since there is no overlap of names. Now, of the notice of 1153 coincides with the presence in the monastery
Two
he joined the of the young Neophytos. When Saint Chrysostomos was named Maximos. in 1152, the The same community hegumen was was to the in Maximos office when Neophytos still promoted in 1157,but was succeeded, in position of parekklesiarches probably the same year, by one named Furthermore, Neophytos Euphrosynos. records the death his stay there of three monks of the com during were called Leontios, Nicholas, and Since munity who Ignatios.212 none
of these names
bound
appears in the Syriac notice of 1153, one is that the Greek community to which Neophytos commu Maronite distinct from the Arabic-speaking
to conclude
was belonged nity. Another
indication
to the same effect is that theMaronite
mon
as dedicated to astery is nowhere mentioned Chrysostomos, being in Mar notices and in amuch called "of both these Yuhanna," merely note of 1564, which later manuscript is, incidentally, the last time we hear of theMaronite community.213 The ravages of the Ottoman of the conquest of 1570/71,which led to the temporary abandonment
as we shall see, sealed the fate of at Koutsovendis Greek monastery theMaronite establishment that was presumably never revived. 210 whom
On
the patriarchs of this period, for the evidence is largely restricted to
these notices, see P. Dib, L'eglise maronite, vol. i,L'eglise maronite jusqu a lafin du moyen age (Paris, 1930), 190-91, G. Fedalto, Hierarchia
Ecclesiastica
Orientalis,
series
episcoporum ecclesiarum christianarum orientalium (Padua, 1988), 2: 714, and more important, J.-B. Chabot, Les listespatriar cales de l'eglise maronite (Paris, 1938), 4-7, 18-19, f?r a critical survey of the sources and literature. The patriarch
in both 1121
and 1153 is called Peter but, as the notices of 1141 and 1238/39 suggest, this name was probably adopted by all Maronite patriarchs of this period. Nevertheless, listes, 22) concludes mentioned
Chabot
(Les
that the incumbents
in 1141 and 1153 are one and the
same person. 211
On
themonastery
10 (1901): 587-89, and on its location
(ca. 30 km south of Tripoli), R. Dussaud,
MONASTERY
et
212
I. P. Tsiknopoullos, "Xuyypa^iKf] Tg^vr) Kai ypa^iKo; ttXqvtoc,tou ayiou Ngo4>t>Tov," Kvnp. Zn. 23 (1959): 122-23; Tsiknopoullos, "Ta KVKpiOLKktov cty\ov NeofyvTov" Kvnp.Zn. 24 (i960):
see P. Chebli,
"Notes archeologiques recueillies dans le district de Botrys-Batroun (Mont Liban)," RevBibl
Topographie historique de la Syrie antique medievale (Paris, 1927), map 5.
Tvnixd,
148-49; Tsiknopoullos, 75 (above, n. 48).
Kvnpiaxd
TheMaking ofa Saint, 213 Galatariotou, 65; M. Breydy, Geschichte der Syro Arabischen Literatur derMaroniten vom VII. bisXVI. Jahrhundert
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
(Opladen,
1985), 231.
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
8l
The similarity of the toponyms Kusbandu/Kuzbandu/Cuzapanta and Koutsovendis leaves no doubt that they were one and the same is confirmed
locality.214 This ments on the
settle by the concentration ofMaronite in and in particular slopes of the Kyrenia Mountains in later centuries (at the vicinity of Koutsovendis Klepini, Vouno, The precise location of theMaronite monas and around Kythrea).215 tery,however, is less easy to establish. There is no evidence linking it with the two ruined churches outside Saint John nei Chrysostomos,
therofwhich isknown tohave been dedicated to Saint Johnor has
any trace of inscriptions in any language other than Greek. A church of Saint John Prodromos (i.e., the Baptist), however, ismarked on H. H. Kitchener's Survey of the Island of Cyprus Trigonometrical to the north of the (1885) monastery and halfway up to Buffavento. This
is
the same as the ruinous
(vaulted) chapel men identified as the remains
presumably
next to what he tioned by Tsiknopoullos to theMaronite of a cell.216Whether these structures ever belonged or not, one is certain: theMaronite monastery was community thing Koutsovendis somewhere near established on the slopes of Mount the Greek community. The formal relationship between the two?if not known. Later sources to the Greek there was one?is pertaining
reveal nothing about it.Do we have here a parallel ethnic establishment, following the pattern attested, for example, at Saint on theWondrous which had Greek, Latin, and Mountain, Symeon community
Georgian Maronite
communities?217 Had was
we been able to demonstrate
dedicated
to
that the
such co-exist
monastery Chrysostomos, communities would have been likely. But this is not the case. ing These notices constitute the earliest evidence for the presence on
The monks
of
therein may have issued Cyprus. from a well-established scattered among the villages community to in centuries have been later known Maronite; they could also
Maronites
attested
have been sent to the island from the mainland
Most
modern
to run themonastery. literature argues for the former option, placing the first
The toponym, very rare, occurs only once elsewhere on Cyprus, in the vicinity of in the Troodos themonastery ofMachairas 214
it ismarked
Mountains: Kitchener's
on H. H.
Trigonometrical
Bcltixclvov [162S-1667]
Survey of the 1885), but does
Island ofCyprus (London, not appear on themodern Ordnance
Survey
maps of the island. The evidence consists mostly of 16th and i7th-c. manuscript notes and lists of
215
8l
1903], 38; Cobham, Excerpta n. 59]; Z. N. Tsirpanles, Cypria, 182 [above, AvexBoTct eyypatpa ex tcov dpxelcov tov [Munich,
another Maronite
Saint George Attalou desertes,"
174-75
settlement (M. Bardswell, of theMaronite
Landeskunde
PAPACOSTAS
(Grivaud, "Villages [above, n. 182]). A late
tradition purports that the village of too, had been aMaronite Koutsovendis,
Churches Quarterly
TASSOS
period there was in the area,
monastery
villages (Breydy, Geschichte, 227-31; E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern, eine aufhistorischer Grundlage
[Nicosia,
181). In the latemedieval
1973],
Villages
"AVisit to Some of Cyprus," Eastern
3 [1938-39]: 307).
Tsiknopoullos, H iepd /zovrjtov n. 173). Although Xpvo-oo-Tdfiov, 26 (above, 216
probably one of the ruined chapels recorded by E. Lewis inA Lady's Impressions ofCyprus in 1893 (London, 1894), 328, it is unclear if it is also to be identified with what Pierre Dib refers to as "le monastere,
detruit depuis se trois trouvait sur le de siecles, [qui] plus a quelque cinquante la de colline, penchant metres au-dessous maronite,
du sommet" (Dib, L'eglise
152n. 2).
217 Djobadze, n. 33).
Materials,
87-89
(above,
settlements
in as
early
as the seventh In view of the lack century.218
The case of the of evidence,however,definiteproof is impossible.219
establish monastery may be similar to that of the Georgian ment near Yialia, mentioned earlier (see p. 42 above), where there is no evidence to suggest that itwas linked to a pres larger Georgian
Maronite
ence on the island at that time. Ifwe
assume
is monastery with that of the Greek community next door, roughly contemporary a role in we Philokales wonder whether Eumathios played might act an on would monks the installation ofMaronite Cyprus. Such have made
of theMaronite
that the foundation
excellent
sense. The Maronites
were
the most
powerful in in in and offer Lebanon did, fact, group significant help the establishment of the county ofTripoli.220 To maintain a Byzantine
Christian
coast and in touch with presence on the Lebanese keep developments to have a line of communication in the county, itwas clearly helpful with local Christian elements. By installing a number ofMaronite in an area to which he had close links, Philokales would monks
on this vital connection. Nor did have been able to keep his finger this usefulness necessarily cease when, under Bertrand, the county to become a fief of the broke its links with Byzantium kingdom of
can also understand that when, under the Jerusalem. We Lusignans, there occurred a more massive Maronite immigration into Cyprus, the newcomers would have gravitated toward a district with which they had already certain ties.
TheMonastery after theByzantine Period
The history of themonastery after the end of Byzantine rule in Cyprus is not well documented. It is not known if and how the establishment
ofLatin domination (1192)and of a Latin churchon the island (1196) affected the community 218
L. de Mas
and the properties
Latrie, Histoire de Vile de
Chypre sous le regne des princes de la maison de Lusignan (Paris, 1852-61), 1:108-9; Kyrris, "Military Colonies," 174 (above, n. 209); Dib, L'eglise maronite, 175, and Dib, Histoire de l'eglise maronite (Beirut, 1962), 71 [9th c.?]). The best recent discussion of the evidence is by G. Grivaud, "Les minori tes orientales a Chypre (epoques medievales in Chypre et laMediterranee
etmoderne),"
orientate: Formations
identitaires, perspec tives historiques et enjeux contemporains: Actes du colloque tenu a Lyon, 1997, ed. Y. Ioannou, F. Metral, 2000),
53-57.
and M. Yon
(Lyon,
that itmust
have
surely the Crusader
The claim is largely based on the assumption that theMaronites were
219
descended
fromMardaites
A History
said to have been
settled on Cyprus in the late 7th c; but the alleged association between theMardaites and Maronites
States: The 'Minorities',"
of the Crusades,
in
2nd ed., ed. K.
Setton, vol. 5,The impact of the Crusades on theNear East, ed. N. P. Zacour and H. W. Hazard
(Madison,
1985), 90.
has been shown to be unsub
stantiated (M. Moosa,
TheMaronites
in
History [Syracuse, 1986], 193). 220 There is considerable disagreement
on
the question of how strong theMaronite element may have been in the county's population; for opposing views see J.Richard, Le comte de Tripoli sous la dynastie toulousaine
(1102-1187) (Paris, 1945), 86, and J. Prawer, "Social Classes in
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
83
was ever taken There is no indication that Koutsovendis possessed. over western monks, as was the monastery of Stavrovouni.221 It is by in this very surely significant that period, shortly after the change of was an as we saw its version of rule, (?) typikon updated produced, earlier. Thus not only did the community survive the upheavals, but it asserted itsOrthodox traditions in the face of western intrusion,
as did other establishments
on the island (Enkleistra, Machairas).222 no evidence in any medieval or the nearby Apsinthiotissa, Unlike a ever center source into later suggests that Koutsovendis developed of
pilgrimage,223 although the time of its foundation,
housed
a relic of a minor
it did possess a relic of the True Cross at and later on, as we shall see shortly, it also saint. The typikon mentions neither a hos
nor a monk in among the monastery's buildings, pice/guest-house of one among its officers, as was often the case in other monas charge tic documents (see pp. 50, 53 above). As we
saw earlier, some monks
and their hegumen John traveled soon after the to the Crusaders to city's fall Constantinople probably a few years later: next We hear of Koutsovendis (see pp. 77-78 above). two monks named John and Konon leftKalon Oros near Attaleia,224 sailed across of the perhaps because of the Seljuk conquest region,225 to in the went sea to Machairas of the the monastery up Cyprus, and search for the ideal monastic subsequent and retreat with their companions Matthew brought them, together were not to Koutsovendis. Theodore, They particularly impressed by
Troodos
Mountains.
Their
221 On the impact of the change of rule see "Ti eKKkY\cria T. Papadopoullos, Kvitpov in Kcrnx tyjv 7rgpioSo xfj<;OpayKOKpaTiacV' (above, IcTopla 4,1:543-602 Papadopoullos, n. 95); J. Richard, "Les revokes chypriotes de 1191-1192 et les infeodations de Guy de Studies inCrusader Lusignan," inMontjoie: Hans in Honour Eberhard Mayer, History of ed. B. Z. Kedar, J.Riley-Smith, and R. Hiestand Coureas,
(Aldershot, 1997), 126-28; N. inCyprus, 119s
The Latin Church
1312 (Aldershot, 1997), 251-317; P. Edbury, "Some Cultural Implications of the Latin Conquest
of Cyprus,"
inCyprus: The Legacy:
That Influenced the Art ofCyprus. Late Bronze Age toA.D. 1600,
Historic Landmarks
ed. J.A. Koumoulides
(Bethesda, Maryland,
and the most compelling
1999), 99-no; recent discussion
by C. Schabel, "Religion,"
in Cyprus: Society and Culture 1191-1374, and C. Schabel ed. A. Nicolaou-Konnari 157-218, in particular
184 (Leiden, 2005), 90, and Schabel, "The Status of the Greek
84
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Clergy in Early Frankish Cyprus," in Sweet Land... Lectures on theHistory and Culture and C. ofCyprus, ed. J. Chrysostomides Dendrinos 170-77. 2006), (Camberley, 222 The foundation typika of Neilos for Machairas
and Neophytos
the Enkleistra this period
the Recluse
for
(second version) date from
(1210 and 1214 respectively) Kvnpiaxd Tvnixd [above,
(Tsiknopoullos, n.48]).
223 Although on themap of Leonida ismarked with Attar (1542) Koutsovendis a symbol used for important pilgrimage shrines (I owe this reference, as well as those to unpublished
archival material mentioned
below, to the anonymous reader of the his torical section, towhom I am most grateful); see F. Cavazzana Romanelli and G. Grivaud, Cyprus 1S42: The Great Map of theIsland see also, by byLeonida Attar (Nicosia, 2006); the same authors, "Cipro 1542. La grande mappa dell'isola di Leonida Attar," in Cipro-Venezia.
Comuni sorti storiche,Atene
i~3Marzo
2001, ed. C. Maltezou
(Venice,
ismentioned 2002), 289-314. Apsinthiotissa in 1473 as a goal of pilgrimage for the people of Kyrenia on the feastday of theDormition (15August) and again in 1489,when visited by Queen Caterina Cornaro prior to her depar ture from Cyprus (G. Kechagioglou, Airjynaic.Kpdvixac
TtypTtycMnovaTpovg,
Kvnpov [Nicosia, 1997], 166, 316). 224 On the identification of Kalon Oros, is often erroneously said to be Mount see G. Mercati, "Macaire Calorites et
which Athos,
Constantin
Anagnostes,"
ROC
2 (1920-22):
164-66. 225
Medieval of and theProcess of
S. Vryonis, The Decline
Hellenism
inAsia Minor
Islamization from theEleventh
through the
(Berkeley, 1971), 133;
Fifteenth Century Attaleia was occupied under firmTurkish
in 1207 and brought control soon thereafter
(C. Foss, "The Cities of Pamphylia," in Foss, Cities, Fortresses and Villages ofByzantine Asia Minor
[Aldershot, 1996], study 4:12-13).
the
place,
though
(the
reasons are not
and very soon moved
given),
on, settlingfinallyat theTheotokos Kantariotissa, near the castleof
where they at the eastern edge of the Kyrenia Mountains, were later prose more recruits. The Kantara monks were joined by at the in burnt and Latin the cuted by Nicosia, Church, imprisoned
Kantara
stake inMay ened host.226
1231 for upholding
doctrine
the Orthodox
on the leav
This was a troubled period on the island, for a civil war (known as the Lombard war) had erupted in 1229 and spilled over to the main to an end in 1233. It the states before land Crusader poised coming most one of the the Ibelins, supporters of kingdom's powerful families, of the German emperor Frederick II, who attempted to against those over Most of suzerainty Cyprus.227 impose his (until then nominal)
and the defenses took place in the area between Nicosia to a of the north coast, including of course Buffavento. According much later account, in the early stages of the conflict the castle was the hostilities
held by William ofRivet, one of thefivebaillies towhom the regency of the kingdom was
entrusted during
the minority
of Henry
I, and
was besieged by John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut and leader of the
In early 1232 John's daughter-in-law Eschiva of "royalist" faction.228 at the armies and fled Nicosia Montbeliard approach of the emperor's in the castle that she The turning point provisioned.229 sought refuge of the struggle occurred in June of the same year when the imperial at the southern entrance troops were defeated at the battle of Agridi,
some 9 miles (14 pass through the Kyrenia Mountains, The war ended in the spring of 1233with km) west of Koutsovendis. to of the Ibelins. As in 1191, the monks the surrender of Kyrenia to the main
Koutsovendis
must
have witnessed
from a close distance
the events
in the vicinity of their monastery. To what extent they unfolding were to tell. But the wider is directly affected region did impossible was the main theater of opera considerable experience damage?it
is known to have suffered: its nearby Kythrea were to vital the local mills, economy, destroyed by the advancing summer of 1232.230 imperial troops in the tions after all?and
226
The most recent edition of the text
which gives this story,written by an anonymous contemporary author, is by "Mapxupiov Ku7rpiwv," in Topoc. dvafivrjo-Tixoc ini Tfj $osTrjptSi tov
T. Papadopoullos,
nepiodixov Anoo-Toloc Bapvdfictc (1918-1968) (Nicosia, 1975), 307-38. For a narrative of the events leading to themonks' death, see Papadopoullos, "H ?KKAr]0"iaKi>7rpou," 1:571-82 (above, n. 221). The date is given in a note in the early i4th-c. Palat. gr. 367
(P. Schreiner, Die Kleinchroniken, 227
byzantinischen 3 vols. [Vienna,
P. Edbury, TheKingdom
1975], 1:199).
1994), 172.
ofCyprus
and theCrusades,
1191-1374 (Cambridge, a discussion of the with 48-65, 1991), source evidence. in
P. de Novare, TheWars ofFrederick II against theIbelins in Syria and Cyprus, trans, and ed. J. L. La Monte
"[The imperial forces] mistrent feu par my les aires, et partout le plain [the et ce fistgrant domage ... et Mesaoria]; avoyent brise tous lesmolins de laQueterie" 230
228 Mas Latrie, Florio Bustron, 78 (above, n. 68). See also the comments of J. L. La Monte
229 S. Melani, Filippo da Novara, Guerra de Federico II in Oriente (1223-1242) (Naples,
(Melani, Filippo da Novara, Kingdom
180; Edbury,
ofCyprus, 67).
(New York, 1936), 102 n.i.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
85
In 1301 the community of Koutsovendis hosted a guest from a rather surprising background. The journey to Cyprus of the Catalan and Franciscan monk Ramon Lull was part of his philosopher activities around Europe and theMediterranean. preaching Having heard that theMongol sultan had attacked Syria, he resolved to visit the East. He spent most of the second half of 1301 in Cyprus, even
thoughHenry II banned him frompreaching against thekingdom's
After taken ill, he spent some time Jacobites and Nestorians. being "in monasterio sancti Iohannis Crisostomi" recuperating and writ ing his rhetorical treatise Rhetorica Nova, which he finished there in to meet He then left the monastery Jacques de Molay, September.231 in Limassol?), Grand Master of theTemple (at the order's headquarters was in he and by December Famagusta where he composed another
tract {Liber de Natura) before sailing to Ayas and then back to the West.232 Itwould have been extremely interesting to know something to their eminent monks about the reaction of the Koutsovendis us yet again. guest's views, but the historical record fails No document from Koutsovendis other than the typikon has been preserved. There is, however, some evidence for a brebion that in the monastery. The fourteenth-century Vat. may have originated Pal. gr. 367 contains examples of genuine and model letters,minutes of meetings, and legal documents, often copies of thirteenth-century and was meant to be used as a guide to the composition originals, of such documents.233 It also includes an inventory of an unnamed church (f. 99r); this may be modeled on a brebion from Koutsovendis,
of the Cemetery and, as we saw earlier, a is described in the typikon outside themonastery chapel same constitutes in the only (admittedly terms; this precisely the main its The value of the brebion for evidence weak) possible origin. for itmentions
a church of the Theotokos
for our purposes would 231
reside in the reference to a metochion
The Rhetorica Nova was written in
but survives only in a Latin transla tion made inGenoa in 1303 (J.Rubio
Catalan
Balaguer,
literaria en l'obra
"L'expressio
luHiana," Estudios Lulianos
There is little doubt that themonastery Chrysostomos Koutsovendis,
232
of
where Lull stayed is that of for no other establishment
with this dedication
is known on the island.
On Lull's activities in Cyprus,
see A.
Bonner, trans, and ed., Selected Works of Ramon Lull (1232-1316), 2 vols. (Princeton, 1985), 1: 39-40; G. Grivaud, "XD 7rv?i>uaTiKdc
86
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Pioc. Kai r\ypa[L\iaTo\oyia Kara tvjv 7T?plo8o in Papadopoullos, xfjc.OpayKOKpaxiat;," (above, n. 95), and
lo-Topta 5, 2:1045-46 Grivaud,
5 [1961]: 140).
(at an
"Literature,"
inNicolaou-Konnari
and Schabel, Cyprus: Society and Culture, 269-70 (above, n. 123); E. Moutsopoulos, "Un penseur majeur Chypre: Ramon
Catalan du XHIe
Llull," innpaxTixd
Tpkov AieSvovc. Kvnpoloyixov (Nicosia, 2001), 2: 85-87. 233
Constantinides
Greek Manuscripts, n. 24).
siecle a tov
ZweSpiov
and Browning, Dated 153-65 no. 31 (above,
no other information on the location), for there is virtually properties of Koutsovendis.234 In the fifteenth century Leontios Machairas reports in his much at some earlier date the skull of that chronicle quoted unspecified one of the so-called Alaman Saint Epiphanios, saints, was removed near his tomb from the abandoned Kythrea, together chapel housing for This with the icons, and taken to Koutsovendis safekeeping.235 unnamed
to some minor saint and not to of relic clearly Epiphanios belongs was buried in the island's late antique capital Salamis, for the latter
and his relic or parts of it are attested in later in both (near Salamis) and Constantinople.237 Famagusta
Salamis/Constantia236 centuries
as the relic's explicitly the monastery new home, and he could very well be to the nearby village referring existence is not recorded until of Koutsovendis, the latter's although
Machairas
does not mention
the sixteenth century. But Florio Bustron's somewhat later account makes clear that itwas indeed at the monastery that the relic was
conquest of 1570-71) placed. Bustron (writing before the Ottoman at seen in have himself the skull the monastery; more may question in the service over, being a notary and translator of official documents of theVenetian
administration
ous earlier sources. One
234
on the island, he had access to numer
such could be that known
Bpg^iov twv igpwv cbravTWVTY\qKa0' Trjo-Sg igpwv o-Kguwv, gKKXr|C7ia<;
Y\\La<; ayla; ayiwv Tg Kai aefiaayLiuv gucovwv, g7ri7rXwv, Pi(2Xiwv, [*avouaXiwv Kai Xoi7rwv, ygygvrjfxgvovKaTa tov oSgiva jxyjvavttj<; gvgorcoo7]<;TY\a8e ivSiKTiwvoc/HfxgXr]Tai [lev gw<;apTi Kai 7rap' oudgv toi<; rcpb y][xwv gXoyi^gTo yjw<; gvTa|gi ^pg^iov KaTaypa(f>y] dXk' i\[L6)vye ov Sucaiov KaTgcj>avy) gv 7rapac7^g5apiw glvai ty\vtoiclvty\v Ka,T(typa?Y\vKai KaTaXy]^iv ty\v evbq eyccLcrTov twv ty\c,sKKXr](7ia<;igpwva7ravTwv. Aid Kai apiSyjXoTgpov tolvty\v7toir]craf*gvoi Kai twv a8gX(j>wv Kai iv to\c,a7ravTwv GgXrjcrgi 6<j>9aX^oT<;upOKgi^gva KaTgypac}>r]o*av,i'v' ty\vgiSyjcrivd7rXavr] g^oigv Kai oi [Xg9'y](xd<; ev \Lr\hev\ KaTa nkdviyv ?y]fxlav Kai \LY\he\dcLv i>4>io-Tao'Gai.noTxjpiov dpyupov, Sicnco<;, KpcLTY\p,piudKia >]TOiXapiSg<;, d<7Tgpio-Ko<;, clt[loc? Qv[LiaTbv, pnrlSiov, KaT^iov, ycdyiTZTpov (?), oravpoi;, 7rgpicrTgpa,Ku9poKav?y]Xov, Kav?yjXa, f^avouaXiov, ^goriov, EuayygXia, TgTpaguayygXa, (SipXia gTgpa rfj<; gKKXyjaia^, KovSaKia ty\c,gKKXrjo"ia<;,Sia twv <7g7iTwv Kai ayiwv gbcovwv, ?ia twv ayiwv guc6vwvtwv SoGgvTwv gvTY\tov \LeToy\ov Tovde, 6pioiw<; Kai Sia twv pi^Xiwv tou at>Tot> (xgTo^iou- ?ia
to us
through
a
twv ayicov e'ikovwv tcov oixtwv ev tco vaw rrjc. tou Koi|zr]Tr]piou (S. i>7T?payia; 0?ot6kou Lampros, "Ku7tpiaKa Kai a'Xka lyypacjja ?K toO na^axivoO kcJ)Siko<;367 rfjc,$i$\ioQy\ky\<; tou BariKavoO/'TsTgo^EJU. In themid-20th
14 [1917]: 23-24).
c. themonastery
owned
properties nearby, at the villages of Koutsovendis and Sykhari, but also further afield, at Argaka in the Paphos district (State Archives SA1/581/1949, SA1/1832/1950). 235
Pieris and Nicolaou-Konnari,
Maxaipd Dawkins,
Xpovixo tyjcKvnpov, Leontios Makhairas,
AeovTiov
82-83 (ed. 1: 30 [above,
n. 28]); the latest among the three surviving manuscripts of the text (Ravenna Bibl. Classense
187) gives Kophinou (near the south coast) rather than Koutsovendis as the
place where the relic was translated. According toTsiknopoullos, H hpd fzovr]tov Xpvo-ocrTOfiov,49 (above, n. 179), the ruins of shrine were located ca. 3miles Epiphanios's to the southeast of Koutsovendis. On the "Alaman" Hundred 236
saints seeC Alaman
Delehaye, (above, n. 28).
Kyrris, "The "Three Saints'" (above, n. 117).
"Saints de Chypre," 252
Among the relics donated to the abbey of Cormery by Guillermus, themonk men tioned above (p. 43) in connection with the
237
relic of Saint James the Persian, was one of Epiphanios of Salamis (presumably acquired in either theHoly Land or Constantinople). Epiphanios's relic was reported still at Salamis
in 1345 (P. G. Golubovich,
[Florence, 1906-27], dell'Orientefrancescano in the 16th c. the sepulcher (sar cophagus?) of the saint with a Greek inscrip
4: 447);
tion was allegedly discovered and subse quently taken to the Greek cathedral in Famagusta, where it is attested in 1566 (Mas 18 [above, n. 68]; Cypria, 78 [above, n. 59]).
Latrie, Florio Bustron, Cobham,
Excerpta The dubious report of the alleged translation of the relic by Leo VI from Cyprus to does not appear until the Constantinople late 18th c. (Archimandrite Kyprianos, 'IaToplctxpovoloyixr] TfjcvrjcovKvnpov [Venice, 1788], 32) and was most probably inspired by that of the relic of Lazaros 900. On Epiphanios's synaxis in see Eastern Orthodox Constantinople, Church, Synaxarium,
MONASTERY
Biblioteca
bio-bibliografica delta Terra Santa e
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
675-77
in ca.
(above, n. 85).
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
87
L4*
^^K-^^9iH^^^HHraH^K^i^^^^^^^l^9^^^BSB^R^>^^^^!-'-
~JL^
WtHJ^^^^^Sll^^^^^^^^^^^^HII^^I^Bi^HII^^^^^^HBH^^li^''^*^^
Pig-3 HolyTrinitychapel,Koutsovendis, on south scratched wall. coat-of-arms
C.Mango by '^ ^B^^^^^^HII^^^^^^^^^^HI^^^^^lHl^^^^^^H^^^^ffi^^HH^^^'^Sb Photo
Add. 34554, (British Museum to theHelena believed legend) copy an earlier (later fourteenth century?) text and which Machairas himself is thought to have used.238 The detail concerning the depo
sixteenth-century Greek manuscript earlier in connection with mentioned
sition of the relic at the monastery of Koutsovendis appears in the too. If this information is not a later British Museum manuscript was and indeed included in the assumed archetype, interpolation then we would
have a terminus ante quern for the translation. One at the time of the civil is that this may have taken place
possibility war of 1229-33 when,
was badly affected. already saw, Kythrea The fate of the skull after its transfer is unknown. Later visitors to the ?> ail
Monastic
,|
as we
to mention
.
. 239 it.
life at Koutsovendis
continued
into
the Venetian
itwas listed among the island's func (1489-1570/71), when Orthodox establishments and indeed frequented by visitors tioning
period
who lefttheirmarks on thewalls of both theHoly Trinity (fig.3)240 Grivaud, "Villages desertes," 464 (above, n. 182);Mas Latrie, Florio Bustron,
238
34; Grivaud,
"nv?U[^aTiK6c pioc," 1154-68 "'Ek Tfj<; (above, n. 232); Papadopoullos, dp^aioTaryji; iaropiac tov 7raTpiap;(?iou n. 55).On 'l?poo"o^.i>[/cov,"29 (above, of the lost source, see n. 55 above.
the date
According to a document of 1353 insti tuting an annual commemoration for Saint
239
in the Latin cathedral of Saint Epiphanios in the skull of an Epiphanios Nicosia, Sophia to be of Salamis) was vener (clearly thought ated there at the time; there is no evidence though to link this to the relic at Koutsovendis (text in Coureas and Schabel,
88
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
310 [above, n. 58]; English translation in C. Schabel, The Synodicum Nicosiense and Other Documents of the The Cartulary,
Latin Church ofCyprus, 1196-1373 [Nicosia, 2001], 366). 240
A coat-of-arms was
Marzuppini example
scratched next to
the figure of John the Baptist in the scene on the south wall: heater Anastasis shaped escutcheon with molets of six points at dexter chief, sinister chief and middle base, and at fess point what appears to be a triplemountain (?); it is flanked by the initials A. M. and the date 15April 1506 (Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," [above, n. 2]). Although no
figs. 86-88
identical arms appear in any of themajor publications on Cypriot and Italian heraldry, those of theMontagna of Verona and of the of Arezzo
are rather close to our
(V. Rolland, Planches
de I'armorial
general de J.-B. Rietstap [Paris, 1912], 4: plates 158, 230); for another similar example, see E. Morando
di Custoza, Armoriale
Veronese [Verona, 1976], plate 180 no. 1615).
It was and the cemetery perhaps during this period that chapels.241 some minor at the monastery: work took the super place building structure of the katholikon narthex was altered and at the parekkle sion the roof line was
and its structure strength perhaps modified ened by the of the arches carrying the dome and the underpinning in of the western recesses (see pp. 104-5 below). There is nev filling ertheless circumstantial evidence that by this time its fortunes had of 1522 pertaining to a lawsuit concerning the and Kyrenia to exploit monastic right of the inhabitants of Nicosia estates had lost its autonomy and became implies that Koutsovendis a of the of This nearby monastery dependency Apsinthiotissa.242
declined. A document
a list (compiled in ca. 1520) record contemporary explain why revenues of ing the major landowners in Cyprus, including themost monastic establishments, omits Koutsovendis, prosperous although is included.243 Another indication that Koutsovendis Apsinthiotissa may
did not fare particularly well is the lack of evidence for either the or the This was, after all, commissioning production of manuscripts. a very on the island for productive period manuscript copying, yet
none
appears to be associated with our monastery.244 The later fif teenth and the sixteenth centuries were also a period of intensive artistic activity. But the churches monastery's surviving medieval
(theHoly Trinity and the two ruined chapels outside the compound) do not preserve any post-Comnenian frescoes. This dearth contrasts with Apsinthiotissa, where there is evidence for new wall-paintings from late medieval the earlier Deesis times, when dating perhaps in the apse was a replaced by Virgin flanked by Archangels; in this perhaps period, too, that the church at Apsinthiotissa repaired and had its vaulting strengthened.245 241
A coat-of-arms of unknown date and
ownership with an octapus gules was reported in the past (G.Markou, Heraldry
Sevens, whom in
the early 20th c. at a house in Pallouriotissa, Nicosia
(G. Jeffery,"The Heraldry of Cyprus," ProSocAnt 32 [1919-20]: 212,218 no. 164). "Santa Maria de Psitia cum sua perti 242 nentia del monastier Chrissostomo
nominato Cuzoventi"
Ploumides, Kavoviapoi (1S07-1S22)
de San Zuane (G. S.
Tijq vrjaovKvnpov
[Ioannina,
Apsinthiotissa
1987], 59). is only an hour's walk from
Koutsovendis
(Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 30 [above, n. 62J).A pathway, perhaps dating tomedieval times, still runs along the
mountain
ridge between the two monaster ies (I owe this information toDr Rita
243
Mas
Latrie, Histoire,
n. 218). On G. Grivaud,
was
I thank for information on
travelers of the Ottoman
Cyprus [Nicosia, 1983], 44 [121 in the 2003 ed.]). A similar example was recorded in
itwas
period too). 3: 503-4
the date of this document
(above, see
"Sur la datation du memoire
de
10.2 (1988): Francois Attar (ca.1520)," CCEC 31-35. The annual revenue of Apsinthiotissa is recorded as 200 ducats
(that of other
monasteries
ranges between 200 and 600 ducats). An unpublished later list of revenues (1567) includes "Cuciventi" although no sum is given (Civico Museo
Correr, cod. Cicogna
3596/15, f. 15V). 244
Constantinides
Greek Manuscripts,
245
A. and J. Stylianou, "'H
(2u?avTivf]
T??vr) Kara ty\v7t?pioSo rrjcOpayKOKpariac (1191-1570)," in Papadopoullos, 'IcrTopla5, 2:1238-46,1318-61 Papageorgiou, et decouvertes
(above, n. 95); A.
"Chronique
des fouilles
archeologiques
en 1989," BCH114
a Chypre
(1990): 983-85;
"Ti (xovrj A-^ivGiwriao-yjc," 76, 79 (above, n. 8); BCH 114 (1990): 983-85. As in the case of Koutsovendis, these late Papageorgiou,
medieval
interventions are difficult to date
with any precision.
and Browning, Dated 15-16 (above, n. 24).
Some 40% of themanuscripts included in this corpus are dated to the Venetian period and almost half of those were copied at or formonasteries.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
89
conquest did nothing to improve the situation armies Nicosia fell to the advancing Ottoman
The Ottoman of Koutsovendis.
on 9 to the 1570. The proximity of the monastery city September was a to be Buffavento distinct for, proved although disadvantage, not since it had been left to fall in ruins and presumably garrisoned
no area was never played significant military role by this time, the was theless attacked and Koutsovendis raided and sacked. Its hegu men, whose
name has not been recorded, was Soon
Constantinople.
thereafter he was
taken to captured and released and was appointed
bishop ofLimassol (thelast incumbenthaving been killed during the in 1572.246The probably buildings of the monastery, siege ofNicosia), and in particular the church (the katholikon?), were looted, ifwe are to believe the testimony of the anonymous author of the Jhrenos of
an eyewitness to the to have been siege composed by Cyprus, thought recovered and was of Nicosia.247 Very soon, however, Koutsovendis
an icon of John Chrysostomos by 1589,when to the monastery. a certain Loutzios dedicated and by in the Indeed, according to the archimandrite Kyprianos (writing and confiscation of mon late eighteenth century), the abandonment asteries that followed the Ottoman conquest did not last long, for were most to back and reactivat within fifteen twenty years bought functioning was painted
once more
is also borne out by other sources: a register of the island's in the wake of the conquest settlements compiled for tax purposes some monastic lists establishments, presumably those active on sixty
ed.248 This
the eve of the change of rule. Yet, despite the subsequent abandon ments, their number in 1600 is reported by Archbishop Benjamin the to have been sixty-two, the that upheaval wrought by suggesting B. Arbel, "H Kvnpoc, vno ?V?tikx] lo-Topta 4, Kupiap^ia," in Papadopoullos, 1:474. The adventures of the hegumen are 246
a Dominican reported by Angelo Calepio, monk and an eyewitness of the fall of Nicosia whose
who was himself captured and (written in 1572) was pub
account
lished in Etienne de Lusignan's Chorograffia et breve historia universale dell'isola de Cipro principiando sino ali$72
al tempo di Noeper
(Bologna,
in French in de Lusignan, Description, (above, n. 59); English translation in Cobham,
in
1573), 123a, and again
Excerpta Cypria,
f.29or
161 (above, n. 59).
The hegumen of Koutsovendis ("monasterio is also attested shortly de Cusotumento") before the conquest, as a signatory to the of synod convened by the Latin archbishop Cyprus, Philip Mocenigo,
90
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
in 1567; he may be
identical with Hegumen Timotheos abbate del monasterio di
("frate
Tymotheo
247
Zrj[da
ei<; gKelvrjvttjv gKKXrjaiav, 7rou gKglvoc.7roilty\v iKTiagv
'XgyavKoT^o^gvTr], Ivai [Leyox;avQevT^
who appears as a candidate Cuzzovendi") for the see of Solea in 1568 (Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Capi dei Died, Lettere di rettori
yfj [Le.to yr]iv ?jtov y\ gjzop^a wpSiviao-^igvrj, 7rpao-iva, j^gvgTaKai gi<;gKgtva 6?ia, KiTpiva o-TayLTiao-yLevat,r\\do:
ed altre cariche, b. 290, c. 228, and Senato
t' a>XaKTa Ta g^opcfjoKa^w^gva, (xgTa^wTa 7ropiaviKa, 7ro0 'Tav xapKou7riao-^gva,
Mar,
filza 40).
In 1575 Bishop Germanos
of
signed together with other prelates a patriarchal letter of in Constantinople Jeremias II concerning the privileges of
Amathus
Td ev toic,xcoSt^i tov
Sinai (K. Delikanes,
^Tav aSpa a-zravw KaGio-^gva "'O Oprjvoc. Tfj<;Ki>7rpou," (T. Papadopoullos, Zn. 44 36). The text survives in [1980]: Kvnp. 17th- and i8th-c. manuscripts; on its author ^tapyapiTapia
see Grivaud,
exxlnviao-Tixd into-rjfzcc
'TTvgufxaTiKOi;pio;," 1181-89 (above, n. 232).
[Constantinople,
248
ncLTpiapxixov dpxeto
that he suggested, rather unconvincingly, of Limassol with the be identical bishop may and former hegumen
of Koutsovendis
(Hackett and Papaioannou, 259-60 n. 15 [above, n. 2]).
laToplot, 1:
A. Papageorgiou, "Ki>7rpioi ?wypaoi (1975): 4>opr)Twv giKovwv toO i6oi> ai.," RDAC
180; Kyprianos, Io~Topia xpovoXoyixt], 306, 308 (above, n. 237); see also Hill, A History of n. 4) and Grivaud, Cyprus, 4: 305-6 (above, "Villages desertes,"
392 (above, n. 182).
in this respect at least, was short-lived.249 This information some caution, for it appears may, however, need to be treated with in a letter to the duke of Savoy urging him to take action in order to character of the the Christian liberate Cyprus from the Ottomans; island is therefore duly stressed and the number of (active?) monaster conquest,
ies is
perhaps exaggerated. In the same year (1600) we
Koutsovendis
who
hear
testified
Parthenios of of Hegumen of the with other members
together The latter island's clergy against Benjamin's predecessor, Athanasios. mar was accused of tearing up antimensia and conducting unlawful
was time themonastery had eventually deposed.250 By this riages, and of the patriarchate of Jerusalem. This is first become a dependency in 1735 by the well-known monk from Kiev, Vasilii Barskii, reported who was told by themonks that after the destruction of theOttoman for a long time. It was then lay abandoned a a at some later to private individual, pious man, who allegedly sold went on to Jerusalem and donated his property to stage pilgrimage visitors confirm the Most the Holy Sepulcher. eighteenth-century as a status of Koutsovendis the of Holy Sepulcher. So dependency does the archimandrite Kyprianos, who includes it in his list of func conquest
the monastery
as a This status Koutsovendis tioning monasteries hagiotaphitikon?51 times. It should be stressed that the claim has retained to modern that the monastery had been a metochion ofMar at since least the fourteenth century is unfounded
Saba
in Palestine
and largely based on this later connection with Jerusalem n. 109 above). (see to 1629 men A report by the titular Latin of bishop Paphos dated tions an unnamed monastery near Buffavento, which is almost cer to be identified with Koutsovendis. It is said to have housed tainly a an community of fiftymembers, exceptionally large and probably erroneous number, in view of the total number ofmonks on especially the island, said to be 370 in the same document. A few decades later, in 1683, Cornells van Bruyn found eleven monks and three priests under a hegumen.252 The indefatigable Dutch traveler notes that the residential quarters had been recently rebuilt after a fire and also gives a valuable
description of the katholikon with its gilded iconostasis, five years earlier. The ruinous that chapel within the compound
made
249
Grivaud,
and Mas
"Villages desertes,"
Latrie, Histoire,
109-10,
3:568 (above,
n. 218). toO KaQr\yov[ievov Tfj<; Movrj<; tov tov ayioulwavvou Xpuo"opprj[zovo; 250
OuT^g^gvTy] (Delikanes, TdevToicxcbSi^i, 548). On this affair see Hackett and Papaioannou,
'IaTopla, 1: 261-67.
Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 28-30 (above, n. 62); Kyprianos, IcrTopla
251
Vrouwen")
(Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn van Klein Asie,
door de vermaardste Deelen
XpovoXoyixrj, 393. 252 Tsirpanles, AvbxSotcl eyypa<pa,47, 51;
de Eylanden
Van Bruyn's report also implies the presence of some women at themonastery ("een Pater
piece of information is omitted in the later
Gardiaan,
Scio, Rhodus, Cyprus, Metelino,
Stanchio, etc_[Delft,
1698], 368); this
French editions.
die drie Priesters, en elf Broeders,
onder hem heeft, behalven de
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
91
he mentions
is almost
to certainly that of theHoly Trinity. It is Van the earliest known of Koutsovendis Bruyn depictions recounts as we He also the foundation which, (fig. 4). already legend, not is corroborated by the surviving evidence pertaining to the saw, that we
owe
Fig. 4 View of the Koutsovendis monastery in 1683. Sketch after Cornelis van Bruyn in Reizen, fig. 197
monastery's early history.253 The legend perhaps has something to do mon icon with a sixteenth-century preserved (until 1974)254 in the in 1806 and first attested there astery by Domingo Badia-y-Leyblich as an Ali It adult female donor with a young (known Bey).255 depicts an child kneeling before enthroned Virgin and Child. The accom as Maria Molino Greek panying inscription identifies the donors son of Behind them stands a Philip Molino.256 as John the bishop's vestments, also identified by inscription (the seventh-century Cypriot patriarch of Alexandria).257 Almsgiver and Antoninos, saint in
It seems likely that the icon, presumably
253
Ibid., 368 and figs. 196-97. See also
Cobham, Excerpta Cypria, 237-38 (above, n. 59), and Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 64-65 (above, n. 2). 254
The Council
of Europe
(including Robin Cormack)
92
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
committee that visited
brought from elsewhere after
Koutsovendis
in June 1989 found no icons
there: Information Report on the Cultural Heritage ofCyprus Presented by the Committee on Culture and Education Mr Van derWerff),
(by
6 July 1989 ADOC6079
(Parliamentary Assembly, Council Europe, Doc. 6079,1989), 25.
of
255
Cobham,
Mango, 256
Excerpta Cypria, 399-400; 66. "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
Mango,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
66. 257
A. Papageorghiou,
(Nicosia,
1992), 141-43.
Icons ofCyprus
themonastery's
in the early Ottoman
reconstitution
rise period, gave
to the storyof theprincess fromBuffaventowho allegedlybuilt the
monastery as a thanksgiving for her cure. The ruins of Buffavento on top of the mountain the main
reason
were
in fact
and later travelers eighteenth-century or on their way to from the castle, depending visited Koutsovendis, or on whether were in the Nicosia from coming they plain below from the northern coast via the mountain pass near Kythrea. The why
several
is indeed one of the sites most monastery by frequently mentioned travelers in this period, being one of the main attractions within Several of them repeat the foundation easy reach of Nicosia. story, in the late who arrived at Koutsovendis spring of including Barskii,
found only five or six monks to to ready collapse. But contrary a now was the preconquest of situation, Apsinthiotissa dependency In view of the Koutsovendis of the vicis (and Holy Sepulcher).258 situdes in the monastery's life, it is not surprising that the commu there had all lost memory of its early history, as we already saw. nity Barskii was nevertheless told that the monastery was first dedicated 1735 fleeing the plague inNicosia. in residence and the parekklesion
He
to the was restored at some later stage and rededi Holy Trinity but in honor of a certain founder John, which cated to Chrysostomos to the of the respective original dedications corresponds, of course, churches. Three years after Barskii, however, Richard contiguous Pococke was told that the ruinous north church (the parekkle sion of Eumathios in what he calls "the rich convent of Philokales) was dedicated Chrysostom" (through the local members for the katholikon.259
to Saint Helena,
of his retinue?) Alexander Drummond
despite being given the correct dedication in 1750 noted with
some
no records were at Koutsovendis.260 In 1767 dismay that kept Giovanni Mariti was made reported that normally the community to twelve monks;
often living
at
the
in 1806, however, Ali Bey found only three
monastery.261
In fact the size of the community fluctuated greatly in this 10 and period. On July 1821, the day after the island's metropolitan were executed out authorities bishops by the Ottoman following the break of the Greek War
of Independence, the hegumen was also put together with the superior of Kykko and other prominent seven out of its the troubled prelates. During period that followed, to death
Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 28-30 (above, n. 62). The monastery of the Panagia,
Cobham,
258
259
as a property of the Holy Sepulcher on Cyprus in an Ottoman docu ment of 1591,may in fact be Apsinthiotissa
65. Chrysostomos," 260 Cobham, Excerpta
mentioned
(Papadopoulos-Kerameus, [above, n. 109]).
AvdXexTa, 4.461
See also Mango,
Excerpta
260.
Cypria,
"Monastery
of
Cypria, 300-301; Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 65. 261 For both accounts seeMango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
however, that in an unpublished report of 1800 Koutsovendis is said to have housed fourteen monks ('Igpa Apxig7no"K07rf] Kvnpov, KaTao-Tivo 2: 9).
66. Note,
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
93
eleven monks, who
came
mostly from nearby villages (Koutsovendis, the monastery. These were abandoned Milea),
Sykhari, Mia in 1825 the community counted ten replaced very soon, though, and members.262 By themiddle of the century, the fortunes of the monas
Vouno,
teryhad presumably recovered further, for itshegumen is recorded to have made several donations to schools inNicosia; and in 1848 itwas some twenty-five individuals, both monks and laymen, reported that lived there.263By the time the eminent Austrian botanist Franz Unger
one monk was left, April 1862, however, only although fif teen years earlier his colleague Theodor Kotschy had found more.264 in
visited
state of the of the monastery was a constant con buildings cern of the of the patriarchate of Jerusalem in this protosynkelloi In the autumn of 1845 there was considerable follow damage period. was rains and, the end of this partly repaired, by ing heavy although The
and its buildings, including the katholikon were to a be in parlous state. said dome (y)eKKlyjora kou 6 Kownrcec,rr\c), Some work was carried out in 1851,but a report of 1876 testifies once the decade
the monastic
was to the poor state of the complex, noting that the katholikon in urgent need of repairs to its roof.265By the end of the century its structure must have reached such a state of decay that itwas deemed
more
tomaintain. impractical The latter half of the nineteenth
considerable century witnessed losses to themedieval heritage of Cyprus.266 One of the most serious documented cases, indeed the most regrettable as far as Byzantine at Koutsovendis. hun is concerned, occurred architecture Eight dred years after its construction the katholikon was recklessly pulled to the inscrip room for a new church. down to make According tion over the latter's southwest
door,
itwas
built under
Patriarch
and was
finished in November of Jerusalem 1891. That census records thirteen male inhabitants at the monastery, but year's these may have included laymen too. At that time the community
Gerasimos
262
Hill, History ofCyprus, 4:134 (above, n. 4); K. Kokkinoftas and I. Theocharides, [Leto heho\i.eva aiju^wva "MovaorripiaKa VI Ki?7rpoi; ty\c, apY.i?7ri(7K07rr]<; Kaxaaxi^o (1825)," EneTnptda. KevTpov Me\eT&v lepdc, 1 Movrjc. Kixxov 4 (1999): tables and 3. In these years themonastery was also visited account adds nothing by John Carne, whose new to those of others; he found a dozen (Martin, English Texts see n. K. Spyridaki, also [above, 2]); "To ?vKimpco uovaorrjpiov Ay.'Iwavvou tov
monks
in residence
John Carne," Xpuo-oaxouou Kai 6 7r?pir]yr]xy]<; in Spyridaki, MeXeTcu, dialeleic, \6yoi, dpSpct (Nicosia, 1973), 1: 265-68.
94
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
263
tod Ki>7tpi "H Ttpoafyopct gty\v 7rai8gia KaTa ty\vToup
A. N. Mitsides,
aKou ^ova^ia^ou KOKpaTia," EneTHplSa, KevTpov MeXeTobv lepdc, Movrjc. Kvxxov 4 (1999): 187;T. Stavrides, xai noLTpiapxelo Iepoo-oXv'fzcov Kvnpog. Enio-ToXec.1731-1884, KgvTpo MgXgTwv Igpa<;
Movy\c,Kukkou (Nicosia, 2007), 146-147, 396; a large part of the i9th-c. correspondence between Koutsovendis
and the patriarchate
in Jerusalem concerns the appropriation of lands by the villagers of the area. 264 F. Unger and T. Kotschy, Die Insel Cypern, ihrerphysischen und organischen Natur nach mit Rucksicht aufihrefruhere Geschichte
(Vienna,
1865), 504.
265
Stavrides, naTpiapxelo
hpoao'Xvp.wv,
156, 657. 266
This was noted and deplored by, among and later on by
others, Edmond Duthoit
George Jeffery (L. Bonato, "Chypre dans les archives de Melchior de Vogue V. Fragment d'un carnet de voyage d'Edmond Duthoit [mission de 1865]," CCEC 31 [2001]: 219, and G. Jeffery,"Notes on Cyprus, 1905,"JRIBA 13.17 [1906]: 483, 487).
stillpossessed a fewmanuscripts, seen in 1889by theGreek scholar Camille Enlart, who spent several Chrysostomos Papadopoulos.267 in Cyprus in 1896 months studying the island's Gothic monuments, une a mentions "Haios Chrisostomos, merely eglise demi rebatie [the
new katholikon], l'autre a demi ruinee, [avec] peintures curieuses." It is unclear if the "mine au bas de la montagne [Buffavento]," which he includes in a list of lesser Byzantine monuments, refers to the shells of the Aphendrika and structures near the monastery
the Savior, or to one
of the other
102 below). Elsewhere in architecture he describes
(see p. on the island's Gothic his publication in a ruin, which briefly the fresco of Saint George Panagia Aphendrika.268 The construction of the new katholikon
is clearly that of the
did not prompt the repair remained derelict at least
of the adjacent parekklesion, which had since the time of Van Bruyn's visit in the late seventeenth
century. of the twentieth century did a concerted effort by to restore the it contin of Antiquities chapel begin;
in themiddle
Only the Department
ued into the 1960s with
the restoration and
of the surviving cleaning in wall paintings under the auspices ofDumbarton Oaks. Meanwhile was an monument entire monastic ancient declared 1937 the complex were and shortly thereafter its In the aftermath buildings repaired.269 of the violent events of the summer of 1974, Koutsovendis, together in the northern part of with all other monasteries Cyprus, ceased Nine centuries after the functioning. Seljuk advance that perhaps successor to the com caused George's flight from northern Syria, the on was dissolved as that he established Mount Koutsovendis munity a result of still nominally comparable military upheavals. Although a property of the lies today patriarchate of Jerusalem, the monastery a zone within in the of (2007) part military Cyprus Turkish-occupied and remains
inaccessible.
Architecture TheMonastic Complex The church of theHoly Trinity is today the only building from the Byzantine the period surviving in relatively good shape within monastic was The a new in katholikon 1891 by complex. replaced church, but enough evidence survives to reconstruct its architecture in its broad
lines. These
two churches will be examined
267 Mango, "Monastery of Chrystomos," 67 (above, n. 2); Hackett and Papaioannou, 2:151 (above, n. 2); Constantinides 'Io-Toplcc, and Browning, Dated (above, n. 24).
Greek Manuscripts,
in a
roughly
268
C. Enlart, L'artgothique et la renais sance en Chypre, illustre de 34 planches et de 421 figures (Paris, 1899),I: XX n. 2, 248-49. 29
269
State Archives
and Cyprus Gazette
SA1/1473/1937 (p. 15), of 21May 1937.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
95
reverse
order of their building phases. First, however, chronological let us briefly look at the scanty evidence for other within buildings and in the vicinity of the monastery.270 The katholikon of 1891 and the medieval parekklesion today
of a courtyard, enclosed on three sides by structures (on two levels along the south and east) that date from post times and until 1974 housed the various spaces necessary to medieval a the This layout must reflect that functioning of monastery (fig. 5).271 of earlier centuries too, at least as far as the free-standing contiguous stand isolated in themiddle
are concerned:
we read that the celebration in the typikon on of the consecration involved a procession that started 9 December from the narthex of the Holy Trinity, continued outside along the churches
south wall
of the katholikon,
(presumably 270
along
In that themonastery
the apses
and proceeded around the churches to the east in a counterclockwise
is still inacces
sible today, all the observations that follow are based on previously published material, photographs held in the archives of Dumbarton
Oaks
of Antiquities
inNicosia,
and the Department
of Cyril Mango.
96
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
and the field notes
The buildings were partly rebuilt shortly before the visit of Van Bruyn in 1683,
271
following a fire that destroyed a large part of themonastery (Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn, 368 [above, n. 252]).
Fig. 5 General view of the Koutsovendis monastery from the northeast. Photo by C. Mango opposite page Fig. 6 The Koutsovendis monastery in 1735. After Vasilii Barskii, inGrishin, Pilgrim's Account, plate 8 Fig. 7 The Koutsovendis monastery in 1816.After Otto von Richter, courtesy of the Estonian Historical Archives
/
*.
-*
^i-4.--*^
. /^/W*
'
MONASTERY
.r>-;' v'^f
?v
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
''/
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
97
direction) enteringagain throughthenorthdoor of theHoly Trinity
suggest that, like today, there were no other to the churches which, as in many a medieval buildings attached Byzantine monastery, stood in the center of the compound. one that remained free The west side of the courtyard is the only narthex.272 This would
of buildings
into modern
times. The
sketches of Cornells
van
Bruyn
(1683:fig. 4), Vasilii Barskii (1735:fig. 6), and Otto Friedrichvon
(1816: fig. 7) show a tall enclosure wall on this side, which in is crenelated.273 In their written the earliest among these depictions accounts our travelers confirm its existence and forbidding appear
Richter
ance: Van Bruyn talks of themonastery wall,"274 while Barskii also mentions a
a being "surrounded by good stone wall. Richter states high looked like a fortress from the
that the large and massive monastery outside.275 There is further evidence on the enclosure wall
from the
first half of the nineteenth century: at some unrecorded date before 1838, part of it collapsed, causing the deterioration of the remaining structure and further losses in 1846. At that time itwas described as "tall as a minaret"
and "as thick as the walls
of a fortress."276
times the complex was encircled a this dated from Byzantine by strong defensive enclosure.277Whether or later times, however, we are unable to tell. monasteries Although towers and walls,278 in the Byzantine world were often provided with It is clear, then, that inOttoman
seem to be no reason forKoutsovendis
therewould
to have been forti
fied at the time of its foundation,
considering that the island's urban an enemy attack, were likely targets for
settlements, surelymuch more but slightly fortified in this period.279What of a fortified monastery 272
?^?px6[X?0a...
?ic.xov ap8r]Ka
is known
[sic] xrjc
Kailixav?uou?v, aylac. TpiaSo;... Kpaxovvx?<; xo voxiov ^t?po<;xou u?yaXoi? vaov, Kai avayup?i>ou?v... Kai Kaxavxwu?v dc. xyjv Pop?ivy|v nvkY\vxfj<;ayia<; Tpia8o<; xoi; see also vap0y)Ko<; (Par. gr. 402 f. 59r-v; Dmitrievskii,
Opisanie,
3:122 [above, n. 11]).
273 Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," on but not fig.4, shows an engraving based von to Richter's Otto faithful quite original sketch, published inR. C Severis, Travelling Artists in Cyprus, 1700-1960 (London, 2000), 86. Van Bruyn's first sketch (Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn, fig. 196) and that by Richter show themonastery from the north like Van Bruyn's second sketch (fig. 197), shows it from the southeast. For a brief description
west, whereas Barskii's,
of themonastic
98
see also A. P.
Kazhdan
compound, and A. Wharton Epstein, Change
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
ismore, no other example
from Byzantine
Cyprus,
although
inByzantine Culture in theEleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Berkeley, 1985), 88. 274 "met een braave muur omvangen"
on the other hand, shows a low enclosure wall along both the north and west (?) sides and M. Iacovou, (D. Papanikola-Bakirtzis
(Reizen van Cornells de Bruyn, 368); see also de Bruyn, Voyage au Levant, rev. ed.
Kvnpot, [Nicosia, BvfavTivr) fiea-aicovtxrj
[Paris, 1725], 2: 484 and Cobham, [above, n. 59].
278 A. K. Orlandos, MovacrTrjpiaxi] see dpxiTexTOvixi] (Athens, 1958), 7-12; also P. Burridge, "Eleventh- and Twelfth
Cornells
Excerpta
Cypria, 237-38
Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 28-30 (above, n. 62); O. F. von Richter, Wallfahrten
275
calls themonastery "Monastery
Century Monasteries
on Mt Athos
and Their
oyupa uovr]. See also
and Development," Kirby, Work and Worship, 78-89 (above, n. 175), and the recently excavated monas tery of Zygou, also on Mount Athos, in I. A.
of Chrysostomos,"
Papaggelos,
imMorgenlande (Berlin, 1822), 317-18 ("von aussen gleicht es einer Burg"); A. Sakellarios in his TdKvnpiaxd (Athens, 1890), 1:148,
Mango,
1997],
283).
64-66. Stavrides, nctTpiapxeio Iepoo-olvpoov, chap. 4 (above, n. 263). 277 Ali Bey's rather inaccurate and
276
schematic (ifwe are to judge from his depiction of the churches) drawing of 1806,
inMullett
Architectural
"*H ayiopEixro]
(OpayKOKaorpo),"
[lovy\tov Xvyov
H AexdTn. EvnpepcoTtxrj
exdoo-r)epyov ttjc. iotjc.Ecpopeictc.BvfavTivchv 1 (2003/4): 12-18.
ApxaioTrjTcov 279 49-50
Galatariotou, (above, n. 4).
TheMaking
ofa Saint,
were of course an enclo compounds usually surrounded by sure. the construction of the protective wall at Koutsovendis Perhaps was century on Cyprus prompted by the raids of the mid-twelfth monastic
(Renaud de Chatillon in 1155/56, Egyptian fleet in 1158, Raymond of
some later threat. The earliest of these attacks, in 1162)280 or by Tripoli was is by Renaud de Chatillon, particularly destructive, and it prob to this that the Recluse referredwhen he described a ably Neophytos
which the Byzantine troops stationed on Cyprus were during annihilated by the invaders near Dikomo. Neophytos was of course a at that time (1152-59), and Dikomo novice at Koutsovendis lies only a short distance to thewest of themonastery, on the southern foothills battle
of the Kyrenia mountains The transfer of relics and icons (fig. 2).281 to the monastery from at some unknown date before the Kythrea late fourteenth century (1232?) (see pp. 87-88) suggests that the com was considered safe pound enough for the valuable possessions, and therefore perhaps already fortified by that time. Ifwe
assume
were that in the monastery's early days, too, there no on the west side, then the trapeza, often facing the buildings west facade of the katholikon in other monasteries, would have to in one of the other wings. At the nearby Apsinthiotissa the rectangular vaulted four-bay refectory, which dates from the same period (late eleventh/early twelfth century), is located along the northern perimeter of the At Koutsovendis there is no compound.282 be located
as to the location of either this or any of the other build in the ings mentioned typikon (cells, hegumen's apartments, store room, granary, wine cellar, fountain).283 indication
The Cemetery Chapels
is there some indica Only for the cemetery chapel of the Theotokos tion in the typikon concerning its location (Par. gr. 402 f. 264V): it stood outside (g^cotvj<; and downhill from themain compound, \lovy\<;) to which the monks "go up" (avspj(6[xs9a) after the lite in the cem to is be identified with the ruinous structure known etery. It perhaps inmodern
times as
Panagia Aphendrika,284
280
only
a very short distance
Hill, History ofCyprus, i: 306-8, 311 TheMaking (above, n. 4); Galatariotou, ofa Saint, 51-52.
restored) Byzantine 20 x 5m).
281
a
Galatariotou,
TheMaking
a of Saint,
187-88. 282
P. M. Mylonas, "La trapeza de la lavra au Mont Athos," CahArch
Grande
"'H \lovy\ (1987): 143; Papageorgiou, 82-83 (above, n. 8). The A\|/Ti>9icoxio-07]c," rock-cut example at the Enkleistra aside, this is the only surviving (albeit much
35
283
trapeza on Cyprus
(ca.
See p. 53.Van Bruyn in 1683mentioned
large rectangular room, 36 x 18 "Rhineland" (Rynlandsche) feet, used as a kitchen, perhaps themonastery's refectory (Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn), 368 [above, n. 252], and Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 64 [above, n. 2]); judging that Van Bruyn gives by themeasurements for the surviving Gothic
refectory at
MONASTERY
Bellapais, the "kitchen" at Koutsovendis must have measured ca. 12 x6 m. Tsiknopoullos, H iepd fcovrjtovXpv(ro(TT6[iov, 167 (above, n. 179), places the trapeza to the north of the churches. 284
G. Jeffery,A Description
Monuments
ofCyprus, Studies
of theHistoric in the
Archaeology and Architecture of the Island (Nicosia, 1918), 273; R. Gunnis, Historic Cyprus. A Guide Monasteries
to itsTowns and Villages,
and Castles
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
(London,
1936), 293.
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
99
to the south of the monastery
and some 800 m
to
the north of the village of Koutsovendis.285 Only the outer shell of the church survives today. If the roofless structures shown in both Van Bruyn's and corre the monastery sketches outside
Barskii's
to the then this, as well as the Aphendrika, to the south, must contiguous chapel of the Savior spond
have been already 286
in ruins by the late seventeenth
century.
rectangular plan of the Panagia, divided on each of two into three bays by engaged piers create arched the long (south and north) walls that was it that recesses, strongly suggests perhaps The
for the central bay is larger and roughly square in plan (fig. 8). The masonry ismostly made of rubble with brick used for the arches of the sur
domed,
recesses and for the voussoirs of thewindows viving western facade is in the apse. The relatively well preserved gabled a now bare tall and a large pierced by central doorway surmounted by niche thatwas perhaps originally adorned with fresco decoration (fig. (in particular the Saint 9).287The style of the remains ofwall-paintings in the southwest recess: fig. io)288 together with the use George panel a of slightly pointed rather than semicircular arches would suggest date in the latter part of the twelfth century, for this form of arch appears in the Byzantine architecture of Cyprus in the second half of the century before gradually becoming the norm on the island.289
Fig. 8 Plan of the churches of the Panagia and the Savior. After G. Soteriou,
Aphendrika
Bvfavnvd Mvrjftefayfig. 34. opposite page Fig. 9 Panagia Aphendrika, view from the west. Photo courtesy of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus Fig. 10 Panagia Aphendrika, fresco of Saint George on horseback. Photo by C. Mango
saw earlier that the smaller chapel of the Savior,290 standing to the south of the of Saint Aphendrika, may be that contiguously not Since in the f. Lazaros mentioned 228v). typikon (Par. gr. 402 We
much
285
of the structure ispreserved above ground, however, itsvaulting
On some mid-2oth-c.
Survey maps
Ordnance
the ruin ismarked
as Saint
and it also appears with this name
George, inG. Soteriou, Tct (ZvfavTivd pvr^ieia ty\c Ktinpov (Athens, 1935), plate 30; this is
"A Visit to Some of the
Maronite
121; and Soteriou, Bvfavnvd fivrjfieta,45; the
A. and J. Stylianou, The Painted Churches
Bardswell,
Villages,"
307-8
(above, n. 215);
dome would have been relatively large,with a diameter of ca. 4.50 m. This layout does not
ofCyprus, Treasures ofByzantine Art, 2nd ed. (Nicosia, 1997), 467; A. and J. Stylianou, "'H
probably due to the surviving fresco in the south-west recess which depicts Saint
exclude a barrel vault over the central bay, as the example ofAsinou shows, although such a
289
George on horseback. 286 This was definitely the case by the late 19thc, when Camille Enlart and soon after
less common. The apse prob three had windows, ofwhich only two ably are still partly preserved, shown in the photo
him George Jefferydescribed the structures 1: 248-49 [above, (Enlart, L'artgothique, n. 268]; G. Jeffery,A Summary of the Architectural Monuments ofCyprus, part 6, Kyrenia District
[Nicosia,
1907], 23).
scheme ismuch
graph (taken in 1931)published in Soteriou, BvfavTivd fivrjfietcc, plate 30. Some conserva tionwork was carried out in the 1950s (Annual Report of theDirector ofAntiquities, 'H iepd\iovY\ Cyprus [1956]: 15);Tsiknopoullos, no tovXpvorocrTOfcov,
IOO
288
Plan inG. Jeffery,"The Byzantine 287 Churches of Cyprus," ProSocAnt 28 (1915-16):
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
(above, n. 179).
(above, n. 245). Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 1: 167-75 (above, n. 4); see also A. J.Wharton,
$v%avTivY\xs^vrj," 2:1264
Art ofEmpire: Painting and Architecture of theByzantine Periphery: A Comparative Study ofFour Provinces (University Park, 1988), 56, 81; and pp. 138-39 below. ofHistoric 273; Gunnis, Historic Cyprus, 293 (above, n. 284).
290
Description Jeffery,
Monuments,
ma
m^
>-^#..-
...^f ,J!
\.:11N^HHBBBBBHKIJHBBB:
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
IOI
system remains uncertain. Itmay have been domed, too, for its interior is rendered cruciform in plan by a single recess along each of the longi
tudinalwalls thatcreatea roughlysquarebay (fig.8).The largelyrubble
masonry employs more brick tiles than does that of the Aphendrika next door. An was already damaged tomb (of unknown date) reported under the floor of the church in the early twentieth century,291 and the fresco decoration surviving on the north wall (Crucifixion, Deposition,
seems to confirm its Lamentation) are to the funerary function.292 These wall paintings usually ascribed at any rate, the first half of the twelfth century; the chapel early or, would thus be earlier than the adjacent Panagia and roughly contem a porary with the Holy Trinity parekklesion.293 At some later date was to construction the west, perhaps after the of the narthex added north chapel.294
Anastasis,
and
the well-known
OtherNearby Ruins
near the monastery, farther chapels have been reported on the flank of the mountain. The one marked on Kitchener's uphill was as earlier in relation to mentioned Saint Prodromos John map
Two more
that perhaps stood in the area (see p. 82 monastery 1000 m to the above). The other lies very close to Saint John, about northwest of the monastery, and is known as Saint George.295 Itwas a structure built in rubble except for the arch mostly single-aisled on its south and north walls, voussoirs under the (collapsed) dome the Maronite
which were made
of ashlar blocks. Only the south wall and part of the dome drum over this are preserved, together with some fresco decoration depicting saints inmedallions. On the basis of their style, which is very similar to that of the roundels in the western recesses ithas been suggested that theymay of theHoly Trinity parekklesion, date from the late eleventh century, making this chapel, too, roughly There is, contemporary with the churches within the monastery.296 291
Jeffery,Summary: Kyrenia,
Historic Monuments,
23; Jeffery,
273.
CorsiRav
du Xlle
siecle a Chypre,"
32 (1985): 239.
The evidence
is contradictory:
the
292
Stylianou, Painted Churches, 465-67. scene The existence of the Lamentation
294
attracted the attention of the Department of Antiquities quite early on, and the ruin
of theAphendrika, which were concealed by the north wall of the narthex, would of
was consolidated in the 1950s (A. H.
first in 1937 and then again S.Megaw, "Repair of
Ancient Monuments
1937-39," Report of the
ofAntiquities, Cyprus [1937-39, the publ. 1951]: 181,and Annual Report of Director ofAntiquities, Cyprus [1956]: 15). Department
Stylianou, Painted Churches, 465-67, "La peinture and L. Hadermann-Misguich,
293
102
monumentale
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
traces of fresco decoration
on the outer wall
course suggest that the latter is a later addi tion; but this narthex appears to have had a north doorway, which was subsequently blocked, presumably when the Aphendrika was built. The plan pub lished by Soteriou (fig. 8), inBvfavTivd n. 285), shows the north fivrjpelct,45 (above, narthex wall as an extension to the north
wall of the Savior and as part of the early as phase; the rest of the narthex is shown an addition
to thiswhile
the northern door
is omitted. 295
It is also marked
Trigonometrical Cyprus (London,
on H. H. Kitchener's
Survey of the Island of 1885).
296 MeydXrj Kvnpiaxr} EyxvxXonalSeia 4: 52; photograph and plan inTsiknopoullos, tov Xpvaoo-Tdpov, iepd (zovrj n. 179).
H
129-31 (above,
Fig. ii Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, interior looking west. Photo by C. Mango
however, no information
in any way with either linking Saint George or the Greek Orthodox its the Maronite monastery. Nevertheless a connection. does albeit unverifiable suggest possible, proximity
TheParekklesion of the Holy Trinity
on the eastern inscriptions piers of the parekkle painted in 1963 after centuries under a sion, uncovered being concealed for name thick layer of plaster, give the of the patron, but not the date.297
The
two
seen that, in all likelihood,
the building was at in ca. 1099 and least planned before the death of the founder George erected by Eumathios Philokales within a decade after the construc
We
have nevertheless
tion of the (see pp. 74-75 above). The reason adjacent katholikon behind Eumathios's wish to have the chapel built remains uncertain: a seems the most its funerary function likely, layout offers although no relevant clues. The arched recesses in the western bay would have
MONASTERY
Mango and Hawkins, (above, n. 122).
297
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
"Report,"
335
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
IO3
been
ideal to house
an arcosolium
the fresco decoration (fig. n); yet of both spaces, with monastic and military saints, is not one readily associated with sepulchral monuments. Moreover the back wall of a over a burial, pierced by window, again rather odd a there is small rectan important, under the window
the north recess is
and, even more gular
recess of unknown
function. Both arched recesses had the lower
part of theirwalls, where a sarcophagus could have been placed, deco rated with a painted dado imitating marble.298 The narthex, added not shortly after the construction of the parekklesion, does provide
a mon any evidence for an arrangement to accommodate sepulchral ument either. It is also in the noteworthy that the brief entry typikon to the commemoration of Eumathios Philokales (f. i2iv) pertaining the monastery where any reference to the place within should be celebrated. Thus, at the current state of knowledge,
omits
this one
must assume thateven ifEumathios did build theHoly Trinitywith the intentionof being buried in it,he eitherchanged hismind later on, or his wish was not carried out when or more
he died,
some twenty years
after its construction.
on the use of the typikon provides only meagre evidence in the context of only half a It is specifically mentioned parekklesion. on 13November dozen feastdays: that of Saint John Chrysostomos (f. on 9 December (f. 58r-59v), the 42v), the enkainia of the katholikon The
on
eve of Epiphany
5 January
the Annunciation
(f. 87r-9iv),
on 25
theTransfigurationon 6August (f. i76r),and Good March (f. 135V),
is nevertheless signifi Friday (f. 252V). The selection, although small, cant. It includes the commemoration of the Passion, quite appropri ate for a is indeed what the parek funerary chapel (assuming that this more feasts associated with the klesion was), and, important, major
that of the Transfiguration); Holy Trinity (Epiphany, Annunciation, in have Pentecost, celebrated fifty days after Easter, would appeared the last folios now missing from themanuscript. On this occasion an to the parekklesion, important rolewould have certainly been assigned whose fresco decoration after all accorded the most prominent place in the dome, to the scene of the Pentecost.299 Another in the building, and the enkainia, are two feasts, namely that of John Chrysostomos of course intimately linked with the adjacent katholikon. The history of the building in subsequent centuries may be recon structed with the help of travelers' accounts and the evidence from the monument
itself. At
before the Ottoman
some unrecorded
date
conquest (Venetian period?), in a rather heavy-handed manner
strengthened altered the interior: most
almost
certainly the structure was
that substantially were walled, the western
of the openings recesses were filled in, the piers under the dome were reinforced with additional masonry, and the arches they carry were underpinned
104
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
298 Mango,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
89-93. 299
Ibid., 73.
^.
9
lower arches.300 This process of accretion of masonry as a means monuments to stabilize a structure is often encountered in Byzantine
with
as a response to the risk or the on the island and has been explained The buttress built against effects of earthquake ungraceful damage.301 fulfilled the same function. the northeast corner of the parekklesion
Fig. 12 Holy Trinity chapel, view from the north
Koutsovendis,
during repairs. Photo courtesy of the of Antiquities, Cyprus
Department
were to the roofline of the surely building, however, the result of different concerns and may date from a different cam
The
alterations
executed and easily distinguished from the use of ashlar blocks, they changed building's original masonry by the the shape of the gables from rounded to triangular (fig. 12).302 In the course of the first century ofOttoman rule theHoly Trinity
paign of repairs. Carefully
left to fall in ruins, a process that presumably of the monastery the brief period of abandonment
was
started during in the immedi
van ate aftermath of the conquest. By the time of Cornelis Bruyn's to Barskii, about to visit (1683) itwas already derelict and, according 300
Ibid., 69.
at Peristerona, Panagia
301
S. Curcic, Middle
Kanakaria
Byzantine Architecture on Cyprus: Provincial Regional?
(Nicosia, 2000),
or
9-12. Other
include theAngeloktiste, Apsinthiotissa, Asinou, Saint Barnabas examples
at Salamis, Saints Barnabas
of Kambos,
Panagia
(Papacostas,
2: 6,12,18,19-20,
"Byzantine Cyprus," 50, 51, 68 [above, n. 4]).
Van Bruyn's sketch (above, fig.4) shows that the alterations were certainly carried out before the late 17th c.
302
and Hilarion
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
IO5
Fig-j3 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, the apse during repairs. Photo courtesy of
.^^*J^bHh ^Jr
^^^H
jj?
?
the ^H Department
^^ &**t&*z-*?>~2a^*^'i
Fig. 14 Holy Trinity chapel, Kousovendis,
JltSfasff8**^^^^ ' jp
106
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
*jfcrj*v/
**'' j?JC"?^
of Antiquities, Cyprus
-^ V^S?""^ ***
view from the southwest before repairs. Photo courtesy of the Department of Antiquities,
Cyprus
in 1735; Giovanni Mariti reports collapse that in the 1760s itwas used as an animal this long period of neglect, shed.303During it lost a its apse wall, almost large part of the entirety of the narthex, and most of
its
The furnishings and decoration. remained in this sorry state parekklesion despite the reconstruction of the adjacent
in 1891. Itwas nevertheless one on the of the first Byzantine monuments
katholikon
island to attract the attention of the newly constituted Department of Antiquities
(1935), as a result of the perspicacity of its then director, Peter In 1942 the Megaw. apse was rebuilt (fig. 13) and in 1947 the west facade was a marble frame repaired: salvaged inserted
from
the old
was
katholikon
the brick opening; over this the relieving arch
door were removed in order tomake for a window, Then
room
a later rectangular was walled higher up (fig. 14).304 in 1956-58 the arches added under
the dome, other
fflllflBifHSflHi
in the door
courses under
window
H
**^JlBBMBl
and
the northeast
buttress,
and
removed
and
later accretions were
the north door
and dome windows
that
were
and roof were reopened, while the masonry was restored, and repaired, the original rounded shape of the gables was the structure In the 1960s repairs were made to strengthened.305
had been walled
Fig. 15 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis interior looking east. Photo by C. Mango
the surviving north wall of the narthex, the fresco decoration revealed when the later masonry was removed from the interior was cleaned, a new floor was laid, and a new iconostasis was built, made of marble elements,
some
katholikon
perhaps
salvaged,
303 Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," see also Reizen van Cornelis de
Bruyn, 368 (above, n. 252), and Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 29 (above, n. 62). 304 State Archives SA1/1473/1937 (p. 22); Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 70. Annual Report of theDirector
of
the
"Monastery of 70. The later additions
Chrysostomos," shown in the plan published
by A. H. S.
in "Byzantine Architecture and Megaw or in Cyprus: Metropolitan Decoration Provincial?" DOP 306
28 (1974): 84.
Annual Report of theDirector
of
Antiquities, Cyprus (1963): 11, (1970): 13; C. Mango, "Summary ofWork Carried out by the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Center
Antiquities, Cyprus (1956): 15, (1957): 13, (1958): 15;Mango,
frame, from
(fig. 15).306
64-67;
305
like the door
in Cyprus,
1959-1969," Report
of theDepartment are
ofAntiquities, Cyprus (1969): 101;Mango, "Monastery of
Chrysostomos,"
70.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
107
The
architectural
type of the Holy a is Trinity, single-aisled domed structure, on very common Cyprus. In fact, around one-third
of
the
* ^^i^^^^^^^R^B9HMBHBHB9BBHBHBHHBBHBBBHHBHBHBBBBHl^^^^^^^,'
middle
Byzantine churches surviving or excavated on the island were built according to this simple
/?
yet effective domed scheme.307 The Holy is the earliest Trinity securely (albeit dated specimen. Almost approximately)
monument is, everything else about this however, far less ordinary. The usually and organic squat proportions feeling of same on are buildings of the period Cyprus nowhere to be seen here.308 The masonry is uncommon in largely brick. This the Byzantine architecture of the island, is
^IMHBBBBBBksS^ the use of brick is limited both geo It occurs graphically and chronologically. the early Comnenian during period,
!
where
;^r'^^fi^^P^
'JoBbR
9BB
in window arches and much less mostly often in the wall masonry of monuments
in the north of the situated principally island, and is rightly thought to reflect external building This argu practices.309 ment is on the evidence of based largely the parekklesion, which not only is the on the island with Byzantine monument the most
extensive and elaborate use of brick, but also a documented commission of a high-ranking member of the Constantinopolitan is therefore that the impetus came from the The elite. assumption
traditions of the core provinces of the empire, centered on where brick was very widely used. Whether this also Constantinople a matter of spec remains indicates a direct Constantinopolitan input building
ulation. Even more
is the masonry of the dome, where brick startling alternate with cut stone that is,moreover, framed by bricks
courses
to the cloisonne (fig. 16), similar 307
More
than 30 examples
(Papacostas
"Byzantine Cyprus," 1:151-53). 308 The characteristics ofmiddle Byzantine architecture on Cyprus have been set out by S. Curcic in "Byzantine on Cyprus: An Introduction to the Problem of the Genesis of a Regional
Architecture
I08
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
technique
common
in the medieval
Style," inMedieval
Cyprus: Studies inArt, inMemory of ed. N. Patterson Sevcenko
Architecture, and History Doula Mouriki, and C. Moss 309
(Princeton,
1999), 78.
Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," with earlier bibliography.
1:177,
Fig. 16 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, view from the west after repairs. Photo by C. Mango
01 Imiliiul
monuments Byzantine on other monument
234 I
I
I
of the Balkans The
and, again, twelve windows
56 I
I
78 I
not attested
9 I
I
in any are
of the dome
Cyprus. framed by recessed brick arches, very similar to those of the main apse of the katholikon, possibly an indication of the quasi-contempo
10M I Fig. 17 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, longitudinal section looking north. Drawing by Richard Anderson
two raneity of the adjacent structures.310 This element might suggest that the same workshop was perhaps responsible for both buildings,
stone contrast in theirmasonry type?overwhelmingly although the (as we shall see shortly) and brick, respectively?would actually sug The the diverse cir difference be otherwise. may gest explained by cumstances
of their construction
and the information
at hand
con
while serving Alexios I, he was often involved cerning Eumathios: with building projects (see pp. 68 and 70 above) and it is therefore a or at least masons, workshop, possible that he may have employed trained beyond the shores of Cyprus in building traditions that used primarily brick. The
clues concerning some of the The traces of sockets still visible
structure offers certain valuable
in its construction. techniques used in the interior of the dome over the windows
were
perhaps provided to support execution of the Pentecost scene in the for the scaffolding Another possibility is, of course, that they may have carried cupola. 310
The apse wall of the parekklesion with
its three windows is a modern
under single brick arches reconstruction. Dome drums
are usually plain in the surviving Byzantine monuments of Cyprus, although another
rather elaborate but somewhat
less well
preserved specimen stands at Saint Nicholas of the Roof (Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," i: 176-87, on facade and dome drum articulation).
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
IO9
^h^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^E*%^~-
^^^H^^^I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Is^ftjfiLHN^*
for the centering of the structure. it has been Although was suggested that the latter perhaps built without formwork,311 and are also indications its does indeed irregular shape imply this, there
beams
was built with that the opposite may have been the case. The cupola to flat roof tileswith raised that appear have been placed radially, edges in a voussoir-like manner, like the bricks of the just (largely rebuilt) is conch of the apse If it ismuch this indeed the then case, (fig. 13).
more
likely that the construction of the cupola would have required formwork.312 Its irregular shape may be the result of subsequent itsmasons deformations, which, in various parts of the parekklesion, tried to prevent by inserting wooden beams. The timber ring running around
the dome drum
at the level of the springing of the window to contain the outward thrust exerted
arches had a twofold function: to stabilize by the cupola and springing of the arches under
the structure.313 The
tie beams
at the
the dome fulfilled a similar role (figs. It would that the chain of beams also extended into 11, 15). appear the western bay within the thickness of the wall: the regular brick over a is the arched recesses by row of bricks set masonry interrupted on end at a above that of the tie beams, presumably over height right the timbers embedded within thewall This reinforcement (fig. 17).314 not west to the extend wall, however, which was ring presumably did over the door. The interrupted by the upper part of the relieving arch use of such a ties is common in relatively developed system ofwooden brick architecture315 but, obviously, rare on Cyprus. It is yet again a clear indication of imported building 3ii
Mango,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
69. 312
R. Ousterhout, Master
Byzantium 313
IIO
(Princeton,
Ibid., 214.
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Builders
1999), 216-33.
of
techniques
at the parekklesion.
314 The masonry in question is also clearly visible in several photographs published in Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," figs. 24,140,162. 315
Ousterhout, Master
Builders,
210-16.
Fig. 18 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, capitals from the templon screen. Photos by C. Mango
interior decoration of the Holy Trinity have furnishings and all but vanished. Only fragments of itswall paintings have been pre served, their superior quality an indication of the patron's means and The
intentions. No
traces of the original of opus sectile were
floor have
survived, although There is reported fragments past.316 no evidence that marble was used for either cornices or other architec small
in the
tural elements.317 Itwas, however, used for the templon. This has not state. Six colonnettes of Proconnesian been preserved in its original marble
survived
form a templon
into the twentieth century and were used in 1963 to screen in the parekklesion (fig. 15). They probably
derive from liturgicalfurnishingsin both the katholikon and the
saw Holy Trinity. In the opening years of the century, George Jeffery an iconostasis made of two marble colonnettes and in the parekklesion the latter presumably dating from the Ottoman period; he also reported two more colonnettes of identical design flanking the apse.318 All four must have originated from the initial templon, which must have also included closure slabs.319 The surviving capi
woodwork,
in the 1963 reconstruction, support this assertion: four are a of similar design based on a single row of acanthus leaves (fig. 18), while another two are perhaps of later date (and, with the together two colonnettes, in the katholikon).320 remaining perhaps originated tals, used
The
set of four capitals
is not of contemporary,
316 In the northwest corner next to the door and near the dedicatory inscription "'O by the south wall (A. Papageorgiou, vao<; tou ctyiovAa?apot> ctty\ Aapvonca," Report of theDepartment ofAntiquities, Cyprus [1998]: 223-24). 317 The surviving fresco decoration
that
reaches the level of the floor shows that the walls were never revetted with marble.
late-eleventh-century
318 Jeffery,Summary, 20-21 (above, n. 286); also inDescription, 273 (above, n. 284). For a comparable example of an earlier templon with columns modified with the addition of carved wooden elements, see that of the Acheiropoietos in Soteriou, Bv^avTivd [ivnfiela, pi. 145
itswidth was reduced following the alterations of the latemedieval period 72). (Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
when
319
The bases of the colonnettes
bear
indentations for the insertion of such slabs;
(above, n. 285). The apse colonnettes were
a fragment of a slab, of late antique manu facture, was also preserved at themonastery 72). (Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
presumably moved
320
there from the templon
MONASTERY
Described
in ibid., 71-72.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
III
either. They, presumably like the colonnettes themselves, are in fact late a antique spolia, and possible origin may be proposed: were in removed from the Campanopetra basilica they perhaps
manufacture
which lay in ruins by this Salamis/Constantia, period. Several speci mens have been excavated at the site of this elaborate late-fifth-century their precise provenance within complex.321 Although structure remains unknown (in one of the numerous similarities with use
The Byzantine
the late antique annexes?), their
are unmistakable. capitals is of course a recurrent feature of middle
the Koutsovendis
of spolia
architecture,
even in the most
prestigious
imperial foun
dations. Philokales, holding the highest office in the provincial the trans little trouble organizing elements from any part of the island to
would
administration,
have had
portation of architectural the building site at Koutsovendis.
What
ismore,
additional
evidence
was indeed that the ancient city of Salamis/Constantia used as a source of carved architectural elements and building mate itself rial inmedieval times,322 for elements from the Campanopetra demonstrates
are known
to have
traveled much
farther afield than the not-too
four large capitals now at the slopes ofMount Koutsovendis: to decorate that inMessina used city's cathedral Regionale built in the twelfth century and employ la Nuova, of Santa Maria ancient of diverse origins. One of the four, carved out of ing spolia Proconnesian marble, has been shown to originate from the nave rather surprising, this long-dis of the Campanopetra.323 Although must be seen across tance movement the Mediterranean of spolia distant
Museo
within the contextof the (admittedlypoorlydocumented) relations betweenNorman SicilyandCyprus thatdevelopedwithin thewider framework
the period of the prevailing during is features so that marble the fact surprising
of the conditions
Crusades.324 Much
more
little in the medieval Byzantine architecture of Cyprus, considering that there must have existed numerous ruined late antique sites such
on the island. One as that of the Campanopetra during this period should nevertheless remember that we know next to nothing about the decoration ished without
of contemporary a trace.
Roux, Basilique de Campanopetra, 341-50 (above, n. 61). 321
figs.
322 One of the 7th-c. inscriptions from its aqueduct was incorporated in themasonry of the church at Trikomo,
112
and lime kilns
urban monuments,
"Fours a pain et fours a chaux byzantins de Salamine," inYon, Salamine
de Chypre, 329-39
[above, n. 61]).
323 Roux, Basilique de Campanopetra, 243; M. A. Mastelloni, "Un' officina di periodo legata all'Archimandritato del S.mo Salvatore in lingua Phari ed alcuni
normanno
in the Crusader of the Campanopetra "Les inscriptions de period (Sodini, n. 67]; and G. 628 [above, l'aqueduc,"
materiali
PAPACOSTAS
have van
Argoud,
were installed among the ruined structures
TASSOS
which
bizantina:
scultorei messinesi,"
inCalabria
Il territoriogrecanico da
Leucopetra a Capo Bruzzano, XIncontro di Studi Bizantini, Reggio Calabria,
4-6
1995), 157; (Soveria Mannelli, J.-P. Sodini, "La basilique de la Campanopetra ottobrei99i
en Chypre,"J7L4 324 482-84
Papacostas,
13.2 (2000):
775.
"Secular Landholdings,"
(above, n. 9).
TheNarthex of theParekklesion The narthexwas added shortlyaftertheerectionof theHoly Trinity. Its layout was conditioned by the protruding north apse of the adja cent narthex of the katholikon with which it communicated through a door an in the narthex This resulted unusual configuration: (fig. 19). it iswide; itwas covered by a groin vault resting on small is than deeper not bonded with at its corners.325 Itsmasonry, although engaged piers is also made mostly of brick. The north wall, that of the parekklesion,
the only one still standing, is pierced by two rather tall windows (fig. monuments in the of almost 20), unique Cyprus surviving Byzantine whose windows are, as a rule, small.326 Together with the door that
they flank, theywould have allowed abundant light into the narthex, on its south wall. which would of course not have had any windows The only other source of light would have been the door on the west
wall and possiblyan additionalwindow to thenorthof thisdoor (the southern portion of the west wall being blocked by the apse of the katholikon narthex). The fate of the narthex the centuries through Its vault must presumably followed closely that of the parekklesion. was have collapsed the Ottoman period, when the latter during was never rebuilt. longer used for religious purposes, and
no
TheKatholikon Any observations one ventures to make about a building destroyed more than a century ago are bound to be conjectural, and any pro reconstruction tentative and the specula posed partial. Nevertheless as much tive essay that follows will attempt to do precisely this, based as on the available evidence. Our of the architec possible knowledge ture and decoration of the katholikon on earlier is based primarily documents.
a sheer stroke of we have by good luck that made before 1891 byWilliam Williams plan, shortly is both detailed and, reasonably crucially, reliable.327 It
Indeed,
it is
an architectural
(fig. 21). This shows to the south of theHoly Trinity parekklesion church comprising the elements: following 325 Mango,
"Monastery
of Chrysostomos,"
7i 326 The facades of Saint Lazaros (Larnaca) were also pierced by tall windows, which were, however, altered in the Ottoman period
"X) va6c. rot? ayiou 217-18 [above, n. 316]). The tall
(Papageorgiou,
Aa?apou,"
openings of the narthex may also indicate that it could have been an open porch, although no such examples are attested on Cyprus from themiddle Byzantine period.
a
relatively large
(born 1856) was a draftsman and architect employed by the colonial administration (from 1878 to 1919) on vari
327 Williams
ous important projects (see K. W. Schaar, M. Given, and G. Theocharous, Under the Clock, Colonial Architecture and History
in
Cyprus, 1878-1960 [Nicosia, 1995], 27-30, 46-47). The plan was first published by Jeffery in "Byzantine Churches," 115 (above, n. 287). Williams's J.Tankerville
Nicossienses, Recueil des inscriptionsfunirai existant encore res, laplupartfrancaises, dans Vile de Chypre, suivi d'un armorial chypriote et d'une description topographique et archeologique (Paris, 1894), a corpus of funerary slabs fromNicosia, skills as a draftsman.
testify to his
line drawings forMajor
Chamberlayne's
Lacrimae
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
113
T
~ ,____l_ !
1 r-!
cd
TASSOS
'-1
\\
j
!
;J Al-\{/-Ju
! !
1-^
/ /
I j j
, L-,
y
/
.-""" ~^\
\
r?'_l_?_?n_,?J;-.
! v__j?i:'-^i?u_,
..
PAPACOSTAS
Fig. 19 Plan of the katholikon and the parekklesion of Koutsovendis.
, C-i_^
f
L-JI i i i 1
r~i I, . ?-,-**J?Lj-J-->
X/
114
1-J
/^"~oO\ ~I~_-J
...
x\Drawing \ north
by Richard Anderson
\Fig. 20 Holy Trinity chapel, Koutsovendis, wall of the narthex. Photo by C. Mango
-:::;::
i.
Sanctuary with
lar apses. 2. Naos
three
semi-circu
protruding
a
(ca. 6.50 m) car large dome two engaged semicircular supports:
with
ried on
eight each on the north, south, and west walls,
and two
on the bema side and thus to square piers as appearing freestanding supports Vaulted narthex with large apses to the north 3. attached
and
south, communicating with the naos 4. An
additional
of the narthex, with
three doors
through
bbbbbHrwf4
bbbbb
j\
L^bj/
I23HL---J! --^^PHbbHHbbP.
rw
fW>'
I
N*? ^\
2 r 4X it?ii: B
structure
to thewest (porch?) a staircase in its northern part
to the south of the apsed chamber sanctuary which communicates with it through a it also opens to the courtyard in the door, while 5. Small
south and into a passage the naos
to itswest
leading
out of
6. Another
chamber squeezed between this passage and the south of the narthex, accessible only from the naos apse the exception of no. 4, all these elements With together with the are as to shown byWilliams Holy Trinity and its narthex belonging course not the case, we the same is which of building phase although
Fig. 21 Plan of the original katholikon and the parekklesion of Koutsovendis before 1891.AfterW. Williams
in Jeffery,"Byzantine
Churches," fig. 3a
have seen that theywere built within a very short period, perhaps in course a the of thewholesale destruction of the single decade. Despite a few elements from the above structures have been pre katholikon, served: the lower part of the sanctuary
apses and most
of the north
wall, which is sharedwith the (mercifullyspared)Holy Trinity,were new church. Traces of the northern incorporated into the apse of the narthex are still visible outside the north wall of the new building, while certain parts of itsmedieval predecessor's decoration, including opus
sectile floor panels, marble door frames, colonnettes and capi as two wooden door valves, have also survived.328 These
tals, as well decorative
features will be discussed
later.
The Skeuophylakion
The
liturgical typikon of the monastery, as we saw earlier, mentions certain parts of the katholikon, but of course itdoes not provide any concrete information on their or appearance. Thus the layout precise location of the skeuophylakion, which is connec in mentioned always tion with
the True Cross
relic, eludes us, although itwould seem that itwas not far from the naos and at any rate certainly not outside the two complex formed by the adjacent churches. A plausible candidate
might be thechamberof unspecifiedfunction (no. 6) to the southof the katholikon.
This was probably
added after the construction
of the
MONASTERY
328 Mango,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
67-68.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
115
appears to extend westward, south apse of the latter.329
narthex, for its south wall
enveloping
the
Another perhaps less likelypossibility is provided by the exis
tence of the staircase
in front of the narthex
(no. 4):
this is proba
with the fourteenstepsmentioned byCornelis bly to be identified
van
to a chamber above the church. states that Bruyn, who they led Thus, it appears that (at least in the seventeenth century) the flight of stairs gave access to some small construction of unknown form on top of the narthex. There is of course the possibility that the narthex in itselfwas a two-story structure, like that of the Panagia Chalkeon Thessalonike or the Eski Imaret Camii inConstantinople,330 although atKoutsovendis there is no evidence whatsoever for such an elaborate in arrangement; what ismore, the apsidal configuration would result not inconceivable, has no known an awkward scheme that, although
a discreet one structure was presumably precedent. That the elevated is shown by depictions of the monastery from the Ottoman period, when the upper chamber is also attested: these do not show any tall construction
other
than the domes
nate the compound. An upper chamber
of the two churches a safe place
that domi to
keep the certainly prized possession of the are known to in other monasteries community. Skeuophylakia a similar position: the rock-cut Enkleistra have been located in would
relic of the True Cross,
had
of Neophytos
surely be the most
later on at the
its own over the narthex, while
situated on top of the large four-column nar thex {lite) at the monastery's katholikon.331 The plausibility of this on the (unknown) date of the staircase suggestion obviously depends is attested before the seventeenth and the upper chamber. Neither
Great Meteoron
itwas
scheme? It is of century. Could they have formed part of the original course futile to of a no longer surviving speculate about the dating structure; but the evidence indicates that the vaulting of the narthex
in turn have This would period.332 on ismore, the fact that affected any construction sitting top.What the staircase is contained within an external structure suggests that
was
altered
in the later medieval
329 This is implied by the excessive thick ness of this apse wall onWilliams's plan. 330 "By veertien trappen opwaarts gaad men boven op dit Kerkje, daar men een Grotte ontmoet" (Reizen van Cornelis de n. 252]; note that the Bruyn, 368 [above, is no longer to be identi Camii Eski Imaret fied with the foundation of Anna Dalassene (C. Mango,
"Where at Constantinople
Was
of Christos Pantepoptes?" AbXt.Xpio-T. Apx Ft. 20 [1998]: 87-88). theMonastery
Il6
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Tvntxd, 90 Tsiknopoullos, Kvnpiaxd to olvtov Kai n. "6 48): (above, vApGrj^
33i
t>7repwov0-KevotyvkctK.iov";Orlandos, Movao~Tr\piaxr\ dpxiTexTovixi\, 74 (above, n. 278). A slight indication that the skeuo at Evergetis phylakion located been have may
in Constantinople
in a similar posi tion is provided by the verb used in that synaxarion in connection monastery's
with
the True Cross
there: itwas
relic that was kept
"brought down"
see Jordan, (icaTa(?i(?a?ou<7i) to the church; The Synaxarion, 52 (above, n. 102), and also Rodley, "Evergetis," 26 (above, n. 86). that the upper floor It has been suggested annex at the church of
of the northern Christ
in Chora may have also served as a
skeuophylakion Architecture Istanbul 332 68.
(R. G. Ousterhout,
oftheKariye
[Washington,
Mango,
Camii
D.C,
"Monastery
The
in
1987], 51).
of Chrysostomos,"
JC , ,^p- T*t_ \I W^VS1^ ^%\ /
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this, together with the elevated chamber, may not belong to the early The nearby church at whose architec building phase. Apsinthiotissa as we see is in shall ture, many respects related to that of our shortly,
Fig. 22 Panagia Apsinthiotissa, view from thewest. Photo by T. Papacostas
also has a (largely rebuilt) porchlike structure attached to the west of its case no staircase apsidal narthex, although in this is attested be contemporary with porch may (fig. 22). Apsinthiotissa's was altered in subse its narthex, although, like the latter's vault, it
katholikon,
centuries.333
quent
TheApsed Chamber was
to the south a by rectangular apsed no. 5),which communicated a door with chamber 21, (fig. through its sanctuary. Its function remains uncertain and It quite puzzling. accounts is not mentioned of the travelers who left of their by any
The katholikon
flanked
in "'H [lovy\ 75 (above, n. 8),where a late AyivGicoTio-ayjc," 333
Papageorgiou
date is suggested for the porch; the remains of fresco decoration on itswalls,
medieval
however, appear to belong to an earlier period (12th c.?). There is another example of an elevated chamber not far from Koutsovendis,
albeit from an altogether
different architectural
tradition: at the
(and later Premonstratensian) Augustinian of abbey Bellapais on the other side of the the small rib-vaulted Kyrenia Mountains, treasury was located over the north aisle of the early-i3th-c. Gothic church, from where itwas accessible via a spiral staircase within the thickness of the north wall
MONASTERY
i: 203-5 [above, (Enlart, L'artgothique, n. 268] and P. Plagnieux and T. Soulard, inL'art gothique "L'abbaye de Bellapais," en Chypre, ed. J.-B. de Vaivre and P. Plagnieux, Memoires de l'Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 34 [Paris, 2006],
200).
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
117
Nx I^ s' ^t^^^m^mm?
^ n^ y^^^mWi^^^^^K^"^
^^H^B
JqMstff
I
M
\i/-j
TASSOS
'
'
''*""
r^^H^^^^^^.^v *^x ti!iid ~~^^^^^^\\ I \l|| I \rf^^ \ i?.?-. ! Vr' 1/ T*K \I?' I .?.jiX?t. ' ?.-4-J-4' /"' /Oi I
PAPACOSTAS
^'
s
''il
1!
lT^
/ l! i
V\
--Tim <
<""W^
Il8
Esaa
H|"~ ^?i**1 I / X^ ^ y ! ' ' ^N p^,^i-_._.?|.__j._.?.? ^g ' \ ^^JflH
^H^B^BB
1!
flHQ_flPlii9Li9
^^ J
i%:::JlHI..I
L-Jr
L^^D^
/
\^Tl\ il!
1
aw
/
fig-23 Katholikonandparekklesion, Koutsovendis,
view from the east. Photo
by C. Mango f ig-24 Plan of the original katholikon and the parekklesion of Koutsovendis.
After Architecture," 84 Megaw, "Byzantine
visit to Koutsovendis.
The typikon does clues either, for no side provide any in connection with ismentioned chapel
not
the katholikon.
There
is, of course,
the
to the
It is skeuophylakion. nevertheless highly unlikely that this was located here, considering that its primary function, as we just saw,was that of a safe reference
^^^5*b^bbbbbbbE^bbbbbbbbb^^^^^^^^^%^^^9b^b^9^^^B BjBS9JbRBBBBBBB9^H9BBBBBBB^^^^M^^^^L'< BBB^BBiBBBBBBB^jy^e^HIIBBBBBA/^^^Pi^^K!
^^
SffPMBBp^BBBJ5BB
lit^^^iB^^ 23hI^EE^9^BXHBJ^B^B^^BB^B^B^BB|
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cgl^^BJIIIi^^^w^SHfi^MB^BJ
a repository for piece of the True Cross; the apsed chamber was rather exposed,
no fewer being easily accessible through than three doors, despite its small size x 4.40 (ca. 2.50 m). It remains therefore more as a it much likely that did function a subsidiary chapel after all, perhaps with funerary vocation although, again, there is no textual or evidence archaeological
for either an arcosolium The within
evidence
BBbSbBBBBBBJl BBBBBBBBBBBMS^TBBBB^BBBBE^HBff^^^^S^^^^ ^^BSBBBBBBJr *^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^BtKt^KKKtKKKmM^^jK^^&^m I^B9HBBBBm BBBBBBBBBBBB^QsTJP^BBBl^^B^SB^BBBB^BAnr^k^^^ 3BBBBlBBBBBBF#^B9BBBBBBBBBfiiil? uBMSBBB^^^HSBlBBBl^HMd^AaKC^ * iMBBBBBBBBl flBMMBBBBBB^^UwBBBMHH'JBBBWV^^^Wi
S^H^^^H|
l|^BBBBBBBBBM:^.^ff2 TBBBP^JBBrr^^M.^A f
or a
grave pit. its concerning place
the overall
sequence chronological of the complex is also problematic, being both extremely meager and contradictory, and only further archaeological investiga
shed light on both this and its precise function. Today nothing survives of its structure, although the area it occu was left outside the perimeter of the pied
jSBB^SBB9BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB^^^^^^^P^SSR^vR9B^^^^^ni^^
?
._.?. ^..^^M^^MiMriilMJiBjBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJBJBJBjBBBBBBBJfcBECjf^
tion may
BBBBBilllii^^
*,*^ * ^^V*5"*^3*^ ^ WWW"*< ^?*^a^s^,*--^ r ? ^ *-^* X T >^.#^. aK3RflS?w9^^^^Hffi%iMi&wi^&rt?lffiUHffiP!s?^ '""^rwSrm. .iwliJIlM.uwt4'**... ^ ***?H"^^ffl^|l$^* gKK*MQSefi?VHRMP^rt?,^reK^w*r^H|uij?'. -&^~*v
new church of 1891. The its south (outer) wall with that alignment of no. of the chamber of unknown function farther to the west (fig. 21, was same as at time the latter built the 6), however, may suggest that it and therefore later than were both the naos and the narthex. There nevertheless
another
Fig. 25 Katholikon and parekklesion of Koutsovendis, the apse wall. Photo by C. Mango
is
indication
that contradicts this hypothesis. in 1957 now conceals the surviving original at the southeast corner of the katholikon, where the
A bell tower erected lower masonry
chapel would have been attached (fig. 23). It is therefore impossible to ascertain whether the sanctuary's outer (east) wall could have extended farther to the south, to form the chapel's apse, thus making
the latterintegralto the restof thebuilding (theplan published by
shows the chapel as an addition: see But in fig. 24).334 the corresponding position to the north of the katholikon, the sur remains is of the visible and 1090 phase viving masonry quite distinct
Peter Megaw
from that of theHoly Trinity with which itmerges: its lower courses to ca. 2m from (up ground level) extend slightly beyond the northern limit of the katholikon
(fig. 25),335which may
indicate
the existence
MONASTERY
Megaw, "Byzantine architecture," fig. i (above, n. 305). 335 Also published inMango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," fig. 8. 334
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
119
of a bonding
a
structure, possibly
symmetrically
placed
northern
chapel belonging to the samebuildingphase as themain body of the
This northern chapel would have been demolished to this theHoly Trinity was built. Thus, according conjectural in its earliest scheme, the east wall of the katholikon phase could have in an arrangement reminiscent of (but perhaps comprised five apses, katholikon.336
when
much
less elaborate
Constantine
in
Lips
than) that of the early-tenth-century Constantinople.
TheNarthex of theKatholikon
The
is usually
katholikon
church of
said
to have
been
built without
a nar
is based on the excessive thickness of the thex.337This assumption a naos-narthex wall shown onWilliams's plan, which suggests double wall:338 had the two structures belonged to the same building phase, this would of course be unnecessary. There is nevertheless no doubt that the narthex was katholikon parekklesion
added very shortly after the completion of the in 1090 and before the construction of the Holy Trinity a few years later, since the latter's west door had to be
so as to avoid out onto its north apse. opening placed asymmetrically of katholikon An additional indication of the quasi-contemporaneity
naos and narthex, and indeed a clear hint that the latter was part of
the initialproject (even if itwas executed slightlylater),is the fact
semi-circular piers are placed that its engaged west axis as are those of the naos itself. Ifwe
along
the same east
that this feature of the narthex dates from its con
assume
no reason to suggest otherwise), it raises a ques ception (and there is as to tion its vaulting: what were these engaged piers built to carry?339 to the alterations that the superstructure I have already alluded
at some later stage. The similar narthex at Apsinthiotissa, was which could shed some light on the vaulting at Koutsovendis, central bay was covered by a ribbed vault; the spring also altered?its underwent
its vault is, however, visible on the east and west ing of original groin the two apses, almost certainly covered walls.340 At Koutsovendis with semi-domes initially, also received ribbed vaults (as shown on
that they rose to the same height as the rest of the the original semidomes presumably merged into vaulting, or gave way to barrel vaults extending up to the central bay, formed
Williams's
plan).
Ifwe assume
correspond to the twin satellite arrangement as defined by S. Curcic in "Architectural Significance of
33<>
Such a layout would
Subsidiary Chapels
inMiddle
Byzantine
(1977): 97. Churches,"/^//36 337 See, for example, A. Papageorgiou, "L'architecture de la periode byzantine a
HO
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Chypre," CorsiRav
32 (1985): 330.
as reported by Tsiknopoullos fiovrjtov Xpvo~o(TT6fiov, 94-96
inH
iepd
(above,
n. 179); see also the plan published by Megaw
(fig. 24).
They are explicitly mentioned by Unger and Kotschy, Die Insel Cypern, 514 339
Indicated by the results of the brief 338 excavation of 1957 in the new church,
(above, n. 264): "Gewolbvorsprungen bis an den Boden reichen." 340
Papageorgiou,
**Huovrj
75 (above, n. 8). A"\|/TV0icoTi(T(7y)<;,"
die
century by the engaged piers. By the nineteenth the latter was covered with a groin vault. Was this the case in Byzantine times, too? The engaged piers would perhaps suggest a slightly different scheme: must have served as supports for transversal they arches across the narthex (east-west), otherwise cannot existence their be justified. Considering on his not indicate the thatWilliams plan does arches across the corners of the naos
(which would the squinches necessary to transfer the charges of the dome down to its eight sup one wonders whether the transversal arches ports), have
created
^?
-n^W^JMa^^^^^^^Hgwi
iff HHr
of the narthex were
still standing but simply omit ted from the architectural plan. Be that as itmay,
it is difficult to car imagine that they would have ried a dome over the central bay (as for in example the narthex
of the Panagia
latter is too much
Kanakaria),341 for even an
ISBShI1^:^ fill
for the
elongated irregular, x 5 dome base (ca. 3m 60 m), although it elliptical over has to be said that examples of regular domes occur in the architecture of do rectangular bays this period outside probably There
the island.342 A domical
to be excluded
vault is
too, for the same reason.
two
a barrel vault possibilities: is one, for on the one hand it poses no construe remain
tional problem, but on the other it does not require the transversal arches, which would have merely served to underpin the long vault covering the entire space of the narthex. The second and more
Fig. 26 Panagia Apsinthiotissa, Photo by T. Papacostas
the refectory.
a on likely option would be groin vault, different from that shown in that it does not merge into the Williams's plan vaulting of the lat eral bays (if that is indeed what Williams saw), but is separated from are them by the transversal arches. groin vaults Although rarely used in the middle was a Byzantine architecture of Cyprus (fig. 26), this common seen We outside the have island.343 that the type already
narthex of the parekklesion
was
also covered by a groin vault;
34i A. H. S. Megaw and E.J. W. Hawkins, at The Church of thePanagia Kanakarid Lythrankomi in Cyprus: ItsMosaics and
Crusades,"Nicosia,
Frescoes (Washington, D.C, 1977), 34. A domed scheme for both the Koutsovendis
342
ed. N. Coureas
the outer narthex of Nea Moni,
on the Byzantine Art of Cyprus,"
R. Ousterhout
in his review ofNea Moni,
in C. Bouras,
on Chios: History and Architecture, trans. D. A. Harvey (Athens, 1982), 58-59. has cast some doubt over
in theJSAH 42
(1982): 298-99. 343
See, for example, the three domes over
Nea Moni
and theCrusades: Papers given at the International Conference "Cyprus and the
6-9 September 1994, and J. Riley-Smith (Nicosia,
1995)^75
and theApsinthiotissa narthex is implied in "Crusader Influence by A. Papageorgiou in Cyprus
this
C. Bouras, BvfavTivd o-TocvpoBoXiafze
vevpdxreic.(Athens, 1965), 22-28. The recon structed refectory of theApsinthiotissa is covered with a series of groin vaults on transversal arches carried by engaged piers along the long walls.
Bouras's dating of the exonarthex to the c, proposing a i3th-c. date instead
mid-nth
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
121
is only one of many architectural features that may have appeared in the Byzantine architecture of Cyprus for the first time here, at Koutsovendis. It has been in the course of the twelfth argued that the addition to on monastic of nartheces older churches century Cyprus reflects a the introduction of liturgical practices that required such space.344 as we see shall the architectural scheme of that, shortly, Considering our narthex was
on the island, we may in other monasteries adopted a role in the monas wonder ifKoutsovendis played spread of imported tic usage. The addition of nartheces has also been observed elsewhere, and their more
intensive use has been
linked, at least partly, to the increase in communal typikon testifies prayers.345 The Koutsovendis to this: most in the narthex fre specific offices took place eloquently itwas also quently (Par. gr. 402 f. 67r, i26r, i88r, i9ir, 254V, 269V), and used for the collation ofwine and bread distributed tomonks usually of the Feet after communion {diaklysmos: f. 72V, 256V). The Washing on
Maundy Thursday from other monasteries
also took place here (f. 242r).346 Documents in the empire contain similar stipulations,347
at Koutsovendis, unlike elsewhere, there is no evidence that although the narthex fulfilled any important funerary functions: only the pan the deceased members of the community is nychis commemorating existence of explicitly located here (f. i9ir), perhaps because of the the two chapels at its nearby cemetery, which must have been used we lack relevant evidence from the typ on such occasions?although ikon.348The narthex of theHoly Trinity, attached to the north of the a vocation and fulfilled far primarily utilitarian apsidal narthex, had fewer liturgical functions, at least ifwe are to judge from the stipula tions of the typikon.
to the superstructure of the narthex, the axial door of the north apse was moved farther east (along the to allow the construction of an engaged pilaster carrying curving wall) At the time of the alterations
A. Papageorgiou, "The Narthex of the Churches of theMiddle Byzantine Period in a Cyprus," inRayonnement Grec: Hommages Charles Delvoye, ed. L. Hadermann 344
Misguich
and G. Raepsaet
(Brussels, 1982),
446-48. 345
G. Nicholl,
"A Contribution
to the
Kecharitomene
at Constantinople
the ceremony also took place
where
(P. Gautier,
"Le typikon de Theotokos Kecharitomene," REB 43 [1985]: 125-27]). At Evergetis, too, it
Interpretation of Typika: Archaeological The Case of theNarthex," inMullett and
was performed beneath a depiction of the same scene, presumably in an annex of the
Kirby, Work and Worship, 294, 297 (above, n. 175).
katholikon
346 On the ceremony see S. Petrides, "Le lavement des pieds le jeudi-saint dans 321-26. l'eglise grecque," EO 3 (1899-1900):
122
be logical to expect of the Feet (Nipter) would that theWashing be depicted here, as in the narthex of
narthex, but itwould
Nothing
is known of the decoration
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
of the
(ev tw Sg|iw 7rapa7rTept>ywrfj<; (Dmitrievskii, Opisanie 1: 547
eKKkr\mac,) [above, n. n]). The nartheces
at Hosios
n- 345]); see also W. Tronzo, "Mimesis in Byzantium. Notes towards a History of the Function of the Image," RES 25 (spring, 1994): 61-76; and C. Barber, "Mimesis and Memory Moni, 347
Chios," AH Nicholl,
F. Bache,
24.3 (2001): 323-37.
"Contribution,"
dans les eglises byzantines du Xlle siecle," HistArt 7 (1989): 25-33. 348
There is no indication
(founder George, Eumathios John Chrysostomites,
295-96
[above,
an
au XIVe
in the typikon as
to the church where the various mnemosyna
Nipter mosaic
(Nicholl, "Contribution,"
287-95;
"La fonction funeraire du narthex
Loukas, Nea Moni,
and Daphni all have the in their northern part
atNea
in the Narthex Mosaics
Philokales,
etc.) should take place.
&&)^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^, ?9^bbbbbbbbb1 ^^B^^^^^^^^^H :W^o^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^BJ^BflB^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^BSk
^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^BJn^BB^MH^BliilPJ^ ^bbbbbbbB^bbbbbR?
'' W*
TwBq^^^^^^^^^^^^BBJBBBBBl
^^^^^^^^^^B^^bbbbbbbbbbbbBL!*~^^f^^tB^l^^^^^^^SMKI^^^^^Kt^^t^^Kll^^K^K^K^Sl^^^^^^^^^^^M
the rib of the new vault.349 The existence of this door
in the is implied as well, where we are told that at the end of the to typikon procession celebrate the enkainia on 9 December the monks enter the "narthex
Fig. 27 Asinou,
Panagia Phorbiotissa, view from the south.
Photo by T. Papacostas
of the great church" from that of the Holy Trinity (f. 59V). In the same context we hear of the access to the naos "royal doors" that gave (f. 6or). These remained by travelers who noticed
in use
in later centuries
theirmarble
and are mentioned
frames.350 There
is no textual or
evidence concerning the existence of a symmetrically archaeological none is shown onWilliams's placed door piercing the south apse, and on the island, however, such as the plan. Other apsidal nartheces at later and the somewhat contemporary example Apsinthiotissa at on account domed narthex which Asinou, (mid-twelfth century?) and date are thought to have been modeled prototype, did have axial doors on both apses
of their architecture the Koutsovendis
on
(fig. 27).351 There is nevertheless another element to take into account, which may have affected the layout of our narthex. Opisanie, 3:122 (above, n. "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
Dmitrievskii,
349 Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 68. The architectural solution selected
35?
(ribbed vaults) in conjunction with what we know of themonastery's history would sug gest that this took place before theOttoman
65-66; Unger and Kotschy, Die 514 (above, n. 264).
conquest, perhaps in the late Lusignan or Venetian period when ithad become a depen the remodeling of dency ofApsinthiotissa; the latter's narthex also took place during the same period (15thc?) (Papageorgiou, '"H n. 75 [above, [lovy\ 8]). A*\|/tv0icoTtcr<7r]<;,"
11);Mango,
351
Papageorgiou,
Insel Cypern,
"'H [lovy\
Ayiv9icoTio-(7r)<;," 75;Wharton, Art ofEmpire, 77 (above, n. 289). On the date of theAsinou narthex, see Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 1:167-68; its south door was walled when the apse wall was decorated with a fresco in ca. 1200.
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
123
mention a Visitors to the monastery during the Ottoman period tomb thatwas probably located within the narthex. The most detailed is in 1862 saw a stone slab description provided by Franz Unger who a vault in a tomb chamber surely the narthex) under ("Grabgemach": . . .wo the sepulcher of Maria Molino ("eine Gruft sich unter einem bereits zerstummerten Stein die irdischen Reste said to house
der Maria
...
befinden"), whose icon was kept in the church to the katholikon).352 The tomb chamber was adjacent
Molino
(presumably the latter (described
as the "western into the chapel") and opened a door west door of the the courtyard through (probably
monastery's
narthex). Unger's description structure. If this was indeed
seems
to
suggest
an arcosolium-like
the the tomb, and if configuration of the layout of the narthex, themost likely location for the monument would be in the south apse: its north counter sepulchral as we saw, an east and part was, pierced by opening, while along the
we consider
west walls
of the narthex
there was
space. The tomb is no in other account do we
little available
attested by other visitors, too, although A funerary slab in the narthex hear about its architectural setting.353 one century earlier, in 1767, of the church was also mentioned by was to to the elusive noble said Mariti, who relates that it lady belong a on who had the church built. The monks always kept light burning the slab, next to which they believed were buried the noblewoman's two favorite servant
girls.354 it was that Unger and earlier travelers saw at was was this Koutsovendis, destroyed when the katholikon pulled down in the late nineteenth century. The fragment of a late medieval Whatever
Fig. 28 Fragment of tomb slab, Koutsovendis, perhaps from the demolished katholikon. Photo by C. Mango
arm and lower part of an incised funerary slab that shows the right was at the monastery; it appears to figure preserved until recently be the only element that survived the demolition (fig. 28).355 Such monuments times are rather from Lusignan and Venetian sepulchral common one (with a in the medieval churches of and Cyprus,356 Greek inscription) is reported to have existed in the south part of the at the nearby Apsinthiotissa
narthex
Unger and Kotschy, Die 513-14 (above, n. 264).
35*
353
Athanasios
Insel Cypern,
Sakellarios, who visited
in 1854, refers rather vaguely to a tomb shown at themonastery
Koutsovendis
(Sakellarios, Td Kvnpiaxd, n. 275]). 354
Mango,
1:148 [above,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
66. Ibid., 67 (also published as fig. 186). 355 The fragmentary slab is not included in B. Imhaus, Lacrimae Cypriae: Les larmes de
124
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
(late fifteenth/early sixteenth Chypre. Recueil des inscriptions lapidaires pour la plupart funeraires de laperiode franque et venitienne de Vile de Chypre (Nicosia, 2004), although Mariti's attesta tion of it appears
in table I (2: 4). Two
slabs
published in this corpus, however (no. 158 with a Latin inscription, and no. 544 with a Greek inscription), bear certain affinities with the Koutsovendis specimen in the costume of the female figures depicted (rows of buttons along sleeves); they appear to date from the 14th and the early 15thc,
which may suggest a similar date for the Koutsovendis slab (ibid., i: 83, 283; 2:105, 229, 266 for sketches of the figures and 128 for brief discussions
dress; 2: 93, no,
of
the costume). 356
Chamberlayne, Lacrimae (above, n. 327); F. A. Greenhill,
Tankerville
Nicossienses
Incised Effigial Slabs: A Study ofEngraved StoneMemorials inLatin Christendom, c.iioo to c.1700 (London, 69-80;
1976), 2: 41-45,
and Imhaus, Lacrimae
Cypriae.
In themiddle Byzantine this part of the narthex period, century?).357 was often reserved for the burial of founders and and on patrons,358 in a similar location are known from earlier centuries Cyprus tombs monument as well.359 that the late medieval sepulchral Assuming
in the same position, could it not have an earlier burial at the same spot, perhaps dating from the replaced We observe above that the typikon did early days of the monastery? a limited to the narthex, however, and fails funerary role assigns only
at Koutsovendis
to mention
also
stood
the location where
the commemoration
of the founder
is more, there are other, take place. What perhaps George more in the monastery for locations tomb, namely likely George's the contiguous cemetery chapels outside the monastic compound, should
and perhaps the small subsidiary chapel to the south of the katho likon (fig. 21, no. 5). It remains, therefore, rather doubtful that the south apse would have housed a founder's tomb, inwhich case itmay
indeed have been pierced by a door; this would when the latemedieval tomb was laid out.
have been walled
up
The apsidal configuration of the narthex, known fromWilliams's remains of the north apse, merits plan and from the scanty particular it is rather unusual. That is not to say that nartheces attention, for apses are rare in the middle Byzantine period. On the contrary, are indeed known at the Theotokos of Lips, Myrelaion, examples
with
Vefa Kilise Camii, and Eski ImaretCamii (Constantinople),atEvcik
and Christianou (Thrace), and atHosios Loukas, Daphni, (inGreece), are In all these others.360 the cases, shallow, among apses though, are since relatively small, and formed like large niches, they usually contained within the thickness of the wall. In our example, however, aremuch to themain in and relation they project strongly larger body of the narthex. This particular type ismuch rarer. On Cyprus itself, apart from Koutsovendis
27; Apsinthiotissa:
and the cases mentioned
above
fig. 29), another four such nartheces
Enlart, L'art gothique, i: 245-46, (above, n. 268), and Imhaus, Lacrimae
357
2: 484
Pazaras,
(Asinou: fig. are attested,
tcov KTrjropwv oro "O TCttyoq
Ka8o^.iK6 tt]c uovr]c BaToneSlov," Bvt,avTivd
Cypriae, 1: 357-58 no. 694, and 2.112 for the Historic Monuments, date; see also Jeffery,
and J. Bompaire, J. Lefort, V. Kravari, and C. Giros, Actes
276 (above, n. 284); A. K. Indianos,
de Vatopedi [Paris, 2001], 42-43 [by B. Pitarakis]; A. Bandy, "Eleousa: Rule ofManuel, Bishop of Stroumitza, for the
ueaaicoviKA uvyjugla?"Emypa<$>i<; I," "Ki?7rpictK
to be seen in "the apse of the
north aisle." 358
The nth-c. founders ofVatopedi and Eleousa at Veljusa were
of the Theotokos
most probably buried in such tombs (T. N.
17 [1994]: 407-40,
Monastery of theMother of God Eleousa," inByzantine Monastic Foundation [above, n. 18]). Burials (of unknown date) were reported in the past in the apsidal narthex of Asinou and near the
Documents
Afflvovc,] [Nicosia,
1922], 8, and Annual
Report to theDirector
ofAntiquities,
Cyprus
[1963]: 11). 359 M. Rautman, A Cypriot Village ofLate in the Vasilikos
Antiquity: Kalavasos-Kopetra Valley (Portsmouth, Rhode 360
Bouras, Nea Moni,
Island, 2003), 6$.
151-52. On
the
church with (nth-c?) apsidal narthex identified at Evcik on the Black Sea coast of Thrace, Wall
see J. Crow and A. Ricci, "Anastasian
Project
1995," BBBS
22 (1996): 33.
south wall of the narthex at Saint Hilarion (J.C Peristianes, Movoypacpict t9\cdpx&i&c noXecocxai exxlr}(rlac TfjcAalvrjc [vvv
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
12,5
none is or although preserved above ground securely dated.361 Outside a are at the island only handful Nea Moni known: the outer narthex, an open was with such originally porch, provided projecting apses. In the area of Latmos, the twelfth-century church of a ruined monastery
on a small island inLake Herakleia (MenetAda inBafa Golii) had a similar in plan to the one at Koutsovendis.362 not contain any clear indication as to The typikon stipulations do in the architecture the use of these apses. A particular development of the Athonite katholika, however, may be instructive: in around
domed
apsidal narthex
1000 Athanasios
of Athos
had the outer walls
cross arms in the katholikon
of the north and south
two replaced by large followed suit, and churches
of the Great Lavra
Fig. 29 Panagia Apsinthiotissa, view from the north. Photo by T. Papacostas opposite page Fig. 30 Plans of the churches ofMargi and Panagia Apsinthiotissa. After Jeffery, "Byzantine Churches," figs. 3, 4 Fig. 31 Plan and section of Christ Antiphonetes.
After Soteriou, BvfavTivd
Mvrjftela, fig. 14 Fig. 32 Plan of the church at the castle of Saint Hilarion. After Papageorgiou, "The Narthex," fig. a
soon monasteries apses. Neighboring built subsequently on the Holy Mountain the latter was so popular, to a Obviously
adopted this scheme.363 extent because of the large were also an ideal prestigious origin of themodel, but such apses place services. Similar considerations formonks to stand and sing the during
may have prompted
the elaboration
large apses,
They are nevertheless thought to date from the 12thc: Saint George at Aphendrika
"L'eglise de la Panagia Arakiotissa a Lagoudera, Chypre: Etude iconographique
in the Karpas
des fresques de 1192,"DOP 50 (1996): n. 362 Bouras, Nea Moni, 112-14 (above, n.
361
peninsula (only foundations visible), Saint Paul at Gomaristra near Lapithos
(in ruins), the churches of
(?) and of themonastery of Lagoudera Hiereon (AyiaMoni in themountains of Paphos), both known from partial excava "The Narthex," tion; see Papageorgiou, 442-44 (above, n. 344), and A. Nicolaides,
126
of the narthex with
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
342); for the dates of the exonarthex, see n. 342; U. Peschlow, "Latmos," Reallexikon zur Byzantinischen Kunst, ed. K. Wessel (Stuttgart, 1993), 5: 66z-66. P. Mylonas,
"Le plan initial du au Mont catholicon de la Grande-Lavra
363
Athos
et la genese du type du catholicon
athonite," CahArch
32 (1984): 96-100;
also R. Ousterhout,
"Beyond Hagia
Originality
Originality Music a Collection Littlewood
see
Sophia: in Byzantine Architecture," in inByzantine Literature, Art and ofEssays, ed. A. R.
(Oxford, 1995), 172-74;
and Ousterhout, Master (above, n. 312).
Builders,
92
2?J?i-i-Uw.
' H
~J?s -c^1"*^"
I._l_-^^Jf^^r--
' '
ii
'Hi
||L BBBBBBBBBBl BBBBBBBBBBL-
in addition
to the need
Q!
^k Bf
iT-_BBB#^ BBBBBBBBBBa ?JBBBBBBBBBBi
**'e>j"y ?' *^??
for more
space in view of its uses. Our 32 increasingly frequent liturgical typikon on another modest albeit clue: provides yet suggestive enters the narthex Easter Saturday the officiatingpriest
pr
'
from thenaos censing thehegumen and themonks,
//^^^v^
singing
//^--^
in two groups
r
i .^ BJ| " !' ! 5
(f. 254V). The most
appropriate
NAOI AC IAAPI8N0I IQHwtLI I -1 I-Iwttpg
j
1
// "^^? / place for the latterto standwould obviouslybe the lp* two apses. Indeed, the choirs, j^copoi.[sic],"to the /lf\ ^sa^^ leftand right," mentioned in connectionwith the |?^^-i||fl^: venerationof theTrue Cross relic on the third J7 "-\ |fl Lent of these denote nUP very (f.222r),may Sunday J/ / apses (as in theRule ofAthanasios forLavra)364 Jy (j ratherthan thegroupsof cantors. JP \^ lilt) TheNaos and Bema
~^-*^^H^W
referred to as body of the katholikon, rov "the great church" in the typikon (ev rep fxsyaXcpvacp / vaov: f. 58V, 59V), is the only securely dated part of the church \ieyctXov
The main
SB MtTATCMXTCPH
can be complex. Its layout and architecture partly reconstructed with a certain to the available evidence. On degree of confidence thanks the one hand, we have the descriptions and drawings by travelers of
and, on the other, period and the plan made byWilliams parts of the lost building incorporated into the church of 1891. There is also a small group of related monuments that includes the churches theOttoman
ofMargi, Apsinthiotissa, and Saint Hilarion Antiphonetes, (figs. 30, our its main and share with katholikon 31, feature, namely 32). They
MONASTERY
364 P-Mylonas, "O ap^iT?KTOViKO<; bpoc, X^poq 7rpivKai [xera xdv'Ocrio AGavacrio tov 'AScovixy)," in TeTocpTO av^inoaio (ZvfavTivfjc xai fteTafivfavTivrjcdpxcuoXoyiac xcci Texvnc (Athens, 1984), 39-40.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
127
^^BBBBBBBBj^.
JEr
-^BBB^Rfi^P
^?V^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^HBABBBBBMk^iyB^BBl
at the the large dome on and are eight supports (six Apsinthiotissa), on all situated the foothills of the Kyrenia mountains, mostly in the Their concentration in this particular vicinity of Koutsovendis (fig. 2). area is not an accident of survival; combined with the fact that clearly
it leaves no doubt that type is so uncommon, they same form part of the same group and were built the period. during Their far from all is, however, clear, appear chronology although they their architectural
to date from the later eleventh and twelfth centuries. the bad Despite state of most of them, some preservation of they may still shed light
on the architecture
of the lost katholikon.365
a square naos covered a plan shows by large dome. on The latter appears all of our early depictions of the monastery, none reveals much about its von Richter's although design. Otto The Williams
shows a dome
clearly much larger than that of the to the same parekklesion, they both rise although approximately The drum of the katholikon appears to bear an arcade height (fig. 7). with windows of course alternating with blind arches366?unless were in. That the latter represent windows that subsequently walled original drawing
this may
indeed be the case
of Barskii, which
presents
an earlier is indicated by drawing, that a view of the drum from the opposite
365 For a discussion of these monuments, see Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 1: 153-59 (above, n. 4). 366
Dome
drums with windows
alternat
ingwith such blind arches or niches, although rare inmiddle Byzantine Cyprus,
128
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
do occur in a small number of churches (Saint Nicholas Saints Barnabas
of the Roof, western dome of and Hilarion
at Peristerona,
narthex dome at Panagia Kanakaria) (Papacostas,
"Byzantine Cyprus,"
i: 182-83).
Fig. 33 Christ Antiphonetes, view from the southwest. Photo by T. Papacostas
direction
(southeast), pierced by several windows of which five are shown (fig. 6),367 suggesting that were as the sixteen there probably altogether, just dome of theHoly Trinity next door has twelve win dows of which
four are visible on the same sketch.
the circumstances
Considering Barskii may be described
and his background, as a fairly reliable observer
of architecture. A word
of caution
at Morphou
of Saint Mamas
, *:1bBBBBBM
-
*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ jflH^^^^^Piir^^j^BBB^^lBBBBBBli^ jA
## ^^^^^^^^HIS^HP^^^bbbMbbbbbV" ^f tf ^^^^^^^^^^^^H^BBBj^^bbbmbbbBi^bbbbbbV-
is nevertheless
necessary, for he sometimes proves to be less accu rate when it comes to details. Thus his sketches of the monasteries
^^^^^^^^^BBS^Bflil^BBBBBP*'^V'^
BBBBBBHyBJBBFsSli^BBBi ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^oBBBBBBBBBMBBBBB^Klf^BBBBBBBiP
and
BBBBBBBBBBMflBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBm^^~>> BBBBBBBBBBBIumBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB^^'
-*?
of theEnkleistra imply that both katholika had (three are eight windows each case);368 the two buildings, which a are contemporaneous (ca. good state, indeed very similar, but they also differ
domes with
respects, including Saint Mamas has
the number
visible
in
survive in
bbbbbbbbbbb^bK ^^bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbM:--' 'jf: ^ *?_ BVjyAyAyjyAyj|n|^p j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^b,;' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^K-^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^H^k^
1500) and in certain
BBBBBBBBBBW^SBlBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB/j^'^
of dome windows:
eight whereas the Enkleistra has It is therefore obvious that the testi
only four. mony of Barskii's trusted.
There
t B^B^B^B^B^BJ|MK||jSB^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^BB^
sketches cannot
always be fully little doubt that
is nevertheless
M^^BJB^BBB^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^b,\
at Koutsovendis, the relatively indeed large dome one of the known from middle largest Byzantine ca. 6.50 m), would have had a (diameter: Cyprus dozen
* J^fediBJBBBBBflBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBKi^
or more
lights. Such large numbers of dome are known from a few other middle windows monu only Byzantine ments on our to the churches related katholikon, Cyprus.369 Among
Fig. 34 Saint Hilarion, engaged piers on the west wall. Photo by T. Papacostas
almost certainly the latest member of the only Christ Antiphonetes, group (late twelfth century?), has preserved its original dome, built in ashlar with twelve windows under recessed arches (fig. 33). and was
at Koutsovendis
was presumably built in ashlar, too, on carried eight supports. These engaged semicircular piers
The dome
are mentioned by both Van Bruyn (1683) and Otto von Richter
(1816), although neither tells us anything about their masonry.370 At are built, like the entire the almost-cylindrical supports Antiphonetes structure, in cut stone, too. The
homonymous
castle, which
roofless shell at Saint Hilarion
probably
367 Also published inGrishin, A Pilgrim's Account, plate 8 (above, n. 62), and Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," fig. 3. 368
Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, plate 4,
10. 369 By comparison the original dome at Nea Moni on Chios would have been slightly
in the
dates from the same period
as
larger at ca. 7 m while at Hosios Loukas it is even larger (ca. 8m); the two dome drums at Saint Barnabas outside Salamis/ Constantia each, while
are pierced by fourteen windows those of Trikomo and Lagoudera
have twelve (Papacostas, Cyprus,"
Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn, 368 (above, n. 252); Richter, Wallfahrten im 318 (above, n. 275). Morgenlande, 37?
"Byzantine
1:181-83).
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
129
a employs supports of on a much more similar type, although But here these irregular plan (fig. 32).
Koutsovendis,371
seen at thewestern part engaged piers (best ruinous of the church: fig. 34) are built in alternating ashlar and brick courses, the latter set in thick mortar beds that give the of recessed brick appearance masonry.372 According Koutsovendis
to Barskii
at
the katholikon
was
also built "of huge nat have been cleverly hewn and are set amongst large strong bricks."373
ural stones which
This may suggest a type of masonry simi lar to that of Saint Hilarion, the although portion of the north wall of the katho likon, which survived because it is shared with
the parekklesion, ashlar
good-quality
ismade
entirely of in isodomic courses
41flit
HI^^Hl^^^^^^^^H^
:#P^gy^^M^^B^^^^^BM|
(fig. 35). Similarly, the lower part of the original apse wall, incorporated within is also built in ashlar the church of 1891, (the rubble masonry above isprobably due to subsequent repairs: fig. 25); the recessed in the main arches of the three windows apse, however, as well as the spandrels between of brick.374 It them, are made is therefore not
inconceivable
that, as in
Saint Hilarion
and other contemporary on the island, the were at Koutsovendis engaged piers stone courses. also built in alternating brick and in the little that survives of the The quality of the stone masonry
monuments
the Fig. 35 Holy Trinity, Koutsovendis, south wall incorporating part of the north wall of the katholikon.
Photo by C. Mango
monuments from this exceptional. Although cut stone do survive on the island, in period employing particular in the Maure Saint Saint and (most Karpas peninsula notably katholikon
near
Philon
37i
walls
Curcic
is
Rizokarpaso:
vast majority fig. 36), the
inMiddle
Byzantine 16-17 (above, n. 301), dates this church to the late 10th c. and therefore
Architecture,
before the squinch churches of southern Greece and theAegean. If this dating is based on that of the fragments of fresco "Christian (C. Chotzakoglou,
decoration Mosaics
and Mural
in the
Paintings Areas of Cyprus: Preliminary in Report on Their Condition,"
Occupied
130
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Chrysostomides Land,
of contemporary
and Dendrinos,
Sweet
105 [above, n. 221]), it is possible
374 that
theymay belong to an earlier church, of a different architectural type (cross-in square?), whose of the castle.
construction preceded
that
Of course the piers would have almost certainly been plastered over, and perhaps painted too, concealing themasonry. 372
373
Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 30.
Otto von Richter's
statement that
the church was built of brick is probably an exaggeration prompted by itsmore extensive use in themasonry
of the
(Richter, Wallfahrten adjacent parekklesion imMorgenlande, 317).
structures were
was more irregular masonry often than hitherto thought concealed behind a layer of painted not lack sometimes imitating ashlar courses.375 Cyprus does plaster, not least in the Kyrenia mountains, but this does stone, good-quality built of rubble. The
Fig. 36 Saint Philon, view from the east. Photo by T. Papacostas
not seem to have been fully exploited until the Lusignan period, first new structures put up in the often by the grand and elaborate Gothic ruling elite, and subsequently throughout the island's architectural not of the katholikon, output. Thus the stone masonry although to the local tradition, is nevertheless remarkable. totally foreign
The use of brick in the Byzantine architecture of Cyprus is equally seen that itmay reflect infrequent.We have already Constantinopolitan practices. The channels through which it reached the island, however,
may not have been as direct as one might suppose. The closest parallel to our apse windows to the is to be found at Trikomo, in the plain east of Koutsovendis, where the early-twelfth-century church of the stone blocks, also in somewhat Panagia, built irregular employs brick in the recessed arches and its three apse windows.376 A pat spandrels of tern in the use of brick to that encountered on Cyprus has comparable been observed in the Byzantine architecture of Palestine too, which, 375 Middle 376
As S. Curcic has demonstrated
in
Byzantine Architecture, 19-31. It is noteworthy that the frescoes of
Trikomo
have been linked to those of the
parekklesion at Koutsovendis, although their dating remains uncertain (D.Winfield, "Hagios Chrysostomos,
Trikomo, Asinou.
Byzantine Painters atWork," inHpaxTixd tovnpuTov AieBvovc KvnpoXoyixoi) ZvveSptov [Nicosia, 1972], 2: 285-91, and A. Carr and L.J. Morrocco,^ Byzantine
Weyl
Masterpiece
Recovered:
Century Murals
The Thirteenth
ofLysi, Cyprus
[Austin,
i99i]? 55)
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
131
mmm mm
uses
in the primarily stone; yet eleventh-century portions of the Holy Sepulcher brick is frequently employed, and the gallery win dows of the north facade of the Anastasis rotunda like that of Cyprus,
with
their brick arches are indeed
those at Koutsovendis even rarer element
reminiscent
and Trikomo.377
of
Another
in the latter monument,
which
finds an exact parallel in Jerusalem, is the banded in arches bricks with stone alternating it occurs in the two recessed blocks. At Trikomo
voussoir
blind arches of the south facade facade was
(fig. 37; the north the original church was at the it is found Holy Sepulcher
altered when
enlarged), while in two of the eleventh-century chapels.378 Although in Byzantine this is not uncommon architecture
in both and exceptional Cyprus and raises the possibility that its same in both areas appearance during roughly the not be coincidental. In Jerusalem itself, period may both this particular feature and the use of brick elsewhere, the Holy
it is
Land
in
general have been explained by the (undocu mented) arrival of a Constantinopolitan workshop IX Monomachos in despatched by Constantine the 1040s to restore the shrine after the ravages of al-Hakim's anti-Christian zeal in the early Caliph
part of the century. The impact of this external input on the architec ture of Palestine in the immediate aftermath of the Holy Sepulcher's restoration (and before the arrival of the Crusaders) is difficult to
Fig. 37 Panagia of Trikomo, view from the southwest. Photo by T. Papacostas
are few, ill dated, and were often the surviving monuments as we saw, on is extensively altered.379 This important because, Cyprus, too, the appearance of brick toward the end of the century has been
gauge;
linked to the Constantinopolitan 377 ^he single-aisled domed church of the Panagia Blachernon near Athienou, in the island's central plain, is known from a draw ingmade in 1862 by Edmond Duthoit that
tou Lakhera/Lachiera/Lachernou"
shows windows with brick arches reminis
126-27. 378
this interest
in the publication of Duthoit's work (R. Sevens and L. Bonato, Along theMost Beautiful Path in theWorld: Edmond Duthoit and Cyprus [Nicosia, 1999]). It is probably to be identified with the "Panayia
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
the destruction
briefly in Jeffery,Description, 182 (above, n. 284), and N. Kyriazes, Td [lovcLaTfipia evKvnpco (Larnaca, 1950),
mentioned
cent of those at Koutsovendis;
ing drawing was exhibited in London (Hellenic Centre, 1999) but was not included
132.
milieu.
R. Ousterhout,
[Stroud, 1999], 74-88). "Rebuilding Monomachus
the
and Temple: Constantine the Holy Sepulchre," JSAH 4% (1989): 73-74; the presence of a Constantinopolitan work shop is also attested by the use of the recessed brick technique and by several details. An earlier dating for the beginning of the reconstruction right after
decorative
of the shrine has been pro
posed byMartin Biddle, who argues that its main phase took place under Michael IV (1034-41) (M. Biddle, The Tomb ofChrist "Rebuilding the Temple," D. Pringle, "Church-Building in Palestine Before the Crusades," in Crusader 379
Ousterhout,
72-74;
Art in the Twelfth Century, ed.J. Folda (Oxford, 1982), 5-46.
The
proximity of this parallel chronological in the two areas development neighboring might a direct link between their suggest building prac tices; but of course itmay also be the mere reflec tion of the same experience architectural traditions. What of evidence
in areas with ismore,
similar
the paucity
from Palestine makes
any argument in difficult to sustain. That
favor of the first option is to say, it is not difficult to although imagine the transfer of practices to Cyprus from the mainland in this period, the necessary corroborating mate rial is shall nevertheless see below that lacking. We other elements
in the architecture
of our katho
likon also point in the same direction. The transitional zone under the dome
base
is the
defining char and the related
acteristic of the architectural
type of the katholikon to recon above. It is also themost problematic struct. The only evidence thatmay be used for this purpose isprovided by other buildings, both within and outside Cyprus. Constantinople has unavoidably been mentioned in this context,380 based not on any secure evidence but on the as the foun solely capital's perceived role tain ofmost ifnot all in Byzantine art and architecture developments
monuments
of this period. Byzantine that essentially perform fer of the
two types of employs squinch the same structural role, trans the namely architecture
to its charges from the circular dome base eight supports. The and churches of southern large architecturally complex squinch Greece Christianou, (Hosios Loukas, Daphni, Panagia Lykodemou, use conical and Saint Sophia of Monemvasia) (trumpet) squinches, which are geometrically well defined, while the smaller type exem
on Chios uses plified by Nea Moni apsidal squinches. The latter monument has often been cited in relation to the Cypriot squinch churches.381 the principle followed is the same (dome over Although square naos carried on eight supports and devoid of buttressing annex is nevertheless structures), the comparison misguided.382 The undeniable affinities of their plans conceal the fundamental differences in their superstructure, and in particular
autres edifices de meme type (Paris, 1951), 39; P. Mylonas, Movrj tov 'OalovAovxd. tov
tinopolitan Architecture During theMiddle and Late Byzantine Period," JOB 31 (1981):
ZTeipicoTrj.H dpx^exTOVLxrj tcov Teo-adpoov vaoov (Athens, 2005); Megaw, "Byzantine
566-67;
Curcic, Middle
381
IV
// sN \
fl^^^H*!
l?^HB
^B. / !' J
^_j
-?-* f~ -?~"t~~-fi *%._^^^B
Fig. 38 Nea Moni (Chios), reconstruction of the naos interior.After Orlandos, Monuments byzantins, vol. 2, plate 14. Fig. 39 Nea Moni (Chios), plan of the naos at squinch level. After Orlandos, Monuments byzantins, vol. 2, plate 15
83;Wharton,
Art ofEmpire, 73 (above, n. 289). 382 As C. Bouras has observed, most
16-17.
E. Stikas, L'eglise byzantine de en Triphylie (Peloponese)
Christianou
Architecture,"
Byzantine
1 I
in the transitional
380 Megaw, "Byzantine Architecture," 82; P. L. Vocotopoulos, "The Role of Constan
Architecture,
^^^B
mentioned
et les
pertinently, inNea Moni,
i^j (above, n. 342).
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
133
zone. The
internal articulation
of the naos
at Nea
is unique: the square base is abruptly inter a on which the almost cen rupted by ledge perfectly tralized octaconch created by the apsidal squinches in the corners and the fourwide niches in the axes of
Moni
the square sits rather uncomfortably such interruption of the vertical
No
(figs. 38 and 39). naos plane of the
exists in the the spring Cypriot monuments; not marked a cornice or any ing of the squinches is by other device. This ismost clearly seen at Antiphonetes, the best-preserved specimen on the island (fig. 31),but
walls
also at the ruinous
shell of Saint Hilarion
the niches ofNea Moni
and the octaconch
(fig. 40): they form
are nowhere to together with the apsidal squinches be seen; instead, on the axes there are blind arches,
bbbbbmbbT^IrIM
hbbbbbb9l7^ BBBBBBBSB>-'^ BBbHP^P^1
9b*bET/ iBBBBBBBJ"^..
^
'^j^iS^^HbmISbb^bbIbPP^^P^w.
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A
apart from the east, where the arch opens into the barrel vault of the bema (as in the latermonuments
ofChios).
too It is very likely that in our katholikon same was an the scheme uninter followed, with on the axes of the wall that square rupted plane into the blind arches (the eastern arch continued
*' ' H|^^Q^^^BBh|BH^^K;I|. * ' flNH^^^^BBBBsVRSBi ^IBP^BBBBBSiBBBBBBBBBBMf' "IWbIPIIHbbbbbI^bbbbbbj? BBBJfs^BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBjik
SBBj^BBBBBBBBBBjRBBB^
;4 ^iL^B^^BBBBBBBBSs^Pfl^BBl BBBBBBBBBBB/';^?nBBBBBMBBl BBbBJBJBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB^&
into the bema vault) and in have opened care into the the corners merged squinches. The ful construction of the katholikon and the regu
would
its raise among the Cypriot monuments,383 larity of plan, unique the possibility that its squinches may have been of the conical/ trumpet type. It should, however, be noted that those employed in the surviving churches of Cyprus between the two types prevalent ture, and orous
in tune with
construction
Fig. 40
Saint Hilarion,
interior looking west.
Photo by T. Papacostas
are of a hybrid variety, halfway in middle architec Byzantine
the
often-irregular of these monuments.
layout and less than rig are all ill-defined, They
this irregularly curving segments of vaulting (fig. 41).384Whether our katholikon, must remain an reflects their presumed model, open question. 383
At Antiphonetes and Saint Hilarion thewest squinches are still standing, whereas at theApsinthiotissa only the
this can no longer be ascertained since nothing remains of the structure, known
northwest squinch survived and was used as a model for the reconstruction of the
through the early-2oth-c. plan published by Jeffery in "Byzantine Churches," 117 (above,
superstructure in the 1960s. Squinches are to be found in two more middle Byzantine
The church atMargi, in thewestern foothills of the Kyrenia Mountains (fig. 30), may have also had a regular layout, although
n. 287); further bibliography in Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 2: 57 (above, n. 4).
134
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
384
on the island, namely the single-aisled domed church of Saint Photios
monuments
in the Karpas peninsula and the small burial chamber attached to the north of at Prasteio thePanagia Diakainousa Avdimou in the region of Limassol (four tangent squinches): 2: 27, 69.
Cyprus,"
Papacostas,
"Byzantine
The position of the supports onWilliams's plan suggests that the outer outline of the arches spanning the corners and forming the center were narrower than the of the naos) squinches (towards the
Fig. 41
Saint Hilarion,
the northwest
squinch. Photo by T. Papacostas
four arches on the axes of the square. They would have been either semicircular385 and therefore lower (as at Panagia Krina and at the
on Chios: or Holy Apostles of Pyrgi figs. 42, 43) elliptical and reach same at their apex as the other arches almost the Nea ing height (e.g., scheme may have adhered to the former Moni).386 The Koutsovendis ifwe
are to
monuments. At judge by the local Antiphonetes the rounded piers on a very irregular octagonal layout carry slightly pointed arches of variable width and height; but there the eastern
model,
part of the octagon disposes of the squinches altogether, eastern are almost not supports aligned and therefore do additional device to fill in the nonexistent corner gap (as a dome drum is anything but circular); the corner arches are to the same as the arches on the height square's axes, and 385
Pointed arches appear slightly later in architecture of Cyprus: see
the Byzantine
above, p. 100, and below, pp. 138-39. 386
Plans and sections of these and other
related monuments by A. K. Orlandos
on Chios were published inMonuments
byzantins
de Chios, vol. 2, Planches
since the an
require
result, the blind, rise are simply
(Athens, 1930);
further bibliography in R. Ousterhout, "Originality in Byzantine Architecture:
The
Variations
of the Single Domed Octagon Plan," AelT. XpiaT. Apx Et. 9 (1977-79): 21-32.
of Nea Moni,"JSAH 51 (1992): 48-60. For a classification of the variants, seeC
Case
Bouras,
"Twelfth and Thirteenth Century
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
135
^^^0^^^. ^^^r^ ^^^^r
1.a rf \J
o*
i
*
"
1
'
.*
.I Ji
\ V
^-t^F *?J?*?1?1?t-
1
L
*^^m
U
^^^^^ vol.
Fig. 42 Panagia Krina (Chios), section and plan. After Orlandos, Monuments byzantins, 3, plates 32 and 33
^^ni
? hi? ppii
l'
/
'
v?
!
s'&W--Wm hR.
abutted by the vaults of the sanctuary's lateral bays, which communi cate with the octagon This is a variant through lower arched openings. of an unsatisfactory solution adopted earlier at Saint Hilarion, where is also flattened in its eastern part and the low arches the octagon
the opening into the bema vault replace the squinches as the flanking device through which the transfer of the charges is effected (fig. 44). on the other hand, the At only other member of the Apsinthiotissa, reconstruc has survived where sufficient evidence group (despite the tion of the 1960s) and which appears to date from the same period as the number of supports was reduced to six, placed at Koutsovendis, arches. regular intervals and carrying (brick?) The origin of the squinch church in Byzantium has been much debated.387 In the architecture ofHosios Loukas, the earliest surviving is specimen of the southern Greek group, there nothing experimental; an scheme it is the expression of accomplished, elegant, and successful that uses the trumpet squinch most effectively and is nothing short
136
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
Stikas, L'eglise byzantine de 35-47 (above, n. 381);Mango, "Les monuments de l'architecture du Xle 387
Christianou,
(above, n. 10); for a review of arguments, see Bouras, Nea Moni,
siecle," 359-65 themain
133-39 (above, n. 342).
I
_
1
45 **0^Apostles,pYrgi(Chios),section ^' c^xrfcfr_-_ and plan. After Orlandos, Monuments
^j^P^r^ fcMm^
^sf
?~r ^^"4--~ B^
'
""tt-1-7i"-t ^ v \ "~-JBB.
:,
c
,,.,.,
1
1 A1
* ^-i' ~~ i'*.
'_1
/
'
j
byzan
#'?*>vol. 2, plates 39 and 40
r^sSr^
'.
"~^ X~""
#-i!r
/ !Ml Pf/^7""=?S^-BBl!l &-5A- -Jt^^m \ BBl'
as it appears without any known precedent in Byzantine baffling, architecture. Nea Moni, on the other hand, bears all the hallmarks of a process, although again the initial impulse remains developmental uncertain. Robert Ousterhout has convincingly argued that itmay be at least partly derived from contemporary Islamic architecture.388 of
on Chios The progeny ofNea Moni (Saint George Sykousis, Panagia at Krina, Holy Apostles Pyrgi: figs. 42, 43) takes its innovative but it further, cen imperfect scheme and develops forsaking the strict tralization in favor of alterations that transition the from improve
square base to squinch zone and enhance the relationship of the naos with the sanctuary by opening up the latter into the former. It is this later group that provides the closest parallel to the scheme adopted in our Cypriot monuments, although again the significance of this is far from clear. It should also be noted
that the monument
of Chios to the is a much to also dated Cypriot examples theHoly at Apostles Pyrgi employs blind arches rather
that comes closest later period:
MONASTERY
388
Ousterhout,
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
"Originality,"
57-59.
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
137
than niches
on
the axes of the naos
and was
per
as late as the fourteenth century (fig. But ifwe look for related structures that are 43).389 closer to Koutsovendis both and chronologically then Palestine once more comes to geographically, the fore and provides themost intriguing clues. haps
*>?&!
*** *w ** ?**Tr***.
?^
'^'""'^^BBBBBBBBBBBBB
built
The Holy
eleventh-century included Sepulcher two
including
reconstruction several
domed
annex
of
mfg^^^K^tL^^^^^f.
?' ' \ ,.
I ff / ? jfjr
^-^^pil^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l
the
spaces,
both
chapels, using to effect the transition from a squinches simple It should be stressed, square base to the dome. however, that in both cases the transition results in an has then to be drum, which octagonal to the of the adjusted hemisphere cupola; this is never the case in the known examples of squinch
' ^>>
|Bj|J|
^ ^ . ^ ^r-f^^B^BBBBBBBBM<''JjIIbbBBBBBBBBBbI f''-l^j^^^^^^^^H
^.
IpS^bbbbbbbb
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are
domes
from Byzantium, where the squinches a zone inserted within curving pendentive-like in a circular rim for the drum to sit upon. ending At the in the elevated Holy Sepulcher, chapel
above Calvary where recessed brick is used in the the squinches are of the conical (trum masonry, as in the pet) variety, squinch churches of southern Greece.
According
to Robert
Ousterhout,
^'^f^^fe?^!^S^BBBBBBBBBBBBB^*"",^i^BBBBBBBBBBBBl i^flpBJ >^BhS^J!^^h^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^B^P lp?!yP*i^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B
these
elements betray the Constantinopolitan origin ismost odd here, however, of the masons. What seen from a Byzantine perspective, is the octagonal drum. This is not the case in the other domed in the Baptistery wing, whose chapel,
Fig. 44
Saint Hilarion,
the northeast arch.
Photo by T. Papacostas
a
strong Islamic affiliation: no brick is used, the at Nea Moni) with squinches apsidal variety (as pointed arches sitting on a and the drum, as inmost Islamic ledge, examples, is of course nei (the dome no longer survives).390 Although polygonal an exact to our ther chapel provides katholikon, both show parallel architecture
betrays are of the
in the Christian the use of the two types of architecture of squinch eleventh-century Palestine, from where itmay have been imported to
Cyprus. This
suggestion is strengthened in the island's architecture whose
followed
the same
route:
further by another new element in all likelihood introduction
the pointed
arch, although attested on near Salamis/Constantia and
since late antiquity (aqueducts Kourion), appears again with increasing frequency only in the course of the Comnenian narthex), before the period (Lagoudera, Asinou Cyprus
end of the twelfth century. In the Levant the same form of arch was widely used in the centuries immediately following the Arab con it appears from the quest: in Palestine eighth century onward; it is
138
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
389
Bouras,
Domed 390
"Variations of the Single
Octagon
Plan," 26.
Ousterhout,
75 (above, n. 378).
"Rebuilding
the Temple,"
thenemployedinChristianmonuments of theeleventhcenturyand later, of course,
in Crusader
architecture. One
therefore argue was that this particular element of architectural vocabulary perhaps reintroduced to Cyprus from theHoly Land, too, in the course of the may
middle
Byzantine period.391 The form of the eight piers that carry the dome of the katholikon is rare in this type of structure.392 It and resemble engaged columns is not used in any of the surviving squinch churches of the middle
Byzantine period outside Cyprus, although it renders the structure more are easily legible, for themain supports given extraordinary prom inence and thus structural the with its skeleton emphasize octagonal as Hosios The is in monuments latter much less obvious such layout. Loukas
and
its progeny
in southern Greece, where
the supports are the vertical surface of the naos walls. The churches
embedded within
fare somewhat better in this respect, for their supports take the form of rectangular engaged piers (originally marked with twin in colonnettes atNea Moni). architecture, however, is Only Georgian to the rounded there something comparable piers of the Cypriot mon
of Chios
uments, although no typological or any other direct link can of course in structures of the tenth and eleventh centuries with be postulated: corner niches, centralized plans and apses, or larger annex radiating Kackhi, and Kumurdo,393 the spaces, such as Kvetera, Nikorcminda, are on arches under the dome create carried engaged columns which an effect similar to that of the semi-circular our in katholikon. piers
The distant echo of an element encountered in a monument
in architecture Georgian perhaps accidental; but the possibility or the reflec indirect Caucasian input
on
is
Cyprus that itmay represent some tion of Caucasian influence cannot be seen that a
monastic
we have altogether excluded: on is attested community Cyprus in
Georgian this period is (although there nothing specifically Georgian the architecture of its now ruinous small triconch church at 39i These issues are discussed in greater detail in Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," i: 167-75. Slightly pointed arches were used inGeorgian architecture too during themedieval period. 392
Semicircular
engaged piers are also
"Excavations
at the site of Palaion
34 [2004]: reference, however, to the
piers, and P. Flourentzos,
Lefkosia,"
Report of theDirector
ofAntiquities
Novello, Miroir
district, Panagia Lambas near Mitsero in the northeast Troodos foothills, and, most
XVes.)
interesting, in a recently excavated urban monument, namely one of the churches on the site of the Old Town Hall heart ofNicosia,
on which
in the
[Nicosia, 393
2006]:
69-80,
engaged "Excavations at
Palaion Demarcheion,
used in a few single-aisled domed churches on Cyprus (Panagia at Trikomo, Panagia Tochniou near Mandres in the Famagusta
Yialia),
demar
cheion, Lefkosia," CCEC without
about
inAnnual 2004
84-86).
Plans inT. Velmans
murales
and A. Alpago de V invisible: Peintures
et architecture de la Georgie (Vle (La Pierre-qui-Vire,
1996), 252-56, and A. Alpago Novello and V. Beridze et al., Art and Architecture inMedieval Georgia (Louvain-la-Neuve,
1980), 303.
see Y. Violaris,
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
139
and
there was
ence both
also
a considerable
in Palestine394 and, more
pres in significantly,
Georgian
northern Syria. The
architectural
traditions
of the Caucasus
are
much more
in yet another, clearly reflected intrigu at a cross element Koutsovendis: molded ing finely carved on twelve ashlar blocks adorns today the north facade of the parekklesion Its origi (fig. 45). a is nal function unclear; itmay have been purely
decorative
facade
element. But
if its now-blocked
central part was originally pierced, served as a cruciform window?not
then itmay have in its current
position, though, high up on the northern gable, where itwould have opened in part into the thick ness of the arch under of this wall
the dome.395 The masonry ismade of the parekklesion mostly of
rubble, a further indication that the cross probably
that itwas
originated
i&BB&SbBisk*w^^^^^E&v^^^^s
I
! np^srv^^HHESri*
altered and
in some other
building, in all likelihood the katholikon. One
possibility is that itmay have originally decorated the latter's north facade, from where itwas moved
to its current position when the parekklesion was built against that facade. Itmay have also been in its current placed position much later, either after the demolition of the south church
Fig. 45 Holy Trinity, Koutsovendis, cross. Photo by C. Mango
molded
or
some earlier restoration we have during campaign. As already seen, other elements from the katholikon were also in salvaged and used the parekklesion. Cruciform windows with or without moldings are known from a few other monuments on as well as from Cyprus,
at Saint Catherine's, neighboring regions (west gable of the church are cross of the Sinai), but these quite different from the molded some Molded in their elaborate crosses, parekklesion.396 extremely are of course common in Armenian and sculptural decoration, Several references during the 12th c. inA. Jotischky, The Perfection ofSolitude: Hermits and Monks in the Crusader States 394
70-71, where
the possibility that the cross may date from a later period is also
near Larnaca is the River at Tersephanou a wide cruciform pierced by opening sur
(University Park, Pennsylvania,
1995), 68, 77, 82, 94-95. Note, however, that, as in
Byzantine Architecture, n. 301).
suggested; but see also Curcic, Middle 17 n. 22 (above,
the case of Yialia
rounded by an elaborately carved pattern within a plain border (mentioned briefly by Gunnis, Historic Cyprus, 438 [above,
at 396 The Panagia Kanakaria Lythrankomi has a simple cruciform window on thewest wall of the nave (medi eval phase?), now largely concealed by the
on Cyprus, the architec ture of themid-nth-c. church of the
Georgian monastery of the Cross outside Jerusalem betrays no obvious Georgian affinities (Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom, 2: 33-40 [above, n. 50]). 395 Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
140
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
dome of the narthex
(Megaw and Hawkins, Kanakaria, Panagia fig. 29 [above, n. 341]); the apse of themuch-later Saint George of
n. 284]). For themolded (which opens
cross at Sinai
into the roof above the cof
fered ceiling of the basilica),
see P.
Grossmann,
in Sinai:
"Architecture,"
Treasures of theMonastery ofSaint Catherine, ed. K. A. Manafis (Athens, 1990), pi. 10.
architecture. Indeed one particular example of uncertain Georgian date on the tenth-century fortification walls of Ani closely resembles the Koutsovendis cross.397 The channels through which an element such as this, perhaps emanating from the architectural traditions of
may have been introduced to Cyprus are difficult to once more. Indeed must have involved Syria-Palestine identify. They communities from eleventh-century buildings put up by monastic in the in areas such as the Black Mountain the Caucasus region of the Caucasus,
show that sometimes
these communities
also the imported of Life).398 architecture of their native lands (church of theWood its destruction, several elements from the interior deco Despite
Antioch
ration of the katholikon
either have survived or are known
through the surface of curving squinches an ideal support for mosaic decoration; there is neverthe provided less no evidence to suggest that this expensive medium was ever used the accounts
of earlier visitors. The
in the katholikon.399
In fact no medieval
mosaic
Byzantine Cyprus, although tiny fragments at Saint Barnabas outside Salamis/Constantia
has
survived from
in one of the two domes (eleventh/twelfth cen important monuments
some of the island's most tury?) indicate that have been thus adorned.400 Our travelers do allude may
towall paint a Pantokrator
van ings though,401 and Cornelis Bruyn (1683) mentions surrounded by damaged figures in the dome.402 Itwould appear that was also decorated with wall the building panels made of opus sectile: Otto von Richter (1816) mentions rather cryptically that "over and by the three doors" (leading out into the narthex) there were "the remains of old mosaic made not of glass but of colored stone."403 The loss of themonumental
decoration
is of course one of themost
table aspects of the destruction of the church, for a comparison frescoes with the surviving in the fragments parekklesion would most certainly been illuminating. 397
P- Cuneo, L'architettura
armena dal
quarto al diciannovesimo secolo, 2 vols. (Rome, 1988), 2: 806-7. On thewalls see A. Taylor, "TheWalls of Ani: Sign as Function," inAni: World Architectural Heritage ofa Medieval Armenian Capital, ed. S. P. Cowe (Leuven, 2001), 69-75. 398
Djobadze,
Archaeological
A. H. S. Megaw, "Interior Decoration in Early Christian Cyprus," inActes du XVe Congres International d'Etudes Byzantines,
Rapports et co-rapports (Athens, 1976), 5:27. The church of Saint Barnabas was one of the island's most important pilgrimage shrines, built next towhat was thought to be the tomb of the founder of the Church of "l'abondance
stones" mentioned
XIle
Drummond
(1750) presumably refers to the opus sectile floor (Cobham, Excerpta Cypria, 300 [above, n. 59];Mango, "Monastery of
Chrysostomos,"
65).
have
400
Investigations (above, n. 34). 399 The "tolerable mosaic of variegated by Alexander
regret of its
Cyprus. The observation
of A. Guillou
about
notable des mosaiques jusqu'au is surely due to an oversight ("La geographie historique de l'ile de siecle ..."
Chypre," 31 [above, n. 4]). "painted all over within,"
401
to Richard Pococke
according (1738) and "dipinta
MONASTERY
alia maniera
greca," according toGiovanni (1767) (Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 65-66); Otto von Richter
Mariti
(1816) admits that the height of the ceiling in the church did not
and the darkness
allow him to see clearly whether its decora tion was made ofmosaic or fresco (Richter, Wallfahrten n. 275]).
imMorgenlande,
318 [above,
"een groot Christus-beeld, met het halve lyfgeschilderd, gelyk mede rondom heen verscheydene Figuuren" (Reizen van
402
Cornelis de Bruyn, 368 [above, n. 252]). Richter, Wallfahrten im Morgenlande,
403
318;Mango,
"Monastery of Chrysostomos,"
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
66.
141
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HP^VAY^v^W^B^^k^BBBB^SBBBBBBBBBBBB
^^^^^^^^^HH^^bbbbbbbbB^^bb^b9^h^bbbbbbbbbVJ^bbbbbbbbxBjBH!I^9 ^^^^^^^^BB^^^^WIi^^^^Br?wT3BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB^B^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BP^^^^^^^^^^^^^
An
^^bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbI
important element of the interior decoration, which has fortunately survived in part, is the opus sectile floor. Various were in the pavement of fragments of different design incorporated the church of 1891 and have been described on several occasions.404 equally
The most
extensive fills the space between the curving wall of the in the altar (built and dating from a later apse and masonry its is based on small period); design triangular, square, and diamond
main
crustae which
from larger and is most hexagons, late and unusual, contemporary medieval antique in known from elsewhere the examples Byzantine world (fig. 46). on the other hand The the altar table rectangular panels flanking adhere to patterns well known from middle Byzantine pavements. In shaped
unlike
radiate
both
the center of the nave there is a
large square frame of Proconnesian a smaller this square panel that clearly formed part of a larger geometric composition, now lost A loose (fig. 47). panel
marble
and within
Mango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," 68; D. Michaelides, "Opus Sectile inCyprus," " in Sweet Land ofCyprus," 7$-%o (above,
404
n. 26); Michaelides,
"The Opus Sectile of the Southern Church of theMonastery of at Koutsovendis and Ayios Chrysostomos
142.
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
inPhilokypros: Jacques Georges Desmeules," et de Melanges d'Antiquites Philologie grecques etproche-orientales dedies a la memoire d'Olivier Masson, and E. Masson
(Salamanca,
ed. L. Dubois 2000),
223-28.
Fig. 46 Katholikon, Koutsovendis, opus sectile pavement inmain apse. Photo by C. Mango
^^^^^E^MH^H
ytff
aliRonMi^^^^H
|^^HR^mP|^^B||^^^^M^^^^P^^^^^H^H
^^HttHHIflHHHHHHHlHHWH
B^^^Hkl^SRI^S^^^^HSP^Stf^^y^^l
l T^^HHHfc^Mll^^^Hrai^^^MfllHHBiitfH^^^^^HWBH^H^^HK ^H:^^B>^^^HSy^^S^^K^i^F** nHlP^SEB^^r jsIHB te*^1
^^HHHHH^^^IHBn"
JE3b'
jjH^WWI^^^^^^^B
Hii^HHBte?&2l9flSriHHHI^^il^^yy^^^^^^H
^R.J^PEKHPHP1IPIIIH^)H
-. -;^-c::*\^^m^^^^^^^H
^ ^^^^^^^^g^^^^^r
was
also preserved at themonastery and may be the "lovely tesselated pavement of the medieval kind" which was seen in 1893 by Elizabeth room in the Lewis its pattern is monastery's reception (fig. 48) :405 based on concentric
stars of different eight-pointed shape formed by a setwithin square frame; the latter was stripes of white marble and as a much shown sketch made in the 1920s by the wider, by originally
Fig. 47 Katholikon, Koutsovendis, opus sectile pavement in the nave. Photo by C. Mango Fig. 48 Loose opus sectile panel, Koutsovendis. Photo by C. Mango
Swiss engineer Jacques Georges Desmeules, who also made drawings of other parts of the pavement.406 in late is antique Although the technique of opus sectile well attested Cyprus,
itwas much
less common
inmedieval
times. Koutsovendis,
in
fact, provides the only certain example from this period on the island. in the The much simpler and poorly preserved fragmentary panels churches of Saint Lazaros (Larnaca) and Saint George (Kyrenia castle) are very different: theymostly employ traditional designs known from earlier centuries and, at least in the case of the latter building, may not even be of medieval date.407 Koutsovendis is perhaps exceptional not
was decorated with the expensive medium only because its floor of opus sectile with, what ismore, a rich variety of often elaborate
in patterns, but also because some of these very patterns are unique the context of medieval Byzantine pavements. The loose panel with Photographs of the various opus sectile panels have been published inMango, "Monastery of Chrysostomos," figs. 10-14; 405
E. Lewis, Lady's Impressions ofCyprus, 326-27 (above, n. 216). 406
Michaelides,
"Jacques Georges Desmeules," pi. 7, and Severis, Travelling Artists, 198-99 (above, n. 273). Its fate after
in the (late medieval?) timber roofed basilica of Saint Luke at Palaichori
and marbles"
1974 is not known. Michaelides,
407 "Opus Sectile," 77-79; on the two churches see Papacostas, "Byzantine Cyprus," 2: 34-35, 54-55 (above, n. 4). There are indications that other, no longer surviving monuments may also have had opus sectile floors: see, for example, the "small mosaic of different coloured stones
MONASTERY
(Troodos), mentioned by Jeffery,Description, 304 (above, n. 284); see also S. Sophocleous, Palaichoria: 2002),
Centuries
ofHeritage
(Nicosia,
161-62.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
143
its
strikingly angular design and pattern formed by stripes is typical of Islamic decoration408 and to the curvilinear bears no relationship shapes of Constantinopolitan work of the same period. If it does indeed come from the original phase of
- .^bbbbIWEP^S^BPJMBbma
there is no reason to believe
the katholikon?and
on Cyprus in the would add century yet another star to those features from the tling element building's architecture investigated above which allude to the itsmanufacture
otherwise?then late eleventh
artistic traditions not of Constantinople Islamic East. Marble
was
used
but of the
in the decoration
liberally
-
?'
^'IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbE' ':"IbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbR
of
as
the katholikon.409
in the Although, parekkle sion, there is no evidence that its lower walls were
ever revetted with marble carved marble
slabs, nor that there were
cornices or window
mullions,
v ^^^bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbw
other
parts of the building were adorned with and some of were made ofmarble. One its furnishings large and two smaller door frames of Proconnesian marble, form a pair, survived the demolition of the katholikon and were reused in the new church and
which
in the refurbished parekklesion (fig. 49).410 They most come from the three doors that probably
~"'V s^^wi^QHBHBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBki Id?* 3%"*' gBfB^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|E^ I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bl *.
I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^bI
^hb^bj^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^bji,
linked the naos to the narthex and are described
several of our travelers.411 We two of the six colonnettes,
by have already seen that also of Proconnesian
marble, which were erected in 1963 in the parekkle sion to form the frame of a templon, perhaps also in the katholikon (the remaining four originated clearly belong four columns
to a in 1735 Barskii group): reported "in thickness thinner than a human
neck"
inside the
iconostasis" was almost certainly made must tem of wood.412 The columns have formed part of the original existence is in whose the mention the plon, implied typikon through south church whose
"carved
See for example the i4th-c. enameled and gilded basin at the Cleveland Museum of Art and a matching glass plate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art inNew York, 408
both probably fromMameluke Egypt (S. Carboni and D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans [New York, 2001], 272-73), and a contemporary vase (E. Atil, Renaissance Islam: Art of theMamluks [Washington, D.C,
144
TASSOS
1981], 132-33).
PAPACOSTAS
of
According to Barskii, in 1735 there were "broken and smashed precious marbles which have been removed from their places"
409
(Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 29-30 n. 62]). 410
[above,
Two frames were inserted in the west
and southwest door of the new church (pre sumably in 1891),while the third frame was inserted in thewest door of theHoly Trinity in 1947 (fig. 16).
Fig. 49 Katholikon, Koutsovendis, marble door frame in thewest doorway of the church of 1891. Photo byC Mango
4ii
Mango,
"Monastery
mentioned doors" 412
of
tneY are ^so in the typikon, as the "royal
Chrysostomos,"
68-69;
(see p. 54 above). See p. in above; Mango,
"Monastery 71; Grishin, A Pilgrim's Account, 39; the height given by Barskii for of Chrysostomos,"
corresponds to ca. 3.15m, the surviving colonnettes measure ca. 2.50 m (save one that is truncated). the colonnettes
whereas
of its "holy doors" (f. 22iv). If we assume that it consisted of three parts divided by the eastern piers under the dome, which is the most likely arrange itwould
have
a
larger number of some of these vertical supports (probably eight);413 were or moved elsewhere some time lost apparently after the new iconostasis was erected during the ment,
required
is this or a later period. It presumably in the replacement that George Jeffery beginning of the twentieth century reported as having origi was nated in the His remark parekklesion.414 prob
Ottoman
^^^yHnfHH^nSS^nHll^^Hl^^^^E^nMi ilHNfti^H
screen in ably prompted by the fact that the carved the 1891 church consisted of an older central part that had been augmented by more recent lateral as
Jeffery himself observed. This need a necessarily imply provenance from the north church, though, for the central part of the tem
additions, not
in the original south church would have been narrow too (ca. 3 m) and would have relatively to span the certainly required additional portions
plon
new church uninterrupted width of the when itwas re-erected there. The Proconnesian doorframes,
and other marbles
aswell as the colonnettes
since marble spolia, and sixth centuries, tectural elements
(ca. 8 m)
is not itwas
quarried
used for the pavement and themselves, are almost certainly
on
Cyprus.415
In the later fifth
lower Fig. 50 Katholikon, Koutsovendis, half of the northern door valve. Photo by C. Mango
in imported large quantities for the archi and decoration of both ecclesiastical and secular
It ispresumably from such earlier structures thatmarble buildings.416 seen for the decoration of the katholikon was taken.We have already unam in the that the templon reconstructed Holy Trinity provides not reuse of architectural elements but evidence for the only biguous also for their probable provenance from Salamis/Constantia. One last element that survived the demolition of the katholikon and found a new home valves
in the church of 1891 is a pair ofwooden door on the outer face of the initially placed
These were (fig. 50).
413 Although the vertical supports of medieval templa were most often of square section in their lower part in order to hold better the parapet
slabs inserted between
them, examples such as ours, often employ ing reused columns, are not lacking; see, for example, J.-P. Sodini, "Une iconostase byzantine a Xanthos," Actes du Colloque sur la Lycie antique (Paris, 1980), 119-48; and, fromwithin Cyprus,
the templon of the
(Soteriou, BvfavTivd fivrjfieia, plate 145 [above, n. 285]). 414 Jeffery,Summary, 20-21 (above,
Acheiropoietos
n. 286). This piece of information is omitted in his laterDescription, 273 (above, n. 284). Despite Etienne de Lusignan's claim that there were "marmori di ogni sorte nelli
415
monti di Cuzuventi"
(Chorograffia, 87V. [omitted in the revised and augmented French edition of 1580]). The area around
MONASTERY
Koutsovendis
was
in the past and is still
today quarried for limestone. "The Economy of Late 416 T. Papacostas, in Antique Cyprus," Economy and Exchange in theEast Mediterranean during Late Antiquity: Proceedings ofa Conference at Somerville College, Oxford-29th May, 1999, ed. S. Kingsley and M. Decker (Oxford, 2001), 115.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
145
to the new church, but were
western
entrance
modern
valves and moved
a replaced by pair of to the inner face of the
for better protection cen in 1939. They were almost doorway certainly carved for the tral door leading from the narthex into the naos. Like the opus sectile same
floor, their design ismost unusual among contemporary Byzantine as has observed, ismore akin to Islamic Cyril Mango examples and,
work. Indeed onemay citeboth earlier (Umayyad) and later (Seljuk)
that to a certain extent recall our door valves.417 It is, woodcarvings however, in Coptic Egypt that the closest parallels are to be found:
the iconostasis in the churchofAbu Saifain (SaintMerkourios) in Cairo
is
largely made of decorated rectangles surrounded by a cruciform but the bands; top register bears framing a rinceau motif with small square panel containing panels between the cross arms separated by the same wide framing bands. The entire is reminiscent of the of the Koutsovendis composition strongly design door and, moreover, is thought to date from approximately the same woodwork (late eleventh/twelfth century).418 Comparable period survives at the church of al-Mu allaqa, also in Cairo, with a pattern based on crosses among square panels.419
Old
plain wide
review of the architecture
This
and decoration
of the katholikon
has
often led us toward
the Syro-Palestinian mainland and away from and the core provinces of the empire. Nevertheless Constantinople the the regions with which neither northern Syria nor Palestine, founder George was most associated, provide full answers to the of the architectural type, not least because of the paucity of puzzle or excavated monuments from this period in these areas. surviving The evidence from theHoly Sepulcher, though, cannot be overlooked. struc and contemporary The fact that it shares with the katholikon tures on
important constituent elements of their architectural use of brick, banded voussoirs, and domes (including the
Cyprus
vocabulary on most of which in neither region form part of the local squinches), tradition, is certainly significant. The decoration of the katholikon 417
State Archives
SA1/1473/1937
(pp. 9,
13,17); Mango, "Monastery of Chrystomos," 69; the late-7th/early-8th-c. doors fromMar in Syria have a com Elyan near Qaryatayn parable rinceau motif running around the square and rectangular panels of each valve (H. Stern, "Quelques oeuvres sculptees en bois, os et ivoire de style omeyyade," Ars Orientalis 1 [1954]: 119-25). As for the window
shutter from the late-i3th-c.
in Bey?ehir (southwest E^refoglu mosque the overall concept of of Ikonion/Konya),
146
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
the design is very similar to our doors, with small rectangular panels
(bearing a rinceau
pattern) divided by wide, molded framing bands (D. Hill and O. Grabar, Islamic Architecture and Its Decoration, A.D.
800
isoo [London,
1964], fig. 451). E. Pauty, Bois sculptes d'eglises coptes (epoque fatimide) (Cairo, 1930), 34 and plate
418
24; another piece of woodwork (of unspeci fied function) from the same church bears of crosses with larger square them, similarly divided by panels among a pattern made
wide
framing bands
(A. Gayet, Vart
Ecole d'Alexandrie-architecture sculpture-peinture-art
copte:
monastique
somptuaire
[Paris,
1902], 244). 419
Johann Georg, Herzog Streifziige durch die Kirchen
zu Sachsen, und Klbster
Agyptens (Leipzig, 1914), fig. 18.On both monuments and their decoration, with extensive bibliography, see C. Coquin, Les 1. edifices chretiens du Vieux-Caire, vol. Bibliographie
et topographie historiques
(Cairo, 1974), 3-36, 63-86.
more
provides
mainland.What
tangible
evidence
of links with
the Syro-Palestinian
cases is isneverthelessslightly disconcertinginboth
the variety of contemporary sources that our monument evokes, very often indirectly: they include Constantinopolitan building practices no means by certainly?transmitted through perhaps?although the intermediary of the Christian architecture of Palestine, echoes of the Georgian
and Armenian
traditions filtered presumably through Jerusalem, too, and even allusions to
northern
Syria and possibly art, in addition to references to the vast wealth
of the Islamic Coptic artistic output from the wider region. The manner through which these trickled across the sea toCyprus and resurfaced in elements of the architecture and decoration of this monument is not difficult to particular imagine: Jerusalem and the com numerous Holy Land with its pilgrimage shrines and religious as a focal a munities must have surely acted point, place of convergence
formany, ifnot all of the above. The founderGeorge and his fellow
monks were of course not merely familiar with the Syro-Palestinian mainland but had indeed come from there. Some of the members of George's
entourage may have been skilled craftsmen, versed in the intricacies of wood, marble, and stone carving, and trained in the
workshops of Syria and Palestine.420 Of even if the evidence from Koutsovendis indications
that Cyprus maintained
this
masons
course we have also seen that, is set aside, there are other
close links with Palestine
during and from there craftsmen have been may present period; on the island well before the arrival of his and monks. None George
of the monuments
on an surviving Cyprus, however, displays such array of elements that are new and foreign to the local tradition.421 Within this context the katholikon is unique and this must be surely due to the origin of its founder and his community.422 The lavish decoration of the katholikon (opus sectile floor, carved wooden marble door frames and doors, templon, wall-paintings) indicates that no expense was spared, although, significantly, the leap from fresco tomosaic was not made, perhaps for practical reasons. The information at hand indicates that among the buildings put up during was this period on one of the most ostentatious. this Cyprus perhaps Its architectural
type was
as uncommon
Although the typikon provides no relevant evidence, monks with specialized
420
skills are attested elsewhere in this period, a case in point being the community of Lazaros on Mount Galesion where we hear ofmonks who were also accomplished build ers (AASS Nov. 3 [Brussels, 1910] 526A-B, 527F).
as
it was
sophisticated,
I have argued elsewhere that a group ofmonuments mostly in the northern part of Cyprus may betray the import of
Of course we have no way of knowing towhat extent vanished buildings put up by founders and/or communities from the
421
422
Byzantine building practices fromAsia Minor as a result of a movement of popula
mainland
tions during the same period (Papacostas, "Architecture et communautes etrangeres" [above, n. 5]).
MONASTERY
(Machairas, metochia
of Holy
Sepulcher, Saint Theodosios, Sinai) departed from the norms prevailing in the local archi tectural tradition.
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
147
(as far as we can tell) of an unusually high to standard.423 The founder George somehow managed pull together resources considerable and acquired the necessary funds through and
its construction
means
that have gone undocumented.
There
is no evidence
that his
one would monastery enjoyed imperial patronage, something that to mention had this been the case.424 Nor does expect the typikon our document contain a commemoration for any patron other than But in view of the Philokales. Eumathios chronology, Eumathios cannot and
have been
involved with
the construction
the financial
of the monastery in 1090. The question of
the foundation
of its katholikon
background
to
George's
foundation
has
therefore to
remain open. ?Tassos
Papacostas, Kings
College, London
The quality of the architecture would was at suggest that the lavish decoration
4 *3
least planned,
ifnot executed, at the same
time. Franz Unger reported seeing in 1862 an inscription in the narthex (dedicatory?) that he was unable to read (Unger and
424
Kotschy, Die
148
TASSOS
Insel Cypern, 514 [above,
PAPACOSTAS
n. 264]). It should also be noted that of course imperial patronage did not necessar a case in point ily result in lavish buildings, Christodoulos the built katholikon by being on Patmos. Conversely, some of themost elaborate surviving middle Byzantine churches are not documented dations
imperial foun
(Hosios Loukas, Daphni).
TheLetterof Nikon oftheBlackMountain to theFounder
George The letterofNikon ispreserved in Sin. gr.441,which isdated to the 12th century (D. R. Reinsch, and J.A. M. Sonderkamp, Harlfinger, D. Sinaitica: Die datierten griechischen Handschriften des Specimina
[Berlin, aufdem Berge Sinai, 9. bis iz.Jahrhundert a in It is written it vernacular therefore contributes Greek; 1983], 61).
Katharinen-Klosters
lot to thehistoryof theMedieval Greek language.The spellinghas
been changed
according
to the rules of classical/Byzantine
text edi
tions.The original spelling (includingorthographicalerrors)can be
in the apparatus criticus. Square brackets ([]) indicate textual loss due to physical while damage, angle brackets (<>) indicate edito are recorded in the rial addition. Abbreviations apparatus criticus.
found
Sinait. Gr. 436
(441), 82V-85T
82V 9' t Tov avrov gi; rov Kupiv tov r\yov\Ltvovrov Igcopyiov KouT^oujigvTi Kai on to (jvvrdvovra rate; Ggiai; Kai ov SgT ypa;'XgyovTO<;> r\ ypacf>ovTO<;>, Ki>pio;lgygi, Kai to Mcooico; KaGgSpa; gKaGicrav g?fj;. Ylvev\Lctriyct\iovTlpg izartp, g?y)Ty]ag;aizb tov gvTavGa 7raTgpa \iovTipov 5 tov [zovavjDv gpguvav itep\tcov (Juva^GevTcov Kgc|)aXalcov gKtv]; Kiipiv KXrjpp Ggla; 7rpovola; gi; ra (2i(&lT?a, Kai touto 7rapaKalco tv]v ayicoauvvjv o*[ot>]Kai gv gov aya7rrjv, i'vato avrov ovto Kuplcp (3i(3XlT?a gvgvj]; gpguvrjTiKco; Kai oi)
Kai g^gi; Sia rov Qeov Kai vorjo-giv 7ravTa, 7rapoSgi>TiKco;t[vj;] vapiTo; gupglv oti giiKoXjov] gvouv to vov]?*a 81a rfjc;vApiro; rov Qeov- ovk y\vyap o#Tgkit 10 ovre aizo aXXou tivo; ?[xrj^yvcoo'gco^aloi^gvaaap[y:i]Kov gvavTo; <{>p6vr]fza, cOdict\lovov cnivayi; gvi Ik t[cov] Ggicov Kara Ggov-Kai Kai ypacjxwv cj>ilo7rovia
Kara
gKaorov
to dizb 7roia gvi Kg^aXaiov tyei rr\v t)7roypacj>y|v |83r ypaavgpa, g7rapgXa(3gvvopovc, Qeov Kai Kavova; Kai gvToXdd;, re Kai tcov Ggicov 7raTgpcovKai 15 \6yovc, gpppgia; SiSaoxaXcov tvj; KaGoXuaj; Kai a7rooToliKyj; gKK^y]cria; Kai avrov, izartp \xov to Tl[zig, vo[zoKavova- gv_gTg a^gp lypvv ygypajxjzgva; to; ayia; avv68ov<; Kai to Sgloi7ra to Kai KaGcb; (2i(&la papiri Xpiaroi> g7nypa4>gi Kgcj>aXaiov she 6 gvi Kavcov, -tyY\ka$aKai gKglva to guplo-Kgi;-Kai ov v^pgla Tfj; ^Trjagco; 7roXXy]; c$Xcov touto va 20 rovq gi; Tico; 7rapa gi; ^apiTi Xpiarov ypaa; giSoTa;. gi [xv] gviTg^gico; Ti; tTrov t 7T0Tg gvovTa oXco; [xv]giSoTa ypacf>r)v-g'rrg (3i[&la- gi Sg Kai to Tiva gyKgivTai gi; gi; Tiva; Iyjdvto a7ropiav, ovde ai)Ta jii^XiT^a Kg^aXaia ra
KglvTgv
Kai a\iaprvpa, ctXka Yj&piTiXpioroO avgpppguTa vyokia lypvvto; bk Kai rtiv Ggicov Kai g7riKi;pcborgi<; gp^vgia; Ijovra ypafytiveneiBi] gvouvto; Ggia; tov gKgivcovvovv ov 25 <jvvap]iolovaa<; ypacj)o:;, Kairapa
7rapgK(3alvot;v, giTivo; Qilovv a; y\v,Kai gycbSia toOto to g^ala gi;to oti xara o-Konbv'kaXovori rebv Ggicov (Si^XiT^a, ypa<j)cov Kai oti^i KaGcb; rjGg^gv
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
149
Kai 67rparrev aapKiKo; ov o7rou to ycefyakuiovemev koli gypa^gv- Kai gyco,7raTgp ex Kai [xoutI[xi?, dvd?io<;, dAX' 6[*co<;sksivo KaTOKolouGd) to py\rbvrov Kuplou e7ri Mcocrgax; KaGgSpa; evictBypev,Kai rk g|yj<;.Kai i'Se, 7rdTgp [lov, 30 Tolgyov rf\c, Kai va evpeic,tvjv tou eic,rr\v gpppglav rov Kara MaT0alov cbcj>gXgiav pr)Toi3. ou touto Kai Tgco<; gi<; \ly\f*g[xcj)Gco uapa ry\qdyicocnivv]*;ou, oti sire ypa<j>y]v av
av dKOiicrco-ov tov gfipcogfrrgloyov ?y]Tco ypd^avTO y\rbv\cLkr\(jOLvra,kkkk Kai to ex tcov Gglcov Kai Tovloyov ypa<J)6f*gvov,gdv eyei ri\v Svva\iiv ypacjwv7rXgovoi)K g|gTa?co outs dKpi(2oXoyoi)[zai eic,rk ToiauTO. eyd) Sg to dvd^iov 35 ev crov ae ry\v 7raiSi (rov kykizy\v cb<;7raTgpa \Lov\eyo) Gappwv eiq ri\v Kuplco aiTiav
\lov,oti tov rrj? dyd7rv]<; (83VSgafxov g? dpY7j<; KaTOTupavvoiijzgv, &7X 6 [zevoi)K olS[a] 6 Qebc,olSgv Tgax; gi'ti 6 Qebc,obcovopio-gi gi<;e\ie eire
ov touto gauTov [tov [aco^]aTiK6v gi'Tg7rvgu[zaTiKov, KpaTyjaai [... ] Siva^ai \lovov.kkk'evQvc,7rvlyof*ai [xgTaSlSgiv tov 7tXv]otov \lov.Kai 7roXXaKi<;Kai okov 40 e^okov [xgTaSlScop gyw i)orgpot>[*gvo<;.Kai 6 j(py]?covto a; to g7rdp[gi]Kai 6 \ly\ to kq rb oi) yivcocncco 7rgpitoutcov, ei 7rXgTov Tl7roTg<;,7raTgp \jlov, d^agiXpY&uv
rcLvra- Kai ouk gvouv \iy\ 8[*co<;,7raTgp ycov,riitorec, rk $i$kirt!,a rapl Soyyiaroc, iva Kai iSicoTglav. 7rloTgco<;, eyovv vTcbkr^iv, rvizorec, Sid ri\v ?cop[i]Klav jjlov Kai to aXXa oka upaKTiKa i\vKai Trj<; 7rpd?;gco<; 4$ SiaXgyovrai. c^avgpcovouv lavGavovTa toi; izoTkolc,.Kai ex.Tfj^lyjGy)^ vjXGojxgvtie,KaTO(j>p6vv]OTvKai Kai Kai ivguga'a^gv eic,rb gyKoafwov [Lockkoveic; izkavY\v7rolua[zapTy|Tov gv Kai gKTouTOD kizb rov Beov Kai ?pbvY\\LCL. gSoiAcbGv]fzgv g7rapg^coplGy]fxgv toi; gGvgorv-oi) yap VjvavayKV] vj&pnriXpiaroti 7rgpi7rlaTgco<;Soy[xaTi?giv va Ivi Kai aKTy]f*oo"uvr]<; Kai 7rpogi7ra,aXXa ugpi Kai 50 vrcokY^ic; KaGcb^ gyKpaTgia^ re Kai to KaGdpo"gco<;^vyfe [^[dJ'Xio'Ta dpfzo?ovTO ^ova^ol;- Kailoi?:^ to o"cb[zaTo<; apjxo^ovTa oXok; j(piaTiav[ol^], ytdikkovSg y|[xivT0I5 opGoSo^oi; ev Kai Sid t[o()]to xapm jfapiTiXpio*Toi3XpiaToi5 ovheyXa vizokr^ic, evkoyoc,
ai)Toi<; dp^gi, oti ov Sid ttIctiv SialgyovTai gov.
KaGa Kai 7rpogi7rarr\vdyicoaivyiv 55
to Sg^Trjaai 7rgpiri]v vyjCTgifav] rf[q Qeoronov guKoXov e^eiq auToC) oti ovk ithitore tovtcov rr\v gKglva gfipgK;eic,rk (Ji^lT^a'Xg7rTO[
otiTOigrrg ovruc, Kai ovrox; d7ro<|>avTiKa)<;-giTgSiSdo"Kcov e^ovcriaorriKtic,,akkk KaGax; y\vpa fgt>p. gi^t rr\c,GgoTOKOu gypa^a, oTilgygi rj gSg7rola ypa<j>ri 7rp[6<;]
ToiiTO ToSg Ti[..] Kai 7roioi3vgSgTlvg; ToSg ti- So"a Sg r\vpa KOLrk7rapdScoo*iv 60 7roioi)oTvTaSg ypa<j)iKa oti KaGax; Tivgc; gua |84r pgScoKav Kai Tivg<; gypd^a^gvKai Ta Ta<; Qeiac, e^ovv gSgTroiaypacf)r] [T]6Sg ti ypafykq gypa^a, oTilgygi r\ akko ouSgv- Kai Ta ToiauTa ^dpiTi XpicrTou ovk g^ouv UTroXy^iv oiavSyi7roTg y\
kIvSuvov- Kai 6fxco<; auy^copgo-ov [\L]e,itarep ]xov,gyw gXggivoq gljxai, ctHXkrk^ov 65 he, vo[xi^co dya[G]6v Ta Tyjv GgoTOKOVoT'av dKoiiorco-eic,rb ovofxa ai)Tfj(; Kai on i:6kkk gyd) e\ kp^f^ ypaa<; [xapTupouvTa;iva Kai kkkk 7rgpi7rpd^gco<; itiareox; Soy^aTo;, KaGcb<; g^gi vTzokr^iv, 7rpogi7ra, Qgtav ypac))rjv- Kai 70 gvi Kai gyKpaTgiav ttjv g7raivo[xgvr]vTrapaTOaav izkvra Kaipov Kai y\\xepavkcl\ TcepieKriK&c, dpiGpi;[xgvy]v 7rapa kpytolovaoLv eic;
150
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
ycapitovq tcov uvgufxaTiKcbv v^apio'fxdTcov-oiiTg 7rdXivvy]orgia gKtcov gv Kai KupiaKai; Kai SgoTroTiKai; K8KcoXi)[xgvcov toi; aa(2(2dToi; gK 7riorgco; Tfj; [izyakaic, gopTai; Uv%.. at 7rpoayvio-p; Kai 7rpoKaGapcri; GgoTOKou Tfj; KaGapa; Kai dpokvvrov. 75 Kai 6[xco;, 7raTgp \jlov, rr\v g7noTolv]v rr\vae eitep-^a \ierov ?goScopov va avayvcoag rr\vKai gKglva gfipgi; okov pov rr\v 7rgp|/gi; tov d$$dv rgpdaipvTcp d7rocrr6Xcpgi; tou;
rov (jycoiibvKai to rovrov. rovro Sg otito yivcooxg, 7raTgp pov, <{>p6vv)[za7rgpi ovto ev avrolc, cmo tivo; gKgiva eypvra cf>avgpaKai \ly\ oiavSvjTroTg dvTiloyiavoaa he eyovv Tiva; Kailgyco Kai ypd<}>codc)>6(3co; \iera 7rlv]poopia;vitokr^eic, 80 giTg touto to touto Kai aKg^gco; Kailgyco avTiloyia;ypac^co- 7rpo
7ra(jy]; eyxXy]aeo)q g^co (2dXcov7rapa GgcoKai avGpco7roi;- ^rjTcovpa^Xov to KpglTTov [xaGglvKai Sid touto, uaTgp pov, KaGcb; Kai gypa^a- gav uavTa gpa gv giTg gKto Kai 7roXXaKi; I84V viagi; dKpijkia gupiaKgi; rvizorec, Suo-vovjtov giTg gKto ev Kai va eyei aAX[o] Tivi vor\]JLa Kgcf>a).aia vyokia 7rapaKlr)Ggir) r\ o-ou Kai gco; ov ?co, ev Kupicp aya7rv] ypd^e pe- Kai (hq Qeov GgXvjfxaa; yivgTai,
85
oti 6 gXggivo; gycboaivgpyouvTo; [lov rov Kvpiov aiiTa r\vto gpyov \xov.Kai cb; gav toutoovv rr\v crov 90 vofxi?co6 Ggo; olSgv, dyicoauvrjv e^erpi^ra 7rapaKaXco ev gov iva Kai rr\v Kupicp yceev\eaai evv Kai oi per eve rcarepec; \jlov dyditY\v,
Kai dSglcj>oi, i'va [te ekey\<je\. rov koivou 6 Ggo; Kai ime$yakr\ yteex. to; 7rayiSa; 7ravTcov gKto5 iSiou Kai aapKiycov <J>povr]fxaTo; erfipov Sia(26Xou- of^oico; Kai to Kai aTO'XoiTrcbv re Gglrj^aTo;co ctXXy]v ti to giTg tittot' dx; v/opav gi)pgGfjIgycov 7rapd gypai^a gXaXyjcraKailgygi aiz
eyiov gSiKa tod 7rapaX6yco;, [xr]gicraKougTai, dAXd [xd^XovKai a; 7raiSgi)Tai d^ico;. gi Sg Kai evkoya Kai to; Ggo7rvgi)aroD; ypacj)d; g^yjydTai, oi)Sgi; SuvaTai toutov KcoXuaai, oti 6 tol> Ggoi) ov SgSgTai KaGcb; loyo; ygypa7TTai- Kai gycb, 100 7raTgp [lov, fxgTO4>6(Eol>izo^kov Kai dya7ry]; g7raKpooi)[xai TauTa- gi'Tg [xaGr]Ty]; dXkd to [xougvi olgycov gi'Tg^gvo; KaGcb; dgilgyco- oi) ^r]Tcbrbv\a\ovvra, or oi)K gvi Kai aJkd SiSacncalia 'Xaloi)[xgvovyiaXicrra -zrgpi hoyycaroc,nhreooq, otito oi TriaTgco; ttj; papiri XpiaTou 7rpd|gco;, 7rpcor]vizarepec, r\]xC)vev rale,
dyiai; cruvoSoi; gKaGgpiaav 7rdvTa gv dKpi^gia Kai g7rapgScoKav [xa;-Kai 105 daaXguToi [ievo[iev ev rovroiq Sid tvj; ^dpiTo; Toi3XpicTTou- Kai Sid touto oi) j(pgia y\v^y]Ty]o-gco;v) g^gTaagco; ugpi 7rioTgco;- gi'Tg [xgTaaipgTiKcbv oicovSr]7roTg e^era^eiv Kai ypd^giv Kai da-^olgiaGgv gvtoutoi;, oti 7rpola^6vTg; oi 7raTgpg; rovrovc, g^cbpiaav ait g[xd;-Kai ouSg avro\ gv[l?o)vovv >)Sejovrai rd Y\[ierepa ovre rjfxgi;tcov auTcov Sigo-Tpa[Z[xgvr)vSiSaaKaliavdKaipco; Kai Kailoyo[xa^giv
no
gvi- gi dUX dp |8sr jxocrrbvrovro, \iary\vizdrep jjlov, pi] 7ro^Xa^cb;, vgcoari ovk tcov 7rpcpr]v rvKorec, aipgo"i; dvacfjugiaa, gi; e$dvy\vixb dyicov 7raTgpcov gi; Td; d[xglr]GgvTa;, 7raTgp \iov,7rpd^gi; gKaaTo; y\\i(j)v a; dycovicrToi)[xgv-Kai Kupio; 6 Ggo; auvgpygiaT] tod; ev^opevovq.
gv
d^yjGgia ai>Tov dya7rcbvTa; Kai y\[dv
n$
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
151
68
Apparatus Criticus em xyj<; 23:2: "Xgycov Mcoiicrgcoi;>ca0g
3s. cf.Matt.
Spac, gKaGiaev oi ypajx^arsii; 32 cf.Matt.
48 cf.Jer. 25:11: Sovkevvovcriv evtoT<;eBveaiv 1:11
72 cf.Rom. 1 2
Kl>piV ypaai<; 5yj
3
k;
5
7TVIK8 7T?p7rpa kw aya-rciv gpguviTiKwcj0u
8 9 11 12
supelv vorjatv 7rgpj<; ?v ?Ka<7TOV
14
Xucj>avgpa
0u
gpp]vgla<; 7rpcov
17
7T?p
18
"Xoiua Xu
20 21
y|5oTa
22 23
IvKrjvxai Kg<j>a KyjvTgvXv avepfnvgura
24
?7riKupwo-ei^
25
tcov auvap^o^ouCTCK;
28 29
Kgcfct7T?p KU
30
e|%
spprvelav MaxGaiov
33
gupco
36 37
7ratSlv 0apcbv kw aya-rnv 7rpa "Xeycoaai airglav
38
0;
39
\loltik6v 7rviKov [igxaSiSrjv
guptc; 6<J>gXgiav
ohcovopjcrgi..
41
f*gTaSiSof*oiuargpoO^gvoi; XP^0V
42
j(pi?ov 7r?P iSioTgiav
Kl
TrpaKTiKd 7rpet|aia)<; 4>avgpovouv "XiGrjc;
48
Y\kQu>\iev 0u gSoul60yj^gv
49
avayKgi yy>
52
crco[zaTo<; ap|x6?ovra
53
X^
54
ap^yj 7rpoi7ra 0KOD
t>7r6Xn|/gic;
io>]cnv Tr67rcoTai gupi; "XgTTTcofxgpwc; an legendum? 0kou ypacj>7j guplcrKgic;
61
g7rapg$0Kav
62
ypacfxx; ypa*j
63
p
64
Wgp gXgrjvo;gijxg 0KOV
65
TASSOS
82
7rpo<70y]xxo xco
83
0U
84
0co avoic; 7racrgi<; gy>cXicr?W<;
85
Kpixxov 7rgp
86
gpavrjaii; gupicncu; Kco ayot7ri 0u
PAPACOSTAS
7T?p ?U
89
gXgyjvo; ia>
90
0;
91
kw ayauiv
92
i>7rguyaXy] 0KOI)
7rpgc;
-rripgavxi; ai>x60gi cfKey-ov7rgSgi>xai an 7raiSgi>gxai
100
legendum? ypd^OLC,g^rjyaxg Suvaxg 0u
101
Trip ayairtc; [za0y]xrj<; 7rpgc;
g7rapg5oKdv
106
j*aivo[xgv ^u
107
^rjxicrgax;oiovSy|7roxg
108
ypacf>rjv
109
cLiteyLUC,
no
"Xoyo^axgiv
in
Trip gip
112
uporjv 7rpcov gKaaxo
114
46
59
81
113
45
57
tyavepcL oiavSyj7roxg gKglva
105
ayicoai)vy)crou
56
Trip
79
104 p7rpoyjv
Trep
X^
7rg[r^i<;xiv gtfpi<;
78
99
32
44
75 77
98
ia; 0;
gifnvgocrxf]
ayair6vxa<;
Notes 8-9 zi.Michaelis Glycaeannales
(Bonn, 1836), 126.14s. 7rapoSguxi>cco<; gTrgp^opvoi Kai oi?k
xyjvypacj>r)v gpguvrjxiKCo; 12 gvi= gaxiA. N. Jannaris,^f? Historical Greek Grammar
(Paris, 1973), 1,7 (a. 1034) 100 g^rjydxai cf.Benesevic, Taktikon Nikona 108.14: Kai ev xouxw g^rjydxaitovc, olvtov 7rgipao-f*oi)<; Sicttyopovc,
KgKolupvcov 0KOV 7Tgp
96
31
40
73
95
-tyikatya eupiaKii; XP1!* ^ticrgax; Xu |xl
0;
ap^o^oucrav TTviKcov
88
15
19
152
yvdae^XcCkovyieva
13
7rpogl7ra 7rpa^aio<;
71 72
23:2
ypacfjac; 7rip
69
(London, 1897), ?985.1
23 Kgivxgvcf.V. Benesevic, Taktikon Nikona Chernogortsa. Zapiski historiko philologiches kago Fakulteta Petrogradskago Universiteta 6x1 (Petrograd, 1917),4-119, 61.4: g$gvai ^pVj, KgTvxgv ai gvxau0a gi; xpgi<;xd|gi; 40 ygxaSiSgiv cf.Benesevic, Taktikon Nikona 109.6: I^co xou [xgxaSlSgivx6v 7rXr)aiovSid xrjv ev xoO0gou Kai xrjvxou 7rXrjcriou dya7rrjvKai xouxco gugpygxgiv 92 jxgx'gag cf. Kax' eae \xovi\c, J.Lefort (ed.), Actes d'Esphigmenou, Archives de PAthos 6
Translation Nikon of theBlackMountain, Letter 9 From the same to Georgios, hegumen of [themonastery] of those who speak and write should not enquire into as the are in accord with the holy and lawful scriptures, things which and so on. Lord says, namely that "they sat on the throne ofMoses"
Koutzoubenti;
father, you have asked my honorable My spiritual and honorable to father here, the monk Klemes, inquire into the rubrics compiled
throughholy providence in <my> paltrybooks, and I ask your holi
ness and your love in God, that you should study the books which are with you not accurately and superficially. And you will be able, to find out and understand through the grace of God, everything, their meaning
because
is
simple by the grace of God; for these things were not nor were own spoken through my knowledge, they thoughts of another sinful person, but theywere compiled from the holy scrip tures with much to God. And in each rubric diligence according there is an annotation saying from which work it is derived: |83r from the lawful books by the grace of Christ
and the manifest
ones, from
which he (?) took the lawsofGod and thekanonesand thecommand ments,
thewords
ers of the catholic honorable
and the interpretations of the holy fathers and teach and apostolic church and his (?) nomokanon, my
father; and you have books
that contain
the holy synods
and all of the books (blessed) by the grace ofChrist; and examine
how
a rubric or a kanon
there. And
is inscribed, and you will
find the answer
there is no need for extensive
research by others, by the contents of for those who know the of the scriptures, Christ, grace or unless one is totally ignorant of writing deprived of books. If there are some rubrics in <my> paltry books about which one may encoun ter difficulties, neither will these remain nor unsup unexplained to Christ's are evidence due but ported by grace, they accompanied and explanations from the holy by scholia with acknowledgments scriptures; and since these agree with the holy scriptures and do not deviate from them inmeaning, whosever work theymay be, and this iswhy I put them into the because books, paltry they speak according to the intention of the holy scriptures, and not as the sinful person
who
uttered and wrote
honorable
down
father, although of the Lord which
the rubric wished
I am
and acted. And my Iwill nevertheless follow
unworthy, says that "he sat on the throne ofMoses" and so on. But look, my father, into the interpretation of the gospel toMatthew and you will find the usefulness of the according saying. that word
And may I not be blamed byyourholiness fornot searchingforhim or a text or listen to a discourse, and spoke when I find for only whether the words or the written text derive investigating
who wrote
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
I$3
their power from holy scripture, because I do not investigate further nor do I examine precisely such things. But I, your unworthy child, in your love in the Lord as my father, reveal to you my rea trusting we should suppress the bond of love from the soning, that beginning; and what I do not know, God knows; for, in the meantime, ifGod
or tome to I cannot dispenses spiritual, keep it just something bodily to transmit it to my I I immediately chafe myself, but neighbor, and
oftenhand itover completelyand thusdeprivemyself (of it).And let
him who has a use for it accept it, and him who has no use set it aside; I know, my father, no more about these matters than the above. But, my father, <my> paltry books do not contain anything concerning the dogma of faith, so theymay have some authority, nothing because
are simplicity and ignorance, but practical throughout and treat of actions. And reveal what many persons are not aware they of. And we proceeded from oblivion to contempt and rather to error; and we have sunk into worldly and deeply sinful thoughts and for of my
this reason we have been separated from God and have been enslaved was no need to among the heathen. There by the grace of Christ dog matize about faith to gain authority, as I have said earlier; but matters of concern
about
poverty, and especially about and about the other kinds of purity of
abstinence,
tomonks;
but especially to soul and body, a matter of concern to all Christians no reason us, the Orthodox, by the grace of Christ. And therefore able authority prevails in these (books) with Christ's grace, for they do not discuss faith, as I have told your holiness before. for investigating the fast of the Theotokos, you can do that informa in find detailed <my> paltry books, you may easily; there, tion about everything, not explicitly what you should do this way or that; nor am I instructing with authority, but I only wrote what I found ... about the Theotokos, what each text says ... and this ... and I acted according to what I found ...writing according to tradition. For Iwrote following the texts which some handed down to us |84r and thewritings others composed, and the holy scriptures, and what ever each text says and nothing else; and such writings supported by Christ's grace do not offer any kind of authority or pose any danger. for I am wretched, but I arrange as I consider Forgive me, my father, best all things concerning the Theotokos which reach my ears; and I As
shudder at everything written or spoken in her name, for initially I resisted greatly too, when I heard or saw some people observing it (the as witnesses. And it fast), until I toiled and found the holy scriptures
was not <written> about the dogma of faith that itmight (the book) have authority, my father, as I said earlier, but it is about actions and self-control, which is lauded by all holy writings and suits every time and every day and is comprehensively numbered by the apostle among
154
TASSOS
PAPACOSTAS
thefruitsof spiritualgifts;and again thefast (oftheTheotokos) does not belong to the forbiddenfastsof Saturday,Sunday and thegreat feastdays, a preliminarypurificationand cleansingby faith in the pure and undefiled Theotokos. And, my father, read the letter that I sent along with Theodoros so that you may deliver it to abba Gerasimos, and you will find
about thismatter. But know this thoughts too, my father: those things that are manifest and contain no con I both discuss and write about without fear and troversywhatsoever, therein my full views and
with
confidence;
or either some consequence as points of view; and let this be
but those that contain
some controversy, I call and describe that if a reader has some better idea, he should think about
added:
it
and letwhat pleases God occur; I am doing it in that way, my father, and with Christ's grace I keep myself free from any fault against God or humankind; to learn what is best and for that reason, I am seeking my
father, I have written
that way;
if you collect
I84V everything and often find in either the carefully something incomprehensible, a different as rubrics or in the scholia, then you love meaning, having as I am alive. And as the one God I beg you to write to me, as long
will of God
should be done,
so I, the wretched,
accomplish my work
with thehelp of theLord; and I thinkthatGod knows ifI exhausted thematter; I therefore as well beg your holiness and your love inGod, as my fathers (who are) with you, and the brothers, to pray for me that God may have mercy upon me and that he may rescue me from the snares of the devil, the enemy of all; and own similarly from my
carnal
thinking and intention; and from all human beings who have sinful thoughts and intentions; by the intercessions of the Theotokos and all saints, amen. this I write, my father, that if one of those present here or in another country is found to say towhat I have anything contrary written or said, and expresses his own views falsely attributing them tome, he should be and indeed be ignored punished accordingly; but ifhe interprets the divinely inspired scriptures in a reasonable manner, And
then nobody should hinder him, for the word of God is not bound, as it iswritten. And I, my father, will listen in great fear and love to a such things, whether the speaker is pupil of mine or a stranger, as I always say. For I do not seek the speaker, but the spoken word; and
not what concerns the especially dogma of faith, but the teaching of action, for all matters of faith, by the grace of Christ, were defined at the precisely holy synods and handed down to us by our fathers of we and remain steadfast in these matters long ago; through the grace of Christ;
and therefore there is no need to examine and question to nor or write matters deal faith; with such with the about, question, of for the fathers who anticipated this heretics, help separated them
MONASTERY
OF CHRYSOSTOMOS
AT KOUTSOVENDIS
155
from us. And
do not agree or accept our , and we do not accept their distorted teachings; and it is inopportune and to is appropriate useless discuss?this |8sr,my father, unless, inmany
ways, a new heresy rises that had not manifested
itself at the time of
theholy fathersof old, inwhich case let each one of us fightforour
forsaken duty. And may God him and pray for us. ?Michael
156
TASSOS
Griinbart,
PAPACOSTAS
the Lord
University
support those who
Vienna of
truly love
The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa: Apocalypse, the First Crusade, and the Armenian Diaspora Author(s): Christopher MacEvitt Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 157-181 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472048 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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TheChronicle of Matthew ofEdessa: ArmenianDiaspora Apocalypse,theFirstCrusade,and the Christopher MacEvitt IN
1066/7, A TURKISH a raid on the numerous north
Armenian
on Antioch.2
emir
led his troops on of the Amanus mountains,
named Afshin1
monasteries
The
the twelfth-century ca. (Matthew of Edessa,
result, mourned
eos
chronicler Matt
Urhayets'i was to were that 1136), "many of the holy monks subjected to the edge of the sword and being burned; moreover, their corpses became food for the beasts and the birds."3 Despite the holiness of the 1070-ca.
their suffering and death fulfilled divine will, accomplish the words of Psalm 78: "Their young men were devoured by fire ing and no one grieved for their virgins; their priests fell under the sword and no one for their widows."4 The biblical verses grieved appeared as more than a rhetorical flourish from a clerical writer: they evoked
monks,
themes woven
chronicle. While the immo throughout Matthew's lated youths and the slain priests of Psalm 78 died by thewill of their own wrathful God, the a with evocation of ended psalm comforting God's love for the tribe of Judah and for his servant David. Similarly, Matthew's
chronicle depicted
an
angry God
punishing his wayward it focused on an abiding
flock (Christian Armenians), but ultimately sense of the imminent arrival of the end of the world dant promise of redemption. on the mountains The massacre violent episodes that proved nated by God's wrath. Like
was
and the atten
in a list of long a era lived in dark domi
evidence
thatMatthew other Christian
chroniclers, including of and Hydatius fifth-century Hispania Ralph Glaber of eleventh to write was sense of Matthew century Burgundy,5 inspired by the at the turn of the ages, watching the ancient, corrupt order peel living and the new, away perhaps glorious, perhaps terrifying, emerge. All i
Named
Evshen
Oshen
in the 1898 edition, and
in the 1869 Jerusalem edition of
Matthew's
text,Patmut'iwn
1869), 223. Dostourian
(Jerusalem,
surmises that this is
a version of the Persian name Afshin. 2
Throughout this article, Iwill be citing theArmenian text ofMatthew of Edessa's
chronicle, using the 1898Vagharshapat edition, which, as discussed below, relies upon the largest number ofmanuscripts and includes some critical apparatus: Matt'eos Urhayets'i
[Matthew of Edessa],
Zhamanakagrut'iwn
(Vagharshapat,
1898),
hereafter Matt'eos Urhayets'i, All translations, Zhamanakagrut'iwn. unless otherwise noted, are fromAra Dostourian's
English translation: Matthew ofOdessa, Armenia and the Crusades, trans.
A. E. Dostourian afterMatthew 3
Matt'eos
(Lanham, Md.,
1993), here
of Edessa, Armenia. Urhayets'i, 185;Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia,
of
125.
Ps. 78: 63-64. This passage also evokes Ps. 79: 2-3: "Their blood flowed like water
4
all around Jerusalem and there was no one
to bury them" (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 186;Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia, 5
of
125).
R. W. Burgess, ed. and trans., The of Hydatius and theConsularia
Chronicle
(Oxford, 1993); Burgess, Constantinopolitana "Hydatius and the Final Frontier: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the End of the in ShiftingFrontiers inLate Antiquity, ed. R. W. Mathisen and H. S. Sivan
World,"
(Aldershot, 1996), 321-32; Rodulphus Glaber, The Five Books of theHistories, trans. J. France and P. Reynolds (Oxford, 1989).
three chroniclers
in a trium challenge of reconciling faith or defeat, disaster, occupation. Matthew's
faced the
phalist Christianity with and apocalyptic focus has received little attention, unlike Hydatius's Ralph's. Only by placing Matthew within his cultural context, that
to termswith the effects of a diasporic Armenian community coming can we understand how Matthew of the First Crusade, understood the suffering of the Armenians and unravel his seemingly contradic non-Armenians. of tory depiction
between 1101/2 and the 1130s while Edessa was under Writing Frankish took as the subject of his chronicle "the rule, Matthew nation the Armenian horrible punishment {barkut'iwn), which at the hands
endured
the nation of the Turks,
of the long-haired and abominable Elamites, The the Turks and their brothers, Romans."6
were at the same time the Byzantines (and later the Franks) agents of divine retribution, the foot soldiers of Satan's army, and as the Armenians. the victims of the same punishments Episodes of and
punctuate Matthew's history with metronomic regularity. an account Not simply of events, his chronicle is a prehistory of the and violence is the muscle that gives his history motion. Apocalypse, from of the coming Apocalypse drew his expectations Matthew violence
a number
of sources,
the most
important
of which
was
the Syriac author now referred to as
an anonymous seventh-century One of the most influential apocalypses of the pseudo-Methodius.7 it introduced the who medieval figure of the last emperor, period, and then would defeat the infidel people who oppressed Christians return at crown on the allowing the Holy Cross Golgotha, place his of Christ. The narrative spread quickly, becoming a part of Byzantine traditions as well. Matthew, and western Christian apocalyptic narratives with a different and however, employed apocalyptic signs his intent was intent than did many other medieval apocalyptists; an not to embattled community, but to of strengthen the bulwarks make clear its fragility and fast-approaching demise. Yet that demise would not be the result of Turkish massacres or Byzantine duplicity. account
6
by
Matthew
uses theword barkut'iwn,
or calamity," meaning "anger, punishment, both here and throughout his chronicle to describe
the suffering of theArmenians
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 112-13;Matthew 7
of Edessa, Armenia,
83).
P. Alexander,
Tradition
Byzantine Apocalyptic (Berkeley, 1985); G.J. Reinink, Die
Syrische Apokalypse des Pseudo-Methodius (Leuven, 1993); andW. J.Aerts and G. A. A. Kortekaas, Methodius:
158
Die Apokalypse des Pseudo die Altesten Griechischen und
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
2 vols. (Leuven, Ubersetzungen, "Christian Salvation 1998); C. Villagomez, Divine through Muslim Domination:
Lateinischen
Punishment
and Syriac Apocalyptic in the Seventh and Eighth
Expectation Centuries," MedE
4 (1998): 203-18. The not appear figure of the "last emperor" does later until the Armenian tradition in the
tenth century, and then in a revised version of the Life ofNerses, a frequently edited text concerning the prophecies of the fourth century Armenian
patriarch, translated by
J.-R. Emine, "Genealogie de la famille de saint Gregoire et vie de saint Nerses," in Collection des historiens anciens etmodernes de I'Armenie, ed. V. Langlois (Paris, 1969), 2: 21-41; R. Thomson, "Crusades through Armenian Eyes," in The Crusades from thePerspective ofByzantium and theMuslim World, ed. A. E. Laiou and R. Par viz (Washington, D. C, 2001), For further bibliography on apoca lypticism, see note 85.
Mottahedeh 74-75.
Matthew's apocalyptic fears arose from the disquieting sense that Armenians,particularlythoselivingindiasporic communitiessuchas Edessa,were fadingfromsight,bleached out byByzantine,Frankish, isMatthew's
cultural radiation. The chronicle
and Turkish an
of why Armenians
feltArmenians
were
search for
were
indistinguishable becoming explanation from their neighbors and rulers; he cast the answer in the language of violence, which often stood in for the cultural violence Matthew suffering. in of violence and memory the description Paradoxically, a was a in the boundaries which work Matthew's society product of were one ethnic and community from another separating religious transparent, crossed and recrossed by soldiers, generals, and aris out that tocrats with little sense of any change. Matthew pointed inflicted suffering on each other as often as the Turks or were themost to him such fascinating "betrayals" Byzantines did, and and revealing kind of violence. His real concern was thus Armenian to its current calami society, proud of its ancient heritage but blind ties, consuming itself in betrayal and backstabbing.
Armenians
Historiography
and been used widely by Byzantinists Armenia of the and historians of medieval Islamicists, by crusades, for the better part of two centuries; it is arguably one of the most important historical narratives from twelfth-century Syria. chronicle
Matthew's
as well
Portions
has
as
ofMatthew's
chronicle have been
available
in translation
since Francois Martin first translated lateMatthew purported
de Cirbied and Jacques Chahan (1772-1834) it in 1811.8 In a sense, however, Martin did not trans
at all; he work that that part ofMatthew's published a to be a letter written by the Byzantine transcription of
emperorJohn I Tzimiskes (969-976) to theArmenian kingAshot
debut in the academic world was thus in (952-977). Matthew's Dulaurier (1807-1881) published a complete Byzantine dress. Edouard translation of the chronicle in 1858, portions of which were included III
in the Recueil theArmenian
des historiens des croisades in 1869.9 The first edition of textwas in Jerusalem in 1869, based on two published
8 Matthew of Edessa, Details historiques de la premiere expedition des Chretiens dans la Palestine sous Vempereur Zimisces, trans. F.Martin,
notes by J. Chahan de Cirbied (Paris, 1811).A second excerpt, focusing on
the First Crusade, was published a year later: Notice de deux manuscrits armeniens conten ant Vhistoire deMathieu
Eretz
et extrait de
cette histoire, relatifa la premiere croisade en armenien etenfrancais (Paris, 1812).
9
Matthew
Matthieu Dulaurier
of Edessa, Chronique de (962-1136), trans. E.
d'Edesse
(Paris, 1858); Recueildes
des croisades, Documents 1869), 1:4-150. Dulaurier,
armeniens
historiens (Paris,
however, first
published extracts concerning the First Crusade in 1850 (Matthew of Edessa, Recit
editions. His
translation was used widely byAra Dostourian's
until supplemented
translation published in 1993 (cited above, n. 2). Itwas also translated into
English
Turkish by H. Andreasyan
(UrfaliMateos ve Papaz Grigor'un vekayindmesi [9$2 -1136]
Zeyli [1136-1162] /Ankara, 1962]).
de la premiere croisade, trans. E. Dulaurier translation, how [Paris, 1850]). Dulaurier's ever, leftout some episodes included in other
MATTHEW
OF EDESSAS
CHRONICLE
159
in and another published (Etchmiadzin) Vagharshapat as well as on the in 1898, based on five manuscripts
manuscripts, in Armenia
its availability, historians
have paid little of the text itself, and
Jerusalem edition.10 Despite attention to the internal instead have used
concerns logic and it to corroborate events described
sources. Aside
and Latin
inArabic, Greek, to the French
from the introductions
and
in 1858 and translations of the work by Edouard Dulaurier English in 1993, this is the first critical analysis ofMatthew's Ara Dostourian in any major European language.11 has sat on the Matthew sidelines for a number of historiographic reasons, not the least of which is the language inwhich he wrote? not one of the is medieval Armenian. Armenian primary generally East consider historians of the Middle twelfth-century languages nor is the East one of the areas twelfth-century Middle learning, their realm of expertise. Like the consider within Armenologists is often cited, but never studied. proverbial bridesmaid, Matthew events and dates of interest to them, only the specific Examining chronicle
scholars have never confronted Matthew's
As
historical larger of his text,Matthew's
a result of such normative
tion
generally historian. The
has been
readings that of a prejudiced
agenda.
reputa and therefore unreliable
in one of the French Armenologist Joseph Laurent, Edessan first careful studies of eleventh-century history, commented, does not merit a blind confidence without
"Matthew
that perhaps
the original
study,"worrying text had been altered over time, for it lacked
on northern In his order and organization.12 Syria, magisterial work had "an insatiable hatred that Matthew Claude Cahen suggested
con concurred, recently Mark Whittow to be "anti-Chalcedonian and anti-Byzantine."14 sidering Matthew Accusations of inaccuracy are perhaps not the best form of criticism or of any medieval chronicle. The text is best read not as ofMatthew, a a discrete and differentiated peo description of world containing a protean an attempt to as but prescriptively shape ples and cultures, cultural landscape into such aworld. of the Greeks."13 More
The 1898 edition was republished in 1991 with a modern Armenian translation io
by H. Bartik'yan
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, ed. M. Melik-Adamyan Zhamanakagrut'iwn, andN. Ter-Mik'ayelyan [Erevan, 1991]). 11 Brief comments appear inH. rendus," REA
Berberian,
10
"Comptes H. Adjarian, "Matt'eos HA 67 (1953): 350-54 [in Urhayec'i," Armenian]; Anneliese Liiders, Die (1973-74):
Kreuzziige
403-6;
imUrteil syrischer und armenis
cherQuellen
l6o
CHRISTOPHER
(Berlin, 1964), 17-19.
MACEVITT
J. Laurent, "Des Grecs aux Croises. Etude sur l'histoire d'Edesse entre 1071 et 12
1098," Byzantion
1 (1921): 372-73,
inEtudes d'histoire arminienne
reprinted (Leuven,
1971), 66-67. C. Cahen, La Syrie du Nord a I'epoque des croisades et la principaute franque 13
(Paris, 1940), 98; Steven Runciman also follows this line,History of theCrusades (Cambridge, 1952), 2: 483. Modern surveys of crusader and Byzantine history scarcely mention Matthew.
14
M. Whittow,
600-102S
TheMaking
(Berkeley, 1996), 383.
ofByzantium,
Structure oftheChronicle
Matthews apocalyptic interestsexplain thenumerologicaldrumbeat the tripartite structure of his chronicle, a structure that underlying echoes other Armenian historians such asMovses Xorenats'i, Tovma
Artsruni,
and Yovhannes
Drasxanakerts'i.15
section covers half
Each
the time of the section preceding it, signaling the ascending sequence of violence directed against Armenian individuals and communi ties.16Matthew the world,
himself noted
acknowledging
the
quickening chronological pulse of that "we also have become aware of time us
change, decay, and disappear on to us the instability of mankind revealing of Armenian earth."17 The first section describes the disappearance
passing by very quickly, ance ofwhat exists and
royal authority
showing
in the Caucasus
Mountains
and eastern highlands aggression. The second
through Byzantine subterfuge and Turkish section details the subsequent destruction ofArmenian communities at the hands of the Turks, and in the third section Matthew prepares his readers for the coming Apocalypse.
About Matthew himselfwe know little.He
called himself a
"monk"18 as well
as a "monastic never named his priest,"19 though he He also used the (of Edessa), but monastery.20 epithet "Urhayets'i" never clarified whether he was born in Edessa, or whether his monas terywas located there, or both. At some point he moved to the town one hundred miles northwest of Edessa; of K'esun, approximately
the last entry in his chronicle, dated to 1136/7,detailed, unusually in the first person, a Turkish attack on the town.21 He soon likely died
15
J.-P.Mahe, sur
"Entre Moi'se
Reflexions
etMahomet: armeni
l'historiographie enne," RE A 23 (1992): 121-53. 16 The years covered in each part reflected Matthew's
interest in numerologi to theApocalypse. The first
cal approaches portion covers the years 952/3 to 10 51/2 the second (Armenian years [AY] 401-500), from 1051/2 to 1101/2 (AY 500-550), and the third from 1101/2 to 1136/7 (AY 550-85); thus each portion covers roughly half the period of time of the previous section. Although the second and third sections include an authorial preface, inwhich Matthew outlined the sources used for the section, as well as explaining how itfit into his historical progression, the first section launches into a historical narrative unpref aced. It is tempting to speculate that the first portion of the chronicle has been lost, including an introduction as well as an account for the year 951/2 (AY 400).
The account concludes
in 1136/7 (AY 585),
indicated his intention to although Matthew end it in 1131/2 (AY 580) (Matt'eos 278-80; Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 182-83). 17 Matt'eos Urhayets'i,
Matthew
282; Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia, 18
184.
Vanakan; Matt'eos
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia, 19
of
Urhayets'i, 113;Matthew of
83.
Ara Dostourian
translates this
(inArmenian erits' vanats') as "superior of a monastery," which suggests that Matthew
was abbot, but he does not
describe other abbots with those words. The modern Armenian "chaplain"
translation suggests (vanerets'); perhaps the best
translation might be "monastic priest." [Iwould like to thank the anonymous reviewer for this recommendation.]
126;Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 84). The monastery most prominent in account isKarmir Vank' (the Matthew's 20
near K'esun, and while "Red Monastery") Matthew never directly links himself to themonastery, itwas patronized by Kogh Vasil and was the seat of the Pahlavunis in the area. Kat'olikos Gregory III Pahlavuni was consecrated here in 1113/4 (Matt'eos 329-30; Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 215). As dis cussed below, Matthew promoted both Vasil and the Pahlavuni family, and a shared con nection to themonastery may further explain his enthusiasm. 21 Matthew referred to Baldwin
of
as "our prince" and spoke of God on the mercy having town despite "our sins" (Matt'eos Urhayets'i,
Marash,
who ruled K'esun,
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia,
368;Matthew
of
238-39).
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA'S
CHRONICLE
l6l
after, for his continuator, Gregory
the Priest, began his narrative
the
following year.
It is difficult to be certainwhen Matthew first began his
I offer a possible information to be certain.
chronicle.
argument, but we do not have sufficient In the introduction to his third section,
listed those patriarchs who were ruling "when my history was few of the ordination or death dates of begun."22 Unfortunately,
Matthew
the patriarchs given restrict the range of for the begin possibilities career of ning of the chronicle. For example, the Symeon II, Greek is the shortest patriarch of Jerusalem (1092-99), reign of the five patriarchs listed. However, both the dates of Symeon's ordi are we nation as patriarch and his death poorly substantiated,23 and cannot be certain when Matthew believed Symeon held his position. also noted that the year was 6610 anno mundi, However, Matthew Orthodox
which
produces
the date of 1102.24 Furthermore, Matthew
began
this
portion of his chroniclewith theArmenian year (AY) of 550,which also equals 1101/2. The majority of evidence, therefore, suggests that in 1101/2, and this is the date I follow.25 Matthew began his chronicle a can thus sense of how Matthew spent writ gain rough long to his second section, Matthew ing his chronicle. In the introduction announced that he has been writing for eight years; thus he com We
the years AY 401-500 (covering in the year 1109/1110. He further indicated that he [952/3-1051/2]) more had eighty years to chronicle, giving an intended completion
pleted
the first section of his work
dateofAY58o(ii3i/2).26 Then in his forties, themonk events
anticipated another to the Apocalypse. leading
two decades
of
At the begin tells us he has now been writing for fifteen years, and again signals his intention to end his chronicle in AY 580, indicating that the year at that time was 1116/7.27His account in 1136/7 (AY 585), five years later than he actually concluded account of these additional five years is brief. the anticipated, though of northern intended audience was the Armenians Matthew's
important historical ning of his third section, Matthew
noted events in Edessa and sur Syria, and his narrative frequently areas. section of his chronicle, however, took Only the last rounding own life as its northern Syria during Matthew's primary focus. As 22
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 277; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 181.
23 Johannes Pahlitzsch, "Symeon II. und die Errichtung der lateinischen Kirche von Jerusalem durch die Kreuzfahrer," inMilitia Sancti Sepulcri: Idea e Istituzioni, ed. Kaspar Fonseca [Vatican Elm and Cosimo Damiano City, 1998], 341-60).
l6l
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
24
The monk further confused his chro
not included nology by adding that "we have these last ten years in our chronological considerations";
it is not evident what the
chronicler intended by this. Yet Berberian ("Comptes rendus," 404) suggests thatMatthew began his chronicle in 1113,though he does not give details.
25
x6
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 83.
113-14;Matthew 27
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 182.
278;Matthew
noted
earlier, the first two sections were
in the Armenian
kingdoms
to events dedicated largely and around of the Caucasus Mountains
Lake Van during the tenth and eleventh centuries.This choice at least in part, to caution; Matthew himself (per current events was about that writing haps hyperbolically) warned like to write about [the with peril, noting that "we would fraught deeds, but dare not, since we are under Franks'] many malicious can be ascribed,
their authority." however, may have preferred writing about Matthew, and the distant rather than about his own time and place
the past because
in the past he could most easily the apocalyptic violence distinguish From his perspective, the disappearance of the Armenian he sought. the of the Ani, was Bagratuni kingdom particularly kingdoms, most traumatic of the "horrible punishments" the Armenians
were
fated to suffer.Matthew
used
of the Armenian misfortunes
city of Artsn of the Armenians,"
the Turkish siege and capture in 1049/50, "the the beginning of to urge his readers to "listen and
pay attention to this account of the end and decay of the East?by slow degrees, year by year; for Artsn was the first town which was and put to the sword and enslaved."29 captured from the Armenians
not ascribe Artsn's sack and the massacre notably did and enslavement of its citizens to the city's sinfulness, as did the chronicler Aristakes the Lastivertts'i.30 Rather, eleventh-century
Matthew
was a a disastrous age. city's destruction sign of the beginning of as victims were in his Artsn of litany Following punishments in monasteries smaller communities such as the aforementioned the Amanus Sebasteia, cultural
Mountains,
as well
as other
cities
such as Melitene,
considered the and, finally, in 1064/5 tne CltyMatthew own His and religious heart of Armenia?Ani. city of
massacres others had suffered, spared the sieges and to sense that, as but Matthew impress upon his audience the sought were as them "left Armenians, strangers, describing they guardian less in an alien land, since they left their ancestral home."31 Edessa
had been
Two
other, more
immediate
concerns
also inspired Matthew was the his chronicle. The first and begin surprising appearance success of the First Crusade. The crusades, and the settle political ments were a to sense a of Matthew's world they produced, challenge to
28
Matt'eos Urhayets'i; Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 221. See also
239;Matthew
R. Landes, Relics, Apocalypse, and theDeceits of History: Adtmar ofChabannes, 989-1034 (Cambridge, Mass., 1995), 142-43. Inmy under standing ofMatthew's
view of the past, I have
also been influenced by P. J.Geary, Phantoms
ofRemembrance: Memory and Oblivion at theEnd of theFirst Millennium (Princeton, 1994).
30
Aristakes
Lastivertts'i, Patmut'iwn
(Venice, 1901), 64-69. 31
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 196.
300; Matthew
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 103;Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 76-77.
29
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA's
CHRONICLE
l6^
and by the "three nations"?Armenians, Byzantines, were the of his chronicle. putative subjects Although never accorded the Franks the same status as the other
dominated Turks?who Matthew
three, he came Turks. Matthew under monk
to know
or the the Byzantines in Edessa when the city came
them better
was
than
likely resident in 1098, and the Armenian the rule of Baldwin of Boulogne life the of his under Frankish remainder rule, devot spent
a considerable to portion of the third section of his chronicle ing soon his work in 1101/2, after the First their deeds. Matthew began even more its and violence, unexpectedness, Crusade; surprising
success likelyprovidedMatthew with thefinal evidence needed to
confirm his sense of a world
momentous undergoing of two kat'olikoi32 of the Pahlavuni
The presence
change. ear family in with further
northern Syria provided Matthew ly-twelfth-century to write. The aristocratic Pahlavunis had established incentive
a near
on the office of the kat'olikos, or Armenian patriarch of the monopoly church, in the latter half of the eleventh century. The valiant deeds chron of the family, a narrative thread running through Matthew's icle, provided a connection between events inArmenia (particularly in the of Ani), and in northern Syria. The origins of the kingdom were among are obscure,33 but by the late tenth century they family the leading aristocrats of the Bagratuni kingdom of Ani. Beginning of with Vasak Pahlavuni (d.1021), sparapet (military commander) the Matthew recounted Ani, family's accomplishments, focusing a series of (d. 1047), successor prominent members: Vahram son as to his brother Vasak Vasak's Gregory Magistros sparapet,34 and of doux litterateur Byzantine Mesopotamia,35 Gregory's (d. 1058),
on
son Vahram
(d. 1105), who
became
32 Correctly transliterated as kat'ughikos, but here I use themore familiar Greek-based plural rather than theArmenian kat'ughikosk'. Cyril Toumanoff
33
Pahlavunis
connections
gives the to the ancient
family and thus to the family of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the inArmenia, but founder of Christianity this genealogy is dubious; see his Studies in Christian Caucasian History themselves
D.C, claimed
1963), 207. The the connection,
family
per on the a haps as way to solidify their hold katholicate. Movses Khorenats'i (of
164
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
Chorene), been dated
patriarch
in
a historian whose writings have anywhere from the fifth to the
descended Moses
from the Iranian Pahlavids;
see
History of the trans. R. W. Thomson
Khorenats'i,
Armenians,
(Cambridge, Mass., their surname
While
1978), 2: 27,165. evoked
the Arsacid
an area in being both Iran and the name of the two branches of
monarchy,
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 98;Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 74. See the 34
genealogical chart inM. Leroy, "Gregoire Magistros et les traductions armeniennes
eighth century, recorded that both Saint were Gregory and the Kamsarakans
Kamsarakan
(Washington,
the first Pahlavuni
Pahlav
d'auteurs grecs,"AIPHOS 3 (1935): 263-94. A. Sanjian, "Gregory Magistros: An 35 Armenian Hellenist," Studies
inHonor
in TO EAAHNIKON:
ofSperos Vryonis,Jr., vol. 2, Armeniaca, Islamica, the
Byzantinoslavica, Balkans and Modern
Greece, ed. J. S. Allen
al. (New Rochelle, N.Y.,
et
1993), 131-58; Leroy, 263-94; B. L.
the Arsacid
family, the Pahlavunis and emerged only in the tenth century with cannot be linked to the Kamsarakans
"Gregoire Magistros," "Echos de legendes epiques Chukaszyan, iraniennes dans les ?lettres? de Grigor
any certainty.
Magistros,"
REArm
1 (1964): 321-29.
1065-66 under the name Gregory II,36 and Gregory's second son Vasak (d. 1077),doux of Byzantine Antioch.37Kat'olikos Gregory as and a grandnephew bishops nephews two of them succeeded him consecutively during his lifetime, and to the In contrast to his attitude toward almost all patriarchate. or other leaders groups, Matthew rarely criticized the Pahlavunis; II consecrated
his
two
even when II decided to abandon his patriarchal duties to Gregory live an eremitic life,which led to a schism in the church, Matthew
admired
his determination
to take on a life of solitude,
and only
to his replace lightly chastised him for his subsequent hostility vow he had taken to "for he forgot the ment, the vardapet George, in the be George's companion spiritual life."38 first contact with the Pahlavunis may have come Matthew's 1103/4, shortly after he began his chronicle. In that year, the came to Edessa, kat'olikos Barsegh Pahlavuni (nephew of Gregory II) 39 count Baldwin II. Matthew was likely welcomed by the Frankish around
still living in the city at the time, and given the prominent place of the inMatthew's Pahlavunis chronicle, the patriarch may have provided or otherwise, toward Matthew's some encouragement, material proj ect. Their association
took deepened when both Barsegh and Matthew some years later.40One hundred up residence in the town of K'esun miles northwest of Edessa, K'esun was the center of a local Armenian suncle Gregory
renovatio in the early twelfth century. Barsegh Often known with the epithet Vkayaser, meaning "lover of themartyrs," 36
for his numerous
in Zoroastrianism;
translations of such stories
from Greek and Syriac into Armenian;
see
Matt'eos
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, I55~5^; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 106-7.
For a general biography and outline of his travels, see A. Kapoian-Kouymjian, L'Egypte vuepar des Armeniens (Paris, 1988), 7-93. 37 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, zi^-14; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 141. 38
Matt'eos
Urhayets'i, 190-91; Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia,
of
127-28. A vardapet is a theArmenian church.
rank within
unique It is essentially a scholarly position, invested with the authority to teach, and ranked second only to that of the bishop. Although the position did not have any sacramental duties attached to it,vardapets did have the
"Vardapet LeMuseon 39
II, after
see R. Thomson,
in the Early Armenian
Church,"
Danishmend
75 (1962): 367-84.
Matt'eos
Edessa, Armenia,
294; Matthew
of
192. The annexation
of the
kingdom of Ani spurred a period of nomad ism on the part of the patriarchs, and the political confusions of the late eleventh century brought schism to the church?at one time four different kat'olikoi were exer cising their authority under the protection of various Armenian and Muslim princes. Barsegh had visited Edessa some ten years earlier (1091/2), while the citywas still under Turkish
control. It is possible
that this visit
also had an impact on Matthew; Matt'eos
see
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 157.
241; Matthew
Some historians
Dulaurier, Chronique, ix-x. It is unclear when Matthew leftEdessa for
have linked the institution to the office of
K'esun. He was still in Edessa when he
the herbad, which fulfilled an analogous
began the third and last part of his chronicle
power to excommunicate.
role
sultan Muhammad,
raremoment, Matthew
Urhayets'i,
Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
in 1116,but the last entry in his chronicle recounts an attack on K'esun by the
40
and in a
turns to the first
is compassionate and in all things, in spite of our sins did not will that we fall into the hands of the
person:
"God, who
merciful
enemy; rather he took pity on us ... and so did not give the command for the infidels to attack the town" (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, ^67; Matthew of Zhamanakagrut'iwn, continua 238). Matthew's torGregory also lived inK'esun, further suggesting thatMatthew, at the end of his
Edessa, Armenia,
life at least, was living there. At the time of his death in 1113/4,Barsegh was residing in Behesni, a town only a few dozen miles to the north of K'esun. An assembly of bishops consecrated his nephew Gregory as his suc cessor at themonastery of Karmir Vank', also situated in the territory of K'esun: Matt'eos
Urhayets'i, Zhamanagakrut'iwn, 329-30; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 215.
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA'S
CHRONICLE
165
years of traveling throughout the eastern Mediterranean, Whether up residence in the city, dying there in 1105/6.41
first took
inspired by ruler Kogh42 Vasil, Matthew by K'esun's Armenian as the successor to the cultural and promoted the city
or
the Pahlavunis
enthusiastically military glories of Ani. He while the Franks of Edessa of the Turks, Vasil was at Turkish
found great satisfaction in noting that suffered defeat after defeat at the hands
defending Christians
a
and winning victories regiment of Armenian
expense. Vasil "brought together and brave as lions or lion cubs, these soldiers rushed against troops; the infidels," decisively defeating them and capturing a number of amounts of in prisoners and vast booty.43 Lists of the great fighters
army, such as his adopted son Vasil Dgha, his nephew Petros, and Tiran, further fostered a heroic image. and the warriors Aplasat' After Vasil's death in 1112/3,Matthew recalled that "around this
Vasil's
were united the remnants of the Armenian army, members of prince sons of the of Armenia, the Bagratuni and Pahlavuni families, kings
with themilitary and finallyall thoseof Pahlavuni lineage,together
aristocracy of Armenia."44 echoed his earlier praise of Bagratuni While Matthew's language heroes and linked Kogh Vasil to a bygone era,Vasil himself arose from "robber." humble origins; kogh (gogh) is an Armenian epithet meaning for him and claimed the nevertheless Matthew majesty proud heri tage of the storied Armenian whom he suggested belonged
aristocracy through his unnamed wife, to the ancient Kamsarakan Her family.45 and connected Vasil to the Pahlavunis
unlikely ancestry conveniently also to St. Gregory the Illuminator,
the revered founder ofArmenian
and Kogh Vasil's family as the Christianity, placing the Pahlavunis on K'esun. Matthew's leaders of a new Armenian society centered and Kogh Vasil was tinged with the promotion of the Pahlavunis to the com sweetness of for Kogh Vasil's principality fell nostalgia, bined hostilities
of other Armenian
lords and the Franks
soon after
in 1116/7 towrite Vasil's death in 1112/3.By the time Matthew began of the third section of his chronicle containing his descriptions and Kogh Vasil, those heady days were gone, replaced by what he considered the comparatively grim rule of the Franks.
K'esun
41
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
298-99; Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 195-96.
See also Kapoian-Kouymjian,
L'Egypte vuepar
des Armeniens, 7-93. as "gogh," but Properly transliterated commonly as "kogh."
42
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 306-7; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 200-201.
43
Other chronicles do notmention these Armenian victories. Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 323-24; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 211.
44
45 would
As with the Pahlavunis,
this claim
seem to be at the least an exaggeration.
glory faded after the disastrous aristocratic rebellion in 775-76 against the
Kamsarakan
'Abbasids, and thereafter the family disap peared from the historical record; possibly they lingered on as minor nobles, conscious of their former dignity, and thus showed up in twelfth-century Syria tomarry a daughter toKogh Vasil, but this isunlikely.
l66
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
Armenians Amid Enemies? Perceptions ofTurks,Byzantines, and Franks narratives and assessments
of other peoples of the Levant, his have been in what make text, interspersed throughout large part his depiction of him so interesting to modern historians. However,
Matthew's
non-Armenians
was
assumed
quently
an
contradictory, and historians have fre or anti-Frankish bias without anti-Byzantine
often
the depiction of such groups Matthew's examining throughout in all their complexity make chronicle. The images of non-Armenians sense within his endeavor. only larger apocalyptic the disappearance stated purpose of explaining of at the hands of the and Turks power prepares Byzantines account inwhich the the reader for a polemical Byzantines and the Matthew's
Armenian
communities. Such an account Turks oppress and persecute Armenian would have established clear boundaries from separating Armenians
their neighbors and insisted on a moral scheme of "good guys" and "bad guys," and inmany cases, Matthew supplied just that.Mamlan, was "in his ferociousness emir of the Muslim like a Azerbaijan, . . and to the bloodthirsty serpent. spoke many blasphemous words heavens
inArmenia the first appearance ... to intent on "bloodthirsty beasts," "winged serpents like fire over all the lands of the Christian faithful."47 An
above."46 Matthew
likened
of the Turks, spreading Armenian
cleric inMatthew's
account
called
sons of
them "accursed
was Satan.48 suggested that their closest ally Likewise the Byzantines, "the apostate and perfidious nation as of heretics,"49 appear both political oppressors and religious per ? secutors. Matthew on in the blamed a massacre Holy Sepulcher to calculate Byzantine theologians who used the wrong calendar
Ham"
and
was the situation the intel sarcastically commenting that "this labeled the emperor ligent sages of the Greeks brought about."51 He III Romanos "a weak and timid person, besides Argyros (1028-34) Easter,
a very malicious and notorious blasphemer of the Orthodox A Byzantine attack on Armenia was remembered as "bring . . a the sword and enslavement. ing killing savagely like poisonous
being faith."
46
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 37.
34-35; Matthew
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 46; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 44.
47
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 72; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 59. For evil
48
Turks, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
41-42; Armenia,
41; Turkish attack on Edessa, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
55;Turks as "venomous serpents," 146; Armenia, 102. For Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 65; Armenia,
the connection between Satan and theTurks, see the discussion below on apocalypse. 4 9 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 96; Matthew 50
of Edessa, A rmenia, 72.
For vicious Byzantines, Matt'eos
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
41;
Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia,
41; Byzantines
plundering Christians, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 66; Armenia, 56. For attitudes toward crusaders and Franks, see below. 51
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 42.
43; Matthew 52
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, A rmenia 51.
57;Matthew
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA'S
CHRONICLE
167
serpent, in this manner being no different from the infidel X Doukas (1059-67), supported by Emperor Constantine and the aristocrats, sought patriarch leading Byzantine theArmenian faith and "substitute his demonic, confused,
peoples."53 the Greek to
destroy and defec
tive doctrine."54 in and perfidious Byzantines find their complement heroic Armenian leaders.Within the first few pages of his chronicle, a for example, Matthew gave a dramatic account of battle between the Evil Turks
forces ofVasak
Pahlavuni
and theMuslim
Daylamites
of Azerbaijan.
his narrative with
epic language: Vasak, with his beloved son Gregory and other illustrious noblemen, was making a merry in his fortress of Bjni. Vasak saw man coming in haste up the
Matthew
constructed
man is a bearer of road on foot. Upon seeing him, Vasak said: "This to the that the bad news."55 Indeed the man announced gathering whole district of Nig has been enslaved. "Roaring like a lion," Vasak his troops, stopping first for communion and girded for battle with a a soon came to on the way. They confession at monastery village where theMuslims were massacring Christians gathered in a church, and killed three hundred of the invaders. Soon after, they confronted the main Muslim
army, and Vasak engaged in single combat whom the Armenian eventually cleaved
"a dark Ethiopian" Such an account delivers what going
into battle
against in two.
Armenians the reader expects?noble and tri brave, though vicious Muslims,
against and faith.56 umphing through superior strength, virtue, This pat dichotomy has been what historians have noticed most often inMatthew's account, leading to the suggestion thatMatthew was biased Such passages, however, are mis against non-Armenians.
and Turks, the Byzantines leading. For every episode demonizing the reader can find another praising them. Although Matthew spe as the Turks and the identified destroyers of Byzantines cifically not either he did the Armenians, group as evil consistently portray or
to Armenian interests. He praised Basil opposed who arguably did the most to undermine Armenian Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 41;Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 41. The same 53
accusation was
leveled against the
in 1035/6 (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 66; Matthew of Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Byzantines
Edessa, Armenia
56).
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 159-60; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 109-10.
54
5?
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 24.
Matthew 11;
$6
Other
inMatthew's King Ashot Matt'eos Matthew
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
independence,
such heroic scenes can be found description of battle between and a nameless Georgian prince:
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 23; Hasan
9; and
and Chnchghuk avenging their father brother: Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 91-92; 69-70;
see also the story of Liparit
and Ch'ortuanel:
107 Zhamanakagrut'iwn, the death of Dawatanos:
Armenia,
9; Armenia,
78-9;
Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
l68
II, the emperor
142-3: Armenia,
100.
and as one who lived "a holy and chaste life . . . leaving "saintly" even documented inva Basil's behind a good memory."57 Matthew as
sion of Armenia
and
annexation
of Armenian
kingdoms
with
instead offered his readers an unlikely story in at an Armenian monastery on secret baptism near Antioch and thus "became like an adopted the Black Mountain sultan Malik-Shah father of the Armenian nation."59 The Turkish
out criticism,58 and which
Basil
received
received an even more
enthusiastic
remem upon death, to all, and a benevolent, mer
encomium
as "father and bered byMatthew parent man towards all."60 The Turkish ciful, and kind Gumiishtegin Matthew's eulogy;
was
emir Malik-Ghazi
even
ancestry in sorrow great were his who faithful under rule."61
given Armenian at his death, he noted, "there was
Danishmend
among the Christian Matthew's attitude
toward Frankish
leaders was
no
less contra
II, Count of Edessa (1100-1118) dictory, and his depiction of Baldwin and later King of Jerusalem (1118-31), reveals the extent to which he
separate political actions and personal virtue, acts of betrayal as and moral rule of Edessa accountability. Portraying Baldwin's interests, a stab in the back particularly devastating for Armenian could
a series of offenses after initial cooperation, Matthew documented a massacre in Edessa the Frankish leader, including perpetrated by in 1108/9, the temporary of the city in expulsion of the population in the 1113/4, connivance expulsion from Syria of Kogh Vasil's heir, worst of the exile, torture, and murder of a number of prom and, all, inent Armenian
lords in 1117/8.Under Baldwin, Matthew insisted, were as these "[the Franks] continually occupied with such pursuits more and did but think malicious and up nothing spiteful things; no over, they had a love for perfidious and evil ways, regard for having and actions."62 good kindly some
we read, in the surprise, then, that paragraph one the Matthew's above, immediately following quoted appraisal of Baldwin Hs personal and moral He reminded his reader, qualities. It is with
57
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 49-50. Nor
55;Matthew
does Matthew
acknowledge that theByzantine army that attacked Armenia in 991/2, denounced as "killing savagely like a poison ous serpent, in thismanner being no differ ent from the infidel peoples" was, even under his own chronology, necessarily under orders from Basil II (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 41;
father"; see T'ovmaj Vardapet Arcruni, Patmut'iwn TannArcruniats'(St. Petersburg, 1887), 307, translated by R.W. Thomson in Thomas Artsruni, History of theHouse of the Artsrunik '(Detroit, 1985),370. For otherArmenian
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 49; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 46). 59
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 46.
50;Matthew
attitudes towardBasil II, see J.-P. Mahe, "Basile II et Byzance vus par TrM 11 Narekac'i," Grigor (1991): 555-73. For Matthew's attitude toward
61
other Byzantine
297; Matthew
Armenia, 41). The anonymous continuator of
58
T'ovma Artsruni
King Hovhannes
likewise praised Basil as "a
for giving in to the emperor's demands
emperors, see below.
However, Matthew
did criticize
of Ani as "cowardly"
60
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 158.
243; Matthew
62
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 194.
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 221.
339;Matthew
MATTHEW
OF EDESSAS
CHRONICLE
169
"Baldwin was nobility;
one of the more
a valiant man
and
enemy of sin, and by nature humble admit he had a bad side: "these good
nious avariciousness and his insatiable
of the Frankish
illustrious members a warrior,
in conduct,
exemplary and modest."
Matthew
an did
were
offset by inge qualities the of others and wealth seizing accumulating love formoney." Yet he continues on to tell us that in
"he was very orthodox in his faith, and his ethical conduct and basic statements of character were quite solid."63 Matthew's contradictory this nature make it difficult to use him as a barometer of Armenian attitudes toward other religious and ethnic groups, as historians have a belief inMatthew's to non abandoned often done. Having hostility was to the reader may be tempted Armenians, suggest thatMatthew
inconsistent or heavily edited. However, the chronicler's were not a result of arose apparent contradictions inconsistency, but as in interest of the the from his portents coming Apocalypse tracing either wildly
in the lives of individuals and communities. Baldwin's they appeared actions were signs, not of Frankish character or the nature of their inwhich he lived. authority, but of the calamitous age
Betrayal
the "good guy/bad guy" narratives, on which histo for two reasons: they failed rians have largely focused, uninteresting to and placed emphasis on among Armenians, explain divisions on the acts of violence themselves, as the example people, rather than
Matthew
of Baldwin
found
II above
suggests. The
actions ascribed
to the Armenian
king of Lori, Davit* Anhoghin (David the Landless, 989-1046/8), make
clear that Matthew
viewed Armenians
as
equally susceptible and Turks. to contradictory acts of violence as Franks, Byzantines, inMatthew's chronicle was as the Christian first appearance David's
emir of and king par excellence. Attacked by the Kurdish from rallied David Dvin, AbuT-Uswar, troops king neighboring that doms with the help of the Albanian kat'olikos, who announced
warrior
"if there be any man or woman desirous of a martyr's death, lo, the has itself." Like the forces of the First Crusade, opportunity presented not but also David's army was composed only of armed soldiers, women and included unarmed men, children, bishops, monks, and
theweapons of faith, "thewhole camp took up the deacons. Wielding cross and the the forces of the wicked approached, and the Gospels; The defeat of the invad stood multitude of priests opposite them."64
an army, David army was total. As the leader of such ingMuslim into the "us seem to would exemplify the pious prince-hero, fitting chroniclers. them" dichotomy historians often expect from medieval
Yet one year later (and two pages farther on in the modern as "an official of described David Matthew King Hovhannes
170
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
edition), of Ani"
63
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 221-22.
340; Matthew 64
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 64.
81-82; Matthew
who had rebelled against theking and "subjectedmany regions to the sword and enslavement."65 Furthermore Matthew
accused David,
"through[his] treacheryand deceit,"66of encouragingtheByzantines to attack Ani, perhaps Betrayal, Matthew
the greatest crime inMatthew's eyes. no was made clear, respecter of persons. not indicate an individual's sinful betrayed did
or Betraying being nature, but rather the state of the larger Armenian community. Even the progenitor of the Pahlavunis, Vasak, could not escape betrayal.
Exhausted by his epic battlewith the Ethiopian described above, fell asleep on a mountainside underneath the protection of an some local was found outcropping of rocks. There he by villagers, who struck him on the head, then threw his body from the high rocks; he
Vasak
was thuskilled by theverypeople he had foughttoprotect. It ishardly a expect for patriarch of a family Matthew ruler whom Matthew repeatedly praised. Another respected, the Davit' of Tayk', died at the hands "saintly and righteous" kouropalates the heroic end one would
of his own archbishop, Hilarion, who after first attempting to poison to him with the Eucharistic chalice during Mass, finally resorted in his The deaths ofVasak and Davit' occur smothering Davit' sleep.67 in the first twenty pages ofMatthew's account; many others could be in listed from elsewhere the text.68 victim whose
The kingdom themost
fate Matthew
mourned
most
often was
the
was and city ofAni. Its destruction and the exile of its kings of the "horrible punishments" he described, and the painful
were emblematic ofwhat Armenians betrayals associated with its fall as a nation suffered.69Matthew considered the death of King Ashot
IV ofAni (1021-39)a symbolicturningpoint in the fortunesof the Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 84-85; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 66. The
Byzantium, 384. Aristakes believed that the poisoned
switch from "king" to "official" is inpart a reflection of Lori's origin as a dependent prov ince of the kingdom ofAni. Lori was given to
not hold the archbishop responsible. Instead he blamed a group of noblemen of Tayk'
Daulah,
(Aristakes Lastivertts'i, Patmut'iwn,
who was killed by his own troops
6$
fatherGurgen as something like an appanage. The kings ofAni were reluctant to
David's
accept Lori as fully independent. 66 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 88;Matthew 67
of Edessa, A rmenia, 6$.
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 39.
37-38; Matthew
Matthew's willingness to adapt historical events to his own purpose is again evident here. Matthew
suggests that Basil II, one of his
heroes, avenged David's death, when in fact he seized David's lands afterhis death as punish ment forDavid's participation in the revolt against him by Bardas Phokas; seeWhittow,
icewas
68
the cause of David's
8o-8i.
Lastivertts'i Eucharistic
chal
death, but did
10).
For the anonymous
the doux of Antioch
vestis betrayed by to the Turks so that
the vestismight not win fame and glory, see 157-58; Armenia, 108; Zhamanakagrut'iwn, on Liparit, whom the Byzantine army aban doned on the battlefield "so that he would not gain the reputation of being valiant," see 107-9; Armenia, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 79; on the four sons ofAbel, besieged by the Byzantines (motivated by "venomous slan ders"), one killed in his sleep by "comrades and old friends," the other three imprisoned, see
Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
109-12; Armenia,
Significantly this episode is the last in the first section ofMatthew's chronicle.
Other
such episodes include Sharaf-al emir ofMosul, "a kind man and
benevolent
towards the Christian
faithful,"
227-8; Armenia, (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, "a benevolent, merciful
149); Malik-Shah,
and kind man," who was poisoned by his wife (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 243; Armenia, 158); the kouropalates T'oros killed by after they swore an oath to protect him (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 261-62; Armenia,
Edessans
169-70). Again his interest inAni may reflect the patronage of the Pahlavunis,
69
lands were a part of the Bagratuni kingdom of Ani, or perhaps point to Matthew's own origins. whose
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA'S
CHRONICLE
IJl
Armenians.
After this, "the Armenian forces grew slack and scorned to the Roman the art of war. They became subject yoke, they reveled in one another and drunkenness-They departed from unity with no came to one another's aid. tears for the land they longer They shed to which was the sword, weeping being put together for its destruc one another to the sword of tion and at the same time delivering up the Greek nation."70
Betrayal rarely benefited the traitor; it served only to place Armenians under "the Roman decline within the yoke." Moral Armenian world was thus the of the assaults of Turks complement and Byzantines ranks preceded
from without.
betrayal within Armenian of the Turks and the annexations of
However,
the onslaught the conquest of Armenia decline. cause, of Armenian the Byzantines;
thus a symptom, not a
was
son and successor II Betrayal and conflict dogged Ashot's Gagik at turn. account Matthew's of the his loss of every (1042-45) kingdom a symptom of his is confused, and perhaps chronological geographi cal distance from the events he was trying to explain.71 Matthew an Armenian name of blamed nobleman the by largely Sargis, who
attemptedto seize thekingdom forhimself in 1041/1followingthe
death of Gagik's
uncle Hovhannes.72
When that proved unsuccessful, IX Constantine Monomachos's ultimately Sargis instigated Emperor successful attack on Gagik and Ani two years later.73At Sargis's sug to visit him in gestion, the emperor invited Gagik Constantinople. the king was
absent, Sargis and his supporters handed Ani over to the Byzantines, in the face of the opposition of the general populace, who "wept for their royal throne and, deeply lamenting, wept for their
While
cursed those who Strikingly, the weeping Armenians not the Byzantines and his supporters?but betrayed Gagik?Sargis
king Gagik."74
70
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
79; Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 63.
III of Ani, King Hovhannes-Smbat his had uncle, promised kingdom to Gagik's the Byzantines after his death; according to 71
Matthew,
thiswas forestalled by a group of see Pahlavuni;
aristocrats led by Vahram Matt'eos
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 66.
85-86; Matthew 72
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 66. Yet Sargis
84;Matthew
was listed as one of the "eminent" men, along with Gregory Magistros (one of the Pahlavunis), sent toHovhannes Kozern
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
genealogical
chart in Leroy, "Gregoire
Magistros." The royal heirs of Vaspurakan later fell 73 victim to a similar betrayal. "A certain and evil prince from the noblemen of Senek'erim went to the Greek emperor and
wicked
severely denounced Atom and Abusahl, the sons of Senek'erim, saying: 'They are intent on rebelling against you and thus causing you annoyance
to hear
his grim vision (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 67; Matthew of Edessa, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
17^
56).Matthew either did not know, or chose not tomention, the fact that Sargis was Gregory Magistros's son-in-law; see
Armenia,
and trouble.' The emperor
[IV the Paphlagonian], having heard this, believed these falsely spoken words_" They saved themselves only by
Michael
throwing themselves on the tomb of Emperor Basil II, whom Matthew claimed as "an adopted father of theArmenian nation"; see Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 83-84; Matthew of Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia,
65.
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 96-97; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 72-73.
74
Aristakes also detailed Sargis s attempt to gain the throne in thewake ofHovhannes's death, as well as Vahram Pahlavuni
s opposition to
him (Aristakes, Patmut'iwn, 47-48). Aristakes, however, blamed Gagik forpardoning Sargis forhis treason, and then for compounding his error by listening to his advice to go to Constantinople, ignoringVahram's counsel to the contrary (Aristakes, Patmut'iwn, 51).
hands he was betrayed. The true threat was that of betrayal or from within, not from Byzantine trickery. aggression intowhose
As with the violence of the Turks, Franks, and Byzantines,
Matthew
was more
interested in the act of betrayal than in themoral of the betrayed, and frequently minimized the culpability
qualities of the betrayer by recounting is theArmenian early example
their repentance
or restitution. An
over his general Aplgharip who, bitter of (936/7 replacement, betrayed his king, Derenik-Ashot Vaspurakan to an not in infidel army,which resulted the 953), capture only king's
an Armenian in the however, army. Matthew, slaughter of even excom still considered the general and brave," "mighty though rescue municated by theArmenian monks of Varag, and described his but also
of theking he betrayed.75 When King Hovhannes-Smbat III ofAni (1020-40, Gagik's uncle) wrongly imprisoned the kat'olikos Petros in 1037/8, he installed the "eminent orator" and abbot Deoskoros
as the new a mournful tone (Dioscorus) patriarch. Matthew adopted when and loss discussing Dioscorus's subsequent excommunication was of reputation, in the abbot Petros's clearly complicit although
supersession and had "ordained unworthy people to the episcopate." After Petros was restored to his throne, Matthew mildly noted that "Dioscorus went back to Sanahin, his monastery, very much ashamed of what he had done."76 Matthew
later included Dioscorus
in his list
was vardapets," signaling that his character act of unbesmirched by his betrayal.77 were Nor Armenians the only victims of betrayal from within. of "eminent Armenian
had a particular concern for Byzantine emperors, who suf fered as much as did Armenian leaders from untrustworthy subordi nates and were and family members, given frequent opportunities by
Matthew
Matthew how
to redeem themselves from the sin of betrayal. He
recounted
the very John Tzimiskes "ruthlessly and savagely butchered benevolent" emperor as II "filled with Phokas, praised Nikephoras believed that John later every virtue and upright quality."78 Matthew 75
Matthew
enly placing
misdated
this event, mistak
it in 965/6, more
than twenty
years after the king's death (Matt'eos 30-31;
Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 35-36). See also the story of Apirat, who rebelled against of Ani and fled toAbuT King Hovhannes Uswar, Kurdish
emir of Dvin. AbuT-Uswar,
"vengeful in his heart," executed Apirat, a "brave man, one mighty and renowned in all ofArmenia"
(Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
10-11;
Armenia, Pahlavuni
24). Apirat married into the family and was the grandfather
77
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 121.
179;Matthew
of the kat'olikos Barsegh Pahlavuni
78
zu; Armenia, 140). (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 76 77-78; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 62.
6-7; Matthew
uses an Armenian phrase (karijojzh), combining twowords, which both mean "very much." Together as a phrase they emphasized the strength ofDioscorus's shame, meaning
Matthew
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 21-22. His
murder of Phokas also led to the defeat of the Byzantine army atAmida,
forGod
turned
against them and gave victory to theMuslims (Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
14-16; Matthew
of
Edessa, Armenia, 26-27).
"supremely, to the utmost."
MATTHEW
OF EDESSAS
CHRONICLE
I73
repentedand joined amonastery,79though in facthe diedwhile still
emperor. Isaac I Komnenos (1057-59) was not liked "because he com mitted various perfidious acts against the Christians" and because he had "an evil nature";80 yet when God annihilated the Byzantine army while
itwas
marching
to battle with
that all this divine-rebuking
wrath
the had
Pechenegs, fallen upon
Isaac
"realized
the Christians
because of his iniquities,forby his sinshe had angeredGod." After
to leave the "he imperial throne and with seeking forgiveness, sought and weeping take up the life of a penitent."81 Even though fasting IV Romanos had sworn to exterminate the (1068-71) Diogenes faith and had been cursed by Armenian monks, Matthew of the "perfidious Romans" who still disapproved secretly negoti
Armenian
ated to betray him to Alp Arslan before the battle of Mantzikert,82 to and compared the blinding and subsequent death of Romanos III The the crucifixion of Jesus by the Jews.83 emperor Nikephoros a year; his conscience both the throne left after Botaniates (1078-81)
Michael VII Doukas eredhim, having seizedpower from
and pious and endowed with and Doukas and radiant holiness." Both Botaniates
who
"was benevolent
had written
somewhere
in Limbo,
ofHell. Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
29-30; Matthew 80
of Edessa, Armenia, 34.
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
125;Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 90.
81
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, iz6; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 91.
82
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, A rmenia, 133-4.
200; Matthew 83
Matt'eos Urhayets' i,Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 135.
203; Matthew 84
Matt'eos Urhayets' i,Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 142.
215;Matthew
174
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
became monks.84
be at worst the Inferno, betrayers would at the last circle not stuck in Satan's mouth
IfMatthew
79
(1071-78),
all sorts of virtues
Apocalypse The
attacks on Artsn, Melitene,
Sebasteia,
and Ani,
as well
as the
saw as endemic in Armenian soci and Byzantine betrayal Matthew were a event the result of cosmic foretold by Scripture? ety, single the release of Satan from the thousand-year imprisonment inwhich death and resurrection had placed him.5 Nor was the vision of John in the Book the only warning God gave human ofRevelation a series of were woven visions for ity, apocalyptic through Matthew's
Christ's
in a sense a table of contents and forming foreshadowing a dozen pages later. The two visions events that often appeared only of the hermit and vardapet Hovhannes Kozern86 were the first and chronicle,
most
gave his readers. The first vision descriptions Matthew in the year 1022/3, when on the third of October the trifecta on the same of apocalyptic signs appeared day?earthquake, eclipse, and blinding celestial Armenian When princes sought the light. cosmic of these dire Hovhannes told them the por meaning signs, detailed
came
tents
that Satan had been
released from his thousand-year soon feel Satan's presence both in imprisonment. Armenians would the degradation of social and religious bonds within their communi ties, and in the devastation of the "ferocious and savage nation of the signaled
Turks." Monks
will
abandon
and family members cities and kingdom
will
theirmonasteries,
turn
will
fall
priests their churches, each other, while Armenian
against to Turkish
attack.87 The
hermit's
Rev 20:1-11. A large bibliography exists covering apocalypticism and millenarianism. On specific responses to the book of Revelation, see The Apocalypse in theMiddle
society (Agat'angeghos, History of the Armenians, trans. R. W. Thomson [Albany,
Ages, ed. R. K. Emmerson
History
8?
and B. McGinn
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1992); The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in theMiddle Ages, ed.W. Verbeke, D. Verhelst, and A. Welkenhuysen (Leuven, 1988); The Apocalyptic Year 1000: Religious Expectations and Social Change, 9SO-ioso, ed. R. Landes, A. Gow, and D. C. Van Meter Death
(Oxford, 2003); Last Things: and theApocalypse in theMiddle Ages,
ed. C. Walker
Bynum and P. Freedman
(Philadelphia, 2000). Apocalyptic elements have a long history inArmenian historiography; see R. W. Thomson, "The Writing of History: The Development Armenian and Georgian Traditions," Caucaso:
of the in II
Cerniero fra culture dal
Mediterraneo
divisions
N.Y.,
that would
soon beset Armenian
See also Lewond,
1976], 273-97).
ofLewond theEminent Vardapet of theArmenians, trans. Zaven Arzoumanian Pa., 1982), 131-32; and the
(Wynnewood, two apocalypses at the end of Andrew Palmer's The Seventh Century in theWest
Syrian Chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), 222-59, as well as A. Hultgard, "The Vision ofEnoch theJust and Medieval Apocalypses," in Apocryphes armeniens: Transmission, traduction, creation, iconographie, actes du colloque international sur la litterature apocryphe en langue armenienne, Geneve, 18-20 septembre 1997, ed. V. Calzolari Bouvier,J.-D. (Lausanne,
Kaestli,
andB. Outtier
1999), 147-58. The text is
translated in J. Issaverdens, The Uncanonical
alia Persia (secoli IV-XI): 20-26 aprile 199$ (Spoleto, 1996), 493-514. The fifth-century historian named
Writings of the Old Testament Found in the Armenian Mss. of theLibrary ofSt. Lazarus (Venice, 1901), 306-23. See also R. W.
recorded a vision of St. Agat'angeghos Gregory the Illuminator, which revealed the
Thomson,
"Biblical Themes
Historian
Sebeos,"
in theArmenian
inAfter Bardaisan:
Studies in Continuity and Change in Syriac Christianity inHonor ofProfessor Han J. W Drijvers,
ed. G.J. Reinink
(Leuven, 1999), 295-302. addresses
and A. C. Klugkist Thomson
this theme inMatthew
briefly of Edessa:
"'History' inMedieval Armenian Historians," inEastern Approaches toByzantium: Papers from the Thirty-third Symposium of Byzantine Studies, ed. A. Eastmond (Aldershot, 2001), 89-99, as weU as m "Crusades 86
through Armenian Eyes," 74-75. also appeared in the Hovhannes
eleventh-century account of Aristakes Lastivertts'i, where he is noted as an author of a book on faith (Aristakes, Patmut'iwn,
13). Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 52-55;Matthew of Edessa, Arme nia, 47-49.
87
For similar Byzantine concerns around the same time, see P.Magdalino, "The History of the Future and ItsUses: Prophecy, Policy and Propaganda," in TheMaking ofByzantine History, ed. R. Beaton and C. Roueche (Aldershot, 1993), 3-34; Magdalino, "The Year 1000 inByzantium," in Byzantium in theYear 1000, ed. P.Magdalino (Leiden, 2003), 233-70.
MATTHEW
OF EDESSAS
CHRONICLE
175
vision
thus predicted the betrayals within Armenian society and the "horrible Armenians suffered at the hands of punishments" that were Matthew's
other peoples
theme. While
principal
else
whereMatthew explicitlyblamed theByzantines and theTurks for
Armenia's
decline, Hovhannes's
master who was Matthew's
responsible
revelation made
for the violence
Satan the puppet and betrayal endemic in
world.
In 1036/7 another
earthquake and eclipse again struck fear into the hearts of the Armenians, and Matthew had the hermit reiterate his former predictions in greater detail.88 Again Hovhannes sized Satan's release and his close association with the Turks, as the moral
decline
that would
undermine
the social bonds
empha as well at the
society. His second prediction, however, added a to his element previous grim prophecy. After sixty years, hopeful "the valiant nation called the Franks will rise up; with a great number heart of Armenian new
of troops they will capture the holy city of Jerusalem, and the Holy Sepulcher, which contained God, will be freed from bondage."89 Yet the crusaders were only the renewal, harbingers of Christian for their arrival would
a by forty-year period featuring than that which accompanied the initial
be followed
seven times worse suffering Turkish invasion. True salvation would
come only when "the Roman a as an iffrom Emperor will be awakened sleep, and like eagle, rapidly will come against the Turks with a very great army, as numerous as the sands of the seashore. He will march forth like a burning fire, and creatures in all will tremble fear of him."90 The emperor's triumph over theMuslims
be complete, and the way made clear for the never second coming of Christ, though Matthew directly discussed the final days and the Last Judgment. Hovhannes's
recorded. He
will
were not the ones Matthew only predictions noted that the division of the Armenian patriarchate
in the 1080s had been predicted by Saint The First Crusade, Sahak, one of the earliest Armenian patriarchs.91 fore "the coming of theWesterners," was, according to Matthew, seen the crusaders another early kat'olikos. When by Saint Nerses, among
88
six rival kat'olikoi
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
68,71; Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 57,58.
Hovhannes made
reference to the signs of
fourteen years earlier; this ismistranslated as "forty" byDostourian. Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 66-74; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 56-60. 89
For more on Franks as apocalyptic signs, see Thomson, "Crusades through Armenian Eyes," 74-75
176
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
90
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 60.
73; Matthew 91
Matthew
Hovhannes
reminds the reader that
Kozern
also predicted
this
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 151). See
230; Matthew
also N. Garsoian,
"Reality and Myth in in The East and the
Armenian History,"
Meaning ofHistory: International Conference November 1992) (Rome, 1994), 137-42. (23-27
assured his reader that this, too, was
captured Jerusalem, Matthew
predicted byNerses, adding "but because of theirsins the cityonce Matthew evenhad a againwill fall into thehands of the infidels."92 Syrian hermit named Mark years after the First Crusade,
a few predictions lest his reader forget their importance.93 visions (and sometimes accompanying reiterate Hovhannes's
Alongside apocalyptic noted them, as we have seen with Hovhannes Kozern), Matthew occur events such as comets, and eclipses cataclysmic earthquakes, to on a ring regular basis, explicit reminders of the final disaster
an earth star that in 1003/4, accompanied by appeared a was "an omen of the wrath [barkut'iwn] of God quake and plague, towards all living creatures and also a sign of the end of the world."95 come.94 A
Fire from heaven punishment that Antioch
(a destroyed the church of St. Peter in Antioch intended to recall that of Sodom, forMatthew alleged
in the same sin), and an there participated earthquake In 1058/9 poisonous red snow swallowed ten thousand Christians.96 man and beast, "a hor fell for sixty days on northern Syria, killing rible sign of [God's] great wrath [barkut'iwn]"97 Comets appeared in 1066/7,1070/1, and 1097/8, and Matthew them linked explicitly to God's or imminent apoca sin, Turkish attack, anger, Christian The arrival of the crusaders was lypse.98 four celestial events.
heralded
and visions were more
by
no
less than
to simply warnings to events of Armenian communities; they served particu highlight lar significance to Matthew. He exhorted his reader to remember Predictions
than
the grim events of the past, declaring the purpose of his chronicle to be that "these persons shall learn about the terrible misfortunes
which
in those times and, once again bringing these things shall remember the divine wrath [barkut'iwn] which we
occurred
to mind,
92
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 172. See also
267; Matthew
Thomson, "Crusades throughArmenian Eyes," 71-82. Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 300-301; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 196.
93 94
The very first incident Matthew
described
in his chronicle was a famine and
plague of locusts around Edessa and Mesopotamia, though he did not explicitly designate this a sign as he did other such events (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Armenia,
1;Matthew
of Edessa,
19).
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 45-46; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 43. 95
Itwas also punishment for the incin eration of a Syrian Orthodox [Jacobite] Bible, burnt by the Byzantine patriarch and his priests (Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 96
115-17;Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
of
85-86). Other earthquakes are cited in 1090/1 (Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 241; Armenia, 157) and in 1114/5, again citing
Edessa, Armenia,
God's
barkut'iwn
(Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
Armenia, 97
331;
216). This was the same year as the sack of
Melitene
(Matt'eos Urhayets'i, 131;Matthew
Zhamanakagrut'iwn, Edessa, Armenia, occurred
of
93); another plague
in 1003/4 (Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
45-46; Armenia,
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 78 (death ofAshot IV Bagratuni), 185 (preced ing the attacks of theTurk Afshin), 193
98
(accompanying the attacks ofAlp Arslan), 260 (in conjunction with the First Crusade), 304 (at the same time as theArmenian revolt in Aplast'an), 316 (massacre of the citizens of Edessa); Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 62,124, Such signs also impacted communities: fire from heaven
129,168,198,206. Muslim
destroyed amosque
inAmida
in 1115/6
(Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 334-35; Armenia, 218); and a similar event inBaghdad in 1121/2, again
an expression ofGod's
barkut'iwn
(Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
350-51; Armenia, 228).
43).
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA'S
CHRONICLE
177
the righteous judge, as a penalty for our sins." on Most connecting importantly, however, the chronicler insisted in the past to that of his own commu the suffering of Armenians received from God,
we find ourselves inflicted with the same chastise nity. "Once again ment for our sins, a chastisement which we received for that which 99 we justly deserve." to Matthew recognize clearly feared that Armenians would fail
of their patriarchs and hermits unfolding around them. such as Indeed he provided examples of such improvident Armenians, the prophecies
those seized in 1062/3 by a Turkish
group, who
asked their captives,
"Why did you become enslaved, [allowingyourself] to be in such an unprepared state, and why were you unable to have ear or a so that you sign, might through foresight, either by have fled from us?" The [Armenian] captives answered: "We
were
unable
Then the infidel woman anything." the sign of your destruction; when in the
to realize
said: "Lo, this was
and sheep squatted evening your cock crowed and your cattle to defecate, this was the the for calamity." The captives sign to us many times in our answered: "All that had happened was a country, but we were never able to realize that it sign for us of the calamity Yet not all Armenians Senek'erim-Hovhannes
(barkut'iwn)"100
were
ignorant of the coming calamity. King ofVaspurakan (1003-21) had better instincts
than did the confused captives.After the firstbattle inwhich he encountered
Turkish
forces,
"[he]
examined
the chronicles
and
of the divinely-inspired prophets, the holy vardapets, and found written in these books the time specified for the coming of the forces and soldiers of the Turks. He also learned of the impending
utterances
destruction
and end of the whole world-"101
Senerk'erim
decided
for territories within the Byzantine Empire, exchange his kingdom be safer there. hoping that he would concerns emerge not only through recita Matthew's apocalyptic tion of prophecies, accounts of disastrous weather, earthquakes, and Turkish attacks, but also, perhaps most importantly, in the decline of to
Armenians. When among Christians, particularly inAnatolia) (modern Elbistan community ofAplast'an
faith and morality theArmenian
99
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
113-14;Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 83-84.
100 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 141;Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 99.
ioi
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 45.Matthew
48; Matthew
(or Senek'erim) was mistaken; likely raiders fromAzerbaijan; Redgate, TheArmenians
I78
CHRISTOPHER
MACEVITT
theywere more seeA. E.
(Oxford, 1998), 226.
tiredof Frankishoppression,theyinvitedTurkish soldiersto occupy their town, a decision
that led to a battle and subsequent massacre
of
the entireFrankish garrisonby the local population. Yet Matthew
turned his interest away from the explicit violence of the story and focused on the more subtle social and moral effects Satan's presence had engendered. Through Frankish oppression Satan had not only and provoked a massacre but, inMatthew's alienated the Armenians the land itself. "Because of the Franks, the description, had poisoned land became barren. The vineyards and orchards withered, the fields became covered in thistles, and the springs dried up. Friendship and 102 was Just as Hovhannes pre destroyed." happiness between friends the abandoned church and hatred dicted, people spread everywhere.
Yet this episode was not a sign of inherent Frankish evil, of little inter est toMatthew, but a sign of the state of the world. The Franks were victims, too, just as Adam had been a victim of Satan's wiles in the The consequences of sin at the garden of Eden. beginning and end of time extended to the in and in fertility of the earth itself; Aplast'an were once in thistles what fertile fields.103 Eden, grew
Peace
and ItsDangers
The prophecy ofHovhannes Kozern was a template Matthew intended as a to the recent past and present. The guide period ofMatthew's own life to the "seven corresponded period of Turkish oppression times worse"
that followed
the conquest of Jerusalem by the "valiant nation of the Franks." Matthew reminded his readers that "since the went forth, not one or favorable omen day the Frankish nation good on the contrary, all the omens to the appeared; pointed calamity, destruction, ruin, and disruption of the land through death, slaugh ter,famine, and other catastrophes."104 All that remained to complete
Kozern's
prophecy
which,
was
the appearance of the last Roman to the hermit's timetable, should have
emperor,
according happened this can be tied to events contemporary with 1148.105Again The expansion of Byzantine power under the Komnenian Matthew. around
emperors matched Kozern's was by the time Matthew Komnenos northern triumph
had
of imperial triumph, and predictions finishing his chronicle in the 1130s, John
intimidated
the Franks, Armenians,
Syria into acknowledging was not far off.
102 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 302-4; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 197-98. 103
Gen.
3:18.
his power. Clearly
and Turks
in
his complete
10$ For Byzantine attitudes toward the last emperor at this time, seeMagdalino, "History of the Future," 26-27.
104 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 270; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 175.
MATTHEW
OF EDESSAS
CHRONICLE
IJ<)
vision were more difficult to other aspects of Hovhannes' a discern. Even Matthew had hard time finding episodes of political or 1120s Armenians military oppression affecting occurring in the and 30s that matched the drama of the initial Turkish attacks on Yet
cities such as Ani
Armenian
1124/5 he even recorded
in the eleventh century. In had been liberated from the yoke
and Artsn
that Ani
rule by "the saintly and virtuous king" David, ruler of the was in response to the city's liberation, "there rejoicing
ofMuslim Georgians;
all Armenia."106 This hardly seems seven times worse throughout than the sack of the city some sixty years before. Instead Matthew
in the dis the hermit's prophecy fulfilled, as at Aplast'an, a sign of integration of the social and moral bonds of society, equally satanic influence. Just as Armenian betrayal had preceded Turkish
perceived
as the world's end drew near, Satan in the sieges, Matthew, sought sapping of the natural bonds of family, religion, and community, rather than in the savagery of Turkish raids.
a world inwhich in entirely wrong perceiving ethnic and religious boundaries were crumbling, particularly for aristocrats moved Armenian generals and diasporic Armenians. little sense of polit and with Franks, easily among Byzantines, Turks, Matthew
was
not
ical betrayal or cultural loss, a fluidity characteristic of the eleventh East. Particularly prone to such peri and twelfth-century Middle were the new and military elites spawned by Byzantine pateticism Armenian
expansion for example,
in the tenth century. The Armenian nobleman left the service of Kogh Vasil after a dispute
Aplasat', lord, attached and, instead of joining the forces of another Armenian II of Edessa.107 Even Matthew's himself for a time to Baldwin heroes, the Pahlavunis, depicted
showed
little regard for such boundaries. patriots, yet the Pahlavunis
them as Armenian
Matthew had
little
in former oppo compunction taking up employment with their the sparapet Vahram had defended nents, the Byzantines. Although Ani from Byzantine attack,108 he died a few years later serving in the and Gregory's sons His nephew Gregory Magistros imperial army.109 and political honors from the emperor. accepted military positions from Ani to Rome, as well as visit Kat'olikos Gregory II wandered
ingFatimid Egypt,where he named his nephewGregory kat'olikos
for the large Armenian viziers who of Armenian
there by a series established community ruled Fatimid Egypt from 1073 to 1121.110
io 6 Matt'eos Urhayets' i,Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 359;Matthew
l8o
of Edessa, Armenia, 233.
io 8 Matt'eos Urhayets' i,Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 85-86; Matthew
of Edessa, Armenia, 66-67.
no
Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, of Edessa, Armenia, 140. See also
211;Matthew
107 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
109 Matt'eos Urhayets' i,Zhamanakagrut'iwn,
Kapoian-Kouymjian,
310-11;Matthew
98;Matthew
Armeniens, 7-93.
CHRISTOPHER
of Edessa, Armenia, 202-3.
MACEVITT
of Edessa, Armenia, 73-4.
L'Egypte vuepar des
saton theouter limitsof theMediterranean and Although Armenia Near Eastern worlds geographically,conquest by Byzantines and Muslims had led to the establishmentofArmenian communities as well as in Edessa, and Alexandria, Constantinople, as these places Sicily and Bulgaria. For many Armenians, places such were no more chronicle was an than Ani and Kars. Matthew's foreign was a to Armenians this world remind that argument danger larger ous one inwhich Armenians should never feel too comfortable. in
far abroad
The experience of other Christian minorities in the Islamic world was similar. The memoirs of a Nestorian doctor named Christian to late eleventh century, detailed in the middle Ibn Butlan, living his life as a peripatetic doctor, practicing his craft at various times as well as Antioch in Yet and Cairo and Constantinople. Aleppo more concern with the his account showed professional jealousy of rival doctors and
the
seemingly disparate political, religious, is, profes through which he traveled.111 That were as soldier?often identities?doctor, important as, and
ethnic
sional
than with
realms
at times more
or In the eyes of important than, ethnicity religion. this cultural fluidity was not a good but a sign of Matthew, thing, the Satan-induced His chronicle crumbling of natural social bonds. was
a reminder toArmenians
they had suffered in the past; he clearly feared that they were blind to its contemporary sig to remember the nificance and therefore frequently urged his readers The peacefulness omens, predictions, and evidence of God's anger.112 own was and integration ofMatthew's thus the greatest threat, day for itwas themost insidious expression of Satan's power. was not its absence, For Matthew the problem tolerance presented of the violence
but its confusing, ambiguous, and anomalous presence. While stories to Frankish and Muslim of violence and massacre chroni appealed clers because they clearly delineated separation among communities, for Matthew
violence was
not
the opposite of tolerance, but phe the same social manifestation of Satan's thing?the
nomenologically this view, Matthew's of the power in the world. With understanding Last Days makes more sense. He had little interest in the final event never mentioned
the return of Jesus Christ or the Last account of the time to the Judgment, and his leading up Apocalypse on depended entirely widely held beliefs about the figure of the Last was content to as a Emperor, whom Matthew identify Byzantine, toArmenian his devotion not Matthew did seek to despite kingship. Armenians to for the end of theworld, but prepare open their eyes to itself. He
the erosion of their culture and community by themilitary, political, and cultural power of the Byzantines, Turks, and Franks.
?Dartmouth
in
Lawrence Conrad,
"Ibn Butlan
in
Bilad al-Sham: The Career of a Traveling Christian Physician," in Syrian Christians under Islam: The First Thousand Years (Xeiden, 2001), 131-58. 112 Matt'eos Urhayets'i, Zhamanakagrut'iwn, 274; Matthew of Edessa, Armenia, 177.
College
MATTHEW
OF EDESSA's
CHRONICLE
l8l
Mazaris's Journey to Hades: Further Reflections and Reappraisal Author(s): Lynda Garland Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 183-214 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472049 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
Mazariss JourneytoHades: and Reappraisal FurtherReflections Lynda Garland he
1-^
prose
was written
.
work between
entitled January
s toHades Journey 1414 and October 1415, less than Mazaris
fortyyears before the Byzantine Empire finally fell to the
learned Turks. One of the last major works of Byzantine a an to consist it attack author called of satirical humor, purports by on his in the Mazaris and contemporaries imperial service, colleagues or are still in office. The first part of who either have recently died Ottoman
the work
takes the form of a narrative
in which Mazaris
in speaks he has had with others
the first person recording the conversations a in the underworld. This is followed by dream and three letters that a series of attacks on the inhabitants of the as comprise Peloponnese awhole
and then particular targets there, a case in point the whining The work has been valued for its depiction of long bureaucratic life and has been mined for details of prosopographical the careers of fifteenth-century public servants. There has been less doctor Malakes.
unanimity, however, regarding its literary merit and, in particular, insufficient appreciation of the humor that powers thework. The various parts of the work can be summarized as follows: in to is part one (set in January 1414) the narrator, Mazaris, brought in the Hades before his time by a of capital (the mechanics plague his translation to the other world are not made In entirely clear). the underworld he meets Manuel Holobolos (or, more correctly, a recounts the story of Olobolos), disgraced imperial secretary who and recent death. When
to abuse begins his predecessor Padiates, whom he had out supplanted, Padiates leaps a from nearby bush and, aftermuch mutual invective and plain speak attacks In response to the call Holobolos with his stick. ing, walking
his misfortunes
Holobolos
for help, Pepagomenos arrives, a doctor who is described as having been an adept poisoner; he, and then a series of deceased courtiers, sons are at of Mazaris court their how and enquire engage in doing tirades about their successors and bureaucratic on earth. corruption
on his return to the world above to asks Mazaris Finally Holobolos to the take a message emperor's relative Asan who is still on earth. Because Mazaris is in total in Holobolos disgrace Constantinople, advises him to settle instead in the Peloponnese. In parts two and three of thework,
is in the
He
set in
September 1415,Mazaris toHolobolos in a dream that the
Peloponnese. complains to the was not a success and in response to a request Peloponnese a letter writes Holobolos 21 the (dated 1415) denouncing September move
ethnic groups of the Peloponnese and the local barons. A further pair 21 16 of documents and October 1415) present Holobolos's (dated ridicule of the rich doctor Nikephoros Doukas Palaiologos Malakes,
who has had to formisery in the exchange the comforts of the capital B (Berol. gr. Peloponnese, together with Malakes' reply.Manuscript a dedication. 173) also contains concluding an Mazaris's important text, has been generally Journey, though of Byzantine humor, as exemplified in the example popular genre of the "dialogues of the dead." It has thus been treated scholars with regard to both its humor by modern contemptuously seen as a debased
one literary merits, with just exception.1 Criticism began with in 1896 considered the writer "a man of a bitter Henry Tozer who worst view of the men of his and malevolent spirit, who took the time, and was greatly influenced by personal spite and jealousy"; Karl in 1897 characterized it as a weak imitation of Lucian;2 Krumbacher and
John W.
saw it as a "violently and
Barker
picture of the selfish, grasping, unscrupulous of the early fifteenth century";3 Christopher
scurrilously vituperative and immoral courtiers considered
Robinson
in a tone of almost unrelieved that "the personal satire is conducted edition invective";4 and the editors of the Buffalo Seminar Classics in 1975 (from whom,
one perhaps, might write of its "dubious
have
expected literary merits.
a more
. . .The empathetic approach) work gives the impression that the whole thing is little more than an a taste for abuse was an innate part of the exercise in abuse"5?yet a constituent ofmost Byzantine humor. The Byzantine mentalite and omits any discussion of itsmerits (or ofByzantium Oxford Dictionary otherwise) as literature, simply quarrying it for details of Byzantine and information regarding the construction of the prosopography and thework is listed inByzantine Sources in Translation Hexamilion, to documents.6 Up literature but Byzantine political a as been valued the present, in fact,Mazaris's Journey has mainly
under
i
not
has been done in this regard by Barry Baldwin; note esp. his "A Talent to Abuse: Some Aspects of Byzantine Satire," Much
ByzF%
(1982): 19-28; Baldwin,
"The Mazaris:
and Reappraisal," ICS 18 (1993): 345-58, where he notes themore subtle elements of its humor, and points out verbal
Reflections
echoes from contemporary Chronicon Minus
of George
the letters ofManuel
II.
texts, such as the Sphrantzes
and
2
K. Krumbacher,
Geschichte der
byzantinische Literatur: Von Justinian bis zum Ende des ostromischen Reiches, 2nded.
(Munich,
Hadesfahrt
1897), 494:
des Mazaris
"Die
ist zweifellos die
schlechteste der bis jetzt bekannt gewordenen Imitationen des Lukian"; cf.H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner (Munich, 1978), und 2:157: "Frostige Assonanzen Paronomasien
finden sich allenthalben."
Manuel 3 IIPaleologus A Study inLate Byzantine
(1391-142$): Statesmanship
(New Brunswick, N.J., 1969), 406.
184
LYNDA
GARLAND
C. Robinson, Lucian and His Influence inEurope (London, 1979), 80. 5 J.N. Barry, M.J. Share, A. Smithies, and L. G. Westerink, eds.,Mazaris'Journey
4
toHades;
or Interviews with Dead Men
about Certain Officials of the Imperial Court (Buffalo, 1975), vii. All citations from the text refer to this edition and use this translation. 6
"Mazaris,"
ODB
Sources in Translation,
2:1324-25;
Byzantine
ed. Paul Halsall,
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall last updated /byzantium/alltexts.html, October
1997.
12
historical
and
source for the careers of a number of
prosopographical
courtiersof the timeofManuel II Palaiologos (1391-1425).7
Mazaris sJourneyand Dialogues oftheDead The
setting ofMazaris's Journey follows the tradition of the BidXoyoq of the dead), in which a protagonist descends to veKpiKo; (dialogue the underworld and converses with the dead?in this it is reminiscent of the eleventh book of the Odyssey, ofAristophanes' Frogs, and of the Lucian (especially theMenippus, Kataplous, dialogues of Dialogues of theDead, and Charon) towhich itowes an extensive debt. The setting ofthe Journey toHades
is
owes most and are
essentially Lucianic, in terms of the
to Aristophanes, general ambience; while
but thework as awhole
insult tradition, language, and Ploutos of Aristophanes author knows the standard classical texts, the Clouds
frequently cited. The numerous cita though without showing any marked erudition: his come from the standard three tions of Aristophanes plays studied in Byzantine schools, the Ploutos, Clouds, and Frogs (plus occasion a number of ally theKnights).8 Mazaris*s Journey has also Byzantine
from the twelfth century onwards, the predecessors following revival of interest in Lucian's works in the twelfth-century "renais sance." Not only do we have the Lucianic imitations the Philopatris, the Charidemos,
(attributed variously toMichael a text that the and Nicolas Kallikles),
and the Timarion
Italikos, Theodore
Prodromos,
are author of theJourney toHades may perhaps have known;9 there two further one a political satire perhaps written in 1185by dialogues, Basil Pediadites, later metropolitan of Corcyra, while the other (per a also of the twelfth features haps century) dialogue among Hermes, In addition, in 1931 edited Alexander, and Charon. Gyula Moravcsik four dialogues with Charos (three of them acrostic), which appear to be forerunners of the Greek folksong tradition,10 while Cretan 7
E. Trapp, R. Walther,
and H. V. Beyer,
eds., Prosopographisches Lexikon der (Vienna, 1976-96): Mazaris Palaiologenzeit himself is listed in the Lexikon
as no. 16117;
see also E. Trapp, "Zur Identifizierung der Personen in der Hadesfahrt des Mazaris," 95-99 70518(1969): 8 Baldwin, "Reflections and Reappraisal," 354-55 (above, n. 1)notes the debt to theFrogs in terms of details and the general mise-en scene. On Aristophanes' plays and theworks of other classical dramatists in the school curriculum, see N. G. Wilson, Byzantium, 9
Scholars of
rev. ed. (London, 1996). the Timarion was known,
Certainly
and vilified, by Constantine
Akropolites
(who died c. 1324) (R. Romano,
"Per
l'edizione dell' epistolario di Costantino 56 [1991]: 83-103; Acropolita," RendAccNap M. Treu, "Ein Kritiker des Timarion," BZ1 [1892]: 361-65); B. Baldwin, Timarion (Detroit, 1984), 24-26, gives an English translation of Akropolites' letter.On the Timarion, see esp. M. Alexiou, "Literary Subversion and theAristocracy
inTwelfth
Century Byzantium: A Stylistic Analysis of the Timarion (ch. 6-10)," BMGS 8 (1982/83): 29-45. 10 Note esp. K. A. Manaphes, vgKpiKoc di&Xoyoq vTiaiviaao^evoq
22; trans. L. Garland,
'Dialogue of the of the Late Twelfth Century," Modern Greek Studies Yearbook 16/17 (2000/2001):
Dead'
481-99; O. Karsay, "Eine byzantinische Imitation von Lukianos," ActaAntHung (1971): 383-91; cf.D. A. Christides, Tict
7rpocrw7ra Kai ygyovoxa xrj<;fiaaikeiaq Avdpoviycov A' tov Ko[lvy]vov," ASnvd 76 (1976-77): 308
19 ty\
TOTJ AoUKlfltVOUOTOVKtoS $V%dVTlVY\[Ll[JLY\(7Y\ Ambrosianus gr. 6^E7Xr\vixd 32 (1980): 86-91; S. Lambakis, xoapo
Oixara^ao-eLt; arov xdroo
loyorexvia "AvgicSoxoc
"A Treasury Minister
inHell: A Little-Known
Moravcsik,
(Athens, 1982), 94-95; G. "Il Charonte
bizantino," RSBN
3
(1931): 47-68.
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
185
literature features the allegorical ATOKorax; of Bergadis of Ioannis Pikatoros.11 Mazaris's alizingTifxa QpY\VY\riKY\ therefore to be seen as part of a popular, multifaceted
for satirical or moralizing employing the underworld In terms of its scurrility and invective, too,Mazaris's in the Byzantine tradition. One of the main indisputably
tion
and the mor Journey has literary tradi purposes. is Journey features of
it is hardly "unre is its love of abusive language (though at all lieved invective," as suggested by Robinson). Byzantine humor levels was always given to insults and abuse, and the more scholarly fun of others was seen as a the writers the greater the abuse. Making of exercising one's wit: the twelfth-century pleasant and relaxing way recounts an incident inwhich of Thessalonike archbishop Eustathios two teachers of amused themselves on their day off by philosophy and insulting travel sitting by the roadside outside Constantinople ers.12The twelfth century, indeed, saw themost extensive flowering of the work
abusive humor with
and Tzetzes.
the scholars Prodromos
"Possessed
son of a goat and epileptic, moonstruck (Tpayou vie, crelv]via?6f*eve, one Kai remarks of John Tzetzes' 67nXv]7rTe)"is, for example, Saijxovcov a critic he attacks when in his commentary on Aristophanes' Frogs of a rare term for a moth.13 In who had denounced Tzetzes' gloss on note he attacks a grammarian who proposed the Ploutos, another the existence
of dichronic
vowels
in Homer,
"a ghostly describing cat-faced, anchovy-eyed, with
presence, scabbed with camel disease, the voice of aweeping eunuch."14 This is invective at its best. Similarly Theodore Prodromos's Philoplaton or the Tanner ofLeather compares on theworks of Plato to "a a fellow scholar who intends to "improve" a a brilliant from its snout... monkey with jewel dangling pig with straw Praxiteles, his skin full a in its hands"?this golden slingshot and calluses cuts, should return to his of filth and hands marked by instead of swallowing Platos in their entirety.1 occupations Criticisms of the bureaucracy, in particular of jumped-up or incom can were from this period?we petent officials, particularly prevalent
manual
ii
St. Alexiou,
"A7roK07ro<;," Kp. Xpov. eic tov i83~25i;Tiua 9py]vy]TiKY]
17
(1964): 7tiKp6vKai cbcopeorov AiSrjv, in Carmina (Leipzig, graeca medii aevi, ed.W. Wagner 1874), 224-41;
E. Kriaras,
"Ti piua
xou'Icoavvou niKaTopot>,"!E7r. Mea. GprjvrjTiKy] 2 (1942): 20-69. Apx12
P. Magdalino,
in The Byzantine Centuries,
"Byzantine Snobbery," Aristocracy, IX toXIII
ed. M. Angold (Oxford, 1984), 70. "And His Bald Head Shone
See L. Garland,
An Appreciation of the Sense ofHumour as Recorded in
Like a Full Moon: Byzantine
l86
LYNDA
GARLAND
Historical
and Present 28 (1964):
Sources of the Eleventh and
Twelfth Centuries," Parergon n.s. 8 (1990): 1-31, esp. 6-20; for insults by the populace, see also Garland, the Populace 13
John Tzetzes,
Prior to the
BSl 53.1 (1992): 17-52. Commentarii
in
Aristophanem, ed. L. Massa Positano, D. et al. (Groningen/Amsterdam, Holwerda 1960-62), 835.9; M.J.Jeffreys, "The Nature and Origins
of the Political Verse," DOP
(1974): 149-50 and notes 22-24; Robert Browning, "Byzantine Scholarship," Past
14
Tzetzes,
Scholia
inAristophanem,
ayciaq <x[Lv8pa<;a^XucoSr^ oucria, 43.21-44.2: / -y^wpaK.a[LY\kov7tav KaxworpaKWfxgvov, / aikovpoeibec; o^axgyypauAov xgpac. /
"Political Power and
in Byzantium
Fourth Crusade,"
14, speaks of Tzetzes'
"scurrilous venom."
28
xivoc. KAaiovxo<; evvovxov 4>gpov_ cf>covrjv G. Podesta, "Le Satire Lucianesche di
15
Teodoro
Prodromo," Aevum
cf.M.J. Kyriakis, Twelfth-Century (1973): 293-95.
21 (1947): 3-12; in
"Satire and Slapstick
Byantium," Byzantina
5
note especially of Thessalonike,
the narratives in
of Niketas
particular
and Eustathios
Choniates
and their attacks on John Kamateros Prominent literary examples of such
Stephen Hagiochristophorites.16 invective are the twelfth-century Anacharsis
and the fifteenth-century
Skatablattas. The firstdenigratesAnacharsis (delightedwith Anna), so called from the name of his second wife, Anna, who happens in fact or John to be a (arguably John Kamateros), baptized frog.Anacharsis, is shown as a total failure?as
a musician,
rider, hunter, sec
warrior,
as in this retary, and astrologer?and easily outwitted by the Jews, is a fifteenth-century invective, second marriage.17 The Skatablattas an ex-Ottoman against Katablattas, possibly by John Argyropoulos, (from axaro, a derivative of the classical cnccop, "excrement"). After teaching in Thessalonike and working as a scribe in the city tribunal, he has inveigled himself into the books and is shown as misusing palace and the despot's good foot-soldier, called
in the text Skatablattas
his time in gorging, guzzling, singing, and dancing.1 in fourteenth-century vernacular Furthermore,
satire there are
rov TlupiKokoyovand thcOtyapokoyoc;(FruitBook and theAiy|yv]OT<;
Fish Book), which parody legal procedures and the ceremonial and officials of the imperial court.19 Other fourteenth-century vernacu lar animal fables consist primarily of a flow of often-obscene insults these unique works, animals, birds, and even against all rivals?in to fruits assemble stand up in pairs and direct a flow of insulting
terms at each other; there is also a subtext of satirical social criticism. notes of the texts the popular vernacular Poulologos and theFour-Footed Beasts that "these works may or may not of comment on social well-known contemporaries and lampoon bitterly reflect is the chronic inequalities, but what they quite unmistakably
Magdalino the Tale
individualism
fact that when itsmembers society?the are to is no speak freely, there brought together and have the chance even mutual respect of community of interest, among members of the same class, but all use their energy in singing their own praises and heaping insults on all who rank anywhere near them, every man \6
On
of Byzantine
such attacks, see esp. Garland, 1-31 (above n. 12); Garland,
"Bald Head,"
"Stephen Hagiochristophorites:
Logothete
1182/83-1185," Byzantion 69.2 (1999): 18-23. F?r tne gluttony and vulgarity tougenikou
see esp. of the logothete John Kamateros, van Nicetae Choniatae Dieten, ed., J.-L. Historia 17
(Berlin/New York, 1975), 113-14. see D. A.
For the "Anacharsis,"
Chrestides,
ed.,Markiana
(Thessalonike,
Anekdota
1984), 205-90;
cf. the twelfth
century "biography," in the form of a legal
indictment, of a certain Bagoas, which shows him as a hypocritical, well-educated toworm his way catamite, who managed into the palace, as well as committing sacrilege in having icons in a church smeared with honey (A. Garzya, ed., Nikephorus
Basilaca.
Orationes
etEpistulae
19 Airjyr](7i<;tov JTIwpiKoXoyou,in Carmina graeca medii aevi, ed.Wagner, 199 202; trans.M. C. Bartusis, "The Fruit Book," Modern
Greek Studies Yearbook 4 (1988):
205-12; K. Krumbacher, mittelgriechische
"Das
Fischbuch,"
SMunch
(1903): 345-8o.
[Leipzig, 1984], 92-110). 18 P. Canivet and N. Oikonomides, "La Comedie
de Katablattas:
byzantine du XVe
Invective
s.," Aitttvxol 3 (1982
1983): 5-97.
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
187
intoxicated with his own flow of words."20 While stands within content
is
the tradition of the
We
and Protagonists ^Mazaris's
have no
details
Journey nekrikos, its context and
contemporary.
decidedly
TheNarrator
dialogos
Mazaris's
Journey
of the author oiMazaris's Journey apart from knowledge to the "narrator" in the text itself,which have gen referring
to be even are dif erally been taken autobiographical, though there text at face value. to ficulties in Attempts have been made taking the a aMazaris "Mazaris" this with identify fourteenth-century copyist,
as well as with the monk Maximos copied Cod. Paris, gr. 2958, Mazaris, who composed grammatical canons; therewas also aManuel Mazaris who was the author of a legend about Saint Irene.21 But the who
truth is that we know
of "Mazaris," apart from what the text nothing to tell us. The narrator states about "himself" that he had
purports been in office on the island of Lemnos when Manuel
II took his jour aid between 1399 and 1402,
ney towestern Europe to ask for financial and thus he missed the chance of accompanying the emperor (62.4-9). He then stayed on Lemnos out of loyalty toManuel when John VII went to Thessalonike (36.14-15), which implies thatMazaris was one reti of the high-flying public servants of his time, in that Manuel's nue on his toVenice, Padua, Paris, and London was journey relatively small: the highest estimate for the retinue is fifty-eight,which would as well as secretaries presumably have included personal attendants
senate to 26 February 1403 the Venetian agreed a to transport Manuel with retinue of twenty provide armed vessels toModon, while the rest of the five to thirty persons from Venice and ministers.
On
have to travel in unarmed ships; on 2March to transport for forty attendants.22 The fact, too, thatMazaris suffered from gout?sufferings
retinue would
this was
emended
reiterated throughout
to
the work?seems
that are
imply that he had enjoyed
a high standardof livingand luxury (he is frequentlydescribed as
as at 6.20-21,24.30,36.1, 62.17, 68.8). His career, we are told, "limping," ended ignominiously as the result of a plot in which he was falsely and fell into disgrace" "accused of embezzlement 40.12), (36.20-22, are references later in thework hinting that he has been the and there at 44.30-32 he men victim of his colleagues' competitive jealousy: tions a certain Aspietaos, who is given to pleasant talk, but acts like a "Byzantine Snobbery," 62 Magdalino, (above, n. 12); I. Tsabari, ed., novkoXoyoc.
20
(Athens, 1987); V. Tsiouni,
ed.,
nai8t6
l88
LYNDA
GARLAND
1972).
21
PLP16120,16121,16122;
"Mazaris
und seineWerke,"
Sp. Lampros, BZ 5 (1896):
xx 63-73; Barry et al.,Mazaris'Journey, n. see G. Theocharides, 5); (above, "Tgacrapec, Bi>?avrivoi KaGoliKol Kpirai XavGavovxec. ev (?u?avnvcp yvworco Keiuivw," Makedonika
4 (i955-I96?)*- 496> f?r a suggestion identifying the author with John Mazaris, 6 acLKtXkiov of the church of St.Menas Thessalonike 22
in
in 1419/20.
Barker,Manuel IIPaleologus, 232 n. 60 (above, n. 4).
228-29,
bitingadder ("I have been bittenbyhimmyself!,"he adds).This could refer to rivalry within the service, but may simply serve as an autho rial aside to reinforce the joke on his colleague's snakelike name. As well as ignominy, banishment from court, public ridicule, and
has also suffered the early loss of his children and, of a nag the misfortune Clouds, His of all his troubles" (40.1-8,11,14-15). ging wife, "the beginning comment cause are in the underworld: for circumstances changed asks him how he got into this state?"so the doctor Pepagomenos made you a by exposure? What shabby, limping, pale, weakened a and disrespectable?" (34.31-36.4; pauper and beggar, disreputable cf. 62.17). And Mazaris makes it clear that at the time of writing he
poverty, Mazaris like Strepsiades
was
in Aristophanes'
still being denounced
to as an example for others by the emperor
avoid (40.16-21). in the This is the rather problematic picture given of "Mazaris" now himself has to be text; the question of the identity of Mazaris
naive in the past to equate seriously considered: have scholars been the author of the piece and the narrator? It has been customary to at face value, but the accept this literary persona ofMazaris possibil a fiction has at least to be considered, even narrator ity of the being takes der Palaiologenzeit Lexikon though the Prosopographisches their details mentioned and all the characters literally biographical
as recorded made
was first Journey. The suggestion properly a that Mazaris may have been given pseudonym
inMazaris's
by Baldwin to the narrator, "chosen for its relative rarity and its punning possi is twice (24.31, 26.15) called Meizares, "take too bilities," forMazaris an insult to his how presumably referring greed. Baldwin, ever, does not follow up on the implications of the pseudonymity of
much,"
the work.23
to the in of "Mazaris" identity and characterization regard the text, the piece's inconsistencies and improbabilities have been of the low because opinion held of the work itself. generally ignored With
not take the certainly need guise of the poor outcast, begging for or was a common recognition, seriously: it gifts literary persona in late Byzantium, often adopted by officials or friends of the emperor. Indeed fictional humorous narrative was well known in Byzantium.
We
The
twelfth-century Ptochoprodromic taken as a literal account example. Once
are an excellent poems of scholarly vicissitudes in
involved in the depic Constantinople, despite the inconsistencies are tions of the narrator, they clearly genre exercises, and their sup no more than a series of posed author consciously adopted literary The personae. poems feature a henpecked husband, a downtrodden
and a poverty-stricken scholar, each of his lot in complaining life, and were obviously intended for presentation at court, perhaps
monk,
23
Baldwin,
"Reflections
and
349; at note 35 he suggests a Reappraisal," further pun on the term \LOiX,y\peoc? "bastard."
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
189
a by the author, perhaps by professional recitateur, for the entertain ment of the emperor and courtiers. In terms reminiscent of the poems, greatly Ptochoprodromic a and bureaucrat Antiochos, Gregory though high-ranking imperial secretary in the twelfth century, bemoaned his poverty and destitu tion and his inability to feed and care properly for his children and course a He is of aged father. typical topos of "complaint employing a to con failure literature," acquire living wage and appropriate living should warn
us
own account and against taking his too those of other "starving scholars" literally.24 The fourteenth-cen even Philes when requesting aid from Manuel out, tury poet pointed
ditions, which
that his threadbare "chiton" had fallen to the emperor Andronikos, worn out his pieces and that he had "nobly shorn lion's skin" by having to wrap himself up with it in the winter.25 Furthermore Mazaris suf fers too much: not only has he undergone disgrace and the perma nent loss of the is still held up to obloquy emperor's good opinion (he as the is but he has and offender: 40.19-21), gout archetypal crippled; he ispoor; he has lost his children; he has no means of livelihood; and he has a demanding and importunate wife. All of these are favorite was often the pro topoi in complaint and begging literature, which scholars and officials. duction of well-known One appears
of the catalysts for the disgrace ofMazaris, on Lemnos, to have been his remaining
leagues (notably Karantzes, Tarchaniotes, had banished John VII, whom Manuel
as it is while
followed
and Machetaris) to Lemnos
presented, other col
after his return
in 1403. They were in his attempt on Thessalonike later treated with favor, probably once John was installed as ruler of in contrast, was apparently accused of embez Thessalonike. Mazaris, zlement and disgraced (36.14-29). But Mazaris explicitly contradicts from theWest,
first, despite his utter disgrace and banishment, he is still at court, where his narration is for the ben being presented clearly efit of the courtiers (4.10-11). Indeed, on several occasions (6.20-23,
himself:
he is considered by 50.12-16, 52.8-10, 60.10-16) source on what as an rest of the dead the and both Holobolos expert in the bureaucracy. He can also function as is currently happening tells a conduit of information back to the imperial court?Padiates
44.9-13,
24
46.11-14,
G. L. F. Tafel, ed., Eustathii
Accedunt Trapezuntinae
Opuscula:
historiae scriptores...
"Deux (Frankfurt, 1932), 311; J.Darrouzes, lettres de Gregoire Antiochos ecrites de vers 1173,"BSl 23 (1962): 276-84, Bulgarie 24 (1963): 65-86; A. Kazhdan (in
190
Twelfth Centuries (Cambridge, 206, 219-20, cf. 252-53. 25
For the text, see E. A. Fisher,
Planudes'
Greek Translation
Ex codicibus Escurialensibus...
on Byzantine Literature
2:137 (no. 73).
LYNDA
GARLAND
ofOvid's
(New York, 1990), 57; Metamorphoses cf. E. Miller, ed.,Manuelis Philae Carmina:
collaboration with Simon Franklin), Studies of theEleventh and
1984), 196
(Paris, 1857),
to
not to pass on Holobolos's Mazaris remarks to the beg inmates of the "advice" imperial palace (26.15-16). Certainly Mazaris's on the unsoundness comes from a of Skaranos (46.26-48.28) figure on scenes and has an is who clearly knows what behind the going
Holobolos
interest in his views known. making The second contradiction involves the dedication
to the despot, he has been entertained says hospitably by In the narrative, however, he describes Theodore II, despot ofMorea. in the himself as poor and destitute during his stay Peloponnese in which
the narrator
on (64.8-10, 23-25). It could be the case that he was down-and-out his arrival, and that Theodore has since financially supported him, but the
is of the dedication indeed has wording interesting?"such me a con the munificence continuous have shown you during and condescendence tact, such the understanding (condescension?)
been
that you have brought to our hourly ..." (98.2-4). companionship. a for considerable rhetorical Despite allowing exaggeration by grateful as ifhe had been an honored of financial this sounds favors, recipient
in the eyes of if he had been totally guest. Furthermore, disgraced Manuel II, it is highly unlikely that he would have been acceptable as a at at the time when the court of the guest emperor's son?especially an author/nar the emperor himself was resident there. The of picture ratorMazaris, who has lost his official position and is in disgrace? a as indeed has been labeled to others?must example of misconduct be rejected. Finally, ifwe consider that this piece may have been writ ten for a court audience, which included the to presentation emperor, the anomalies
become
ludicrously unacceptable.
Holobolos and theOtherProtagonists The
central character
in the work, however,
is not Mazaris
himself, we take Mazaris to If Holobolos. be an colleague a "fictional" character, where does that leave device,
but his friend and
ego-narrative his rascally in the underworld? Do we Holobolos, colleague accept the account of his career, or is he too a creation?an arche literary a The bureaucrat? fact that Manuel is Holobolos addressed in a typal letter by Joseph Bryennios, perhaps written in 1408, need not compel the assumption that this Holobolos is the same person.26 The letter contains no mention of Holobolos's connection with the court? %6
PLP
BZ
275 with n. 132, 279-80
M. Treu, "Mazaris und Holobolos," i (1892): 93-95, publishes the letter from which it is clear that thisHolobolos is in Thessalonike;
itmay have been written in
late 1408 or early 1409 when Manuel was in Thessalonike to install his son Andronikos as despot (Barry et al.,Mazaris'Journey,
21046; Barker,Manuel
IIPaleologus,
[above, n. 4]). A contemporary ofManuel a John Holobolos, was deacon
Holobolos,
and Great Chartophylax
of St. Sophia: MM
2:292,304,348,372.
xvii;
MAZARIS
S JOURNEY
TO HADES
191
he is simply addressed as physician, rhetor, and philosopher (though as a a connection the mention of Holobolos could suggest physician as amateur doctor, of'Mazaris5 with theHolobolos, Journey). Indeed, the name
in the context oiMazariss simply have been chosen as a suitable one on which to character is often Journey pun?the termed Holobodos, "whole-beef," by Padiates (24.30, 26.24, 2,8.32, a name is It also 22, that the 30.7, 32.20). may have been possibility to recall the bureaucrat Manuel Holobolos who deliberately selected could
inboth 1261and 1273.
fellfromgraceunderMichael VIII In Mazaris's
the emperor's secretary, is Journey Holobolos, an at court from at least 1395 described as important position holding recent it his until, death, presumably in late 1413 or very early appears, own "demise." Holobolos 1414, perhaps at the same time asMazariss seems
to have
to his influential position during appointed to theWest in 1399-1402 (12.20-2, 32.7-8, cf. 62.5 journey 7), and to have lost the emperor's favor shortly afterward (18.32-20.1). at his death, he is said to still have However, chrysobulls and decrees been
Manuel's
in his possession
(22.15-16),
and Mazaris
of the emperor resplendent robes of
speaks
Holobolos having recently (evayfcoc,) granted sense white silk (10.20-22). To make of this, we have to assume that, and forced to endure a rival,Holobolos presumably though disgraced remained in office. Like
all the dead, Holobolos
bottomed,"
is naked
and is described
as "black
that is, virile and a formidable
(6.16; cf. 68.s).27 opponent hair, and a full beard, epito
has a large, hooked nose, cropped all the faults of the public servant?ambitious, paranoid, mizing is introduced as "all covered with he and self-seeking?and jealous, that represent his sins (cf. Lucian, Kataplous, 28-29). whip-marks"
He
concern is to learn all the details about which of Typically, his first his former associates still continued in favor at court (6.11-13,15-23). He was not of an established family: we are informed in the course of the dialogue (his father was with Manuel
that he rose from low origins through the hierarchy 28.11, cf. 28.32-30.3), that he sailed
a wine merchant: to Britain
and France
and "as far as the Ocean"
(12.21), II he was promoted to the rank in Italy with Manuel con of the emperor's sole and permanent secretary for public and iv' eq ae\ Tuyvavco SvJ7rou9gv evpiaicopevoq fidential affairs (32.7-8: and that while
re Kai has Oikonomides a7roppv|Tcov). [LOV&Taroc; ypa\L\Larevc, prjrcov as the him of Mazaris when emperor's gram speaks suggested that, mateus or personal secretary, he means the protonotarios, or chief of role itwas to register transactions and prepare the notaries, whose and by took part in imperial processions documents. Protonotarioi the fourteenth or fifteenth century it appears that they could certify state treaties. The protonotarios
192
LYNDA
GARLAND
was
fifty-seventh
in importance
in
27
to The term, used by Aristophanes was (Lysistrata 802),
describe Herakles proverbial
(Herodotos
7.216).
the secular hierarchy, immediately after the orphanotrophos, accord to the De ceremoniis of Pseudo-Kodinos: his fourteenth-century ing
uniformwas identicalto thatof the orphanotrophosand his duties
secretarial: SfjXo; Kai kizb rov bvo^oLroc,- ixpcbroqyap tcov voTapicov vjtoi 28 tcov ypa^aTiKcov. Had
itnot been for his own misconduct
says, he expected the co-ordinator
in office hours, Holobolos
to become
grand logothete (12.26-28, of the whole imperial administration
cf. 10.14-16), and, indeed,
a parvenu, in view of the career of perfectly possible for who had done the same from obscure ori Choumnos, Nikephoros this was
states that at his in the fourteenth gins century.29 Holobolos disgrace he was on the point of marrying a woman of rank and had been (14.6-10).30 He also reveals that in constructing splendid mansions one to the with the emperor Manuel he made a trip Peloponnese as an expression gold staters?practically overnight of appreciation of the decrees, edicts, and chrysobulls that he issued (66.23-25), and he is clearly skilled in the composition and layout of fortune?700
imperial
documents
(22.15-18,
24.1-4,
cf. 20.8-10,
30.13-17).
stant absences
His
con
in an affair
from the office, however, while engaged with a nun (20.1-12, 30.7-21), led to the appointment of Philommates, and the aggravation of this rival promoted, and his inability, having to have him banished from court, caused his all his contacts, despite even inHades he is suffering perma depression and eventual death: nent at the misery (22.2-3). promotion thought of Philommates' a very has Mazaris's concerned with contemporary flavor, Journey officials inpower in the years 1414 and 1415, together with their fathers in the underworld who died to be well remembered recently enough at court. Yet Holobolos
not his death, implies that his disgrace, if shortly after 1402 (18.32-20.1), the time of the emperor's return from theWest and the downfall of that "despicable satrap" (the
came
in or
sultan Bayezid), in office. As a modern though he did remain politi once commented, British Harold (the Wilson) prime minister,
cian
28 J.Verpeaux, ed., Pseudo-Kodinos. Traitedes Offices (Paris, 1966), 139,185; N. "La chancellerie imperiale de Oikonomides, Byzance du XHIe au XVe siecle," REB 43 (1985): 170-72;
cf. R. Guilland,
"Les
logothetes," REB 29 (1971): 38-40. A. Laiou, "The Byzantine Aristocracy 29 in the Palaeologan Period: A Story of Arrested Development," Viator 4 (1973): 139: "The firsthalf of the fourteenth century yields some examples of imperial civil servants who brought their families from relative obscurityto social success." For the
fabulous wealth of Theodoros Metochites, including his houses and a palatial mansion with marble floors, see I. Sevcenko,
for aristocrats to own ten houses
in the
"Society and Intellectual Life in the
capital at prices from 50 to 250 hyperpyra. Prices for a single house could go as high as 600 hyperpyra or more: see J.-C. Cheynet et
Fourteenth Century,"
al., "Prix et salaires a Byzance
inActes du XlVe
Congres International des Etudes Byzantines, ed.M. Berza and E. Stanescu (Bucharest, J974)? 9?; L. Schopen, ed., Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina 1: 425-26.
historia (Bonn, 1829-55),
For house prices, see A. Kazhdan, 30 "The Italian and Late Byzantine City," DOP 49 (1995): 10-11: itwas not unusual
(X-XVe et al., Hommes siecle)," in C. Abadie-Reynal et richesses dans I'Empire byzantin (Paris, 1991), 2: 339-74, esp. 353-56; for salaries see in the late fourteenth century, salary could be as high as 250 hyperpyra, an interpreter's 100 hyperpyra. ibid., 370-74:
a doctor's
MAZARIS
'sJOURNEY
TO HADES
193
"A year is a
time in politics." It seems inconceivable that long anyone's foibles and misdeeds could have been remembered for twelve years,
that theywere able to form the nucleus of a topical satire at this later date, not because Holobolos did political especially after all reach the top rungs of the bureaucratic ladder. Furthermore, and in such detail
were
ifHolobolos
a real official, now deceased,
there is a distinct
lack
of factual details, of specifics, given in the account of his career?we in the retinue ofManuel II more than hear of his trip to theWest twelve years previously (12.20-21), and of his "white imperial robes" (10.20, 30.2), but not of any actual titles or dignities that he held: even
his possible rank of protonotarios has to be postulated. in his But it is inconceivable that Holobolos, boasting of his not have mentioned his laboriously acquired successes, would dig nities. Furthermore it appears that he had "recently" been given the
contra silk (10.20-22, cf. 30.1-2, 38.20-21), which own statement of his disgrace shortly after 1402, dicts Holobolos's seems of which Mazaris unaware, totally though he would certainly robes of white
of it as the expert on all matters pertaining to the court aware of the details hierarchy. Indeed he would indubitably have been of the past career of the emperor's permanent secretary (32.4-8), who have known
to become expected grand logothete (10.14-16, 12.26-28), court All the evidence, in tenth in pseudo-Kodinos's ranking (137.8). career, ifnot Holobolos himself, is as fact, suggests that Holobolos's
had been
as Mazariss
and that we
should beware of taking this text as an historical and source.31 literally prosopographical his mentor Padiates cannot be specifically iden Like Holobolos,
fictional
tified (though several persons of that name are known from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries).32 He was clearly affluent?he to leave his of the mentions family, houses, and wealth?and having at court, in with Manuel served rank Constantinople, having highest and Lemnos, Anatolia, Thessalonike, (28.26-31). "everywhere" Holobolos theWest,
had apparently replaced him prior toManuel's and the zenith of his career should thus be dated
to journey to the 1380s
and early 1390s if this can be taken at face value. He is characterized as a man of violence and invective, as well as two-faced?accustomed toHis to say one and put another inwriting for a con Majesty thing was sin Holobolos sideration?while says of him that he incapable of was friendship, but
cere
everybody's friend for the purposes
170 n. 81, IIPaleologus, that "much of the prosopographical material in this text is undoubtedly well 31
Barker, Manuel
warned
founded; but in view of the scurrilous nature ofmany of these references ... at least some caution must be exercised in
194
LYNDA
GARLAND
handling
of favor work, Mazaris
them."A furtherminor
inconsistency is that according
toHolobolos
himself, he gained his experience in the service by being dictated to for four years on former end by a hypocritical windbag?his boss Padiates (24.18-20). But later in the
Holobolos
and Padiates
was not Padiates'
agree that undersecretary
but a rival appointment, though Holobolos refuses to admit it (32.16-18). 32
PLP
Holobolos,"
21289; Treu, "Mazaris 93 (above, n. 9).
und
and deceit
Padiates'
(24.17-18,28.17-18).
talent for abuse
is borne out
in the text:according toHolobolos, when in officePadiates used to
"more like a clown than a serious official, with endless insults, alike" (26.19 abuse and mockery against everyone, man and woman more not to is Even he than the other 21).33 given only protagonists, to violence: in one instance he is to reported polysyllabic insults but on in hit the noble from Trebizond the head have Droungarios right behave
of the market place, and he physically with his sturdy staff,which is variously described the middle
attacks Holobolos as a club or a stick
Holobolos's used for support, causing (inHomeric language) pour down his nostrils (32.12-15, 34.18-21, cf. 24.28-29).
brain to
there is a distinct
As with Holobolos,
lack of specificity about in favor of career, except that he was supposedly demoted to 1399 and from prior having been "cherished and deserv considered "worthless and contemptible" If his (24.25-26).
Padiates' Holobolos
was ing" abrasive nature was
remembered more
than fifteen years after the zenith of his career, he must have been a highly memorable member
of the bureaucracy (in which case we would perhaps expect to be more in the text enlightened regarding the details of his position). It ismore reasonable to suspect either that, likeHolobolos and Mazaris, to have been he is a fictional character, or that his career is unlikely as in Mazaris's exactly represented Journey. and Mazaris himself, as depicted in theJourney Just as Holobolos are as close to the center of toHades, power in the huge clearly shown so the other administration,34 palace-based Constantinopolitan characters vilified in the narration are from the highest echelon of courtiers, with Padiates themost
confidential
Journey confirms
are mentioned their
orator Potamios
high were
others, Skaranos 33
Another
and Philommates
ofManuel's
in the of Manuel II, which correspondence rank. "Asan," the emperor's relative, and the addressees
(Mouskaranos)
courtier, an orator who
(44.7-8):
is
born c. 1340, he is one
(Ep. 47); some letters of his survive (G. T. Dennis, ed., The Letters Manuel of l91l\ 34
addressees
II Palaeologus [Washington, D.C, PLP 23601).
224-27;
According
to the ODB1:
as
having held of offices. Several of the characters in Mazaris's
said to have specialized in invective, both in speech and writing, is the "old dotard Potamios"
described
338-40,
s.v.
"Bureaucracy," by the tenth century there were fifty-ninemain and about fivehundred
of the emperor Manuel, while two arementioned and Antiochos, in his the logothete though with the Komnenoi ton sekreton (ormegas logothetes) became the coordinator of the administration. A. P. Kazhdan World
and M. McCormick,
"The Social
of the Byzantine Court,"
inByzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204, ed. H. 1997), 175-76, (Washington D.C, estimate that the Byzantine male courtiers, prior to 1204, numbered somewhat less than
Maguire
2,000 persons.
subaltern offices. The emperor was regarded as the head of thewhole administration,
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
195
toMazaris's letters.35According Journey, the sleep-loving Antiochos is said to have been part ofManuel's retinue on his to four-year trip western in 1399-1402 charac (42.1), like two parenthetical Europe out and Staphidakes, who fell with each other over flo ters,Aspietaos rins seized in France This work, therefore, pur (46.3-5). dishonestly
ports to give a picture of the top echelons of an imperial civil service, staffed by brilliant but ambitious and self-serving professionals, who make vast fortunes from their prestigious positions and who suffer from permanent paranoia with regard to their relative status, wealth, and importance.36 At this point, we should inquire whether this picture is intended to be realistic. In the invective directed
against these high-ranking are as befits ambi the of attack courtiers, points primarily work-based, concern activities in and tious competitors in the public service, and
out of office, with
the courtiers
theme. Of
office hours a favorite during satirized, three are described as sex-obsessed
sexual misconduct
and their sexual proclivities made a point of relatively detailed refer ence, while five subsidiary characters are called cuckolds, adulterers, or homosexuals.
It is in this context that most
of the enthusiastic
invec
is found.37 tive, itself largely featuring citations from Aristophanes, we are Holobolos himself, informed, lost his job because of his infatuation with an old flame, now a nun (20.5-10). Whenever the emperor requested his presence he was not at his post but romping with his lover, described later in the work as Sister Frivolity or Chief Msi?ovi tou \ioLraiov: 30.19-20, 30). Her name, there (rf\ Empty-head fore, as the editors suggest, was possibly Meizomatissa (one of the aris affair and that he Holobolos admits the tocratic Meizomatis family).
had spentday and night in thebed of thiswanton lady,the loverof a 35 Epp.
Manuel II Palaeologus, The Letters of 18, 30,47, cf. 20; PLP1503,23601,26035,
1038. For Antiochos, seeEp. 44.13-18 (quoted below); from the reference toKakoalexios, "Alexios theVarmint," as Antiochos's son [above, n. 3]), sJourney, 42.24-25 Antiochos appears to have been Holobolos's (Mazaris
brother-in-law (Dennis, Letters, 55). Barker (Manuel IIPaleologus, 405 n. 15 [above, n. 3]) suggests thatAntiochos may have been to as 6 parakoimomenos, in that he is referred is Manuel. Skaranos 6 rjuiv by 7tap' Avxiop(o<; inEp. 49.8-15 byManuel, ("Skaranos, now, has a good mind and has has been good experience in those tasks he
mentioned
is our financial official assigned to do_He aware of our straits"); is well and CXoyiorrji;) he appears to have been a relative ofManuel Chrysoloras,
196
LYNDA
the addressee
GARLAND
(PLP 26035).
3$
Aspietaos: PLP 1568; Staphidakes: PLP advice for example, Holobolos's
26733. Note, toMazaris
about retrieving his fortunes: "You will find it easy towin the respect of the a position of honor will Peloponnesians, come to you quite naturally, and you should be able tomake a tidy fortune on the side" (8.11-13).
note the affairs of the emperor Manuel himself prior to his marriage: forManuel's see V. Grecu, ed., illegitimate children, 1401-1477;
cronica 1258-1481 (Bucharest, 1966), 3.1026A, who mentions a son and two daughters who were buried atMonemvasia, prior to themarriage
clearly born toHelena (Dragash)
IIPalaeologus, (above, n. 3).Manuel's
99, 474-76, Dialogue
494-96
with His
contains the interesting comment: "I believe you recall, Mother, how you used to praise the bond ofmarriage, whilst
Mother
sometimes I took the opposite line_ To tell the truth, being a bachelor was a bit of a storm; only being married has not been a calm either" (Manuel Palaiologos, Dialogue trans. with theEmpress-Mother onMarriage, A. Angelou [Vienna, 1991], 70).
Itwould be unwise to take this picture of the public service as a hotbed of immorality too literally, though we should
37
Georgios Sphrantzes, Memorii
I392--For his legitimate children, see Barker, Manuel
in
thousand men
cf. (20.7-8, cf. 30.18-20; KeKO\.<JVp(A\Levy\: Aristophanes, is twice termed "sodomized with a pepa<J>avi?cof*gvo<;,
48). He for Athenian men caught in adultery, accord radish," a punishment to in an ing Aristophanes.38 His boss Padiates had also been engaged mans bed" by adulterous relationship and is called "defiler of another
Clouds
in return (60.9-10, cf. 28.16-17). Padiates' son, moreover, as is a bastard?and is his parentage given, his father being named
Holobolos
(34.16-17).39 Rhiphas Chalkeopoulos as the as soon Furthermore, elderly Antiochos
sees Mazaris,
he
love,whose arrival inHades he is impa The emperor having previously forbidden their mar tiently awaiting. tomarry her as soon as she arrives in the underworld, riage, he intends
asks him about his aristocratic
and he has been thinking of her continuously?in France, Britain, mis and everywhere, even in Hades Like Holobolos's (40.31-42.7). tress, she is described in terms reminiscent of Strepsiades' aristocratic as a wife in Aristophanes' Clouds (53, 48), lady who squanders her
money and her charms freely (a7ra8cocrav re Kai KSKOicrupcofzevv]v),and both the lady's name, Anatolike (avTiKptx; co<;e? kvarokr[qkk]mov(jav her son's, and her place of residence (near the gate of St. AvaToXiKrjv), are enam Romanos) given (42.10-11, 13).Mazaris gleefully tells the ored Antiochos (yvvaiK0$pev6ky]Tzre: 42.8; yvvaiKO]iavY\q: 40.30, 42.14; gpcoTOf^avyj<;: 42.18) that her beauty has now faded, and all her wealth been squandered by her foolish son Anatolios (42.14-17).
so the upper echelons of the are por imperial civil service as a hotbed of vice and are trayed immorality. Further bureaucrats or or het called cuckolds40 described as keeping mistresses (pallakai a Mouskaranos Demetrios Skaranos, airai). (probably correspondent And
a convicted adul II), the auditor, is called, like Holobolos, a of other insults (48.23-24), (pspa<j>aviScofxgvo<;) among barrage while the "old dotard" Potamios asks whether Charsianites still keeps ofManuel terer
a mistress
water (44.12-13). The long mistress of the eldest son of Lampadarios Leskaris, standing Scythian (concertmaster), the imperial choir-master and composer, is presum identifiable: certainly she is said to appear ably, likeAnatolike, widely and drinks his wine without
in
comes in for much public with him, and Leskaris own not his father for having given up his mistress 38
Cf.Mazaris'sJourney,
68.5; PLP
(24.29, 28.31, 48.23-24);
see Ar., Clouds
168, Lucian, Peregr. 9) for this punishment for adulterers inAthens.
despite having
Holobolos says (34.1-9) that Padiates' reason for going to Lemnos was that he
24.29, 28.31, 17620. The term "found-out
39
adulterer," as translated by the editors, is pzpa$avi8(*)yLiv?, a favorite term of "Mazaris" (cf.Plout.
invective from
1083
was terrified that the heartbroken (Malakenos)
cuckold
who shared the use of his wife return from the pits of and make him walk up those
with Padiates would Thessalonike
seventy-two steps of the Patriarch's Palace, with which adulterous wives threatened
40
The term cuckold
used of Karantzes
(Kgpao-(j)6poc) is (36.17); both Karantzes
(36.27) and Malakenos (34.3) are described as "KepouXicw Terpwfxevov (SgAsi,"literally, "wounded with an arrow tipped with horn," the adjective being an allusion to Eur., Or. 268; PLP 1117,16446.
their husbands.
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
197
become
a monk
at the monastery
that utter harlot
of Evergetis. She is described as cf.Ploutos 1082) from the land of (Si?0"7tsk1co[X6VV]v:
theScythians,a stinkingold hagwith whom he has rolled in thehay since boyhood.
vals, crossroads,
He
has been
seen with her in the festi marketplace, feasts, and ismore like a pig that comes
and public than her escort
after her
52.25-26). Mazaris (50.20-24, grunting account. is unfortunate in his confirms Lampadarios's Lampadarios a sexu sons: the younger, associates with "Puff-jaw" (OuofyvaGcx;), ally ambivalent crowd of dissipated frivolous songs and obscene dances els rather than act as Domestikos
to youths and prefers perform at street corners and in broth
of the Reverend
Imperial Clergy
and of theGreat Church and sing the glorioushymns of theholy own 52.27 (50.27-52.3, compositions liturgy and Lampadarios's see 54.12; forMazariss 50.9-10). And both the "ass parody of these,
sticker" Pegonites, rov nvyY\v vvrrovroq nv]ycoviTou, and the auditor are labeled homosexuals Mouskaranos (38.16, 46.28).41 It is in these references to lechers, adulterers, and cuckolds
that the
in this text,which have so often been noted, scurrility and obscenity should note that Aristophanic feature most frequently.We language the invective?allusions and allusions are often used to contextualize to the standard curriculum, which would Aristophanic an educated audience and which was been identified by
surely have reflected in
other late Byzantine satire, such as the fifteenth-century Skatablattas. of the invective, too, is obviously intended to have a specific Much even if the modern reader is unable to perceive the point of attack,
are insults or allusion. merely strung together. Padiates, target Rarely it is true, who is said to have specialized in invective both in life and Kai with in the underworld, insults Holobolos fxcopeKai rapaXvjpe and idiot, "All-beef," pepac{>aviSco[xgve cOX6(io5e (you driveling fool, a radish: 24.29-30,
26.19-21), while retaliates with 67raparov Kai 7raXa(xvaiov Kai i)(3pioTV|v,rov Holobolos offensive individual who a)!Xorpiav yadvavra evvY\v (damned, cursed, soiled another man's bed: 28.16-17). has been
who
In
general, characterization
sodomized
however,
with
the
insults often make
an
attempt
at
social or professional judgments. passing Holobolos is twice called a windbag, Padiates (12.10, by
at
in the Peloponnese 72.5-6).42 Insults (70.19-20, are often intended as to former and current colleagues addressed assistants included the rumpless Holobolos's physically descriptive: the pockmarked Manikaitaos, and headless Kassianos, (mouse-tailed) of the local barons
198
LYNDA
GARLAND
For Pegonites, see PLP 23150. InMS P he is called ni>ywvixv]<;, a name that cries out
41
for paronomasia. 42
In return forHolobolos's
advice,
"promises" never to treat anyone for gout in thisworld or the next (66.9-10).
Mazaris
and thewalking corpseOkimos, while currentlyinofficeare thedark the sooty-faced Tarchaniotes,
cuckold Karantzes, with There
and Machetaris
the
(30.32, 32.1-3, 36.27-29). lead-and-copper complexion are also anecdotal asides about colleagues using hair-removers
(44.11),dyeing theirbeard and hair blackwith raven'seggs (44.15-16; an
doubtless
of "Grecian and wearing 2000"), early prototype even in their dreams (38.20-21). Sir Matthew white imperial robes to in 1399-1402, is so wedded of Manuel Chrysokephalos, logothete astrology
that he won't of the stars with
even go to the toilet without an astrolabe (38.18-20)?and,
checking
the
position despite this or is there less reference last, considerably lavatory humor scatological than might have been expected from such an enthusiastic imitator of mention: after all, the receive Aristophanes, though bottoms frequent we have inhabitants of the underworld are all naked.43 Presumably to assume
that all these targets were well known and that, through these attacks on their personal characteristics, have could been they in identified their the audience. clearly by colleagues Mazaris's
Journey
also possesses a clear subtext of satire against amateur ones, abuse of doctors a favor being
doctors, particularly ite topos in later Byzantine
literature (though not Lucianic), which enjoyed satirizing the iniquities of the medical profession. The usual term for them in the toHades is that of "banes tomankind" Journey
was ((JpoToXotyoi: cf. Iliad 5.31 of Ares).44 Medicine obviously part of the normal curriculum, and Holobolos himself was a doctor, "the orator and ablest of capital's clever physicians" (according as well as his other friend Mazaris), and itwas his medical that gained
to his talents
at court45
him
initial employment In fact he criticizes not even for the Greek practitioners knowing alphabet and being and Hippocrates, ignorant of both Galen killing many patients by treatment (10.34-12.3). Mazaris, their haphazard too, seems to have been accustomed
to
also meet the practice medicine (66.9-10). We once a who administered physician Pepagomenos, poisonous drug to himself and Phokidios drunken assis mistake, by (Eumarantos's tant
elder son, too, is classed as secretary) (34.25-30). Pepagomenos's one of these menaces, who include Onokentios (a sad case of brain the damage), his brother Libistros, Peter the scourge of Pentapolis, 43
Holobolos
is "black-bottomed"
and "big-bottomed" (6.16, 68.5); cf. the "ass-sticker" Pegonites (38.16). All the dead show off their genital regions (60.13) (A7r?\j/olwugvoi,literally "to retract the foreskin," reflectsAr., Ach. 592. LSJ9 229 coyly translates ?7ro\|/aAico into Latin as "praeputium
retrahere alicui");
pepa<J>avi5a)[xgve: 24.29, 28.31, 48.23-24.
For references to lavatories, see 40.28-29 (Antiochos), 56.15-16 (Holobolos tells to pretend to relieve himself and Mazaris then hurry home); for an obscenity, see the double entendre on avvovcria, "intercourse,"
Mazaris's Journey, 10.14,12-5> 8; 94-I2: at 94.13-14 Malakes accuses Holobolos of
45
having been induced by greed to practice medicine on the side in the upper world.
at 28.21. SeeMazaris's Journey, 4.23, 22.14, 38.24, 66.7-8, 76.5; cf 8.29-30, 38.29-30 (above, n. 5).
44
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
199
hellhound
Konones
who
administers hemlock
formedicine
(Kcovcovv], rov Kcoveiov role, and who Charsianites, &v0pco7roi<;izapejo^evov), helps in his serious cases along on their way to Charon When (38.23-30). the Peloponnese, Mazaris also swears by Chalazas from Thessalonike,
"that menace
to to his suggests patients" (66.7-8), while Holobolos as to or an alternative can go to Crete Mazaris, starving, that he a tutor or a killer like Lord Chaliboures become of and Kephalonia is resident in Sparta (76.4-7). the Doukas family who amateur are attacked Doctors, practitioners, especially through out thework with
a
vigor reminiscent of twelfth-century Byzantium and earlier,46 and according toMazaris's Journey they obviously hold in the bureaucracy as respected and wealthy members of the places court: in fact Holobolos for remem ridicules the doctor Malakes his former creature of the Peloponnese lands, trees, fruits, profits, sweet wine, the company of the meat, entertainments,
bering amid the discomforts comforts?children, houses, luxuries, fish, wealth,
and pleasures (including his buried he made out of from and the hospitals, contributions profits gold, the Galata officials). Malakes expects employment in the underworld best men,
and other comforts
inquires of Holobolos in the underworld, prestige and
whether
an orator or doctor
has more
him to "keep a place open forme asking in accordance with my rank" (92.3-7,18-24, 96.3). consists The greater part of the "insults" inMazaris's Journey
of typically Byzantine puns or alliterative plays on words. A love One has but to note abounds of paronomasia through the work.
Se rp\o$6ki)iaXe(you bunch of thistles,you three ]xkkXov rpifJoXaig, obol
specimen)
as Padiates
cf. 48.8-9 (32.19-20; the scarlet shark Charsianites,
calls Holobolos
for Skaranos). There is, for example, and a doctor (rov kokkIvov 44.11-12), ^apYj%p6SovTO<; XapaiaviTou: talk is pleasant but who acts like a biting adder Aspietaos, whose Mkvvuv: (cb<;&
i:6kov: is enhanced byhis arrivingfromtheMilkyWay (eKyctkatyov
"Holobodos" becomes Holobolos (eOX6(JoSo?, 44.4-5). frequently Mazaris "Meizaris" "take-too-much," while "whole beef"); (Ma?apr]<;, a reference to his gouty condition or, as mentioned above, is perhaps 46
For example,
in the Timarion
(Timarione, pseudo-Luciano, [Naples, 1974], 11-12, 34-41),
ed. R. Romano
and by the Prodromos "A^uioc rj'Iarpoc" of Theodore (G. Podesta, "Le Satire Lucianesche di
200
Teodoro
Prodromo," Aevum
LYNDA
GARLAND
21 [1947]: 12-25;
"The Image of the in Byzantine Literature of
and see A. Kazhdan, Medical
Doctor
the Tenth
to Twelfth Centuries," DOP
38
[1984]: 43-51; B. Baldwin, "Beyond the House Call: Doctors in Early Byzantine History
and Politics," DOP
[1984]: 15-19).
his
as well as to the luxurious
greed,
living
standards of bureaucrats
in
The four (M7ravTiaTr)<;, "bandit"). the KaGoXiKOi Kpirai, are glossed as "Wineswiller" top-ranking judges, (tovMoycov fzeorov), "Crooks' Haven" (Oivotyayoc,), "Trouble Galore" and (ZKaicov fyvkayca), (tov AyKDpav aSiKOTJvrcov) "Swindlershelp"
general);
the become the Xanthopoulon monastery or In view of the eternal "Fraudulent Friars."47 vrcovkovc,,
the monks
while Sav0ou<;
"Bandiates"
and Padiates
of
were on words in Byzantium, these jokes popularity of puns and plays and Byzantine tradition well within a long-standing Aristophanic or were with their audience and clearly readership. popular
seem to have a serious politi cal agenda. Significantly, invective in thiswork really comes into play when we meet an internal auditor (46.27-48.9). Mazaris reports to in two cases does
Only
the attack
the father of one of his old colleagues in the salt taxation department, a member of the Italian de Bartholomew de Alagaskos, presumably
son will have to face an audit of the salt family, that his saltwas of course an important item of revenue, and Alexios made a fortune as manager of the state's salt This Apokaukos pans.48 state auditor, who had it is said, stood trial over thematter previously, was toAlexandria," of the "imperial timber that is described shipped Langosco accounts:
as that creature Misael "mangy ish, despicable, underhanded
that backbiting, thiev and pickpocket, who thinks
Mouskaranos,
bugger a lot everything past, present and future, but apart from of impudence he's just nothing at all?that phony astrologer, who man who is can't speak Greek properly and has papist leanings?a . . .Are circumcised. you seriously telling me that this abominable,
he knows
debauched,
to call my dear son to account?"
crazy schizophrenic wants
(46.27-48.7). Mazaris
one Imean, that obnoxious weed, replies: "Yes, that's the that two-bit character" (48.9)49 There seems to be an obvious sub text here. Skaranos
47
Mazaris'sJourney,
92.11-12; Theocharides,
appears
from the emperor Manuel's
18.29-32, 20.23, "Tgcrcrapgc
Bv^avTivoi KaGoXiKoi Kpixai," 497-98, decodes these judges as Phakrases, Gemistos Plethon, themetropolitan of Ankyra, and the skeuophylax of St. Sophia. Baldwin 353 [above, ("Reflections and Reappraisal," n. 1]) suggests that Gemistos is unsuitable, as having been exiled toMistra but see n. 69 below. 48
"Salt," ODB
3:1832-33;
ed., loannis Cantacuzeni historiarum
libri quattuor
1.118.3-5. Baldwin
in 1410,
L. Schopen,
eximperatoris (Bonn, 1828-32),
("Reflections and
own
letters
II, Ep. 8.6 351) cites Manuel Reappraisal," n. 7(above, 33) on Neokaisarites, who lost his
speak Greek properly, that Latin sympathizer, that circumcised one, who
position in charge of the salt works. To Bartholomeos de Alagaskos (PLP 20748) working in salt administration is
hasbeen unfaithful both to the Triune God
considerably preferable toworking as an interpreter between Latins and Greeks (46.13-14). 49
and to the emperor, whose
friendship toward all others is not genuine, but mercenary, deceitful, and cheating. Are you telling me that this absolutely abominable debauched,
For circumcision,
see 44.23. Dennis,
delirious madman
wants
to call
my dearest son to account?"
Letters, 59, translates the passage: "that that slanderer, mangy Misael Mouskaranos, that despicable
thief, that lewd sneak and
pickpocket, who thinks he knows ... that stargazer who cannot everything
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
201
to have been an; adviser and trusted servant ofManuel, been in charge of the payroll office, as treasurer or an ex-Jew and a Catholic He was also and obviously \oyicrrif\<;.50 {Ep. 49.8-14) and to have
Latin
sympathizer,
Alagaskos
and
it is not
requests Mazaris must that Manuel
message the podesta,
was surprising that he unpopular. to take back to the emperor the secretly not send Skaranos as his ambassador to
across the Golden Horn at colony Galata. One of these days the Genoese will do theQueen of Cities no to end of harm if they listen the counsel of this "cursed trickster and convicted persuaded of Thasos
head of the Genoese
has already sown religious disunity and his son-in-law Raoul Myrmex ("the ant") to buy the island adulterer," who
(48.13-28). is real invective?and
to apparently intending make particular political point here about Skaranos's lack of "sound ness" with emphasis on the two crimes of inciting anti-Byzantine in the podesta and orchestrating the purchase of Thasos (per feeling This
"Mazaris"
is
a
haps on behalf ofGeorge Gattilusio [Manuel,Ep. 58]). Significantly,
was to take advice or not, Manuel inspired by Mazaris's the island later in 1414 on his way to three months reconquering invective comes similar pointed the Peloponnese (80.22-29). And into in part two of the work, against the Peloponnesian barons play are II: termed "foul, false, these who have rebelled against Manuel
whether
filthy, and worthless barons" because of their political and ingratitude toward the emperor (88.1-2, cf. 70.20, unsoundness 11-21, 82.15-27, 86.17-21) and are deemed worthy of being 72.2-7, enslaved (88.3-7). The different racial characteristics of the inhabit treacherous,
are also dealt with in terms that ants of the individually Peloponnese are (78.4-27). hardly complimentary In the attacks on Skaranos and the Peloponnesian barons, the extent to a to what but have author certainly appears specific agenda, to accept the invective at face value? Is it simply is it generally possible an abusive attack on bureaucratic colo ex-colleagues and unpleasant
nials delivered within
the framework of the no-man's-land
of Hades
servant?or a is it something more? To consider by disgraced public of its humor, we should aims and the this point, and sophistication in the Berlin manuscript and look at the evidence of the dedication the circumstances
of the delivery and reception ofMazaris's
Journey.
TheDedicatee it aim and role as entertainment, appreciate the work's primary is essential to consider the identity of the dedicatee. The dedication
To
has given rise to the question ofwhether thework was commissioned a if so,whether this patron was the emperor by particular patron and, or his son the In the past the addressee of the Manuel, despot.
202
LYNDA
GARLAND
See Dennis, Letters, 57-58; for the 50 duties of the logistes, see Verpeaux, Pseudo Kodinos. Traite des Offices, 186, 323, 337.
to epiloguehas generallybeen taken be the emperorhimself,but the editorsof theBuffalo edition correctlytakehim to be Theodore II,
despot of theMorea, forfromthewording it is clearlyTheodorewho
ismeant by "noblest of is also flattered despots, celebrated prince" (he in similar terms at 74.31-33, cf. 54.14-15, 88.6-7). The dedication is one (MS B: Berol. gr. 173),which, of the present in only manuscript is clearly the most in terms of style and three manuscripts, polished was as a a It intended presentation. presentation copy for obviously the work, for the dedication patron who requested or commissioned states that the work
(or part of it at least) was composed at the des to the not pot's request. This may necessarily refer composition of the one or more of the later sections, work as a whole, and arguably just were? those set in the Peloponnese, could have been?and probably
was by Theodore. Furthermore, the despot frequently in is toMS in off there the dedication (he Constantinople setting seems on to and occasion have been the of the B) present delivery of commissioned
comments on his son's first piece, based on Lampadarios's at court: "He to be a sum performance pretends shywhen he receives
Mazaris's mons
from His Majesty the Emperor or from His most Serenity the to to the or to chant a beautiful prudent Despot, sing something lyre one of the or one of my own. . . ." either composition, great classics
(54.13-17).51 If those parts of the narrative set in the were com Peloponnese at the request or for the amusement of the to it is posed despot, logical assume that were they prepared with the entertainment of the emperor inmind,
was in the for the relevant period. Peloponnese is greatly lauded, with minor touches of mock only ery or criticism, and even these are descriptive, referring to his flashes of anger, rather than critical of his acts as ruler. The second section, on Manuel's in the achievements takes pains to flatter Peloponnese, the emperor, and there are arguable similarities between Mazaris's sinceManuel
Indeed Manuel
events and Manuel's own letter 68 written in 1416 "to description of the most holy Hieromonks and Spiritual Fathers," which deals with troubles with rebellious local leaders during and after the construction of the Hexamilion.52 If the suitability of such a "scurrilous" work as entertainment
is corroboration
for the august emperor Manuel II is there questioned, thatManuel himself had a sense of humor: he wrote
to the protosebastos,
"your letterwas so full ofwit (aorsioTV]*;)?it con tained just the proper amount of when we playfulness (uaiSia)?that heard it, it quickly led us to turn from the serious concerns inwhich the present
situation has us
to burst into In trapped and laughter."53
Epistle 44 (1403/8)toDemetrios Chrysoloras,Manuel makes fun of the less than (doubtless the same Antiochos who energetic Antiochos features in Mazaris's Journey): "And then there is our own Antiochos,
Though the despot referred to here could also have been Theodore's younger
51
brother Andronikos,
despot of Thessalonike
from 1408 to 1423. 52
Baldwin,
Reappraisal," 53
Dennis,
point between
"Reflections and 350-51. Letters, 2,written at some 1373 and 1390.
MAZARIS
S JOURNEY
TO HADES
203
the old man who
loves sleep somuch
on horseback that he falls asleep and who would give up everything for sleep.When the tumult at the door prevents him from snoring along in his usual fashion, he curses puts on some kind of shepherd's cap, stuffs his fin in his ears, and fits his head into the deepest corner" (44.13-17). gers It is therefore possible to assume that "Mazaris" the author may the noise makers,
have been amember
or Theodore's entourage, and specif one or both, even at their of ically writing perhaps as Mazaris's to consider the Theodore request. Ifwe wished despot one of the work's still have primary aims would primary employer, entertainment in the Peloponnese. been that ofManuel's ofManuel's
for entertainment
scenario can therefore be the first sec envisaged: following to toHades tion o(Mazaris's (dated January 1414: 4.35) is Journey The
court in to the which the despot Constantinople, imperial presented Theodore appears to have been visiting at that time. It is reasonable to that its reception was a tremendous success. Manuel must postulate to wall the Peloponnese already have been planning his expedition to reduce Thasos), which advice given the (and perhaps explains more than once toMazaris in this first section that he Holobolos by to the Peloponnese: and the court's change
should move Manuel's
the work
is
of location,
proactively foretelling as well as foreshadow
a humorous production along the same lines as the ing forthcoming first, but in a different geographical context. On 25 July 1414,Manuel to put down the rebellion. via Thasos, set sail for the Peloponnese "Mazaris," the author, may have been with him or sailed direct to the the latter scenario, in fact, makes sense of the fourteen Peloponnese; in his remark to months that he says he has been in the Peloponnese arrived in the made in September 1415 (64.9-10). Manuel Holobolos on 29 March 1415 and remained for over a year, return Peloponnese to inMarch 1416. Parts two to five of theJourney ing Constantinople toHades therefore have been written during the emperor's would The success of the first part in the Peloponnese. rise to demands for further entertainment along the
residence atMistra
having given same lines, the remaining parts (perhaps written in expectation of then have been presented in September the emperor's arrival) would to the emperor and October 1415 at the court of theMorea, again
and his son the despot. This time the targets, though different, are ethnic mix of the local still topical?the barbarity, treachery, and the inhabitants, and satirical jibes against the butt of the moment,
courtdoctorNikephoros Doukas PalaiologosMalakes (especiallyhis who perhaps had been complaining buried gold and profiteering),
too loudly about conditions in the Peloponnese. to this reconstruction of the sequence of events, the According work was intended primarily for the amusement of the emperor and
204
LYNDA
GARLAND
his court,but thedespot so enjoyed the recitation(hemay of course the sections set in the
that he asked Peloponnese) for a presentation copy: hence a MS B, was prepared, polished copy, to ensure that and a comic dedication appended which purported on his Theodore would only read it at sea far from the Peloponnese, have commissioned
at some later date, to entertain his fellow pas in the itwould cause seri Peloponnese where ous local unrest (cf. 68.17-23 for the Peloponnesians' bellicosity).
way
to
Constantinople sengers, and not while
copy (or a copy of a pre presentation sentation is dated P (Paris, gr. 2991A), which copy), what of MS to was at The the behest 1419?54 manuscript September copied a relation of the of Matthew Laskaris, Palaiologos presumably IfMS
Palaiologoi
B was
indeed
ofMistra,
a
who may have been
theMatthew Kai
Palaiologos
nslo7rovv7|OTo<;, 27rapTiaTr]<; AaKeSaif/6vio<; (f.49iv) in 1426. This copy, then, may have been the manuscript commissioned by an august member of the Peloponnesian aristocracy
Sgouromales who owned
also contains theDe ceremoniis of pseudo-Kodinos, (the manuscript which would have been a very valuable reference work for a courtier). com For this copy to have been made only four years after thework's position implies that ithad been enthusiastically received and that its tone and content were more than to the at acceptable ruling echelons Mistra. This also suggests that the concept of a disgruntled, under we have an author whose writer has to be dismissed?instead ground an work may have been officially commissioned by imperial patron and publicly circulated among members of the court.
Mazaris's
Journey: Delivery
and Reception
of delivery intended for a work affects its structure and the type of humor itprojects. Whom, Mazaris's therefore, is Journey intended to entertain and in what mode? The level of is language at court, together with some tech clearly the atticizing language used
The mode
a nical and Latinizing vocabulary. This presupposes relatively sophisti cated and educated audience, like the dedicatee, the despot Theodore. The first section ofMazaris's some contains Journey fifty references to classical texts, Demosthenes, including those of Aristophanes,
as Hesiod, Plato, and Theocritus, Euripides, Homer, Menander, well as others to scriptural and patristic works. Frequently the attri bution to a particular author is not given, and the audience is obvi to be able to or at least ously expected place the allusion recognize as a well-known the quotation the allusions here, tag. Interestingly, come from the works normally read Byzantine literary canon?those
course of a there are no during the good education?and recognizably are obscure citations some that we cannot now there (though place). In addition it is now are verbal echoes of more recognized that there
54
For a discussion
of themanuscript,
see
xxxi (above, Barry et al.,Mazaris'Journey, n. 5);Verpeaux, Pseudo-Kodinos. Traite des Offices, 44-47
MAZAR
(above, n. 28).
IS'S JO URNEY
TO HADES
2O $
Us own letters, which would contemporary works such as Manuel have been publicly delivered and thus well known to the court.55 an audience, clearly addresses (2.14, 4.9-10, 60.20, cf. 80.17). In addi out loud on tion the dedication speaks of part of the work being read board ship on theway back to Constantinople: The first part oiMazaris's as three references indicate
Journey
At
I have writ the behest of Your Highness, Noblest of Despots, more in a ten this to the best ofmy vein than with ability, playful a serious since I have purpose_However, completed the assign ment of Your Highness with all zeal and without delay, pray keep
Prince, which was that your part of the arrangement, Celebrated this is not to be read in public (ev Qedrpoo, i.e., out loud to an audi ence) nor in this country before the inhabitants of the land of
...Thus you will make me happy by keeping to the terms Pelops of our agreement, you will provide entertainment for your fellow not hurt the passengers by reading this out, and you will feelings of the Peloponnesians,
since theywill not hear it (98.1-2, 7-16).
Itwas
customary for Byzantine writers from the eleventh century on to present their works to an audience, sometimes at a theatron?a
term that of course meant "theatre," but which came tomean originally a to a patron and/or private literary circle.56Histories, eulogies, reading treatises?even letters?were written to be read speeches, theological out loud. Itwas to such an audience in the underworld thatHolobolos
discourses of the unfortunate Asan, "beloved uncle" of presented the to his per the emperor,57 drawing a crowd of orators and philosophers formances (to Qiarpov). He sends the following message toAsan: to an opportunity Just as in the imperial palace I never missed remem and the others, so I share your writings with His Majesty ber you here in Hades too, and at night I repeat to great Pluto and Persephone your crystal-clear disquisition on the resurrection of the dead, while in the daytime I enjoy the pleasure of reciting wrote before Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthys everything you entire career with that easy grace, that faultless and during your of Greek?all your sixty-nine senseless irreproachable command 55
Baldwin,
"Reflections
and
350-51 (above, n. 1). Reappraisal," M. Mullett, "Aristocracy and 56
206
of literary texts, see also C. Cupane, "Deute, o neoipdntes. Note proskarterisate mikron, sulla ricezione primaria e sul pubblico della
Patronage in the Literary Circles of in The Comnenian Constantinople,"
letteratura greca medievale,"
Byzantine Aristocracy, ed. Angold, 173-201 (above, n. 12); for the perfomance
57
LYNDA
GARLAND
(1994-95):
AiitTvxa 6
147-68.
Mazaris's
Journey, 56.19. Asan is Asanes, addressee
probably Constantine
ofManuel's Demetrios "uncle"
Letters Kydones
18 and 30; PLP1038. calls him Manuel's
(R.-J. Loenertz,
Cydones. Correspondance
ed., Demetrius [Vatican City,
1956],Ep. 3 [August 1409]).
andmuddled discourses.My performancesdraw a fullhouse of dead oratorsand philosophers.Some of the audience jumpwith glee, others laugh sardonically,and stillothersfill the airwith
to Clotho to snip off your lifethread before your applause and pray time, so that you may come all the sooner to the realm of Hades, because they are all so impatient to see you in person and hear from your own lips your delightful
(or so you think) rhapsodies.
at the illiterate or the uneducated letter-writer Publicly poking fun was a as letters demonstrate; inEpistle 28.18-19 frequent topos, Manuel's a chance he remarks, "You always provide the audience (to GeaTpov) with to
as you present as a noble athlete," jeer, inasmuch yourself before all while in Mazaris's Journey themyrtaites Andronikos (who had "clearly a at been court")59 is apparently criticized on several occa quotable wag as are the sions for bad or colloquial Greek (10.14-15, 26.3, 26.28-9), or "Tzakonians"
(64.12-16). Letters, like discourses, were reg to a ularly performed publicly literary circle, and despite their apparent tone were of for a wider audience: Margaret Mullett intended intimacy
Lakonians
characterizes the essence of the Byzantine letter as "in its inti lying being mate and confidential and intended for also publication"?one might add "for performance."60 In seven of the in his corre letters sixty-eight II spondence (Epistles 9, 24, 27, 32, 34, 44, 61),Manuel complimented his correspondents on the their letters received when delivered applause in front of the court. Ep.
30.4 speaks of "everyone who listened to it"; at 32.4-6, "They (the hearers) were beaming with joy and almost leaping about in their desire to applaud"; in 9.2-7 toTriboles he comments, "We made a serious effort to have your letter read before asmany as you people to hear it,confident in would wish, and you surelywished a number large your literary skill and expecting to be praised for it.And this is justwhat happened. For the entire audience applauded and was full of admiration as the letterwas read by its "grandfather" [i.e.,Triboles' teacher].Nor was to he able conceal his own pleasure as the theaterwas shaken by applause
to Theodore Kaukadenos and by praise-" talks of people Epistle 27.9 stamping their feet and shouting with joywhen his production was read. The term theatron is specifically used of the audience on three occasions (Epistles 9.7, 27.2, 28.19). Other letters speak of adverse receptions, and in 1409, Epistles 64.27-35, probably to the recalcitrant bishop Makarios "Reflections and Reappraisal,"
58 Mazaris'Journey, 56.17-58.12 (above, n. 5). The Letters of Demetrios Kydones (Epp.
59
426) depict Constantine as well-educated and as an important advisor to both John V and Manuel; he was
60
also one of themain opponents
1981), 75-93> esp. 77.
3, 71,109,155,186, Asanes
of Palamism
Baldwin,
354 See M. Mullett,
inM. Mullett
"The Byzantine Letter,"
and R. Scott, eds., Byzantium
and the Classical
Tradition
(Birmingham,
(Dennis, Letters, 28).
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
207
is a direct
to the reaction
over you, gained byAsan: "Some grieved at you when your letter in others laughed, but everyone joined jeering was read? a to You wanted attend the performance, and large number parallel
men of for your sake so it turned out, those present being letters?they ... bestowed the appropriate honor on you and (the contest) brought about universal insults as your fitting reward."
to auditors, Mazaris's to Clearly, from the references Journey was like other works of the period, intended for performance Hades, to a court circle. This circle would have included the emperor and, for those parts in the his son composed and delivered Peloponnese, to Theodore: the compliments both?echoes of the emperor's own writings and praise of the despot's generosity (74.31-3, cf. 54.14-15,
thus entirely apposite. Certainly the puns on names descriptions imply intimate personal knowledge of the and the auditors can be supposed to have been targeted,
88.6-7)?were and mocking courtiers
the colleagues and children of those bureaucrats whom the narrator satirizes, and who are themselves satirized, often through their own fathers' mouths. colleagues some dozen
Indeed,
the term avvavaarpetyoyievtov, "courtiers," or the last word of the work's title, is repeated
at the palace, times in the text, almost as a kind of refrain.61
This
aspect of the work has generally been ignored: "it might be a man who would attack so many luminaries of foolhardy thought the time, not excluding the emperor himself," comments Baldwin.62 seminar suggest Similarly the editors of the Buffalo (p. xix) that, that he was soon to start a new life far from safe in the knowledge the author, in the first part of the work, was able Constantinople, to find an outlet for his frustration court. But
the work was
in members of the ridiculing the reci intended for recitation?and
emperor's tation to the very people itwas satirizing, or to their colleagues, chil dren, and successors. This changes the focus and tone of the satire,
as was noted in 1969, who perceived that the fact that the by Barker amusement would soften work might have been written forManuel's
the seriousness of its vituperation and violent tone, particularly when himself was being criticized. He also noted that "Manuel had Manuel
a quite capable of enjoying at his court's expense, ifnot also his own to some good literary joke commencement of the work (4.8-11), the narrator extent."63 At the sense of humor
a considerable
defines his audience
as the that "it imperial court, stating
Journey, 2.4, 4.11, 6.21-22,
407 Barker, Manuel 63 IIPaleologus, n. 19 (above, n. 3) (ifwe assume that the dedicatory epilogue was addressed to
1408 and 1423, itmight well have been intended tomake fun of a current
The passages in question primarily criticize the emperor's bad temper (38.2, 40.14-15, 64.30). The same approach is also,
his court.
specifically 61
Mazaris's
8.17-18,12.18-19,
20.3, 26.32, 38.14, 42.31,
44.1, 64.3; Baldwin, Reappraisal," 62 Baldwin, Reappraisal,"
208
LYNDA
and was
"Reflections
351 (above, n. 1). "Reflections and 349-50.
GARLAND
and
Manuel).
of course, true of the Skattablatas:
ifwritten
between
favorite in a public performance in front of son Andronikos, and the despot, Manuel's
ismy intention,gentlemen,todescribe to thebest ofmy abilitywhat I heard from someof thedead uponmy arrivalthereandwhat I saw the benefit of all, and more especially during my brief sojourn?for those associated with the Emperor's court (rolq re kkkoic; a7raorv, ov-fc yJKKTTaSe ye rolq auvavao*Tpe<|>ofzgvoi<; Tai<; fiaaikiKcuc; cLvkouq)" And later in his letter toHolobolos Mazaris
of the
Peloponnese, that of all the dead, because
about
the iniquities of the inhabitants a wider audience, addressing
considers
the living already know what he is going
to say (80.16-18). The oral delivery and the reception of anywork necessarily impact on itshumor. With luck, ifwe factor in the possibility of oral delivery to an informed audience, the humor ofMazaris's can be reha Journey
at last to as an entertain gain credence begin even if not yet as a a satirical ing satire, literary masterpiece. When amusement is written it is for the of those piece specifically satirizing, bilitated
and the work
the tone of the humor
becomes
softened
(as noted by Barker), and is delivered in the actual orally
a satirical piece are it is presence "sending up," especially when these of superior or equal status to the narrator, the tone of the humor becomes even less of a personal attack. Such circumstances of presen furthermore, when
of those whom
to air favorite frequently provide the opportunity stock-jokes, well-worn personal allusions, and absurd scenarios that can poke fun at third to context In both. the of oral delivery, jokes parties known or can be particularized ridiculous, (whether descriptive, abusive) by tation
intonation,
facial expressions, and dramatic gestures, in such simple at or at the intended targets. playing texts have remembered that spoken and written
ways as pointing It must be
very different characteristics: a radio or television script can appear banal when read as a written text, but hilarious when delivered in its in a written text the reader is in control, text the speaker controls the pace, orally delivered timing, and can enhance the effect and and innu intonation, emphasis by gesture, intended medium. Whereas
in an
endo. An obvious
example of the difference between oral delivery and text is the use of repetition, which is a much more acceptable device?indeed essential for structure and a comprehension?when is The delivered of the details of lengthy piece orally. repetition plot and characterization as and the reiteration of the jokes (such frequent
written
references toMazaris's
to to thewhole in the give cohesion gout) help minds of its auditors, and act as structural links. In fact the repeti a very tion of is form of in humor enhancement jokes legitimate orally delivered pieces, inworks intended to be read as liter though tedious ary texts. One example occurs at the conclusion to the first part of the narrative where Holobolos to return with all exhorts Mazaris to speed the upper world and remain silent about Holobolos's advice to him to
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
209
relocate to the Peloponnese. The passage, inWorks and description of Envy Days interest of the modern
reader?but
list of references tomembers
we
on Hesiod s explicitly based (25-26), fails to engage the should imagine that the very
of the court hierarchy was particularized for an audience by the presence of these same dignitaries among them, who may well have been specifically the performer: targeted by For down here they not only look critically at those who in life, but, inHesiod's words,
do well
The
beggar detests the beggar, the poet the poet, the carpenter the carpenter, and just as in the world above a neighbor's good repute, as some so here inHades too ... the body has put it, stings the envious, envies the patriarch, the archbishop the archbishop, the patriarch the the the the monk monk, satrap the satrap, the bishop bishop, minister the minister, the governor the governor, the magistrate the general the general, the admiral the admiral, the judge the judge, the scribe the scribe, the secretary the secre ... to tary top it all the man with gout in hands and feet envies the magistrate,
the one with gouty feet only. . .. And not only are they all with are out exception actually spiteful: jealous of each other, but they everyone else, everyone is all the time tricking and blackmailing and in the upper world_(58.15-60.3) both inHades reference to gout, at the end of the list, channels the attention of the audience back to the narrator/performer himself, who has been The
of his gout throughout thework, and the point isdoubtless of distress. In thisway the emphasized by gestures and appropriate signs satire,directed first at the officials present, is turned against the authorial
complaining
narrator himself in a twist thatmakes him again a figure of fun. If it can be accepted that thework was intended for oral presenta tion to a court audience, including the emperor and perhaps the despot (for the first section), and both the emperor and the despot (for those
the fragmented structure is no longer sections set in the Peloponnese), a in terms of the literary drawbacks of the piece. The "sequels" problem were not components of a or single "organic" composition, appendages but composed later by popular demand, and for separate performance and in response to a new geographical target(s) setting and milieu, audience?indeed that the despot for performance
is the implication of the dedication of the Berlin MS Theodore commissioned at least some of the later pieces
at his court in the Peloponnese. Furthermore, "scurrility," as expressed in criticism of the court and but essential for such a satire its officials, is not only understandable, and his old friend to be a success: the two main characters, Mazaris
2IO
LYNDA
GARLAND
are both
Holobolos,
said to have been
Their
ex-boss Padiates.
like Holobolos's
demoted,
sacked for misconduct
and
critical comments
the tone of the first part of have replaced them?and a as therefore quite naturally abusive. In addition, thework whole?are the reputation for scurrility depends mainly on the work's intensive
on those who
on an all most notably the Clouds, and plays, The Byzantine passion for alliteration and puns. dialogue's to elaborate paronomasia and word play may have earned it
allusion toAristophanes' pervading addiction modern
but itmust
condemnation,
much more
also be remembered
that puns are
in the presence of their target. complaints and old jokes could be aired,
successful when
delivered
In such a context well-worn
center of the not as as in the reference to the bureaucracy, palace, the or Old Destruction but as nalaia naXan (translated by the edi Ary] tors as "Old [10.32,12.6, 38.13, 52.14]). Among colleagues Misery Hall"
the reiterated complaints about the bureaucracy as a place of fraud, deceit, and cut-throat rivalrywould no doubt have struck a chord?as indeed theywould to any public servant in the twenty-first century. Rather than being an exercise in obscenity and abuse, the text gives
us a
picture of voluble,
self-assertive, highly competitive, and outspo rivals, unafraid of personal comment, and marked by
ken professional a ready wit, presence in
public
and the ability to score off each other tells us a great deal about officials at the
of mind,
encounters. This
is taken as abuse fifteenth-century Byzantine court.66What generally in our text is in fact exuberant exhibitionism in alliterative expressed
most of wordplay, highly flavored with sexual innuendo. The point of the references may be obscure to us, but allusions now lostmay once have called forth sniggers or even gales of laughter from the auditors.
Conclusion himself at the end of the first part of the work describes his as his "account?a tearful rather than a cheerful one?of my dialogue I which have described to the best of my ability, per involuntary trip,
Mazaris
as a hoax (uaiSia), as a moral lesson (7raiSsia) inwhich haps perhaps earnestness ismore This certainly important than fun" (60.20-22). a servant who has been does not sound like the of apologia public In any case, "Mazaris"
is only, typically in Byzantium, following his model (ifnot as skillfully): "in the Aristophanes service of satire, abuse, parody, irony, and 64
surrealistic absurdity are countless plays on words, comic distortions of proper names,
Language Haven,
("Reflections and Reappraisal," 357), canon combines personal abuse Mazaris's with a derisive pun on the victim's name. 65
Note,
ludicrous and extravagant compounds_ It is primarily in his verbal pyrotechnics
24.16-18,
that the genius of Aristophanes
66
(J.Henderson,
TheMaculate
resides"
Muse:
Obscene
inAttic Comedy, 2nd ed. [New 1992], 1).According to Baldwin
58.31-60.3
for example, Mazaris's 28.7-9, 44.31-46.2,
Journey, and
48.4-5,
(above, n. 5).
Byzantines solid credentials were good, but itwas essential to have the ability to score points in public encounters, while a intoxicating, bewildering flow of words" was themost vital quality in ensuring a successful career (certainly,
"ceaseless,
politicians
appear to have changed
very little).
Magdalino, "Byzantine Snobbery," 69 (above, n. 12), points out that for the
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
211
intention of the work is to disgraced and ostracized. The primary to dedication Theodore amuse, and Mazaris's II, at the end of the to the best Berlin manuscript, speaks of his having written the work, of his ability, "more in a playful vein than with a serious purpose" (rai^cov ye [L&kkovy\a"7rouSa?cov: 98.2). Here, significantly, he compares his role to that of Thersites,
the lame, outspoken, and much-insulted Iliad (and the reader should remem
two ofHomer's
buffoon of book ber that "Mazaris"
has been
his gout complaining of throughout the you have shown me work): "Such, indeed, has been the munificence ... that had me a to do dance in the role of Thersites, I you ordered so much give my limping performance: have I been captivated by your magical charm, Most Serene Highness and Most Gracious of Princes" (98.4-7). not have hesitated
would
to
has affected of the late empire which is the former's attitude modern reception of Mazaris's Journey on the recently dead, which our society finds unac toward attacks One
of the features
are not sub personalities generally and this is shown to be true of the Byzantines The Byzantines also had no issues with satirical
ceptable. Well-known to such taboos, ject in the Timarion.
historical
rulers and officials when, for example, attacks on recently deceased I or his rascally hench these comprised the evil tyrant Andronikos
in the fif Indeed, Byzantines Stephen Hagiochristophorites.67 teenth century apparently had few such concerns about mocking were their dead colleagues, for satirical attacks inMazaris's Journey on on who had those the living and launched equally lately died. In the first section,, the majority of those attacked are clearly said
man
to have been deceased Potamios, Klaudiotes,
colleagues.
Holobolos,
Padiates,
Bartholomeos
Antiochos,
de Alagaskos,
Lampadarios, Pepagomenos, are all residents of the underworld, and Aspietaos
the
sons, and
Lampadarios's only major exceptions being Philommates, Skaranos. In fact the narrator is at great pains to ensure that his audi
of the present status of his frequent intervals term eKeivoc;, "deceased," used to qualify a proper protagonists?the name, occurs sometimes more than three times on a single page (for tors are reminded
example,
10.11,
at
15, 31;
34.3,
16, 26,
27,
29;
36.17,
19, 20,
28,
29;
44.7,
14, 30). This applies primarily to the first part of the work, while in those satirized, like the doctor the sections set in the Peloponnese to The only figures who are obvi alive. much be tend Malakes, very are Holobolos at this himself and characters point ously deceased between the two worlds, such as the who facilitate communication letter the bearer of Holobolos's Synadenos Kormeas, Peloponnesian a cf. 64.12)?the to Malakes 94.4-5, question of how (92.26-27, is not adequately addressed? letter can be carried from Hades and "the deceased physician Angelos, who had all that worry in the
212
LYNDA
GARLAND
6j
Manaphes,
"AvgicSoroc. vgKpnco\;
10); Garland, Bi&Xoyoc," 308-22(above,n. "A Treasury Minister inHell," 481-99 (above, n. 10).
so over his Peloponnese outstanding bills and became discouraged thathe took the trip toHades," who informs Holobolos about the is
miseries Malakes Another
(90.7-10). undergoing for a carrier of a communication
suggestion
to the
to Holobolos) is letter on the Peloponnese (Mazaris's as a at the aged poet Moschos Methuselah, Sparta, "as old cripple and a useless burden upon the Lacedaemonian economy" (70.9-12,
underworld
cf. 74.7-11), while Malakes' final report to Holobolos is dispatched "the deceased Thessalian through prematurely Chrysaphes, who has
not even a
to his name" (96.7-9). piece of lead an reason There is, underlying why Mazaris's arguably, Journey states no fewer than three times that Padiates and the myrtaites are dead?the Andronikos audience was likely to forget that "fact."
term eyceivoq is not used in the same way in the Timarion of as deceased, and in the historical characters who are there depicted is met in Mazaris's Journey surely tautological. By definition anyone The
be expected to have terminally encountered the Grim Reaper, yet every character with whom Mazaris converses in the underworld as deceased: is the only one who clearly labeled is not is term the "former milker of Melgouzes goats," the former the underworld
might
perhaps implyinghis previous lifein theworld above (44.4-5). This
should alert us to the distinct were possibility that these characters in fact not not dead, but present as as in life the audience. only large There is, after all, no corroborative evidence from other sources that any of the protagonists were in fact dead by the time of the compo sition and performance ofMazaris's Journey. The reiteration of the term eycelvoc; would only have been necessary if the audience were not, in fact, sure which
of their number were
to have handed in supposed their job portfolios and to be currently residing in the underworld. were case If that the then, despite the underworld setting, all pro still have been alive and at court. And, if so, we must tagonists may dismiss Mazaris's Journey as a source of information on the or disgrace death of is early-fifteenth-century officials. The work generally taken as a terminus ante for Potamios, Antiochos, quern (no pun intended) and others.68 Yet the work would Pepagomenos, certainly have been 68
PLP
23601,1038,
Letters, 48, 55; Baldwin,
22346. Dennis, "Reflections and
353. This explanation could Reappraisal," also get round some of the knottier prosopographical questions: we know that a Doctor Pepagomenos accompanied Manuel
to the Peloponnese in 1415.Our doctor (34.26-40.9) can now be
"deceased"
identified with this Pepagomenos, who was later to be the correspondent of Bessarion
and thewriter of a monody
on the death of
in 1433 (PLP 22359; Palaiologina "Reflections and Reappraisal," Baldwin, 353 [above, n. 1]; "Pepagomenos, Demetrios," ODB 3:1627). Antiochos and Potamios
Kleope
towhom Manuel
II wrote or whom he
have been one of the living judges punningly at 18.31, especially because we
mentioned are
postulating performance of at least some sections of this work in the Peloponnese,
where Plethon headed
the despot's
intellectual circle.
in his letters ca. 1403-1408 (Epp. 44, 47 [above, n. 33]) could still have been alive. Also there is no reason why Gemistos Plethon, exiled ca. 1410 toMistra, cannot
mentioned
MAZARIS'S
JOURNEY
TO HADES
213
more
entertaining if it insulted these courtiers and their families before their faces and dwelt on the details of inter-office rivalry in the presence
of both parties: Aspietaos waiting for the arrival in the underworld of a to Staphidakes bring charge of corruption against him; the intellec Asanes tual Constantine how irreverently his philosophical hearing to orations are received inHades; Holobolos looking forward shortly
the nose of his nephew Alexios "the varmint" in the afterlife. biting off we be postulating a scenario inwhich Papagomenos, the "certi Should
was actually poisoned himself and others by mistake, one in a in the audience? And medical figure present highly respected to his was Antiochos described which the illustrious parakoimomenos fied killer" who
face as being obsessively in love and wildly impatient for his inamorata's decease so he could be reunited with her in the underworld?
in this case is indubitably a fiction: what were convenient fictions of Padiates and Holobolos? Possibly they, too, to satirize the eternal failings of the bureaucracy. On the with which other hand, theymight well have been imperial servants, well-known at court, who in the topsy-turvy world ofMazaris's Journey figures follow comic career paths and undergo fictional deaths for the amuse at the exagger can thus ment of their enjoy laughing colleagues, who ated or imaginary failings of these "naked exhibitionists" (yv[ivoi re Kai with thewhip-marks that char aize'tyokb)\Levoi,cf.Ar., Ach. 161), scarred The character "Mazaris"
acterized corrupt bureaucrats tellsMazaris Holobolos
in the underworld
(6.11, 60.12-13). that he, too, will eventually "make the in a to hell (e<; ycopov .. . dizb happy, cheer Mcbpaq) trip from Hellas ful mood, reflecting that, as Homer says, 'you cannot possibly elude even ifyou lock yourself up in your room'" (10.4-7). What your fate, on our a perceptions of Byzantine unique light this work would shed humor in the fifteenth century, if the afterlife was still in store for all the protagonists! We would be forced to undertake a reappraisal of the abusive humor ofMazaris's Journey, if its ex-courtiers had yet to Paradise," and if their to make their trip "from the Peloponnese had only been a narrative convenience for the pur elaborate and highly successful series of jokes poses of the work?an II and his son, the despot conceived for the entertainment ofManuel residence
Theodore ?
inHades
II, and their courts.
University
New of
England,
Australia
version of this paper was delivered at a seminar atDumbarton early in 1997 and the author is indebted to all the participants, Oaks Laiou and Alice-Mary Talbot, for their especially Professors Angeliki comments and suggestions.
An
214
LYNDA
GARLAND
Frontier Settlement and Economy in the Byzantine East Author(s): Michael Decker Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 217-267 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472050 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
FrontierSettlement andEconomy in theByzantineEast Michael Decker
his work
1-^
examines
the archaeological evidence for set on the eastern frontiers of Byzantium
tlement and agriculture from circa 300-1000, with
on the seventh particular focus to to eleventh centuries.1 offers substantial promise Archaeology issues of settlement and land use, and these inform on the specific in turn lend considerable into the nature of frontier life and insight a
conquests of the seventh society around the time of the firstMuslim and medieval century Byzantium. One of the major pre throughout of historians and archaeologists of Byzantium occupations today is economic time the condition of the empire around the of the first Muslim
conquests, when the world of late antiquity crumbled and a new, medieval world ancient emerged from the wreckage of many structures. A clear to any is of the land vital of picture understanding the changes attending the arrival of the Byzantine dark ages and the in the ninth and tenth cen subsequent revival of Byzantine fortunes vast turies. Agricultural pursuits formed the livelihood of the major most of the cities and often for their survival ity population depended
on their own Material
immediate agricultural landscapes. data that inform us of the kinds of
farming and animal East also bear implications for Byzantine
husbandry in the Byzantine at or lack of society large. They provide evidence for the presence nomadic elements, the potential for substantial settled populations, the persistence and character of sedentary communities, and of the network of social relations. The
in further illumi archaeology nature and function of themiddle nating the Byzantine elite remains no space to examine the is and there largely untapped, although role of
paramount question of the expansion of aristocratic power, much of the picture rendered below is predicated on a belief that the eastern medieval aristocracy asserted great influence in the countryside. The eastern borderlands
of Byzantium were not static. The limes over that the Roman centuries of Empire created piecemeal long experience in the East collapsed beyond retrieval in the seventh cen
tury, first in the face of the Sasanian i
In light of the theme of the Spring Symposium at which I first read the core of this paper, now considerably adapted, I have focused primarily on Cappadocia and the borders of Anatolia, namely the Tigris and upper Euphrates,
although
I stray into Syria
Persians
and
then under
the
and parts farther south for the sake of comparison. Due to space considerations, it is impossible to provide here a thorough review of the Roman-Byzantine limes; thus, while
I have paid considerable attention to and the region of Chalcis, a future
Antioch
study will address other important sites, such as Dara, Apamea
excavated
(Afamia), Barbalissos Sergiopolis (Halabiyya).
(Meskene),
(Resafa), and Zenobia
.
Dara
/
s
^ /
ResainaV /
\i
\
(?
f
s
(
\1
/
.
(\ Vf /^'
\
/T.Bati/
X.
J
/
/Amida
JJ
\
^%
^"~X> y
T/Brak^/_ ^^
j-1
[
X^^^^^KlTZonbil
^ ( BirHaidarY
_ Tunainir
^ ^
Kh.HassanAga
\ Lake Khatuniyeh \ cxtfl**\ )-Sl \
AmostaeN <* ?1-Han\ Araban f y I
V T. Sufuq J T. el-Hamda (
^"V
\ Fadqami
?
^
^~\^v
Ma
f
T. el-Ghail /
I
i
el-q.a'ara
\
\.
Fig. i The Tigris and Khabur on the eastern frontier. Reprinted from D. Kennedy, Rome's Desert Frontier from theAir (London, 1990), fig. 9b.
2l8
MICHAEL
DECKER
>-?.?'
Samosata
\ Edessa*
#Batnae
Zeugm?)
* Cyrrhus
\fW
Carrhae# I ^
/
%
V Beroea Antiochtf )
T.el-Hajj*?
J
Seleucia-*>^ \ C \
/
*^
^
(
*?"*
\
$
\ Apamea
C
;
\
Mediterranean
/v &
^?T^
\Q.
%* el-Qdeyr
^Tayibeh
Hama*>^ v /
>Aradus
<*W
(
3^
/ Emesa / ^n
\
^^^\
?* \ \#E1-Qdeyr \ *Nedwiyat
Raphanaea
Souriya
Resafa
' ?w?/vA
'
*w-s^-J,
/ /
* ( Laodicea4-^
/
Callinicum
k Barbalissus?\
^/
^>Sukneh
Hleleh
/ ( Palmyra^-*
^P /
^
/ y
?Tripolis
/
v /"*
^
f
Kh. el-Beida/ . TT . . _. Ummel-Amad ,. Qasr el-Heir el-Gharbi* n.0"* K.el-Haliabat */ , ^## non.K, ^? Danaba?
Harbaqa #Y?'
V*"
Qaryateyn J?
\
^
#_/K.el-Qattar v /''Y.el-Basiri ^0' /
Giffa*
?K.Aneybeh
ZHdiopolis
(Baalbek)
/
***
' '^.Dumeir, **
.T" ^Damascus
_ .c
>DeirSemali
/K.el-Manqoura
#Q.el-Seyqal
o 0 700&w
..
Fig. 2 The Orontes Valley and Syrian steppe along the eastern frontier. Reprinted from Kennedy, Desert Frontier, fig. 9a.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
219
Koloneia , Fortresses/defended towns . f,-s-^r'
Towns abandoned during
thisperiodV
JM^_
. 1500 m elevation / _V^_?'?""*"?"\
S^ Thermalr Basilika
,_ \ V )
Nys^V /
f^v^^Jj^ A^~~J
a^'^A^ Kaisareia
J
#
\
?
^X_.
-?.
/^SH^^
^^\ . .
S\ V' ?Osl
RhoAnton V^A , J
(al-Qurrah) Tya|]fl
J>*/
Jtf
^\
...
(Kybistra)
i
f W
J^"
v
\. t
Kaisun
(Qermanikeia)
/
Gulf of Tarsus
/
,*>#,
\S /
/-^
V_\ ^^
,
,
Alexandretta
(al-Iskanderun) SYRIA
and their tributaries, and extending as far as the region of the frontier melted into a blur of steppe and the fourth to the seventh centuries,
the limits of the
an almost irresist presented ible tide of invasion, which broke itself only on the barriers of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus and thus the Romans found mountains, thrown back to the old frontier that had prevailed
DECKER
/
JVO
f
] I
(Samosata)
AL-JAZIRAH
-T^^?-s. 0
frontier were on numerous
MICHAEL
/.
^n.
Halab(Beroea)
}>> .2takiyz(Antiocheia)
from the failure of the first: theMuslims
220
CT-A I^ \V (v \( Amidak^^^V^ C
Manbidj^Xre ^V
r (Hierapolis)
east of which
themselves
/
Ourfa (Edessa)
S\ L
occasions renegotiated, first by the to its extent since the Bronze of life settled greatest expansion Age, and second by the numerous episodes of warfare that interrupted the generally prevailing political calm. The second frontier was born
early
Vr*^^^^
"23 X-^^umaysat
the huge areas of territory they controlled presented little obstacle to i conquest. The first earlier frontier (figs, and 2) stretched from the on the to Caucasus Syria, centered riparian districts of the Euphrates
desert. From
(Charpete)
/?-^^V-^
We must speak of a permeable frontier onslaught of the Muslims. zone, with cities forming the primary nodes of political control, the vertebrae of the Byzantine backbone. Once these cities surrendered,
Antioch,
/-?-'
V/
(Kyrrhos)
J/ x."^,
~j
"^
\\
and Tigris
"\T
(D0l,Cl,C) .Harran \ I ^ ^^-^M^KWisah AdhlVah/(Mopsuestia) Qurus
-~-\T} \ larsus^s
C-?
/ \J[ ) QalVdhiyah h\^iisn / i#Mal (Melitene) C ?\ ) ^U / V
Mar'as sfrv? A*
j/
\_~_-^
His^Zi^^v^^imsat (Arsamosata)?
' ^-A #Turandah -C?S^^^ / (Taranton)
(Ada\a)\/
yL_-
f \ VSls!SW S& i / Y'AinZarbalTtAiiabarza)
fc^tlKILIKipi^
v-rx^-
v-X)hozanon?
{
DARB AL-HADATh,\\ ^^^ al-Hadath
\ \
PodandosV/ A.. TT <$% Herakleia 7 \fcc^/'/ SWT v ^ (al-Badandun) (
^sSeleukia
(Kamacha)j
jT >_^\ \ J Ko4arT^Arabissos LJ \V HisanZibatrah / J^^\ ^Afdn?S h-SJ V # \ ^-! ( } (Sozopetra) v r ~n ' \ wrasKisos / J[ UKiskisos-:i7 U^T^ #4KoUkousos ~?O/
Koron.
,
l\ ^
f/^^^v
jfdf&i"^ ^y^#Tzamandos
HisnKamkr?"
^"^V^^^
J J^^?'?
/^
\fY . <$< -ir Kysistra $^
Nazianzos#
I-*&basteia
-/
Keltzine
^?J
(*s
-
in the
\
IVx
100 km ^^^^
Fig. 3 The medieval frontier zone. Reprinted from J.Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century (Cambridge, 1990), map 5.
Batman DamA
^-O f /
Diyarbakir?^ ^^--^_^J
N-\
^y^
vfff ^^"^^
^^yv-jf
$(
IlisuDamiri r-( /
?"N v
Mardm#
TURKEY
f^^^'
Ourfa Gaziantep) Birecik Dam wk. *^ " Karkamis Dam V.-"' ..,
..
\ K^
^\f \/
k yf CizreDam^
......-
"" IRAQ
//
""
J
\^J^/
...-'* ^v
) SYRIA / ^N Country borders
"
Dam projects
j
^ ^mm^^^^^m
^^
,-
L^
100 km
0
theMuslim conquest of the Byzantine days of Vespasian. Following a one foot in East, Cappadocia, giant upland territory that dipped the Euphrates and another in the salt marshes of the Toz Golii, once
''
Fig. 4 Upper Euphrates and Tigris region of the Byzantine frontier. Reprinted from G. Algaze
et al., "The Tigris-Euphrates
Project,"
resistance to an eastern enemy. again formed the heart of Roman 860 the Byzantine-Muslim Around frontier region (fig. 3) lay a line running between Sebasteia and Tephrike in the north and along the Cilician
Gates
River (modern of the Calycadnus in the south. By the eleventh century the offensive wars Goksu Nehri) of the Byzantines had advanced their territory about 150 km east of Trebizond with a prominent salient around Lake Van inVaspurakan, and thence southwest to the Orontes valley. This region is archaeo and headwaters
in part due to recent fieldwork conducted in interesting of Turkish hydraulic projects, but also because this rugged for landscape formed the interface between Byzantines and Muslims centuries and yet remained an inhabited where countryside agrarian logically the wake
and pastoral life continued. An investigation of the core elements of this rural activity comprises the present work.
The Tigris valley (fig.4) layat the limitsof theByzantineworld.
Both
in the Early Byzantine
centuries) and the a the Byzantine period (8th-nth centuries), Tigris formed barrier rarely encroached upon by Byzantine political control. It is not to examine the whole corpus of survey work from possible here period
(4th~7th
middle
the Tigris-Euphrates
corridor, and so I limit discussion
to a number
of illustrative projects that record data of interest for Byzantium. I proceed, it is important to note some of the promise and in the use of survey data in reconstructing problems archaeological
Before
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
221
past environments and economies. Firstly, survey methods vary con siderably, and those that yield the best results generally incorporate more permits precise of the survey efforts undertaken
local excavation, which Since many Tigris and Euphrates
were
ceramic
chronologies. in the valleys of the forerunners of dam projects, such excava
tion has not always been possible.
survey-sampling strategies naturally have built-in biases must that be considered in handling the material, and not all survey ors' methods are entirely clear. No matter what themethod employed, Likewise,
is always a In some cases, challenge. geomorphologi in obscure sites; others, later use may obscure earlier changes may is often difficult to Because knowledge of coarsewares occupation. to other, often early, occupa obtain, they may be wrongly assigned tion periods. levels based on numbers of sites is Interpretation of population as also problematic, many archaeologists have recognized, and thus the total occupied landscape area that belongs to a given period should site recognition
cal
of any rigorous analysis. Geographical form the component concern: the data considered herein come from is another coverage areas of the or may not riparian districts, which may typify other ancient and medieval Levant. Despite these considerable challenges,
also
as evidence
continues
to mount
in aims,
from a variety of surveys that differ we can be confident that we have
scope, and methods, a obtained broadly coherent picture of settlement and land exploita tion for the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. Nor should we be
variation is sometimes considerable, given the that regional and political conditions that prevailed from of diversity geographical the seventh to the eleventh centuries. These and other challenges surprised
will
be met
and overcome
as surveys continue
to grow
in number
and sophistication.2
The Tigris Valley
and his team worked along 1988 to 1990, Guillermo Algaze the course of the upper Tigris where it is joined by several tributaries,
From
Su notably theBatman Su River (ByzantineNymphaios), theBohtan
Su. In addition Algaze and the Garzan explored (Byzantine Zirma), the region of the Tigris itself around the modern town of Cizre, all in
preparationforportions of theGiineydogu Anadolu Projesi (GAP), a scheme that encompasses hydroelectric and irrigation sizeable portion of eastern Turkey. After decades of construction and $32 billion invested, the face of the Tigris and Euphrates and many of their tributaries will never be the same. Unfortunately, Algaze's work the massive
has been too cursory to provide a clear sense of the archaeology of the affected area. The published material has some of the characteristics
222
MICHAEL
DECKER
2
For references to the present state of
survey inMesopotamia
and for the problems
but overall utility of archaeological survey data, see T. Wilkinson, "Regional Approaches toMesopotamian
Archaeology:
The
Contribution ofArchaeological Surveys," Journal ofArchaeological Research 8 (2000): 220-67.
of emergency work, with coverage necessarily determined
areas by the
most quickly. that thefloodwatersfromdamswould affect In the late Roman/early
Byzantine
period,
the Batman
Su formed
part of the hinterland ofMartyropolis (modern Silvan). It is thus
an intensification of settle striking that the archaeological data show ment and land use, the textual evidence that portrays corroborating a the Around low river terrace lies flourishing region. Martyropolis
a meters above thewaterline and is therefore only few easily exploited means of canals. It thus investment in by required minimal lifting as or such waterwheels buck gear (norid) irrigating counterweighted ets were to available the late antique inhabitants. As (shaduf) that
Su approaches the Tigris, the low terrace broadens and presents a wide band of easily exploited, rich alluvium. its fortification program, witnessed Via in the of writings on the remains of for in the sixth century and Prokopios drawing the Batman
state made efforts to era, the Byzantine secure these to protect the farmlands and riparian crossing points that served as routes of trade and invasion.3 On the west bank of the
tifications of the medieval
Su at Semrah Tepe are found the remains of a fort that con trolled the crossing nearby at Malabadi. The finds from the imme
Batman
area of Semrah included a coin of the emperor Phocas Tepe as as a small amount of medieval well (602-10), early Byzantine and
diate
and
Islamic
glazed wares, perhaps indicating that the Byzantines returned to the spot after the emir ofMartyropolis finally submitted to Byzantine authority around 976. Settlement apparently declined after theMuslim conquests and only later, during the period
Byzantine
ofArtukid/Seljuk control (nth-i4th centuries), did settlement again no At time river to a conten that the peak. valley longer belonged tious frontier between two rival empires.4 Farther
east
Su valley, along the frontier zone, in the Garzan sites of the late many yielded pottery Roman/early Byzantine period. Like the Batman Su region, the Garzan Su region witnessed heavy settlement during the fourth seventh centuries. Farther through downstream
the Bohtan Su valley, the last of the surveyed tributar ies of the left bank of the traces of the brown Tigris, provided few and red wash ceramics that characterize late Roman/early Byzantine
occupation.
This
is
to the perhaps due region's situation:
Su districtformedpart of thehinterlandof Si'irt, 3
2.2.1-21;
the Bohtan
initiallypart of the
Dewing
241-81; G. Algaze, i988,"/iv~?S48,4 fo^): R. Breuninger, C. Lightfoot, and M. "The Rosenberg, Tigris-Euphrates
4
Archaeological
Prokopios, Buildings,
2.9.18-20;
2.4.3; 3.2.11-14; trans. H. B.
(Cambridge, Mass, 1971). G. Algaze, "ANew Frontier: First Results of the Tigris-Euphrates
Archaeological
Reconnaissance
Project,
Reconnaissance
Project: A
Preliminary Report of the 1989-1990 Seasons," Anatolica 17 (1991): 172-240; G.
Algaze, R. Breuninger, and J.Knudstad, "The Tigris-Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: Final Report of the Birecik and Carchemish Anatolica
BYZANTINE
Dam
Survey Areas,"
20 (1994): 1-96.
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
223
of Armenia,
kingdom
But the absence of late
and then Persarmenia.
antique pottery from the valley is somewhat perplexing, since there is at the fortress of at the conflu clear evidence of occupation (Jattepe ence of the and the Su. Bohtan Tigris In the main, survey around the plain of Cizre recorded Algaze's the result that the late Roman/early Byzantine period, in upper which is typically characterized Mesopotamia by small, dis a is persed settlement, underrepresented. The survey did record major at late Roman/early fortress and settlement associated Byzantine on thewest bank of the town Eski Hendek Tigris, 14 km north of the of Cizre. Eski Hendek was probably the late Roman fortress city of tell sites,with
The site reminds us by Ammianus Marcellinus.5 wit of themilitarized qualities of the Tigris region, which frequently nessed Persian and Byzantine raids and invasion. Despite this, settle
Bezabde,
mentioned
over much seem to have been fairly lively control.6 Roman/Byzantine
ment does
of the area under
Between theRivers: TheKhabur-Ballkh Watershed an of archaeological projects have produced impressive zones in river the where settled com chronicle of human occupation
A
number
and steppe land meet. late antiquity, the valley of the Khabur During Byzantine urban hubs. In the north lay Theodosiopolis
munities
in the south, Circesium.
Resaina), the length of the river. Because
These
possessed
two
(Ras el-Ayn/ two cities bracket, as itwere,
of the Khabur valley was length late antiquity, it is likely that another, as yet irrigated throughout in the middle reaches of the river unknown urban center developed This site is probably obscured by Islamic development.7 plain. the region around In the 1970s Deiderik examined Meijer course of the in Syria (ancient Qamishli Djaghdjagh along the a The Khabur. the of River, surveyed regions tributary Mygdonius) the
of theDjaghdjagh valley and the adjacentplains formedpart of the and after 363 portions of the covered area prob in Byzantine hands. After 507 this segment of territory was exten from Anastasiopolis/Dara. Meijer's work
ofNisibis,
hinterland
ably remained was governed sive; more than 300 sites were to the Early Byzantine 5
Ammianus
gestarum
Rerum
libri qui super sunt, 20.7.1; 20.11.6;
21.13.1, ed.W. 6
Marcellinus,
period,
Seyfarth (Leipzig,
(Bohtan Su/Garzan
1978).
Su/Cizre)
"The Tigris-Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project," 187-99; (Eski Hendek-Fenik/Bezabde)
224
MICHAEL
recorded. By my tally, 53 sites belong with 18 categorized broadly compared
DECKER
C. Lightfoot,
"The Site of Roman Bezabde," ed., Armies and Frontiers
in S. Mitchell,
inRoman and
Byzantine Anatolia (Oxford, 1983), 189-204. 7 J. Lauffray andW. Van Liere, "Nouvelle
prospection
Haute-Jezireh (1954): 129-48.
archeologique
dans la
syrienne," A A rchArSyr 4-5
180?1 -
160-1-
i4oj ,20H-1loo--
? I i6n-,
14-.
-
-
80--
.lll..ll
12-i 10?I
ll
-111
i?I
I
oPv 25-t-1 30?1-1 20
lllllllH
JiTil-bMiIIII
into "Hellenistic-Parthian-Roman" and 93 of the "Islamic byMeijer To the west of this zone, the Leilan Survey (fig. 6) Period" (fig. 5). found that evidence for the Byzantine period was triple that of the Roman
period the survey sample
and
to increase
in the Islamic period. so not is small and be overemphasized.8 should
and continued
But
The Tell Brak survey (fig.7) did not periodize earlyByzantine Islamic material,
to these later settlement referring can "First Millennium." One rubric of
instead
Fig. 5 Northeast Fig. 6 Leilan
Syria survey
survey
Fig. 7 Tell Brak survey Fig. 8 Tell Beydar survey. After T. "Tell Beydar Survey, 1998-99
Wilkinson, Annual
Report," http://oi.uchicago.edu/
research/pubs/ar/98-99/beydar.html.
phases under the general therefore gain only an impressionistic view of broad continuity in era settlement from the Hellenistic period. through the Muslim
Like the study around Tell Brak, theTell Beydar survey (fig. 8) data produce a similar image of settlement a combination some visible variations. Using over two seasons, surface reconnaissance
Beydar scape
survey recorded 82 sites. After in the midst of the contested lay
stability, though with of remote sensing and
Tell Tony Wilkinson's the treaty of 363, this land area between
the fortress
8
D. Meijer, A Survey inNortheastern
Syria (Istanbul,
BYZANTINE
1986).
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
225
35 ?I-1
_ !_H^^B_
40-^^H-^^=-
|
|
|
|
.
I I
city of Theodosiopolis (Ras el-Ayn) and Nisibis (Nusaybin). The surveyors recovered
evidence
of strong Hellenistic, Parthian, and the latter Byzantine-Sasanian period habitation, despite the posi on the boundaries tion of this of the empires between landscape Nisibis and Byzantine territory.9 in the pattern of human Changes exploitation of the landscape did occur, however. From the Hellenistic through Byzantine/
site numbers declined and sites periods, aggregate larger to smaller This settlements. habitation and gave way dispersed lack of large central urban centers parallel situa the above-noted Sasanian
tion that prevailed along the Tigris. The material from Tell Beydar to include the need for surveys in Mesopotamia underscores low-level sites in their thirteen late antique sites methodologies:
were found, but none of these were sited on tells. The ("Sasanian") area continued to be fairly densely settled during the Early Islamic as in not as but actively previous ages.10 period, From 1974 to 1978, Bertille Lyonnet collected data from the Khabur,
where
29 Byzantine
sites (14 of these are in question)
were
found and 14 sitesofUmayyad-Abbasid date (fig.9).This fieldwork, on tells, like most
from the Khabur, was led by archaeolo in interested earlier periods, but the evidence we gists glean from them is nonetheless valuable. Jean-Yves Monchambert's work focused
most
focused
on the middle
the Hellenistic/Roman to the Islamic
9
period
J. Eidem and D. Warburton,
Khabur period,
In the lower stretches of the river (fig. 10).
"In the
Land ofNagat: A Survey around Tell Brak," Iraq 58 (1996): 51-64.
to valley, where 30 sites belonged 11 to the and 15 (early) Byzantine,
io
(Tell Beydar) T. Wilkinson, Survey of the Tell Beydar Region, Syria, 1997: A Preliminary Report,"
"Archaeological Subartu
6 (2001):
1-37;Wilkinson,
Beydar Survey: 1998-99 Annual
"Tell
Report,"
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/ar /98-99/beydar.html.
226
MICHAEL
DECKER
I I
.
Fig. 9 Khabur survey (Upper Khabur). After B. Lyonnet, "Settlement Pattern in the Upper Khabur." Fig. 10 Middle
Khabur Valley
in the territory of Circesium, data from surveys once more
preliminary
140-i-1
suggest that, in the Hellenistic-Parthian peri beginning Site ods, settlement was more dispersed. over
size also decreased the Hellenistic,
when
of
spatial distribution environment. This ists
periods predating tells dominated the the human-built
trend, with
out
the
agricultur length of the
along and villages on the plain, apparently little interruption
fanning in hamlets
valley
persisted with through the Roman,
and early Byzantine, was appar early Islamic periods. The latter ently particularly well settled (fig. ii).11 next The of the major tributary
west of the Khabur is the Balikh Excavation Euphrates (fig. 2). to and and survey work in this region has focused on periods prior after Byzantine site the latter notably on the Abbasid occupation,
Fig. ii Lower Khabur Valley
sites in the valley. According cen valley survey, the period from the first a inten tury BCE to thirteenth century CE marked long phase of was sive settlement. The densest the Early period of occupation
ofMadinat to Karin
Islamic
al-Far and other
Bartl's
Islamic
Balikh
era, to which
large urban of occupation
new town of Madinat al-Far, a belongs the center (more than 100 ha in extent). The precise range at the site is uncertain. While
the town with
the Umayyad
foundation
the excavators of Hisn
Maslama
identify known
are Abbasid from literary sources, the stratified finds as published in date.12 Future work will almost confirm the earlier certainly in fact, if the al-Far. It would be unsurprising, origin of Madinat site In other predates the Islamic conquests regions of altogether. the steppe lands in the transitional and the steppe, other sites bear
zone between
striking
the settled lands
testimony
to
Byzantine
period vitality,including importantBalikh valley sites,Tell Sheikh ii (Upper Khabur) B. Lyonnet, "Settlement Pattern in theUpper Khabur to the (N.E. Syria), from theAchaemenids 'Abbasid Period: Methods and Preliminary Results from a Survey," in Continuity and Change inNorthern Mesopotamia from the to theEarly Islamic Period, ed. K. Bartl and S. R. Hauser (Berlin, 1996),
Hellenistic
349-61;
(Middle Khabur)
Monchambert,
J.-Y.
"Le Moyen Khabour:
Prospection preliminaire a la construction d'un barrage," AArchArSyr 33 (1983): 233
J. Ergenzinger, W. and H. Kuschner, "The
37; (Lower Khabur) Frey, H. Kiihne,
of Environment, Irrigation and Development of Settlement on the jabur inNorth-East Syria," in Conceptual Issues
Reconstruction
inEnvironmental D. Davidson,
Archaeology, ed.]. Bintliff, and E. Grant (Edinburgh,
1988), 122, fig.8; see also W. Rollig and H. "The Lower Khabur: A Preliminary
Kiihne,
Report on a Survey Conducted
by the Tiibinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients in 1975,"AArchArSyr
32 (1977/1978):
115-40;
W. Rollig and H. Kiihne, "Lower Khabur: Second Preliminary Report on a Survey in i977,"^4^4rc/?^r,S)/r33 (1983): 187-99; most recently (unseen): H. Kiihn, Magdalu/Magdala:
Tall Seh Hamad
von
derpostassyrischen Zeit bis zur romischen Kaiserzeit (Berlin, 2005). 12 K. (Madinat al-Far/Hisn Maslama) Bartl, "The Balih Valley, Northern Syria, during the Islamic Period: Remarks Concerning
the Historical
Berytus 41 (1993-1994):
BYZANTINE
EAST
Topography,"
29-38.
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
227
or Tell
40 km north of Raqqa,
Hasan,
Sheikh-Hamad,
an
Assyrian
foundation (Dur Katlimmu) on theKhabur thatpersisted through the Byzantine period. Settlements elsewhere in the steppe zone in in the steppe lands the desert or transitional areas, like Androna, south of Chalcis,
or Euaria,
near Emesa,
grew considerably.13 recorded 80 siteswith
traces along in the of 10th of occupation early Islamic period (mid 8th-beginning are were to time which dated this and of 25 prob securely century), 55 sites are securely dated to the late Roman/early able. Twenty-three survey work
Bartl's
the Balikh
sites are labeled Byzantine Period (4th~7th centuries) and another 14 as In that the early Islamic "potentially" late Roman/early Byzantine. in many of the surveys discussed is fairly poorly represented period
fromtheTigris and the landsbetween itand theEuphrates, thefinds the Balikh present an interesting anomaly. along There are several possible reasons for these findings. The first, and
most is that some material classified in other surveys likely, perhaps era. A second to the as possibility Early Islamic "Byzantine" belongs is sitemigration, with people who lived in the more exposed frontier farther inland regions of the upper Tigris and Euphrates moving or as part of an to the Balikh, organized perhaps either voluntarily of relocation initiated by the caliphal authorities. Such movements the conquered populations were not uncommon within theUmayyad or in the state. Settlements were Euphrates newly founded expanded attention to Abbasids The and early paid particular Umayyads valley.
theregionof themiddle Euphrates,becauseHisham b.Abd al-Malik
resided at and further developed confluence. Al Mansur Balikh-Euphrates (d. 743)
not far from the
Rusafa,
(d. 775)
constructed
al
to replacetheoldHellenistic Rafiqa (Raqqa) on themodel ofBaghdad
site of Irrigation early Byzantine period Nikephorion/Callinicum.14 attended the development works and other agrarian development the precise period of peak population, of these cities. Whatever 13
C.-P. Haase,
"Madinat
al-Far: The of an Early
Regional Late Antique Tradition in Bartl and Hauser, Islamic Foundation,"
Continuity and Change, 29-38; C.-P. Haase, al-Far?First Archaeological
"Madinat
"Excavations
and Survey at
Androna, Syria: The Oxford Team 1999," DOP 56 (2002): 307-15 (after I completed this work, the publication of the Harran Survey work ofN. Yardimci came tomy attention, but Iwas unable to take these
transfers) Al Baladhuri, The Origins of the Islamic State, ed. and trans. P. Hitti (New York, 1916), 253; (Raqqa/Nikephorion/ Callinicum) M. Meinecke, "Raqqa on the Euphrates, Recent Excavations
data into account
inBilad al-Sham during theAbbasid Period, Proceedings of theFifth International
Ovasi Yuzey Arastirmasi/Archaeological 2 vols. [Istanbul, Survey in theHarran Plain,
Near East
2004]); M. M. Mango, "Excavations and Survey at Androna, Syria: The Oxford Team
Palestine,
1991), 1: 206-55; Valley
(Balikh) K. Bartl, "Balih of the Late Survey?Settlements and Islamic Period,"
Roman/Early Byzantine in Bartl and Hauser, Continuity and Change,
MICHAEL
333-48;
DECKER
(Androna) M. M.
2000," DOP 14
[N. Yardimci, Harran
57 (2003): 293-97. "Prospeccion en el (Siria). Informe provisional,"
J.M. Cordoba,
valle rio BallhAula Orientalis Fruhislamische
6 (1988): 149-88; K. Bartl, Besiedlung imBalih-Tal/
(Berlin, 1994); (population
Nordsyrien
Soundings at the Site and theHistory of an Umayyad Domain inAbbasid Times,"
on theHistory ofBilad al-Sham, Conference ed. M. A. al-Bakhit and R. Schick (Amman,
228
Mango,
Residence
of Harun
er-Rashid,"
at the
in The
inAntiquity: German Contributions to theArchaeology S. Kerner
ofJordan, and Egypt, ed. 1990), 2:17-32; M.
Syria, Lebanon, (Amman,
and K. Kohlmeyer, "Unter suchungen zu ar-Raqqa-Nikephorion/
al-Khalaf
Callinicum,"
DM
2 (1985): 133-62.
-i-1
45
120-.
40-g-
5S" ^
C
we have evidence
^
J?
-^
i^>
Total Sites Visited
"-^^^c?
in this part of the frontier change with the foundation of new centuries,
for considerable
zone
during the sixth-ninth settlements, the creation of new fortified sites, palace attendant agricultural installations.
^^^^^^H
building,
_
^^^^^^^^^H
"Roman Sites"
Fig. 12 Sajur survey Fig. 13 Jabbul survey
and
TheEuphrates Valley
A number of surveys along the Euphrates offer data that permit scope for comparison, both in the Euphrates valley itself, and with the north Jazira material. The Sajur Survey (fig. 12),which canvassed much of of early the territory of the city of Hierapolis (Membij), the capital Byzantine
Euphratensis,
recorded more
settlements from the Roman
Byzantine period thandid anyother.The Jabbul Survey (fig.13)also offers only rough-grained data, but these again are evocative: of the remains. Over sites surveyed, more than half bear traces of Roman
most
of the Levant,
there was
strong settlement continuity from the to the early Byzantine period. The Jabbul Survey
early Roman down therefore indicates that this portion of the province of Euphratensis was well region populated until the medieval period.15
and his team explored a 60 km stretch of the river valley Algaze area contained the late to Halfeti.16 The from Carchemish surveyed cities of and Samosata. Roman-/early Byzantine-period Zeugma is now well known for the richness of the mosaics the emer Zeugma there as well as for its tragic loss. The finds gency work uncovered 15 (Sajur Survey) P. Sanlaville, ed.,Holocene Settlement inNorth Syria (Oxford, 1985); (Jabbul) R. Maxwell-Hyslop, J.du Plat-Taylor, M. V. Seton-Williams, and J.D. Waechter, "An Archaeological 1939 "PEQ,74
Survey of the Plains of Jabbul, (1942-43):
8-40.
\6
G. Algaze, R. Breuninger, and "The Tigris-Euphrates
J.Knudstad,
Reconnaissance Project: Archaeological Final Report of the Birecik and Carchemish Dam
Survey Areas," Anatolica
20 (1994):
1-96.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
229
so far suggest a Roman urban center that persisted in its flourishing to the end of the prosperity early Byzantine period. Recon the Around Zeugma Tigris-Euphrates Archaeological naissance Project noted "a substantial peak in the population of the area" (fig. 14) during the early Byzantine period. were traces of this late antique population the expansion
Birecik-Carchemish
Among found a number of dispersed settlements, perhaps farmsteads or villas. across the The spread of landscape generally indicates outlying farms as intensive less fertile farmers colonized and land both security use,
to do so. The over areas of the city landscape and felt safe enough all picture is one inwhich both town and country flourished in late a in theUmayyad antiquity, with precipitous drop population during There are several explanations for the lack of evidence for the period. earliest phase of Islamic control. As mentioned above, there appears
in the to be broad continuity inmany of the ceramics manufactured sixth and seventh centuries. Thus wares classified late Roman/early
the Byzantine may obscure early Islamic occupation. Alternatively, that lack of recognizable Umayyad pottery may reflect depopulation to came about due to Byzantine territory, deportation by emigration or inwarfare and its attendant miseries. death the Arab authorities, the case, Zeugma does not feature prominently in the tex it seems that the city tual sources of theMuslim probable period, and the waned after conquests.17
Whatever
other projects along the upper Euphrates produce results settlement. Survey that validate the picture of dense early Byzantine Roman few found remains, of the Keban Reservoir region (fig. 15) the middle period) was well rep while Byzantine material (including from Kurban Hoyiik is evidence the resented.18 More (fig. revealing Three
Byzantine period had the greatest 16), where the late Roman/early era. The findings from the Titrif Regional settlement extent of any reveal likewise heavy settlement: late Roman/early Survey (fig. 17) it is sites far exceed those of any other period, while Byzantine G. Parthey, ed., Hieroclis Synecdemus etNotitiae Graecae Episcopatuum (Berlin,
17
1866), 41; H. Gelzer,
ed., Georgii Cyprii
Descriptio orbis Romani (Leipzig, 1890), 871-75; A. H. M.Jones, Cities of theEastern Roman Provinces, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1998), "Sumaysat," EP 9: 871b; S. Redford, The Archaeology of theFrontier 532; C. P. Haase, of theMedieval
Near East: Excavations
at
Gritille, Turkey (Philadelphia, 1998), 5-8; see J.Wagner, Seleukia am
On Zeugma,
EuphratI Zeugma
230
MICHAEL
(Wiesbaden,
DECKER
1976);
et al., "Mission C. Abadie-Reynal de Zeugma. Rapport sur la archeologique de campagne prospection 1995,"AnatAnt 4 E. Bucak, (1996): 311-24; C. Abadie-Reynal, Vallee E. Bulgan et al., "Zeugma-Moyenne de l'Euphrate, rapport preliminaire de la campagne de fouilles de 1999," AnatAnt 8 et al., (2000): 279-338; C. Abadie-Reynal de des campagnes "Rapport preliminaire fouilles de 2000," AnatAnt
9 (2001): 243
305; D. Kennedy, ed., The Twin Towns of on theEuphrates: Rescue Work and
Zeugma
Historical
Studies
(Portsmouth, R.I.,
1998);
R. Early and J.H. Humphrey, eds., Zeugma: Interim Reports, Rescue Excavations Institute): Inscription (Packard Humanities Mars, House ofAntiochus I, Bronze Statue of and Mosaic of the Synosai, and Recent Work on theRoman Army at Zeugma (Portsmouth, R.I., 2003). R. Whallon, An Archaeological Survey oftheKeban Reservoir Area ofEast-Central 18
Turkey (Ann Arbor, Mich.,
1979).
250?,-.
_ Fig. 14 Birecik Carchemish Survey region. 230_ After Algaze et al., "Tigris-Euphrates 220- Project,"
Fie. 15 Keban
&
200-
fig. 14.
190180
Reservoir
Fig. 16 KurbanHoyiik _ Fig. 17 Titris regional survey
-
160-mm?
-
150-?
-
140-?
-
130-_ -
120-
40
-
110-? 100-35-1
60-
-
h
j.
I
25
90-30-T-M-|
I? 701 -
Hi
20-??
?iii^i?=i=
35
?1-1
30
25?1-1
20-1-
2S
^ ,-c ,-c tr &y cT fc ,qd ^ ?> P ^"ll'iTi'l'fl1 ?jfffffff^fiff * >8 ^ 8 ^ *"?^ ? # ? ? *2fZ * -3 f ? C^ ^ ^
^o ^
W
BYZANTINE
i
EAST
FRONTIER
^ *8 'il
ECONOMY
23I
no certain telling that
perhaps
traces of habitation
belonging
earlyIslamic (Abbasid) periodwere found.19
to the
survey in southeastern the wealth and variety Turkey intensive systematic of sites requiring investigation. Unfortunately, in many areas, and the survey was never undertaken picture thus Results
from Umit
from Kemaliye
remains qualitative.
Serdaroglu's broad to Keban underscore
Nevertheless
we find the Byzantine period well of 58 sites yielded early Byzantine
n represented. Approximately ceramics, with substantial sites known
near
Malatya
(Melitene)
and
Samsat
(Samosata).20 in the midst of the fertile Karababa Samosata basin, where lay water ren a pleasant climate, long growing season, and abundant dered the hinterland fertile to the extreme. Alluvium deposited by further sustained frequent springtime flooding of the Euphrates its From earliest the crops of this stretch of the valley. history, then, Samosata was probably an agricultural center rather than the locus of or extensive animal husbandry was ranching activity, though herding as a communication center The city's importance always prominent. was marked; and it commanded the only crossing between Melitene and (Hierapolis) Manbij across the river to Edessa
the only convenient route from Anatolia thus (Urfa), 50 km to the south. Samosata
its agri communication with Edessa, where itmarketed enjoyed easy to in 958 in but Muslims the cultural surplus. The city fell 639/40, it. Samosata became part of the theme of John Tzimiskes reconquered center and a Byzantine administrative "the poleis on the Euphrates" in of control and consolidation and staging post for the expansion to capture in 1031 forces marched from Samosata imperial Edessa. After the battle of Mantzikert (1071), the center fell under into Crusader hands, never to return and then control passed Seljuk at both cities was to the practiced Byzantines. Irrigated agriculture Late Antiquity, probably with the assistance of water throughout because the depth of the banks of the Euphrates lifting machines, canal building in all save the lowest river terrace areas. challenges the East:
In theRoman period, theLegio III Gallica engaged inbuilding a
water-screw
at Samosata,
and Islamic geographers
that the agri
noted
The cultureof the landscapedepended on both rainfalland irrigation. medieval isknown
extensive Roman
fate of Samosata's to have run more
system,which River and the
than 40 km along is unknown. The omission
bank of the Euphrates,
right duct by theMuslim
aqueduct theKahta
of the aque that ithad fallen into
indicate geographers may the aqueduct functioned in some disuse after the conquest. However, as late as the sixth century, when an inscription recorded the capacity a stretch of it. Samosata remained a frontier city until the repair of Turks overran the Byzantine East in the eleventh century. The loss of
232
MICHAEL
DECKER
19
G. Algaze, A. Misir,
Wilkinson, of California
and T. J.
"?anliurfa Museum/University Excavations and Surveys at
Titrish Hoyuk, 1991:A Preliminary Report," 18 (1992): 33-60.
Anatolica
20 U. Serdaroglu, Asagi Firat Havzasinda Arastirmalar: 197s Surveys in theLower Basin (Ankara, 1977). Euphrates
more the aqueduct suggests a medieval city much modest than its late antique predecessor.21 now sub The remains of ancient Samosata,
80-1-1 70-? 60-?
once covered 80 ha. There were both upper merged, and lower cities. The upper city mound, which the oldest settlement at undoubtedly comprised the site, once rose some 45 m above
-j -
50-?
the river. The
an area of 3 ha, was par which occupied in 1964-70. The latest occupation excavated tially to at Samosata was apparently the Seljuk period, an ceram which belonged abundance of medieval mound,
ics and structural remains
I). Traces of the (Level III) were noted early Byzantine occupation exca along the perimeter of the citywalls. Further at Samosata in 1978-87; vations were conducted (Level
I*
0?*
J ^
circuit wall. Despite the these investigated the 5 km long Roman site archae of work conducted the and the of there, years importance remain ological data from Samosata meager.22 and Savas Mehmet survey Harmankaya's Ozdogan and its surroundings noted enclosed portion of Samosata dated to the Classical period and 26 from the "Post-Classical"
of
I"
*
I-1-1
<" ^
- 4? ^
Fig. 18 Adiyaman
" I
I"
I
-
? ir
survey
the
12 sites
period of the latter sites were Byzantine-early Islamic, refinement is not possible. The Adiyaman survey further
and stated that most
but more
the plains south and east of the modern town of Adiyaman, in antiquity formed part of the hinterland of Samosata. that territory The preliminary finds of this survey discovered medieval period explored
pottery at 73 sites (compared with 74 yielding Roman wares?fig. was at Tille of which the Adiyaman 18). Excavation Survey Hoyiik, a an extension, check on the survey pottery. provided chronological on site it numbers alone that the population While may be inferred did not suffer a dramatic
increase or decrease
from one period did not increase markedly settlement the dispersed
unknown
to another), Roman over the Hellenistic of
characteristic
(total occupied area is settlement apparently
period. Interestingly, the Roman and late
contrasts with that of the medieval period, when period new centers arose, often around fortified sites. One might recall that
Roman
2i
(Samosata) A. Kazhdan,
"Samosata,"
3:1836; E. Honigmann, Die Ostgrenze des byzantinischen Reiches von 363 bis 1071
ODB
Technical 1978-1979;
University, Asagi Firat Projesi (^alismalari: Lower Euphrates
Project 1978-1979 Activities
(Ankara,
1987),
(Brussels, 1935); G. LeStrange, Palestine under theMoslems: From A.D. 6$o to i$oo
284-89.
(Beirut, 1965), 535; (aqueduct) U. Izmirligil, "The Samosata (Samsat) Aqueduct
1977 Survey (Istanbul, 1977), 117;T. Goell, "Samosata Archeological Excavations,
Investigations,
1978-1979,"
inMiddle
East
22
M. Ozdogan,
Lower Euphrates Basin
Turkey, 1967,"National
Geographic Society
Research Reports 1967 (1974): 83-109; U. Serdaroglu, Asagi Firat Havzasinda Arastirmalar:
197$ Surveys on theLower
Euphrates Basin (Ankara, 1977); A. Tirpan, "The Roman Walls of Samosata," in The Eastern Frontier of theRoman Empire, ed. D. French and C. Lightfoot (Oxford, 1989), 2: 519-36.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
233
is at variance with
certain parts of the sites Byzantine Tigris Valley, where Roman/Early grouped around fortified points and latermedieval this pattern
settlement was
can
scattered. One
on the limited evidence,
based region
was
only speculate, that the Samosata
than the regions explored and that the late antique inhabitants felt less threatened
by Algaze some distance secure in the countryside dwelling from major military points.23 10 km Gritille on the Euphrates, upstream of shared with the latter the space of the Samosata,
basin.24 Gritille was fortified by the during the eleventh century when they
fertileKarababa
Byzantines returned toMesopotamia
for the last time: the sub
sequent phases belong to the twelfth and early thir teenth centuries, with abandonment by the middle
18_i-1 16-1 14-' 12 10 -
8--
*i?
-J?^
$" ^
o
c?
.^r ?
i? &
^ # i ? -| $? i ^* *t i ? i i& i<2f^#?g 2~?a? $
of the latter century. Landscape survey that covered a 43 km2 area around Gritille on the west bank of the Euphrates revealed that the late Roman/early Byzantine period and the late medieval period were
Fig. 19 Gritille
survey
sites (fig. 19) that a area to the total of 10.73 na> Early Byzantine period covered belonged centuries yielded while themedieval phase of the eleventh-thirteenth same area (10.72 ha). two Abbasid seven sites Only covering the only both characterized
by peak
settlement. Seventeen
siteswere known. We cannot completely rule out the possibility period that the Umayyad period is invisible to us, and that settlement in the
Karababa However,
basin persisted at a high level after the end of Byzantine rule. the late Roman/early Byzantine occupation around Gritille
as noted farther north, once attests to the same dispersed population secure testament to conditions in which farmsteads and ham again
to the land worked over the countryside, closer period remains, including the by the farmers of the district. Medievalmore unsettled conditions: occu brief Byzantine reoccupation, suggest letswere distributed
on the fortified points of Gritille and Samosata and pation depended of the Seljuk state in the face of the quickly waned with the collapse invasions. Mongol
Antioch andNorth Syria in theEarly Byzantine Period
the key to northern Syria and Cilicia. It held a particularly important place within the strategic geography of the early Byzantine was much contested. Persian armies attacked Antioch in period and 529, and the city was sacked in 540. The Sasanians again besieged suc the city in 573 and seized control in 609/10. In 636/37, Antioch to control until under their cumbed theMuslims and remained 969.
Antioch was
The
234
second period of Byzantine
MICHAEL
DECKER
occupation
lasted until 1078.
S. R. Blaylock, D. H. French, and 23 G. D. Summers, "The Adiyaman Survey: An Interim Report," AnatSt 40 (1990): 81-135. 24
Redford, "Archaeology"
(above, n. 17).
In late antiquity,
the city was
the seat of the
magister militum
of
theEast, and thehead of one of the supplyroutesof theeasternfront
to the sea via theMediterranean ports against Persia with its outlet of Seleukia Pieria and Antioch. the fourth-seventh centuries, During Antioch remained a vital civil administration center, the capital of
a terminus on a Syria Prima, major routes of trade, and market for a the agricultural produce of In the midst of flourishing hinterland. this territory lay the low chain of limestone hills (Limestone Massif)
where many of themore than seven hundred early Byzantine villages have been explored and so vividly detailed by the work of Tchalenko, Tate, and others. The produce from the Limestone Massif, mainly olive oil and wine,
served the needs of both the
regional towns, such also and Constantinople
as Antioch,
and Chalcis, and Apamea, overseas markets. was upon Surplus production predicated investment within the and heavy countryside, political demographic or overseas markets where the stability growth, and the existence of an outlet. agricultural surpluses found other
It is difficult
to determine
its
Antioch
and
medieval
Antioch
Antioch
and
the hinterland of precisely when of declined. city Apamea Certainly
neighboring was not the same as its late city antique predeces a muros which intra had sor, of about 150,000, and population prob same number in the suburbs. This is to say ably the living nothing of the rural population who made their home in the large plain of the
the considerable inter surrounding hills. Despite est shown in the Limestone Massif, scientific survey and widespread excavation have been the Limestone
Massif
slow to advance flourished
there. Tchalenko
until
the Persian
that
believed
invasions of the
mid-sixth
in the century, and then declined markedly early-seventh Sasanian cut the Antiochene century occupation which, he argued, off from its natural market hinterland outlets around the Tate's research showed that settlement in peaked the later fifth century and the mid-sixth century had decreased by More Foss has significantly. recently, suggested that the combina tion of invasion and plague caused substantial attrition among the
Mediterranean.
population
in the sixth century and a dwindling
G. Tchalenko,
Villages antiques de la Syrie du Nord: Le massif du Belus a I'epoque romaine, 3 vols. (Paris, 1953-1958); G. Tate, 25
Les campagnes de la Syrie du Nord du He au Vile siecle: un exemple d 'expansion demo graphique et economique dans les campagnes a la fin de I'antiquite (Paris, 1992); C. Foss, "Syria inTransition, A.D. 550-750: An
of population
until
51 (1997): Archaeological Approach," DOP 189-269; M. Decker, "Food for an Empire: Wine and Oil Production inNorth Syria," in Economy and Exchange
in theEast
Mediterranean
during Late Antiquity: Proceedings ofa Conference at Somerville College, Oxford, 29thMay, 1999, ed. S. Kingsley and M. Decker (Oxford, 2001), 69-86.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
235
was in the 630s.26 the coming of the Muslims Trombley, however, more in the Antiochene, optimistic in his assessment of occupation and using epigraphic data he concluded that the region maintained a
substantial
population into the eleventh
monks
in the twelfth.27
only
of
and agriculturalists Syriac-speaking century, with Arabization taking place
It seems likely, however, that when the Byzantines returned to a in the tenth century, at the Antioch they entered minor city fringe of the caliphate, not a of the booming provincial capital. Discussion in the cities and settlement elsewhere is neces fate of Antioch of light settlement in the Levant, since sary in any consideration of medieval recent work has at the heart of the discussion of urban placed the city transformation. Medieval Antioch still contained at least some of the monumental lation was
buildings
to it in late antiquity, but its popu close to its late antique peak: a tenth
ascribed
certainly nothing to is of fifty thousand century population seventy-five thousand a reasonable was not in The fall the guess. only probably population on the great encroached of the porticoes change. Buildings gradually
century, been 40 m wide, until the city that had, in the mid-sixth was classical grid covered by medieval structures.28 Jean Lassus dated this activity to after 636,29 but recently Hugh Kennedy andWolfgang this interpretation. Relying primarily on Liebeschuetz challenged and Apamea evidence from Gerasa, Pella, Antioch, they argue that, at the end of in the Byzantine rule, illicit building increasingly closed most cities. The fact that the cities of Byzantine formerly open grids of no resistance to the Muslim invaders is also offered Syria-Palestine raised in the debate on the transformation of urban space; both phe nomena
are viewed
as
products of ineffective government. Kennedy the swift conquest as reflective of long-standing demographic state at the time that gripped the Byzantine and economic malaise to this line of argument, cities were no of the conquests. According centers of trade or artisan activity on any scale, nor were they longer home to a prosperous or numerous elite who engaged in trade. Their is therefore in the face of theMuslims unsurprising.30 collapse viewed
For an interesting analysis of the relics of the plan of Antioch in today's town, see
26 (Population ofAntioch) G. Downey, A History ofAntioch in Syria: From Seleucus
28
to theArab Conquest (Princeton, 1961); E. Will, "Antioche sur l'Oronte: Metropole de
P. Pinon, "Permanences
l'Asie," Syria 74 (1997): 99-114; C. Foss, "Syria inTransition," 202. 27
F. Trombley,
Cultural Transition Antioch, (2004):
apres 5 (2004):
J. Lassus, Antioch on-the-Orontes, vol. 5,
Les portiques dAntioche
of 5
136-37,149-50.
(Decline
(Princeton,
1972),
MICHAEL
DECKER
and Apamea andW.
and
Liebeschuetz,
"Antioch and theVillages
of
Syria in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries A.D.: Trends and Problems,"
Northern
Studies 32 (1989):
65-90; Tchalenko,
Villages antiques, 68-75 (above, n.25); C. Foss, "The Near Eastern Countryside in Late Antiquity: A Review in J.H. Humphrey, ed., The Roman and Byzantine Near East (Portsmouth, R.I.,
Article,"
1995), 213-23.
236
ofAntioch
their hinterlands) H. Kennedy
Nottingham Mediaeval
191-219. 29
6th-8th c," TOP OI Supplement 341-62.
dans la topographie d'Antioche l'Antiquite," TOPOISupplement
and
"Demographic in the Territorium
et transformations
30
ii
10 ?
9
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I
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iii
p^P
?'N \\r\\ \\T\
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t. i?iii \0 r\;OO O ?< ?/"N ?/-y/Y vO SO
.0-0-:
1 i fs
I
s
r*^\ SO
ii
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iii?^n-1-1 ?/-\ rvl 'h^j
a?Pip?SrFlrjYhrr?
_:5:?i=rrhi^?^=rr^rlS~N~i"iiri?Slf^h^.sh
I
I
< ^ 6-1111111 0 Civil (22) Buildings
?
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5-n-D
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$
p
MlI'M I
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i?
S
Churches (57) Synagogues
-p"
(5)
j
i
i iL111 111LIU -_l? LLL ILJ ?LJl L IL^MU-UM^Bbl^MbiLtLlLlli i i i 11 11 Iii i LLl 11 i 11 i i j 11 11 111llLu 11 11 111
11 111 111 11 111 11 11 i 11 111 11 11 11 11 111 11 11 i j r 111111 ? t 11 it i ri 111 j oio oooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooo 00 aO?-NM"ttft\0N000?O Ot-NWtinONCOOiOi-NMtW^N VO <$
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Chronology
the notion of a recently advanced civic build sixth-century erosion of pride and standards of living and are are economic and with These linked inextricably change ing. Wolfgang
Liebeschuetz
therefore more
has
an to traditional scholarly notions of closely yoked to it in Muslim crisis vulnerable that rendered society
early Byzantine takeover. According
to Liebeschuetz,
a number of afflictions, such as
invasion
north Syria, depopulated plague, earthquakes, which began to decline sharply after 550.He additionally argues that the southern cities of Syria-Palestine also declined, though later and less severely. He further appears to hypothesize a slow descent from and Persian
the Early Byzantine
period with population
Fig. 20 Inscriptions in Israel 340 790. From L. Di Segni, "Epigraphic on Building in the and Arabia, of Palaestina
Documentation Provinces 4th-7th
c,"
in The Roman and
Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H. Humphrey (Portsmouth, R.I.,
1999), table 4a.
and prosperity declining
after750, finallyhittingbottom in theAbbasid or Fatimidperiod. is certainly correct in
the fate of the villages linking of the hill country of northern Syria with the fate of the cities towhich But his view, shared byHugh Kennedy, that the region they belonged. declined from the mid-sixth century, is contradicted by the material Liebeschuetz
the importation of and requires reassessment.31 At Antioch wares in the Princeton expedition, the mainte uncovered red Coptic con nance of late into themedieval antique buildings period, and the tinued mention ofAntioch as a town by theArabic geographers argues evidence
for continuity of settlement there. In the hinterland of Antioch at Al red ware pottery and coins of Justin I, Justinian, the Coptic Mina, to a and Herakleios occupation phase sixth-seventh-century belong of the site, suggesting continuity at least to theMuslim conquest. As
H. Kennedy, "The Last Century of Byzantine Syria: A Reinterpretation," ByzF io (1985): 141-83. 31
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
237
Foss notes,
the last inscriptions from the Limestone Massif hinter land of the city date to 610, and those around Epiphaneia (Hama) and
Chalcis
to 605.32 The latter in region, particular,
offers a considerable
body of epigraphyto suggestbriskbuilding activityafter$$0 (fig.20).33 In her reassessment of Dehes,
the only published excavation from the concludes that the houses of the villages, Magness to con settlement were built during the mid-sixthseventh-century struction, which calls for reconsideration of the accepted chronology
Limestone
Massif
of thehill villages and ofAntioch itself.34 Recent
survey in the Amuq of the environment
to our valley has added substantially of north Syria. Previous archaeologi
knowledge cal work has generally focused on the limestone hills around Antioch. a data By contrast, the Amuq Valley Regional Project has produced set for the richer as well as the more agricultural lowlands marginal environments. In his the of project, Jesse Casana publication upland
far larger than we have previously allowed, because previous work has missed of urban habitation large portions visible in satellite imagery. The plains around the city have also finally noted
that Antioch
was
to remains. Until now give up their Roman-Byzantine period begun these sites were overlooked when survey centered on the impres sive tells of the Antiochene hinterland. The landscape survey in the
reveals a densely settled, highly interlocking rural network, Amuq with extensive communications and intensive agricultural develop a not is network of canals that utilized thewaters least ofwhich ment, of the Orontes.35
TheByzantine-Muslim Frontierfrom theSeventh to theTenth Centuries The old frontier along the Tigris and Euphrates proved untenable in the face ofMuslim expansion. As the Byzantines retreated from Syria the borderlands shifted farther west, along and upper Mesopotamia, and were, like all medieval the Taurus and Anti-Taurus, frontiers, a attacks on the cities of
broad zone of contact and contention. Muslim Anatolia
serious and sustained. Yet many of these centers Others, somewhat, and few suffered total abandonment.
were both
recovered
Foss, "Syria inTransition," 261; (Umm el-Jimal) J. Betlyon and B. DeVries, Umm
32
eljimal: A Frontier Town and itsLandscape (Portsmouth, R.I., 33
A. Lane,
Finds at Al Mina 2nd series 37
Syria," Archaeologia, (1938): 19-78; L. Woolley, "The Excavations at Al Mina, Suedia 11,"JHS 58 (1938): 133 70, illustrating finds of LRi amphorae Byzantine
238
MICHAEL
lamps.
DECKER
(Winona Lake, Dehes
1998).
"Medieval
inNorth
J-Magness, The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement inPalestine 34
and
Indiana,
2003),
196-209; excava
remains the only published
tion from the Limestone Massif,
a
glaring that archaeologists must move to address (J.-P. Sodini, G. Tate, et al.,
weakness "Dehes
(Syrie du Nord).
(1976-1978).
Recherches
Syria 57 (1980): 1-304.
I?III Campagnes sur l'habitat rural,"
35 J-Casana, "The Archaeological Landscape of Late Roman Antioch," in I. Sandwell and J.Huskinson, Culture and Society inLater Roman Antioch (Oxford, 2004),
102-25.
remained and Tzamandos, (Sivas), Tyana, Mokissos, centers of size and importance late into themedieval varying period.3 Euchaita, on the northern fringes of the plateau, prospered deep into the seventh century and continued to have a vibrant commercial life like Sebasteia
centered on the cult of Saint Theodore After the battle ofMantzikert
Teron.37
in 1071, the Turks
swiftly
overran
plateau, whose fate has been largely attrib uted to the nature of the landscape itself and the nomadic element of of the Anatolian
much
Turkish
of the core of Anatolia were large parts high a harsh climate, few trees, and scant surface water,
culture. Since
land steppe with the region is naturally viewed
as the domain
thus an element of environmental
of pastoralists. There is determinism present in our views
the Seljuks came to control the uplands, while the Greeks were confined to the coasts, a situation not primarily altogether dif ferent from that which prevailed during the Achaemenid empire.38 of how
nor Cilicia offers the same range of archae Cappadocia as does Syria-Palestine. The Konya Plains Survey, led ological data Baird, explored lands just to the west of Cappadocia by Douglas and found an early Byzantine (sth-7th centuries) peak settlement. this time, numbers of settlements increased substantially: 90 During Neither
siteswere still in the percent of the Roman occupied early Byzantine sites and of evidence contained 70 percent period, Early Byzantine of Roman Baird's results thus indicate strong period occupation.
of existing communities. invasion of mar Agricultural is on the land. clearly evidenced, indicating pressures ginal landscapes a thus Demographic growth engendered shortage of high-quality arable land, which led to colonization of alluvial fans and poor hill persistence
side soils and their exploitation by crops and flocks. At the same time that the communities of the Konya plain increased in number, they often expanded in size, sometimes dramat
so.When considered in light of the site numbers, ically burgeoning this increase in inhabited area offers persuasive a marked for proof increase in
In themedieval population. period (post-7th century) the total area of settlements was only about 100 ha, far below even that of the Iron Age. these data come from only one survey on Obviously the plateau,
36
and many more
studies are needed
(Tyana) D. Berges and J.Nolle, Tyana:
Archdologisch-historische Untersuchungen zum sudwestlichen Kappadokien (Bonn, 517-20, on a 10th-century ecclesiasti cal fragment found at Tyana; (Mokissos)
2000),
A. Berger, "Survey inVirans. ehir (Mokisos)," 13 (1995): 109-29; A. Berger,
AraSonTop "Survey inVirans.ehir
(Mokisos),"
before we
can
begin
AraSonTop 14 (1996): 27-41; A. Berger, "Survey inViran^ehir (Mokisos)," AraSonTop 15 (1997): 219-37; A. Berger, "Viran?ehir eine byzantinische Stadt in ZsfMzff 48 (1998): 349-429. Kappadokien," (Mokisos),
37
F. Trombley,
"The Decline
of the
Seventh-century Town: The Exception of Euchaita," in S. Vryonis, Jr., ed., Byzantine
Studies inHonor (Malibu, Cal.,
Milton of
V. Anastos
1985), 65-90.
M. Hendy
(Studies in theByzantine Monetary Economy c. 300-14S0 [Cambridge, I985]? 37-I45) offers an especially detailed 38
analysis of the geographical
and climatic
factors in play.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
239
to make
the survey's comparisons with any certainty. Nevertheless, intensive methods and careful attention to off-site landscapes have material of considerable comparative value. From itwe yielded gain in to into trends the perspective general highland plains adjacent we where could expect a similar Cappadocia, pattern.39 is of a different variety and is sparse The evidence Cappadocian by comparison with other parts of the Levant. To begin with, was never urbanized in the same way, nor to the same Cappadocia as much of the eastern empire. For centuries large portions of degree, to the Roman I and II the plateau provinces of Cappadocia belonging I, Caesarea comprised imperial lands. The metropolis of Cappadocia was the a hub of communi (Kayseri), region's central place, in part on cations and trade. Caesarea's also depended prominence a as a in the its enhanced standing religious center, position greatly fourth century by Saint Basil. The city continued to produce promi as the tenth nent thinkers into the middle Byzantine period, such
Mazaca
importance lay in and position as an aplekton (imperial field camp). center character iswell attested; the citywas a medieval
century archbishop its communications Its economic
Arethas.
of commerce where Muslim it fell to the Persians
Caesarea's
military
often congregated. Although in 726, three centuries of in 611 and theMuslims merchants
sack by the Turks in 1092. relatively security passed until Caesarea's From textual sources and the fieldwork of the team of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini
(TIB),
more
than 330 sites are known
from that
to the old Diocletianic
provinces of region, corresponding generally I. In late antiquity, these provinces I and II and Armenia Cappadocia col cities. The twenty-one centers that A. H. M.Jones possessed few lected in his study of the cities of the east included three sites listed as
Several others inHierocles: and Mokissos. Podandus, Doara, regiones and Ciscisus and between like Camulianae Tabia) (located Kayseri were (modern Yaylacik south ofKayseri) apparently small settlements. These latter typify many sites in Cappadocia, which, though they are neither described in detail appear inwritten sources, occasionally to the sent its nor Camulianae bishop yield extensive material data. church councils
of Constantinople
II and III, and Ciscisus
was
rep II. Both Camulianae and Nicaea Council resented at the Quinisext and Ciscisus offer scant material remains for inspection, though the latter's immediate environs contained a number of rock-cut dwell
than to a account, more nineteenth-century ings and, according as structures. At are domestic better read perhaps forty churches that Ciscisus Hans Rott reported the remains of a built cruciform church
16m long and 4.8 m wide at thewestern arm of the transept, yet nevertheless had substantial traces of decorative traces of these installations had been destroyed pretension. Nearly all that measured
24-0
MICHAEL
DECKER
amodest
39
D. Baird, "The Settlement Expansion
on the Konya Plain, Anatolia: 5th~7th Centuries, A.D.," inW. Bowden, L. Lavan, and C. Machado,
eds., Recent Research
theLate Antique Countryside 2004),
219-46.
(Leiden,
on
survey team arrived in the area in 1973. The example at Ciscisus many church buildings have survived notwithstanding, more substantial construction and to the present day because of their
when
the TIB
focus of community life.40 are therefore useful Churches proxies for settlement.41 They fre indicators for nearby settlements and thus quently offer chronological add significantly to our view of regional site distribution. Several sev churches are known, including examples enth-century Cappadocian on a number of churches, from Akhisar, where work has progressed to the elev including the famous (Janh Kilise.42 The latter belongs
enth century, as do eleven other churches or monastic installations at Akhisar. era Six others were built during the middle Byzantine one a is There (8th-nth centuries). masonry sixth-century example, church once decorated with murals. an unbroken Other suggest occupa examples Cappadocian tion. At Avcilar, in north of Nev?ehir, the just Rocky Cappadocia at Durmu? rock-cut "Buried Basilica" Kadir Kilisesi dates to the sixth century, the church of Mezarlar Alti Kilise has traces of sev
enth- and ninth-century has images, and the church of Karjibecak been assigned to the ninth century. As at Akhisar, the eleventh
at Avcilar, with seven churches century was a prosperous period a 40 km radius economic activity. Within attesting considerable a more of Caesarea, indicative of Cappadocia and the pla region teau at twelve locales built masonry large, provide material, mostly that attests early and middle Byzantine settlement. The on around Goreme Mt. Argaeus all (Erciyes Dagi), to the fifth/sixth centuries, witness considerable social and
churches,
six churches dated
economic
in late antiquity. Fifth-/sixth-century churches in the immediate vibrancy
the metropolis
of Caesarea
are found
hinterland
of
at Pesek
and Skupi-Uskiibu at cruciform church of the Forty Martyrs
The (Byzantine Manda). Manda has a polygonal apse, highly decorated with carved exterior pilasters and cornices, and thus bears traces of considerable architec one km to the southeast, were once tural pretension. At Uskiibu, just the remains of a Byzantine to Saint church dedicated and George cave with associated The church of the Panagia dwellings chapels. F. Hild
J. E. Cooper, "Medieval Cappadocia (9th tomid-nth Century) and the
and M. Restle, Tabula Imperii vol. 2,Kappadokien Byzantini, (Vienna, 1981), 197-98; 206: 328 siteswere recorded, but
41
some are known only from textual evidence and are not localized; (church at Ciscisus) H.
Evidence"
40
Rott, Kleinasiatische
Denkmdler
Pamphylien, Kappadokien, (Leipzig, 1908), i73ff.
aus Pisidien,
und Lykien
Byzantine Elite: The Archaeological (unpublished DPhil thesis,
Oxford,
2002),
Cappadocia
57-61. On churches in
generally, see
G. de Jerphanion, LesEglises rupestres de (une nouvelle province de I'art Cappadoce
byzantin), 2 vols. (Paris, 1925-1942); N. Thierry, Haut Moyen-Age en Cappadoce: Les eglises de la region de ?avusin, 2 vols. (Paris, 1983-1994). 42
R. Ousterhout,
inCappadocia
A Byzantine
(Washington, D.C,
Settlement 2005),
17-78.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
241
a cruciform, four-towered church, was built in the sixth
at Tomarza,
a 30 km north of Caesarea, century. About seventh-century church struc has been found at Hirka, but no eighth-century ecclesiastical ture from this area has been recovered. once Activity is detected again in the ninth/tenth centuries with the rock-cut church near the vil and then in the tenth (Byzantine Aragena) in the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian
lage of Taforen/Agirnaz thirteenth-century work
in the eleventh cen church at Ispidin was decorated same time the alleged rock-cut monastic tury and about the complex was excavated.43 at Kepez
at Develi.
The
was a sizeable city Tyana in southwestern Cappadocia probably Roman period; itwas the capital of the province of the late during II. Its fortunes during the Byzantine period are largely Cappadocia
to the VII Constantine assigned it, along with Mokissos, where Bardas Skleros, a powerful magnate theme of Cappadocia, of the regions most influential family, had a fortified dwelling near in themiddle centuries was unclear. Tyana, but the fate of the city itself until long after The city continued to be an ecclesiastical metropolis unknown.
stated in the lapse of Byzantine control. Tyana's status as ametropolis, the ecclesiastical notitiae, finds some support in the recent discovery of church components of a probable tenth-century date. These finds to some extent theMuslim suggest that the city recovered following sack in 831. They
are corroborated and
bishop, Eustathios, bishop, Leo.44 The other metropolitan century
somewhat an
by eleventh- or
a seal of a tenth twelfth-century
was seat in late antique Cappadocia lists this settlement, which Mokissos lay (Viran?ehir). Hierocles of the between (Aksaray) and Tyana, Byzantine city Koloneia midway atMokissos to as a there was uphrourion, Prokopios, regio. According or fortified center. Justinian demolished the old fortress and built on level lay ground. that the emperor then built "many churches relates also Prokopios and hospices and public baths and all the other structures that are the mark of a prosperous city."45 The remains of the town presently cover 45-50 ha scattered over four hills flanking the road (fig. 21), vast to from Koloneia major comprise the Tyana. Houses (Aksaray) are in size, modest remains of the city, and these of the visible ity a new one
43
to the west
(Church of Panagia, Manda)
Kleinasiatische
Denkmdler,
(churches ofManda Restle, TIB 44
Porphyrogenitus, De
and
65; (seals) Cooper,
(Vatican,
"Medieval
1952),
Cappadocia,"
378-79
ed., Notitiae
episco
Constantinopolitanae
DECKER
VII
thematibus, ed. A. Pertusi
and Uskiibu) Hild
(Paris, 1981); Berges, J.Nolle,
MICHAEL
Constantine
Rott,
192-99;
2, 228-29.
J.Darrouzes,
patuum Ecclesiae
242
of the settlement, which
Tyana,
517^;
trans. Prokopios, Buildings 5.4.17-18, H. B. Dewing (Cambridge, Mass, 1971). 45
' ST0MBS Fptoi road axes _._
N
fc^mvir^?^ / ^^ I
-'
^^^p-^^ \
^^s^_/?'
( l v200
'100 \_I
I /_/
/
Fig. 21 Mokissos. "Varia Cappadocica,"
300
1_^_I
From E. Schneider Equini, Archeologia Classica
49
(1997): fig. 17.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
243
50 100
10 20 30 40
0
^^^^
m on a side, 10m dimensions are not uncom generally 5-7 though mon. Walls are courses of uncut local commonly constructed of dry a rare sometimes with rubble core, but stone, examples of well-cut can be found. Most of the dwell dwellings in and many of the domestic ings irregular shape and windowless, exhibit various of masonry work and likely multiple types complexes
blocks used
in domestic
are
phases of construction. Since the building techniques of the domes tic architecture are mixed, often within the same unit, even a crude chronology construction
is difficult to elaborate.
Further, the technique of house different from that of the churches, which
is markedly tend to be built of ashlars and with greater care. at the northwest The acropolis hill (fig. 22), lying
sures about
120 m
of the site,mea
30-50 m wide
and is surrounded by a a It is crowned proteichisma (outer fortification). by fort constructed in masonry with three entrances, the main one pseudo-polygonal on western two semicircu of which lies the is flanked edge and by long and
lar towers. A number
are buildings within the acropolis perhaps a group of houses barracks belonging to the Justinianic but period, encroaches on the southwestern portion of the indicat proteichisma, of
or conver continued after the abandonment ing that development sion of the fortress. The date atwhich the latter occurred is unknown,
but itmust
are clear certainly be later than the sixth century. There structures atMokissos. sixth- and seventh-century ecclesiastical Of
these Ramsay
144
MICHAEL
DECKER
and Bell
noted,
and Berger
further studied, Kemer
J\l
^^^^^^^^<X
Fig. 22 Mokissos Equini,
acropolis. From Schneider "Varia Cappadocica," fig. 3.
Kilisesi andKara Kilise. The formerisa smallcruciformchurchmea x 5.5m at the a suring 5.5 crossing, topped by cupola, while the latter to the is springing of its arches and is constructed of ashlar preserved Restle that itwas originally three-aisled, blocks; proposed though later reconstructions the demolished side aisles. Like apparently
atMokissos, Kemer Kilisesi and Kara Kilise nearly all the churches to late case the fifth-sixth centuries. Some in their antiquity, belong 2 and 3, in the construction of Churches later activity is detectable which were
built, according to Berger, sometime shortly after 600. core of the Justinianic at Domuz do Only outside the city Diizliigu we view clear traces ofmiddle Byzantine building activity in the form to the tenth-thirteenth centuries.46 of Church 23,which belongs
is impressive in its size and in its potential for the study of Anatolian architecture of the Byzantine period, especially domes tic features. In the absence of stratified excavation, the impression of Mokissos
is one of a hill town that preserved pre-Roman layout, including stepped roads designed to building carry animal traffic to the higher ground. Justinian's architects, who transformed the place, are markedly perhaps responsible for the of road found but there, fragments paved they apparently neither remains
the material
forms of
and
a nor did sewers or a water imposed regular plan they provide supply, both ofwhich the settlement lacks. The middle settlement Byzantine
apparently dispersed further,migrating to the surrounding hills away center. from the by-then decaying Justinianic Middle-Byzantine settlement evidenced period certainly persisted, by the castles routes at Kecikalesi that guard the communication and Comleci (Byzantine Koron).47 The easternmost (Eski Malatya),
was Melitene city of "Greater Cappadocia" where limited excavation and surveys associated
with theGiineydoguAnadolu Projesi (GAP) have recordedremains.
Melitene
itselfwas
the scene of fierce encounters
between Byzantines In 656/57 (d. 680), while still governor of Muawiya one of the border the which remained Syria, conquered city, regions from which the Muslims launched their annual The raids. (thughur) to fell the the of Abd al-Malik, but city Byzantines during reign was rebuilt the Muslims the of Hisham b. Abd by during reign and Muslims.
al-Malik. Only in 934 did the retake the city,which the Byzantines forces of Kourkouas The Byzantines devastated. used thoroughly
46
(Mokissos)
"Varia
Viransehir
E. Schneider et al.,
Cappadocica."Archeologia (1997): 105-8; (Kemer Kilisesi
Classica
49
and Kara
Kilise) M. Restle, Studien zurfruhbyzanti nischen Architektur Kappadokiens (Vienna, 1979), 1:46-48;
(Mokisos)," ArSon Top 15 (1997):
219-37. 47
Hild
and Restle, TIB 2,135-37, 216;
Schneider et al., "Varia Cappadocica," 141-43.
A. Berger, "Survey in
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
245
to resettle the area, which became the Syrians seat of a a strategos and then katepano. Bardas Skleros held the city center remained in his revolt briefly during against Basil II, but the anti-Chalcedonian
the imperial orbit until the battle ofMantzikert.48
The site ofMelitene
(Eski Malatya)
still preserves traces of
in the middle Justinian's fortification walls, with latermodifications in the hinterland of Byzantine period, but little else. Fieldwork has provided evidence that elucidates the nature of settle and human exploitation of the landscape. Eugenia Schneider excavated the nearby hill village of Arslantepe, where the Equini are built of double domestic quarters of the Roman-Byzantine period
Melitene ment
courses of fieldstone with
a rubble core, and display building meth at (Mokissos).49 These Viranjehir show no obvious signs of destruction and, aside from the
ods similar to some of the houses buildings
of a lack of Umayyad-period pottery, unstratified finds of ware and a trickle of and later material, including sgraffito that generally date to around iooo, suggest that occupation
problem Abbasid coins
of the site continued well excavations
conducted
recorded traces of a Roman while
into the eleventh
in preparation
century. Farther afield, for the Karakaya Dam Project
fort upstream
ofMelitene
at
?em$iyetepe, detected post-Classical survey work by Ozdogan (i.e., post-Ro wares at 55 sites, 22 deemed "Classical." Post with compared
man) Classical
settlement was
or less on both sides of evenly the local tributaries, suggesting once the Euphrates, along centers than in peri again dispersed settlement and perhaps smaller ods with fewer numbers of sites. as well
found more
as
in remains unsatisfactory data-set for Cilicia archaeological the regards, and survey of the countryside limited. Following
The
many circa 637, both Arab capture of Tarsus and Anazarbos (Anavarza) from the mid Cilicia contested and Muslims the Byzantines hotly seventh century onward. Though Tarsus was apparently reoccupied sometime after the reign of Herakleios, the Muslims destroyed it
in earnest in the began on former Byzantine early eighth century. Their efforts focused and al Turkish modern Massisa, Misis). Baladhuri (Ar. Mopsuestia from the land removed the population Tabari report thatHerakleios withdrew the and and Antioch between Mopsuestia garrisons from in 682, and Arab
colonization
of Cilicia
this area theMardaites these regions. Subsequently frequently raided the between the empires. Nevertheless that became a no-man's-land efforts to strengthen made stubborn Abbasids and early Umayyads which became a staging point for Muslim and colonize Massisa,
In 965 John raids against the Byzantines who held the highlands. and the town later Tzimiskes finally captured Massisa/Mopsuestia the city was under the into Crusader control. Subsequently slipped
2.46
MICHAEL
DECKER
48
C. Foss, "Melitene," ODB
2:1336;
E. Honigmann, "Malatya," EP, 6: 230; Hild and Restle, TIB 2, 233-37. 49
E. Schneider Equini, Malatya
II.
Rapporto preliminare delle campagne 1963-1968. Il livello romano-bizantino testimonianze
e le
islamiche (Rome, 1970), ioff.
sway of the empire of John and Manuel Komnenos until itwas finally lost to theArmenian kingdom of Cilicia. A spectacular of late antique date is the only noteworthy trace of the early Byzantine architecture.50 awaits remains inhabited today and Anazarbos Since Tarsus of Cilicia of the former the excavation, metropolises archaeology church mosaic
I and II is sparse to the extreme. From written sources it is known that Tarsus boasted an important synagogue, churches dedicated to Peter and Paul, and extensive suburbs. But apart from the finds of an early Byzantine cistern, the remains of the late Roman/early
at the southwest of the old city, and Justinian's bridge Byzantine gate over the Cydnus, these Byzantine features have vanished. Stray finds in 1948, and such as the well-known example discovered the reports by earlier travelers of further remnants of the Late Roman an area of at least 70 ha, do littlemore than citywall, which enclosed
of mosaics,
confirm that Tarsus was excavations
a
on Golii Kule,
large and important late antique city. The in the southeastern portion of themodern
conducted work in the 1930s, offered village when Hetty Goldman to the period of Byzantine little attributed and settle reoccupation a ment of the tenth-twelfth centuries, though probable dyer's work date
shop may
to around
this time. Recent
in Tarsus
have unveiled
rescue excavations
a
Republic Square Roman-early substantial numbers of late Roman street; paved amphora LRi,
LR5,
at
Byzantine
(LR) types into local and con provide insights production in the city. at and Picon LRi noted Tarsus kilns Empereur and LR6
sumption and on the Cilician
coast at Soli and Aigeiai Tarsus will join Antioch
fuller publication consumer producer and tained in these jars.51 The medieval
ofwine,
material
(Yumurtalik), and with as a and Apamea major oil, and other regional products con
from Hoyiik
Gozlii
at Tarsus
is
cursorily cream and published, Slip Umayyad wares across around the city the provide evidence of occupation wares as Muslim The identified green glazed Conquest. Umayyad are more Abbasid these the form bulk of types; probably seemingly but the Phocaean
material
Red
recovered from the medieval
wares
layers. Later occupation layers an ware, sgraffito suggesting
included plentiful finds of Duochrome eleventh-century date, and also later monochrome E. Honigmann, "al- Massisa," EI2 50 774a; Hild and Restle, TIB 2, 351-59. 51
H. Goldman,
to Cilicia,
"Preliminary Expedition 1934, and Excavations at Gozlii
Kule, Tarsus, H. Goldman, Tarsus,
1935,"AJA 39 (1935): 526-49; "Excavation at Gozlii Kule,
1937,"AJA 42 (1938): 30-54;
H. Goldman,
glazed
Excavations
examples.
at Gozlii Kule,
Tarsus, vol. i, TheHellenistic
and Roman
Periods
(Princeton, 1950); (Republic Square Excavations) C. Toskay, personal communi cation, 15June 2005;
inAmphores romaines et histoire economique: dix ans de recherche, ed.
orientale,"
M. Lenoir, D. Manacorda,
and C. Panella
(Rome, 1989), 223-48.
(kilns) J.-Y. Empereur
and M. Picon, "Les regions de production imperiales enMediterranee
d'amphores
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
247
as well as Some of the latterwere possibly of Byzantine manufacture the output of Levantine workshops.52 The scant urban settlement record is remedied a little by a glance
preserves an extensive circuit wall of early date, an amphitheater, theater, and extensive Byzantine-Islamic with both built and rock-cut tombs, to name necropolis sarcophagi but a few of the Classical and Roman-period features. The impressive at Anazarbos,
which
still survive in places, and these undoubtedly continued aqueducts to function at least into the seventh century. To the Early Byzantine three the three-aisled Church churches, period belong large including
a basilica church of the Apostles, 56.2 m x 28.1 m and measuring The second basilica, in the of Roman-period built in spolia. large part southwest of the city,was cruciform in shape (51.8m x 37.3m), while
in the southeast, dated to 516, is another basilica, also of impressive x 25 x 30.5 located a bathhouse dimensions m). Gough (40 (43 m m), possibly of Roman origin, in the city center, but the presence of
banded brickworktypicalof earlyByzantinebuilding indicatesa late or attest to the contin repair. These buildings antique construction ued prosperity and size of the settlement in the sixth century, and we
presume that the town continued Muslim invasion.53 must
to flourish
to the right up
A modest middle Byzantine shrine, decorated with frescoes still on the shoulder of the lies visible during Gough's visit, acropolis hill, on the path leading to the fortress itself.Traces of the middle
the site, including the cur fortification works around Byzantine tain wall atop the spur of the acropolis, attest to the return of Greek rule. On the northern flank of the fortified spur, Gough discovered Justinianic-period reworked. Given cal examination,
was later activity that apparently the fact that the city, despite limited archaeologi remains from the early has yielded considerable fortification
and Armenian occupation Byzantine, remained an important is no doubt that Anazarbos there periods, the early medieval period, supported as itwas by place throughout its and extensive territory that, in the tenth century, superb position remained optimal for both agricultural and herding.54
Byzantine,
Muslim,
middle
century, the Byzantines evacuated the and Antioch, between Tarsus, Alexandretta, they appar population sections of the ofMopsuestia elsewhere, people ently transported large When,
52
F. Hild
in the mid-seventh
and H. Hellenkemper,
Imperii Byzantini
5:Kilikien
Tabula
und Isaurien
(medieval ceramics) (Vienna, 1990), 428-39; F. Day, "Islamic Finds at Tarsus," Asia (March, 1941): 143-48. F. Hild and H. Hellenkemper,
53
178-84.
248
MICHAEL
DECKER
54
M. Gough,
5,
2
(1952): 85-150; al-Ist.akhri, Kitab al-Masdlik 2nd ed., ed. M.J. De Goeje wa-l-Mamdlik, (Leiden, 1927), 63; Le Strange, Palestine under theMuslims,
TIB
"Anazarbus," AnatSt
389 (above, n. 22);
(lower citywalls, medieval
phases)
H. Hellenkemper, von Anazarbus,"
"Die Stadtmauern inXXIV
Deutscher
Orientalistentag vom 26. bis 30. September 1988. Ausgewahlte Vortrage, ed.W. Diem and A. Falaturi
(Stuttgart, 1990), 71-76.
perhaps
to areas of the
plateau.
The
former Byzantine
Mopsuestia
thusbecameArabicMassisa, themajorMuslim strongholdinCilicia
retains Like the cities of Tarsus and Anazarbos, Mopsuestia its scattered reminders of and late antique medieval past. Some only were maintained remnants of the Roman in city wall survive that the Early Byzantine era; they enclosed an area of about 40 ha. There is some about which rulers were responsible for the disagreement reconstruction of the city II is known rule: Umar during Muslim
Pedias.
to have
a cistern, provided the suburban complex of Kafarbayya with traces of which are and Hisham apparently added the fortifications,
visible today. Seton-Williams's
survey in the early 1950s covered most of low land Cilicia, but primarily explored tells and sites with archi larger tectural remains and thus offers limited scope for quantification.
a restricted corpus of was available for Only comparative materials the analysis of finds from this work and the resultant chronologies are therefore rather a occu coarse-grained. These data suggest peak in pation in the Roman-early Byzantine periods, but offer little insight into the crucial Islamic transition. Finds of Byzantine-early sgraffito at a wide distribution of settlement sites for argue thirty-nine
ware
from the eleventh century onward.55
SettlementTrends: The SurveyData
the limitations of the survey data are Despite presented above, which functions of in part the in part the condi methodology employed and tions inwhich they were undertaken, one can venture general obser vations on broad settlement patterns from the sixth to the eleventh centuries. Along the Tigris and Euphrates corridor, all present indica
tions point to a high density and wide distribution of settlements in the late Roman/early Byzantine period of the fourth-sixth centuries. From the Tigris, the results remain qualitative and we can gain little more than an impression from them. the tributaries of Along thewesternmost
portion of the Tigris watershed considered here, the Su suggest intensive habitation valleys of the Batman Su and Garzan late out across the which over a fanned antiquity, during landscape, variety of soil, indicating substantial pressures from the population on available land resources. Farther east, along the Bohtan Su River and in the of was late settlement Cizre, plain antique present, but more restricted than itwas farther west and less common than late medieval/early Ottoman period sites. the Along Euphrates, multiple surveys record a very high density of a sites followed in the Byzantine-period by significant decline Islamic For the early period. example, Sajur Survey, which examined sections of the around large (ancient Hierapolis, landscape Manbij
55
M. V. Seton-Williams,
Survey," AnatSt
"Cilician
4. (1954): 121-74;
(sgraffito chronology and forms) K. Dark, Byzantine Pottery (Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2001), 65-77.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
249
of Euphratensis), shows Byzantine settlement numbers metropolis even in the Bronze higher than Age. These results broadly parallel those of other surveys in the northern Euphrates valley. Farther upstream, the hinterland of the Roman/Byzantine city of Zeugma witnessed
in settlement. The Birecik-Carchemish survey growth a decline of sites around the old evidence for provides good central-place settlement of Carchemish Colonia Aurelia (Greek Europus/Roman explosive
a
at increase corresponding along the Euphrates a translocation of in the Zeugma probably indicates population early states the Muslim that conquests, Algaze Byzantine period. Following
Dura),
while
the area was
population
suggests that, since "sharply depopulated."56 Wilkinson rose in the Balikh and portions of the Khabur apparently
picture valley during the early Islamic period, the archaeological to the latter areas.57 may reflect migration Perhaps the Umayyad authorities removed the population from trievulnerable frontier zone, as
shore. It is they did with exposed coastal cities along the Levantine from possible that the Byzantines themselves removed the population these regions, either as a matter of defensive policy, as Herakleios or in the course of border and the Antiochene, ordered for Cilicia
The policy of forced population transfer came raiding and capture. to V, who deported large particular prominence under Constantine numbers of people from the Euphrates region and settled them in Thrace. Constantine seized a number of the inhabitants of the district of Kalikala
who were
subsequently
settled elsewhere
in the
were eastern frontier, but they eventually recaptured by theMuslims and settled in Syria.58 of settlement in the early with a Concordant general expansion are the results of surveys from the Euphrates valley Byzantine-period across the river from Samosata, where region northwest of Edessa,
and Titrij (figs. 18 and around Kurban Hoyiik regional prospection a 19) has furnished evidence for dramatic settlement peak in the early a Islamic settlement until and Byzantine period general lack of early when a slight recovery emerges in the record. the Abbasid period, in the in the plain of Adiyaman of the Euphrates, bank On the right
initial survey results signal a spike in former territory of Samosata, to The lack of settlement from the Roman early Byzantine periods. refinement in the ceramic analysis as presented in the preliminary means that interpretation of reports of the work around Adiyaman the medieval
56 Algaze et al., "Preliminary Report," 207 (above, n. 4).
unbroken
57
a to must be circumscribed stating that largely period series of ceramics is known, indicating some level of habita
cannot be deter to the early Byzantine position relative on the Dam as mined Survey Karakaya yet. Similarly, Ozdogan's Turkish upper Euphrates can only be crudely quantified; from itwe see that the settlement noted under the rubric "post-Classical" was tion whose
25O
MICHAEL
DECKER
Wilkinson,
"Regional Approaches,"
246 (above, n. 2). 58
P. Charanis,
Population
"The Transfer of
as a Policy in the Byzantine
Empire," Comparative and History
Studies
3 (1961): 140-54.
in Society
far greater than other
periods,
a fact that can, in small part, be attrib
uted to the chronologicalboundaries imposedon thedata.
The Jazira evidence contrasts with that of a of the large part In several instances from the former region, fewer Euphrates valley. late antique Byzantine settlements were recorded (and Sasanian) compared with the number of those during the later Islamic period.
instance (Tell Brak) results are inconclusive because sites of CE were in two instances the firstmillennium grouped together, and sites were more (Tell Beydar and the Upper Khabur), Byzantine
In one
numerous
than those of the following Islamic period. Several factors to the present be may responsible for these variations, but according data, Byzantine occupation of the northern Jazira was less dispersed not part and less intensive than in other areas of the East. Although of the quantified corpus considered here, Bartl's work on the Balikh River
argued periods. One
for a settlement and Abbasid peak during theUmayyad is that settlement of the possibility early Byzantine
was restricted at least in in this part due to the prox region imity of the frontier and the unsettled relations and open warfare that frequently prevailed between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. are known from both the Although Byzantine-era irrigation canals Khabur and Balikh valleys, it is likely that landowners and the state period
were
loath to invest in such projects over much of the later sixth and early seventh centuries, when raiding and invasion would have ren dered such investments vulnerable. The probable
recovery of this region's population Islamic-period seen is perhaps explained when against the backdrop of settlement after retreat from other areas. Both the Khabur and the Balikh flow close to themedieval
cities of and Resafa, where the Umayyad Raqqa a caliphs took special interest in developing canals and other agrarian features. It is probable that the northern Jazira witnessed the arrival of state-ordered transfers or refugees from the perilous Euphrates Further is needed to verify this picture, particu Tigris valleys. study
larly since traditional survey tends tomiss large numbers of sites. Of the surveys in the Jazira, only the Tell Beydar Survey considered non mounded sites, low sites, and other off-site features. Unsurprisingly, the Tell Beydar region, which lies in the frontier Byzantine-Sasanian zone itself (thus the late are classified ceramics antique "Sasanian"), shows a much incident of late since ithas settlement, antique higher 59 (Birecik-Carchemish) Algaze, 1991, "Final Report," 23; (Adiyaman) S. R. Blaylock, D. H. French, and G. D. Summers, "The Adiyaman
Survey: An
Interim
(Karakaya) M. Ozdogan, The Lower Euphrates Basin 1977 Survey
Report,"
124-30;
(Ankara, 1977); (Titris) G. Algaze, A. Misir, and T.J. Wilkinson,
"?anliurfa Museum/
University of California Excavations and Surveys at Titris Hoyiik, 1991:A Preliminary Report," Anatolica 18 (1992): 33-60.
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
25I
been
that Byzantine and Sasanian settle ment in the Jazira tended away from tells and instead the occupied areas as I have noted above, tells have been low of the plains.60 Since, demonstrated
elsewhere
survey work, a significant number of late our net and the as it stands sites have picture antique slipped through is open to considerable future modification. In theAntiochene and Cilicia, the fourth-seventh century phase the focus of most
older
left a strong marker in the archaeological tions of the countryside around Antioch
record. Previous have, due
investiga
to
methodologi occu cal weakness, the early Byzantine drastically underrepresented area. The away pation of the dispersal of settlement and migration from the traditional, defensible hill sites and into the open lowlands denotes a sense of security and a prevailing need for land. Investment in of routes of communication, irrigation canals, the concatenation into the highlands around the city and an increase in agri all indicate a growing population of Antioch Sometime between the seventh and cultural exploitation and trade. and the extension
of settlement
the small, widely dispersed settlements that A real decline in num typify the early Byzantine period disappeared. tenth centuries, however,
bers of people is likely:the suburbsofAntioch, highlydeveloped in late antiquity, were in all likelihood abandoned by the end of the sev l enth century. The precise pace and nature of change in settlement conquest of this part of north Syria remain following the Muslim
uncertain.
As
noted
above,
in the certainly shared general expansion of late antiquity. The Byzantine more remains mysterious. The limited
lowland Cilicia
and economic population transition once Muslim
at Tarsus, and continued investment in the Umayyad material finds life from and Anazarbos cities of Tarsus, Massisa, signal vital urban at least the Abbasid limited survey strongly suggests that period, and a number of rural sites continued on through themedieval significant did transferwrought by Herakleios period. The proposed population no the the not, apparently, thoroughly depopulate plain. However, condition of the countryside and frequent sparring of the sector of the eastern frontier no doubt two powers along the southern threatened communities, particularly those proximate to the major
man's-land
routes of communication. The present evidence argues for strikingly different fates for the zones of the northern frontier between Byzantium and most exposed Islam, and the southern Levant. At the regional level, the landscape
suffered and Samosata of the city territories of Antioch, Zeugma, attrition: the number of sites dropped precipitously from the deep Islamic periods. In other northern regions, such as Byzantine/early remained Balikh and portions of the Khabur, populations along the
252
MICHAEL
DECKER
60
Wilkinson,
237, 246; Casana,
"Regional Approaches," "The Archaeological
104-5 (above, n. 35). Landscape," 61 J.Casana, "From Alalakh toAntioch: Settlement, Land Use, and Environmental Change Turkey"
in theAmuq Valley of Southern (unpublished PhD dissertation,
University
of Chicago,
2003), 309-10.
stable or even increased. Life also continued with the southern Levant
at
places
like Bet Shean
little
and Umm
disruption
in
el-Jimal.
Cilicia and Antioch suffereddepopulation, in no small part a function of imperialpolicy, but deepened by annual jihad and
action. The extension of Muslim attacks into Byzantine military to flee to were meant that exposed populations Anatolia pressured safer locales. The remains of sites likeMokissos support the argument did not escape the travails visited upon Byzantium the seventh and eighth centuries. But the persistence of church during domestic remains demonstrate buildings and considerable medieval that Cappadocia
in that even poorly defended towns need not have been abandoned the face of theMuslim threat. The substantial numbers of small rural
was either in sites argue that any decline Cappadocia population or In fact the rural face of settlement and evidence slight ephemeral. over sizeable areas of the for plateau defy the agricultural exploitation a a connotes low population. traditional view that lack of cities
theFrontiers: Settlement and Agrarian Farming Eastern Borders Life along Byzantium's
of Early Byzantine agricultural production and trade was highly integrated, with exchange of imported goods penetrating deep even in remote landlocked areas. Hallmarks into the of countryside,
The world
arena were both a economic the late antique Mediterranean high a movement in volume of products and the of those velocity high products. Bulk, low-valued goods traveled both overland and by ship
in the thousand years of In the frontier regions of no less than in the more secure cities at the
by degrees and distances rarely witnessed Greek cultural influence in the Levant. the Byzantine Empire, heart of Asia Minor, we
see material
a signs of generally dense lation and vigorous agrarian life. This agrarian realm was not self-contained, but in all cases tied to the major urban centers rural districts. The impressive attended degree of urbanization
popu simply of the by
an
full occupation of the countryside is a feature of the early era eastern Byzantine provinces, especially throughout many of the corridor.62 large stretches of the Tigris-Euphrates The most obvious example of the integrated agrarian economy era comes from itswest of the frontier zone of the early Byzantine equally
ernmost extensions, where Antioch
mountain
or
were
and its vast hinterland, whether with
settlements. Here, where plain, packed archaeological work has been varied and sustained, the multifarious are an pieces of the puzzle impressive picture of heavy rural building settlement in symbiosis with one of the true of the early metropolises
data attest the further advance of Byzantine world. Palynological agri culture into marginal regions and particularly the dominant place of
62 M. Decker, Tilling theHateful Earth: Agriculture and Trade in theLate Antique East (Oxford, forthcoming).
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
253
in the economy.
the olive
to the finds of numerous
In addition
and wine
presses, suggestive of major investment aimed a consistent surplus production, potteries that produced iwares (LRi) line the northeast Mediterranean Amphora to Rhodes.
at
capturing late Roman coast from
once filled with wine jars,
These kilns produced Syria olive oil, from thousands of farms in the northeastern are found on hundreds sent an economic
oil
of sites around
current of considerable
Levant,
theMediterranean
and that
and repre
breadth.63
rich valleys of the and Tigris at had been heavily exploited for agriculture since least the era, and it is best to see the Byzantine period within the
Farther Euphrates Neolithic
inland,
the relatively
and land framework of long cycles of settlement and abandonment use and disuse. Through this lens of the longue duree, the Byzantine moment in Syria and upper Mesopotamia appears as one of substan areas. in many tial growth and dynamism pressures on Population limited arable land encouraged farmers to seek more efficient agricul
tural strategies, and towork the land with greater regularity. Shorter meant that more nutrients were extracted from fallowing periods chamber pots the soil by crops with less time for recovery. Ceramic
other organic waste were carried from villages, into the soil, creating the sherd scatters that first recognized as relics of the deliberate distribution of Wilkinson such organic refuse. Such strategies represent human efforts to sus and vessels containing broken, and ploughed
tain or increase yields by replacing carbon and nutrients normally lost to the soil Farmers thus aimed to stabilize yields, through cropping.
ameliorate
into which cultivation had been forced by ground intensive strate These pressure, or reclaim wasteland.
poor
population those areas and mirror conspicuously gies attend high population sites are witnessed over a where greater numbers of early Byzantine broad
in the hinterland Euphrates, especially as near Edessa and Samosata.
swathe of the middle
Zeugma-Apamea
as well
of
maintenance and investment in the irrigation Early Byzantine at present: the cities of can works along the frontier only be surmised 63
antiques de Syrie du Nord (Paris, 1984); (palynological data) U. Baruch and S. Bottema,
"ANew Pollen Diagram
from
Lake Hula: Vegetational, Climatic, and Implications," inAncient Anthropogenic Lakes: Their Cultural and Biological ed. H. Kawanabe,
Diversity, and A. C. Roosevelt
G. W. Coulter,
(Ghent, 1999), 631-36; Y. Yasuda, H. Kitagawa, and T. Nakagawa, "The Earliest Record ofMajor Anthropo logical Deforestation
254
MICHAEL
DECKER
Syria: A Palynological Study," Quaternary International 73-74 (1999): 127-36; (LRi amphorae) M. Decker, "Food Northwest
(Presses) O. Callot, Huileries
in the Ghab Valley,
for an Empire: Wine
and Oil Production
Syria," inEconomy and Exchange in theEast Mediterranean during Late
inNorth
Antiquity ed. Kingsley and Decker, 69-86. "The Definition of T. J.Wilkinson, 64 Ancient Manured Extensive
Zones
byMeans
of
Techniques," JFA 9 (1982): 323-33; (sherd scatters? et al., "The Tigris Zeugma) Algaze Sherd-Sampling
Reconnaissance Euphrates Archaeological Final 22; (sherd scatters? Report," Project; Town and Euphrates) Wilkinson, Country in South-eastern Anatolia, vol. 1, Settlement and Land Use atKurban Hbyuk Basin and Other Sites in theLower Karababa
Middle
et al., (Chicago, 1990), 69-79; G. Algaze "The Chicago Euphrates Archaeological Project 1980-1984: An Interim Report," Anatolica
13 (1986): 44.
Barbalissos,Dibsi Faraj, Sura (Souriya),Callinicum, and Circesium or beyond the "zone of uncertainty" inwhich rainfallwas lay in on a number of security thus depended interlocking old canals, farmers with the maintaining Byzantine-era strategies, new ones. on as and the Balikh, such that discovered excavating In other areas of the frontier, as at Hierapolis and farther east at in the Chalcidike, farmers in late antiquity developed al-Andarin
unstable.
Food
that tapped galleries (qanats) drainage underground water. In most instances, though, aquifers for irrigation and drinking cultivators and Byzantine early period dry farming prevailed, with extensive cereal cultivation (generally barley) supplemented in the steppe or herding uplands.65 can be difficult to detect, has Pastoral activity, which rarely extensive
of archaeologists. Such an omission from a serious gap in our that has knowledge landscape studies represents elements within nomadic been confronted. Generally only recently the attention
occupied
to the the Byzantine-period population would have been confined as massive flocks the presence of their margins formuch of the year, would have wrought irreparable harm to standing crops. As the early increased, the inhabitants sought new farm Byzantine population lands. Thus cultivation crept farther into less desirable, peripheral The limestone hills over landscapes generally reserved for pastoralists. traces of livestock pens looking the Euphrates and theAmuq preserve centuries. In the vil and encampments dating to the fourth-seventh the restricted landscape and lages and hill country around Antioch, activities of the nomadic tightly packed villages naturally limited the
In contrast the Jazira, with its open elements among the populations. range and less tightly bound settlement, made an ideal home for herd and Lakhmids quarreling over grazing ers;we hear of the Ghassanids in upper Mesopotamia during the drought around 539-66 The
extensive
with
the Anatolian
hot
summers. Most
lands of the Jazira share critical features low precipitation, open country, and plateau:
steppe
of former Galatia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia mm receive less than of 300 annually precipitation, while the tree less landscape and challenging environmental conditions rendered
65 (Zone of uncertainty) T. Wilkinson, "Settlement and Land Use in the Zone
fermes byzantines aux palais omayyades, ou l'ingenieuse mise en valeur des plaines
arides du Croissant fertile, ed. B. Geyer (Lyon, 2001), 55-68 ; see also Redford,
of Uncertainty
inAux steppiques de Chalcidique," origines de I'archeologieaerienne (A.
"Archaeology" (above, n. 18). 66 (Animal pens) Algaze et al., "The
inUpper Mesopotamia," and Agriculture inNorthern ed. R. Jas (Leiden, 2000), Mesopotamia, inRainfall
3-35; (trade) C. Morrisson
and J.-P. Sodini,
"The Sixth-Century Economy," in The Economic History ofByzantium, vol. 1,ed. A. Laiou (Washington D.C, 2002), 206-12; (qanats) R. Jaubert and F. Debaine,
"Des
and 187s-19ss), ed. L. Nordiguian J.-F. Salles (Beirut, 2000), 109-22; B. Geyer and Y. Calvet, "Les steppes arides de la Syrie
Poidebard
au Bronze ancien ou Ta premiere conquete de l'Est'," in Conquete de la steppe et appropriation des terres sur lesmarges
du Nord
Chicago Euphrates Expedition," 44; Casana, "From Alalakh toAntioch," 419 and appen dix D; (grazing dispute) Prokopios, Persian War 2.1, trans. H. B. Dewing Mass.,
(Cambridge,
1914).
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
255
? \ >
'
v" s
?'o. or>
^%1P|? V5 5-0/
^^?sV4
9)V0y -?o\\ ^ ^?o
I
?^J^fe.
V(X
\
?*, ?o
tr
,-a
^\
("-1
xn'-Nc_
L'v?stock^^__?<__-^^ ^ A2^ ^ ^*S
N x
7)
o >?--?rr
?v,n?
J-^--O?'"S.
~ '
\ Il/T^?'^x I ^^-^ '/ ?\N
? t
^
Livestock
V \ /V^^jT// **-- N-^y /' 1 / \,'
toralism winter
areas of the Anatolian
more amenable to pas plateau than crop husbandry. The extremes of summer heat and cold and a dearth of surface water have influenced scholars
lor0'"'
. ,
y^
y
ro b e
Schematised 500m. . Contour Line
-^
{
T^_^;\r$p> considerable
on
i
i
i
i.
Fig. 23 Land use, Anatolia. From Hendy, in theByzantine Economy, map 13.
Studies
as a hot and cold desert, the uplands of Turkey speck led with cities in a few more favored areas. Over the highlands at least in Cappadocia, ranged flocks of cattle great and small and, sources make horses of exceptional The textual quality. frequent to view
mention
of sheep, goats,
cattle, horses, mules,
and even camels
in
circum
the Cappadocian Fortified both by modern countryside. texts like the stance and early-ninth-century Life of Philaretos by as synon the Merciful, many have naturally viewed pastoralism
a view map ymous with Anatolia, by Hendy's encapsulated (fig. to livestock is in Asia Minor central which 23), completely given Yet the present evidence challenges the assumption production.67 was essen that the nature of herding on the Anatolian plateau Instead I would suggest that the early and middle tially nomadic.
was similar to that of the stock-raising of the plateau characteris environmental region that shares important tics with Anatolia. highland It is necessary tomake a key distinction in the kinds of stocking in Anatolia. Rather than nomadism, which implied large practiced movements or of herds with a mobile human popu seasonal annual
Byzantine Jazira, a
at the heart of the plateau lay agropastoralism a blend of field cropping and involves economy. Agropastoralism lation in attendance,
256
MICHAEL
DECKER
R- Teja, Organizacion economicay en el siglo IV, segun los social de Capadocia
67
padres
capadocios
(Salamanca,
1974), 29-34.
animal husbandry and differssubstantiallyfrompure nomadism, are
one constituent of an
set of crops interlocking once more The and management of Philaretos pro techniques. Life vides a useful departure point. The story upholds the ancient para of the rich person whose wealth is tied to the land; the saint has digm since animals
only
out over granges, but many of these fanning are must therefore have irrigated and comprised cropland and pos was therefore sibly also watered pastures. Philaretos's stock managed in combination with Under such conditions, pursuits. agricultural thousands
of animals
to an estate may be sent away for substantial shepherds belonging to graze their flocks in or scrub periods of time outlying hill country on an estate remains but the center, and land, enterprise dependent
the control of villagers or estates. It is this model that I propose best depicts the land prevailing Byzantine use of the In remains the surface of medieval plateau. Cappadocia the herdsmen
remain under
period mangers and stock pens cut settlements attest thatmuch
in rock examples was from stocking activity managed for example, the rock-cut settlement and
underground
village settlements. At Filiktepe, contained several animal pens, and similar installations
are known
at Ovaoren. from Rocky Cappadocia Stables for caprids and equids are known from the sites of Ke?lik B and Soganh Dere i. in Anatolia Mixed and in Syria-Mesopotamia, where farming in limited areas and under less domestic crops were often produced on animals to assist crop pro frequently relied or and to bulk up the diet and resources of the household on the estate. animals pro species and circumstances, Depending vided traction, wool, milk, meat, leather, industrial fats, bones, and than ideal conditions,
duction
manure
that served as both
fuel and fertilizer.
Intensive farming over held eastern the rural life of the sway practices regions of Rome and Byzantium. The kernel of these high-input agrarian structures is found inwhat today we refer to as mixed farming: the combination of various crops, or crops and animals. The in medieval stabling of animals Cappadocia signals on the medieval frontier between farming practice Byzantium
that and
Islam fits squarely with what we know to be the dominant forms of as a whole. Confined livestock provided exploitation for Byzantium an source of fertilizer; husbandmen used grain stubble as important litter,which subsequently absorbed the nitrogen-rich animal waste and rendered an important fertilizer source. The maintenance of
soils, particularly the weak and often desiccated earth of the plateau, see these efforts in demanded assiduous care. We practice from the nearby Konya plain, where widespread, low-density pottery sherd scatters of the like that early Byzantine period represent manuring in witnessed evidence for a Upper Mesopotamia.69 Comparative
68 (Filiktepe/Ovaoren) V. Castellani, "Human Underground Settlements in A Cappadocia: Topological Investigation of the Redoubt System of Gostesin (NE 20)," inG. Bertucci, R. Bixio, and M. Traverso, eds., Le Cittd sotterranee della Cappadocia (Genoa,
1995), 41-52;
(Keslik B/Soganh
Dere
1)Cooper, Medieval (above, n. 41).
69
Cappadocia,
112-15
(Stabled cattle) H. Beckh, ed.,
(Leipzig, 1994), 2. 21-22; (Konya Plain) Baird, "Settlement Expansion"; (sherd
Geoponica
scatters) Algaze
et al., "The Chicago
Euphrates Expedition,"
BYZANTINE
EAST
44.
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
257
mixed
farming
on regime that centered agropastoralism
is known
hill near Samosata inhabitedonly fromthe fromGritille, a fortified The contested landscape around period onward (see p. 234). old Samosata (Samsat) was slow to recover from the damage suffered centuries of and Muslims. during the feuding between Byzantines
Crusader
the caliphate invested in the borderlands, they directed their and the creation and bolstering of the efforts toward Cilicia, thugur, to the detriment of their possessions around the Euphrates.
When
One
use of Byzantine farmers is vestige of the accelerated land in the rock faces in the remains of thousands of dovecotes
present of Cappadocia.
Although
western world in the present-day
the art
of raisingpigeons has largelyvanished, in antiquityand theMiddle
was Eurasia. Indeed pigeons widespread throughout Ages the practice remain an important component ofMiddle Eastern farming.We may rock smile at the thought of a small creature like the domesticated a a or more nuisance than curiosity, dove being anything perhaps, but
of food were quite dif ferent. The pigeon represents one of the fastest-reproducing forms of on their to humankind. Without constraints placed protein available the initial ten breeding pairs recommended by the reproduction, over author of the Geoponika 150,000 (14.6.9) could have produced the realities of a world without
an abundance
in five years. Birds were used formeat; in the early Roman offspring Varro offered advice on aviculture and noted that, due to the period urban market of Rome, bird-raising was extremely profit flourishing able. In late antiquity the price of a single pigeon could command as much as a modius of grain. nearly It is uncertain
medieval
Anatolia, from the birds was
in or not birds were widely marketed but inmany ways the meat that could be gained
whether a
farm secondary consideration for Cappadocian waste was vital to life. A peren ers. Rather the agricultural pigeon nial problem for farmers of the pre-industrial era, and one frequently cited by scholars as inherent to the primitivism of agriculture in the Mediterranean world, was a lack of fertilizer. Under normal condi tions, especially in naturally poor lands like those in many parts of soil fertility would central and eastern Anatolia, quickly decline. a return that would prob low stabilize at Eventually yields would let alone not subsistence generate any requirements, satisfy ably that the remedy for kind of surplus. Byzantine farmers understood the problem of poor soil recovery and low yield was the application one of the most potent fertilizers of of pigeon waste, undoubtedly the pre-industrial age. To provide but one brief example: a relatively modest flock of 500 pigeons would, over the course of a year, provide nutrients for up to 5 ha of barley land. Three to four ha of enough have been sufficient to sustain the average family. grain land should
258
MICHAEL
DECKER
KFig. 24 Dovecote,
Pigeons would seeds ofweeds
Erdemli, Cappadocia
have met most of their feed requirements by eating the and other wild plants. They thus exploited the untilled
no care on the margins of the rural settlements and required almost part of the cultivators of the land.
were in where many widespread Cappadocia (fig. 24) were rock-cut and thus survive partly today. Demenge investigated many of the pigeon houses in this region; most he found were rather modest, housing thirty or one hundred nesting boxes, perhaps each indicative of a esti breeding pair of birds. Around Goreme, Demenge mated that the fifty-seven Byzantine pigeon houses could have held Dovecotes
120,000-160,000
birds. More
than five thousand
dovecotes
have
to exist area of just in the region of Urgup, an only area the tenth century this alone might have had 500 km2.70 During consideration of any other compo upward of 325,000 birds.Without been estimated
nent of the means agrarian economy, these birds alone provided the to sustain five thousand sufficient fertilizer for people by providing 3,250 ha of arable land. Dovecotes
are a somewhat
neglected and enigmatic symbol of a of but associated with specific type. Agriculture farming, these structures would have been intensive. I have, for ease Although as a fertilizer of analysis, demonstrated the potential of pigeon dung arable
for a subsistence crop like barley, dovecote waste in all likelihood was and intended for valuable cash crops that were carefully managed found in and orchards. This practice was typical of what we gardens as one dis know of dovecotes from the early Byzantine period, such
in Cyrenaica covered at Apollonia that lies adjacent to the oil press. the olives that filled the press at one time were largely Undoubtedly the product of the fertilizer that came from the columbarium. These
G. Demenge, "Pigeonniers et ruchers byzantins de Cappadoce," Archeologia 311
70
(i995): 45
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
259
Fig. 25 Meskendir Valley runoff irrigation system. From Bixio et al., Cittd sotterranee, 281, fig. 2.
structures are therefore well
suited to the broken
landscape
of south
ern
where the eroded landscape is fragmented and soil Cappadocia, occurs in such conditions, pigeon pockets of degraded rock. Under an ideal waste the ameliorated considerably landscape and provided solution to the difficulties of sustaining gardens and orchards. are useful proxies in the archaeological Pigeon houses for settlement patterns, in that those villages with which columbaria
were
once
associated
have vanished, while
record
many the rock-cut
more remain. They are, important, invaluable for perhaps an entire that remains largely enigmatic. landscape understanding As indicators of intensive agriculture, these dovecotes are impressive in their numbers. But there are further indicators of substantial dovecotes
frontier zone. Irrigation agriculture elsewhere along the are in theMeskendir works known, especially valley (fig. 25). There, an into of conduits springs, the flow of impressive array tapped large which was augmented by flash floods that rushed down the seasonal watercourses the beds of that formed amid the broken hills. Within investment in
these streams, dams and terraces were constructed, but an effective one in the semi-arid landscapes theMiddle East. The systems inAnatolia, while
260
MICHAEL
DECKER
a laborious process, ofNorth Africa and
not as numerous,
are
reminiscent
of the late antique runoff farming installations spread These farms obtained their water from the the throughout Negev.71 The dams runoff of sudden rainstorms that collected in the gullies. and weirs both diverted the flow of these violent episodes into cisterns,
water so that it into the retarding the velocity of the percolated soil. Several such systems have been discovered and recorded by the Societa Speleologica Italiana. Far more survey work is needed before
we
of the range, precise any understanding chronology, in of these elsewhere systems frequency water-harvesting
approach
and
Anatolia.
terrain, and the pervasiveness of such systems on three continents during the ancient and water-harvesting medieval periods, there is no doubt that central and eastern Turkey will produce many more such features.72 We
Given
the climate,
have a hint of some of these finds from the letter of Harun
al-Rashid
to Constantine
VI, which
the state of the border
described
lands at the cessation of the Arab-Byzantine
truce:
You knowwell that,throughthe God accorded fidya [treaty], to each of your categories and each of your classes considerable in several areas. benefit and great these I advantages Among
fact that your laborers and artisans were quick to rework their land and whatever repair they disposed of...; out in order to rebuild and innovate in they spread agricultural the summits of the mountains and methods; they abandoned
mention:...The
themarshes
and went,
in the midst
of their
dwellings... digging canals, planting trees, and causing springs to burst forth, in such a way that they prospered. Their situation flourished, and their mountains
fertile,...whereas today, they are their lands...they have abandoned cultivating fields, the fertile lands, and the water canals for the became
from
prevented the wheat
arid mountains.73 Archaeobotanical
finds from farther west
add another intriguing to the of the face of Anatolian settlement. At piece puzzle agrarian farmers depended heavily on rye, a find that Beycesultan medieval heralds a departure from the norm of tastes, especially Byzantine for the Mediterranean on which region, traditionally relied barley and wheat. it was
Rye found few admirers in the ancient Mediterranean; the food of northern barbarians, to and its adaptability
colder, moister in northern
environments
Europe.
From
a
plays
out
throughout
palatability
theMiddle
standpoint,
Ages rye is a poor
bedfellowofwheat or even barley,but itshardiness and high yields
it a strong choice for the not the urbane. While practical, if rye must have been present in Anatolia from early times, its expansion make
P. Mayerson, The Ancient Agricultural 71 Regime ofNessana and the Central Negeb (London, 1961);M. Evenari, L. Shanan, and N. Tadmor, Desert 72
The Challenge
(Cambridge, Mass., Bixio, Castellani,
Cappadocia, 73
TheNegev:
BYZANTINE
1982).
and Succhiarelli,
279!?.
N. El-Cheikh,
theArabs
ofa
Byzantium
(Cambridge, Mass.,
EAST
FRONTIER
Viewed by 2004),
92-93.
ECONOMY
z6l
in cultivation departure
era is during the Byzantine again striking both for the tastes that it heralds as well as the from Graeco-Roman
adaptability of the Anatolian urban many Graeco-Roman
cultivators. With
the breakdown
of
centers with their grain markets that craved mainly wheat and barley, a natural fallback would have been rye,which competed poorly in the urban market, but is an admirable crop in regional and local economies of necessity.74
at Gritille Survey, excavation, and archaeobotanical investigation case for offer an important comparative slightly earlier Byzantine of the and Samosata occupation riparian districts around Melitene in the tenth and eleventh
centuries.
In the fertile Euphrates valley around Gritille, middle-Byzantine-era farmers grew a of melange but wheat and with wheat responsible for crops, barley dominated, of the crops produced there. Limited quantities of grapes, figs, cotton, flax, and nut crops suggest theminor role of fiber as beans and vetch, were and fruit plants. Leguminous plants, such 33-68 percent
a grain, these plants suggest relatively well-managed agrarian cycle, with legumes fixing nitrogen was also in the soil for the grain crop that followed. Rice probably like Basalt oil-mill cotton, and, grown, compo required irrigation. also produced;
grown
in rotation with
screw nents and possibly also weights suggest that the region pro duced some form of oil crops, perhaps sesame, but it is not impossible that olives were grown.
and in the Konya plain, the along the Euphrates sherd scatters on the river terraces around Gritille attest that the As
elsewhere
inhabitants, like the late antique farmers of the region, their fields as part of a high-input, managed farming regi a men. Manure was in part of livestock. diversity by Pigs provided was a were themost common animal, and in the key ingredient pork medieval
manured
diet, one clear indicator around Gritille
in and people living In this part of Christian.
that the late medieval
remained
predominantly the core settle sought provender outside of over ments to which wooded and grassy they belonged and foraged rear acorns This of mode fibrous other and areas, eating crops. hog a form of swine herd represents wide-ranging ing, called pannage, areas of to landscapes where large ing, nonintensive and best adapted eastern Anatolia,
pigs
close to villages. also were important to the late medieval popu Sheep and goats As with swine production, caprines were part of a lation of Gritille. subsistence economy rather than a more specialized economic niche, on local such as wool or dairy production. Herds were maintained resources, not sent far afield in semi-nomadic grazing forays, and
untilled
land are available
meat and a steady supply of provide Farmers sufficient levels of breeding stock. kept large cattle
the aims of their herders were
maintain
262
MICHAEL
DECKER
to
"Late 74 (Beycesultan) H. Haelbek, Bronze Age and Early Byzantine Crops at Beycesultan," AnatSt n (1961): 77-97.
(bovines) primarilyfor traction;dairy productionwas a secondary concern, two
and meat was
apparently
simply
a
byproduct
of the latter
concerns.75
economy from Gritille reflects a land in several scape that I believe parallels that of the Anatolian plateau use of outfields (lands generally more than i km respects. First, the The
late medieval
herding
removed from the villages) and rough country was the primary form of herding, rather than transhumant or other mid-long-distance
activities. Fairly small herd sizes are implied, with produc a tion aiming tomaintain, not pri enlarge these herds. This suggests mary crop focus of heavily worked fields, a fact corroborated by the nomadic
sherd scatters
of the river terraces. indicating widespread manuring In turn, the major focus on cropping suggests substantial numbers of settlements and a landscape that rendered necessary such agropas
toral strategies, where animals were an important part of a system whose focus remained grain and leguminous crops. Environmental studies at Amorium have yielded finds of culti
vated barley and wheat as well as millet.76 Had Leo of Synada traveled to Amorium, his the fifty or so miles from Synada hunger forwheat a cup of bread would have been sated. He also could have enjoyed the local wine:
several screw-press elements have been found in the city, and these argue for surplus that would have been traded at least
more of medi locally. Even interesting is the presence at Amorium a a as that indicate of known cago, legume may system production ley or convertible enabled the husbandry. Ley farming farming produc tion of cereal crops and animals in an efficient and intensive rotation. In this rotation cereal crops alternated with inwhich long-fallowing, the fields were with two pur The planted medicago. legume served poses: first, to graze animals, and second, to fix precious nitrogen in the soil to restore it.While ley farming is known from the Roman late antiquity via the evidence for its appli Geoponika, inMiddle Anatolia had been Byzantine missing. This small detail provides a a powerful reminder of how seemingly minor piece can of our data enhance archaeological significantly knowledge.
period cation
and
Conclusions I have written
in this study of two frontiers. The first is that along the corridor where Byzantium met Persia until the sev Tigris-Euphrates enth century. Byzantine political control in this zone collapsed in the mid-seventh century. In and of itself, this change in political masters need not have entailed any alteration of the status quo; the farmers on the not have been in a number of ground need displaced. However, border areas, the or suffered farming population apparently relocated severe losses. The second frontier centered on touched Cappadocia,
75
G. Stein, "Medieval
Production
Pastoral
Systems at Gritille,"
The Archaeology
inRedford,
of theFrontier, 181-209
(above, n. 19). 76
R. M. Harrison
"Excavations
and Neil Christie,
at Amorium:
1992 Interim
Report," AnatSt 43 (1993): 124-25; C. S. Lightfoot, E. A. Ivison, et al., "Amorium Excavations
1994: The Seventh Preliminary
Report," AnatSt
BYZANTINE
45 (1995): 152-53.
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
263
the Euphrates,
and trailed down
to the coastlands
of the northeastern
Levant. The eastern landscape of this frontier from Cilicia toMelitene endured a fractious and uneven history. At present, the evidence from survey and limited excavation suggests that the popu archaeological sometime in the centuries. The steeply seventh/eighth was in site fall of the numbers around Samosata precipitous. Most lation declined
small outlying sites, evidence of the spread of the early-Byzantine-era over the return was retarded landscape, disappeared. Their population centuries those for by warfare and political uncertainty. Whether
succumbed to pestilence, war, or other natural disasters populations is at the moment the subject of mere speculation. But the transition was not without trauma. Given the reaction of the toMuslim rule communities of northern Mesopotamia, expressed Aramaic-speaking in the Muslim of Apocalypse political sharply pseudo-Methodius, control visited Christian communities with sustained and memorable One can only expect that the endemic warfare engendered hardship.77 on the exposed by the annual jihad and Byzantine raids wrought havoc towns and country of the upper northern Syria, and Euphrates valley, Cilicia.
or were relo In the face of this danger, emigrated populations were troubled, and the communications
cated, resources dwindled,
of the formerly densely packed countryside shrank. population For nearly the whole of our period, the Taurus and Anti-Taurus Mountains
divided
the Byzantine
from theMuslim
worlds.
This line,
was the and Muslims, both Christians transgressed by an arena two civilizations, of peaceful interaction meeting ground of where ideas and bloodlines were exchanged, and a zone of violence frequently
where border lords carved out reputations and estates. The pattern of settlement, farmore difficult to discern than that farther east, shared certain features with tices evidenced
the Euphrates
in traces of manured
intensive farming prac fields, the same encroachment
valley. The
areas, and the creation of agricultural outliers late antique settlement on the plateau. But there were
into the less desirable characterized
cities were never as large or as ubiquitous Prima and Secunda were, on the In Justinian sday Cappadocia plateau. in terms of conventional Graeco-Roman cities, underdeveloped.
marked
differences as well:
of the of the eastern borderlands large swathes more in were settled any other densely than Empire Byzantine recorded period. In Cilicia, North Syria, and along the Euphrates, the to convert to landscapes sought underexploited growing population soils. As they pushed and everywhere invaded marginal agriculture, into the farther limits of the arable, farmers worked ever more inten In late antiquity,
tomaintain a range of soil fertility and strategies sively and employed as in the Settlement livelihoods. sustain their Euphrates, along thereby
264
MICHAEL
DECKER
77
P-Alexander,
The Byzantine
Apocalyptic Tradition
(Berkeley, 1985), 36-51.
Cilicia andNorth Syria,was both expansiveand dense,with villages, estates, and humbler farmsteads
spread
over a
deeply
worked
country
side.Animals fitted into thishigh-inputagriculture,but rangelands
were stall feeding or folding was desirable. increasingly restricted, and to avoid Animals had to be restricted in theirmovements, damaging over stubble or or in close folds Confinement stalls, crops. herding
after the grain crops were taken, rendered fertilizer accessible. In the Jazira and elsewhere in Byzantine Syria, transhumants far and wide, but they saw their grazing lands encroached ranged upon by sedentaries who pushed into the traditional grazing lands in nomadic pasturelands dimin search of agricultural land. Although such pressed ished because of the increase in the farming population,
did not inevitably lead to conflict. The complex relation in the ships that developed between nomad and settled populations a cannot be explored here, but they included range pre-Islamic world of action and reaction. Farmers tapped into the available labor force conditions
offered by nomadic groups during the harvest, and no doubt wel comed the vast flocks into grain lands where dung was desperately needed tomaintain fertility.As they had done for centuries, nomads
At exchanged pastoral products for grain and other farm products. other times, they raided, rustled, and kidnapped from the farms and of the frontier. In Byzantine Anatolia, the flocks of sheep and villages herds of horses land magnates
that represented the mobile capital of the powerful dominated. Before the arrival of the Turks, the purely
component of the population was severely restricted: the estates of the elite, with their intensive farm expansive Byzantine herds, would have allowed little room ing practices and managed
nomadic
none of the estate records of the pastoralists. We have we know that, since highland magnates, but antiquity, Cappadocia was horse need vast areas of quality pasture and country. Horses access to water. The pressure exert on the ready they countryside is forwandering
border lords had both substantial, their value high. The Cappadocian the incentive and themeans to tightly control their domains, and it is
sort ofmutualism thatwe saw in operation certainly possible that the in Syria and to the presence of was, due Mesopotamia large, centrally not estates, agropastoral managed possible inAnatolia. While simply we should envision movements of herds from summer large seasonal to winter pastures, most of these animals men, but to estate owners like Philaretos.
belonged
not to the herds
To conclude,
thiswork has dealt with major interlocking elements of life in the eastern frontiers of Byzantium from the seventh to the eleventh centuries: the nature of settlement based on the current data and the character of archaeological agricultural life in the fron tier zones. The present data, and fragmentary incomplete though they
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
265
are, suggest that the Islamic conquests did mark awatershed moment within the settlement history of Byzantium. The of the populations corner of the Levant fell from and the northeastern Euphrates valley
late antique levels that they have in our day. Along the regained only new frontier of that bordered theMuslim lands, Cilicia-Cappadocia the old late antique agricultural regime apparently sisted throughout the middle Byzantine period.
survived and per
to say of the way that the east something also ern Anatolian was farmed and controlled, and how the landscape inhabitants maintained and expanded their mas Byzantine-period tery over the region. It is somewhat ironic that the difficult landscape of the plateau that defined the rural world was, in many ways, con
The
evidence
ducive
has
to the defensive
in the face of theMuslim agriculture needed to create Anatolia did require a shift to pastoralism
raids. Byzantine amobile such a regime was in place centuries before capital economy: the coming of Islam. Nor did the Byzantine farmers of the medi were scarce. At eval period abandon their lands. Arable lands always
one where soil and water infrequent points good converged, found settlement as well. These farming oases were both compact and dispersed. This fact was both a blessing and a curse: there was structures too little arable land from which to develop large urban investment in hydraulic engineering, but the without overwhelming those
smaller pockets of land lent themselves to defense and the integration of large numbers of animals, whose mobility could take advantage arable has always been of the large, intervening empty spaces. Good no less so in medieval As the popula in short Cappadocia. supply, to in the ninth and tenth centuries and Byzantine tion expand began confidence recovered, the frontier aristocracy competed intensely
the landed estates that formed the only and assiduously developed sure kernel whence their power could germinate. In this process, the from it. By weaken invasions were not the death knell?far Muslim in the regions, and by provincial ing the power of Constantinople estates not to if of the the most, all, emperor imperial give up forcing the local lords were free towax that had once blanketed Cappadocia,
to the fullest.Only centuries laterdo we find the full fruitsof the and Bardas Phokas, in ripen: in the rebellions of Bardas Skleros The power of these fami the ostentation of Eustathios Maleinos. a substructure of a on lies rested superstructure of violence cladding
tree
landedwealth thathad been built block by block in farmsand fields
new frontier. along the
?
266
UniversityofSouthFlorida
MICHAEL
DECKER
Acknowledgments
Iwould like to thankDumbarton Oaks and theparticipantsat the 2005 Spring Symposiumfor theirhospitalityand for the comments I received
her work
there. I would
on this piece,
also as well
like to thank Alice-Mary for Talbot as thank the reviewers from whose
comments I benefitedgreatly.Finally, Iwould like to thankNick J. Maroulis, have made
whose
to the University of South of the research for this article.
contributions
possible much
Florida
BYZANTINE
EAST
FRONTIER
ECONOMY
267
Trade and Industry in Byzantine Anatolia: The Evidence from Amorium Author(s): Christopher Lightfoot Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 269-286 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472051 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
http://www.jstor.org
Trade and IndustryinByzantineAnatolia: TheEvidencefromAmorium Christopher Lightfoot A recently
IN
drawn
published
has Bryan Ward-Perkins a inmaterial culture that graphic picture of the "decline" book,
marked the end of theRoman Empire between the earlyfifth
and the seventh centuries. He
points out, for example, that produc tion of wheel-made pottery ceased in Britain during this period, and was not that the skill reintroduced "for almost three hundred years."1
to the fact that not were some study also draws attention only and construction in lost or abandoned manufacturing techniques much of the western empire, but that the sophisticated mechanisms
The
that allowed formass production and distribution also broke down. eastern It is further half of the empire suffered a sim argued that the ilar collapse in living standards during the seventh century, largely a as result of Persian and Arab invasions. In other words, the "Dark
Ages"
saw not
merely and economic
a transformation conditions
military, social, and physical aspects 600 Perkins, "Around ad
in
Byzantine geopolitical, but a real decline in the cultural,
of Byzantine life. According the sophistication of the
toWard
late-antique ad was one area and there 700 Aegean evaporated," "By only of the former Roman world that had not experienced overwhelm economic decline?the of the and Levant, ing provinces neighboring Egypt, conquered by the Arabs in the 630s and 640s."2 world
is a great deal of truth in this view of theMediterranean at the end of world in the present paper I antiquity. However, to a to the redress the balance little with attempt regard surviving eastern half of the Roman Empire, concentrating on the evidence There
at Amorium, a provided by the excavations major Byzantine city in central Anatolia. This site,where excavations have been continuing since 1988, has a new of wealth material already produced relating to the seventh through eleventh centuries. Here, at least, there was no apparent contraction in the size of the urban settlement, which its impressive circuit of fortifications and buildings served the spiritual and physical needs of its inhabitants. To retained
the excavations
that date,
have uncovered near the center of the Lower a City a aisled church basilica and bathhouse, both ofwhich appear to large, have functioned until themid-ninth century.3 The Lower City walls, too, may have been abandoned only after the capture of the city by in 838, and the the Arabs was Upper City subsequently refortified in the middle Byzantine period (ioth-nth centuries).4 Since 1998 work has also focused on a central area of the Lower not far City
i
B.Ward-Perkins,
and theEnd
The Fall ofRome
ofCivilization
(Oxford, 2005),
esp. 117. 2 Ibid., 129 and 126. 3
For themost recent report on the see C. S. Lightfoot, Y. Arbel,
bathhouse,
B. Bohlendorf-Arslan, Excavation (2004): 4
J.A. Roberts, and
"The Amorium
J.Witte-Orr,
and Research
Project: in 2001," DOP
58
356-63.
See C. S. Lightfoot, "The Survival in Byzantine Anatolia, the Case
of Cities
ofAmorium," Byza ntion 68 (1998): 60-64; E. A. Ivison, "Urban Renewal and Imperial Revival in Byzantium (730-1025)," ByzF 26 (2000):
14-18.
'
I / / / / / \j 11[TI I
/1'il ! !' ! /// /
lJr^L^w^^^T\
'A| r^pTT
?-_^
\%-
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\\
i 11
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\\
|
V
\\\
\/\
. "\_._\'
^'
''"'..
''
'
i!/
''
'''^^^^%
^--^^^Lower
City
Enclosure
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/
\ 1/
^^A
---
"''" ""\
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\ \/ ~^-\ \
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Fig. i Plan of the central area of the site,
,
.
,
. .
..
showing the relative positions
.
TT orfthe Upper
^ity anc^tneChurchandEnclosureinthe
/
Lower City. Drawing
W'''/
by S. Aydal.
\vl
: ' -
~
Excavation
\
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s/
/
/
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'i
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/'/
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Church \ | J .
Areas
~~I
I
I
1
This has become known as the from the Lower City Church (fig. i). in the middle Byzantine period, an area of some Enclosure because, of 12,327 m
was
surrounded
by the Enclosure's
a massive
part of which has have side. Excavations
wall,
southern been exposed along the Enclosure revealed evidence for occupation within extending from the early Byzantine period through to the end of the Byzantine exact purpose of the in the late eleventh city's existence century.5 The Enclosure
remains uncertain,
the perimeter wall was within
but it is clear that the construction
of
to protect and separate offwhat
lay
intended
from the rest of the site.
Before
excavations
at Amorium
there was
a
widely was restricted to the man-made that the Byzantine city to conform to was in this way made or Amorium mound hoyiik. the picture painted by most Byzantine scholars, who see Anatolia as in small, easily communities by scattered living only populated for settlements and hilltop castles.6 Wolfram defensible Brandes, began
held view
sites that Amorium from his list of Byzantine example, excluded names or to towns in He cities the dark be could claim ages. only "it that remarks and and Nicaea, Thessalonike, Trapezus Ephesus, near is definitely no coincidence that all these were located either
27O
CHRISTOPHER
LIGHTFOOT
5
For a detailed discussion
of the area's
see E. A. Ivison, "Excavations
archaeology, at the Lower City Enclosure,
1996-2000,"
in
Amorium Reports 3: Finds Reports and Technical Studies, ed. C. S. Lightfoot and E. A. Ivison (Oxford, forthcoming). 6 For a rare exception to this view, see F. R. Trombley, "The Decline of the Seventh Century Town: The Exception of Euchaita," Milton V inByzantine Studies inHonor of Anastos,
ed. S. Vryonis
(Malibu,
1985), 65-90.
or
sea and had Evidence by the ports."7 landlocked Amorium, however, has made
from the excavations
at
it
abundantly clear that of the Lower City area throughout there was substantial occupation the middle Byzantine period, and that the city was only effectively in the last after the Turks settled in central Anatolia abandoned quarter of the eleventh century. Circumstances have largely conspired to focus attention on cer in late Roman tain aspects of commercial and Byzantine activity on times. The maritime trade, reflected emphasis has principally been in the concentration
to coastal
of studies devoted
sites, shipwrecks, and bulky items of long-distance trade such as grain, oil, and wine.8 The existence of distinctive types of transport amphorae has greatly aided progress in this field of research.9 On the other hand, it is assumed
that inland cities were
on the largely self-sufficient, drawing resources of their own territory, and cut off
natural
and agricultural from their neighbors and the wider world by the expense, difficulties, and at times of overland transport. In the Roman and early dangers some evidence does exist for the partici Byzantine periods, however,
pation of inland cities in international trade, notably in the export of marble and in themanufacture and exchange of certain types of pot is Much less the period after circa 650, known about tery.10 although a famous letter in the of the Leo that (Ep. 43) Metropolitan implies
as olive oil, wheat, and wine that tenth century basic goods such were at were Synada lacking locally supplied by long-distance trade from other parts of Anatolia.11 In addition, Anatolian
on the for the Byzantine period archaeological work on churches, monasteries, has often concentrated plateau
sites have rarely provided substantial evidence for the everyday preoccupations of production and inwhich the supply must of the have been majority population survey, engaged. Regional as some scholars, is also to advocated strongly by unlikely provide a trade and industry, since picture of Byzantine comprehensive and kastra. These
of this activity must have taken place the countryside.12
much
W. Brandes, "Byzantine Cities in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries?Different Sources, Different Histories," in The Idea and
7
the Ideal of the Town between Late Antiquity Ages, ed. G. P. Brogiolo
and theEarly Middle and B.Ward-Perkins 8
(Leiden, 1999), 25.
See F. van Doorninck,
"Byzantine in The Economic History ofByzantium: From the Seventh through theFifteenth Century, ed. A. E. Laiou
Shipwrecks,"
(Washington, D. C,
2002),
9
in urban
centers and not
K. Dark, Byzantine Pottery (Stroud,
ii
The Correspondence ofLeo Metropolitan ofSynada and Syncellus, Greek text, trans, and comm. M. P. Vinson (Washington, D.C,
2001), 37-40,47-9. 10 See J.-P. Sodini, "Le commerce des a l'epoque protobyzantine," and C. Abadie-Reynal, "Ceramique et commerce dans le bassin Egeen du IVe au
marbres
Vile
siecle," inHommes
1985), 68-70. 12 See M. Whittow,
"Decline
and Fall?
Studying Long-Term Change in the East," in Theory and Practice inLate Antique Archaeology, ed. L. Lavan andW. Bowden
etRichesses dans
I'Empire byzantin (Paris, 1989), 163-86 and 143-62 respectively.
(Leiden, 2003), 414.
899-905.
TRADE,
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
271
* %i??JfeirailWBBM^--x
j ^__________H_______________________^ ^B__^___^_____r? J^^^^^^^^hBIbIHRI^I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^BhHHh^b@9
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Oaks 2005 Spring papers presented at the Dumbarton the "rapid decline" of coastal cities, as Symposium have described and the abandonment of inland cities such evidenced at Aperlae, Other
as
Sagalassos of massive
in the mid-seventh
changes Anatolia.
in the nature
speak century.13 Such phenomena and scale of trade and industry in
Fig. 2 Stone screw-press weight, T2016, and part of treading floor (in foreground), Trench XE Context 49, Lower City Enclosure. Photo by E. Schoolman.
can be found in Byzantine Signs of this transformation mass of red-slipped pottery and mold the way that the production ceases almost terracotta made lamps completely and very abruptly at about
the same time. This, of course, does not mean
that pottery or used for storage, cooking, eating, lighting stopped being made in the Byzantine world after the mid-seventh century. It does, how or
ever, speak of the failure, or at least the severe dislocation, of those industries and commer mechanisms that sustained such specialized cial activities. The finds at Amorium
may provide clues about how and distribution were developed during systems of production the excavations have provided evidence for the dark ages. Certainly
new a
variety of different trades and crafts, including pottery production, Items that attest to contacts with glass blowing, and leatherworking. the wider world
of Constantinopolitan Less easy to ascertain
272
CHRISTOPHER
these range from fragments ware shells. pottery to marine glazed white is the contribution made by imported skilled
have also been
LIGHTFOOT
found;
For example, the oral presentations R. by Lindley Vann, "The Infrastructure of Trade: Harbors in the Eastern 13
Mediterranean, M. Waelkens,
500-1000
ce in Southwest Anatolia: or Decline; Its Chora."
ce," and
"The Fifth toTenth Century A Case
Transformation
Study; Sagalassos
and
labor to the economic
life of the city. However, the building mate in reconstruction the used and, it
rials and artistic skills that were
seems, repeated redecoration of the Lower City church provide some the discovery of a series of rich and important indicators.14 Likewise prestigious
burials
Fig. 3 A second treading floor with collecting vat and stone spout in situ, Trench XC Context Enclosure.
933, Lower City
Photo by E. Schoolman.
in the church narthex
supplies evidence for the in the late tenth silk textiles at Amorium
availability of elaborate through mid-eleventh century.15 Other
areas of the site seem to attest to the intensive use of build
and retailing purposes. Some of this evidence ings formanufacturing can be related to industrial activity, but other finds indicate that the processing of agricultural produce also took place within the city. A
number of screw-press weights have been recorded at Amorium; such stone blocks are or in the in either found usually countryside villages
were harvested.16 It could have been grapes or olives is argued that their presence within the city merely the result of their reuse as excava spolia for building purposes, but during the 2005
on estates where
tions in the Lower City Enclosure another large, drum-shaped press was found in close association with a weight treading floor, clearly all a part of winery (fig. 2). A second floor, complete with stone drainage spout and smaller circular collecting vat, was also found elsewhere in the Enclosure
This (fig. 3).
evidence
shows
incontrovertibly
that
TRADE,
See discussion in chaps. 8-10 of 14 Amorium Reports 2: Research Papers and Technical Reports, ed. C. S. Lightfoot (Oxford, 2003),
ii9ff.
C. S. Lightfoot, "Amorium," AnatArch 8 (2002): 11. 15 16
C. S. Lightfoot, "Stone Screw Press inAmorium Reports 2: 73-77. Weights,"
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
273
was carried out in the city production during a amount of land within Byzantine times.17 It implies that considerable easy reach of Amorium must have been exploited for growing vines and that a surplus of wine was produced for either export or supply as part of the army of theAnatolikon. to troops The there garrisoned large-scale
wine
absence of significant quantities of recognizable transport amphorae at Amorium may further suggest that thewine was stored and trans in other types of container, casks or leather perhaps wooden ported case must in either the production of wine have led to a skins. But variety of local subsidiary and service industries.
The presence ofmultiple wineries in the Enclosure does not attest to the "ruralization" of Amorium in in the sense that people moved
from the countryside to exploit areas of the city where abandoned at hand, but rather that lay ready buildings and building materials secure in which the fortified city provided produce surroundings Itwas a symptom of the special con could be stored and processed. in the second half of the seventh and ditions that existed inAnatolia throughout
the eighth centuries as a result of frequent Arab
attack.18
Those few cities that stillhad defensibleand defendedwalls in fact to themselves a attracting people from larger population, garnered areas. A close more vulnerable symbiosis between city and outlying at can therefore be territory postulated dark-age Amorium.19
the sixteen years of excavation at the site, the most During common after pottery shards and numerous category of material to most domestic animals (cows, is animal bone, of which belongs
Some of the fragments display butchers' sheep/goats, and pigs). marks, suggesting that animals were driven into the city for slaugh ter and consumption. However, relatively few pieces of worked bone
less than fifty items have been recorded slightly so far. So, whereas and late antique sites, including several Roman indus have produced good evidence for a bone-working Sagalassos, a to have been major this does not appear try,at Byzantine Amorium raw mate available massive of the readily quantities activity, despite rial.20 In fact, only one piece, a fragmentary plaque or handle, has unfinished decorative elements, implying that itwas made locally.
have been
On
17
found;
the other hand,
a number
two larger treading floor and collection vats were excavated
Another,
associated
season in the Enclosure; see during the 2006 C. S. Lightfoot and E. A. Ivison, "Amorium 12 (2006): 30. For references to attacks on Amorium,
2oo6"AnatArch 18
see C. Foss, Byzantine (Cambridge Mass.,
274
CHRISTOPHER
and Turkish Sardis
1976), 60; "Ammuriya,"
LIGHTFOOT
of the finds may
be made
EP, 449; J. F. Haldon,
of ivory,
Byzantium
in the
of a 1990), 83,107,113, and
Seventh Century: The Transformation Culture
(Cambridge, 216; M. Whittow, TheMaking
ofByzantium, 600-102$ (Berkeley, 1996), 112,138, and 176. For the opposite view, see J.Haldon, 19 "Some Considerations and Economy
on Byzantine
Society
in the Seventh Century," ByzF
io (1985): 87-88. See, for example, B. De Cupere, W. Van Neer, and A. Lentacker, "Some 20
Aspects Roman
of the Bone-Working Industry in 2: Report in Sagalassos Sagalassos,"
on the Third Excavation ed. M. Waelkens 1993), 269ff.
Campaign
and J. Poblome
of 1992, (Leuven,
__
liiiunumfiii liijiijAi'ii ^^^^^^By^^Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiwiiiiii '*#lyH|_________j
no to analyses have yet been made although verify this; for example a in in 2003 in a worked handle found the Enclosure finely (fig. 4), to the second quarter of the ninth destruction layer that may date century, has the appearance, weight, and hardness of ivory rather to than bone. Little can be said about how such items were brought but whether they were brought by merchants or carried Amorium,
~3 cm m___B
Fig. 4 Ivory (?) handle, SF5668, from Trench XC Context 451. Length 12.45 cm. Drawing
by P. Pugsley.
Fig. 5 Mother-of-pearl inlay, SF4443, Trench XC East Context 21, Lower City Enclosure. Length 4.3 cm. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
there as personal possessions locals or visitors, they do by wealthy attest to a level of that might not other sophistication and opulence wise be suspected.
was import ismother-of-pearl. A complete inlay in 2002 It has been identified as found in the Enclosure (fig. 5). a been from made possibly having black-lipped pearl oyster from the Red Sea.21 A number of marine shells have also been found at exotic
Another
a few murex shells. The Byzantine including complete levels at Alisar Hoyiik furnish the best parallels for the use of marine shells in central Anatolia, Mediterranean although Sagalassos numerous has also produced examples, presumably dating from Amorium,
Roman found
or late Roman
in 2004,
the Enclosure.23 is indeed
item of long-distance trade, comes from is an amber pendant fragment; again, it in New York has shown that the amber Analysis times.22 Another
from the Baltic.24
There
seems no
reason
to doubt
its
use of amber in Byzantine context, although the Byzantine jewelry seems to be recorded. Finally, there is the evidence discovered poorly in 2002 of a leather-working installation just outside the Enclosure 21
The identification has been carried out
by Dr. David S. Reese of the Peabody Museum ofNatural History, Yale University, New Haven. from photographs
22
E. F. Schmidt, The Alishar Huyuk Seasons of 1928 and 1929, part I (Chicago, 1932), 80; B. De Cupere, Animals
at Ancient
Sagalassos: Evidence
of theFaunal
M.
Remains
23
C. Lightfoot, "Amorium 2004," 10 (2004): 13.
AnatArch 24
Shedrinsky of the Chemistry
Department, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York; see A. M. Shedrinsky
(Turnhout, 2001), 10-17.
and C. S. Lightfoot, "A Byzantine Amber Bead," inAmorium Reports 3, forthcoming.
The analysis was carried out using
the pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectometry method by Prof. Alexander
TRADE,
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
275
' '^ ___________, ff;'v-> %.^_______________
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^P^Sfl^PI^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^IP^ '^I^^^^^H^h _____________E___________^______^jS
^^^^^^^^^BETtt^^^^K^P^HH?S^ _^____^E_Eii____H|^___H
in a
context of the eleventh century. A small work middle-Byzantine was excavated, and at the rear of the shop complete with workbench
was found dump of several hundred small bones bones have been identified as the feet bones of newborn room a
The (fig. 6). or prenatal the animal skins were
Fig. 6 Tannery workshop with stone drain age sink at left and remains of bone refuse dump at right, Trench XA2, outside Lower City Enclosure. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
a only signify tannery where itmay be treated, starting with the removal of the feet.25Moreover, lambs would have been unsuit argued that the skins of newborn soft leather able for use as parchment, but they are ideal formaking lambs, which
can
m ^||^______________|
as kid or even astrakhan.26 gloves goods such one While type of luxury material was, it seems, being made at another was certainly being worn there. As mentioned Amorium,
a series of in tombs was excavated eight middle Byzantine the narthex of the Lower City church in 2002. Seven of them were
above,
sealed and undisturbed.
Two
of the tombs were
found
to contain
state of in one remains in a remarkably preservation; organic good in a textile that served as a the fourth and final burial was wrapped shroud, which has subsequently been identified as made of silk. In the other tomb, fragments of textile decorated with gold thread were found, and here itwas possible to make out an embroidered design
276
CHRISTOPHER
LIGHTFOOT
25 Kazisi
C. Lightfoot and Y. Arbel, 2002," 2$.KazSonTop,
"Amorium
26-31 Mayis
(Ankara, 2004), 1: 5,plate 11. I thank Dr. Evangelia Ioannidou for suggesting this interpretation tome; see
2003, Ankara 26
E. Ioannidou, "Animal Husbandry," Amorium Reports 3, forthcoming.
in
on the silkweave.27 it cannot be Although itwould seem probable that these proved, rich textiles were imports into Amorium, but there is no reason to doubt were
of Byzantine carried considerable on
distinction
that they Silks manufacture.28
prestige, their owners
conferring and, it is
were most effective as status argued, they "in an urban environment."29 symbols out The located tannery was just other side the Enclosure wall, but many with
associated
installations
the
latest
BB|BMBBB^^
^i^kT
IliilH
have of Byzantine occupation phases inside the Enclosure. been uncovered were built either at the same time They as or later than the Enclosure slightly can be dated coin which wall itself, by finds to the end of the tenth/beginning century.30 Some of these installations were found inside the shell
of the eleventh
others of the early Byzantine bathhouse; new to inside have been inserted appear constructions (fig. 7).31 large rectangular The small size of the rooms suggests that areas or were storage workshops; they similar installations have been found within
the Roman
baths
at
is There, too, the precise function of the compartments Hierapolis.32 not clear, but one must assume some form of commercial rather than
Fig. 7 Middle Byzantine installations within a large rectangular construction to the east of the bathhouse, Trench XC Context 435. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
use.
domestic
few transport amphorae have been found at Amorium, of large storage jar or pithos fragments have significant quantities Whereas
27
P. Linscheid,
Textiles
"Middle Byzantine
fromAmorium, Anatolia,"
Archaeological
Textiles Newsletter
38 (2004):
of the silk thread has been
25-27. Analysis carried out by Florica Zaharia, Textile Conservation Museum
and Cross-Cultural Byzantium,
head of
at The Metropolitan
of Art, New York. A microscopic
Artistic
Interaction:
Christian West," DOP
31
and the
theMuslim World, 58 (2004):
Okay,
197-240,
and esp. 198-99. It is, however, clear that Byzantine silks were exported to theMuslim world while
Islamic silks were imported into
the empire (ibid., 218-20). Jacoby, "Silk Economics," 239. Six anonymous folles of class A2 were
sample of themetal thread has also been found to be made of high-purity gold with only traces of silver and copper; this analysis
29
has been carried out byMark Wypyski, Department of Scientific Research, The
in wall during cleaning and consolidation 2001 (C. Lightfoot and Y. Arbel, "Amorium
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 28 For a recent study of the Byzantine silk industry, see D. Jacoby, "Silk Economics
Kazisi
30
found in the rubble core of the Enclosure
2001," 24. KazSonTop,
2002, Ankara
[Ankara, 2003],
See C. S. Lightfoot, Y. Mergen, B. Y. "The Amorium and J.Witte-Orr,
in 2000," Project: Research and Excavation DOP 57 (2003): 290, fig. 16; Lightfoot, Arbel, Bohlendorf-Arslan, Roberts, andWitte-Orr, "Amorium 2001," DOP fig. 11.See Amorium fig. 8.
58 (2004):
363-64,
report, this volume,
C. ?ims.ek, "V. Donem Hierapolis 32 Roma Hamami Kazisi," 8.MuzKazSem, Nisan 463-64,
1997,Kusadasi
(Ankara,
7-9
1998),
figs. 1-2.
27-31 Mayis 525, plate 9
[showing only five coins]).
TRADE,
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
277
______________HL_ ^1i9|j|^^^^^^^H||_^P^ ___________________ ^^^mUffKIK^^^1"
been
excavated,
together with
a number
of complete
or
nearly
com
plete examples (figs.8 and 9).33They have been found in both dark strata, indicating long-term use ifnot pro age and middle-Byzantine duction of pithoi. At neighboring Pessinus analysis of the clay used in the Byzantine examples found there has shown that there were six
different fabrics, coming from at least two different sources of pro Indeed it is claimed by the Pessinus team that "we now have or trade of [late Roman solid evidence . . .of long-distance exchange and early Byzantine] pithoi in central Anatolia."34 However, because
duction.
of their size and it is difficult to were weight imagine that such items not made not at the site itself but at a locally?perhaps nearby clay pit. At Amorium, too, itmay be assumed that the pithoi are of local man extensive and ufacture. How this industry was remains prolonged unclear, but itwould production
continued
appear that, despite some recycling of earlier jars, throughout the Byzantine period.35
See, for example, C. S. Lightfoot et al., "Amorium Excavations 1993, the
33
Sixth Preliminary Report," AnatSt
44
(1994): 115,fig. 2; Lightfoot, Mergen, Okay, andWitte-Orr, "Amorium 2000," 290 (above, n. 31). Several more
intact or nearly complete pithoi have been found in the Enclosure during recent seasons but have yet to be published
in detail.
34
J-Devreker, H. Thoen, and F.
Vermeulen, Excavations
inPessinus:
So-Called Acropolis. From Hellenistic Roman Cemetery toByzantine Castle
CHRISTOPHER
LIGHTFOOT
and
(Ghent, 2003), 373. Despite the fact that pithoi frequently appear at sites and are often displayed in
35
Turkish museum
gardens, they have yet to at any length in the literature on Byzantine ceramics; see, for example, be discussed
Dark, Byzantine Pottery, 44
278
The
(above, n. 9).
^ii__________________| ,:_M^^^^^^^^H
Fig. 8 Pithos in situ in 2002, Trench XC East Context 13.Photo by C. Lightfoot. Fig. 9 Pithos in situ in 2005, Trench XC Context 950. Photo by E. Schoolman.
Amorium production
also provides much valuable information about brick and use.36 The brickyards themselves may have been
located outside the city,and it is difficultto date specificexamples
of the tendency to recycle such material in later constructions or for other purposes such as using them for a was noted at The first example of game boards. stamped brick of brick and
tile because
in 1992.37 Since then several more have been found, and to it has been one with the possible identify three different stamps, name two name while the other carry the [A]elian[os]. [E]ugeni[os],
Amorium
were in the sixth century. It has been They probably made argued a elsewhere that early Byzantine brick stamps the identify origin of a owner owner on that the of the of the land is, brick; brickyard,
the clay pits and/or brickyards were situated, or the foreman in of a group of brick workers. The stamps thus have no rel charge evance with to the were used.38We inwhich regard they building(s) can, therefore, exclude the assumption that Eugenios and Aelianos had been involved in the construction of the first-phase Lower City
which
at Amorium. church or any other Instead theywere specific building most or owners who were likely brickyard clay-pit being taxed for to assume that the their brick production. It is logical brickyards as well as would have been near the clay pits, where, having ready access to the raw materials, they would have contained room to dry the bricks before the many impressions, firing. Certainly especially on the unfired bricks the paw prints of a large dogs, left imply that large open space formed part of the brickyard. The continued
use
in Byzantine
times of such everyday objects is also an indicator of cultural sophistication.
as bricks and pithoi has Bryan Ward-Perkins
highlighted the fact that whereas tiled roofs in are later found there used Roman ubiquitous Italy they only in "elite the quantities of roof tiles that buildings."39 At Amorium
were
The brick and tile have been intensively studied by Dr. Johanna Witte-Orr, and I am
36
grateful to her for allowing me to draw on her work here. For preliminary reports, see C. S. Lightfoot and E. A. Ivison, "Amorium Excavations 1994, the Seventh Preliminary Report," AnatSt 4$ (1995): 131-32; C. S. Lightfoot et al., "The Amorium Project: The 1997 Study Season," DOP 53 (1999): 345-46, figs. 6-7. For a comprehensive study, including a catalogue of nearly 400 examples fromAmorium,
see J.Witte-Orr,
"Roman and Byzantine Bricks and Tiles," inAmorium Reports 3, forthcoming.
37
R? M. Harrison, N. Christie
"Excavations
atAmorium:
et al.,
1992 Interim
Report," AnatSt 43 (1993): 155,fig. 1. 38 Jonathan Bardill has demonstrated how buildings in the capital were built with bricks from several years and yards, which resulted in a mix of individuals named, and explains that the stamps served a taxation purpose, not as an indicator forwhich build ing project theymight have been intended (J.Bardill, Brickstamps [Oxford, 2004], 39
ofConstantinople
8-26).
Ward-Perkins,
Fall ofRome, 95-96
and 109 (above, n. 1).
TRADE,
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
279
Fig. 10 One area of tile collapse, as exca vated in 2005, Trench XE Context 96, viewed from the Lower City Enclosure wall. Photo by E. Schoolman.
have been
areas of the site (fig. io) suggest furnished with tiled roofs than just
from various
recovered
that many more
were buildings civic and ecclesiastical
the principal commercial premises were foundations. some
ones, even if these domestic
or
on stone largely constructed of mud-brick Likewise the use of relatively expensive and cumber rather than simple pits for domestic storage purposes
pithoi indicates a certain level of investment of time, trouble, and wealth. stone
in the occurred obviously countryside. available outside the city walls readily immediately in the area to the south and west. Here, too, was located one of the
Quarrying Limestone was
ancient city, so that in Byzantine times at major cemeteries of the stone was satisfied not least the need for building just by quarry new blocks but also Roman old tombstones and by removing ing monuments for reuse. This practice apparently continued funerary into middle Byzantine times.40 In addition marble was much used at Amorium. Both the Enclosure bathhouse and the Lower City church had marble
280
CHRISTOPHER
revetment on their walls
LIGHTFOOT
and marble
flooring.
40 2004,"
See, for example, Lightfoot, "Amorium 13 (above, n. 23). This inscribed block
has now been correctly identified by Prof. Thomas Drew-Bear as part of themonumen tal tombstone of a certain Athenaios, prob ably dating to the firsthalf of the 3rd cen tury but reused as a spolia block in a Byzantine wall constructed no earlier than the second half of the 9th century.
These
two
buildings stood throughout the dark ages but, whereas was in the ninth century, the probably abandoned completely refurbished in the middle Byzantine period.
the bathhouse church was
Fig. ii Part of themiddle Byzantine marble floor in the nave of the Lower City Church. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
included the laying of a new opus sectile floor in the nave. of the slabs can be identified as pavonazzetto Many (fig. n), which is said to come from the quarries at Docimeium (Iscehisar), not far This work
from Amorium.41
The
red-veined breccia
that was
extensively used at the Lower City Church, however, is to be from not far from quarries thought Dorylaeum (Eskijehir).42 come from more distant sources. Other stones found at Amorium for columns
As
and doorframes
part of her work
on
the marble
revetment
slabs from the
has also studied the imported colored Karagiorgou and identified them as coming from various parts fragments of Greece. They include slabs of verde antico from Thessaly, green bathhouse,
Olga
marble
near porphyry from Sparta, and cipollino from Karystos Of course, it is not at all clear when the marble was
on Euboea.
brought in the middle
to
since, as with many of the floor slabs used were reused Byzantine church, these pieces may be spolia that during in the latter part of the the refurbishment of the baths, possibly
Amorium
their presence shows that an appre eighth century. Nevertheless, at Amorium ciation for Buntmarmore into well luxury persisted times. Byzantine
TRADE,
41
H. Mielsch,
Buntmarmore
imAntikenmuseum
Berlin
aus Rom
(Berlin, 1985), 59,
plate 18. 42
This breccia
is known in themarble
trade as "Salome Light"; see http://www .graniteland.com/stone/salome-light.html. Further work is required before a precise identification of themain sources of local marble
can be made.
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
281
*^^k /,1 |_fl__________________________________^ ~ ?^*si3|_. *e% ____________________________________________H______^j* I _P________________________________K_& ii.:'v^<-'-'
the many pieces Among so far from the excavations
J_ I
of metalwork
that have been
recovered
at Amorium
three of the finest exam
are a copper 12 and 13), a handle from another ewer ples alloy (figs. ewer a all found in the Enclosure (fig. 14), and large tinned basin, in recent seasons.43 Such vessels can be seen as part of the interna tional
repertoire of Byzantine metalwork, which has been high seen as They may also be lighted by Marlia Mundell Mango.44 at Amorium, and only their dating is contentious. luxury imports
Fig. 12 Copper alloy ewer, SF4498, from Trench XB Context 69, Lower City Enclosure. Height Photo by T. ?akar.
22.5 cm.
Fig. 13 Copper alloy ewer, SF4498, from Trench XB Context 69, Lower City Enclosure. Height by B. Altas.
22.5 cm.
Drawing
contexts
suggest that they belong in the ninth came from a clear destruction in particular layer that may be associated with the capture of Amorium by the Arabs in 838. such valuable metal objects would not have been Certainly
The
stratigraphical century; the basin
or idly casually discarded. at There is little need to say much here about the glass found at some in a since this material was discussed Amorium, length 43
For the handle, SF6918, compare P.
Flourentzos, Excavations
in theKouris
Valley, vol. 2, The Basilica ofAlassa (Nicosia, (dated to first 1996), 32, 34, plates XLI-XLII half of 7th century). For the basin, see C. Lightfoot, O. Kocyigit, and H. Yaman, "Amorium Kazilan 24-28 Mayis
282
CHRISTOPHER
2003," 26.KazSonTop,
2004, Konya
LIGHTFOOT
1: 250, fig. 1,plate 2 (shown in situ), and see Amorium report, this volume, figs. 10 and 11. (Ankara, 2005),
44
M. Mundell
Amphora:
Mango, "Beyond the Non-Ceramic Evidence for Late
Industry and Trade," inEconomy and Exchange in theEast Mediterranean during Late Antiquity, ed. S. Kingsley and
Antique
M. Decker
(Oxford, 2001), 89ff.; see also
G. H. R. Wright, Objects
"Some Byzantine Bronze from Beycesultan," AnatSt 50
(2000): 165-70, figs. n-i2a-b. The dating of the Beycesultan material to two distinct periods, one early Byzantine (ca. 6th century), the other middle Byzantine (ca. ioth-i2th century), is highly conjectural.
Oaks in2002. Itwas then ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^h heldatDumbarton specialcolloquium
not possible topoint to any importedIslamicglass,but one piece of a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H come tomy attentionand has been added to cut-glassbowl has since ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^PHI thepublishedpaper; again itcomes froma context in theEnclosure.45 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pf
itcouldbe a veryrareexample ofan Islamic ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Htl Ifcorrectly identified,
importatAmorium. Recent excavationshave also produced more ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ evidence forglassworking in the formof cullet,waste threads,and H^^^^^^^^^^^^^I^B^ other debris. These finds are concentratedwithin the Enclosure, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I^EP^
tr J
would have ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BPjl which inRoman times thatan industry, indicating
been located on the outskirtsof a city, is at ByzantineAmorium area. Likewise the seeminglyplaced at thevery centerof theurban
^^^^^^^^^^HI^^^^KflM ^^^^^^^^^^Bj^^^^EPl
on theUpperCitymoundofa potter's kilnwould suggest ^^^^^^^^^^ discovery
^^^^^BhN
that industrialactivitieswere carriedout at various parts of the city ^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^BhI in and among buildingsused forotherpurposes. The kiln, excavated ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HH| some tenyears ago, has recentlybeen re-datedbyBeate Bohlendorf^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HPl
or earlyninthcentury.46 It isquitesmall, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HR] Arslanto thelateeighth and so itmaybe doubtedifitwas used forfiringsuchthingsas ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ bricksor storagejars in addition to table-or cookingware, but the wasters found in its immediatevicinityshow that someof thevessels
were
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bf[j ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hi
large
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
Mention of thekiln introducesthe largestgroup ofmaterial that
^^^^HH^^^^^^^^H
is found at Amorium,
includes namely the pottery. The assemblage iP^>>^ wares as some residual late Hellenistic Roman such red and imports A^'-'l from Sagalassos and a few fragments of late Roman C ware, including W?^'3 late Roman unguentaria,47 but the vast bulk of the pottery comprises ^^y coarse wares, in date from the seventh 1 Byzantine ranging to the eleventh century. There are plain wares, /*-?^ ^.^
wares, paintedwares, and somedecorated including two lidswith curious zoomorphic knob handles (figs.15and 16)48 In addition, there are the enigmaticmultihandled vessels found
in a destruction
layer behind
(r^M
W/'^H %:.-'^\\ &-^Sc\
?
/'
^-^^
/^x
<s
Bh^k
rV c> -f ^ Y ?^> / c) -*\
lo f m '. ? J$k * & -* >3
the 1
byzantinische Keramik aus der Turkei (Istanbul, 2004), 1: 28, 222. In earlier reports a middle Byzantine date had been assigned to the kiln; see C. S. Lightfoot and E. A. Ivison, "The Amorium Project: The 1995 Excavation
Season," DOP
51 (1997): 299,
fig. 9; C. S. Lightfoot et al., "The Amorium Project: The 1996 Excavation Season," DOP 52 (1998): 332, 334-35.
For the unguentaria, see the report by Ergiin Lafli in Lightfoot and Arbel, "Amorium Kazisi 2002," 4-5, plate 10 (above, n. 25); E. Lafli, "Roman and Late Roman
47
Terracotta Unguentaria: 1988-2005," in Amorium Reports 3, forthcoming. For an example of burnished relief 48
^D^
\l:i-^ O %\-
%
A
-U'4 f <^Zj;h
1
i?
?
5 cm
o C. S. Lightfoot, "Glass Finds at 45 Amorium," DOP 59 (2005): 175, figs. 2 and 3. B. Bohlendorf-Arslan, Dieglasierte 46
Fl
Fig. 14 Copper alloy handle, SF6918, from Trench XE Context 51,Lower City Enclosure.
Length 21.1 cm. Photo by E.
Schoolman. Fig. 15 Terracotta fragment of a handled lidwith zoomorphic design, SF5627, from
see C. S. Lightfoot, "Amorium and the Afyon Region in Byzantine Times," in
ware,
Trench XC Context 3.75 cm. Drawing
436. Preserved height
by P. Pugsley.
Ancient Anatolia.
Fifty Years' Work by the British Institute ofArchaeology at Ankara, ed. R. Matthews (London 1998), 307, fig. 24.3.
TRADE,
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IN BYZANTINE
AMORIUM
283
5 cm ^^^^B Lower City walls.49 Not only is the question of their function still unresolved, but the fact that two close parallels are now known from in Kastamonu also casts doubt on whether they, and Paphlagonia some of the other coarse wares, are indeed local perhaps products. One solution to the latter problem may be to see them as made by itinerant potters. Much work still has to be done in recording, clas mass of ceramic material, but the sifying, and dating the quantity of
^^^^H
Fig. 16 Terracotta fragment of a handled lidwith zoomorphic design, SF5728, from Trench XM Context 23. Preserved height 4.3 cm. Drawing
by P. Pugsley.
Fig. 17 Polychrome glazed fragment found during surface cleaning inside Trench L, Upper City. Preserved length 5 cm. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
for this logistical problem, is in itself indicative of the size, affluence, and relative sophistication of the community that in addition to the coarse wares, there is a small used them. Moreover,
finds, which makes
a but significant number of glazed fine wares, including fragment of a middle Byzantine Polychrome Ware cup or bowl found on the are in 2004 to have Upper City mound likely (fig. 17).50 Such imports in been few in number, but they are the significant demonstrating wealth
and contacts
that could
still be found at Amorium.
Indeed
in her survey of glazed recently published to trace a conti in sites is from able Anatolia, Byzantine pottery only at two sites, and Amorium.51 nuity of such finds Constantinople An ceramic for why and how the tradition in the explanation
Beate Bohlendorf-Arslan,
so Byzantine world changed suddenly and radically in the mid seventh century remains elusive. It may be argued that political in either maritime and military events caused a downturn trade or or both.52 This would seem more specialized mass-production, C. Lightfoot, "Byzantine Pots in Central Turkey Puzzle Excavators," Minerva 10/3 (May/June 1999): 7; C. S. Lightfoot,
died bowl or cup.White
E. A. Ivison et al., "The Amorium
on exterior, with a band of pseudo-kufic
49
Project:
55 (2001): 380, fig. 12. For the example in Istanbul, see Istanbul Arkeoloji Muzeleri Yilhgi 3 (1949):
lettering as decoration above: white on a black ground. Constantinopolitan Ware, ioth century. P.L. 5. cm., p.H. 3. 55 cm.,
32, fig. 17.1 am grateful toDr. Marlia Mango for drawing my attention to this publication.
cm. This fragment may be compared directly with one in the Benaki Museum that also has linear motifs painted
The 1998 Excavation
Season," DOP
Surface cleaning inside Trench 50 AM04. L, Upper City. Body fragment of small han
284
fabric. Yellow
brown and dark purple (?) under glaze on interior; yellow-brown band on under curve
CHRISTOPHER
LIGHTFOOT
Th. 0.55-0.3
in black and white
(D. Papanikola-Bakirtzi,
F. N. Mavrikiou,
and C. Bakirtzis,
Byzantine Pottery in theBenaki Museum [Athens, 1999], 24, no. 20). Glazed
?1
See Bohlendorf-Arslan,
Keramik,
Glasierte
1: 96-103,107
(above, n. 46), 1 and table 3 (the latter two are
with map in ibid., vol. 3). 52
Others, however, see "cultural change" reason for the abandonment of
as themain
the use of red-slipped fine ware Byzantine Pottery, 57,107-8
(Dark, [above, n. 9]).
plausible than the idea that people could no longer afford to buy red-slip
to since they clearly had buy some pottery whether itwas local coarse wares or relatively inexpensive fine-ware case of imports. The lamp production
wares,
instructive. Mold-made perhaps, terracotta lamps formed the standard, is,
everyday lightingdevice from Roman
in
times, but through early Byzantine circa 650 the centuries-old tradition
of
o 5 cm lamps disappears.53 making mold-made Several examples of such lamps decorated excavations at with Christian symbols have been found during the were two intact 18 also recovered and 19) Amorium; examples (figs.
from a multi-chambered
early Christian
tomb in 2005.54 They can
all probablybe dated to the sixthor firsthalf of the seventhcentury.55 Thereafter, however,
to be a distinct dearth of at lamps times, when a rather uniform type of
there appears
the site until middle
Byzantine occurs in wheel-made lamp large quantities.56 In the intervening is little evidence period, there or use at Amorium, lamp production coarse handmade very examples may ages.
It has been
as elsewhere, a few although best be ascribed to the dark
that candles
suggested
for terracotta
and
candle manufacture
replaced the lamp industry during this period, but the fact that the inhabitants of Amorium returned some time later to using terra
was not a shift in how permanent lamps suggests that there to their homes and places of work.57 One reason people wanted light was may be that the mold-made lamp industry highly centralized cotta
o
5 cm
Fig. 18 Terracotta mold-made lamp, SF6614, from theWest Necropolis, Tomb MZ94C.
Length 8.95 cm.
by P. Pugsley.
Drawing
Fig. 19 Terracotta mold-made
lamp, SF6615, from theWest Necropolis, Tomb MZ94C. Length 10.05 cm. by P. Pugsley.
Drawing
and specialized. Places such as Amorium may have depended almost on once the imports and, entirely industry collapsed, it took time for locals to develop the skills to produce their own substitutes.58 This explanation,
however,
seems
unsatisfactory,
The mass production ofmold-made terracotta lamps after the 7th century sur vived only in the Islamic world; see, for 53
example, N. Adler, Oil Lamps of theHoly Land (Jerusalem, 2004), i6off. 54
M. A. V. Gill and N. T. Sen, "Roman
and Early Byzantine Terracotta Lamps," inAmorium Reports 2, 28, nos. 36-38, and 31-32, no. 84 (above, n. 14); E. Schoolman, "Middle
Imperial, Late Roman,
and Early Byzantine Terracotta Oil Lamps: 2002 2005," inAmorium Reports 3, forthcoming.
since it is clear that the
A close parallel to one of the intact lamps from the tomb (fig. 19) is an unprov enanced lamp in the Bibliotheque nationale
55
de France, acquired in 1906 (C. Trost and M.-C. Hellmann, Lampes antiques du et departement desMonnaies, Medailles HI. chre Antiques Fondsgeneral, lampes tiennes [Paris, 1996], 137-38, no. 215, plate
Lamps," inAmorium Reports 2, (above, n. 14); C. S. Lightfoot,
Terracotta 65-71
"Middle Byzantine Terracotta Lamps: 1993 2005," inAmorium Reports 3, forthcoming. For candles and candle-makers, see C. 57 Mango,
"Addendum
to the Report on
32). Both clearly come from different but
Everyday Life," JOB 32.1 (1982): 255-6. For the parallel development of the soap makers' guild, see R. S. Lopez, "Trade in Seventh
closely related molds,
Century Byzantium," DOP
but the location of the
workshop remains unknown. 56 M. A. V. Gill, "Middle Byzantine
13 (1959): 72.
58
Compare Ward-Perkins, 136-37 (above, n. 1).
TRADE,
INDUSTRY
IN BYZANTINE
Fall ofRome,
AMORIUM
285
were able to supply themselves with quanti ties of other for daily use, notably goods glassware and good-quality, wheel-turned the lamp industry did not operate pottery. Moreover, in isolation but in close and distri conjunction with the production of Amorium
inhabitants
of olive oil. Since olive trees do not grow around Amorium, of imported oil would have impacted severely on local shortage to the for oil lamps. Disruption demand and supply production bution a
of sufficient quantities of olive oil the seventh century may during the It have enforced may be, therefore, that factors change of habit. cause a radical the control of the local beyond helped population in their lifestyle. change What Amorium occupied filled with
emerges from this rapid and rather cursory survey is that should not be seen just as a fortified administrative center as a real city, by soldiers, clerics, and imperial officials but a whole
host
of different craftsmen
and
tradespeople. of the "ruralization" of cities, and Byzantine speak in that it seems to certainly Amorium would fit into this category have acted, as we have seen, as a center for the processing of agricul Some
scholars
tural produce and probably formigration from the countryside.59 But much more than this, itmust have functioned as an important center
for the production of finished goods, a commercial entrepot, and a a number of source of both skilled and casual labor. major Although other cities must have served a similar function as regional centers, few have been or are able to furnish the same wealth of archaeologi has now begun to provide. cal evidence as Amorium
and Roman Art ?Department ofGreek Art TheMetropolitan Museum of
G. Ostrogorsky, "Byzantine Cities in the Early Middle Ages," DOP 13 (1959): 65; S. Hellenism Medieval Decline The Vryonis, of 59
inAsia Minor
and theProcess oflslamization
from theEleventh
through theFifteenth
Century (Berkeley, 1971), 7; Trombley, "The Decline of the Seventh-Century Town," 75 (above, n. 6).
286
CHRISTOPHER
LIGHTFOOT
Living in a Marginal Environment: Rural Habitat and Landscape in Southeastern Isauria Author(s): Günder Varinlioğlu Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 287-317 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472052 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:45 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
ina Environment: Living Marginal inSoutheastern Isauria Rural Habitat and Landscape Giinder Varinlioglu A
SI A minor
IS ONE of themost
intensively and longest studied Yet the prioritization of cer of the world. Mediterranean Zjk regions JL JL. tain periods, sites, and types of data has resulted in an imbal ance between the quantity and quality of the evidence. Because archae inAsia Minor has been traditionally dominated by investigations ology ofmajor cities, monumental structures, and ecclesiastical buildings, a vast on urban settlements. quantity of information has been acquired On
the other hand, the study of the countryside has almost always been initiated as an extension of an excavation project at an urban center; in other words, the rural hinterland of cities has rarely become the focus
of archaeological aspect does not investigations. This historiographical on Asia Minor. However, characterize solely the scholarship the shift of interest to the countryside new methods development of
and everyday life, accompanied by the in the study of landscapes, has funda transformed scholarly research on Italy,Greece, North Africa,
mentally and the Levant.1 The
theory and methods
of the holistic
landscape perspective at the fore developed by multi-disciplinary projects have remained front of survey archaeology for more than a decade.2 Yet they have a affected research inAsia Minor archaeological only minimally. As behind result, the practice of archaeology in Asia Minor largely lags the current state of it has contributed therefore scholarship; only to the current debates
marginally i
Some of themost noteworthy projects in these regions are the following: for Italy, see G. Barker, R. Hodges, and G. Clark, A Mediterranean Valley: Landscape Archaeology andAnnales
History in the Biferno Valley (London, 1995); forNorth Africa, see G. Barker et al., Farming the
Desert:
The UNESCO
Archaeological
Libyan Valleys Survey, 2 vols. (Paris and
on the definitions,
interpretation,
and L. Benson, A Cypriot Village in the ofLate Antiquity: Kalavasos-Kopetra Vasilikos Valley (Portsmouth, 2003), and M.
Mcclellan,
and A. B. Knapp, The Sydney Cyprus Survey Project: Social Approaches toRegional
Given
Archaeological Survey (Los Angeles, 2003); for Syria, see G. Tate, Les campagnes de la Syrie dunord du He au VIIe siecle: Un exemple d'expansion demographique et economique dans les campagnes a lafin de
1996); forGreece and theAegean islands, seeW. G. Cavanagh et al., The Laconia Survey: Continuity and Change in a Greek Rural Landscape, 2 vols. (London,
(Paris, 1992); and for Judeo Palestine, see Y. Tsafrir, L. Di Segni, and J. Green, Tabula Imperii Romani. ludaea,
1996-2002), and J. F. Cherry, J. L. Davis, and H. Mantzourani, Landscape Archaeology as Long-Term History: Northern Keos in the Cycladic Islands from Earliest
Roman and Byzantine Periods: Maps and Gazetteer (Jerusalem, 1994). 2 on the theory and meth Discussions
Tripoli,
Settlement untilModern 1991); for Cyprus,
Times (Los Angeles, seeM. L. Rautman, M. C.
Vantiquite
Palaestina:
Eretz Israel in theHellenistic,
ods of landscape archaeology and their application to fieldwork have been exten
sively published
in the recent past. See
W. Ashmore
and A. B. Knapp,
Archaeologies
ofLandscape:
Perspectives
Athanassopoulos Mediterranean
eds.,
Contemporary (Maiden, Mass., 1999); E.-F. and L. Wandsnider, Archaeological
Current Issues (Philadelphia, and R. M. Leventhal, Papadopoulos Theory and Practice
eds.,
Landscapes: 2004); J.K. eds.,
inMediterranean
Archaeology: Old World and New World (Los Angeles, 2003); and G. Barker and D. Mattingly, eds., The Mediterranean Archaeology of Landscapes Perspectives
(Oxford, 2000), vols. 1-5. The last to be mentioned
but not the least is P. Horden
and
N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History (Oxford, 2000).
and study of historical landscapes. In the past decade, the incorpora tion of excavations and surveys in the territory of Anatolian cities has become more the norm than the exception.3 Nevertheless, the coun
furthermore, it is interpreted from a city tryside is still understudied; on the controversial model of the core and oriented viewpoint, based
the periphery.4 Compared of information available
to data on urban
landscapes, the quantity on the rural is countryside of Asia Minor
we have a very limited of its extremely small; hence understanding character. Our knowledge becomes even more sporadic for the post
Classical period forwhich preconceivedmodels of decline and fall have been traditionally accepted without scrutiny. can this deficiency inAnatolian only be Obviously archaeology territories. More rectified with new projects in uninvestigated impor an is for the there need tant, urgent application and development of new methods,
as well
as the reinterpretation of traditional paradigms new in the data. This gap in the field of the late antique set light of stimulated the current archaeological tlement history of Asia Minor a on the rural region and project landscapes of southeastern Isauria, so far received very limited scholarly attention. With that have subject rural countryside the larger scope of studying the role of theAnatolian in the transition from antiquity to theMiddle Ages, in 20031 launched
survey to explore the character of land use, building The survey area is a densely set practices, and rural settlement patterns. the coastal plains and the marginal tled micro-ecology encompassing The network of settle the Mediterranean. limestone hills overlooking a reconnaissance
and traces of the exploitation of a large territory provide ample evidence for the study of the countryside as an integral component of
ments
and religious on the investigations focused were the rural settlements churches of cities and monumental region, neither mapped nor fully documented.5 In addition the lack ofwritten late antique social, economic, military, structures.While earlier archaeological
attestations ments
about the countryside almost invisible.
Regional aspects of theAnatolian countryside are presented in the following volumes based on recent archaeological 3
and investigations: H. Vanhaverbeke The Chora of Sagalassos:
M. Waelkens,
The Evolution of the Settlement Pattern from Prehistoric until Recent Times (Turnhout, 2003); R. E. Blanton, Hellenistic,
Roman
and Byzantine Settlement Patterns of the Coast Lands ofWestern Rough Cilicia Sinop (Oxford, 2000); and O. P. Doonan, a Landscapes: Exploring Connection in BlackSea Hinterland 2004). (Philadelphia,
288
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
administrative,
seems to have rendered these settle
The core-periphery model assumes that the core ismore advanced than the
4
periphery, and itdivides the territory into core and neatly delimited zones, i.e., the its periphery separated by a buffer zone. See J. Bintliff, "Regional Survey, Demography, and the Rise of Complex Societies
in theAncient Aegean: Core and Other
Periphery, Neo-Malthusian, Interpretive Models,"
JFA 24.1 (1997): 17-22.
5
E. Herzfeld
and S. Guyer, Meriamlik
und Korykos. Zwei
christliche Ruinenstdtten
des Rauhen Kilikiens, MAMA
2
1930); J.Keil and A. Wilhelm,
(Manchester, aus dem Rauhen Kilikien,
Denkmdler MAMA
3 (Manchester,
1931); and S. Hill,
The Early Byzantine
Churches ofCilicia and
Isauria
1996).
(Aldershot,
The extensive remains suggest that the countryside cannot be inter as a mere hinterland urban centers; to the con preted supplying the trary, itwas a lively and prosperous hub of activity on its own. From as the core and point of view, binary opposites such methodological the periphery, settled versus nomad, and site versus empty spaces do not suffice to explain the complexity of this rural countryside. Instead the
a
is distinct from and by farmore landscape, which comprehensive than the term territory, provides a holistic yet flexible framework for the study of the evidence of diverse character, various time-scales, and term
are In my usage, landscapes palimpsests of social, and administrative networks, which interact with religious, economic, diverse components of the territory whether material or conceptual. In other words, is an agent in the formation of the cultural landscape
different localities.
record and is reciprocally affected by human agency as well as by long term and While the ecological geological changes. accommodating that induced the of economic, religious, social, processes restructuring and cultural systems during late antiquity, this theoretical framework proposes an alternative and more complex interpretation of the urban and the rural, not as disconnected and clearly delimited categories, but as
a interacting and adaptive components of system. zones The exploitation and occupation of marginal during the late a common Roman is in the The Mediterranean. period phenomenon coun settlements of rural Isauria fit in this category of densely settled of the cities hinterlands of and harbors such as tryside, typical major Antioch
on the Orontes
River and this apparent Apamea.6 However, not lead to the simplistic conclusion that such rural similarity should same processes of transformation in the settlements went through the face of the new circumstances at the end of antiquity. To the contrary,
or man-made, are to under regional peculiarities, whether natural key standing the complexity of the period. One major difference is that were Egypt and the Levant occupied by Arab armies while the region under studywas not. The transformation of cities and rural settlements under
Islamic rule has been relatively well studied, unlike the terri tories that remained under Byzantine rule. The understanding of the nature of this a change requires significant sample of regional studies various from parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. In this paper I do not claim to offer definitive answers to the big question of the transition from antiquity to theMiddle Ages.7 Instead I present the preliminary results of three seasons of reconnaissance and mapping survey carried out between 2003 and 2005. The exten sive reconnaissance fea survey recorded topographical and man-made tures of the area under in it other words identified and recorded study; sites of
networks, surface pottery, soil high visibility, communication land usage. The remains, of all sizes and characteristics, and modern
HABITAT,
6
See C. Foss, "Syria inTransition, A.D. 550-750: An Archaeological Approach," DOP 51 (1997): 189-269. 7
The issues presented in this paper are in further detail inmy disserta
discussed
tion entitled "The Rural Landscape and at the End of Antiquity:
Built Environment
Limestone Villages of Southeastern Isauria," which will be completed in August 2008 under the supervision of Cecil Lee Striker at the University of Pennsylvania.
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
289
an isolated tomb, a cistern, a farm, an types?whether agricultural field, a recorded in such away as to form pottery scatter, or settlement?are
thebasis of a futureGeographical InformationSystems (GIS) proj
survey was geared to two large known settlements only i km apart, namely I^ikkale and Karakabakh, names. This survey used a combination their Turkish only through ect. On
the other hand,
of mapping
the mapping
and remote-sensing
technologies,
such as high-accuracy
Global Positioning System (GPS), Total Station,Computer Aided Design
hypotheses investigated
Isaurian
and low-level aerial photography.8 The conclusions and in this paper are provisional and will be further presented in future seasons.
(CAD),
Landscapes
late antique province of Isauria ismore commonly referred to in the scholarship as Rough Cilicia, and isknown inmodern Turkish as itsTurkish nomenclature suggests, Ta? eli, that is, "the land of rocks." As The
the region is characterized by its rugged limestone topography, impen etrable brushwood, occasional and thin red soil (terra rosso), and its lack of water. This
ismountainous
Anatolian
country with limited access from the maritime connected toMediterranean
plateau, yet tightly networks bymeans of small, well-protected harbors. The province was overshadowed by eastern Cilicia (Cilicia of the Plain), which possessed a fertile plain (modern (^ukurova) fed bymajor rivers.9 large During the first season in 2003, with the help of a small team, I gathered the nec essary data for the preparation of settlement
8
plans and documented the physical features of the landscape in the form of drawings, digital photographs, and written notes. The mapping survey was carried out only during the first season. The settlement of Ifikkale has been fullymapped, while Karakabakli could only be partially studied. Therefore the settlement plan of Karakabakli was drawn using aerial photographs, a limited number of Total Station and GPS coordi nates, and field observations.
The procedure
of aerial photography drastically reduced time spent formapping. Since our budget did not allow for the purchase of profes sional balloon photography equipment or the rental of a helicopter, we designed and a system consisting of a manufactured camera whose
shutter
point-and-shoot release would be controlled by a remote control used formodel
(designed and manufactured by ?afak ?enveli, Murat CJavdar, and Gunder Varinlioglu). We
29O
GUNDERVARINLIOGLU
airplanes
attached
this very light system (about 500 g) to three latex balloons (40-60 inches in
diameter)
inflated with helium. Thus we
have taken hundreds of overlapping pictures for each settlement. By joining these digi tally, I have acquired a "settlement picture" I produced sketch plans of the sites. In addition, by geo-rectifying the air photographs I acquired low-accuracy base fromwhich
maps to study the layout of settlements that we did not have time tomap. further strengthened this western physical separation by merging the the ter with part of Cilicia (Rough Cilicia) 9
Diocletian
ritories in the Taurus Mountains
and cre
ated the new province of Isauria, adminis tered from Seleukeia on the Kalykadnos River. In 370 Valens Isaurian homeland
attached
the former
in the Taurus mountains
(centered at the dipolis of Isaura) to the province of Lykaonia. The province of Isauria was hence reduced to thewestern as part of Cilicia, commonly referred to fifth-century list Rough Cilicia. Hierocles' of cities and governmental units records the
provinces of Isauria (metropolis Seleukeia), Kilikia I (metropolis Tarsos), and Kilikia II See E. Honigmann, (metropolis Anazarbos). ed., Le synekdemos d'Hierokles et I'opuscule geographique de Georges de Chypre: Texte, introduction, commentaire et cartes (Brussels, J939)? 37-39- Isauria as an entity became theme in the seventh
part of theAnatolikon
century; subsequently Theophilos turned it into a kleisoura named Seleukeia. Under in 930, it became a I Lekapenos separate theme centered around Seleukeia on the Kalykadnos. Throughout its Christian history (except for a short period
Romanos
the during the Arab occupation of Antioch), whole region was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the patriarchate of Antioch. For a more detailed discussion
of the admin
istrative status of the region, see T. B. Mitford, "Roman Rough Cilicia," ANRW 2.7.2 (1980): 1230-58; and F. Hild and H. Kilikien und Isaurien
Hellenkemper, (Vienna,
1990), 1: 30-84.
;
\.
? n. . Diokaisarcia l
. 01ba?\
Canbazh#\ AU , Haciomerh
'.
Yeni^kci
[
'*
.%
..
,.
**%*^Si *?. ***.
* \ S|
Karaahmedi
Fig. i Map of the area covered in the project based on themap "Seleukeia und in F. Hild and H. Hellenkemper, Umgebung" Kilikien und Isaurien (Vienna, 1990).
fcmirzeh
[ Yenibabfe yp "** **, Hiiseyinler \ ' ***?. # \ I ***-.\ ' l /-\ i i . Keslitiirkmenli y \ *. (y-altibozkir \ *Hai^erli \ \ Dcvcini* Gokbur9 . Kiztlisah Vf^, \ ', T,, . **vf?r?'.... Adamkavalar ^ Takkadin # ) Meydan'. * De irci -.*, -^ t * G6kkale# Kalesi \ / / rvaiesi^ ?,^ Mezgit Kalesi -.. Hasanaliler# lmamli# \% \*Cukur Ss\^ ^*v_ ] Barak$ikalesi#\Yenibah<;e ***., \ Scvranlik Korykos? #Pash Sinckkalc\ "%-..% . _??, ,, V^?Gozcasi . >Guvercinhk# *vun.?n -->_:.. Bayindir \ * , . I Kultcsir A , \ \ ** KorykionAntron Germeli* Asagidunya Kurudcrc ... \ \Karab6culii ^?^
\
Turkmenu^ag'i I?ikkalc?\^ *"*. mSansokak y Karakabakh* Akkale Korasion# /?J Kocabeyli Caltili N..% /
"Kome0" \J Kumbetlibelen
j
/ (Direktas./ \Yalaktas
I
y
\. Payambelen
^Kalykadnos
?
Riv^^
\
Scleukeia V
#\^
t H.Thekla
\. Bah<;cdcrcsiKoy >v
Holmoi
\
\
* Narhkuyu^
# # Imb*o onAkHayatl.*Ccbidni
#
)
\.
^^^ Sichinum*
\ \
I
Mediterranean
Sea
Settlements (isolated structures,habitation cave farms,hamlets, villages)
?
?
Cities
*
Pilgrimage sites Ravines
river valleys, which separate and con fragmented by deep nect several The area treated in this paper lies between micro-ecologies.10 two of these ravines. In thewest theKalykadnos and Yenibahce (fig. i): theKalykadnos River (modern Goksu), navigable in the Roman period, Isauria is
created an irrigated, large, and fertile alluvial delta.11 This delta is the in Isauria and, it is com only large coastal plain though much smaller, to the in its climate and soil characteristics. parable (Jukurova plain
on the River (modern Silifke), the city of Seleukeia Kalykadnos administrative and later the ecclesiastical capital, was located on the 12 western bank of the about 10 km from the coast. About Kalykadnos
The
HABITAT,
io
The territory discussed in this paper lies at the southeastern corner of Isauria,
along its border with Kilikia I. This liminal setting creates a controversy regarding the appropriate administrative designation that should be used to refer to this region. In the absence of relevant textual and epigraphic evidence, we cannot determine with certainty whether
this territory belonged to Isauria or Kilikia I.
administratively and topographically, Geographically more directly connected to Seleukeia and Diokaisareia, Kalykadnos of Isauria. Therefore province
it is on the
cities in the I believe
that
it ismore appropriate to refer to this region as part of southeastern Isauria rather than western Kilikia
I.
ii
Strabo, Geography 14.5.4; and Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman History 14.2.19.
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
291
stream km to the east another deep ravine was formed by the seasonal ofYenibah^e (also known as Persenti or Per?embe), which reached the Mediterranean close to the harbor of Korasion (modern Susanoglu), a to 367-375.12 settlement whose re-foundation is epigraphically dated The area under study consists of two zones distinguished by their climate, annual
rainfall, vegetation, and soil properties. The alluvial its delta, and the narrow coastal to Kalykadnos valley, plains belong theMediterranean temperate sub-humid climate and receive 700-900 mm
of rainfall per year. On the other hand, the limestone hills at an altitude of about 300-1000 m are semi-arid and receive only 400-700
mm
of rainfall per year. Today, evergreen broad-leaved scrubs similar to theMediterranean cover the limestone bedrock. This vegeta maquis tion is interspersed by dry yet arable fields of usually small dimensions,
are suitable for as the cultivation of olives, dry farming, such subsistence and Other vines, strategies included pastoralism, grains.13 the exploitation of trees (oak, juniper, cedar, and pine at high altitudes), forest products, and native plants such as saffron.14On the pockets of
which
trees terra rossa soil carob, daphne (laurel), pistachio, and wild olive 200 and 600 m above sea level, and wheat, oats, grow naturally between and barley are regularly cultivated by villagers.15 to the absence
Due
of water
limited
sources,
rainfall, and
the
soil, the limestone hills rising above the narrow can be qualified asmarginal in terms of their topography, coastal plains climate, and agricultural potential. Yet this rural territorywas by no means isolated. Itwas connected to the networks largerMediterranean cities and of commerce, transportation, and pilgrimage through the harbors along the coast, as well as inland cities along the routes leading to theAnatolian The most important center of population was plateau. on theKalykadnos River, due to the diversity of institutions it Seleukeia dearth of cultivable
inscription on the fortifications the (lost by early twentieth century) dates the construction of the walls to the reigns
12
An
of Valentinian
I,Valens,
and Gratian
375). This date is considered
(367 to be a terminus
post quern for the settlement, which is as desolate and uninhabited in
described
the inscription. As Korasion does not appear inHierokles' Synekdemos, we may conclude
(the Silifke Tarim liceMudurlugu Directorate of Agriculture of the Silifke District)
at http://www.silifketarim.gov.tr/
tarimsalyapi.asp.
The two lakes in the
The caves and hills above Korykos 14 were renowned for the highest quality saffron: Pliny, NH, 21.17; and Strabo 14.670. There is no more saffron in the area today and the inhabitants do not recognize the plant. For a detailed study of the vegetation, seeH. Kiirschner, Der ostlicheOrta Toroslar
15
delta are breeding grounds for varieties offish. The delta is also an impor
(Mittlerer Taurus) und angrenzende Gebiete: Eineformationskundliche Darstellung der
The area under the jurisdiction of the modern district (ilce) of Silifke is 266,000
tant stop on themigration routes of various bird species. Further information on the delta can be found at http://www.silifke M. Bener, "Goksu .org/genel/delta.htm; and
Vegetation sudost-Anatoliens Ost Taurus (Wiesbaden, 1984), 134-35. Cedar and juniper were ingreat demand in antiquity for both
ha large. Of this territory, 54% is covered by forests, 25% is used for agriculture (77% of
Enstitiisii Dergisi
that itdid not reach the status of city by the fifth century. See CIG Wilhelm,
Denkmdler,
3.4430;
and Keil and
102.
13
292
to dry-farming), 12% for 12% is and pasture, occupied by settlements and wasteland. For a detailed explanation of the statistical data, see the report of the this being devoted
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
Kalykadnos
Deltasi,"
Istanbul Universitesi Cografya \6 (1967): 86-100.
architectural and maritime construction. See S. Hill, TheEarly Byzantine Churches ofCilicia and Isauria (Aldershot, 1996), 5.
encompassed
(administrative,
commercial,
ecclesiastical,
and military).
In theLife andMiracles ofSt. Thekla composed in thefifthcentury, is described
Seleukeia
as on a par with Tarsos: city having such magnitude
"An admirable
and
in accordance with exceedingly gracious that she does not fall short of charm. She has such commensurability most cities, splendor and elegance that she surpasses equals others, and in terms of boundaries, rivals the beautiful Tarsos setting, the good in the utility climate, the abundance produce, the flow ofmerchandises, ofwaters,
the pleasantness,
hence
the brilliance of baths, the beautiful
the joyousness of people, the eloquence of language of the Muses, and the rhetoricians, glory of themilitary."16 The presence of the regional capital was of the utmost importance
itwas for the prosperity of this territory.On the other hand, although the administrative and ecclesiastical center of the province, Seleukeia
was
at the level. It lay at the crossroads of peripheral macroregional in the Anatolian secondary roads originating plateau, while themain route to Asia Asia Minor passed by the connecting Europe through Cilician Gates farther east. Located near the southernmost tip of the landmass
of Anatolia,
itwas
a convenient
stop for ships traveling in was limited, however, advantage by located km from the mainland often and coast, 45 Cyprus, pre only ferred as a stopping point due to the island's rich mineral and agri the eastern Mediterranean.
cultural
resources
and
This
its harbor
facilities. Nevertheless,
Seleukeia
attracted visitors from all over the Christian world, because of its physi cal connection with the site of Saint Thekla, only 1.5km pilgrimage south of the city.Her cult was in especially widespread Egypt, where shewas associated with Saint Menas. The extent of pilgrimage activity cannot the seventh be century beyond extrapolated from the evidence;
continued to be revered in Seleukeia until the 7 nor its the Neither century. impact pilgrimage activity on the chora has been studied in detail. account of the Unfortunately
however, Saint Thekla fourteenth
the life and miracles
of Saint Thekla does not provide much informa tion about the rural countryside and its relationship with Seleukeia. on local commerce, the impact of Nevertheless, pilgrimage especially 16
Translation by the author based on the edition of G. Dagron, Vie etmiracles deSainte Thecle, textegrec, traduction et
with Menas
commentaire (Brussels, 1978), 276-79. St. Thekla, revered as St. Paul's 17
The Miracles
appears on fifth- and sixth
century pilgrim flasks from the pilgrimage site of St. Menas near Abu Mina in Egypt. of St.Menas
mention
the pre
sence of a St. Thekla martyrium near the site, but there is so far no archaeo
companion, was the first female martyr honored as an apostle. Her martyrium was connected to Seleucia by a paved road
St.Menas
partially cut into the hill. St. Thekla paired
in the fourteenth century is based on the
logical evidence for the existence of such a shrine. The existence of the St. Thekla
cult
HABITAT,
evidence about a relic of the saint sent by theArmenian ruler of Seleucia toKing James II of Aragon. See Hild and Hellenkemper, Kilikien, 441 (above, n. 9). For a comprehensive discussion of the St. Thekla cult, see S.J. Davis, The Cult ofSaint Thekla: A Tradition ofWomen's Piety inLate Antiquity
LANDSCAPE
(Oxford, 2001).
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
293
saint's annual panegyris during the was considerable.18 September,
on 24 at the time of her feast day
and the pilgrimage site of Saint Thekla were connected a small harbor to themaritime networks of theMediterranean through at Holmoi, 8 km southwest of Seleukeia. This was the official port Seleukeia
of the capital for pilgrims, travelers, and tradesmen. Today Holmoi town of Tajucu, which is still is completely covered by the modern the main port of departure for ships between Turkey and the Turkish of Northern Cyprus. The harbor and the adjoining settle Republic ment were certainly very active throughout late antiquity. The rich epi
graphicalevidencefromtheharborcityofKorykos (modernKizkalesi)
provides glimpses of the economy of such a regional center of commerce. Funerary inscrip tions from the fifth to the seventh centuries testify to the rich dating commercial life, represented by a large variety of professions, ranging inKilikia
I, about 25 km northeast
of Seleukeia,
sellers ofwine, olive oil, bread, and groceries), (e.g., to textile and retail (e.g., wool, flax, sacks, sails), skin manufacturing owners activities (e.g., ship processing (e.g., shoemakers), and harbor and sailors).19 from food business
crafts and
Similar Korasion,
located
activities
commercial
are also
attested
at
this Because and Korykos. a east of mouth of the few km settlement is located between
Seleukeia
secondary harbor the Yenibah^e ravine, its functions and history are directly connected in its immediate to the rural countryside under study, which lay to the seventh fifth of the hinterland. Here, too, funerary inscriptions
centuries record several professionals such as a seller of warm drinks, barber, physician, jeweler, baker, shoemaker, ship owner, public-house
and oil seller. Others attest to the close ties of Korasion keeper, potter, with the neighboring port of Korykos bymeans of regular messengers. It isdifficult to saywhether the foundation ofKorasion was a response
to the need for a nearby port and commercial center for the increasing number of settlements in the countryside, or, alternatively, whether limestone hills into lucrative its foundation turned the marginal the modern areas for Unfortunately exploitation. agro-pastoral the ancient obliterated town has resort of Susanoglu substantially St. Thekla helps an ugly her beauty by advising her regain to purchase themiraculous soaps sold at
18
In a miracle,
woman
the gates of the church of St. Thekla,
soak
them inwine, and wash her face with the mixture. etMiracles,
See miracle 400-3.
no. 42 inDagron, Vie Today, soaps made with
laurel oil are a local specialty.
294
GUNDERVARINLIOGLU
The most updated collection of inscrip tions fromwestern Cilicia can be found in
19
and K. Tomaschitz, Repertorium des westkilikischen Inschriften, ETAM 22 (Vienna, 1998). Also see Keil andWilhelm, S. Hagel
Denkmaler,
102-213. For a discussion
of the
economy of Korykos based on epigraphic evidence, see E. Patlagean, Pauvrete
a economique etpauvrete sociale Byzance, siecles (Paris, 1977), 156-81; andF.
4e~7e
Trombley, Economy Antiquity
"Korykos in Cilicia Trachis: The of a Small Coastal City in Late F'recis," Ancient (Saec. V-VI)?A
History Bulletin
1/1 (1987): 16-23.
settlement, which was twentieth Crafts
century.20 and trades were
Mediterranean Mountains Two
in amuch better state of preservation not restricted
coast. The cities located
were
certainly of these, Diokaisareia
in the early
to the harbors the along in the foothills of the Taurus
in close contact with
the rural population. and Olba (modern
(modern Uzuncaburc) on a at an altitude of about 1000-1200 m, located inland Ura), plateau were were two distinct cities only 4 km apart from each other, yet they
a already by the fifth century. The epigraphic record of Diokaisareia, local craftsmen bishopric by the end of the fourth century, mentions and tradesmen such as cook, mule
seller, falconer, carpenter, shoemaker, marble worker, and building master.21 painter, eastern Isaurians were closely connected to the largerworld of the not Mediterranean only through pilgrimage and commerce, but also labor. In the late fifth and early sixth centuries, skilled by exporting
were renowned as constructional workers and master builders, in they such major architectural projects as the lavra of Saint Sabas in Palestine
in 501, the monastery of Saint on the Symeon the Younger near Antioch on theOrontes built between 541 "Wondrous Mountain" dedicated
and 551,and the in of the dome of St. rebuilding Sophia Constantinople in 558.22 the Isaurians from from in the Apart village of Kouvramon the territory of Seleukeia mentioned in the Life of Saint Symeon the we do not know which part of Isauria theworkers came from Younger, or
term Isaurian referred to. Nevertheless, this precisely what the text suggests the continuous flow of Isaurian workers and workshops in stone as well as in engaged quarrying, construction, and cutting, the capacity of master builders, that is,what to might correspond seems that Isaurian builders were design and structural engineering. It at least in the recruited inmany building projects territory ofAntioch, ifnot in a wider area.23
The prominent position of in Isauria itself is evident building trades in the of extensive the funerary inscriptions cemetery of Korykos. the 456 inscriptions to the seventh Among dating from the fifth 20
Keil andWilhelm,
21
Olba
BCE
Denkmdler, 102-17. a city by the first century at the latest and retained its status became
until at least the very end of the seventh century CE. Olba was theHellenistic
themain
center of
Olban
kingdom ruled by the temple inDiokaisareia under Seleucid control in the third century BCE. See T. S. "Olba inRough MacKay, Cilicia" (PhD diss., Bryn Mawr College, was represented at the 1968). Diokaisareia priests of the Zeus
councils of Constantinople
in 381, 680-81,
and 692 and at Nicaea
in 787; see Hild
and
Hellenkemper, Kilikien, 239 (above, n. 9). 22 C. Mango, "Isaurian Builders," in
among Belisarius's soldiers in Italy,who this time were involved in destroying struc tures: see Procopius, The Gothic War 5.9.11
Polychronion: Festschrift Franz Dolger zum 7$. Geburtstag, ed. P.Wirth (Heidelberg,
22 and 6.27.5.1 agree with Hugh Elton's argument that destruction required some
1966), 358-65. Isaurians' presence is also attested at a location known as Apate near Antioch
23
on the Orontes.
See P. van den Ven, La vie
ancienne de St. Symeon Stylite lefeune (s2i 92) (Brussels, 1970), 2: 192.1. Later in the sixth century, Prokopios mentions Isaurians
HABITAT,
kind of knowledge of structural behavior. For a discussion of the term Isaurian, see H. Elton, "The Nature
of the Sixth-century inEthnicity and Culture inLate Antiquity, ed. S. Mitchell and G. Greatrex (London and Oakvilk, 2001), 293-307. Isaurians,"
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
295
to craftsmen in the construction 6 percent belong business, such as marble cutters, sculptors, carpenters, tile-makers, as quarrying experts, construction workers, and providers of straw, well as contractors, surveyors, and architects.24 This evidence shows centuries,
that men
about
involved with
construction
activities could afford inscribed
stone
in the necropolis of the city, and that they occupied sarcophagi the upper echelons of the society. Cyril Mango argues that the sixth to construction projects in the eastern century flux of Isaurian workers Mediterranean
is a direct result of the turmoil
civil war between
in Isauria due to the
troops in the late fifth of the settlements in the region
Isaurian bandits and Roman
the prosperity century. However, which were clearly engaged in large-scale architectural construction not support the in this picture of regional distress period does during sources. The presence of Isaurian seasonal written the presented by workers does not seem to indicate economic and political difficulties at
the contrary, this "offshore" construction business, probably to in the fifth century, may active already help explain thewealth of the in Isauria. We do not know whether certain cities, building craftsmen or in construction. The surviving regions had specialized villages, a not structures in Isauria do stone-built quality display homogeneous home. To
ofmasonry or structural sophistication. Yet, despite differences, almost all the buildings required not only skill and experience inmasonry, but also a substantial workforce and the availability of lifting equipment. evidence point to a well the textual and archaeological established and organized construction business operating both abroad and at home. In conclusion,
Rural Settlements In
context
this
of
urban
centers
and
tions, the countryside was densely occupied 24 Patlagean, Pauvrete, 156-81; Trombley, "Korykos," 16-23; and Keil andWilhelm, Denkmdler,
102-213.
by dispersed
settlements
the limestone hills rising above the Kalykadnos delta were probably targeted by the Isaurian raids due to theirwealth
sources from the beginning of the first century until themid-seventh
and prosperity, in particular during the fifth and sixth centuries. For a discussion of the
century record the raids of Isaurian bandits in the living in protected strongholds Their highlands of the Taurus Mountains.
Roman
25
Written
banditry threatened both coastal
towns and
inland settlements, farmsteads, and fields. Despite Roman
the special measures taken by emperors to control the coastal zone
and its resources, Isaurians of the uplands could not be subdued. The settlements of
296
connec
trans-Mediterranean
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
successes and failures in suppressing the unrest, see B. Shaw, "Bandit Highlands of and Lowland Peace: The Mountains Isauria-Cilicia,"/ESHO
237-70; Revolt
33 (1990): 199-233,
and N. Lenski, "Assimilation
and
in the Territory of Isauria, From the
ist Century BC to the 6th Century AD," JESHO
42 (1999): 413-65.
and facilities of various
sizes and functions.26 Yet none of these set
tlements appear in ecclesiastical or historical records, nor have their ancient names been Settlements in this ter epigraphically identified.27 or farms, to hamlets of 5 to 10 ritory range from single villas buildings, an area of about 5 ha. Sizeable settlements to large villages covering consist of of different character, suggesting a gradual neighborhoods intomuch expansion of separate hamlets, farmsteads, and small villages as a result of an increase in population larger settlements intensive exploitation of the agropastoral resources. Some
and more
agglomera to several stages of repair, large, irregular complexes testifying and division. Others stand out on account of the presence enlargement, of opulent structures distinguished by their size, location, and the qual ityof themasonry and architectural details. tions are
the exception of the churches and chapels, private or public structures such as markets, hostels, and storehouses cannot be distin With
areas of are form and simply large open irregular guished. Public spaces are a On the other they always endowed with large public cistern.28 hand, churches and chapels, which became the gathering places of Christian communities, were built sparingly and only in sizeable settle structures were not necessarily as can be inferred from cross signs inhabited by pagan populations, in domestic contexts. This suggests that churches of sizeable settle
ments.
Settlements without Christian
ments
served believers in a large but socially well-connected
26
focus on the basilicas
This part of Isauria had never been
arastirmalar
preparation
of the TIB volumes on Cilicia
and Isauria. See H. Hellenkemper and F. in Neue Kilikien Hild, (Vienna, Forschungen
raporu (1978
1979)," Belleten 44
(1980): 173-76; Eyice, im "Einige byzantinische Kleinstadte in i$o Jahre Deutsches Rauhen Kilikien," Archaologisches
and a number of well
preserved buildings. This was followed by Hild and Hellenkemper's survey for the
visited by travelers or epigraphists until S. Eyice's discoveries in 1978. See S. Eyice, "Silifke ve dolaylannda yapilan toprakustii arkeolojik
territory.29
1986); and Hild and Hellenkemper, Kilikien (above, n. 9). In 1995M. L Tunay conducted one season of reconnaissance survey in the
Institut: 1829-1979:
(Mainz,
area. See M. L Tunay, "Survey of Silifke and Surrounding Area 1995," ArSonTop 14 (1996): 329-38. Recently I. Eichner studied
Silifke nella Turchia meridionale,"
the structures previously published by Eyice and Dagron, for her dissertation
und internationales
Festveranstaltungen
17.-22. April, 1979 inBerlin 1981), 204-9 and plates 81-89; and Eyice, "Ricerche e scoperte nella regione di
Kolloquium,
(1988): 15-33. Another
Milion
1
team under the
of G. Dagron visited the area soon after Eyice did. See G. Dagron and O.
direction
Callot, Notes
"Les batisseurs
isauriens chez eux:
sur trois sites des environs de Silifke,"
inAetos: Studies
inHonour
ofCyril Mango, onApril 14,1998, ed. I.
Presented
toHim
Sevcenko
and I. Hutter
(Stuttgart, 1998), 55-70 and plates 20-25. Both teams stud ied Karakabakh and If lkkale briefly with a
research on the early Byzantine houses in Cilicia. See I. Eichner, "Friihbyzantinische Wohnhauser
inKilikien:
Arbeitsbericht
iiber die Kampagne 2003 und einige Ergebnisse des Projektes," ArSonTop 22 (2004): 201-212. M. H. Sayar has been conducting an epigraphic survey in Cilicia since the early 1990s. The results of his work have been published since 1993.
annually
in the
ArSonTop
The only exception is the remains at themodern village of Demircili (Dosene), recorded in a second-century inscription
27
as Imbriogon Kome (Keil andWilhelm, 26-28 [above, n. 5]).
Denkmdler,
28 Although were conceived
these open-air spaces as gathering places for the community, they are not public places in an urban sense. Nevertheless, their presence
in a rural context is significant in itself. In it is conceivable that threshing floors, at times as large as 20 m in diameter, addition,
were used formarkets 29
concerning to Christianity persisted in the
the conversion of pagans
suggest that paganism countryside as late as themid-fifth century. Moreover, a Jewish population is attested by inscriptions inKorykos, Seleukeia, and Diokaisareia, although Jews are archae invisible in the rural countryside. ologically See Keil andWilhelm,
Denkmdler, passim "The (above, n. 5); and M. H. Williams,
Jewish Community
of Corycus: Two More
Inscriptions," ZPapEpig
HABITAT,
and social gatherings.
St. Thekla's miracles
LANDSCAPE
92 (1992): 248-52.
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
297
remains of is further manifested theme of connectivity by the roads, paths, and tracks, suitable only for pack animals and pedestrians, which secured communications among fields; threshing floors; presses; The
Fig. 2 The tetrapylon inKarakabakli
are built importance. Large cisterns serve at to routes travelers, pastoralists, and regular intervals along the their flocks, as well as nearby settlements. and settlements of all sizes and
coined the term bourgade to denote sizeable settlements Dagron both rural and urban characteristics. This intermediary status having reem on a stone to the term komopolis inscribed fragment corresponds in the pavement of the main road connecting Akhayat and ployed were two of the focus the that Isikkale, survey mapping large villages
in 2003.30 These two settlements complicate the definition of cities a two. versus position between the villages, because they clearly occupy Their setting, the use of topography with a concern for beautiful vistas, and modest yet elegant architectural the expression ofmonumentality, decoration indicate an interest in planning, representation, and display at the settlement level. In addition, while many other settlements in the area did not have churches, the presence of small yet monumental two settle basilicas in Isrkkale and Karakabakli suggests that these ments had a different status. settlements are endowed with paved roads and tetrapylons, are not in nonurban settings, but also unknown only unusual
Both which
in any other
298
GUNDER
rural settlement
VARINLIOGLU
along
the Yenibahce
ravine
(fig. 2).
G. Dagron, "Entre village et cite: 30 La bourgade rurale des IVe-VIIe siecles en Orient," Koinonia 3 (1979): 29-52. The inscription is published inDagron and Callot, "Batisseurs isauriens," 55-70 (above, n. 26).
^v'~ ______H_HSB_j_________________|___
^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^E^
" %^<$^" ~______?B______r' v^___________________L ^tofc_:i .^^^^^HM^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^I
m^SHKKS^ISl^^^^SSBBK^^^^f$^^^^^^sS^KS^^^^^CS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ktt^^^^^^^F^,^
^?_H_|_HH|^_^_^^^___________i
Nevertheless
were threshing floors, presses, mills, and stables, which an nature of the settlements. integral part of the habitat, reveal the rural
included several dozen houses, churches, cis If lkkale and Karakabakh terns,paved streets, cemeteries, oil and wine production structures, and are also distinct from other settlements grain-processing devices. They
Fig. 3 Large building at Isikkale; themasonry arches support the second floor of the structure
in this
territory because of the greater variety and number of surviving structures and to the harbor at Korasion. are by their proximity They fairly large (ca. 5ha), unfortified villages consisting mainly of one- and two-story residential buildings constructed entirely of local limestone. Stone walls and arches support the floors and the pitched roof covered
with ceramictiles(fig.3).A fewbuildingsaredistinguishedby theirsize, sea or open fields, location at the siting (e.g., overlooking the perimeter or in less crowded the of the masonry, the quality neighborhoods), of architectural presence sculpture (e.g., capitals decorated with simple or floral motifs), and the treatment of architectural elements geometric (e.g., balcony, arched double windows). are inKarakabakh over the vil Houses relatively large and spread a few show concern for decoration: lage territory (fig. 4). Only simple crosses on the lintels and columns and crudely executed double-mullion
a few houses due to their unusual capitals (fig. 5). Scholars have studied one is its characteristics: distinguished by peristyle preceding the house, to contrast in not a common fea northern which, Syrian houses, is ture of Isaurian domestic
architecture. As
in the late antique villages
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
299
\\
^
_i
ioo m
of the northern Syrian limestone massif, one might imagine a separa tion of functions in the buildings, with the lower story reserved for food processing and housing of animals, and the upper floors serving as residential quarters. However, evidence for such a division is limited to a few cases where rock-cut basins, mills, and presses are located on the first floor. consists of two sections very different from one another (fig. 6). The western part is a complex agglomeration structures into the ensemble of undecorated gradually incorporated rooms and streets. A by adding roughly rectangular public blocking a serves as the focal cistern small around space organized point public where themain streets intersect (fig.7). Simple crosses on the two doors The
facing
300
GUNDER
settlement of Isikkale
the cistern suggest that this part of the settlement was
VARINLIOGLU
built
Fig. 4 Settlement plan of themain agglom eration at Karakabakli; the drawing is based on the partial geo-rectification of aerial photographs, because themapping survey of the settlement is incomplete. Therefore the accuracy of the plan is low; and it should be used only as a reference for the layout of the settlement.
^^^^HoaNSirf^B_______________BH_________________M^H_________EHi______^
_____P_s____e_^__|3_________R______
___^_l^H^^^^^WBH^^^?l^^Kjh^Hv
>~ v:;?^^^^^^M^KI^BIM^B
_______h_I^^
H|^E|S?i_f|^^ _____PPH_P__B_______^_________________HR_____^^
the freestand Fig. 5 House inKarakabakli; ing house at the periphery of the settlement is distinguished by its elaborate facades and architectural decoration.
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
3OI
??^m
A
??^
i ioo m
to be inhabited contemporaneously with The western section (see fig. 6) is connected
or continued
the basilica
the village.
to the basilica
of
located at the highest point by a paved road that seems to have been built to serve the church. In contrast, the eastern section consists mostly more
of larger freestanding
are
structures, which
architecturally
sophisticated. Both settlements
a are adorned church monumental by single a cases in both three-aisled basilica with galleries, although complex, a smaller basilical an unusual the Karakabakh plan with complex has to the southeastern end of themain
church (figs. 8 and as in is decoration very limited, many other monu 9). Architectural mental churches of Isauria: capitals of local limestone, faint traces of structure added
stucco decoration,
302
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
and meager
evidence of opus
sectile.31Karakabakh
is rarely utilized in the early structures of Isauria. Examples are Byzantine restricted to Zeno's church at St. Thekla and a 31
Marble
inKorykos. Even the skillful architectural decoration of the two
number of basilicas churches atAlahan
is executed in local stone.
/\ Fig-6
^-?^
Settlement plan of Isikkale
Fig. 7 The public space in thewestern neighborhood of Isikkale; themain streets intersect in this public of the neighborhood is which endowed with a cistern. space,
*~ fiBBi?^^^BJ(I^^^^^P^^BSI^Ei^^^^^Bw^^^^^V '^^^^^^^^^^P^V^^^b^^^b^^^^BbB^^^u^^^^^K^'^ BB^BSilSI^^SS^i!/"*i
~ rtfT "^^fc*
'\m^P--?^^i^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^B^BI^^
^j^^^^t!?!!^^
!!
^fflHBBj^^^^^pL^^Hlji _^^^Br
B^B^^BH^^^^B^^^BBfltlllnii^^ ^^^^^^BJI^^BBBB^BBHBB^BBBBImbIBMB^^^
JBHWlB^^^^^^^^^BEa3H
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
303
__________R_____________S_?
several phases of construc undergone tion, which cannot be securely dated without fur ther fieldwork. At a later phase, thewindows of the
basilica
main
has
basilica were blocked to the southeastern
added
and a small chapel was corner of the complex.
are restricted to the building materials Although wood and the local limestone quarried on site, one can structures as mon legitimately describe these umental and expensive, and see them as indices of prosperity.
Fig. 8 The aerial photo of the basilica at I?ikkale, first half of the sixth century Fig. 9 The aerial photo of the basilica at the plan of the surviving struc
Karakabakli;
ture is drawn on the photograph based on The photograph and draw
field observations.
Economic
Base
ing are not scaled or rectified.
The presence of numerous expensive masonry houses and large churches with some decoration show that the marginal limestone hills were a exploited beyond the requirements of subsistence economy. Georges research on the economic
Tate's
villages many
base of the prosperity in north Syrian agriculture (i.e., the cultivation of
revealed that multicultural crops)
was to
practiced
using both Tchalenko's
the plains
and the limestone on a monoculture
hills, contrary Georges emphasis of olive.32 In the case of Isauria, the ubiquity of threshing floors and over the territory suggests that wide pressing installations spread
was incorporated spread and multicultural agropastoral production at both the domestic and commercial level. into the life Large village and well-built threshing floors, almost always associated with a press and a cistern, can be found within or at the periphery of settlements, as in remote areas close
as well
a
to the fields The fact that (fig. 10). nearby pressing facility and cistern
brings
always associated with into question the function
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
they
304
are
of both
the threshing floors and
G. Tchalenko, Villages antiques 32 de la Syrie du nord: Le massif du Belus a I'epoque romaine (Paris, 1953-58); G. Tate, "Un cas de croissance economique en zone marginale: La Syrie du Nord," Histoire, economie etsociete ^ (1997): 353-59; and Tate, Campagnes
(above, n. 1).
l________[^___3Slpi^JP>^
the presses. The threshing floors were originally devised for threshing two processes that necessitate neither presses and winnowing grains, nor cisterns.33 The terra rossa soil characteristic of the is dry region
Fig. 10 Threshing floor at Isikkale
very suitable for the cultivation of grains, because these do not require there is not sufficient soil surface to produce a irrigation. However, to create thewealth and grain surplus large enough prosperity reflected structures. In other words the size by the costly and labor-intensive and number of threshing floors seem to exceed the agricultural capac of the hills. limestone ity
the term akor\ is used to is denote both a threshing floor and a ample evidence vineyard.34 There indeed played a significant role in suggesting that Isauria and Cilicia In the Iliad
and
the New
Testament,
The threshing floors are circular, paved 33 or cut into the bedrock, and surrounded by a
on the floor as well as preventing the loss of grain. See J.C. Whittaker, "Alonia: The
lowwall. First the crop is threshed, i.e., an
of Cypriot Threshing Ethnoarchaeology 12.i (1999): 7-25; andL. Floors,"JMA
threshing sledge is used to separate the ears from the chaff. Then the
animal-drawn
Cheetham,
"Threshing andWinnowing?an
grain iswinnowed, i.e., tossed into the air using wooden forks, rakes, or similar equip
Ethnographic Study," Antiquity 56.217 (1982): 127-30. It is notoriously difficult to date
ment. Thus the light chaff flows away with thewind while the heavy grain falls on the
threshing floors, especially because they were continuously used without modifica
floor. The low circular wall keeps the animals
tion up until modern
times. In Isikkale and
HABITAT,
threshing floors are usually built on piles of broken stones that are the remnants of quarrying and construction
Karakabakh,
activities. This structure suggests that they were probably contemporaneous with the neighboring buildings. However, a careful study is required to correlate each threshing floor to the phases of settlement. 34
A. D. Ure, "Threshing-Floor
Vineyard,"
LANDSCAPE
CQ
or
5, 3/4 (1955): 225-30.
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
305
BBBh^BHBBBJ^B^^BMHBhBPP'^
HHII^HHIIaHHHiiHHHIil^H^^lMSiaHM^ the production the epigraphic
and trade of wine:
textual references to Cilician
wine,
record forwine
trade, the remains of presses, the vine remains, and evidence for kiln sites of Late
in thematerial iconography Roman i, the most widely distributed jar of late antiquity, Amphora in Cyprus, north Syria, and on the southern coast of Asia Minor.35
Fig. ii Olive/wine press at Akhayat; the is schematically drawn pressing mechanism on the photograph.
near thresh pressing installations, found quite frequently or olives. The ing floors, could be primarily used for pressing grapes extraction of grape juice is fairly easy: a mill (or even light pressing
Numerous
Textual, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence forCilician wine production and trade are discussed inM. Decker," The
35
Wine
in Late Antiquity," 17 (2005): 51-59. Although I agree
Trade of Cilicia
ARAM
with Michael Decker and Cilicia
that the role of Isauria
in thewine trade has been
neglected, I believe that the press installations commonly found in the region were con
306
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
structed primarily for the extraction of olive oil. The thick sidewalls with a socket for the insertion of the pressing beam and the heavy stone counterweights are elements of an oil mill. However, these treading floors con nected to large vats could also easily be used for pressing grapes. In addition, establishing a direct correlation between wine trade and Late Roman
i amphorae
ismisleading,
in that
this amphora type and itsvarieties were used to transport different kinds of products. See H. Elton, "The Economy of Southern Asia and LR iAmphorae," inLRCWI: Late
Minor
Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Mediterranean: Archaeology Amphorae in the and Archaeometry, ed. J.Ma. Gurti i Esparraguera, J.Buxeda iGarrigos, and M. A. Cau Ontiveros
(Oxford, 2005), 691-95.
vat are sufficient. In other words, the press pressing by feet) and storage are more than in the for region enough large-scale ing devices found wine. production of On the other hand, olive oil production ismuch more labor-inten sive. First, olives have to be crushed and reduced into paste to get rid of the bitter juice. Then the olive paste, after being placed inwoven baskets or mats, is pressed several times by means of a heavy mecha nism consisting of a wooden pressing lever and stone weights (simple or
screw) (fig. n).36 Using the treading floor of the press installations for the whole process posed two problems: first, the treading surface
was
crowded by the large and heavy components of the pressing lever or screw). If the olives were crushed on the treading floor, these (simple components had to be subsequently removed from the premises, then reinstalled for the actual pressing procedure. Second, both the surface and the vat into which the bitter juice would be channeled had to be cleaned before the actual oil extraction started. Therefore, thoroughly if the threshing floors were used to crush a large quantity of olives
means of by large millstones perhaps operated by animals, the press could operate continuously and more efficiently. If this were the case, we was an might argue that the production of olive oil organized and collective activity, probably involving teams trained and experienced on a constant basis handling the press during the olive-harvesting season. In addition, floors could serve other functions such threshing as and herbs, drying grapes treading and dyeing wool, and processing In conclusion, the material evidence sug hair and skin. animal goat in
gests diverse agricultural and pastoral strategies, which required the construction ofmultifunctional devices that could be used for process a as wine and oil ing variety of agricultural and animal products such of various plants?in particular olive, cheese, and textiles.37 The diversity of available products is also evident in the epigraphic record from the fifth to the seventh centuries. Funerary inscrip tions found at Seleukeia, Diokaisareia,
and in particular at Korasion, for the consumption of several products or as rawmaterials the hinterland. supplied by
evidence
Korykos provide thatwere manufactured Merchants
of wine,
olive oil, pistachios,
herbs, and fruits; aromatic
36
of the production ofwine Techniques and olive oil in antiquity are studied in
and J.-P. Brun, eds., La production du vin et de Vhuile enMediterranee (Athens, 1993).
in the following sources: J.-P. Brun, Le vin et Vhuile dans laMediterranee antique:
The multifunctionality of such devices 37 has been suggested in the scholarship based on both archaeological evidence and ethno
detail
viticulture, oleiculture etprocedes de trans formation (Paris, 2003); R. Frankel, Wine and Oil Production inAntiquity in Israel and
archaeological discrimination
Other Mediterranean
coles et vinicoles,"
Countries
1999); O. Callot, Huileries du Nord
(Sheffield,
antiques de Syrie (Paris, 1984); and M.-C. Amouretti
Production,
research. See J.-P. Brun, "La entre les installations olei inAmouretti
and Brun,
511-37.
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
307
oils and soaps; shoes, breeches, flax, wool, and goat hair products are is no doubt that most of these recorded.38 There epigraphically
were in the hinterland, in products provided by the villagers particular wool and goat products, herbs, oils (laurel and olive), wine, and pista chios which, with the exception ofwine, still play an important role in the economy of the region.
Dating
is so far not pos Unfortunately, precise dating of these rural settlements sible. The pottery assemblages consist predominantly of coarse wares of informative is the epi local production for storage and cooking.39 More record despite its small size. Inscriptions span the period from graphic in the the first to the fifth and sixth centuries, with a concentration
thirdand fourth.The lackor dearth of epigraphicevidencefromthe
sixth century and beyond does not necessarily indicate that settlements as has were abandoned, In the western traditionally been assumed. and part of Rough Cilicia, public construction, funerary monuments,
recent Roman rarely dated beyond the early period; yet surveys have revealed continuous population growth archaeological and settlement expansion during the late Roman period.40 The paucity all over theMediterranean of inscriptions is a common phenomenon after the third century, which suggests rather the decline and disap inscriptions
pearance More
are
of the habit of displaying texts.41 substantial conclusions can be drawn
from the analysis of architectural remains. The surviving structures and settlements display a number of have Both Isikkale and Karakabakh phases of occupation. two of continuous occupation separated by phases clearly distinct but
at least a In both settlements, the main streets underwent generation. transformations. Their tetrapylons, armatures of Roman significant urbanism marking the frontiers of settlements and the intersections
were into incorporated they about 100 m south the newly built chapels (fig. 12).At Karakabakh of such a chapel, the same paved road was blocked once more for the
of major
roads, lost their functions when
building of
a largechurch. In Iflkkale thebuilding of thebasilica in
the first half of the sixth century seems to have included a paved street the roads road to the church. However, connecting the pre-existing were not closed off throughout their trajectory, but only for completely 38 Patlagean, Pauvrete, 156-81 (above, n. 19); Trombley, "Korykos," 16-23 (above, n. 19); and Keil andWilhelm, Denkmdler, 102-213 (above, n. 5).
The coarse wares and a few examples of glazed pottery discovered mostly at hilltop settlements are currently being stud 39
ied by (Jigdem Toskay. Blanton, Settlement Patterns, 60
40
(above, n. 3).
308
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
41
M. Whittow,
the Late-Antique
"Recent Research City inAsia Minor:
Second Half of the 6th-c. Revisited," Recent Research ed. L. Lavan Roueche,
inLate-Antique
on The in
Urbanism,
(Portsmouth, 2001), 140; C. and Cyprus," in CAH
"Asia Minor
14 (Cambridge,
2000),
570-87.
structures. Therefore, the building of ecclesiastical we see a transformation of the settle in both villages in such a way as to accommodate
ments
cal buildings. Reused pagan
ecclesiasti
chapels, and on doors attest to the Christianization cross signs of the overall region, where paganism probably con tombs, churches,
into themid-fifth century. Burials were into the settlement, the main incorporated along streets or next to the houses where the deceased
tinued well
may have spent his or her life.Next to the basilica of Ifikkale, three sarcophagi carrying pagan iconog raphy stand side by side with olive-wine presses and a cistern. In this case, it seems that after the bones
were
were the tanks of the sarcophagi in the pressing process. In several other
discarded,
employed were disturbed
instances,
tombs
to be reused new inhabitants for new burials. by the The major period of prosperity and expansion for I^ikkale, mani fested by the building of itsmonumental basilica, can be roughly dated to the first half of the sixth century from an evaluation of the architec
Fig. 12 The tetrapylon/chapel in the tetrapylon was
Karakabakh;
transformed into a chapel by adding an eastern apse and blocking themain street of the settlement.
tural sculpture. The capitals of the basilica generally follow the fashions of the big centers, but they are adapted to local material and taste. They
a certain models, prob acquaintance with Constantinopolitan Proconnesian the marble that adorned Seleukeia, ably through capitals and Korykos, and show affinities with the architectural Diokaisareia, display
towns must have drawn some of theirwork sculpture ofAlahan. These force for construction from the rural population. If the Isaurian builders
can attested inConstantinople, Syria, and Palestine in the sixth century be associated with the inhabitants of these settlements, we also might seek further links to explain the presence of work trends, metropolitan
tastes in thesemodest settlements. shop practices, and Despite affinities with the Proconnesian the architectural styles, sculpture of the I^ikkale basilica does not follow the original models too closely and thereby shows some are translations of local innovation. capitals Although metropoli tan models
to limestone, others combine different models
in the same
at the capital. The eight column capitals and four pilaster capitals ground level colonnade of the Isikkale basilica almost all differ from one another. is strikingly different from the on the capitals the north side are deeply and deli on the south the are very cately cut, capitals roughly shaped and the foli age is barely marked by shallow incisions; in other words, although they
Furthermore,
the northern colonnade
southern one: whereas
are not At
mask
are not incomplete, they fullyworked either. two variants of the Theodosian the ground-level colonnade,
capital
are used:
in the northern
colonnade
the late-fifth
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
309
[HBB; ^^^BJjBBKal^^^^^^^^B' |h|S4^^BR?|B[|^^^^^^^^^BMBm I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^HfiF/ ^m^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^HH BH^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hv ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bk ^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^^^B "^^^HBBBIBBHHHI^^El
the northern from Fig.x3Column capital
H '
fiHHn^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S
colonnadeof thebasilicaat Isikkale;this models capitalfollows Constantinopolitan of thelatefifth characterized century, byacanthusleaveshavingtwoteethin
91
""
JSfl^^^l^^^B^^^^^HHSBi
J^^^Bjjj^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^K
Fig-J4Columncapitalfromthesouthern colonnadeof thebasilica Isikkale;this models capitalfollows Constantinopolitan sixth characterized century, oftheearly
'
*3 J4 by acanthus
Fig. 15 Columncapitalfromthesouthern
jflK
fl^^Hj^^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^B^H^ ^^^^HI^H^^B^^^^^^^^^^B J^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^B^^^^B |B^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H|^^^B jhH^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^B
. *^Ki^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^* 16
15
century version with two upturned leaves ("teeth") in each mouth (fig. the early-sixth-century version with 13), in the southern colonnade
four upward leaves in each mouth A variant of fine-toothed (fig. 14).42 acanthus capital, datable to the first half of the sixth century, appears
side by side in the northern colonnade with a peculiar capital combining mask acanthus with fine-toothed acanthus (fig. 15). Furthermore, the sketchy capitals of the southern colonnade in I^ikkale may suggest haste in
completing the church (fig. 16).Alternatively this sketchiness could most a local be the product of a loosely organized workshop, probably endeavor, which gave the sculptor-mason or his apprentice a certain
to suggest the liberty for experimentation. One is tempted completion of the church by apprentices, not fully trained by masters, who left for more important projects. was part of the late The juxtaposition of different colors and styles taste. The combination of various capital types in the same antique in the church or house is also a common phenomenon villages of the limestone massif in northern Syria. Christine Strube's monumental
study of the architectural sculpture in northern Syrian villages records quite disparate local traditions, which responded differently to the 42
The variant of themask
acanthus
capital with two upturned leaves is known as early as the end in Constantinople of the fourth century (e.g., the arch of Theodosios, ca. 393, and the propylaion of Saint Sophia, ca. 405). The variant with four upturned leaves is known from
3IO
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
Justinianic buildings such as San Vitale inRavenna. I follow here the dating and terminology inW. Betsch, "The History, Production and Distribution of the Late (PhD Capital in Constantinople" diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1977), 68-69, 208-10.
Antique
leaves having four teeth in
colonnade ofthebasilica Isikkale;
tn*scaP^ta^represents a localadaptation mask acanthus with fine-toothed combining Fig. 16 Columncapitalfromthesouthern colonnadeof thebasilicaat Isikkale; tniscapital veryshallowly unlike tne capitals of the northern colonnade.
and techniquesof urbanworkshops and greatbuildingproj repertory ects in the countrysidesuch asQaTat Seman andQalb Loze. Two
to illustrate the complex examples from the early sixth century suffice contexts. In the in of rural church of traditions ity Syrian sculptural one finds three different treatments of acanthus leaves Herbet Hasan, all on the same capital. This lack of uniformity can be explained by themodes of organization and patronage rather than different phases of construction. The picture is further complicated by the early-sixth century parish churches of smaller villages harking back to old models,
which led scholarsto date them erroneouslyto the fourthand fifth centuries.43 The examples from the Syrian limestone massif prove that therewas not a steady evolution of sculptural styles and techniques; in other words, two churches very close to each other in date and location could display entirely different decoration. The metropolitan models to the late that the sculptors of the Ijikkale basilica imitated belong fifth or early sixth century. Yet, when assigning a date to the basilica based solely on architectural sculpture, we should allow a possible time gap between the production of the original and its local adaptation. In other words, the fashions and tastes that had since become long
centers or revived much in major might have been picked up a to the local materials in rural environment like later, and translated
obsolete
Isikkale and Karakabakli. extreme caution for techniques may be used only with to the continuity of masonry dating purposes due styles from the Roman into the Byzantine The contemporaneity of expensive period. Masonry
and labor-intensive ashlar masonry with unattractive masonry made of a small rectangular stones bound with mortar has been emphasized by
number of scholars.44 Yet a close study ofmasonry in correlation with can be datable material may provide possible ranges of dates, which used to situate otherwise undatable remains in a chronological frame work. My first attempt to classify building techniques and masonry
styles resulted in a number of patterns and showed that Isaurian con struction was much more varied than has previously been thought. Ashlar construction of large finely-cut stones, usually attributed to the
a very in Isauria. It is used for imperial period, has long life arches, vaults, domes, and corners as well as the main body of walls It is associated with both the (fig. 17). third-century tombs and sixth
Roman
century churches. Rubble 43
C. Strube, Baudekoration
stone-mortar construction
im
(Mainz am Nordsyrischen Kalksteinmassiv Rhein, 1993), 2: 226-36 and plates 123-24. G. Mietke and S.Westphalen, 44
appears
together
an spatantiken und friih "Beobachtungen christlichen Bauten inKilikien: Bericht iiber eine Reise,"i?jg6o, plates 1-8.
1/2 (1965): 131-43 and
3 inKanhdivane (Kanytelis)," IM 49 (1999): 517-26; andO. Feld,
"Basilica
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
3II
in several structures, in at the ashlar masonry particular early stone-mortar con basilica of Isikkale sixth-century (fig. 18). Rubble at as Pash and struction is also represented hilltop settlements such
with
structures were into the Barakcikalesi, where Hellenistic incorporated new The of this of presence type masonry typical of buildings (fig. 19). the late fifth and early sixth centuries in well-protected hilltop settle ments may to the point longevity of this cheap and easy technique per haps
even
the so-called Dark Ages.
throughout
End of Antiquity
its counterparts overall in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, the rural countryside of Isauria was inten sively settled and exploited in the fifth and sixth centuries. The clashes
Like
between Anastasius's
not seem to brigands do effects in the region. To the contrary,
forces and the Isaurian
have had widespread negative the end of the fifth century and the sixth century seem to have been in Isauria. to his especially prosperous Although Zeno's contribution native land's prosperity, apart from his dedication of a basilica at Saint Thekla,
cannot be confirmed,
contacts with Constantinople in the second part of the fifth century. Isaurian
may have strengthened The conditions of life in the rural countryside during the turmoils centuries are unknown, and there is no of the late seventh and eighth to evidence support the assumption that rural settlements were aban in the seventh century in the aftermath of Persian and Arab raids.We do not know either whether the rural population declined up
doned
to the on account of the Justinianic point of extinction plague
312
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
of 542
Fig. 17 Ashlar masonry structure at Isikkale
in a
" ^ *la^sji5-**:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ______________________V%2gP^ '^C v:' ';-'::::'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ______PBP^^^TX?Jw "** * * *** " ___ _ [" Vi -;.-^IIPSI-p~^______| ' --"' ^Mnff -? -^ ***f^fe'f,. ^ _______P-? tl_Tr__k;r, J^y|W^g ^l^?ip_____| ' _Hr v I? . .-_j_h_^_^_^_^_h_^_^||A i-ri ?s# * *i .h.fr* MMW^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HSiilXHHKHHlBnB^^^^^^^^I ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHHs^MKS^^^^l ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BJ ^J_f^^f^SpWpw_________ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fePff^Bfmff^________| ^^^^^ttifl
* _4_^^^^^^^II^^^^^Hh__^
___________L# *-^^RjjLi ^ _Bp __^__^__^__^__B||p^ _______________B^P^_Ev
1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^1^iHi^^^^3^^8^^^HhI^I^|V
j_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HI^^^^^^^^^SE?S^^^_B_9____| _________________________________________ ^^P^^SBVH^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^KS^^f
' pSH_____________________B^
I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B?^'
-
^BHP
^B^
Hh ^^Bi^BBraBJ15HBB^^ IL^~__Hll * __lff j^BT? _y__i ^BB^HHHHBlflBli^^
Hii^HHHHHHHHHH^H^^^^^IHHHHBHHHHHff^S^^^^ll^tt&ii^^
__^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_b
and its recurrences. The so-called Dark Ages were undoubtedly chaotic and difficult, very different from the peaceful and prosperous world of Roman period. Both written the eastern Mediterranean during the late
and archaeological evidence confirm the end of the civic era through the processes of ruralization, shrinkage, and finally the abandonment ofmajor urban centers, the substantial reduction in long-distance trade, about ioo km west of population. Anemourion, Seleukeia, was reduced in size already by the end of the seventh century and saw little or no activity in the eighth. Sagalassos in Pisidia displays an earlier decline between the mid-fifth and seventh centuries, diag and the decrease
^^Bi_??^H
in
Fig. 18 Rubble stone-mortar masonry at the basilica of Isikkale; skillfully executed ashlar masonry is used for the apse, arches, vaults, and domes, while mortar masonry
the rubble stone
is reserved for thewalls.
Fig. 19 Rubble stone-mortar masonry and Hellenistic masonry in a tower at Barakcikalesi; masonry Hellenistic
the rubble stone-mortar
is used to repair structures of date.
nosed by a drastic fall in the number of settlements and shrinkage in in the the occupied area within the city. The citywas finally abandoned mid-seventh century in the aftermath of a major earthquake.45 the conditions prevailing at coastal settlements do not However, true for necessarily hold uplands, and likewise the transformations that the cities underwent may have been different from those in the coun tryside. Furthermore, the impacts of the series of natural and human induced calamities differed substantially from one place to the other. For example, theArab invasion of Cyprus in themid-seventh century
was a serious blow to the livelihood of the islanders, especially 45
J-Russell,
"Anemourion,"
in The
Economic History ofByzantium: From the Seventh Through theFifteenth Century, ed. A. E. Laiou
2002), (Washington, D.C, 1: 221-28; and M. Waelkens and the
Sagalassos
team, "Interdisciplinarity
in
Classical
Archaeology.
A Case
in terms
Study: The
Research Project Archaeological (Southwest Turkey)," in Sagalassos IV:
Sagalassos
Report on the Survey and Excavation Campaigns of 1994 and 199s, ed. M. Waelkens and J. Poblome
(Leuven,
1997), 237-38.
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
313
of the disruption of their commercial networks. Despite the instability, some level of construction continued on various parts of the island, as attested by the restoration of the basilica at Soloi, dated securely to 655 by its building inscription.46 Small-scale construction and renovation work continued in other ecclesiastical sites such as Amathos and Saint Barnabas.47 Research
inCyprus
has showed that the decline of coastal
cities and the disruption of trade networks led to the reorganization of economic activities toward a more subsistence-oriented economy. The population shifted towards inland areas, while a small percentage of lowland settlements continued to be settled. Similarly in northern
limestone villages were Syria, scholars assumed that the prosperous in themid-seventh century. However, the exca completely abandoned
in the revealed a continuity of settlement at a village of Dehes reduced scale until the ninth century, while no new structures were built after the seventh.48
vations
aftermath of the Arab
a
status in the special had region already gained mili used the Sassanian wars, when Herakleios
cities and rural settlements had
Isaurian
invasions. The
tary importance during Seleukeia as a base and established
a temporary mint between 616 and 618.When Arab armies conquered north Africa, Palestine, and Syria, the Byzantine state, now in even greater need of resources to strengthen its army, was substantial tax revenues and supplies. With deprived of
frontier along the Lamos of the Arab-Byzantine River between 650 and 963, Isauria must have gained an unprecedented armies. During the period of Arab con importance for the Byzantine trol of eastern Cilicia, Isauria was certainly quite active at least from a view. Naturally the presence of themilitary required military point of the supply of food and equipment, which could be procured most easily and safely from the immediate countryside. These new circumstances must have resulted in increasing demand and pressure on the terri torium of Seleukeia to supply the army. In addition, the cessation or decrease in production and trade might have created an opportunity the establishment
for Isaurian producers who must have benefited from the relative secu and imperial control in rity provided by the presence of the military Seleukeia. The intensification of the exploitation of the land and the of settlement patterns might be related to these demands. the small number of the lack of architectural decoration,
densification Moreover,
churches, and the construction of threshing floors in the middle of settlements, next to new structures built with mortared rubble rather than solid masonry, might be indications of the necessity to channel resources to an increased agropastoral activity in the countryside. Limited but very significant evidence exists for the survival of several settlements in Isauria throughout the Dark Ages. Episcopal lists, ecclesiastical
314
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
registers,
and
seals provide
evidence
for the
46
Roueche,
CAH
14:586.
J.-P. Sodini et al., "Dehes (Syrie du I?III (1976-1978): Nord), Campagnes 47
Recherches
sur l'habitat rural," Syria 57.1
(1980): 1-301. 48
See Rautman
258-62
et al., Cypriot Village,
(above, n. 1).
continuous
existence of Seleukeia
center. Ecclesiastical
as the administrative
and
religious lists are not always reliable proofs of the existence
of a city.But sealsbelonging to several imperialofficesin Seleukeia indisputable evidence for the continuity of administrative, religious, military, and commercial activities during the eighth, ninth, to an arms and tenth centuries. A seventh-century seal belongs factory, indicative of the increasing military activity in the region. The factory
provide
raw materials and fuel, as well as food and certainly require clothing for theworkers. Other seals dating from 668 to 713 belong to
would
genikoikommerkiarioi(fiscalofficials)of theapotheke (warehouse)of do not know what were
Isauria and Cilicia. We
the contents, capacity, most The apotheke, probably not a rather housed commercial storage space, simply specific activity for the sale of arms and Seals of the military equipment.49 genikoi and the arms factory date from the latter part of the seventh century, and functions of these statewarehouses.
when
Isauria became
a frontier between
Byzantine and Arab states. The limestone hills, which were more relatively protected from the an established system of road networks, Arab attacks and possessed water collection sources, and facilities, agricultural standing buildings, to some level of use for the state may have been put provisioning of the and ecclesiastical structure in Seleukeia, as well as the military forces located along the frontier. Seals of several imperial and ecclesiastical officials prove the continuity of activity in Seleukeia during the eighth, and tenth centuries.50 ninth,
The fate of the city of Korykos is obscure. The prosperous and lively of the fifth, sixth, and early seventh centuries must have been dealt port a serious blow due to its location on the frontier between the right
Byzantine and Arab states. Its existence until the very end of the sev enth century isproven two seals, one to a kommerkiarios by belonging and the other it as a support point of the navy in 698.51After depicting these there is no evidence about Korykos until the ninth century, when it resurfaces in administrative
port of Korasion
beyond
and military texts. The history of the the seventh century is completely unknown.
G. Zacos
and A. Veglery, Byzantine Seals (Basel, 1972), 1,1: 231, 236, 240 41, 257, 287, and 727, nos. 149,154,158-59, 49
Lead
177, 212, and 1136. For a discussion
of the
products, in particular luxury items such as silk. Private merchants could be involved in the provisioning as long as they paid taxes. For a detailed discussion of this
definitions and changing roles of the kommerkiarioi (state officials in charge
establishment,
of certain trade activities), see N.
14S0 (Cambridge, 1985), 626-34. The importance of the city continued 50
Oikonomides,
"The Role of the Byzantine in The Economic
State in the Economy,"
History ofByzantium, 3: 983-88. It seems that the original function of the apotheke was
to serve as a sales point for surplus
seeM.
theByzantine Monetary
F. Hendy, Studies
in
Economy, c. 300
especially due to the crusader activity. Anna Komnena informs us about the orders of Emperor Alexios tary Eustathios,
of Seleukeia
and Korykos as strongholds against the crusaders in 1099/1100. See Anna Komnena, Alexiade, regne de I 'empereur Alexis I Comnene, 1081-1118), ed. B. Leib (Paris, 1937-76), vol. 3, book 11. Seleukeia
remained under Byzantine control itwas seized
until about the 1180s,when by theArmenian and Hellenkemper, ?1
Zacos
I to his admiral and secre
baron Levon Kilikien,
II. See Hild
402-6.
and Veglery, Seals, 180.
to reinforce the defenses
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
315
cities seem to have survived these difficult the other hand, upland In the last quarter of the bishop periods. eighth century, Diokaisareia's a is recorded in letter, and the settlement appears in the tenth century
On
as a
De thematibus?2 city in Constantine Porphyrogenitos's in The dramatic political, military, and commercial condi change must tions have affected patterns of land use and settlement in the rural
forts and towersmay indi landscape. The reutilization of theHellenistic means routes and fields to cate an by supervise themain increasing need of reliable telegraphy beacons.53 In the rural settlements presented in this paper, the structures, houses, churches, presses, and cisterns do not show any signs of destruction; therefore theymay have been used for centuries with very little intervention, constructed mostly with per such as timber and adobe. After the Arab
ishable materials of Cyprus
conquest delta the cultivation of the Kalykadnos less reliable. This would necessitate amore intensive
and eastern Cilicia,
must have become
zones. It is possible that the population exploitation of the marginal to In such cir migrations, wars, and the plague. severely declined due cumstances, have become
semi-nomadic
as it is still
practiced today may of life. The and safer, profitable mode adaptive, at settlements like safe from Arab raids, could be spent pastoralism
a more
fall and winter,
at a lower altitude. This would also coincide Isikkale and Karakabakh with the harvesting of olives, which took place in late autumn and early winter. On the other hand, springs and summers at higher altitudes in could be spent grazing flocks and harvesting the Taurus Mountains become a good alterna grapes. This mode of transhumance might have made the coasts and tive, until increased security flourishing economy more attractive at the end of the ninth century.
did not thrive and prosper after the the population Certainly was better than But the mid-seventh century. countryside equipped the cities to survive through difficult times; moreover, itwas not an
alloca target for invaders. In difficult economic conditions, tion of resources to expensive and labor-intensive structures would not be expected. Yet in the absence of destruction, existing settlements and facilities could be employed, and changes and repairs could be made materials. The very limited use of spolia sparingly using perishable was unnecessary to build new structures of costly may indicate that it immediate
the revival of the economy and strengthening of the the population, much smaller than before, might have Byzantine state, lived on in these settlements in a very modest fashion. To date, my project has provided new evidence for an under to the histories studied region, whose history is tightly connected eastern of various peoples and cultures of the ancient and medieval
masonry. Until
The preliminary results of my reconnaissance survey late the of culture a material the of constitute only very small sample
Mediterranean.
316
GUNDER
VARINLIOGLU
52
A. Pertusi, ed., Costantino Porfirogenito
"De thematibus" (Vatican, 1952), 13. For a survey of surviving towers, 53 see S. Durugonul, Tiirme und Siedlungen imRauhen Kilikien: Eine Unterzuchungzu im den archaologischen Hinterlassenschaften Olbischen Territorium (Bonn, 1998), passim.
antique Mediterranean. ervation of the remains, Isauria's connections
lies in the good state of pres significance the diversity and richness of the evidence,
Its
to theAnatolian
plateau and theMediterranean, a and the transformation of relatively marginal region into a province on the frontier of the Byzantine and Arab states. In many respects, the of late antiquity, example of Isauria recalls many other rural landscapes
limestone massif of northern Syria. Yet it especially the well-studied also drastically differs from other examples in the Levant in that it remained
as a
Byzantine
for understanding Byzantine settlements. value
Therefore it is of paradigmatic stronghold. the formation and character of medieval
In my research, I incorporated of a the theories and methods to the documentation and interpreta holistic landscape approach
us to landscapes. This theoretical framework allows to theMiddle Ages without reevaluate the transition from antiquity recourse to environmental or historical determinism. Neat categories, tion of Isaurian
of traditional historical writing have types, and periodizations long understated the complexity of this transformational period. In under of land use and settlement patterns beyond standing the processes simplistic environmental determinism, the perception of landscapes, and the social, religious, and cultural connotations of spaces and places should be added to the complex tapestry of human culture.With this
to to the need for new data premise, my research attempts respond and approaches in order to draw amore complete picture ofAnatolian rural landscapes.
Acknowledgments like to
Iwould
Varhklari
acknowledge ve Miizeler Genel
T. C. Kultur
ve Turizm
Bakanhgi
Kultur
which Mudurliigu, generously granted research permits. My fieldwork has been financially supported by the following institutions: American Research Institute in Turkey,
me
the Louis
J.Kolb
and the graduate program in the Art at the and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World University of am I to indebted Ilhame Oztiirk, the direc Pennsylvania. particularly tor of the Silifke Museum, for her tremendous support and generos Foundation,
ity. I thank the following people for their contribution stages of the fieldwork: Ozgiir Avci, Gazi Ciicel, Murat
to the various (Javdar, Caner
Giiney,Ya^ar Oztiirk, Songiil Saydam,Bilal Sogiit, (JigdemToskay,
Ozlem
like to express Finally I would Varinlioglu. my gratitude to Hugh Elton, Clive Foss, Johannes Koder, Cecil Lee Striker, and Alice-Mary Talbot for their suggestions and advice during the preparation of this article.
?
Tiire,
and Ender
University ofPennsylvania
HABITAT,
LANDSCAPE
IN SOUTHEASTERN
ISAURIA
317
Economic Developments and the Nature of Settlement in the Towns and Countryside of Syria-Palestine, ca. 565-800 Author(s): Alan Walmsley Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 319-352 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472053 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
in the Nature ofSettlement EconomicDevelopmentsand the ca. Townsand CountrysideofSyria-Palestine, 565S00 Alan Walmsley FEW
HISTORIANS
OR ARCHAEOLOGISTS
would
admit that
the nature any consensus has been reached on understanding of economic conditions in Syria-Palestine (Arab Bilad al-Sham-, to the Islamic conquest, or in fig. 1) during the decades leading up the century and a half immediately recently the following. Until
spreadof Islam (630s) and the subsequentfoundingof theUmayyad
were seen as a in Damascus (661) caliphate based precipitating long in decline industry and trade, both within Syria-Palestine period of
were inter-regionally. The seventh and eighth centuries typi fied, it has often been argued, by the impoverishment and eventual abandonment of many sites, urban and rural, which had flourished and
in the previous centuries. The evidence from which such judgments formed mostly relied upon architectural evidence or, more spe
were
by dedicatory inscriptions, and not the structures. Short, unidirectional archaeological investigation of the site histories of decline and desertion were constructed and attrib cifically, architecture
uted to various
dated
causes, either singularly or collectively:
economic
dis
locations, political apathy, religious antagonism, warfare, or natural disasters such as disease, earthquakes, and climate change resulting in as a terminal cause was the transfer decrease. Invoked population of theMuslim
epicenter eastward to Iraq after the overthrow of the Umayyads (750), which resulted in political marginalization, economic stagnation, and decline.1 crippling In more recent a consider analyses, the emphasis has shifted to world's
ation of economic
conditions before the Islamic expansion, in addi to tion those after it. has been widely used to substanti Archaeology ate the argument that most towns, with the exception of Jerusalem and Caesarea, offered little or no resistance to an expanding Islamic entity because
of the greatly weakened condition of Syria-Palestine? and the start of the seventh politically, militarily, economically?at and century. Structurally socially, the reasoning went, Syria-Palestine was "medieval" before Islam (couched, in part, in the to already "polis madinah" hypothesis).2 the Doubting sufficiency of these explanations, especially given the dearth of verifiable evidence until recently, this paper seeks to in the rural and urban elucidate developments economy of Syria a new
an by analysis of ever-widening body of archaeological data on production, distribution, and trade in sev goods during the enth and centuries. This study will consider both urban and eighth
Palestine
i See the discussion, and questioning, of these views in J.Magness, The Archaeology of theEarly Islamic Settlement inPalestine (Winona Lake, 2003),
1-2; D. Whitcomb,
and Abbasid Archaeology in Jordan," in The Archaeology ofJordan and
"Hesban, Amman,
Beyond: Essays inHonor ofJames A. Sauer, ed. L. E. Stager, J.A. Greene, and M. D. (Winona Lake, 2000), 505-15. Coogan 2 Notably H. Kennedy, "From Polis to Madina: Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria," Past & Present 106 (1985): 3-27. Also C. Morrisson and J.-P. Sodini, "The Sixth-Century Economy," in The Economic History ofByzantium, from the Seventh through theFifteenth Century, ed. A. Laiou
2002), 1:171 (Washington D.C, 220, esp. 193,195, 212, 220. Recently Michael Morony has argued in an important article for a general retraction in theMediterranean economy during the sixth century, but for growth of the Sasanid economy at the same time based on new labor and exploitation strategies, with these Sasanid trends provid ing the impetus for improvements in the early Islamic period (seeM. G. Morony, "Economic Boundaries? Early Islam," JESHO
Late Antiquity
47 [2004]:
and
166-94,
esp. 178). At issue here is the extent of the sixth
century decline
in Syria-Palestine, not later
developments (which fit comfortably with the arguments put forward in this paper), although Morony of Syria-Palestine Mediterranean
does suggest that the south fared better than other
regions, with prosperity con some to tinuing degree into early Islamic times (ibid., 174-75).
\
x <'\
Constantinople
X
,.-.v.
\ s.: BYZANTINE
L
/
EMPIRE
/\ "~.~"J
_" /_^^
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)
'")
,--_
**
Tarsus* C { /--?s~p
V7*
/p'J^'L (Edessa)*
Mediterranean
1.' J ^_I .^nin^ycT^'AbuMina% TejrenoutiNAqab $
/^
.
Al-
Iraq
:
V."" ! /
\
\
*Madina {
\
\
_/_\ and the developments
f
\#Makkah \ (Mecca)_|
that occurred
^
?^W
X Caesarea^ \ Red
Arsuf*
i Ghazzah
in
interregional these economic
times. The result of ongoing work, this paper is of necessity selective in both scope and subject matter, and much further research a more assessment can be offered. is comprehensive required before The categories of archaeological evidence accessed in this study
Islamic
are varied, but not all types are available for every time period. The material assignable to the seventh century has suffered from a number
of problems, mostly related to chronology, which has falsely created a recent research more "obscure" century Fortunately, archaeologically. success to the many gaps of a couple of has started plug with great
remain ago, especially in the field of numismatics. Coins one of the in primary dating tools archaeology, and the ongoing coin series refinement of has greatly improved the reliability of
decades
ALANWALMSLEY
Apamea
J J
(West)^
?Damascus
f
Ta^adyah
HAWRAN
#$ay&Hr-N #Busra # *Fidayn (Mafraq) Pelja
Rihab Jairash
irrirhn Jej^no
'Amman
SYRIA-PALESTINE
(BILAD
DARUM/
;(
km KhirbatalDharin*_?_IQO
The extent to which exchange during the period. in the coun activities were reflected in changing settlement activity into is tryside especially illuminating, providing significant insights the rural economy during the transition from late antiquity to early
320
*?*_*
Previously broad, and unreliable, pottery dating
7~ {
{
) Bayrutp Sayda*
P \ al-Ramlah* Jerusalem* / V. \ 'Asqalar>4
^
!
.ftfig
' AtrabulusC ^ palmyra. (
\ ?
AL-HIJAZ
chronologies.
~r/
Ladhkiyah*
Sur (Tyre)4
Sea \ N
ceramic
Dehes
Hims
Sea
EGYpT
rural economies
..-' '/"" \
!
. ,- > ^ ( "V >Hamah
<
AleDDO f"
Anti*^
Mediterranean ?#al_Humaymah ^*Aylah(al-'Aqabah) NSINAI x
_ ,''- -?Jurjan
X"--.^
Harran \ _|_
v_v X
\ ii-. 0Q
Kelha%al-Fu*at
V
.~\ .y
J AL-JAZIRAH \ (Gurgan)
L,?
^
)
AZARBAYJAN
, -*ts-_ ,__
Damascus Sftl /
Caspian
Sea
/ }j
<~Z' S
s *M"\.
M \ .Ital-Raqqah I al-Kusafah
:
;"
)
arminiyah (ARMENIA)
X
?6^
\<
^/
AL-SHAM)
g\
i ___? I
Fig. i The east Mediterranean
in the early eighth century, showing principal sites in the text mentioned
margins have been narrowed chronologicallyand typologically,and some ceramic types have been specific seventh-century recognized, seen as current in the sixth century or earlier. only previously Clearly site such refinements have enormous for implications dating and as a and what histories, near-empty century twenty years appeared ago is no longer vacant. to the seventh century, the evidence for economic Compared and the greater avail activity in the eighth is almost overwhelming, some selection ofmaterial. more ability of data will require Although comes two main this material with itwas limitations: abundant,
often poorly
and the publication of "late" levels has been more interested in neglected by many projects revealing biblical his or of remains. the Classical the tory perceived greatness Although ear situation has in recent years, the changed dramatically legacy of remains. lier shortcomings excavated,
The Seventh Century
of the seventh century were some of themore politi in The passage of armies in con cally tumultuous Syria-Palestine. and a series of natural calamities, could quest and counter-conquest,
The first decades
toweaken
and bring to a prompt end production and commerce in towns and the the evi countryside, but archaeologically dence suggests only short-term dislocations within a period of longer term economic continuity.
have combined
Coinage: A Monetary Economy
on economic continuities especially revealing and discontinuities. The first and most to note is important point a the stubborn persistence of monetary economy in Syria-Palestine the An seventh almost century. during array of incomprehensible
The
coin evidence
is
and Standing Byzantine, pseudo-Byzantine, Umayyad Imperial, series in more circulated copper and, Caliph rarely, gold widely.3 The were informal, or first coppers (pseudo-Byzantine) locally autho in to or the issued late 660s rized, productions 650s 670s to meet the demand both
of the marketplace on imagery, less so, Constantine
in size and
and, much
for small change. Their dependence, the issues of Constans II (641-668) IV (668-685) would tend to lock in
See recently, and for extensive bibliog raphy, L. Ilisch, Paldstina IVa. Bilad as
Islamic Coins in theAshmolean,
Sdm, vol. i of SyllogeNumorum
reformCoinage
3
Arabicorum
61; S. Album
and T. Goodwin,
Sylloge of vol. i, ThePre
of theEarly Islamic Period (Oxford, 2002); C. Foss, "The Coinage of the First Century of Islam (review of
Tubingen (Tubingen, 1993); L. Ilisch, "Islamic Numismatics," inA Survey of Numismatic Research, 1996-2001, ed. C.
Stephen Album
Alfaro and A. Burnett (Madrid, 2003), 637
ofIslamic Coins
On
and Tony Goodwin, Sylloge in theAshmolean Museum,
ECONOMY,
vol. i: The Pre-Reform Coinage of theEarly Islamic Period (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford zooz)),"JRA 17, 2 (2004): 748-60. seventh-century Byzantine parallels, C. Morrisson, "Byzantine Its Money:
Production
and Circulation,"
Economic History,
SETTLEMENT
see
in Laiou,
3, 5: 909-66.
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
321
a date no later than the 670s, but and conceivably earlier.4 Hoards II were coins from excavations indicate that the issues of Constans in any number, and then issues that circulated the last Byzantine before about 660.5 How Byzantine coinage entered predominantly in the mid-seventh century is not at all clear. Supply Syria-Palestine or as sent official shipments, or both,6 yet have been informal may the presence of these coins shows a degree of cross-border trade not yet identified in other types of material culture. Also unclear iswhy
in 658-59, but it is hard to issues the supply of Byzantine stopped escape the conclusion that the foundation of the Umayyad caliphate as was related in some way. However, tomeet imported coinage failed market
needs,
gap between
series was
the pseudo-Byzantine supply and demand. their size, weight,
produced
tomeet
the
imagery, the Umayyad Imperial Through coin types (dated 660 and 680, and Goodwin Foss between by Image between 670 and 690) show a much greater attempt at central coor at least at the similarities level.7 Production dination, provincial certain mints
between
and
Fig. 2 Copper alloy coin with the Gerasa mint belonging to the Umayyad Imperial Image series (ca. 660-680), overstamped inArabic with theword tayyib "good," on the obverse (A. Uscatescu and T. Marot, "The Ancient Macellum
of Gerasa
in the
Late Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods: The Archaeological Evidence," inProceedings of the Second International Congress on theArchaeology of theAncient Near East, Copenhagen 2000, ed. I. Thuesen [Winona Lake, 2008], 2: fig. 10.9)
reflect the known
ajnad (military provincial) sources of the ninth century, demon preserved an Islamic administrative system strating the formal functioning of for Syria-Palestine no later than the 670s. This is quite clear from a on an two seated imperial figures based large-module copper showing structure
inwritten
issueofJustinII and Sophia (565-578)minted inNikomedia, which
4
Album
in southern Issues Syria-Palestine (fig. 2).8 and Jerash are well known, yet Jerash
in great numbers
circulated
from Baysan
(Scythopolis)
and Goodwin,
Sylloge of Islamic see also Foss, "Coinage," 760. For example, the gold hoards of
Coins, i: 104-7; 5
Nikertai, Morrisson,
near Afamia/Apamea (C. "Le tresor byzantin de Nikertai,"
et de Revue Beige de Numismatique 118 [1972]: 29-91) and Awarta Sigillographie near Nabulus
(A. Dajani,
"A Hoard
of
Byzantine Gold Coins from Awarta, Nablus," AAJord 1 [1951]: 41-43), and more recently the Khirbat Qab hoard from Galilee (D. Syon, "A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Hurvat Kab,"/N/i4 211-23, [2000-2002]: plates 23-26). For other material, see C. Morrisson, "La monnaie en Syrie byzantine," inArcheologie et histoire de la Syrie, vol. 2, La Syrie de Vepoque Achemenide a Vavene mentde ITslam, ed.J.-M. Dentzer andW. Orthmann
(Saarbriicken, 1989), 191-204, at 198-99; and G. Bijovsky, "A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Bet She'an in the
322
ALANWALMSLEY
Umayyad Period," RN158 (2002): 161-227, but with 7.32% of Constantine IV, although all before 681. For a discussion of the hoard see recently Album and Goodwin, Sylloge ofIslamic Coins, 1:104,106; M. Phillips and T. Goodwin, "A Seventh
material,
Century Syrian Hoard of Byzantine and Imitative Copper Coins," NC157 (1997): 61-87. 6
suggest that the Phillips and Goodwin Byzantines deliberately ended the copper supply (Phillips and Goodwin,
"Seventh
Century Syrian Hoard," 81-83); F?ss thinks not, while Michael Bates proposes a local imitative mint
(Foss, "Coinage," 754). Foss, "Coinage," 760; Album and Goodwin, Sylloge ofIslamic Coins, 1: 81-91. 7
The series starts out highly standardized with standing figures type, common to the provincial
capitals of Hims, Damascus, and Ludd, and also the almost
Tabariyah, capital of Jerusalem
(forwhich
see especially
A. Elad, Medieval
Jerusalem and Islamic
Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage [Leiden, 1995]). Foss's date of 660 for the start of the series makes considerable sense in this context. Archaeologically and his torically this series could be considered the most
significant prereform coinage, and much more research needs to be done, espe cially on distribution, forwhich the publica tion of excavation finds ismost crucial. 8
In addition
toAlbum
and Goodwin,
Sylloge, see N. Amitai-Preiss, A. Berman, and S. Qedar, "The Coinage of Scythopolis (1994 Baysan and Gerasa-Jerash,"/iy/i3 99): 133-51, plates 17-22; M. L. Bates and F. L. Kovacs,
"A Hoard
of Large Byzantine
and
(1996): Arab-Byzantine Coppers," NC156 165-73; A. Naghawi, "Umayyad Filses [sic] at Jerash," inJerash Archaeological (Paris, Project 2 (1984-1988), ed. F. Zayadine 1989), 2: 219-22.
Minted
sites
Greek
2.Diocaesarea |Safruriyah
!
9.Pf/Z* IFihl ? 1,
|Jarash Nablus |
"*"*
i2.>#w|Yafa
-;*\
^
/*' ,* ..*
"***m"'"f"^\.
,*.
*'
'^Atyj0^t ?j^^iS^i'*^:V^
1-1
?
#8/ \ /
.'-^T^r.jfe^ ** v5"'" v-'"
CBusra)
of the ajnad Fig. 4 A rareDouble
j
of Arabia
'**
mg the province's
j
the largemodule
Philadelphia J
j *
.* /
i
(Amman)
Standing Caliph
atJerash, copperrecovered probablyreflect
I
Province
\
of provincial borders with the formation
'
1
I
F11111^,^ 012 cm
Fig. 3 Map showingtherearrangement
\
;
^:^^J^:;^/
^AW^urt&b;.
*
^^
\
)
?
O
^IBHB^^^
/ **N '.
Pal.SeIcunda
dtfBIBHfckt
JoiHi^^^^^^^. ?jfin?fiM^^E
. ^^i^^^HP
: -. i^ _ ^ / N )*4^^ 3?v" -
M-arif(nm-{?^^g^% }(C^sar^-ah). .-,.?>' \ p^f^^ #10 .\?^.' ^si.-ft^-K^***"7"""""
.Byzantine M~l Early Islamic
JHI^^^B^^BIa
3. Tiberias | Tabariyah JHSHHhI^^H
.
,.*
Caesarea
Mediterranean
^tt^t^^
7>ro5(Sur) H^B^^^E ^^HIHI^H
I 7. Adraa Adhriat 8. Capitohas |Bayt Ras
i3.Al-Azraq 14.Anna
(Dimashq)
JHWUM^JfiHEHBIH^^Bl
4. i/ipjpo51 Susiyah
10. Gerasa 11.Neapolis
Arabic
|
traditional preference for type of Justin II and Sophia
;
to the Province ofArabia, and before the Islamic expansion belonged town become only with the formation of the Jund al-Urdunn did the recent identification joined administratively with Baysan (fig. 3).The of Abila as a probable third mint producing this type further illus
trates the provincial basis for the issuing of the Imperial Image style.9 the other coinage of the Jund al-Urdunn Nonetheless, displays major issues the of the and differences, stylistic especially capital Tabariyah an unidentified
in north Jordan (the so-called pseudo-Damas cus mint), so other factors were at clearly play. series (690s), the intention of With the Standing Caliph produc a standardized and centralized in ing coinage Syria-Palestine becomes mint
apparent, from both an iconographic and ametrological perspective.10 even if The Jund al-Urdunn remained outside this unified approach, coin type is to be associated Standing Caliph with this province, which seems most likely varia (fig. 4). Otherwise, tions within a common series were in line with the stylistic, prevail the paradoxical
Double
structure. This
type presaged the coinage reforms of at the end of the seventh century, both the reflecting continuing strength of the monetary economy and provincial prefer ences that had marked the whole of the seventh century.
ing provincial Abd al-Malik
outside of this very positive account of the mon of the seventh century, a number of hoards do suggest etary economy Nevertheless,
9 Mint
A. Oddy, "A New Proto-Umayyad in Syria?," NC 64 (2004): 236-40,
plates 26-27. Oddy notes that the identifica tion of Abila as a new mint still fails to account for all the unidentified
type, suggesting that other mints may have also operated briefly in the Jund al-Urdunn. io Album and Goodwin, Sylloge of Islamic Coins,
i: 91-99.
coins in this
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
323
that the periodic uncertainties of the age did have some impact on a few hoards can be attributed to the Sasanid the economy. Quite a smaller number invasion or events immediately being prior,11with concealed in the face of theMuslim advance in the 630s.12 Generally the greater number of early-seventh-century hoards may indicate more a time of greater insecurity and, revealingly, less subsequent recovery of buried wealth. A clear rise in the concealment of hoards, and their non-recovery, is discernible during the power struggles over the Sasanid invasion and the suc the caliphate in the 680s.13 Overall, in the 680s appear to have had the most impact, if disputes raw numbers are any indication. The Islamic conquest resulted in comparatively few unclaimed hoards, while the composition of gold
cession
later in the century reveals no appreciable disrup tion in supply at the time of the conquest. The circulation of coinage in the seventh century is recorded in
hoards
concealed
the coins recovered during the course of archaeological work in Syria Palestine.14 Imported Byzantine gold was distributed widely, if the more indicative are any hoards mentioned previously guide. Perhaps even are commerce both the of local copper issues, imported and local, if the evidence
remains
were sketchy. At Jerash there
few Constans
II coppers (fourspecimens),but thepreferencefor theJustinII and Sophia
large-module
folles
in the region may
ii
Y. Alayyan, "A Brief Study of Gold found inAbdun," AAJord 42 (1998): 39-53, latest coin Phocas 607-10; D. T. Ariel,
Folles fromQazrin," latest coin 607-8; D. 29 69-76, (1996): Atiqot C. Baramki, "A Hoard of Byzantine Coins,"
Tiberius 12
8, no. 1 (1938): 81-85, latest coin 611
previous note could date to the 630s, given the short time period between the Sasanid
(Near East),
155 (1995):
Herakleios's
1993 or before," NC
155 (1995):
"A (gold), latest coin 607-10; R. Naismith, Hoard of Byzantine Copper Coins Ending with the Last Year ofMaurice," NC 164 296-99,
Rachmani,
latest coin 602; L. Y.
"Two Hoards
and a Roman Charm
ALANWALMSLEY
13
"Three Seventh-century Hoards," Hoard 2, latest coin 674-81 and an imitation of a
E. Metcalf,
"Three Seventh-century Byzantine Gold Hoards," ANSMN 25 (1980): 87-108, Hoard
of Byzantine Coins
from Khirbet Deir
recovery of the region.
Dajani, "Hoard of Byzantine Gold" (above, note 3), latest coin 668; Metcalf,
1995: Near East, 68. Unknown
354-58, latest coin 608-9; W.
324
supply of new money during the Sasanid occupation and the few years after
latest coin 602; S. J.Mansfield,
"Coin Hoards
(2004):
conquest and the Islamic expansion into Syria-Palestine and the seemingly limited
1995:Near East, 67. Unknown 1994 or Before," NC
from
(1968): 67-109; Syria," ANSMN14 however, some of the hoards listed in the
(Philadelphia, 1939), gold; C. Lambert, "A 1 (1932): Hoard of Byzantine Coins," QDAP coin latest 611-12; S.J. Mansfield, 55-68, (Near East),
(582-602).
G. E. Bates, "A Byzantine Hoard
Coele
QDAP 12;G. M. Fitzgerald, ^4 Sixth Century Monastery at Beth-Shan (Scythopolis)
348-54,
19-23, latest coin
605-6; and possibly L. Harding, "Recent Work on the Jerash Forum," PEQ 81 (1949): 12-20, latest coin unspecified Maurice
of Byzantine
"Coin Hoards
the explanation.
INJ z (1964):
Dassawi,"
Coins
"AHoard
be
1
Herakleios
and Herakleios
solidus; Morrisson,
Constantine
"Le tresor byzantin" and perhaps
byzantine,"
Byzantine buried because
in the later seventh century, perhaps reflecting the concealment of these coins as
hoards wealth
rather than currency; thus inMetcalf,
"Three Seventh-century Hoards," Hoard 3, with the latest coin of 685-95 from the reign of Justinian II, seems to represent the burial of obsolete coinage for the value of the gold. C. Foss ("The Coinage of Syria in the 14 Seventh Century: The Evidence of Excavations,"
INJ13 [1994-99]: 119-32) some of the issues; see grapples with also A. Walmsley, "Production, Exchange and Regional Trade Old
Mediterranean:
I. L. Hansen 2000),
en Syrie
in the Islamic East Structures, New
Systems?," in The Long Eighth Century: ed. Production, Distribution and Demand,
n. 5), latest Syon, "A Hoard of Solidi" (above, coin 661-63 and who prefers a concealment date around 665 based on wear. Other "La monnaie
of political unrest than "fear
of confiscation by theArabs" (185). One should also note the preponderance of gold
(above, n. 5), latest coin 674-81;
hoards: Morrisson,
198-99; Bijovsky, "AHoard of Solidi," 180-82, but more likely
and C. Wickham
265-343,
(Leiden,
at 334-37. The unpublished
coins from the large-scale Scythopolis/ Baysan excavations will make an important contribution when they appear.
The pre-reformIslamic coinage is overwhelminglylocal (minted in Baysan and Jerash),accounting for90 percentof the total (fifty-five of sixty-one and Amman
the rest originating (one).15 Again, local preferences
from Damascus
(five) be the cause, but might policy would have damp
specimens),
an surely such inward-looking monetary ened trade opportunities outside of the immediate
area. A
seventh
century cultural conservatism in this region can be viewed areas of material culture, as will be seen later in this paper.
in other
In more
northern
reaches, the coins recovered from the excava
reveal monetary continuity on a Apamea significant aux scale in the seventh statistics Coin from the Maison century.16
tion of houses
at
reveal a steady supply of copper coin throughout the century, to the attributable including types militarily volatile period 613-638 (six specimens), with particularly high numbers of coins attributed
consoles
to Constans Antioch
II (sixteen) and
similarly produced (seventy and eighteen
types excavations Constans
in the Amuq II coins, with
imitative numerous
at (eight). Excavations II and imitative Constans
issues
coins from respectively).17 Likewise, recovered both imitative official and plain the former again in the majority.18 Equally
indicative of seventh-century circulation in the north is the published coin evidence from in house units at Dehes.19 soundings Coinage rare of the sixth century is I and Maurice (from Justin remarkably Tiberius, only five coins, with nothing in between!), but the seventh
century is prolific by comparison (thirty-two coins, including four teen of Constans II). The pre-reform Islamic coins are anonymous imitations of Constans II one (eight specimens), except Standing The type from Qinnasrin. Caliph disproportionately large number of coins may be a little difficult to seventh-century explain, unless
Dehes was able to benefitfinancially (throughtrade or militarily?) from itsproximity to the themonetary Byzantine border. Regardless, was at active in Dehes the seventh century. economy very
one suspects that the coin evidence from these sites Overall, reflects reasonably accurately the economic environment of their dis tricts,which varied between regions of Syria-Palestine, especially the north and the south.
15 16
"Production, Exchange and 333-36, presents the tabulated data.
Walmsley,
Trade,"
J.C. Baity, "Monnaies
maisons
d'Apamee:
byzantines des
Etude comparative,"
inApamee de Syrie: Bilan des recherches archeologiques, 1973-1979. Aspects de Varchitecture domestique d'Apamee: Actes du colloque tenu a Bruxelles les 29, 30 et 31mai 1980, ed. J. Baity (Brussels, 1984), 239-48
for the Byzantine material; A. Negre,
"Monnaies
orientales des maisons d'Apamee. Etude comparative," in ibid., 249-59, f?r tne early Islamic material. Corrected
byzantin (IVe-XVesiecle), ed.]. Lefort, C. and J.-P. Sodini (Paris, 2005),
Morrisson, 495-510.
figures taken from C. Foss, in A.D. 550-750: An Transition, "Syria
I?III
Archaeological Approach," DOP 189-269, at 195.
267-87.
17
18
T. Vorderstrasse,
51 (1997):
19
C. Morrisson,
"Dehes. Campagnes (1976-1978), Recherches sur 1'habitat
rural: Les monnaies,"
Syria 57 (1980):
"Coin Circulation
in Some Syrian Villages Centuries),"
(5th-nth inLes villages dans I'Empire
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
325
L^^H^^^BBmhBHBIHP^^^^^Hbl^^^^H^^^^^^^BBBi^^^^^BI^^^^^^Hp^%9EiiH^^^^^^Ri^HJI^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
H ^iH^^^^H, ^T^^B^VBHn^iH^^^^K^^Hv^B^HI^I^^^^H^^^^^^^I^^^^^^HB
Material Culture: Recognizing Production and Trade in theSeventh Century Tremendous
strides have been made
in the last few decades
Fig. 5 View of the domestic quarter at the east end of themound at Pella, Jordan
in iden
in tifying and correctly dating the material culture of Syria-Palestine the seventh century. The implications of this advance will be consid ered in the next section on settlement profiles, but suffice it to say
now that what was once an almost
invisible century archaeologically has become much more visible and understandable historically. At this point, the intention will be to describe the major improvements in the of some of the more important ceramic groups, chronology and especially what new information this material holds for regional and trade in the century. or not, ceramics and Usefully coinage have traditionally domi is misdated Eastern nated Middle archaeology, and when pottery
production
voids are created
in the record that reflect not history, archaeological but our understanding of it. Into such an archaeological "black hole" fellmuch of the pottery of the seventh century, and only recently have
been perceptible. A much tighter con knowledge stratigraphy for the later periods (late antiquity and the Islamic early periods) has produced excellent corpora of seventh-cen ceramic groups tury transitional material and especially diagnostic a or to time spans of generation datable so.20 acceptable improvements trol over site
326
ALAN WALMSLEY
in
20
The reckless discarding of materials levels in theMiddle East
from post-Classical
iswell acknowledged, whether the sites were being investigated for their Graeco-Roman (e.g., Jerash) or biblical (e.g., the tall of Baysan-Beth
Shan) periods.
in the of a compilation for seventh-century ceramic assemblage southern Syria-Palestine has been the Foremost
of Pamela Watson
work
at Pella/Fihl.21
a domestic
quarter on mound archaeological during a diverse the 1980s produced range of contexts material from good datable to the sixth/seventh century, ending with Excavations
within
the main
structures in damage of in 659 or 660 The earthquake (fig. 5). an unbroken ceramics continu display a century and a half until the for ity the widespread
an
/
\
-I
A
the seventh-century earthquake,22 with corpus dominated by local products from Jerash and Baysan, but also material from
more
distant
realms, notably Egypt. The Phase 5 (initially pottery fromWatsons ca. dated later up to 659-60) 600-640, is of primary interest here, although the into preceding Phase 4 probably spanned the early seventh century. Phase 5 ceram ics came from particularly good deposits
with
a
little rubbish
the corpus unusually clean and survival, making The material shows undoubted representative continuity (fig. 6). in from Phase 4, but with perceptible developments shape, frequency of types, and decorative styles.24 These unrelated to appear changes seem, rather, to represent a standard any historical event and would
to progression of material culture in response changing human erences and abilities, both artisan and consumer. 21
See especially P. M. Watson, "Ceramic for Egyptian Links with Northern
Evidence
Jordan in the 6th-8th Centuries AD,"
in
Trade, Contact, and theMovement in theEastern Mediterranean:
ofPeoples Studies in
Honour
ofJ. Basil Hennessy, ed. S. Bourke and J.-P.Descoeudres (Sydney, 1995), 303
20; P.Watson,
"The Byzantine Period: inAreas Byzantine Domestic Occupation III and IV," inPella inJordan 2: The Second Interim Report of theJoint University of Sydney and the College ofWooster Excavations
at Pella
1982-198$, ed. A. W.
et al. J.Hanbury-Tenison, (Sydney, 1992), 163-81; P. M. Watson, "Change in Foreign and Regional Economic
McNicoll,
Links with Pella A.D.:
The Ceramic
Fig. 6 Seventh-century domestic wares from the housing at Pella (from P.Watson, "The Byzantine Period," plate 115)
pref
in the Seventh Century Evidence," inLa Syrie
material
in Phase 4, Phase
5 reveals certain
advances. New
forms have appeared and there is a development in themetallic
de Byzance a ITslam, VIIe-VIHesiecles: Actes du colloque international Lyon, ed. P. Canivet and J.-P. Rey-Coquais (Damascus,
terracotta [name of fabric type] group: an increase in its relative quantity, and the introduction of incised decoration" (Watson,
1992), 233-48. 22 "There is clearly a strong continuity throughout: many types have a long life" (Watson, "Byzantine Domestic inAreas III and IV," 181).
EKES
"Byzantine Period," 181).Also, "the trends at Pella ... reveal a basic continuity of tradi
Occupation
23 Watson, "Change," 234, inwhich Phase 4 contains imports datable up to 660, andWatson proposes a possible corpus date to 620.
tions, overlaid by changes occurring in the early and mid-7th century. These changes, however, have their roots in the second half of the 6th century and cannot be considered abrupt" (Watson, "Change,"
246).
states: Watson 24 Specifically on Phase 5, "While the pottery is closely related to the
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
327
In the later 1980s and
1990s, excavations
at a number
of other
sites in Syria-Palestine seventh-century
similarly reliable and informative produced on Dehes, Jerash, pottery corpora. The publications
Khirbat al-Dharih (south Jordan),Humaymah
(south Jordan),
and forts, Yoqneam, Jerusalem, the Zohar and En Boqeq Aqabah, to dis Ramat Hanadiv contain, varying degrees of usefulness, has filled and tinct seventh-century material that with publication a ceramic void.25 A number of the diagnostic excavations are of particular these during commerce. to seventh-century trade and
pottery types interest with
expanded recovered
regard A particularly type manufactured
an group of pottery is area of coastal in the Gaza-Ascalon
informative
oppositepage Fig. 7 i. Gaza amphora from themid seventh century levels at Pella (Watson, inAreas Occupation and IV," plate 116.8); 2. The Terenouti
"Byzantine Domestic
amphora, found in good numbers inmid eighth century deposits at Pella (A.Walmsley, "Chapter 8.The Umayyad Pottery and Its inPella inJordan 1:An Interim
Antecedents,"
Report on theJoint University of Sydney and theCollege ofWooster Excavations at Pella 1979-1981, ed. A. McNicoll, and B. Hennessy
amphora southern
III
R. H. Smith,
[Canberra, 1982], plate amphora, later seventh to
145.3); 3.Aqabah
eighth centuries (Whitcomb, Ayla, 24).
as the first century and con as early begins perhaps tinues throughout the seventh and into the early eighth.26 Consensus holds that the jars, made of a thick, gritty ware fired to a medium dark brown color (Munsell color chart: 5YR 5/6),were meant for the
Palestine, which
export of Gaza's famous white wine, used for the Eucharist and medi cal purposes in addition to drinking. The latest, seventh-century form of amphora is tall and narrow compared with its predecessors, with a vertical combing
25 Jerash: see especially P. M. Watson, "Jerash Bowls: Study of a Provincial Group of Byzantine Decorated FineWare," inJerash n. 3); Archaeological Project 2,223-53 (above, A. Uscatescu, "Jerash Bowls and Other Related Local Wares Excavations
from the Spanish at theMacellum of Gerasa
(fig. 7.1). Conspicuously
(Mainz am Rhein, 1993),with signifi cant corrections in J.Magness, "Redating the Forts at Ein Boqeq, Upper Zohar, and Other
See M. Egloff, Kellia: 26 lapoterie copte. Jguatre siecles d 'artisanat et d 'echanges en Basse-Egypte (Geneva, 1977), 3:117; and
Sites in SE Judaea, and the Implications for in The theNature of the Limes Palaestinae"
"Gazan Amphorae:
Meer
Roman and Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H.
(Jerash)," AAJord 39 (1995): 365-408; A. Uscatescu, La Cerdmica delMacellum de
Humphrey
Gerasa
Avissar, and Y. Portugali, Yoqneam I. The Late Periods (Jerusalem, 1996), 66-74; Ramat
(Madrid, 1996), (Yaras,Jordania) including "Jerash Bowls" (further below);
(Aylah): A. Melkawi, K. Amr, Aqabah "The Excavation of Two and D. S.Whitcomb, Seventh Century Pottery Kilns at Aqaba," Jerusalem: J.
AAJord 38 (1994): 447-68; Magness, Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology, circa 200-800 CE
(Sheffield, 1993);Magness, "Chapter Eighteen: Late Roman and Byzantine Pottery," inJewish Quarter Excavations
in theOld City ofJerusalem,
byNahman Avigad, 1969-1982, vol. 2, The Finds from Areas A, W, and X-2: Final
Conducted
Report, ed. H. Geva (Jerusalem, 2000), 423-32; Zohar: R. P. Harper, Upper Zohar: An Early Byzantine Fort inPalaestina Tertia. in 1985-1986 Final Report ofExcavations (Oxford, 1995); En Boqeq: M. Gichon,?w am Toten Boqeq: Ausgrabungen in einer Oase
328
a narrow band of incised
shoulder, lacking a neck and with handles just below the attached
ALANWALMSLEY
(Portsmouth, R.I., 1999), 189 206; Yoqneam: Avissar inA. Ben-Tor, M.
Hanadiv:
"Ramat Hanadiv
R. Calderon,
Excavations, Chapter
3: Roman
and
Byzantine Pottery," inRamat Hanadiv Excavations: Final Report of the 1984-1998 Seasons, ed. Y. Hirschfeld
(Jerusalem, 2000),
119-65, especially for a sealed pit deposit of the seventh century; while for the other sites and P.
see the various articles in E. Villeneuve
eds., La ceramique byzantine et en Syrie-Jordanie (IVe-VIIIe proto-islamique siecles apr.J.-C): Actes du colloque tenu a Amman les 3, 4 et 5 decembre 1994 (Beirut, M. Watson,
2001); and a general overview of ceramics in J.-P. Sodini and E. Villeneuve, "Le passage de la ceramique Byzantine inCanivet
Omeyyade,"
Syrie deByzance
a la ceramique and Coquais,
a ITslam, 195-218.
La
the important newer study of G. Majcherek, Typology Reconsidered," and Roman Pottery in the Advances in Eastern Mediterranean: inHellenistic
Scientific Studies: Acts of the II Nieborow Pottery Workshop, Nieborow, 18-20 December 1993, ed. H. Meyza
and J.Mlynarczyk 1995), 163-78, with a full bibliog raphy; and more generally B.Johnson and L. E. Stager, "Ashkelon: Wine Emporium (Warsaw,
of theHoly Land," inRecent Excavations in Israel: A View to theWest. Reports on Kabri, Nami, Miqne-Ekron, Dor, and Ashkelon, ed. S. Gitin 95-109, which
(Dubuque, Iowa, 1995), includes information on
recently identified amphora production sites near Gaza and Ascalon; also P. Fabian and Y. Goren, Anchorage
"A Byzantine Warehouse South of Ashqelon,"
(2001): 211-19.
and
Atiqot 42
in
found
the
coin-dated
at Pella, numerous
deposit large numbers
659-60 at Caesarea,
earthquake recovered in
(135 specimens) from a pit atHor vat on the Carmel but less common at Aqav Range,27 Jerash, this late type of Gaza amphora becomes far less widespread
north of the Esdraelon-Yarmouk
tion. Farther afield, examples
are also known
VOTx
!
and Dor valley divide, suggesting that Caesarea were the northernmost ports for primary distribu from
Kellia and Alexandria (Kom al-Dikka) in Egypt, the dis and as far away as Marseilles.28 However, tribution of the sixth-century form is unquestion from Britain to the Black Sea ably wider?found In basic
and Nubia.
terms, the current evidence
trade in Gaza suggests continued Mediterranean on a reduced wine but the seventh century during at least trade scale?or using the Gaza amphorae; a smaller number of not may necessarily amphorae mean
a decline
in trade ifother containers,
skins, were being used.29 ceramic evidence Other
reveals
such as
that trade in
commoditiesbetween Egypt (especiallythedelta)
took place on a sig Syria-Palestine are nificant scale in the seventh century.30 Notable occurrence ofAbu Mina thewidespread amphorae at sites, found in the 659-60 levels at earthquake and
southern
Pella and reaching inland toJerash;EgyptianRed SlipA fromAswan, with formJ2andM (late sixth
at Pella, common at to seventh Baysan and century) rare inland at Jerash; Egyptian Red Tabariyah but at Caesarea, Pella, and Jerash; and Coptic Slip C (seventh century) Painted ware from middle Egypt, an uncommon export except to at southern Syria-Palestine, with a mid-seventh-century specimen seems to in in the seventh century there the sixth century, Jerash. As have been a thriving trade in goods 27
Calderon,
Excavations,
Chapter
and
Byzantine Pottery," 119-27, where both sixth- and seventh-century types occur together; we can assume a long life and
and
Ages. See the important comments of S. Goitein,^ Mediterranean Society: The Jewish
The preference for skins over amphorae to hold liquids (oil and wine
necessary
is a feature ofMediterranean
(Berkeley, 1967), "For the large scale overseas trade, skins were preferred." It should not be
333-34:
to emphasize the perishable nature of skins and, as a result, their absence
in the archaeological
"Ceramic See especially Watson, also recently J.Magness, "Late
Roman
of theArab World as Portrayed in theDocuments of the Cairo Geniza, vol. i,
Economic Foundations
29
30
Evidence";
Communities
frequent reuse for these vessels, which is confirmed by theHorvat 'Aqav discards. 28 169. Majcherek, "Gazan Amphorae,"
especially)
Egypt
trade in theMiddle
"Ramat Hanadiv 3: Roman
of all types between
and Early Islamic Pottery from Egypt and Some Palestinian Connections (review of Donald M. Bailey, Excavations at el-Ashmunein, vol. 5,Pottery,
Middle
Lamps and Glass of theLate Roman and Early Arab Periods (2000):
[London,
1998]),"/iL4
13
812-17.
record.
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
329
southern Syria-Palestine that was little disturbed by the events of the is also demon of this trade into the age. Continuity eighth century in the Nile delta at strable by another amphora type manufactured Terenouti,31
for instance, Pella in the good numbers at, at Kursi on the earthquake destruction level and
and found
in
mid-eighth-century east shore of Lake Tiberias
It reached the Jordanian heights, (fig. 7.2).32 in excavations on theAmman Citadel and found nearby Umm being al-Walid, for instance,33 and recently farther north at Jerash. trade on the Red Sea in the seventh century is Seaborne
an industrial at in the Aylah discovery of potter's complex a local of amphora type large proportions (fig. 7-3).34 manufacturing The production atAylah far exceeded local requirements, and the dis revealed
covery of these amphorae at seventh- to ninth-century sites in south Arabia and Ethiopia indicates that theywere used to repack the agri for shipment on the cultural produce of southern Syria-Palestine Red Sea by boat. A major destination for this produce was the towns of the Hijaz, where the growth of large and suddenly wealthy elite an demand for imported groups would have created unprecedented
nuts. as oil, wine, grain, dried fruits, and products such of The seventh century is also typified by the continuation are two ceramic of of which traditions, strong regional particular Palestinian called interest: "Fine Byzantine Ware," better perhaps Fine Table Ware and "Jerash Bowls," named after the site (PFTW), of production.
is a major class of pottery spanning the sixth to ninth centuries.35 The claywas finely levigated so that it could be very thinly thrown on a fastwheel to produce extremely elegant cups, bowls, jars, and jugs, perhaps imitating metallic vessels. The firing was very care to brownish-col a mellow to produce light-orange fully controlled of the outside surfaces featured knife bur ored fabric. Decoration PFTW
a line incised below the rim on cups, and cut strokes on nishing, wavy the seventh in the sixth and seventh centuries. During jars and jugs new and dishes century plates, perhaps shapes appeared, especially Red Slip wares. PFTW was unavailable in of the increasingly place
in Palestine and Jordan, with find sites center extensively distributed on the north and central Jordan valley, the Jordanian mountain ing 31
P. Ballet, "Un atelier d'amphores 5/6 a Kom Abou
Late Roman Amphora Billou
(Egypte)," Chronique
(i994): 32
d'Egypte 69
353-65.
V. Tzaferis,
"The Excavations
of
16 (1983): 5-18, Kursi-Gergesa,"^^or but ceramics badly misdated.
G. L. Harding, "Excavations on the 33 Citadel, Amman," AAJord i (1950): 7-14; M.-A. Haldimann,
34
Melkawi,
Excavation Kilns
330
ALAN WALMSLEY
"Umm-el-Walid:
in Canivet Prolegomenes ceramologiques," and Rey-Coquais, La Syrie de Byzance a siecles, 229-31, at 231. ITslam, VIIe-VIHe Amr, andWhitcomb,
"The
of Two Seventh Century Pottery
at Aqaba."
This ceramic class is in need of a major study, but seeM. Gichon, "Fine Byzantine Wares from the South of Israel," PEQ 106 35
(1974): 119-39; Magness, Chronology, 166-71.
Jerusalem Ceramic
range hills,
(particularly and the Naqab
in the north), the Palestinian no work (Negev). While
shops have been located, probably the production
the Jerusalem area was center for PFTW, and
northeast
of Jerusalem
were from here appreciable quantities of PFTW traded north and south for a distance of up to no was to the km. Distribution particularly marked and
southwest
well-traveled
along the state-run
and increasingly important route between Egypt and Damascus. for which Jerash Bowls, the workshops
have
were in the disused hippodrome, local imitative versions of certain African Red Slip
been discovered
types, but usually bichrome painted with decora or tive patterns of iconic, mythical, and abstract designs occasionally with an impressed stamp motif. The human and animal images show extraordinary variety, with bird, fish, feline, horse, deer, dog, boar, and so on depicted, and often resemble mosaic art (fig. 8).36 Bands of
Fig. 8 Jerash bowls, decorated in red to red dish-brown on a white paint background
abstract designs within lines were used to form central tondi and to decorate the outside edge of the plates. Inscriptions in Greek occa occur. Paint colors were white and a reddish-brown to sionally purple.
series is still difficult, the evidence from Pella and dating the in the later sixth to seventh Jerash would support major production thereafter bowls with century; deep high walls and cups painted
While
more open in red abstract patterns replace the is concentrated in distribution of Jerash Bowls
monochromatically Jerash Bowls. The
to 125 km northern Jordan and the north Jordan valley, reaching up away from the point of production. Like Palestinian Fine Table Ware, pattern of Jerash Bowls indicates that themaximum economic range of in the seventh century was fine-quality ceramics 100-150 km, afterwhich the products of another region gained a com too petitive edge and the traded items became, in effect, expensive. the distribution
Settlement:Urban Transformations and Rural Expansion
The
the
fundamental
in
advances made
and
ceramics
understanding
and
interpreting
of
coinage seventh-century Syria-Palestine of accurately up new possibilities opened reconstructing in both urban and rural contexts that do not socioeconomic profiles on solely rely epigraphic evidence. This work has only just begun, in part of excavation hampered by the slow pace of publication
has
are recent to and survey projects. Nevertheless, analyses beginning more in demonstrate considerably the seventh century than activity construction of the continued previously recognized, including public buildings, mostly
churches, and large domestic
complexes.
In
general,
ECONOMY,
36
Uscatescu,
"Jerash Bowls and Other (above, n. 25);
Related Local Wares" Uscatescu,
La Cerdmica delMacellum,
(above, n. 25);Watson, (above, n. 25).
66-89
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
"Jerash Bowls"
565-800
331
<,* _m IB - .. ^-. ***v. _______ ________ & *>L *llSWMfef ;ii*?*;pi#?*^^?L^*.v - B ? B_K BH :.' %^ "^~tV-*V _ &, ?:?.. -N * *? ? w^~I 9BBBBBBBI ________Kl -s*.\ m^H -'^F^'^.wiBWf-*^ I aa^a^a^B * b ^pr B "aBHHI^BBBSfe ?t.. "^ J .^-^sc--.. '' 1 w hlm^aaaB Vw^WBBliiBfc^* ^__BB ll^BBaaaaaaaaaaaB BBJaWalii aBnffiri B& " ^^m aB "ar bbe*B? ?y?apwfe*^^^i-wwj-yBMMMiiii^^ ihhIIhB SBB^aB^aa^aa^aaB ____H__h________H_#1! bK: _ *' ^t^-^>4$2SL*3T oJ^lV^^\\Xt ^5?__il?M5raBBBKBBtek.* >^Bbbh ^ BBHaBHaBHaBHaaT ________r^V_l________^l ^Hr ^BF^ aB :SwSHRik <*} BE l-n .:v*^ .;^^^\T?iy*w!?^s^ nun 1 ^?^2rx J'WH bBbbbbbbbbbbbB _________K ^afBBBBBaBB0f__ B^B ^*^"Ivi?;, i '-sr^i.%& ^"MSaHaB VaBHaBHaBHaBHaaal vBaaBaaaB ^ BBHaBHaaaBBfi^fB *BL HhbeT V>?^"^vt_v^r^%HTiji?__s?___r^^K VflVflBBrr *flBB^ _BB? B B :.,::-:::.. ^.^I^^# ^^^^l f_____B* ?B; __H_|v III - a * ,., -_, *. ^ ?^yy^AA^t.\^3iWwBLrfawi? ______ oHBlKi'.' B|i_| *^"" ^S K H Hf / NIgk' JH_ i Tfflii'rC^^C^SBM" HHH| _m^^K a_^_^___.'
?
_:j^u ^M^B"^: ;%A^ffT Ef
9__Pv^
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^y^^^^sK ?S.,.
BBi___li&,rHiBBiiRfliP_
'
^^__________r~1W_j!hVP::iPB^aH^HHaH^aH^aH^aBP:^
^v^^^^^^HK
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111
eK?^.V *S
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I^BB ^___B|
B
I
aHH
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aaaaaaaVfll i* __________f aaaaaaaBI ,aaaJ __ "___| "a^a^a^a^B^ ^aa^a^a^B aB BBBaBBaBBaBBaBBaaBaBM aa'aBB '''^BBaaaaaaBaaaaaaaaaB ^^BBBBaBBaBBaBBaBBaaBaii BBaaBaaBaaaaBaaaBS<^BBBB aa^aB^aB^aB^aB^aa^BI BBaaBaaBaaaaBaaaB. ^bbb^B ^BBBHBBHaBHaBHaBHaV BBBHflBHflBHflBHflBHflaB ^ bbhB bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbBI ^ bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb9B BbbB ^BBBHflBHflBHflBHflBaBs* VBf PaVflVB B' bbbbVAbB ! ________IBM ^ BflVflVM
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two
to earlier can be offered: significant amendments propositions an ongoing commercial role for towns, without doubt accompanied
not characterized by structural changes but by major economic and failure; and the vibrancy of rural areas, especially organizational
those in the more marginal environmental where the best evidence has survived). The evidence for economic conditions
zones
HHIi
Fig. 9 View of the Civic Complex at Pella from the north, showing the church atrium (rear) and adjacent markets (foreground)
(or rather, that is
in towns
during enth century is still fragmentary, but there is now unanimous sus that the Islamic towns intact, even Caesarea, expansion left
the sev consen which
held out until 640,37 and that the supposed destructions associated with the earlier Sasanid conquest have been overly For exaggerated.38 an active in the urban community the early many sites, presence of
part of the eighth century has been used to imply continuity in the seventh as well, and the discovery of ceramics datable to diagnostic that century would
indicate
that to be the case
at Jerusalem);39
Early reports describe a "destruction complete and irretrievable," a conclusion
Occupation
later dismissed
Drew University, 1983). Note, for instance, Magness, 38
37
by the excavators, forwhich see the important works by K. G. Holum, "Archaeological
Evidence
Byzantine Caesarea," 73-85; and C. Lenzen,
332.
(e.g.,
ALANWALMSLEY
for the Fall of
BASOR
286 (1992):
"Byzantine/Islamic
Evidenced
at Caesarea
Maritima
through the Pottery"
as (Ph.D. diss.,
deposits. Jerusalem
Ceramic Chronology, esp. 66-71 (above, n. 25), where a proposed Sasanid destruction level in Jerusalem
is refuted.
Ibid., 16-118 presents type-sites in the Jerusalem region with seventh-century
39
nonetheless,
the actual
as construction
or
identification of seventh-century activity such an repair has posed ongoing problem.40
Fig. 10 Housing at Pella
of themid-eighth
century
At Pella
the seventh century is unusually visible in the architec a concern with economic not tural record only activity, but revealing rooms in the seventh century, a infrastructure. Sometime complex of
on two stories measuring of the cathedral church
8.5m high was built on the northern side The rooms were faced with porches (fig. 9)41 and galleries that looked out onto an open paved court. The complex, in purpose, itwould for the most part commercial seem, was clearly in it flanked the of major importance the life of the town, because entrance
main
into the church atrium from the north.
It could have
been built as part of the post-659-60 earthquake repair of the church, is attested in the architectural evidence. On the main mound,
which
same
former terrace housing lining grav cen replaced by free-standing, self-contained units tered on one ormore sizable courtyards, either paved or earth-surfaced
following the eled streets was
40
earthquake,
For the difficulties associated with the
vol. 2, Final Report on the College ofWooster inArea IX, theCivic Complex, 1979-198S (Wooster, Oh., 1989); a somewhat
seventh century in general, see J. Johns, "Archaeology and theHistory of Early Islam:
Excavations
The First Seventy Years," JESHO
different interpretation (the same as that "Households given here) inA. Walmsley,
46 (2003):
411-36. 41
R. H. Smith, Pella
of theDecapolis,
at Pella, Jordan: The Domestic
Deposits of theMid-eighth Century," in Objects inContext, Objects inUse: Spatiality inLate Antiquity, ed. L. Lavan, E. Swift, and T. Putzeys (Leiden,
Material
2007).
Destruction
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
333
structures were While these domestic socially differenti (fig. 10). ated from what had been before,42 the ability of individuals to repair and redesign their houses on a respectable scale indicates financial resources
In other words, there was beyond the absolute minimum. to undertake more than enough money around just basic repairs. a at number of town sites has Nevertheless, archaeological work a contraction compelling proof for the seventh century, but the interpretation
in absolute
revealed
size
during is of this phenomenon more difficult to determine. At Jerash the zone north of the Temple of Artemis was abandoned of the century, but about the middle at the same time settlement
concentration
in the center of the site
seems to have
increased, in part plaza facilitated by the availability of an excellent water supply. At some were in-filled streets and time in the seventh century, plazas perhaps, around
the south tetrakionia
rather than structures, most likely commercial (unspecified) seem to be at Jerash are domestic.43 What would happening changes, a not eco to essential urban structures, especially decay, focusing of
with
nomic
activity. Other towns show similar evidence for size reduction. At Pella the
fort on the summit of Tall
al-Husn was
not rebuilt after the 659/60 town were restored (above). In earthquake, whereas other parts of the aux aux east consoles and theMaison theMaison pilastres Apamea, were in the 659/60 earthquake; and although occu severely damaged were only partially pation continued after that date, the buildings or even not The nearby cleared, adequately repaired (fig. 11). fully was used for aux Maison and, later, as a glass manufacturing graffiti As at Jerash, in-filling of open space in the urban dump for rubbish. outer areas. Yet, core seems to have coincided with a running down of
is a common urban trend evacuation peripheral decay and at many towns in the seventh century that happened simultaneously is unclear. Did or was a more isolated, site-specific phenomenon contract or like this, for instance? At Damascus Jerusalem, Aleppo, Antioch the shrinking of the urban area occurred mostly in the sixth whether
42
A. Walmsley,
Economic
Regime
Neighbouring
"The Social and at Fihl (Pella) and
Centres, between
the 7th and
9th centuries," in Canivet and Rey-Coquet, La Syrie de Byzance a ITslam, 249-61 (above, at Pella." n. 21), andWalmsley, "Households 43
Because
the structures were "cleared"
adequate records being kept, it is com impossible to know precisely. See the
without
inHarding, "Recent Work on the Jerash Forum," and C. H. Kraeling, "Roman
ments
334
ALAN WALMSLEY
Buildings
III. The South Tetrapylon," in ed. C. H.
Gerasa, City of theDecapolis,
Kraeling (New Haven, 1938), 103-15. Coins found under the oval plaza structures end with Maurice
Tiberius
(582-602),
but this
might be a hoard buried after the buildings were erected.
^"^-Jl?
ff
mwr W
mW ?-
^Hl
HP B
Bl El
HfettB
^^KJBS^KHBil^BSI^^^EPS^E^^i^MiH^HiSK^
century, and seems peculiar to that site.44The still open, and probably site-specific.
issue is, itwould
seem,
Fig. ii Urban contraction: Maison aux consoles at Apamea, Syria
Better evidence exists for rural-settlement expansion in the sev enth century, although some interpretations are a little contentious, as we will see. First, there are some historical sources. They record estates in that the acquisition of country Syria-Palestine byMuslims
'Uthman (r. 644-56). A popular area was began under the Caliph a east of the Darum, region of steppe lands in southern Palestine in Amr which ibn of Ascalon, al-As, "Conqueror Palestine," acquired an estate called as a retreat which served of Ajlan, place during politi
cal upheavals.45Similarly,in 687/8All ibnAbd Allah ibn al-Abbas
Apamea: J. Baity, ed., Apamee de Syrie: Bilan des recherches archeologiques, 1973
44
1979. Aspects del'architecture domestique d Apamee: Actes du colloque tenu a Bruxelles les 29, 30 et 31mai 1980 (Brussels, 1984), 19-106, 501, but the chronology seems domi data and there are
nated by numismatic
doubts; Baity also argues for the arrival of new peoples (Arabs) with the Islamic con quest, which contributed
to the ruralization
of the town. Few writers would
argue this
now. See Foss, "Syria inTransition, A.D.
Reinterpretation," ByzF 10 (1985): 141-84; H. Urban Kennedy, "From Polis toMadina:
(above, n. 17),with blame clearly aimed at the Sasanid sack of 573. Antioch and the north: H. Kennedy, 550-750/'
205-29
in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria," Past & Present 106 (1985): 3-27; see also Foss, "Syria inTransition," 190-204. Apamea and Antioch appear to be somewhat Change
"Antioch: From Byzantium to Islam and Back Again," in The City inLate Antiquity, ed. J. Rich
(London,
1992), 181-98; H.
unusual, but significant cases. Details inM. Lecker, "The Estates of
Kennedy and J.H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, "Antioch and theVillages of Northern Syria in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries A.D.:
Amr b. al-As in Palestine: Notes
Trends
Negev Arabic
and Problems," Nottingham Medieval Studies 32 (1988): 65-90; Kennedy, "The Last Century of Byzantine Syria: A
ECONOMY,
45
on a New
Inscription," BSO[A]S
52
(1989): 24-37.
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
335
as a located today in Humaymah, purchased village-estate known south Jordan. This site, the subject of excavations, was embellished a small mosque and qasr, and became revolt against the Umayyads (fig.n).46
with
Fig. 12 Early Islamic mosque and qasr (to south Jordan left, in distance) at Humaymah,
a base for the Abbasid
in rural areas impact of settlement expansion can be seen in the Jordanian steppe lands east of Amman and Jerash, where imposing architectural remains at village sites such as Umm the al-Jimal, Rihab, Khirbat al-Samra, and Umm al-Rasas document The most
expansion
obvious
in late antiquity For once epi (fig. 13). are useful for church-mosaic inscriptions,
of rural settlement
sources, mostly was a seventh-century phenom showing that much of this growth enon.47 The evidence shows that a substantial leap in building activ
graphical
ity took place in southern Syria-Palestine during the later sixth and Phocas, early seventh centuries, notably under the emperors Maurice, was not Much of this and Herakleios urban-based, activity (fig. 14). in the steppe The construction but concentrated villages of Jordan. 46
R. Foote and J. P. Oleson,
"Humeima
Project, 1995-96," Fondation Van Berchem Bulletin 10 (1996): 1-4; J.
Excavation Max
P. Oleson, K.
'Amr, et al., "Preliminary Excavation Project,
Report on theHumayma
1993,"AAJord 39 (1995): 317-54.
336
ALAN WALMSLEY
See the comprehensive study by L. Di Segni, "Epigraphic Documentation on Building in the Provinces of Palaestina 47
and Arabia,
4th~7th c,"
in The Roman
and Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H. Humphrey
(Portsmouth, R.I.,
1999), 149-78;
Piccirillo, TheMosaics
ofJordan 1993) for the church mosaics.
also M. (Amman,
of
churches predominated. At Rihab, east of Jerash, were con churches eight structed between 594 and 635, in 594,
595, 605, 620, 623 (two churches), and 635 (two churches).48 The pattern is repeated a little to the south at Khirbat al-Samra, inscriptions date three churches to 633/35, 634, and 637, all during the period of the Islamic expansion.
where
reason
The
why the steppe regions of in the Jordan flourished architecturally seventh century is unclear; itmay have been connected
to the relocation of elites
from the main
towns, in part in response of plague, a declining in the areas, agricultural
to the outbreak resource
base
the
changing sociopolitical objectives of settled nomads, or partly because of the
of Damascus and importance growing routes south to the Hijaz. Probably all of a and of other these, factors, com range to shape the steppe villages late sixth and seventh centuries.
bined
Similar
on
conclusions
in the seventh
century expansion in the urban periphery have recently been evaluated by Jodi to settlement in with Magness regard the Negev
and the Belus massif
in north
considers two current theories on settlement patterns Syria.49Magness in the Negev that superseded older, prejudicial views ofArab-Muslim desolation.50
The first, byMordechai
of farm settlements,
one
identified two peaks times before the mid-sixth
Haiman,51
to
Byzantine in the southern near the century and another, concentrated Negev Ramon Crater, to the time this with associated Umayyad period, was one In this the seventh of stagnation. scenario, mosques. century a different explanation, However, Gideon Avni postulated arguing that farms
48
in the south were
Di Segni, "Epigraphic Documentation,"
165. 49 J.Magness, The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement inPalestine (Winona Lake, 2003); reviewed inA. Walmsley,
"The Archaeology
of theEarly
Islamic Settlement inPalestine, by Jodi
established
Fig. 13 View of thewheat harvest and grazing sheep in Jordan badiyah in late spring, a terrain that supported a mixed agricultural and pastoral economy, equally adaptable and resilient
in the late sixth century
(book review)," BASOR 337 (2005): See also the background and analysis 106-9. of this region inC. Foss, "The Near Eastern
Magness
Countryside
in Late Antiquity: A Review
in The Roman and Byzantine Near 213-34, at 213-25, which is largely accepting of Tate's perspective.
50 Magness, Archaeology of theEarly Islamic Settlement inPalestine, 130-76. 51
M. Haiman,
State Relations
Article,"
Byzantine
East,
BASOR
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
"Agriculture and Nomad in theNegev Desert in the
and Early Islamic Periods,"
297 (1995): 29-53.
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
337
?Annual
Index
-,-.
25
i
?
Churches
Civil Buildings
1.8
/
I I
iol
lh
Justin I
Anastasius
Justinian I
\ \
Justin II
\ \B
/ I / I
nil.
Tiberius
Maurice
Phocas
Heraclius
Umayyad
Abbasid
Reign/period
in the seventh century in response to the decline of and peaked towns farther north, and remained occupied until their the Negev in the late eighth and ninth century.52 Unfortunately, framework of the Negev the archaeological concludes,
abandonment as
Magness village sites, many
identified only by survey, is too obscure to argue further except to note clear seventh-century occupation, be it stagnant or the result of growth.
also critically analyses the recent French excavations at Magness in north Syria as part of her questioning of thewidely accepted Dehes view that Syrian society offered little resistance to an expanding
Fig. 14 Rates of construction activity in the southern Levant. Bar graphs: building activity in Jordan; line graph: annual build ing rates in the three Palestines and Arabia (numbers from L. Di Segni, "Epigraphic on Building in the Provinces
Documentation of Palaestina
and Arabia,"
in The Roman and
Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H. Humphrey [Portsmouth, R.I.,
1999], 149-98).
and because of its weakened state?militarily hegemony the start of the seventh century. Following upon a financially?at structures coins from sealed and levels, by pottery redating of the Islamic
differs with the excavators Georges Tate and Jean-Pierre Magness Sodini by dating the main period of house construction at the site to the second half of the sixth and earlier seventh century, not the fourth and fifth as proposed by Tate and Sodini. If her conclusions 52
G.Avni, Nomads,
Town-Dwellers:
Penetration
Farmers, and
Pastoralist-Sedentist
[sic]
Interaction
in theNegev Highlands, Sixth Eighth Centuries CE (Jerusalem, 1996); Avni, in theNegev Highlands: "Early Mosques New Archaeological
338
ALAN WALMSLEY
Evidence
on Islamic
of Southern Palestine," BASOR
294 (1994): 83-99. Avni's thesis seems to be littlemore than a recast "desert and sown" of social interaction in
conceptualization late antiquity. The dating is a different issue; Hirschfeld agrees with Avni over Haiman,
error is to date proposing that Haiman's the structures by finds on their floors, represents final use, not construction (Y. Hirschfeld, "Farms and Villages in
which
Byzantine Palestine," DOP esp. 35 n. 10, 55-57).
51 [1997]: 33-71,
are correct,theperiod of prosperityof theBelus massif villageswill
to be to encompass the seventh century, with stagna expanded not tion takes the argument further emerging until later.Magness from Antioch the evidence and Caesarea Maritima, by reassessing need
not prosperity, in the later again arguing for significant activity, if sixth and seventh centuries. If urban and rural life continued at a to the Islamic in the expansion, which high level period leading up seems successes quite clear for the south of Syria-Palestine, then the of the Islamic armies in the 630s are even more remarkable and make more
the idea of a supposedly "easy conquest," for the questionable not in the Islamic victory lay speed of the conquest, but in the subse
of rule. quent consolidation The successful political consolidation ofMuslim rule over Syria was in Palestine the seventh century matched by significant continu ities in the monetary and trade that were to economy, production, ensure Muslim a in the region and, for number of decades, hegemony the overall main Umayyad domination of the Islamic world. Without tenance of the seventh-century economy, theMarwanid Umayyads
would have lacked the firmfiscal basis fromwhich to launch their social and cultural
reforms, reforms that were
further to accelerate
the economy of Syria-Palestine in the first half of the eighth century, which is the subject of the next section.
TheEighth Century I
hope notion nation
to some above has dispelled, degree, the of the seventh century as a acute economic of stag period a as and ruin. The better is, result, eighth-century economy that the discussion
understood
as the outcome
of further, yet impressive, reform and an made founda programs development possible by already-sound tion. The intention of the Marwanid (684-750) was to Umayyads and so as to con what had improve expand already proved effective,
solidate the dynasty while its financial base as the territo expanding rial gains slowed. These improvements can be seen in a range of mea sures onward. adopted from the time of Abd al-Malik (r. 685-705) Much more is known from sources about the archaeological eighth century economy of Syria-Palestine, and literature on the question is reasonably extensive.53 In this paper, only some of themore important can be considered, and with on those themes dis points emphasis cussed previously in the treatment of the seventh-century economy.
Coinage
The
circulation
economic
networks,
but
in
coin hoards seventh-century a reveal in noticeable regionality in the the numismatic following century
patterns preserved and site finds from Syria-Palestine
ECONOMY,
53
For an initial consideration
of this
"Production, Exchange topic seeWalmsley, and Regional Trade," esp. 305-43 (above, n. 14).
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
339
Jund al-Urdunn
^^gglll^^^^
*^L?_ ,
Hims Jund
^^HBBff^^^^^^
'
'
JundFilastin^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
20% ^^^^^
(numbers
M Excavation
\Jl^^^^^^^^.
1% ^^^^H|^^^^^^ al-Jazirah^^^^^^^^k 5% ^^^^^^^^^^jOther 7% ^^^HBBBB ^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 "' ^7 -
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^V
._
Jund Qinnasrin
^^^^^^^^L
Jund Dimashq 35%
data paint a different, more economic picture, even complex, taking into account the greater coin. There were fundamental production of structural differences in the monetary economy of the seventh and that encouraged the wider movement of coinage. a divided and the seventh century perpetuated regionally at the end of constrained monetary Abd al-Malik's reforms supply,
eighth Whereas
centuries
as economic?created a unified and political empire-wide currency that quickly gained wide acceptance. Ifwe return to Jerash, the coin data reveal a significant widening of economic activity, with 46 percent of all retrieved coins originat the century?as
much
ing from mints located outside of the home province.54 The range of mints is also wider, in Filastin especially those located neighboring was and Dimashq. The coins would that Jerash suggest emerging
west and north in its from seventh-century localism by extending trade activities. A similar view of economic expansion is seen in the coins from the excavation
of Herodian
in the Jund province of Filastin
Jericho, located
(fig. 15).55That jund and the adjacent most coin the provided (twenty-nine and twenty-seven followed (seventeen), al-Urdunn respectively), by Hims
Dimashq
specimens, (five), and
al-Jazirah (four), all the latter from the single mint of al-Ruha. Two are the continuing points noteworthy: importance and extending reach of an east-west trade axis land routes first seen along major
in the (above), and the notable seventh-century ceramic evidence in of coins from Edessa the Jaziran presence corpus, a phenomenon at Jerash and Pella. repeated 54
Figures based on A. R. Bellinger, Coins
from Jerash, 1928-1934 (New York, 1938); T. de Gerasa Marot, Las monedas delMacellum (Yaras, Jordania): Aproximacion a la circu lacion monetaria en laprovincia de Arabia (Madrid, 1998); see also Walmsley, "Production,
Exchange
336-37.
340
ALAN WALMSLEY
and Regional Trade,"
55
G. C. Miles,
Coins,"
"Catalogue of Islamic in The Excavations at Herodian
Jericho, 1951, ed. J. B. Pritchard 1958), 29-41
(also accessible
www.links.jstor.org).
(New Haven,
athttp://
Fig- *5 Coin percentages from the excava tion of a large building at Herodian Jericho from J. B. Pritchard, The
atHerodianJericho, 1951[New
likewise
Hoards
reflect the wider
of post-reform
cal origins
geographi "S^K*
coinage.
Umayyad
While often themost prolificmints predomiin the case of dir-
nate, for instance Wasit
of the hoards
the balance
hams, a wide
/v?y
had
f?
of thedirhams in While three-quarters theSilverHoard ofDamascus came from 18 percent were products and of mints from Spain to Afghanistan A accidental Armenia.56 mid-eighth-century hoard of dirhams
%%0
\
^
at Jerash recently recovered
was similarlydominated by theWasit mint, butwith complementaryissuesfromthe restof the eastern Islamic empire, which was
^
regionof origin. / Material
If \\
\ TheVisibility EighthCentury ofthe
0
^_
V^-P
its likely
Culture: \ <
* *$
V. ^l||i?f^ I \
almost
Wasit,
I(
/
as their source.
range of mints
Jj
\ yf=
) ^;^
I
The growingdependence on locallyproduced pot-
\
tery in the seventh century encouraged the growth of town-based ceramic industries. By the start of the
\
throughout much of it, locally were domi as to imports, opposed as revealed in their nant in the representation overwhelming region, in the excavated ceramic corpora. Production increasingly extended
and eighth century, manufactured wares,
o
I
ZZ~~~~M~~ io cm 5 Fig. 16 Umayyad style:mid-eighth-century red painted wares from Pella
of plain coarse cooking and storage wares to beyond themanufacture the development of aesthetically pleasing decorated wares including thewares also show greater the greater use of paint.57 Technologically on the part of the artisans, with fabrics, superior well-levigated ability
manipulation
of the potter's wheel resulting in ultra-thin wares, and temperature control in the kilns. Palestinian Fine Table
sophisticated Ware approaches
painted products Most remarkable
white its apogee, while even the more mundane from Jerash reflect technical skill and are attractive. is the abrupt appearance
$6 Figures from the detailed study in M. Abu-1-Faraj al-Ush, The Silver Hoard 1972). (Damascus, ofDamascus 57
inA. Walmsley, "Tradition, and Imitation in theMaterial
Reviewed
Innovation, Culture
of Islamic Jordan: The First Four
Centuries," Archaeology F. Zayadine,
in Studies in theHistory and ofJordan, vol. 5, ed. K. 'Amr,
of a highly
the Social History
sophisticated
of Early Islamic Jordan:
The Example of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl)," Al-'Usural-Wusta 9 (1997): 1-3,12; Sodini and Villeneuve, "Le Passage de la ceramique byzantine a la ceramique omeyyade"; R. Schick, "Palestine in the Early Islamic Period: Luxuriant Legacy," Near Eastern Archaeology 61, 2 (1998): 74-108, at 90-94.
and M. Zaghloul (Amman, "Ceramics and
1995), 657-68; Walmsley,
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
341
ware
in red abstract from well Made painted designs.58 on a fast wheel, the jars, jugs, plates, bowls, and cups clay
boldly
prepared
reacha peak in rangeand qualityduring the secondhalf of theeighth
is still unknown, but century (fig. 16). The main center of production in north Jordan, Red Painted Ware find-sites the of given clustering area around Amman. One coarser was in the Balqa probably made are known from at was manufactured Jerash.59 Examples cup type as far away as the Hawran km distant.
and north and central Palestine,
over 150
the coin data, ceramic profiles of the mid-eighth century continue to display strong continuity in local styles, distribution net some in the works, and perhaps cultural preferences. While changes cen are in of the first ceramics the decades of total corpus perceptible Unlike
tury, notably the cessation of Fine Ware imports and the appearance new some and distribution local types, continuity of production of is based on earlier-seventh-century apparent throughout Syria styles to Not until the end of the century, Palestine, from Dehes Aqabah. or the of the ninth, is there a major overhaul of ceramic beginning
and culturally driven from outside the preferences, technologically a break with the past, these representing significant region. While limits of this nevertheless lie outside the chronological developments current
paper.60
is revealed by iron extent of a local metalworking industry common recovery the at Caesarea, and and Pella, Jerash, workshops as iron digging and cutting tools, implements such by excavation of continued at torch bases, and numerous nails. Glass manufacturing The
bowls, beakers, flasks, and dishes displaying a out of sixth-century Byzantine forms.61 As with the style evolving
a
level, with
popular
58
A.-J. Amr, "Umayyad Painted Pottery
Bowls from Rujm al-Kursi, Jordan," Berytus
Daviau
34 (1986): 145-59; M. Gawlikowski, "Ceramiques byzantines et omayyades
de
Jerash," inMeyza and Mlynarczyk, Hellenistic and Roman Pottery in theEastern 83-86 (above, n. 26). for instance, the common
59
Note,
near Madaba Complesso
of thisware at Umm (E. Alliata,
di Santo Stefano a Umm
Rasas," Liber Annuus M. Piccirillo Mayfa'ah
al-Rasas
"Ceramica
342-
ALAN WALMSLEY
Roman and Islamic Amman,
vol. 1,The
Mrs C.-M. Bennett and Other of
in the Islamic East Mediterranean,"
Evidence," BASOR
271 (1988): 51-67.
Decapolis,"
J.-B. Humbert,
"Arguments chronologiques pour expliquer le declin de Khirbet Es Samra et de Mafraq: Des jarres, du vin et
"Palestine
des images," inVilleneuve andWatson, La ceramique byzantine, 249-61. 60 See, preliminarily, Walmsley,
du second millenaire
Umm al-Rasas?
Excavations,
"Tradition,
Innovation,
and Imitation
61
M. O'Hea,
"The Glass
ARAM
Industry of the
4 (1992): 253-64;
Schick,
in the Early Islamic Period," 94 95 (above, n. 47); also the papers inLa route du verre: ateliers primaires et secondaires ed. M.-D.
in
329-31
"Khirbat al (above, n. 14); D. Whitcomb, The Ceramic Mafjar Reconsidered:
Investigations (Oxford, 1992), esp. fig. 131; and at Khirbat Samra, just north ofAmman:
(Jerusalem, 1998); H. R. Moses onMount Schneider, TheMemorial of
1967-1997
La ceramique
of Antiquity?," inVilleneuve andWatson, La ceramique byzantine, 305-13; Walmsley, "Production, Exchange and Regional Trade
al
and E. Alliata, Mount
Nebo: New Archaeological
Dilemma,"
Culture of Islamic Jordan";
Excavations
I: Gli Scavi del Complesso di Santo [Jerusalem, 1994], 282-86); Mount
Stefano Nebo: M. Piccirillo
andWatson,
in Villeneuve
"Umayyad Period Lamps
theMaterial
Walmsley, "Turning East: The Appearance in Jordan?The End of Islamic Cream Wares
dal
41 [1991]: 365-422;
and E. Alliata,
and M. Beckmann.
Painted Pottery and Abbasid at Tell Jawa: A Chronological
byzantine etproto-islamique, 259-74 (above, n. 25); Amman: A. Northedge, Studies on
Mediterranean, occurrence
Nebo, part 3, The Pottery (Jerusalem, 1941), 25-26; Tell Jawa south ofAmman: P. M.
Nenna
av.J.-C. au Moyen Age, (Lyon, 2000), and the
aux graffiti at workshop in theMaison mentioned earlier (above, n. 44).
Apamea
WFig. 17 Copper
alloy brazier of themid
eighth century from Fidayn, displaying strong Coptic influences in its imagery (Archaeological Museum, Amman, by the author.)
Jordan.
Photograph
ceramics, not until
the early ninth century does glass in the region a exhibit significant shift away from late antique styles by the adop tion of new shapes and decorative techniques.
The recovery ofmore prestigious objects during the course of exca extent of in the vation reveals the eighth widening interregional trade century. Steatite bowls, lamps, incense burners, and small containers, often intricately decorated with incised abstract designs, have been
but especially in southern Syria-Palestine, which is not so surprising given the proximity of this region to the steatite quarries of the The high status of steatite bowls is Hijaz.62 reflected in the production of a local ceramic version, with imitative found
in many
locations
inventive white ledge handles and incised decoration externally but on interior. Valuable silk cloth in a and red painted decoration the weaves remains uncov is known from the rare carbonized variety of in the level at Pella.63 Metal destruction mid-eighth-century were also manufactured from copper alloy widely traded?a goods fenestrated brazier from Pella displays obvious Coptic affinities, as ered
box-brazier from an eighth-century palatial magnificent at its overtly late antique Coptic Fidayn (Mafraq) with complex scenes "romp" (fig. 17).64 does
the
Especially atAqabah (D.Whitcomb, Ay la: Art and History in the Islamic Port of Aqaba [Chicago, 1994], 27-28); and also 62
Amman
(G. L. Harding,
"Excavations on
the Citadel, Amman," AAJord 1 [1950]: 7 14),with quarries located inland from theRed in the northwest Hijaz (seeA. Kisnawi, P. de Jesus, and B. Rihani, "Preliminary Report on theMining Survey, Sea port of al-Hawra
Northwest Hijaz,
1982,"Atlal 7 [1983]: 76-83).
63
Full study inG. M. Eastwood, inPella inJordan 2:
"The Pella Textiles,"
The Second Interim Report of theJoint University ofSydney and College of Wooster Excavations
at Pella
1982-198$,
and Archaeology ofJordan, vol. 6, Landscape Resources and Human Occupation inJordan throughout theAges, ed. G. Bisheh, M. Zaghloul, and I. Kehrberg (Amman, 345-51, at 349, with references.
1997),
ed. A. W. McNicoll,
J.Hanbury-Tenison, et al. (Sydney, 1992), 257-65. A. Walmsley, "Land, Resources and 64 Industry in Early Islamic Jordan (Seventh Eleventh Century): Current Research and Future Directions," in Studies in theHistory
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
343
^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bi^MBBB!l^^r:i^
^^^^^^^^^^Br^PHp09^^3l^^^^9BK^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bn^^3
^^^^^^^^^^^BGiSiifllB^tf^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^Bfl^^^^^^^^BBii^^.
B^^H^^if?
~^^^^^^^^^^^HB?F ^^^^^^^^^EEL
nH^^r^
^^dl^HLiJ^^s^HBK
'jr^^^^HBHSSr^:-^^8|^^B^^i^^^^^B(
MJfrJl^^BJBJ^^WHBBBHMBBBfflBl^rTBB
./ *:':' .
Settlement: Urban Regeneration and Rural Growth or
thirty years ago, any discussion of the urban setting in Syria on a during the eighth century would have focused history of surviving monuments the Damascus Great of (notably Mosque
Twenty Palestine
* * if ^^^^^^^^HBf 'v^^fl^H^B' ^^B
of the Rock in Jerusalem) town the classical from a rigid checkered or the relative merits tortuous madinah,
and the Dome
and the transformation
Fig. 18 The suq at Palmyra of linear shops prefaced with a portico
of
to an anarchic
and "polis" of the "spontaneous" and the "created" city.65Today, fortunately, much more can be discussed, us to step aside for now from the overburdened issue of the allowing transformation. polis-to-madinah The continuing commercial
towns in the significance of eighth to in the deliberate refurbish their eco century attempt nomic infrastructure, a move initiated at the highest levels of gov is revealed
ernment. The
clearest expression of renewal can be seen in the wide construction of market streets within the existing towns of spread
Syria-Palestine, including Baysan, Arsuf, Rusafah, Jerash, Tabariyah, and Palmyra. The extent, both in size and distribu geographical tion, of improvements in the infrastructure of towns suggests itwas event. On occasion, the usual, rather than an exceptional existing streets were
insertion of redesigned by the shops along their length, as seen at one hundred clearly Palmyra (over shops; fig. 18), Jerash,
344
ALAN WALMSLEY
6?
Such as A. H. Hourani,
"The Islamic
City in the Light of Recent Research," in The Islamic City: A Colloquium, ed. A. H. Hourani 9-24;
and S. M. I.M. Lapidus,
Stern (Oxford, 1970), ed.,Middle
Eastern
Cities (Berkeley, 1969), and Kennedy, "From Polis toMadina: Urban Change in Late and Antique Early Islamic Syria" (above, n. 44), all pioneering works nonetheless.
and Baysan.66 In other instances, completely new market streets were constructed within the infra structure of a town. The market
street in the center
_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_B^,|k:?_^_J^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_J
built at the order of the active and long fitted seamlessly into the serving caliph Hisham, existing classicizing urban vista, with colonnaded
of Baysan,
and rows of adjoining porticos, walkways, shops were west on added the side of (fig. 19).67 Shops street as themain axial of Jerash part of the towns with a mosque (fig. 20). in the urban foundations eighth century, there were only a few in Syria-Palestine,
embellishment New of which
also reveal the importance of markets. Shops lined the axial cross-streets of Aylah (al-Aqabah), while at
in the Biqa valley strategically positioned between Damascus the and ports of Beirut midway and Sidon, the urban prominence of the market Anjar,
becomes
place both
clear, with
sides of monumental
had previously Islamic" urban
been
linear streets
seen as a
shops flanking (fig. 21).68What
_________BBP^^^^^^
Niiy^^iit^' jSB____________________________i
^^^^^BEaHBBrati7P%';^'^^ _________________BH_*^ f-^itfto**ilBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBI ^^^^H^^Bff^ ^^^"v^9|_______________________I * _______B^\^ * "i________________________ ________________?1_C<<~a ^^__^__^__^__^__^__^_B ________K|^;i|_^__^__________|^B
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
BhI^S^;-
BaVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBBB^^^B^J1
-^^^bbb^bbbm ^^^bbYbbYbb
BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^BBB^BHaBll^^%? Ibb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^bBHbb^^^ ___________________________________________________ijsPj_? BBBaaBaaBBBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBBBBaM^jC^&f
"un disconcerting created doubt great initially as to the correct of but foundation, dating Anjar's tone
streets that charac today the colonnaded market terize the site fit into the known urban environment unsurprisingly in the of Syria-Palestine eighth century. out onto a square also feature in the Markets facing eighth
century urban environment of Syria-Palestine. Under Hisham, a central court was erected at Rusafah, L-shaped market flanking
Fig. 19 Detail of the fallen portico of the suq at Baysan (Scythopolis), constructed ca. 736-43 and destroyed in 749
an
link
and church.69 Similarly, the citadel complex of Amman ingmosque was a market in square (actually slightly rhomboidal equipped with a to accommodate street between shape, layout) placed larger palace court behind a and mosque, with linear shops the portico lining 66
example is the best F. M. Stepniowski, As'ad and (K. reported "The Umayyad Suq in Palmyra," DM 4 The Palmyrene
[1989]: 205-23). 67
E. Khamis,
"Two Wall Mosaic
Inscriptions from theUmayyad Market Place in Bet Shean/Baysan," BSO[A]S 64 (2001):
159-76; Y. Tsafrir and G. Foerster,
at Scythopolis-Bet Shean in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries," DOP 51
"Urbanism
(1997): 85-146 at 138-40. The market street was at firstmistakenly attributed to the inscription detailed the article by Khamis. foundation
R. Hillenbrand,
Islamic Urbanism,"
" Anjar and Early in The Idea and Ideal
69
T. Ulbert,
Westhofbereich Resafa," DM
of the Town between Late Antiquity and theEarly Middle Ages, ed. G. P. Brogiolo and B.Ward-Perkins (Leiden, 1999), 59-98;
im "Beobachtungen der Grofien Basilika von
6 (1997): 403-16,
plates 72-76.
D. Whitcomb,
"TheMisr of Ayla: Settlement at al-Aqaba in the Early Islamic Period," in The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near
East, vol. 2, Land Use and Settlement Patterns
(Papers of the Second Workshop on Late Antiquity and Early Islam), ed. G. R. D. King and A. Cameron (Princeton, 1994), 155-70.
sixth century until the discovery of the mosaic
68
in
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
345
o
io
20
30m g^?-S^^___M=====_
mmmm^m^ __Z^ P '~EB ^^QF^^PT^I
I
%n2hmrmiwii^^^lJIJ^i^M^^
/C^v \Jk
-A IzzffiT^Tw^^^^^^vr^ I iflfrxs/x>
Il^S^vl
??'??--?Q--?-?tl?u?ti?L South Decumanus
'
i
BB
BUS mmm
I mam
Tetrakionia
_
' " ^l/M^^^^n^L o ^'''' ilJtlJlW^m^k ^\ J^LrlL Mi
\\ \l_JL u 1'-'I
_
[]
Fig. 20
Plan of central Jerash in themid
eighth century, showing the inserted mosque
and relatedcommercial structures, including newsnoPsabuttingthemosque'seastwall (planby IanSimpson)
Viewoftheshops, and sidewalk, Pig-21 colonnades
at Anjar, Lebanon
^^^
' -.._ ____________-/-~ j_3_H___SilKaiiFv .- f'^flfiWaaWBapi^'** -' - .1 LirijJlM-;?y^ Bi wa*aB*aB;:''.: I --*
\
____BB^BBaBBBrB^BBBBBBBBBirwl^^ |Bhh^B^BU^^HB^HB|^B J_B| ^BB^ll^BHBBB^sSBBBsflBIH^ frW^W^ BBf*^5^fe** ^ _________________________H^?^__^^1_B BB^^BHfl'fl'fl'fllflBEBVB^BBflBflBflra^BmBi ^''S^-V____l ^BlB -* tl 1i 1 B ' B'BBWaBWB BlIll^BEfff vJW**S\\"\ |^Bjn ^BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBBK^BB'':BBB B ^BBBB*aBdBaB^BiMilLMBBi'lt.i / >v ('saBIbbB" bB fl_________________________________B________ia___B BBB*aB,aB,a,a,aBBBBB,aBBBBfBBBB B' B JaBgaB,BBliBaB,aBBffilllJiP Lit 1 _B Bit IBB** ^ abB BaflaaBaflaflaflaflaflBBfaBaflaBaBBBBBBbbB BafflBBaflaflaflBBiBBBaflaflaBWlK FIt V B 'B^L BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^bBbBbH ^M BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBBBBBBBBBBUFii ff I B B"^ jfl
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B_^bb^bbb^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^bH^bbI
II 1 i:"?B'B
B
^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^AJ
^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ibbb1b_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BbbbBbbBbbBML.:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B_f
BBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIB
346
ALAN WALMSLEY
'
v>'
'"
'''Ibb
,Jb
'
> ^ 3b BB*
- - *8bm*f*l'
wM _1
^^^
& 1
aJ| 1
^^
Siiiital
P"-^ IIII
l
B>E^i ^^^Jl
^^^^^^^ B^^^B
II
I"
Fig. 22 The suq square, Amman Citadel, 73os to 74os (fromA. Almagro and I.Arce,
_"
"TheUmayyadTownPlanningof theCitadel ofAmman,"fig.2)
^^p^T"'1^11^^ 1- 4>aiM4
to the cathe At Pella the (fig. 22).70 seventh-century market adjacent in use until the dral church continued earth mid-eighth-century two were erected on new quake, after which adjoining complexes town of the north shattered ground post-Classical (figs. 23 and 24).71
a caravansery, with a central complex resembled prominent court flanked with areas, storage rooms, and shops, manufacturing were the habitation zones. These primarily commercial complexes first and most prominent structures in the town replaced following in the earthquake of 749, size any mosque that may overshadowing
Each
have been built. A. Almagro and I. Arce ("The Umayyad Town Planning of the Citadel in Studies in theHistory ofAmman," 70
and Archaeology ofJordan, 7 [Amman, 2001], 659-65) give a brief review of the archi tectural features, emphasizing square and market (662).
the central
71
A. Walmsley,
Economic
"The Social and at Fihl (Pella) and
Regime Neighbouring Centres, Between the 7th and 9th Centuries," in Canivet and Rey Coquais, 249-61
La Syrie de Byzance (above, n. 21).
a ITslam,
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
347
M
I ^^^ IvH
?
IH
V
"
'B
p
p
1,111 " '^ I I
N l
pjt
furnaces| ^ ^^^B
Bill
I m.^^^^^^m^^^^^^^M
and commerce had, from their seventh-century Manufacturing into major economic activities in towns antecedents, expanded a on local by the eighth century. As noted earlier, growing reliance production and coarse,
(U Projected features
_J? HBl^^^^^^^^^-^
V
-
.
g||
^^ ^^ C\
^^^^^^^^^^_l^^staircase
M
_ _B
COURTYARD
J
El
UNEXCAVATED
H
portico
STREET ^amm^B bench
*
I
|$
'
H
M
UNEXCAVATED
Fig. 23 Plan of the excavated section of the double caravansery complex at Pella, second half of the eighth century
centers for the provision of all classes of ceramics, fine the establishment of factory-like potting encouraged in disused sectors of towns. At ten Baysan, updraft kilns
complexes with associated the defunct
areas and storeroom were installed within preparation theater, and other kilns established elsewhere.72 At Jerash,
a similar factory-scale pottery workshop a of the temple of Artemis, including
was
built in the compound huge stone-built kiln (fig. 25), with many other kilns in the nearby north theater.73 Kilns built to an industrial level were also excavated at Busra, while evidence for was also identified at Caesarea, and production al-Raqqah, in Madinat al-Far north Syria, among other places, suggesting that a towns on had local potting many industry. Textile production a commercial scale is evidenced by the substantial conversion of a ceramic
72
R. Bar-Nathan
Center
and G. Mazor,
"City
(South) and Tel Iztabba Area;
Excavations
of the Antiquities
Authority
Expedition," inExcavations and Surveys in Israel n: The Bet Shean Excavation Project (1989-1991)
348
(Jerusalem, 1993), 33-51, at
ALAN WALMSLEY
36-38; Tsafrir and Foerster, "Urbanism at Scythopolis-Bet Shean in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries," 132,138. 73
R. Pierobon,
within
"The Italian Activity
the Jerash Archaeological
1982-83. Archaeological
Research
Project, in the
Sanctuary of Artemis. 2: theArea of the inJerash Archaeological Project, vol. 1,1981-83, ed. F. Zayadine (Amman,
Kilns,"
1986), 185-87; J. Schaefer and R. K. Falkner, "An Umayyad
Potters' Complex in the North Theatre, Jerash," in ibid., 411-35.
' BfeifiB^SBIiH^IHH^^^^^^^I^^'S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^Hm^^^^ ^^^^^^^^BMj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M^^piiy*^ ngwr "4'J^#-
BI^B^^HBI^^HHHiHIBI^^H^HBBHK'f
~fj^^^^^3HBIiil^HB^H^BBI^B^BBB^^^IHIHI^HBII^^^IIBBBP%
at
a work into a Baysan factory with pools and area, probably for the manufacture of linen from local flax, while a was uncovered at cloth dyeing plant Tabariyah. Another important was was A site of industry glass blowing. major production al-Raqqah, as flux, where in the use of experimentation technological plant ash perhaps enforced by the increasing shortage of natron from Egypt, was a feature of the eighth and ninth centuries.74 disused
bathhouse
^-jBfc'^Jlilfe *T^^Hb li|il|uk
Fig. 24 Rooms flanking the central courtyard of the eastern caravansery complex at Pella, looking southward; additions and rebuilding indicate an extended period of occupation
a few examples have been at an presented?recent archaeology ever-growing number of early an advanced level Islamic urban sites has demonstrated categorically As
the above material
shows?and
only
of economic
which
activity in Syria-Palestine during the eighth century, in a the production and exchange of commodities played promi
nent part. Did, however, this economic hyperactivity is Of this there little doubt. countryside?
extend into the
In recent years, our of ceramic improvements in understanding in the first Islamic centuries have horizons advanced the greatly 74
J-Henderson,
Scientific Evidence
"Archaeological and for the Production of
Early Islamic Glass in al-Raqqa, Syria," Levant 31 (1999): 225-40; J.Henderson, S. D. McLoughlin, "Radical Changes
and D. S. McPhail,
Technology: Evidence for Conservatism and Experimentation with New Glass Recipes Raqqa,
from Early and Middle
Islamic
Syria" Archaeometry 46 (2004):
439-68.
in Islamic Glass
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
349
of settlement profiles and recognition in the countryside. resource exploitation for where surveys, properly Regional identified have mulated, successfully in themany Islamic occupation zones of environmental Syria-Palestine, extensive
River valley ranging from the Balikh of north Syria to the dry desert steppe of south Palestine earlier). (as noted is not entirely the picture However, consistent. In certain areas the number and,
in some cases,
size of sites seem to
in other substantially, whereas areas a downturn in site occupation seems to have occurred. In very general an in of increase number the terms, increase
in river valleys, a loss of settlement level
_^__^__^_||_^__^__Bi|^__^__BV
^^^^^^^H^^^HBl
Baf^BB-jBaBaBMBaM :^_________lfJrl^ J_^_____B
wjSf&k B_S_S?fPl|fiii9f3 a____J____a__y^p_pWB_|HP^^p ^Iffllfllf^^ ^^a&jBBgp BB^MM^B^^BBEBmbPB |^BB-ia-^^^?'-'f ^___P^^J^^^Kl?fef
'*"*^ ^ ~ % rf -**'-'^nSr g*PJWBr -*y_^__J- *lu' _jyf_t[i ' ^l^__BBBatlm BWT
^?5feii_^l ^*fe^^^^BiP^^ "^gMJaBBBlP^BB_-PS^Si_^A^^ll,y
sites occurred
occupied while there was in the more
rugged
mountainous
zones.
this settlement
aaf^w^aSBBBBB"B"BBBBay^iig?_8m^? BMP^^PS?i^?^^^BBRBBlBBBQaTi_^N^^^ri Jij_iJBB^SpB~fjin~B~~y nTWJHan
Hv^^StBaaBiBBHI4 __Tjji_f_?__f_f___^_H_^__n_H^ _*
*" alii--'- - ** _. __Jf^__f|_S 5. rs^ '-'flflyPTT. j i jbisbl i ** . Tziji.Ljtirtrn_~l~T k^r&NiBBjiBJ?^44_jfl
the establishment
following state that territori spanned to Spain. Since the 1980s, ally from India on the work of Andrew Watson agricul
of an Islamic
tural changes brought about by the spread of new crops from the East after Islamic
? *-^
-^&3&saa_UB ?---* _
shift
Conventionally has been explained as the result of agricul tural changes brought about by a "green revolution"
<%_ia2Lii
afaBBBH^MaBBKMB,aaB,BBalSBHB"/
% rsW*S_g w__^i___i
* **____&. 1""^_|<_1S
*!-< b* ':^vi___i__| P^9___________________l____________________^ * ^hHHwBp3 ^ ^^^4n:! sI9BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJBBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbB_^^_m_w '-^:JHBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBBaaaBaaBaaBaaaaBaaBBRMnMi >- ?_* ' ST^. '* ~ JfifiB* *]&_ $afl_________________B______^___________B______|
y^KaBnBB^B^B^B^B^BB^B^B^B^BB^B^BlB^B^BHBVk
f'' ^5r '*9^Bh!
Bb^^^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bbI^bBb^^^bbI^ : ^\Jb
%^BiP_a ^^^^^^^^y____________^__________________________[_______^!jL*? ^Sp\*w9 ^BBBBVaBVaBVaBVaBLa^vBBHBBBVflBBaBVBBaB^^Bw
expansion has been gener sometimes embraced.75 However, very recent enthusiastically ally and in the middle Euphrates work on settlement and land exploitation on the causal connection has cast significant doubt region of Syria between the arrival of Islam and the introduction of new agriculture. of the so-called "revo An archaeobotanical study suggests that many a more as that rice and hard wheat permitted lutionary" crops such intensive use of the land seem to predate the arrival of Islam.76 Rather,
at Jerash in the Fig. 25 Potters' workshop forecourt of the temple of Artemis, with a stone-built, industrial-sized kiln (to right) and adjacent workrooms. Note the thick ash and waste deposits in the center foreground, leftof the kiln stoke hole.
interrelated causes may have been more instrumental in the growth of the rural economy: the digging of long irrigation canals and the acquisition and foundation of large farm estates owned by b. members of the ruling Umayyad family. In north Syria, Maslamah two other
75
A. M. Watson,
"AMedieval
Green
Revolution: New Crops and Farming in Techniques in the Early IslamicWorld," The IslamicMiddle East, 700-1900: Studies in Economic and Social History, ed.A. L. Udovitch (Princeton, 1981),29-58; A. M. Watson,
350
ALAN WALMSLEY
in theEarly Islamic Agricultural Innovation World: TheDiffusion ofCrops and Farming
moyenne vallee de l'Euphrate,fin VHe-XIXe siecle: Region de Deir ez Zor-Abu Kemdl,
Techniques, 700-1100 (Cambridge, 1983). D. Samuel, "Archaeobotanical 76
Syrie:Mission Mesopotamie
Evidence
inPeuplement rural hydroagricoles dans la
and Analysis,"
et amenagements
syrienne, archeo ed. S. Berthier 1986-1989, logie islamique, (Damascus,
2001), 347-81.
Abd
al-Malik, governor between
709 and 719, dug canals sourced from
theBalikh and Euphrates riversto irrigatefields,therebyincreasing
both agricultural productivity and land values. Likewise, a canal was at the Khabur also dug in the middle Euphrates region, beginning River and extending southward for 50 km. As a result, twenty-six new villages
were founded.
a similar scenario can be Perhaps proposed for the Jordan Valley, a hot and water-rich zone 200 and 400 m below sea lying between level. Itwas not the arrival of new crops, but the agricultural improve ments set in the the that resulted Umayyads, instigated by spread of tlement on the valley floor, in spite of its oppressive heat in summer. At Jericho and around Tabariyah, of the ing large holdings Umayyads al-Minyah
new estates were
founded
includ
(Khirbat Mafjar near Jericho and for instance), while numerous small established between Lake Tiberias and
north of Tiberias, were
agricultural villages the Dead Sea, many
of which were
to be continuously occupied for some new hundred Such eight years.78 farming opportunities may on the Jordan side have drawn farmers from the scarp of the valley studies suggest, land where, geomorphological degradation caused by and erosion, over-cropping, possibly increasing drought had stripped much of the land of itsproductive soil.79 Along with agriculture, the exploitation of natural resources was in the rural zones
expanded Aqabah
in theWadi
Arabah,
of Syria-Palestine. For instance, near were founded to a common villages
six
were based on industrial activities such plan, the economies ofwhich as and copper smelting, pottery making, and shell working.80 Mines were also iden nearby smelting camps, mostly processing copper ore, tified, as were
estates to feed the agricultural village occupants. The ordered nature of the village layouts and the considerable investment to these industries suggest the involvement of a required develop single group, probably prosperous provincial leaders located inAqabah. The
new
77
opportunities
in and
increasing reliability of archaeological and surveys in the last three decades present to evaluate and characterize settlement profiles
rapid growth data from excavations
S. Berthier, in Berthier, ed.,
Peuplement
rural et amenagements
Mediterranean
hydroa
gricoles, 164-66, 418-22. A. Walmsley, 78 "Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Jordan and the Crusader Interlude," in The Archaeology MacDonald,
ofJordan, ed. B. R. Adams, and P. Bienkowski
(Sheffield, 2001), 515-59, at 525-26, noting the unreliability of past survey work. See J. Bintliff, "Time, Process and 79 Catastrophism
in the Study of
Alluvial History: A Review," World Archeology 33, 3, AncientEcodisasters (2002): 417-35; K. W. Butzer, "Environmental History in the Mediterranean World: Cross-Disciplinary Investigation of Cause-and Effect forDegradation and Soil Erosion," Journal (2005):
ofArchaeological 1773-800;
Science 32,12
J.Koder,
"Climate
in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries?,"
Change in The Sixth Century, End
ed. P. Allen 270-85;
and E. Jeffreys (Brisbane, 1996), also B. Lucke, M. Schmidt, et al.,
"The Abandonment Region
of theDecapolis inNorthern Jordan?Forced
Environmental International
by
Change?"Quaternary 135,1 (2005): 65-81, but
perhaps overstated to some extent. 80 U. Avner and J.Magness, "Early Islamic Settlement in the Southern Negev," BASOR
310 (1998): 39-57.
or Beginning?
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
35I
and land use in the towns and countryside of Syria-Palestine in the eighth century. Earlier concepts of general urban and rural decline
more com have been replaced by more challenging and considerably new in with and which continuity plex questions dealing change, to causal agents are explain the social transformations of the sought
age based on verifiable and statistically adequate data. Like the sev enth, the eighth century was not a time of monotonous decline, but success as well as failure. progressive settlement change marked by
TheEconomic Basis ofSeventh and Eighth-Century Syria-Palestine
the last thirty years on the of Syria archaeology in the later sixth and seventh centuries has Palestine significantly an economy in decline, seen view the of once-accepted questioned to the in part as a contributory factor supposed "easy" conquest of the region. Coinage, ceramics, and settlement profiles depict, rather,
New
work
over
an economic
the political and that successfully weathered The of relative soundness of the seventh century. military disruptions the economy at the end of the seventh century gave crucial support to Abd al-Malik during the succession dispute with Ibn Zubayr, and fol its resolution Abd al-Malik s reforms were to ensure decades lowing In the of continuing economic prosperity in Syria-Palestine. eighth resilience
century, a standardized coinage ensured monetary confidence, town based industries were built up on a major scale to supply regional markets, while improvements to the infrastructure of agriculture? rather than the introduction natural
resources
promoted the economy had changed, bringing significant shifts in and rural settlement patterns, but had not, to any significant
centuries, urban
extent, failed. ?
352
the exploration of of new crops?and settlement in the countryside. Over two
University
ALAN WALMSLEY
ofCopenhagen
Economic Developments and the Nature of Settlement in the Towns and Countryside of Syria-Palestine, ca. 565-800 Author(s): Alan Walmsley Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 319-352 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472053 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
in the Nature ofSettlement EconomicDevelopmentsand the ca. Townsand CountrysideofSyria-Palestine, 565S00 Alan Walmsley FEW
HISTORIANS
OR ARCHAEOLOGISTS
would
admit that
the nature any consensus has been reached on understanding of economic conditions in Syria-Palestine (Arab Bilad al-Sham-, to the Islamic conquest, or in fig. 1) during the decades leading up the century and a half immediately recently the following. Until
spreadof Islam (630s) and the subsequentfoundingof theUmayyad
were seen as a in Damascus (661) caliphate based precipitating long in decline industry and trade, both within Syria-Palestine period of
were inter-regionally. The seventh and eighth centuries typi fied, it has often been argued, by the impoverishment and eventual abandonment of many sites, urban and rural, which had flourished and
in the previous centuries. The evidence from which such judgments formed mostly relied upon architectural evidence or, more spe
were
by dedicatory inscriptions, and not the structures. Short, unidirectional archaeological investigation of the site histories of decline and desertion were constructed and attrib cifically, architecture
uted to various
dated
causes, either singularly or collectively:
economic
dis
locations, political apathy, religious antagonism, warfare, or natural disasters such as disease, earthquakes, and climate change resulting in as a terminal cause was the transfer decrease. Invoked population of theMuslim
epicenter eastward to Iraq after the overthrow of the Umayyads (750), which resulted in political marginalization, economic stagnation, and decline.1 crippling In more recent a consider analyses, the emphasis has shifted to world's
ation of economic
conditions before the Islamic expansion, in addi to tion those after it. has been widely used to substanti Archaeology ate the argument that most towns, with the exception of Jerusalem and Caesarea, offered little or no resistance to an expanding Islamic entity because
of the greatly weakened condition of Syria-Palestine? and the start of the seventh politically, militarily, economically?at and century. Structurally socially, the reasoning went, Syria-Palestine was "medieval" before Islam (couched, in part, in the to already "polis madinah" hypothesis).2 the Doubting sufficiency of these explanations, especially given the dearth of verifiable evidence until recently, this paper seeks to in the rural and urban elucidate developments economy of Syria a new
an by analysis of ever-widening body of archaeological data on production, distribution, and trade in sev goods during the enth and centuries. This study will consider both urban and eighth
Palestine
i See the discussion, and questioning, of these views in J.Magness, The Archaeology of theEarly Islamic Settlement inPalestine (Winona Lake, 2003),
1-2; D. Whitcomb,
and Abbasid Archaeology in Jordan," in The Archaeology ofJordan and
"Hesban, Amman,
Beyond: Essays inHonor ofJames A. Sauer, ed. L. E. Stager, J.A. Greene, and M. D. (Winona Lake, 2000), 505-15. Coogan 2 Notably H. Kennedy, "From Polis to Madina: Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria," Past & Present 106 (1985): 3-27. Also C. Morrisson and J.-P. Sodini, "The Sixth-Century Economy," in The Economic History ofByzantium, from the Seventh through theFifteenth Century, ed. A. Laiou
2002), 1:171 (Washington D.C, 220, esp. 193,195, 212, 220. Recently Michael Morony has argued in an important article for a general retraction in theMediterranean economy during the sixth century, but for growth of the Sasanid economy at the same time based on new labor and exploitation strategies, with these Sasanid trends provid ing the impetus for improvements in the early Islamic period (seeM. G. Morony, "Economic Boundaries? Early Islam," JESHO
Late Antiquity
47 [2004]:
and
166-94,
esp. 178). At issue here is the extent of the sixth
century decline
in Syria-Palestine, not later
developments (which fit comfortably with the arguments put forward in this paper), although Morony of Syria-Palestine Mediterranean
does suggest that the south fared better than other
regions, with prosperity con some to tinuing degree into early Islamic times (ibid., 174-75).
\
x <'\
Constantinople
X
,.-.v.
\ s.: BYZANTINE
L
/
EMPIRE
/\ "~.~"J
_" /_^^
/
YaniAcUA
V
~_/.'"'
r?J
\
VX_./""""" """"^ )
)
'")
,--_
**
Tarsus* C { /--?s~p
V7*
/p'J^'L (Edessa)*
Mediterranean
1.' J ^_I .^nin^ycT^'AbuMina% TejrenoutiNAqab $
/^
.
Al-
Iraq
:
V."" ! /
\
\
*Madina {
\
\
_/_\ and the developments
f
\#Makkah \ (Mecca)_|
that occurred
^
?^W
X Caesarea^ \ Red
Arsuf*
i Ghazzah
in
interregional these economic
times. The result of ongoing work, this paper is of necessity selective in both scope and subject matter, and much further research a more assessment can be offered. is comprehensive required before The categories of archaeological evidence accessed in this study
Islamic
are varied, but not all types are available for every time period. The material assignable to the seventh century has suffered from a number
of problems, mostly related to chronology, which has falsely created a recent research more "obscure" century Fortunately, archaeologically. success to the many gaps of a couple of has started plug with great
remain ago, especially in the field of numismatics. Coins one of the in primary dating tools archaeology, and the ongoing coin series refinement of has greatly improved the reliability of
decades
ALANWALMSLEY
Apamea
J J
(West)^
?Damascus
f
Ta^adyah
HAWRAN
#$ay&Hr-N #Busra # *Fidayn (Mafraq) Pelja
Rihab Jairash
irrirhn Jej^no
'Amman
SYRIA-PALESTINE
(BILAD
DARUM/
;(
km KhirbatalDharin*_?_IQO
The extent to which exchange during the period. in the coun activities were reflected in changing settlement activity into is tryside especially illuminating, providing significant insights the rural economy during the transition from late antiquity to early
320
*?*_*
Previously broad, and unreliable, pottery dating
7~ {
{
) Bayrutp Sayda*
P \ al-Ramlah* Jerusalem* / V. \ 'Asqalar>4
^
!
.ftfig
' AtrabulusC ^ palmyra. (
\ ?
AL-HIJAZ
chronologies.
~r/
Ladhkiyah*
Sur (Tyre)4
Sea \ N
ceramic
Dehes
Hims
Sea
EGYpT
rural economies
..-' '/"" \
!
. ,- > ^ ( "V >Hamah
<
AleDDO f"
Anti*^
Mediterranean ?#al_Humaymah ^*Aylah(al-'Aqabah) NSINAI x
_ ,''- -?Jurjan
X"--.^
Harran \ _|_
v_v X
\ ii-. 0Q
Kelha%al-Fu*at
V
.~\ .y
J AL-JAZIRAH \ (Gurgan)
L,?
^
)
AZARBAYJAN
, -*ts-_ ,__
Damascus Sftl /
Caspian
Sea
/ }j
<~Z' S
s *M"\.
M \ .Ital-Raqqah I al-Kusafah
:
;"
)
arminiyah (ARMENIA)
X
?6^
\<
^/
AL-SHAM)
g\
i ___? I
Fig. i The east Mediterranean
in the early eighth century, showing principal sites in the text mentioned
margins have been narrowed chronologicallyand typologically,and some ceramic types have been specific seventh-century recognized, seen as current in the sixth century or earlier. only previously Clearly site such refinements have enormous for implications dating and as a and what histories, near-empty century twenty years appeared ago is no longer vacant. to the seventh century, the evidence for economic Compared and the greater avail activity in the eighth is almost overwhelming, some selection ofmaterial. more ability of data will require Although comes two main this material with itwas limitations: abundant,
often poorly
and the publication of "late" levels has been more interested in neglected by many projects revealing biblical his or of remains. the Classical the tory perceived greatness Although ear situation has in recent years, the changed dramatically legacy of remains. lier shortcomings excavated,
The Seventh Century
of the seventh century were some of themore politi in The passage of armies in con cally tumultuous Syria-Palestine. and a series of natural calamities, could quest and counter-conquest,
The first decades
toweaken
and bring to a prompt end production and commerce in towns and the the evi countryside, but archaeologically dence suggests only short-term dislocations within a period of longer term economic continuity.
have combined
Coinage: A Monetary Economy
on economic continuities especially revealing and discontinuities. The first and most to note is important point a the stubborn persistence of monetary economy in Syria-Palestine the An seventh almost century. during array of incomprehensible
The
coin evidence
is
and Standing Byzantine, pseudo-Byzantine, Umayyad Imperial, series in more circulated copper and, Caliph rarely, gold widely.3 The were informal, or first coppers (pseudo-Byzantine) locally autho in to or the issued late 660s rized, productions 650s 670s to meet the demand both
of the marketplace on imagery, less so, Constantine
in size and
and, much
for small change. Their dependence, the issues of Constans II (641-668) IV (668-685) would tend to lock in
See recently, and for extensive bibliog raphy, L. Ilisch, Paldstina IVa. Bilad as
Islamic Coins in theAshmolean,
Sdm, vol. i of SyllogeNumorum
reformCoinage
3
Arabicorum
61; S. Album
and T. Goodwin,
Sylloge of vol. i, ThePre
of theEarly Islamic Period (Oxford, 2002); C. Foss, "The Coinage of the First Century of Islam (review of
Tubingen (Tubingen, 1993); L. Ilisch, "Islamic Numismatics," inA Survey of Numismatic Research, 1996-2001, ed. C.
Stephen Album
Alfaro and A. Burnett (Madrid, 2003), 637
ofIslamic Coins
On
and Tony Goodwin, Sylloge in theAshmolean Museum,
ECONOMY,
vol. i: The Pre-Reform Coinage of theEarly Islamic Period (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford zooz)),"JRA 17, 2 (2004): 748-60. seventh-century Byzantine parallels, C. Morrisson, "Byzantine Its Money:
Production
and Circulation,"
Economic History,
SETTLEMENT
see
in Laiou,
3, 5: 909-66.
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
321
a date no later than the 670s, but and conceivably earlier.4 Hoards II were coins from excavations indicate that the issues of Constans in any number, and then issues that circulated the last Byzantine before about 660.5 How Byzantine coinage entered predominantly in the mid-seventh century is not at all clear. Supply Syria-Palestine or as sent official shipments, or both,6 yet have been informal may the presence of these coins shows a degree of cross-border trade not yet identified in other types of material culture. Also unclear iswhy
in 658-59, but it is hard to issues the supply of Byzantine stopped escape the conclusion that the foundation of the Umayyad caliphate as was related in some way. However, tomeet imported coinage failed market
needs,
gap between
series was
the pseudo-Byzantine supply and demand. their size, weight,
produced
tomeet
the
imagery, the Umayyad Imperial Through coin types (dated 660 and 680, and Goodwin Foss between by Image between 670 and 690) show a much greater attempt at central coor at least at the similarities level.7 Production dination, provincial certain mints
between
and
Fig. 2 Copper alloy coin with the Gerasa mint belonging to the Umayyad Imperial Image series (ca. 660-680), overstamped inArabic with theword tayyib "good," on the obverse (A. Uscatescu and T. Marot, "The Ancient Macellum
of Gerasa
in the
Late Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods: The Archaeological Evidence," inProceedings of the Second International Congress on theArchaeology of theAncient Near East, Copenhagen 2000, ed. I. Thuesen [Winona Lake, 2008], 2: fig. 10.9)
reflect the known
ajnad (military provincial) sources of the ninth century, demon preserved an Islamic administrative system strating the formal functioning of for Syria-Palestine no later than the 670s. This is quite clear from a on an two seated imperial figures based large-module copper showing structure
inwritten
issueofJustinII and Sophia (565-578)minted inNikomedia, which
4
Album
in southern Issues Syria-Palestine (fig. 2).8 and Jerash are well known, yet Jerash
in great numbers
circulated
from Baysan
(Scythopolis)
and Goodwin,
Sylloge of Islamic see also Foss, "Coinage," 760. For example, the gold hoards of
Coins, i: 104-7; 5
Nikertai, Morrisson,
near Afamia/Apamea (C. "Le tresor byzantin de Nikertai,"
et de Revue Beige de Numismatique 118 [1972]: 29-91) and Awarta Sigillographie near Nabulus
(A. Dajani,
"A Hoard
of
Byzantine Gold Coins from Awarta, Nablus," AAJord 1 [1951]: 41-43), and more recently the Khirbat Qab hoard from Galilee (D. Syon, "A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Hurvat Kab,"/N/i4 211-23, [2000-2002]: plates 23-26). For other material, see C. Morrisson, "La monnaie en Syrie byzantine," inArcheologie et histoire de la Syrie, vol. 2, La Syrie de Vepoque Achemenide a Vavene mentde ITslam, ed.J.-M. Dentzer andW. Orthmann
(Saarbriicken, 1989), 191-204, at 198-99; and G. Bijovsky, "A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Bet She'an in the
322
ALANWALMSLEY
Umayyad Period," RN158 (2002): 161-227, but with 7.32% of Constantine IV, although all before 681. For a discussion of the hoard see recently Album and Goodwin, Sylloge ofIslamic Coins, 1:104,106; M. Phillips and T. Goodwin, "A Seventh
material,
Century Syrian Hoard of Byzantine and Imitative Copper Coins," NC157 (1997): 61-87. 6
suggest that the Phillips and Goodwin Byzantines deliberately ended the copper supply (Phillips and Goodwin,
"Seventh
Century Syrian Hoard," 81-83); F?ss thinks not, while Michael Bates proposes a local imitative mint
(Foss, "Coinage," 754). Foss, "Coinage," 760; Album and Goodwin, Sylloge ofIslamic Coins, 1: 81-91. 7
The series starts out highly standardized with standing figures type, common to the provincial
capitals of Hims, Damascus, and Ludd, and also the almost
Tabariyah, capital of Jerusalem
(forwhich
see especially
A. Elad, Medieval
Jerusalem and Islamic
Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage [Leiden, 1995]). Foss's date of 660 for the start of the series makes considerable sense in this context. Archaeologically and his torically this series could be considered the most
significant prereform coinage, and much more research needs to be done, espe cially on distribution, forwhich the publica tion of excavation finds ismost crucial. 8
In addition
toAlbum
and Goodwin,
Sylloge, see N. Amitai-Preiss, A. Berman, and S. Qedar, "The Coinage of Scythopolis (1994 Baysan and Gerasa-Jerash,"/iy/i3 99): 133-51, plates 17-22; M. L. Bates and F. L. Kovacs,
"A Hoard
of Large Byzantine
and
(1996): Arab-Byzantine Coppers," NC156 165-73; A. Naghawi, "Umayyad Filses [sic] at Jerash," inJerash Archaeological (Paris, Project 2 (1984-1988), ed. F. Zayadine 1989), 2: 219-22.
Minted
sites
Greek
2.Diocaesarea |Safruriyah
!
9.Pf/Z* IFihl ? 1,
|Jarash Nablus |
"*"*
i2.>#w|Yafa
-;*\
^
/*' ,* ..*
"***m"'"f"^\.
,*.
*'
'^Atyj0^t ?j^^iS^i'*^:V^
1-1
?
#8/ \ /
.'-^T^r.jfe^ ** v5"'" v-'"
CBusra)
of the ajnad Fig. 4 A rareDouble
j
of Arabia
'**
mg the province's
j
the largemodule
Philadelphia J
j *
.* /
i
(Amman)
Standing Caliph
atJerash, copperrecovered probablyreflect
I
Province
\
of provincial borders with the formation
'
1
I
F11111^,^ 012 cm
Fig. 3 Map showingtherearrangement
\
;
^:^^J^:;^/
^AW^urt&b;.
*
^^
\
)
?
O
^IBHB^^^
/ **N '.
Pal.SeIcunda
dtfBIBHfckt
JoiHi^^^^^^^. ?jfin?fiM^^E
. ^^i^^^HP
: -. i^ _ ^ / N )*4^^ 3?v" -
M-arif(nm-{?^^g^% }(C^sar^-ah). .-,.?>' \ p^f^^ #10 .\?^.' ^si.-ft^-K^***"7"""""
.Byzantine M~l Early Islamic
JHI^^^B^^BIa
3. Tiberias | Tabariyah JHSHHhI^^H
.
,.*
Caesarea
Mediterranean
^tt^t^^
7>ro5(Sur) H^B^^^E ^^HIHI^H
I 7. Adraa Adhriat 8. Capitohas |Bayt Ras
i3.Al-Azraq 14.Anna
(Dimashq)
JHWUM^JfiHEHBIH^^Bl
4. i/ipjpo51 Susiyah
10. Gerasa 11.Neapolis
Arabic
|
traditional preference for type of Justin II and Sophia
;
to the Province ofArabia, and before the Islamic expansion belonged town become only with the formation of the Jund al-Urdunn did the recent identification joined administratively with Baysan (fig. 3).The of Abila as a probable third mint producing this type further illus
trates the provincial basis for the issuing of the Imperial Image style.9 the other coinage of the Jund al-Urdunn Nonetheless, displays major issues the of the and differences, stylistic especially capital Tabariyah an unidentified
in north Jordan (the so-called pseudo-Damas cus mint), so other factors were at clearly play. series (690s), the intention of With the Standing Caliph produc a standardized and centralized in ing coinage Syria-Palestine becomes mint
apparent, from both an iconographic and ametrological perspective.10 even if The Jund al-Urdunn remained outside this unified approach, coin type is to be associated Standing Caliph with this province, which seems most likely varia (fig. 4). Otherwise, tions within a common series were in line with the stylistic, prevail the paradoxical
Double
structure. This
type presaged the coinage reforms of at the end of the seventh century, both the reflecting continuing strength of the monetary economy and provincial prefer ences that had marked the whole of the seventh century.
ing provincial Abd al-Malik
outside of this very positive account of the mon of the seventh century, a number of hoards do suggest etary economy Nevertheless,
9 Mint
A. Oddy, "A New Proto-Umayyad in Syria?," NC 64 (2004): 236-40,
plates 26-27. Oddy notes that the identifica tion of Abila as a new mint still fails to account for all the unidentified
type, suggesting that other mints may have also operated briefly in the Jund al-Urdunn. io Album and Goodwin, Sylloge of Islamic Coins,
i: 91-99.
coins in this
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
323
that the periodic uncertainties of the age did have some impact on a few hoards can be attributed to the Sasanid the economy. Quite a smaller number invasion or events immediately being prior,11with concealed in the face of theMuslim advance in the 630s.12 Generally the greater number of early-seventh-century hoards may indicate more a time of greater insecurity and, revealingly, less subsequent recovery of buried wealth. A clear rise in the concealment of hoards, and their non-recovery, is discernible during the power struggles over the Sasanid invasion and the suc the caliphate in the 680s.13 Overall, in the 680s appear to have had the most impact, if disputes raw numbers are any indication. The Islamic conquest resulted in comparatively few unclaimed hoards, while the composition of gold
cession
later in the century reveals no appreciable disrup tion in supply at the time of the conquest. The circulation of coinage in the seventh century is recorded in
hoards
concealed
the coins recovered during the course of archaeological work in Syria Palestine.14 Imported Byzantine gold was distributed widely, if the more indicative are any hoards mentioned previously guide. Perhaps even are commerce both the of local copper issues, imported and local, if the evidence
remains
were sketchy. At Jerash there
few Constans
II coppers (fourspecimens),but thepreferencefor theJustinII and Sophia
large-module
folles
in the region may
ii
Y. Alayyan, "A Brief Study of Gold found inAbdun," AAJord 42 (1998): 39-53, latest coin Phocas 607-10; D. T. Ariel,
Folles fromQazrin," latest coin 607-8; D. 29 69-76, (1996): Atiqot C. Baramki, "A Hoard of Byzantine Coins,"
Tiberius 12
8, no. 1 (1938): 81-85, latest coin 611
previous note could date to the 630s, given the short time period between the Sasanid
(Near East),
155 (1995):
Herakleios's
1993 or before," NC
155 (1995):
"A (gold), latest coin 607-10; R. Naismith, Hoard of Byzantine Copper Coins Ending with the Last Year ofMaurice," NC 164 296-99,
Rachmani,
latest coin 602; L. Y.
"Two Hoards
and a Roman Charm
ALANWALMSLEY
13
"Three Seventh-century Hoards," Hoard 2, latest coin 674-81 and an imitation of a
E. Metcalf,
"Three Seventh-century Byzantine Gold Hoards," ANSMN 25 (1980): 87-108, Hoard
of Byzantine Coins
from Khirbet Deir
recovery of the region.
Dajani, "Hoard of Byzantine Gold" (above, note 3), latest coin 668; Metcalf,
1995: Near East, 68. Unknown
354-58, latest coin 608-9; W.
324
supply of new money during the Sasanid occupation and the few years after
latest coin 602; S. J.Mansfield,
"Coin Hoards
(2004):
conquest and the Islamic expansion into Syria-Palestine and the seemingly limited
1995:Near East, 67. Unknown 1994 or Before," NC
from
(1968): 67-109; Syria," ANSMN14 however, some of the hoards listed in the
(Philadelphia, 1939), gold; C. Lambert, "A 1 (1932): Hoard of Byzantine Coins," QDAP coin latest 611-12; S.J. Mansfield, 55-68, (Near East),
(582-602).
G. E. Bates, "A Byzantine Hoard
Coele
QDAP 12;G. M. Fitzgerald, ^4 Sixth Century Monastery at Beth-Shan (Scythopolis)
348-54,
19-23, latest coin
605-6; and possibly L. Harding, "Recent Work on the Jerash Forum," PEQ 81 (1949): 12-20, latest coin unspecified Maurice
of Byzantine
"Coin Hoards
the explanation.
INJ z (1964):
Dassawi,"
Coins
"AHoard
be
1
Herakleios
and Herakleios
solidus; Morrisson,
Constantine
"Le tresor byzantin" and perhaps
byzantine,"
Byzantine buried because
in the later seventh century, perhaps reflecting the concealment of these coins as
hoards wealth
rather than currency; thus inMetcalf,
"Three Seventh-century Hoards," Hoard 3, with the latest coin of 685-95 from the reign of Justinian II, seems to represent the burial of obsolete coinage for the value of the gold. C. Foss ("The Coinage of Syria in the 14 Seventh Century: The Evidence of Excavations,"
INJ13 [1994-99]: 119-32) some of the issues; see grapples with also A. Walmsley, "Production, Exchange and Regional Trade Old
Mediterranean:
I. L. Hansen 2000),
en Syrie
in the Islamic East Structures, New
Systems?," in The Long Eighth Century: ed. Production, Distribution and Demand,
n. 5), latest Syon, "A Hoard of Solidi" (above, coin 661-63 and who prefers a concealment date around 665 based on wear. Other "La monnaie
of political unrest than "fear
of confiscation by theArabs" (185). One should also note the preponderance of gold
(above, n. 5), latest coin 674-81;
hoards: Morrisson,
198-99; Bijovsky, "AHoard of Solidi," 180-82, but more likely
and C. Wickham
265-343,
(Leiden,
at 334-37. The unpublished
coins from the large-scale Scythopolis/ Baysan excavations will make an important contribution when they appear.
The pre-reformIslamic coinage is overwhelminglylocal (minted in Baysan and Jerash),accounting for90 percentof the total (fifty-five of sixty-one and Amman
the rest originating (one).15 Again, local preferences
from Damascus
(five) be the cause, but might policy would have damp
specimens),
an surely such inward-looking monetary ened trade opportunities outside of the immediate
area. A
seventh
century cultural conservatism in this region can be viewed areas of material culture, as will be seen later in this paper.
in other
In more
northern
reaches, the coins recovered from the excava
reveal monetary continuity on a Apamea significant aux scale in the seventh statistics Coin from the Maison century.16
tion of houses
at
reveal a steady supply of copper coin throughout the century, to the attributable including types militarily volatile period 613-638 (six specimens), with particularly high numbers of coins attributed
consoles
to Constans Antioch
II (sixteen) and
similarly produced (seventy and eighteen
types excavations Constans
in the Amuq II coins, with
imitative numerous
at (eight). Excavations II and imitative Constans
issues
coins from respectively).17 Likewise, recovered both imitative official and plain the former again in the majority.18 Equally
indicative of seventh-century circulation in the north is the published coin evidence from in house units at Dehes.19 soundings Coinage rare of the sixth century is I and Maurice (from Justin remarkably Tiberius, only five coins, with nothing in between!), but the seventh
century is prolific by comparison (thirty-two coins, including four teen of Constans II). The pre-reform Islamic coins are anonymous imitations of Constans II one (eight specimens), except Standing The type from Qinnasrin. Caliph disproportionately large number of coins may be a little difficult to seventh-century explain, unless
Dehes was able to benefitfinancially (throughtrade or militarily?) from itsproximity to the themonetary Byzantine border. Regardless, was at active in Dehes the seventh century. economy very
one suspects that the coin evidence from these sites Overall, reflects reasonably accurately the economic environment of their dis tricts,which varied between regions of Syria-Palestine, especially the north and the south.
15 16
"Production, Exchange and 333-36, presents the tabulated data.
Walmsley,
Trade,"
J.C. Baity, "Monnaies
maisons
d'Apamee:
byzantines des
Etude comparative,"
inApamee de Syrie: Bilan des recherches archeologiques, 1973-1979. Aspects de Varchitecture domestique d'Apamee: Actes du colloque tenu a Bruxelles les 29, 30 et 31mai 1980, ed. J. Baity (Brussels, 1984), 239-48
for the Byzantine material; A. Negre,
"Monnaies
orientales des maisons d'Apamee. Etude comparative," in ibid., 249-59, f?r tne early Islamic material. Corrected
byzantin (IVe-XVesiecle), ed.]. Lefort, C. and J.-P. Sodini (Paris, 2005),
Morrisson, 495-510.
figures taken from C. Foss, in A.D. 550-750: An Transition, "Syria
I?III
Archaeological Approach," DOP 189-269, at 195.
267-87.
17
18
T. Vorderstrasse,
51 (1997):
19
C. Morrisson,
"Dehes. Campagnes (1976-1978), Recherches sur 1'habitat
rural: Les monnaies,"
Syria 57 (1980):
"Coin Circulation
in Some Syrian Villages Centuries),"
(5th-nth inLes villages dans I'Empire
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
325
L^^H^^^BBmhBHBIHP^^^^^Hbl^^^^H^^^^^^^BBBi^^^^^BI^^^^^^Hp^%9EiiH^^^^^^Ri^HJI^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
H ^iH^^^^H, ^T^^B^VBHn^iH^^^^K^^Hv^B^HI^I^^^^H^^^^^^^I^^^^^^HB
Material Culture: Recognizing Production and Trade in theSeventh Century Tremendous
strides have been made
in the last few decades
Fig. 5 View of the domestic quarter at the east end of themound at Pella, Jordan
in iden
in tifying and correctly dating the material culture of Syria-Palestine the seventh century. The implications of this advance will be consid ered in the next section on settlement profiles, but suffice it to say
now that what was once an almost
invisible century archaeologically has become much more visible and understandable historically. At this point, the intention will be to describe the major improvements in the of some of the more important ceramic groups, chronology and especially what new information this material holds for regional and trade in the century. or not, ceramics and Usefully coinage have traditionally domi is misdated Eastern nated Middle archaeology, and when pottery
production
voids are created
in the record that reflect not history, archaeological but our understanding of it. Into such an archaeological "black hole" fellmuch of the pottery of the seventh century, and only recently have
been perceptible. A much tighter con knowledge stratigraphy for the later periods (late antiquity and the Islamic early periods) has produced excellent corpora of seventh-cen ceramic groups tury transitional material and especially diagnostic a or to time spans of generation datable so.20 acceptable improvements trol over site
326
ALAN WALMSLEY
in
20
The reckless discarding of materials levels in theMiddle East
from post-Classical
iswell acknowledged, whether the sites were being investigated for their Graeco-Roman (e.g., Jerash) or biblical (e.g., the tall of Baysan-Beth
Shan) periods.
in the of a compilation for seventh-century ceramic assemblage southern Syria-Palestine has been the Foremost
of Pamela Watson
work
at Pella/Fihl.21
a domestic
quarter on mound archaeological during a diverse the 1980s produced range of contexts material from good datable to the sixth/seventh century, ending with Excavations
within
the main
structures in damage of in 659 or 660 The earthquake (fig. 5). an unbroken ceramics continu display a century and a half until the for ity the widespread
an
/
\
-I
A
the seventh-century earthquake,22 with corpus dominated by local products from Jerash and Baysan, but also material from
more
distant
realms, notably Egypt. The Phase 5 (initially pottery fromWatsons ca. dated later up to 659-60) 600-640, is of primary interest here, although the into preceding Phase 4 probably spanned the early seventh century. Phase 5 ceram ics came from particularly good deposits
with
a
little rubbish
the corpus unusually clean and survival, making The material shows undoubted representative continuity (fig. 6). in from Phase 4, but with perceptible developments shape, frequency of types, and decorative styles.24 These unrelated to appear changes seem, rather, to represent a standard any historical event and would
to progression of material culture in response changing human erences and abilities, both artisan and consumer. 21
See especially P. M. Watson, "Ceramic for Egyptian Links with Northern
Evidence
Jordan in the 6th-8th Centuries AD,"
in
Trade, Contact, and theMovement in theEastern Mediterranean:
ofPeoples Studies in
Honour
ofJ. Basil Hennessy, ed. S. Bourke and J.-P.Descoeudres (Sydney, 1995), 303
20; P.Watson,
"The Byzantine Period: inAreas Byzantine Domestic Occupation III and IV," inPella inJordan 2: The Second Interim Report of theJoint University of Sydney and the College ofWooster Excavations
at Pella
1982-198$, ed. A. W.
et al. J.Hanbury-Tenison, (Sydney, 1992), 163-81; P. M. Watson, "Change in Foreign and Regional Economic
McNicoll,
Links with Pella A.D.:
The Ceramic
Fig. 6 Seventh-century domestic wares from the housing at Pella (from P.Watson, "The Byzantine Period," plate 115)
pref
in the Seventh Century Evidence," inLa Syrie
material
in Phase 4, Phase
5 reveals certain
advances. New
forms have appeared and there is a development in themetallic
de Byzance a ITslam, VIIe-VIHesiecles: Actes du colloque international Lyon, ed. P. Canivet and J.-P. Rey-Coquais (Damascus,
terracotta [name of fabric type] group: an increase in its relative quantity, and the introduction of incised decoration" (Watson,
1992), 233-48. 22 "There is clearly a strong continuity throughout: many types have a long life" (Watson, "Byzantine Domestic inAreas III and IV," 181).
EKES
"Byzantine Period," 181).Also, "the trends at Pella ... reveal a basic continuity of tradi
Occupation
23 Watson, "Change," 234, inwhich Phase 4 contains imports datable up to 660, andWatson proposes a possible corpus date to 620.
tions, overlaid by changes occurring in the early and mid-7th century. These changes, however, have their roots in the second half of the 6th century and cannot be considered abrupt" (Watson, "Change,"
246).
states: Watson 24 Specifically on Phase 5, "While the pottery is closely related to the
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
327
In the later 1980s and
1990s, excavations
at a number
of other
sites in Syria-Palestine seventh-century
similarly reliable and informative produced on Dehes, Jerash, pottery corpora. The publications
Khirbat al-Dharih (south Jordan),Humaymah
(south Jordan),
and forts, Yoqneam, Jerusalem, the Zohar and En Boqeq Aqabah, to dis Ramat Hanadiv contain, varying degrees of usefulness, has filled and tinct seventh-century material that with publication a ceramic void.25 A number of the diagnostic excavations are of particular these during commerce. to seventh-century trade and
pottery types interest with
expanded recovered
regard A particularly type manufactured
an group of pottery is area of coastal in the Gaza-Ascalon
informative
oppositepage Fig. 7 i. Gaza amphora from themid seventh century levels at Pella (Watson, inAreas Occupation and IV," plate 116.8); 2. The Terenouti
"Byzantine Domestic
amphora, found in good numbers inmid eighth century deposits at Pella (A.Walmsley, "Chapter 8.The Umayyad Pottery and Its inPella inJordan 1:An Interim
Antecedents,"
Report on theJoint University of Sydney and theCollege ofWooster Excavations at Pella 1979-1981, ed. A. McNicoll, and B. Hennessy
amphora southern
III
R. H. Smith,
[Canberra, 1982], plate amphora, later seventh to
145.3); 3.Aqabah
eighth centuries (Whitcomb, Ayla, 24).
as the first century and con as early begins perhaps tinues throughout the seventh and into the early eighth.26 Consensus holds that the jars, made of a thick, gritty ware fired to a medium dark brown color (Munsell color chart: 5YR 5/6),were meant for the
Palestine, which
export of Gaza's famous white wine, used for the Eucharist and medi cal purposes in addition to drinking. The latest, seventh-century form of amphora is tall and narrow compared with its predecessors, with a vertical combing
25 Jerash: see especially P. M. Watson, "Jerash Bowls: Study of a Provincial Group of Byzantine Decorated FineWare," inJerash n. 3); Archaeological Project 2,223-53 (above, A. Uscatescu, "Jerash Bowls and Other Related Local Wares Excavations
from the Spanish at theMacellum of Gerasa
(fig. 7.1). Conspicuously
(Mainz am Rhein, 1993),with signifi cant corrections in J.Magness, "Redating the Forts at Ein Boqeq, Upper Zohar, and Other
See M. Egloff, Kellia: 26 lapoterie copte. Jguatre siecles d 'artisanat et d 'echanges en Basse-Egypte (Geneva, 1977), 3:117; and
Sites in SE Judaea, and the Implications for in The theNature of the Limes Palaestinae"
"Gazan Amphorae:
Meer
Roman and Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H.
(Jerash)," AAJord 39 (1995): 365-408; A. Uscatescu, La Cerdmica delMacellum de
Humphrey
Gerasa
Avissar, and Y. Portugali, Yoqneam I. The Late Periods (Jerusalem, 1996), 66-74; Ramat
(Madrid, 1996), (Yaras,Jordania) including "Jerash Bowls" (further below);
(Aylah): A. Melkawi, K. Amr, Aqabah "The Excavation of Two and D. S.Whitcomb, Seventh Century Pottery Kilns at Aqaba," Jerusalem: J.
AAJord 38 (1994): 447-68; Magness, Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology, circa 200-800 CE
(Sheffield, 1993);Magness, "Chapter Eighteen: Late Roman and Byzantine Pottery," inJewish Quarter Excavations
in theOld City ofJerusalem,
byNahman Avigad, 1969-1982, vol. 2, The Finds from Areas A, W, and X-2: Final
Conducted
Report, ed. H. Geva (Jerusalem, 2000), 423-32; Zohar: R. P. Harper, Upper Zohar: An Early Byzantine Fort inPalaestina Tertia. in 1985-1986 Final Report ofExcavations (Oxford, 1995); En Boqeq: M. Gichon,?w am Toten Boqeq: Ausgrabungen in einer Oase
328
a narrow band of incised
shoulder, lacking a neck and with handles just below the attached
ALANWALMSLEY
(Portsmouth, R.I., 1999), 189 206; Yoqneam: Avissar inA. Ben-Tor, M.
Hanadiv:
"Ramat Hanadiv
R. Calderon,
Excavations, Chapter
3: Roman
and
Byzantine Pottery," inRamat Hanadiv Excavations: Final Report of the 1984-1998 Seasons, ed. Y. Hirschfeld
(Jerusalem, 2000),
119-65, especially for a sealed pit deposit of the seventh century; while for the other sites and P.
see the various articles in E. Villeneuve
eds., La ceramique byzantine et en Syrie-Jordanie (IVe-VIIIe proto-islamique siecles apr.J.-C): Actes du colloque tenu a Amman les 3, 4 et 5 decembre 1994 (Beirut, M. Watson,
2001); and a general overview of ceramics in J.-P. Sodini and E. Villeneuve, "Le passage de la ceramique Byzantine inCanivet
Omeyyade,"
Syrie deByzance
a la ceramique and Coquais,
a ITslam, 195-218.
La
the important newer study of G. Majcherek, Typology Reconsidered," and Roman Pottery in the Advances in Eastern Mediterranean: inHellenistic
Scientific Studies: Acts of the II Nieborow Pottery Workshop, Nieborow, 18-20 December 1993, ed. H. Meyza
and J.Mlynarczyk 1995), 163-78, with a full bibliog raphy; and more generally B.Johnson and L. E. Stager, "Ashkelon: Wine Emporium (Warsaw,
of theHoly Land," inRecent Excavations in Israel: A View to theWest. Reports on Kabri, Nami, Miqne-Ekron, Dor, and Ashkelon, ed. S. Gitin 95-109, which
(Dubuque, Iowa, 1995), includes information on
recently identified amphora production sites near Gaza and Ascalon; also P. Fabian and Y. Goren, Anchorage
"A Byzantine Warehouse South of Ashqelon,"
(2001): 211-19.
and
Atiqot 42
in
found
the
coin-dated
at Pella, numerous
deposit large numbers
659-60 at Caesarea,
earthquake recovered in
(135 specimens) from a pit atHor vat on the Carmel but less common at Aqav Range,27 Jerash, this late type of Gaza amphora becomes far less widespread
north of the Esdraelon-Yarmouk
tion. Farther afield, examples
are also known
VOTx
!
and Dor valley divide, suggesting that Caesarea were the northernmost ports for primary distribu from
Kellia and Alexandria (Kom al-Dikka) in Egypt, the dis and as far away as Marseilles.28 However, tribution of the sixth-century form is unquestion from Britain to the Black Sea ably wider?found In basic
and Nubia.
terms, the current evidence
trade in Gaza suggests continued Mediterranean on a reduced wine but the seventh century during at least trade scale?or using the Gaza amphorae; a smaller number of not may necessarily amphorae mean
a decline
in trade ifother containers,
skins, were being used.29 ceramic evidence Other
reveals
such as
that trade in
commoditiesbetween Egypt (especiallythedelta)
took place on a sig Syria-Palestine are nificant scale in the seventh century.30 Notable occurrence ofAbu Mina thewidespread amphorae at sites, found in the 659-60 levels at earthquake and
southern
Pella and reaching inland toJerash;EgyptianRed SlipA fromAswan, with formJ2andM (late sixth
at Pella, common at to seventh Baysan and century) rare inland at Jerash; Egyptian Red Tabariyah but at Caesarea, Pella, and Jerash; and Coptic Slip C (seventh century) Painted ware from middle Egypt, an uncommon export except to at southern Syria-Palestine, with a mid-seventh-century specimen seems to in in the seventh century there the sixth century, Jerash. As have been a thriving trade in goods 27
Calderon,
Excavations,
Chapter
and
Byzantine Pottery," 119-27, where both sixth- and seventh-century types occur together; we can assume a long life and
and
Ages. See the important comments of S. Goitein,^ Mediterranean Society: The Jewish
The preference for skins over amphorae to hold liquids (oil and wine
necessary
is a feature ofMediterranean
(Berkeley, 1967), "For the large scale overseas trade, skins were preferred." It should not be
333-34:
to emphasize the perishable nature of skins and, as a result, their absence
in the archaeological
"Ceramic See especially Watson, also recently J.Magness, "Late
Roman
of theArab World as Portrayed in theDocuments of the Cairo Geniza, vol. i,
Economic Foundations
29
30
Evidence";
Communities
frequent reuse for these vessels, which is confirmed by theHorvat 'Aqav discards. 28 169. Majcherek, "Gazan Amphorae,"
especially)
Egypt
trade in theMiddle
"Ramat Hanadiv 3: Roman
of all types between
and Early Islamic Pottery from Egypt and Some Palestinian Connections (review of Donald M. Bailey, Excavations at el-Ashmunein, vol. 5,Pottery,
Middle
Lamps and Glass of theLate Roman and Early Arab Periods (2000):
[London,
1998]),"/iL4
13
812-17.
record.
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
329
southern Syria-Palestine that was little disturbed by the events of the is also demon of this trade into the age. Continuity eighth century in the Nile delta at strable by another amphora type manufactured Terenouti,31
for instance, Pella in the good numbers at, at Kursi on the earthquake destruction level and
and found
in
mid-eighth-century east shore of Lake Tiberias
It reached the Jordanian heights, (fig. 7.2).32 in excavations on theAmman Citadel and found nearby Umm being al-Walid, for instance,33 and recently farther north at Jerash. trade on the Red Sea in the seventh century is Seaborne
an industrial at in the Aylah discovery of potter's complex a local of amphora type large proportions (fig. 7-3).34 manufacturing The production atAylah far exceeded local requirements, and the dis revealed
covery of these amphorae at seventh- to ninth-century sites in south Arabia and Ethiopia indicates that theywere used to repack the agri for shipment on the cultural produce of southern Syria-Palestine Red Sea by boat. A major destination for this produce was the towns of the Hijaz, where the growth of large and suddenly wealthy elite an demand for imported groups would have created unprecedented
nuts. as oil, wine, grain, dried fruits, and products such of The seventh century is also typified by the continuation are two ceramic of of which traditions, strong regional particular Palestinian called interest: "Fine Byzantine Ware," better perhaps Fine Table Ware and "Jerash Bowls," named after the site (PFTW), of production.
is a major class of pottery spanning the sixth to ninth centuries.35 The claywas finely levigated so that it could be very thinly thrown on a fastwheel to produce extremely elegant cups, bowls, jars, and jugs, perhaps imitating metallic vessels. The firing was very care to brownish-col a mellow to produce light-orange fully controlled of the outside surfaces featured knife bur ored fabric. Decoration PFTW
a line incised below the rim on cups, and cut strokes on nishing, wavy the seventh in the sixth and seventh centuries. During jars and jugs new and dishes century plates, perhaps shapes appeared, especially Red Slip wares. PFTW was unavailable in of the increasingly place
in Palestine and Jordan, with find sites center extensively distributed on the north and central Jordan valley, the Jordanian mountain ing 31
P. Ballet, "Un atelier d'amphores 5/6 a Kom Abou
Late Roman Amphora Billou
(Egypte)," Chronique
(i994): 32
d'Egypte 69
353-65.
V. Tzaferis,
"The Excavations
of
16 (1983): 5-18, Kursi-Gergesa,"^^or but ceramics badly misdated.
G. L. Harding, "Excavations on the 33 Citadel, Amman," AAJord i (1950): 7-14; M.-A. Haldimann,
34
Melkawi,
Excavation Kilns
330
ALAN WALMSLEY
"Umm-el-Walid:
in Canivet Prolegomenes ceramologiques," and Rey-Coquais, La Syrie de Byzance a siecles, 229-31, at 231. ITslam, VIIe-VIHe Amr, andWhitcomb,
"The
of Two Seventh Century Pottery
at Aqaba."
This ceramic class is in need of a major study, but seeM. Gichon, "Fine Byzantine Wares from the South of Israel," PEQ 106 35
(1974): 119-39; Magness, Chronology, 166-71.
Jerusalem Ceramic
range hills,
(particularly and the Naqab
in the north), the Palestinian no work (Negev). While
shops have been located, probably the production
the Jerusalem area was center for PFTW, and
northeast
of Jerusalem
were from here appreciable quantities of PFTW traded north and south for a distance of up to no was to the km. Distribution particularly marked and
southwest
well-traveled
along the state-run
and increasingly important route between Egypt and Damascus. for which Jerash Bowls, the workshops
have
were in the disused hippodrome, local imitative versions of certain African Red Slip
been discovered
types, but usually bichrome painted with decora or tive patterns of iconic, mythical, and abstract designs occasionally with an impressed stamp motif. The human and animal images show extraordinary variety, with bird, fish, feline, horse, deer, dog, boar, and so on depicted, and often resemble mosaic art (fig. 8).36 Bands of
Fig. 8 Jerash bowls, decorated in red to red dish-brown on a white paint background
abstract designs within lines were used to form central tondi and to decorate the outside edge of the plates. Inscriptions in Greek occa occur. Paint colors were white and a reddish-brown to sionally purple.
series is still difficult, the evidence from Pella and dating the in the later sixth to seventh Jerash would support major production thereafter bowls with century; deep high walls and cups painted
While
more open in red abstract patterns replace the is concentrated in distribution of Jerash Bowls
monochromatically Jerash Bowls. The
to 125 km northern Jordan and the north Jordan valley, reaching up away from the point of production. Like Palestinian Fine Table Ware, pattern of Jerash Bowls indicates that themaximum economic range of in the seventh century was fine-quality ceramics 100-150 km, afterwhich the products of another region gained a com too petitive edge and the traded items became, in effect, expensive. the distribution
Settlement:Urban Transformations and Rural Expansion
The
the
fundamental
in
advances made
and
ceramics
understanding
and
interpreting
of
coinage seventh-century Syria-Palestine of accurately up new possibilities opened reconstructing in both urban and rural contexts that do not socioeconomic profiles on solely rely epigraphic evidence. This work has only just begun, in part of excavation hampered by the slow pace of publication
has
are recent to and survey projects. Nevertheless, analyses beginning more in demonstrate considerably the seventh century than activity construction of the continued previously recognized, including public buildings, mostly
churches, and large domestic
complexes.
In
general,
ECONOMY,
36
Uscatescu,
"Jerash Bowls and Other (above, n. 25);
Related Local Wares" Uscatescu,
La Cerdmica delMacellum,
(above, n. 25);Watson, (above, n. 25).
66-89
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
"Jerash Bowls"
565-800
331
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aaaaaaaVfll i* __________f aaaaaaaBI ,aaaJ __ "___| "a^a^a^a^B^ ^aa^a^a^B aB BBBaBBaBBaBBaBBaaBaBM aa'aBB '''^BBaaaaaaBaaaaaaaaaB ^^BBBBaBBaBBaBBaBBaaBaii BBaaBaaBaaaaBaaaBS<^BBBB aa^aB^aB^aB^aB^aa^BI BBaaBaaBaaaaBaaaB. ^bbb^B ^BBBHBBHaBHaBHaBHaV BBBHflBHflBHflBHflBHflaB ^ bbhB bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbBI ^ bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb9B BbbB ^BBBHflBHflBHflBHflBaBs* VBf PaVflVB B' bbbbVAbB ! ________IBM ^ BflVflVM
^^H^W
-BvflBvflBvAl BBB bUb^h lal
_fiflf^__|__K~ ^_^__|i_p^_^
; ' J^mTB
IBi
B______@!f__|
_________|_____________________________v^t
s
^|MhK___^_|_________________BB___| ..QBlaSRI^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^a^BSi^
^J[|_______________P___a^a^^^-
B^HBBK^&flBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBK
f_W?^_^IM__^_________________________B|ffr''
' * __H___S____B______________| ^ -' IM *JlBlBEa^flHHESBBiaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBflaflB^afBBBBBBBBBBB .BBB|H|BH____H___B
two
to earlier can be offered: significant amendments propositions an ongoing commercial role for towns, without doubt accompanied
not characterized by structural changes but by major economic and failure; and the vibrancy of rural areas, especially organizational
those in the more marginal environmental where the best evidence has survived). The evidence for economic conditions
zones
HHIi
Fig. 9 View of the Civic Complex at Pella from the north, showing the church atrium (rear) and adjacent markets (foreground)
(or rather, that is
in towns
during enth century is still fragmentary, but there is now unanimous sus that the Islamic towns intact, even Caesarea, expansion left
the sev consen which
held out until 640,37 and that the supposed destructions associated with the earlier Sasanid conquest have been overly For exaggerated.38 an active in the urban community the early many sites, presence of
part of the eighth century has been used to imply continuity in the seventh as well, and the discovery of ceramics datable to diagnostic that century would
indicate
that to be the case
at Jerusalem);39
Early reports describe a "destruction complete and irretrievable," a conclusion
Occupation
later dismissed
Drew University, 1983). Note, for instance, Magness, 38
37
by the excavators, forwhich see the important works by K. G. Holum, "Archaeological
Evidence
Byzantine Caesarea," 73-85; and C. Lenzen,
332.
(e.g.,
ALANWALMSLEY
for the Fall of
BASOR
286 (1992):
"Byzantine/Islamic
Evidenced
at Caesarea
Maritima
through the Pottery"
as (Ph.D. diss.,
deposits. Jerusalem
Ceramic Chronology, esp. 66-71 (above, n. 25), where a proposed Sasanid destruction level in Jerusalem
is refuted.
Ibid., 16-118 presents type-sites in the Jerusalem region with seventh-century
39
nonetheless,
the actual
as construction
or
identification of seventh-century activity such an repair has posed ongoing problem.40
Fig. 10 Housing at Pella
of themid-eighth
century
At Pella
the seventh century is unusually visible in the architec a concern with economic not tural record only activity, but revealing rooms in the seventh century, a infrastructure. Sometime complex of
on two stories measuring of the cathedral church
8.5m high was built on the northern side The rooms were faced with porches (fig. 9)41 and galleries that looked out onto an open paved court. The complex, in purpose, itwould for the most part commercial seem, was clearly in it flanked the of major importance the life of the town, because entrance
main
into the church atrium from the north.
It could have
been built as part of the post-659-60 earthquake repair of the church, is attested in the architectural evidence. On the main mound,
which
same
former terrace housing lining grav cen replaced by free-standing, self-contained units tered on one ormore sizable courtyards, either paved or earth-surfaced
following the eled streets was
40
earthquake,
For the difficulties associated with the
vol. 2, Final Report on the College ofWooster inArea IX, theCivic Complex, 1979-198S (Wooster, Oh., 1989); a somewhat
seventh century in general, see J. Johns, "Archaeology and theHistory of Early Islam:
Excavations
The First Seventy Years," JESHO
different interpretation (the same as that "Households given here) inA. Walmsley,
46 (2003):
411-36. 41
R. H. Smith, Pella
of theDecapolis,
at Pella, Jordan: The Domestic
Deposits of theMid-eighth Century," in Objects inContext, Objects inUse: Spatiality inLate Antiquity, ed. L. Lavan, E. Swift, and T. Putzeys (Leiden,
Material
2007).
Destruction
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
333
structures were While these domestic socially differenti (fig. 10). ated from what had been before,42 the ability of individuals to repair and redesign their houses on a respectable scale indicates financial resources
In other words, there was beyond the absolute minimum. to undertake more than enough money around just basic repairs. a at number of town sites has Nevertheless, archaeological work a contraction compelling proof for the seventh century, but the interpretation
in absolute
revealed
size
during is of this phenomenon more difficult to determine. At Jerash the zone north of the Temple of Artemis was abandoned of the century, but about the middle at the same time settlement
concentration
in the center of the site
seems to have
increased, in part plaza facilitated by the availability of an excellent water supply. At some were in-filled streets and time in the seventh century, plazas perhaps, around
the south tetrakionia
rather than structures, most likely commercial (unspecified) seem to be at Jerash are domestic.43 What would happening changes, a not eco to essential urban structures, especially decay, focusing of
with
nomic
activity. Other towns show similar evidence for size reduction. At Pella the
fort on the summit of Tall
al-Husn was
not rebuilt after the 659/60 town were restored (above). In earthquake, whereas other parts of the aux aux east consoles and theMaison theMaison pilastres Apamea, were in the 659/60 earthquake; and although occu severely damaged were only partially pation continued after that date, the buildings or even not The nearby cleared, adequately repaired (fig. 11). fully was used for aux Maison and, later, as a glass manufacturing graffiti As at Jerash, in-filling of open space in the urban dump for rubbish. outer areas. Yet, core seems to have coincided with a running down of
is a common urban trend evacuation peripheral decay and at many towns in the seventh century that happened simultaneously is unclear. Did or was a more isolated, site-specific phenomenon contract or like this, for instance? At Damascus Jerusalem, Aleppo, Antioch the shrinking of the urban area occurred mostly in the sixth whether
42
A. Walmsley,
Economic
Regime
Neighbouring
"The Social and at Fihl (Pella) and
Centres, between
the 7th and
9th centuries," in Canivet and Rey-Coquet, La Syrie de Byzance a ITslam, 249-61 (above, at Pella." n. 21), andWalmsley, "Households 43
Because
the structures were "cleared"
adequate records being kept, it is com impossible to know precisely. See the
without
inHarding, "Recent Work on the Jerash Forum," and C. H. Kraeling, "Roman
ments
334
ALAN WALMSLEY
Buildings
III. The South Tetrapylon," in ed. C. H.
Gerasa, City of theDecapolis,
Kraeling (New Haven, 1938), 103-15. Coins found under the oval plaza structures end with Maurice
Tiberius
(582-602),
but this
might be a hoard buried after the buildings were erected.
^"^-Jl?
ff
mwr W
mW ?-
^Hl
HP B
Bl El
HfettB
^^KJBS^KHBil^BSI^^^EPS^E^^i^MiH^HiSK^
century, and seems peculiar to that site.44The still open, and probably site-specific.
issue is, itwould
seem,
Fig. ii Urban contraction: Maison aux consoles at Apamea, Syria
Better evidence exists for rural-settlement expansion in the sev enth century, although some interpretations are a little contentious, as we will see. First, there are some historical sources. They record estates in that the acquisition of country Syria-Palestine byMuslims
'Uthman (r. 644-56). A popular area was began under the Caliph a east of the Darum, region of steppe lands in southern Palestine in Amr which ibn of Ascalon, al-As, "Conqueror Palestine," acquired an estate called as a retreat which served of Ajlan, place during politi
cal upheavals.45Similarly,in 687/8All ibnAbd Allah ibn al-Abbas
Apamea: J. Baity, ed., Apamee de Syrie: Bilan des recherches archeologiques, 1973
44
1979. Aspects del'architecture domestique d Apamee: Actes du colloque tenu a Bruxelles les 29, 30 et 31mai 1980 (Brussels, 1984), 19-106, 501, but the chronology seems domi data and there are
nated by numismatic
doubts; Baity also argues for the arrival of new peoples (Arabs) with the Islamic con quest, which contributed
to the ruralization
of the town. Few writers would
argue this
now. See Foss, "Syria inTransition, A.D.
Reinterpretation," ByzF 10 (1985): 141-84; H. Urban Kennedy, "From Polis toMadina:
(above, n. 17),with blame clearly aimed at the Sasanid sack of 573. Antioch and the north: H. Kennedy, 550-750/'
205-29
in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria," Past & Present 106 (1985): 3-27; see also Foss, "Syria inTransition," 190-204. Apamea and Antioch appear to be somewhat Change
"Antioch: From Byzantium to Islam and Back Again," in The City inLate Antiquity, ed. J. Rich
(London,
1992), 181-98; H.
unusual, but significant cases. Details inM. Lecker, "The Estates of
Kennedy and J.H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, "Antioch and theVillages of Northern Syria in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries A.D.:
Amr b. al-As in Palestine: Notes
Trends
Negev Arabic
and Problems," Nottingham Medieval Studies 32 (1988): 65-90; Kennedy, "The Last Century of Byzantine Syria: A
ECONOMY,
45
on a New
Inscription," BSO[A]S
52
(1989): 24-37.
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
335
as a located today in Humaymah, purchased village-estate known south Jordan. This site, the subject of excavations, was embellished a small mosque and qasr, and became revolt against the Umayyads (fig.n).46
with
Fig. 12 Early Islamic mosque and qasr (to south Jordan left, in distance) at Humaymah,
a base for the Abbasid
in rural areas impact of settlement expansion can be seen in the Jordanian steppe lands east of Amman and Jerash, where imposing architectural remains at village sites such as Umm the al-Jimal, Rihab, Khirbat al-Samra, and Umm al-Rasas document The most
expansion
obvious
in late antiquity For once epi (fig. 13). are useful for church-mosaic inscriptions,
of rural settlement
sources, mostly was a seventh-century phenom showing that much of this growth enon.47 The evidence shows that a substantial leap in building activ
graphical
ity took place in southern Syria-Palestine during the later sixth and Phocas, early seventh centuries, notably under the emperors Maurice, was not Much of this and Herakleios urban-based, activity (fig. 14). in the steppe The construction but concentrated villages of Jordan. 46
R. Foote and J. P. Oleson,
"Humeima
Project, 1995-96," Fondation Van Berchem Bulletin 10 (1996): 1-4; J.
Excavation Max
P. Oleson, K.
'Amr, et al., "Preliminary Excavation Project,
Report on theHumayma
1993,"AAJord 39 (1995): 317-54.
336
ALAN WALMSLEY
See the comprehensive study by L. Di Segni, "Epigraphic Documentation on Building in the Provinces of Palaestina 47
and Arabia,
4th~7th c,"
in The Roman
and Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H. Humphrey
(Portsmouth, R.I.,
1999), 149-78;
Piccirillo, TheMosaics
ofJordan 1993) for the church mosaics.
also M. (Amman,
of
churches predominated. At Rihab, east of Jerash, were con churches eight structed between 594 and 635, in 594,
595, 605, 620, 623 (two churches), and 635 (two churches).48 The pattern is repeated a little to the south at Khirbat al-Samra, inscriptions date three churches to 633/35, 634, and 637, all during the period of the Islamic expansion.
where
reason
The
why the steppe regions of in the Jordan flourished architecturally seventh century is unclear; itmay have been connected
to the relocation of elites
from the main
towns, in part in response of plague, a declining in the areas, agricultural
to the outbreak resource
base
the
changing sociopolitical objectives of settled nomads, or partly because of the
of Damascus and importance growing routes south to the Hijaz. Probably all of a and of other these, factors, com range to shape the steppe villages late sixth and seventh centuries.
bined
Similar
on
conclusions
in the seventh
century expansion in the urban periphery have recently been evaluated by Jodi to settlement in with Magness regard the Negev
and the Belus massif
in north
considers two current theories on settlement patterns Syria.49Magness in the Negev that superseded older, prejudicial views ofArab-Muslim desolation.50
The first, byMordechai
of farm settlements,
one
identified two peaks times before the mid-sixth
Haiman,51
to
Byzantine in the southern near the century and another, concentrated Negev Ramon Crater, to the time this with associated Umayyad period, was one In this the seventh of stagnation. scenario, mosques. century a different explanation, However, Gideon Avni postulated arguing that farms
48
in the south were
Di Segni, "Epigraphic Documentation,"
165. 49 J.Magness, The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement inPalestine (Winona Lake, 2003); reviewed inA. Walmsley,
"The Archaeology
of theEarly
Islamic Settlement inPalestine, by Jodi
established
Fig. 13 View of thewheat harvest and grazing sheep in Jordan badiyah in late spring, a terrain that supported a mixed agricultural and pastoral economy, equally adaptable and resilient
in the late sixth century
(book review)," BASOR 337 (2005): See also the background and analysis 106-9. of this region inC. Foss, "The Near Eastern
Magness
Countryside
in Late Antiquity: A Review
in The Roman and Byzantine Near 213-34, at 213-25, which is largely accepting of Tate's perspective.
50 Magness, Archaeology of theEarly Islamic Settlement inPalestine, 130-76. 51
M. Haiman,
State Relations
Article,"
Byzantine
East,
BASOR
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
"Agriculture and Nomad in theNegev Desert in the
and Early Islamic Periods,"
297 (1995): 29-53.
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
337
?Annual
Index
-,-.
25
i
?
Churches
Civil Buildings
1.8
/
I I
iol
lh
Justin I
Anastasius
Justinian I
\ \
Justin II
\ \B
/ I / I
nil.
Tiberius
Maurice
Phocas
Heraclius
Umayyad
Abbasid
Reign/period
in the seventh century in response to the decline of and peaked towns farther north, and remained occupied until their the Negev in the late eighth and ninth century.52 Unfortunately, framework of the Negev the archaeological concludes,
abandonment as
Magness village sites, many
identified only by survey, is too obscure to argue further except to note clear seventh-century occupation, be it stagnant or the result of growth.
also critically analyses the recent French excavations at Magness in north Syria as part of her questioning of thewidely accepted Dehes view that Syrian society offered little resistance to an expanding
Fig. 14 Rates of construction activity in the southern Levant. Bar graphs: building activity in Jordan; line graph: annual build ing rates in the three Palestines and Arabia (numbers from L. Di Segni, "Epigraphic on Building in the Provinces
Documentation of Palaestina
and Arabia,"
in The Roman and
Byzantine Near East, vol. 2, Some Recent Archaeological Research, ed. J.H. Humphrey [Portsmouth, R.I.,
1999], 149-98).
and because of its weakened state?militarily hegemony the start of the seventh century. Following upon a financially?at structures coins from sealed and levels, by pottery redating of the Islamic
differs with the excavators Georges Tate and Jean-Pierre Magness Sodini by dating the main period of house construction at the site to the second half of the sixth and earlier seventh century, not the fourth and fifth as proposed by Tate and Sodini. If her conclusions 52
G.Avni, Nomads,
Town-Dwellers:
Penetration
Farmers, and
Pastoralist-Sedentist
[sic]
Interaction
in theNegev Highlands, Sixth Eighth Centuries CE (Jerusalem, 1996); Avni, in theNegev Highlands: "Early Mosques New Archaeological
338
ALAN WALMSLEY
Evidence
on Islamic
of Southern Palestine," BASOR
294 (1994): 83-99. Avni's thesis seems to be littlemore than a recast "desert and sown" of social interaction in
conceptualization late antiquity. The dating is a different issue; Hirschfeld agrees with Avni over Haiman,
error is to date proposing that Haiman's the structures by finds on their floors, represents final use, not construction (Y. Hirschfeld, "Farms and Villages in
which
Byzantine Palestine," DOP esp. 35 n. 10, 55-57).
51 [1997]: 33-71,
are correct,theperiod of prosperityof theBelus massif villageswill
to be to encompass the seventh century, with stagna expanded not tion takes the argument further emerging until later.Magness from Antioch the evidence and Caesarea Maritima, by reassessing need
not prosperity, in the later again arguing for significant activity, if sixth and seventh centuries. If urban and rural life continued at a to the Islamic in the expansion, which high level period leading up seems successes quite clear for the south of Syria-Palestine, then the of the Islamic armies in the 630s are even more remarkable and make more
the idea of a supposedly "easy conquest," for the questionable not in the Islamic victory lay speed of the conquest, but in the subse
of rule. quent consolidation The successful political consolidation ofMuslim rule over Syria was in Palestine the seventh century matched by significant continu ities in the monetary and trade that were to economy, production, ensure Muslim a in the region and, for number of decades, hegemony the overall main Umayyad domination of the Islamic world. Without tenance of the seventh-century economy, theMarwanid Umayyads
would have lacked the firmfiscal basis fromwhich to launch their social and cultural
reforms, reforms that were
further to accelerate
the economy of Syria-Palestine in the first half of the eighth century, which is the subject of the next section.
TheEighth Century I
hope notion nation
to some above has dispelled, degree, the of the seventh century as a acute economic of stag period a as and ruin. The better is, result, eighth-century economy that the discussion
understood
as the outcome
of further, yet impressive, reform and an made founda programs development possible by already-sound tion. The intention of the Marwanid (684-750) was to Umayyads and so as to con what had improve expand already proved effective,
solidate the dynasty while its financial base as the territo expanding rial gains slowed. These improvements can be seen in a range of mea sures onward. adopted from the time of Abd al-Malik (r. 685-705) Much more is known from sources about the archaeological eighth century economy of Syria-Palestine, and literature on the question is reasonably extensive.53 In this paper, only some of themore important can be considered, and with on those themes dis points emphasis cussed previously in the treatment of the seventh-century economy.
Coinage
The
circulation
economic
networks,
but
in
coin hoards seventh-century a reveal in noticeable regionality in the the numismatic following century
patterns preserved and site finds from Syria-Palestine
ECONOMY,
53
For an initial consideration
of this
"Production, Exchange topic seeWalmsley, and Regional Trade," esp. 305-43 (above, n. 14).
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
339
Jund al-Urdunn
^^gglll^^^^
*^L?_ ,
Hims Jund
^^HBBff^^^^^^
'
'
JundFilastin^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
20% ^^^^^
(numbers
M Excavation
\Jl^^^^^^^^.
1% ^^^^H|^^^^^^ al-Jazirah^^^^^^^^k 5% ^^^^^^^^^^jOther 7% ^^^HBBBB ^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 "' ^7 -
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^V
._
Jund Qinnasrin
^^^^^^^^L
Jund Dimashq 35%
data paint a different, more economic picture, even complex, taking into account the greater coin. There were fundamental production of structural differences in the monetary economy of the seventh and that encouraged the wider movement of coinage. a divided and the seventh century perpetuated regionally at the end of constrained monetary Abd al-Malik's reforms supply,
eighth Whereas
centuries
as economic?created a unified and political empire-wide currency that quickly gained wide acceptance. Ifwe return to Jerash, the coin data reveal a significant widening of economic activity, with 46 percent of all retrieved coins originat the century?as
much
ing from mints located outside of the home province.54 The range of mints is also wider, in Filastin especially those located neighboring was and Dimashq. The coins would that Jerash suggest emerging
west and north in its from seventh-century localism by extending trade activities. A similar view of economic expansion is seen in the coins from the excavation
of Herodian
in the Jund province of Filastin
Jericho, located
(fig. 15).55That jund and the adjacent most coin the provided (twenty-nine and twenty-seven followed (seventeen), al-Urdunn respectively), by Hims
Dimashq
specimens, (five), and
al-Jazirah (four), all the latter from the single mint of al-Ruha. Two are the continuing points noteworthy: importance and extending reach of an east-west trade axis land routes first seen along major
in the (above), and the notable seventh-century ceramic evidence in of coins from Edessa the Jaziran presence corpus, a phenomenon at Jerash and Pella. repeated 54
Figures based on A. R. Bellinger, Coins
from Jerash, 1928-1934 (New York, 1938); T. de Gerasa Marot, Las monedas delMacellum (Yaras, Jordania): Aproximacion a la circu lacion monetaria en laprovincia de Arabia (Madrid, 1998); see also Walmsley, "Production,
Exchange
336-37.
340
ALAN WALMSLEY
and Regional Trade,"
55
G. C. Miles,
Coins,"
"Catalogue of Islamic in The Excavations at Herodian
Jericho, 1951, ed. J. B. Pritchard 1958), 29-41
(also accessible
www.links.jstor.org).
(New Haven,
athttp://
Fig- *5 Coin percentages from the excava tion of a large building at Herodian Jericho from J. B. Pritchard, The
atHerodianJericho, 1951[New
likewise
Hoards
reflect the wider
of post-reform
cal origins
geographi "S^K*
coinage.
Umayyad
While often themost prolificmints predomiin the case of dir-
nate, for instance Wasit
of the hoards
the balance
hams, a wide
/v?y
had
f?
of thedirhams in While three-quarters theSilverHoard ofDamascus came from 18 percent were products and of mints from Spain to Afghanistan A accidental Armenia.56 mid-eighth-century hoard of dirhams
%%0
\
^
at Jerash recently recovered
was similarlydominated by theWasit mint, butwith complementaryissuesfromthe restof the eastern Islamic empire, which was
^
regionof origin. / Material
If \\
\ TheVisibility EighthCentury ofthe
0
^_
V^-P
its likely
Culture: \ <
* *$
V. ^l||i?f^ I \
almost
Wasit,
I(
/
as their source.
range of mints
Jj
\ yf=
) ^;^
I
The growingdependence on locallyproduced pot-
\
tery in the seventh century encouraged the growth of town-based ceramic industries. By the start of the
\
throughout much of it, locally were domi as to imports, opposed as revealed in their nant in the representation overwhelming region, in the excavated ceramic corpora. Production increasingly extended
and eighth century, manufactured wares,
o
I
ZZ~~~~M~~ io cm 5 Fig. 16 Umayyad style:mid-eighth-century red painted wares from Pella
of plain coarse cooking and storage wares to beyond themanufacture the development of aesthetically pleasing decorated wares including thewares also show greater the greater use of paint.57 Technologically on the part of the artisans, with fabrics, superior well-levigated ability
manipulation
of the potter's wheel resulting in ultra-thin wares, and temperature control in the kilns. Palestinian Fine Table
sophisticated Ware approaches
painted products Most remarkable
white its apogee, while even the more mundane from Jerash reflect technical skill and are attractive. is the abrupt appearance
$6 Figures from the detailed study in M. Abu-1-Faraj al-Ush, The Silver Hoard 1972). (Damascus, ofDamascus 57
inA. Walmsley, "Tradition, and Imitation in theMaterial
Reviewed
Innovation, Culture
of Islamic Jordan: The First Four
Centuries," Archaeology F. Zayadine,
in Studies in theHistory and ofJordan, vol. 5, ed. K. 'Amr,
of a highly
the Social History
sophisticated
of Early Islamic Jordan:
The Example of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl)," Al-'Usural-Wusta 9 (1997): 1-3,12; Sodini and Villeneuve, "Le Passage de la ceramique byzantine a la ceramique omeyyade"; R. Schick, "Palestine in the Early Islamic Period: Luxuriant Legacy," Near Eastern Archaeology 61, 2 (1998): 74-108, at 90-94.
and M. Zaghloul (Amman, "Ceramics and
1995), 657-68; Walmsley,
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
341
ware
in red abstract from well Made painted designs.58 on a fast wheel, the jars, jugs, plates, bowls, and cups clay
boldly
prepared
reacha peak in rangeand qualityduring the secondhalf of theeighth
is still unknown, but century (fig. 16). The main center of production in north Jordan, Red Painted Ware find-sites the of given clustering area around Amman. One coarser was in the Balqa probably made are known from at was manufactured Jerash.59 Examples cup type as far away as the Hawran km distant.
and north and central Palestine,
over 150
the coin data, ceramic profiles of the mid-eighth century continue to display strong continuity in local styles, distribution net some in the works, and perhaps cultural preferences. While changes cen are in of the first ceramics the decades of total corpus perceptible Unlike
tury, notably the cessation of Fine Ware imports and the appearance new some and distribution local types, continuity of production of is based on earlier-seventh-century apparent throughout Syria styles to Not until the end of the century, Palestine, from Dehes Aqabah. or the of the ninth, is there a major overhaul of ceramic beginning
and culturally driven from outside the preferences, technologically a break with the past, these representing significant region. While limits of this nevertheless lie outside the chronological developments current
paper.60
is revealed by iron extent of a local metalworking industry common recovery the at Caesarea, and and Pella, Jerash, workshops as iron digging and cutting tools, implements such by excavation of continued at torch bases, and numerous nails. Glass manufacturing The
bowls, beakers, flasks, and dishes displaying a out of sixth-century Byzantine forms.61 As with the style evolving
a
level, with
popular
58
A.-J. Amr, "Umayyad Painted Pottery
Bowls from Rujm al-Kursi, Jordan," Berytus
Daviau
34 (1986): 145-59; M. Gawlikowski, "Ceramiques byzantines et omayyades
de
Jerash," inMeyza and Mlynarczyk, Hellenistic and Roman Pottery in theEastern 83-86 (above, n. 26). for instance, the common
59
Note,
near Madaba Complesso
of thisware at Umm (E. Alliata,
di Santo Stefano a Umm
Rasas," Liber Annuus M. Piccirillo Mayfa'ah
al-Rasas
"Ceramica
342-
ALAN WALMSLEY
Roman and Islamic Amman,
vol. 1,The
Mrs C.-M. Bennett and Other of
in the Islamic East Mediterranean,"
Evidence," BASOR
271 (1988): 51-67.
Decapolis,"
J.-B. Humbert,
"Arguments chronologiques pour expliquer le declin de Khirbet Es Samra et de Mafraq: Des jarres, du vin et
"Palestine
des images," inVilleneuve andWatson, La ceramique byzantine, 249-61. 60 See, preliminarily, Walmsley,
du second millenaire
Umm al-Rasas?
Excavations,
"Tradition,
Innovation,
and Imitation
61
M. O'Hea,
"The Glass
ARAM
Industry of the
4 (1992): 253-64;
Schick,
in the Early Islamic Period," 94 95 (above, n. 47); also the papers inLa route du verre: ateliers primaires et secondaires ed. M.-D.
in
329-31
"Khirbat al (above, n. 14); D. Whitcomb, The Ceramic Mafjar Reconsidered:
Investigations (Oxford, 1992), esp. fig. 131; and at Khirbat Samra, just north ofAmman:
(Jerusalem, 1998); H. R. Moses onMount Schneider, TheMemorial of
1967-1997
La ceramique
of Antiquity?," inVilleneuve andWatson, La ceramique byzantine, 305-13; Walmsley, "Production, Exchange and Regional Trade
al
and E. Alliata, Mount
Nebo: New Archaeological
Dilemma,"
Culture of Islamic Jordan";
Excavations
I: Gli Scavi del Complesso di Santo [Jerusalem, 1994], 282-86); Mount
Stefano Nebo: M. Piccirillo
andWatson,
in Villeneuve
"Umayyad Period Lamps
theMaterial
Walmsley, "Turning East: The Appearance in Jordan?The End of Islamic Cream Wares
dal
41 [1991]: 365-422;
and E. Alliata,
and M. Beckmann.
Painted Pottery and Abbasid at Tell Jawa: A Chronological
byzantine etproto-islamique, 259-74 (above, n. 25); Amman: A. Northedge, Studies on
Mediterranean, occurrence
Nebo, part 3, The Pottery (Jerusalem, 1941), 25-26; Tell Jawa south ofAmman: P. M.
Nenna
av.J.-C. au Moyen Age, (Lyon, 2000), and the
aux graffiti at workshop in theMaison mentioned earlier (above, n. 44).
Apamea
WFig. 17 Copper
alloy brazier of themid
eighth century from Fidayn, displaying strong Coptic influences in its imagery (Archaeological Museum, Amman, by the author.)
Jordan.
Photograph
ceramics, not until
the early ninth century does glass in the region a exhibit significant shift away from late antique styles by the adop tion of new shapes and decorative techniques.
The recovery ofmore prestigious objects during the course of exca extent of in the vation reveals the eighth widening interregional trade century. Steatite bowls, lamps, incense burners, and small containers, often intricately decorated with incised abstract designs, have been
but especially in southern Syria-Palestine, which is not so surprising given the proximity of this region to the steatite quarries of the The high status of steatite bowls is Hijaz.62 reflected in the production of a local ceramic version, with imitative found
in many
locations
inventive white ledge handles and incised decoration externally but on interior. Valuable silk cloth in a and red painted decoration the weaves remains uncov is known from the rare carbonized variety of in the level at Pella.63 Metal destruction mid-eighth-century were also manufactured from copper alloy widely traded?a goods fenestrated brazier from Pella displays obvious Coptic affinities, as ered
box-brazier from an eighth-century palatial magnificent at its overtly late antique Coptic Fidayn (Mafraq) with complex scenes "romp" (fig. 17).64 does
the
Especially atAqabah (D.Whitcomb, Ay la: Art and History in the Islamic Port of Aqaba [Chicago, 1994], 27-28); and also 62
Amman
(G. L. Harding,
"Excavations on
the Citadel, Amman," AAJord 1 [1950]: 7 14),with quarries located inland from theRed in the northwest Hijaz (seeA. Kisnawi, P. de Jesus, and B. Rihani, "Preliminary Report on theMining Survey, Sea port of al-Hawra
Northwest Hijaz,
1982,"Atlal 7 [1983]: 76-83).
63
Full study inG. M. Eastwood, inPella inJordan 2:
"The Pella Textiles,"
The Second Interim Report of theJoint University ofSydney and College of Wooster Excavations
at Pella
1982-198$,
and Archaeology ofJordan, vol. 6, Landscape Resources and Human Occupation inJordan throughout theAges, ed. G. Bisheh, M. Zaghloul, and I. Kehrberg (Amman, 345-51, at 349, with references.
1997),
ed. A. W. McNicoll,
J.Hanbury-Tenison, et al. (Sydney, 1992), 257-65. A. Walmsley, "Land, Resources and 64 Industry in Early Islamic Jordan (Seventh Eleventh Century): Current Research and Future Directions," in Studies in theHistory
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
343
^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bi^MBBB!l^^r:i^
^^^^^^^^^^Br^PHp09^^3l^^^^9BK^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bn^^3
^^^^^^^^^^^BGiSiifllB^tf^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^Bfl^^^^^^^^BBii^^.
B^^H^^if?
~^^^^^^^^^^^HB?F ^^^^^^^^^EEL
nH^^r^
^^dl^HLiJ^^s^HBK
'jr^^^^HBHSSr^:-^^8|^^B^^i^^^^^B(
MJfrJl^^BJBJ^^WHBBBHMBBBfflBl^rTBB
./ *:':' .
Settlement: Urban Regeneration and Rural Growth or
thirty years ago, any discussion of the urban setting in Syria on a during the eighth century would have focused history of surviving monuments the Damascus Great of (notably Mosque
Twenty Palestine
* * if ^^^^^^^^HBf 'v^^fl^H^B' ^^B
of the Rock in Jerusalem) town the classical from a rigid checkered or the relative merits tortuous madinah,
and the Dome
and the transformation
Fig. 18 The suq at Palmyra of linear shops prefaced with a portico
of
to an anarchic
and "polis" of the "spontaneous" and the "created" city.65Today, fortunately, much more can be discussed, us to step aside for now from the overburdened issue of the allowing transformation. polis-to-madinah The continuing commercial
towns in the significance of eighth to in the deliberate refurbish their eco century attempt nomic infrastructure, a move initiated at the highest levels of gov is revealed
ernment. The
clearest expression of renewal can be seen in the wide construction of market streets within the existing towns of spread
Syria-Palestine, including Baysan, Arsuf, Rusafah, Jerash, Tabariyah, and Palmyra. The extent, both in size and distribu geographical tion, of improvements in the infrastructure of towns suggests itwas event. On occasion, the usual, rather than an exceptional existing streets were
insertion of redesigned by the shops along their length, as seen at one hundred clearly Palmyra (over shops; fig. 18), Jerash,
344
ALAN WALMSLEY
6?
Such as A. H. Hourani,
"The Islamic
City in the Light of Recent Research," in The Islamic City: A Colloquium, ed. A. H. Hourani 9-24;
and S. M. I.M. Lapidus,
Stern (Oxford, 1970), ed.,Middle
Eastern
Cities (Berkeley, 1969), and Kennedy, "From Polis toMadina: Urban Change in Late and Antique Early Islamic Syria" (above, n. 44), all pioneering works nonetheless.
and Baysan.66 In other instances, completely new market streets were constructed within the infra structure of a town. The market
street in the center
_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_B^,|k:?_^_J^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_J
built at the order of the active and long fitted seamlessly into the serving caliph Hisham, existing classicizing urban vista, with colonnaded
of Baysan,
and rows of adjoining porticos, walkways, shops were west on added the side of (fig. 19).67 Shops street as themain axial of Jerash part of the towns with a mosque (fig. 20). in the urban foundations eighth century, there were only a few in Syria-Palestine,
embellishment New of which
also reveal the importance of markets. Shops lined the axial cross-streets of Aylah (al-Aqabah), while at
in the Biqa valley strategically positioned between Damascus the and ports of Beirut midway and Sidon, the urban prominence of the market Anjar,
becomes
place both
clear, with
sides of monumental
had previously Islamic" urban
been
linear streets
seen as a
shops flanking (fig. 21).68What
_________BBP^^^^^^
Niiy^^iit^' jSB____________________________i
^^^^^BEaHBBrati7P%';^'^^ _________________BH_*^ f-^itfto**ilBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBI ^^^^H^^Bff^ ^^^"v^9|_______________________I * _______B^\^ * "i________________________ ________________?1_C<<~a ^^__^__^__^__^__^__^_B ________K|^;i|_^__^__________|^B
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
BhI^S^;-
BaVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBVaBBB^^^B^J1
-^^^bbb^bbbm ^^^bbYbbYbb
BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^BBB^BHaBll^^%? Ibb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^bBHbb^^^ ___________________________________________________ijsPj_? BBBaaBaaBBBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBBBBaM^jC^&f
"un disconcerting created doubt great initially as to the correct of but foundation, dating Anjar's tone
streets that charac today the colonnaded market terize the site fit into the known urban environment unsurprisingly in the of Syria-Palestine eighth century. out onto a square also feature in the Markets facing eighth
century urban environment of Syria-Palestine. Under Hisham, a central court was erected at Rusafah, L-shaped market flanking
Fig. 19 Detail of the fallen portico of the suq at Baysan (Scythopolis), constructed ca. 736-43 and destroyed in 749
an
link
and church.69 Similarly, the citadel complex of Amman ingmosque was a market in square (actually slightly rhomboidal equipped with a to accommodate street between shape, layout) placed larger palace court behind a and mosque, with linear shops the portico lining 66
example is the best F. M. Stepniowski, As'ad and (K. reported "The Umayyad Suq in Palmyra," DM 4 The Palmyrene
[1989]: 205-23). 67
E. Khamis,
"Two Wall Mosaic
Inscriptions from theUmayyad Market Place in Bet Shean/Baysan," BSO[A]S 64 (2001):
159-76; Y. Tsafrir and G. Foerster,
at Scythopolis-Bet Shean in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries," DOP 51
"Urbanism
(1997): 85-146 at 138-40. The market street was at firstmistakenly attributed to the inscription detailed the article by Khamis. foundation
R. Hillenbrand,
Islamic Urbanism,"
" Anjar and Early in The Idea and Ideal
69
T. Ulbert,
Westhofbereich Resafa," DM
of the Town between Late Antiquity and theEarly Middle Ages, ed. G. P. Brogiolo and B.Ward-Perkins (Leiden, 1999), 59-98;
im "Beobachtungen der Grofien Basilika von
6 (1997): 403-16,
plates 72-76.
D. Whitcomb,
"TheMisr of Ayla: Settlement at al-Aqaba in the Early Islamic Period," in The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near
East, vol. 2, Land Use and Settlement Patterns
(Papers of the Second Workshop on Late Antiquity and Early Islam), ed. G. R. D. King and A. Cameron (Princeton, 1994), 155-70.
sixth century until the discovery of the mosaic
68
in
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
345
o
io
20
30m g^?-S^^___M=====_
mmmm^m^ __Z^ P '~EB ^^QF^^PT^I
I
%n2hmrmiwii^^^lJIJ^i^M^^
/C^v \Jk
-A IzzffiT^Tw^^^^^^vr^ I iflfrxs/x>
Il^S^vl
??'??--?Q--?-?tl?u?ti?L South Decumanus
'
i
BB
BUS mmm
I mam
Tetrakionia
_
' " ^l/M^^^^n^L o ^'''' ilJtlJlW^m^k ^\ J^LrlL Mi
\\ \l_JL u 1'-'I
_
[]
Fig. 20
Plan of central Jerash in themid
eighth century, showing the inserted mosque
and relatedcommercial structures, including newsnoPsabuttingthemosque'seastwall (planby IanSimpson)
Viewoftheshops, and sidewalk, Pig-21 colonnades
at Anjar, Lebanon
^^^
' -.._ ____________-/-~ j_3_H___SilKaiiFv .- f'^flfiWaaWBapi^'** -' - .1 LirijJlM-;?y^ Bi wa*aB*aB;:''.: I --*
\
____BB^BBaBBBrB^BBBBBBBBBirwl^^ |Bhh^B^BU^^HB^HB|^B J_B| ^BB^ll^BHBBB^sSBBBsflBIH^ frW^W^ BBf*^5^fe** ^ _________________________H^?^__^^1_B BB^^BHfl'fl'fl'fllflBEBVB^BBflBflBflra^BmBi ^''S^-V____l ^BlB -* tl 1i 1 B ' B'BBWaBWB BlIll^BEfff vJW**S\\"\ |^Bjn ^BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBBK^BB'':BBB B ^BBBB*aBdBaB^BiMilLMBBi'lt.i / >v ('saBIbbB" bB fl_________________________________B________ia___B BBB*aB,aB,a,a,aBBBBB,aBBBBfBBBB B' B JaBgaB,BBliBaB,aBBffilllJiP Lit 1 _B Bit IBB** ^ abB BaflaaBaflaflaflaflaflBBfaBaflaBaBBBBBBbbB BafflBBaflaflaflBBiBBBaflaflaBWlK FIt V B 'B^L BB^B^BB^B^BB^B^BB^bBbBbH ^M BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBBBBBBBBBBUFii ff I B B"^ jfl
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B_^bb^bbb^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^bH^bbI
II 1 i:"?B'B
B
^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^AJ
^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ibbb1b_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BbbbBbbBbbBML.:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B_f
BBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIBBIB
346
ALAN WALMSLEY
'
v>'
'"
'''Ibb
,Jb
'
> ^ 3b BB*
- - *8bm*f*l'
wM _1
^^^
& 1
aJ| 1
^^
Siiiital
P"-^ IIII
l
B>E^i ^^^Jl
^^^^^^^ B^^^B
II
I"
Fig. 22 The suq square, Amman Citadel, 73os to 74os (fromA. Almagro and I.Arce,
_"
"TheUmayyadTownPlanningof theCitadel ofAmman,"fig.2)
^^p^T"'1^11^^ 1- 4>aiM4
to the cathe At Pella the (fig. 22).70 seventh-century market adjacent in use until the dral church continued earth mid-eighth-century two were erected on new quake, after which adjoining complexes town of the north shattered ground post-Classical (figs. 23 and 24).71
a caravansery, with a central complex resembled prominent court flanked with areas, storage rooms, and shops, manufacturing were the habitation zones. These primarily commercial complexes first and most prominent structures in the town replaced following in the earthquake of 749, size any mosque that may overshadowing
Each
have been built. A. Almagro and I. Arce ("The Umayyad Town Planning of the Citadel in Studies in theHistory ofAmman," 70
and Archaeology ofJordan, 7 [Amman, 2001], 659-65) give a brief review of the archi tectural features, emphasizing square and market (662).
the central
71
A. Walmsley,
Economic
"The Social and at Fihl (Pella) and
Regime Neighbouring Centres, Between the 7th and 9th Centuries," in Canivet and Rey Coquais, 249-61
La Syrie de Byzance (above, n. 21).
a ITslam,
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
347
M
I ^^^ IvH
?
IH
V
"
'B
p
p
1,111 " '^ I I
N l
pjt
furnaces| ^ ^^^B
Bill
I m.^^^^^^m^^^^^^^M
and commerce had, from their seventh-century Manufacturing into major economic activities in towns antecedents, expanded a on local by the eighth century. As noted earlier, growing reliance production and coarse,
(U Projected features
_J? HBl^^^^^^^^^-^
V
-
.
g||
^^ ^^ C\
^^^^^^^^^^_l^^staircase
M
_ _B
COURTYARD
J
El
UNEXCAVATED
H
portico
STREET ^amm^B bench
*
I
|$
'
H
M
UNEXCAVATED
Fig. 23 Plan of the excavated section of the double caravansery complex at Pella, second half of the eighth century
centers for the provision of all classes of ceramics, fine the establishment of factory-like potting encouraged in disused sectors of towns. At ten Baysan, updraft kilns
complexes with associated the defunct
areas and storeroom were installed within preparation theater, and other kilns established elsewhere.72 At Jerash,
a similar factory-scale pottery workshop a of the temple of Artemis, including
was
built in the compound huge stone-built kiln (fig. 25), with many other kilns in the nearby north theater.73 Kilns built to an industrial level were also excavated at Busra, while evidence for was also identified at Caesarea, and production al-Raqqah, in Madinat al-Far north Syria, among other places, suggesting that a towns on had local potting many industry. Textile production a commercial scale is evidenced by the substantial conversion of a ceramic
72
R. Bar-Nathan
Center
and G. Mazor,
"City
(South) and Tel Iztabba Area;
Excavations
of the Antiquities
Authority
Expedition," inExcavations and Surveys in Israel n: The Bet Shean Excavation Project (1989-1991)
348
(Jerusalem, 1993), 33-51, at
ALAN WALMSLEY
36-38; Tsafrir and Foerster, "Urbanism at Scythopolis-Bet Shean in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries," 132,138. 73
R. Pierobon,
within
"The Italian Activity
the Jerash Archaeological
1982-83. Archaeological
Research
Project, in the
Sanctuary of Artemis. 2: theArea of the inJerash Archaeological Project, vol. 1,1981-83, ed. F. Zayadine (Amman,
Kilns,"
1986), 185-87; J. Schaefer and R. K. Falkner, "An Umayyad
Potters' Complex in the North Theatre, Jerash," in ibid., 411-35.
' BfeifiB^SBIiH^IHH^^^^^^^I^^'S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^Hm^^^^ ^^^^^^^^BMj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M^^piiy*^ ngwr "4'J^#-
BI^B^^HBI^^HHHiHIBI^^H^HBBHK'f
~fj^^^^^3HBIiil^HB^H^BBI^B^BBB^^^IHIHI^HBII^^^IIBBBP%
at
a work into a Baysan factory with pools and area, probably for the manufacture of linen from local flax, while a was uncovered at cloth dyeing plant Tabariyah. Another important was was A site of industry glass blowing. major production al-Raqqah, as flux, where in the use of experimentation technological plant ash perhaps enforced by the increasing shortage of natron from Egypt, was a feature of the eighth and ninth centuries.74 disused
bathhouse
^-jBfc'^Jlilfe *T^^Hb li|il|uk
Fig. 24 Rooms flanking the central courtyard of the eastern caravansery complex at Pella, looking southward; additions and rebuilding indicate an extended period of occupation
a few examples have been at an presented?recent archaeology ever-growing number of early an advanced level Islamic urban sites has demonstrated categorically As
the above material
shows?and
only
of economic
which
activity in Syria-Palestine during the eighth century, in a the production and exchange of commodities played promi
nent part. Did, however, this economic hyperactivity is Of this there little doubt. countryside?
extend into the
In recent years, our of ceramic improvements in understanding in the first Islamic centuries have horizons advanced the greatly 74
J-Henderson,
Scientific Evidence
"Archaeological and for the Production of
Early Islamic Glass in al-Raqqa, Syria," Levant 31 (1999): 225-40; J.Henderson, S. D. McLoughlin, "Radical Changes
and D. S. McPhail,
Technology: Evidence for Conservatism and Experimentation with New Glass Recipes Raqqa,
from Early and Middle
Islamic
Syria" Archaeometry 46 (2004):
439-68.
in Islamic Glass
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
349
of settlement profiles and recognition in the countryside. resource exploitation for where surveys, properly Regional identified have mulated, successfully in themany Islamic occupation zones of environmental Syria-Palestine, extensive
River valley ranging from the Balikh of north Syria to the dry desert steppe of south Palestine earlier). (as noted is not entirely the picture However, consistent. In certain areas the number and,
in some cases,
size of sites seem to
in other substantially, whereas areas a downturn in site occupation seems to have occurred. In very general an in of increase number the terms, increase
in river valleys, a loss of settlement level
_^__^__^_||_^__^__Bi|^__^__BV
^^^^^^^H^^^HBl
Baf^BB-jBaBaBMBaM :^_________lfJrl^ J_^_____B
wjSf&k B_S_S?fPl|fiii9f3 a____J____a__y^p_pWB_|HP^^p ^Iffllfllf^^ ^^a&jBBgp BB^MM^B^^BBEBmbPB |^BB-ia-^^^?'-'f ^___P^^J^^^Kl?fef
'*"*^ ^ ~ % rf -**'-'^nSr g*PJWBr -*y_^__J- *lu' _jyf_t[i ' ^l^__BBBatlm BWT
^?5feii_^l ^*fe^^^^BiP^^ "^gMJaBBBlP^BB_-PS^Si_^A^^ll,y
sites occurred
occupied while there was in the more
rugged
mountainous
zones.
this settlement
aaf^w^aSBBBBB"B"BBBBay^iig?_8m^? BMP^^PS?i^?^^^BBRBBlBBBQaTi_^N^^^ri Jij_iJBB^SpB~fjin~B~~y nTWJHan
Hv^^StBaaBiBBHI4 __Tjji_f_?__f_f___^_H_^__n_H^ _*
*" alii--'- - ** _. __Jf^__f|_S 5. rs^ '-'flflyPTT. j i jbisbl i ** . Tziji.Ljtirtrn_~l~T k^r&NiBBjiBJ?^44_jfl
the establishment
following state that territori spanned to Spain. Since the 1980s, ally from India on the work of Andrew Watson agricul
of an Islamic
tural changes brought about by the spread of new crops from the East after Islamic
? *-^
-^&3&saa_UB ?---* _
shift
Conventionally has been explained as the result of agricul tural changes brought about by a "green revolution"
<%_ia2Lii
afaBBBH^MaBBKMB,aaB,BBalSBHB"/
% rsW*S_g w__^i___i
* **____&. 1""^_|<_1S
*!-< b* ':^vi___i__| P^9___________________l____________________^ * ^hHHwBp3 ^ ^^^4n:! sI9BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJBBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbB_^^_m_w '-^:JHBaaBaaBaaBaaBaaBBaaaBaaBaaBaaaaBaaBBRMnMi >- ?_* ' ST^. '* ~ JfifiB* *]&_ $afl_________________B______^___________B______|
y^KaBnBB^B^B^B^B^BB^B^B^B^BB^B^BlB^B^BHBVk
f'' ^5r '*9^Bh!
Bb^^^b^bb^b^bb^b^bb^b^bbI^bBb^^^bbI^ : ^\Jb
%^BiP_a ^^^^^^^^y____________^__________________________[_______^!jL*? ^Sp\*w9 ^BBBBVaBVaBVaBVaBLa^vBBHBBBVflBBaBVBBaB^^Bw
expansion has been gener sometimes embraced.75 However, very recent enthusiastically ally and in the middle Euphrates work on settlement and land exploitation on the causal connection has cast significant doubt region of Syria between the arrival of Islam and the introduction of new agriculture. of the so-called "revo An archaeobotanical study suggests that many a more as that rice and hard wheat permitted lutionary" crops such intensive use of the land seem to predate the arrival of Islam.76 Rather,
at Jerash in the Fig. 25 Potters' workshop forecourt of the temple of Artemis, with a stone-built, industrial-sized kiln (to right) and adjacent workrooms. Note the thick ash and waste deposits in the center foreground, leftof the kiln stoke hole.
interrelated causes may have been more instrumental in the growth of the rural economy: the digging of long irrigation canals and the acquisition and foundation of large farm estates owned by b. members of the ruling Umayyad family. In north Syria, Maslamah two other
75
A. M. Watson,
"AMedieval
Green
Revolution: New Crops and Farming in Techniques in the Early IslamicWorld," The IslamicMiddle East, 700-1900: Studies in Economic and Social History, ed.A. L. Udovitch (Princeton, 1981),29-58; A. M. Watson,
350
ALAN WALMSLEY
in theEarly Islamic Agricultural Innovation World: TheDiffusion ofCrops and Farming
moyenne vallee de l'Euphrate,fin VHe-XIXe siecle: Region de Deir ez Zor-Abu Kemdl,
Techniques, 700-1100 (Cambridge, 1983). D. Samuel, "Archaeobotanical 76
Syrie:Mission Mesopotamie
Evidence
inPeuplement rural hydroagricoles dans la
and Analysis,"
et amenagements
syrienne, archeo ed. S. Berthier 1986-1989, logie islamique, (Damascus,
2001), 347-81.
Abd
al-Malik, governor between
709 and 719, dug canals sourced from
theBalikh and Euphrates riversto irrigatefields,therebyincreasing
both agricultural productivity and land values. Likewise, a canal was at the Khabur also dug in the middle Euphrates region, beginning River and extending southward for 50 km. As a result, twenty-six new villages
were founded.
a similar scenario can be Perhaps proposed for the Jordan Valley, a hot and water-rich zone 200 and 400 m below sea lying between level. Itwas not the arrival of new crops, but the agricultural improve ments set in the the that resulted Umayyads, instigated by spread of tlement on the valley floor, in spite of its oppressive heat in summer. At Jericho and around Tabariyah, of the ing large holdings Umayyads al-Minyah
new estates were
founded
includ
(Khirbat Mafjar near Jericho and for instance), while numerous small established between Lake Tiberias and
north of Tiberias, were
agricultural villages the Dead Sea, many
of which were
to be continuously occupied for some new hundred Such eight years.78 farming opportunities may on the Jordan side have drawn farmers from the scarp of the valley studies suggest, land where, geomorphological degradation caused by and erosion, over-cropping, possibly increasing drought had stripped much of the land of itsproductive soil.79 Along with agriculture, the exploitation of natural resources was in the rural zones
expanded Aqabah
in theWadi
Arabah,
of Syria-Palestine. For instance, near were founded to a common villages
six
were based on industrial activities such plan, the economies ofwhich as and copper smelting, pottery making, and shell working.80 Mines were also iden nearby smelting camps, mostly processing copper ore, tified, as were
estates to feed the agricultural village occupants. The ordered nature of the village layouts and the considerable investment to these industries suggest the involvement of a required develop single group, probably prosperous provincial leaders located inAqabah. The
new
77
opportunities
in and
increasing reliability of archaeological and surveys in the last three decades present to evaluate and characterize settlement profiles
rapid growth data from excavations
S. Berthier, in Berthier, ed.,
Peuplement
rural et amenagements
Mediterranean
hydroa
gricoles, 164-66, 418-22. A. Walmsley, 78 "Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Jordan and the Crusader Interlude," in The Archaeology MacDonald,
ofJordan, ed. B. R. Adams, and P. Bienkowski
(Sheffield, 2001), 515-59, at 525-26, noting the unreliability of past survey work. See J. Bintliff, "Time, Process and 79 Catastrophism
in the Study of
Alluvial History: A Review," World Archeology 33, 3, AncientEcodisasters (2002): 417-35; K. W. Butzer, "Environmental History in the Mediterranean World: Cross-Disciplinary Investigation of Cause-and Effect forDegradation and Soil Erosion," Journal (2005):
ofArchaeological 1773-800;
Science 32,12
J.Koder,
"Climate
in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries?,"
Change in The Sixth Century, End
ed. P. Allen 270-85;
and E. Jeffreys (Brisbane, 1996), also B. Lucke, M. Schmidt, et al.,
"The Abandonment Region
of theDecapolis inNorthern Jordan?Forced
Environmental International
by
Change?"Quaternary 135,1 (2005): 65-81, but
perhaps overstated to some extent. 80 U. Avner and J.Magness, "Early Islamic Settlement in the Southern Negev," BASOR
310 (1998): 39-57.
or Beginning?
ECONOMY,
SETTLEMENT
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE,
565-800
35I
and land use in the towns and countryside of Syria-Palestine in the eighth century. Earlier concepts of general urban and rural decline
more com have been replaced by more challenging and considerably new in with and which continuity plex questions dealing change, to causal agents are explain the social transformations of the sought
age based on verifiable and statistically adequate data. Like the sev enth, the eighth century was not a time of monotonous decline, but success as well as failure. progressive settlement change marked by
TheEconomic Basis ofSeventh and Eighth-Century Syria-Palestine
the last thirty years on the of Syria archaeology in the later sixth and seventh centuries has Palestine significantly an economy in decline, seen view the of once-accepted questioned to the in part as a contributory factor supposed "easy" conquest of the region. Coinage, ceramics, and settlement profiles depict, rather,
New
work
over
an economic
the political and that successfully weathered The of relative soundness of the seventh century. military disruptions the economy at the end of the seventh century gave crucial support to Abd al-Malik during the succession dispute with Ibn Zubayr, and fol its resolution Abd al-Malik s reforms were to ensure decades lowing In the of continuing economic prosperity in Syria-Palestine. eighth resilience
century, a standardized coinage ensured monetary confidence, town based industries were built up on a major scale to supply regional markets, while improvements to the infrastructure of agriculture? rather than the introduction natural
resources
promoted the economy had changed, bringing significant shifts in and rural settlement patterns, but had not, to any significant
centuries, urban
extent, failed. ?
352
the exploration of of new crops?and settlement in the countryside. Over two
University
ALAN WALMSLEY
ofCopenhagen
The Amorium Project: Excavation and Research in 2003 Author(s): C. S. Lightfoot, O. Karagiorgou, O. Koçyiğit, H. Yaman, P. Linscheid, J. Foley Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 353-385 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472054 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
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http://www.jstor.org
TheAmoriumProject:Excavation andResearch in2003 C. S. Lightfoot, O. Karagiorgou, O. Ko^yigit, H. Yaman, P. Linscheid, and J.Foley HE
Tf
campaign
sixteenth
at Amorium
of work
took
12 August, with almost perfect place summer weather The team comprised twenty throughout.1 four archaeologists, conservators, and students from seven different between
30 June and
assisted by a workforce of twenty-two local men.2 Heavy was also provided by themayor of Emirdag earth-moving equipment to assist with the removal of site. Excavation spoil heaps from the
countries,
1 area focused on the Lower City Enclosure (figs. and 2), where pre were first was in 1996 and a liminary sondages geophysical survey dug in earnest in 1998 and contin carried out in 1997.3Work there began
seasons.4 The present campaign was intended as the final year of a recent results have five-year plan, but encouraged us to in the Enclosure.5 At the Lower excavations the further expand
ued in the 2000-2002
City Church, where excavation ceased in 2002, the program of con servation was carried forward with increased vigor and resulted in that went well
the successful beyond expectations. With two volumes of final reports at completion of during 2002-3,6 work on the Dig House concentrated the study of other groups of finds,
progress
notably
the metalwork,
bone objects,
i
For other preliminary reports on the season, see C. S. Lightfoot, "Amorium 2003," AnatArch 9 (2003): 18-19; C. Lightfoot, O. Ko^yigit, and H. Yaman, "Amorium Kazilan 2003," 26.KazSonTop 24-28Mayis 2004, Konya (Ankara, 2005), 1: 249-64. For the first, preliminary publication of an inscription, found at Pessinus in 2003, that refers to "colonists from Amorium,"
see
J.Devreker, L. Bauters, W. de Clercq, W. Dhaeze, K. Braeckman, and P. Monsieur, "Fouilles
archeologiques La campagne de 2003,"
de Pessinonte: in ibid., 1: 89. The
terracottas,
lamps, coins, and
San Diego), Berrin Altas (illustrator), Tugrul CJakar (photographer), Ekaterina Churakova (conservator, Moscow),
Jane Foley (conserva tor,London), Dr. Olga Karagiorgou (Byzantine archaeologist, Athens and Munich),
Serhat Karakaya
(conservator,
Ankara), Yrd. D09. Dr. Ergiin Lafli (cerami cist,Dokuz Eyliil University, Izmir), Mucahide Lightfoot (art historian, N. Bergen, N. J.), Petra Linscheid
(textile expert, Berlin University), Inez Litas (conservator, Chicago), Dr. Paola Pugsley (archaeologist and illustrator,Durham, England), Vicky
inscription is a letter of King Attalus II of Pergamum, dated to the second quarter of
Sears (archaeologist, London), and Dr. Johanna Witte-Orr (Byzantine art historian,
the 2nd century BC, making it the earliest historical document yet known tomention
Farmington,
it clearly indicates that the city was already a place of some importance.
Amorium; 2
The team members were Chris
Lightfoot (director, The Metropolitan ofArt, New York), Yoav Arbel
Museum
(archaeologist, University of California,
Iowa), together with students
Oguz Ko9yigit, Hiiseyin Yaman, Ugur Akabak, Murat ?en, and Aslihan Karagoz (Onsekiz Mart University, (^anakkale), Seher Bayram
(Kutahya Dumlupinar
Ibrahim Ko^ak
University),
(Yildiz Teknik University, and Sedat Oktay
Istanbul), Talat Kocak
(Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar).
3
DOP
9-14; DOP 4
DOP
13-20; DOP
52 (1998): 327-28, figs.A-D and 53 (1999): 334-37, figs. A-F. 55 (2001): 381-94, figs. H-I and 57 (2003): 288-92, figs. B and
13,15-19; DOP
356-63, figs. A-C
58 (2004):
and 1-11;DOP 5
59 (2005): 233-41, figs. 1-3. For brief reports on work in the
in subsequent seasons, see C. Lightfoot, "Amorium 2004," AnatArch 10 (2004): 13;C. Lightfoot, O. Ko9yigit, Enclosure
and H. Yaman,
"Amorium Kazisi,
27.KazSonTop,
30Mayis-3
2004,"
Haziran
200$, Antalya (Ankara, 2006), 1: 77-80, figs. 1-6; C. Lightfoot, "Amorium 2005,"'AnatArch 11 (2005): 31-32; C. Lightfoot andE. Ivison, 12 (2006): 29-30; and M. H. Gates, "Archaeology in Turkey 2004-2005," AJA in (2007): 335-36. 6 M. A. V. Gill (with contributions by "Amorium 2006," AnatArch B. Yildinm
C. S. Lightfoot, E. A. Ivison, and M. T. Wypyski), Amorium Reports, Finds I: The Glass
(1987-1997)
(Oxford, 2002); C. S.
Lightfoot, ed., Amorium Reports II: Research Papers and Technical Studies (Oxford, 2003).
bbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbbVbb BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB*^
iM9I
W^
?P^^j?-! Wm
brick and tile, for publication in further volumes of the Amorium In series.7 addition, the recording, processing, and con monograph servation of material excavated the season were carried out during by various
specialists finds are included
on the team. Some of themost notable
of the 2003
in this the intention preliminary report. However, to a not here is give complete description of the season's excavations but rather a summary of some of the discoveries that were made. A
account of the work in the Lower comprehensive City Enclosure must await a full a more analysis of the finds and general interpreta tion of the various contexts that buildings, occupation layers, and were
uncovered.8
TheLower CityEnclosure, TrenchXC Excavations
were
carried out
to either side of the bathhouse,
con
the trenches that were started in 2001 and tinuing and expanding 2002 In addition, a small area that had not been (fig. 3).9 completely in the southern corner of the bathhouse was excavated to exposed allow
for the drawing ing tile floor in both
354
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
of plans of the entire hypocaust and underly the caldarium and the The roof tepidarium.
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
m
-;
-
-*
iMISS^f i;'
Fig. i General view of the Enclosure Area in the Lower City, looking south. Photo by C. Lightfoot. opposite page Fig. 2 Grid plan of south-east quadrant of the site.Drawing by S. Aydal. Fig. 3 Plan of excavated areas in the Enclosure. Drawing by B. Arubas.
Results from some of this work appear inAmorium Reports 3: Finds Reports and Technical Studies, ed. C. S. Lightfoot and 7
E. A. Ivison (Oxford, forthcoming). 8 For an interim report, see E. A. Ivison, "Excavations 1996-2000,"
of the Lower City Enclosure, inAmorium Reports 3,
forthcoming. The excavation
9
inTrench XC was
directed by Yoav Arbel, assisted by Vicky Sears, and with the help ofMurat ?en and Ibrahim Kocak.
<\~ TV"'*' U
{
W''""^^^^
^ Encl?sureArea
Nl
-^
X
\l
\
\ '*?;
-?-^S
/
+ \\
XB&XC J/\r^ B Trench Lower
V
i V_-^ \ \ C
^x
_ +
D .-r
4.
:4a
City Church + Dig House
E TrenchXM
3\\^\
? 50 m <Sy
?-I|
:
o
r
10
20
30 m
r
"^7_ THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
355
^BBH^B^MBBB^
_______________________________ii______jH
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*****^^*^^**"*******BS*^a"SP^w^BtBBBBBB^
C
p.
D
--d Nv io m o
F A
356
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
_
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
|
FOLEY
^h
^s- ?^ I G
installed over the bathhouse
in the seasons continues to do previous in the from the rav job protecting surviving masonry a few of the ages of the Anatolian winter (fig. 4). However, hypocaust some 2002. was had suffered since It decided, therefore, pilae damage once had all to been in remove documented those situ, they fully to the that were more and vulnerable House for fragile Dig safekeep ing (fig. 5). In conjunction with the drawing plans of details of the
opposite page
an excellent
Fig. 4 General view of the protective roofing over the bathhouse, looking north. Photo by C. Lightfoot. below Fig. 5 A hypocaust^/7^ in the tepidarium of the Lower City bathhouse before removal. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
two other were carried out in projects 2003.10 One was the elevation drawing of the northeast-facing exte rior walls of the entire was the complex (fig. 6), and the other study interior of the bathhouse,
and
reconstruction revetment of marble subsequent panels from fragments found both within and outside the bathhouse (see below, .u P. 366-67) io
Some of this work has already been incorporated into the 2002 preliminary
report because description
see DOP
(2005): 235-37, figs. 4,5. 11 The two projects were undertaken
^^Bi^^S^'^^B
also carried respectively. Dr. Karagiorgou out the examination and identification
itwas relevant to the
of the bathhouse;
59
^^^^^^^BflBSfl^^^^^^SB^v ^^^^^|
of a number of small pieces of imported (mainly Greek) marbles found in the bath house. All of this work will be included in
by
Dr. Paola Pugsley and Dr. Olga Karagiorgou
the final report on the building, which now being prepared for publication.
C
is
D E F
Fig. 6 Elevation of northeast-facing exterior walls of the bathhouse complex. Drawing by P. Pugsley.
??*
?^"*
* -~"~"
H__s->^ %
'h_^_^_p^_^4flS*j*pr
^^^^^^-i-^B|_H^Baai^5__'_|__|_^5_?^^^^^S^*???
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2OO3
357
/
o
The additional
work
with ironclampfrom Fig-7 Brickspacer TrenchXC, Context325.DrawingbyO.
5 cm
one produced unexpected number of terracotta "spacers"
in the bathhouse
of evidence. A
but
n
^^^^^^^^^^B f ^^^^^^^^^^Bif
interesting piece had been recovered from the ash fill inside the hypocaust and warm rooms during the 2002 season.12 This year,
of the hot
during the in a small recess in the southern corner of the ash remaining clearing of the caldarium, several pieces of brick were found. They had been a hole so that crudely shaped, with pierced through the middle, they
or rounded loom one squared weights. However, when was found with an iron or clamp spike still attached through its hole, were in fact it immediately became obvious that these objects "spac resembled
ers," too (fig. 7). Presumably, therefore, during the repair and refur bishment of the bathhouse that appears to have taken place during dark ages, some of the marble revetment on the inte new were needed. Since proper "spacers" replaced and were no it seems that pottery "spacers" longer available,
the Byzantine rior walls was wheel-made the workmen
resorted
to
using pieces
of discarded
brick as conve
nient substitutes. The northeast
excavations
in Trench
of the bathhouse
XC
both
to the west
and
to the
to clarify the stratigraphy, layout, helped structures that had been in the exposed
and dating of the various in previous seasons. The area close to the northeast baulk Enclosure of the new trench (figs. 8 and 9) was particularly fruitful and pro duced some notable individual finds, including a fine copper-alloy
(SF5707), the interior of which still retained substantial traces of surface tinning. The vessel is oval in shape, measuring 42.8 by 37.4 cm at the rim,with a hollow a total splayed foot giving height of 17.3
basin
cm
10 and 11). It is undecorated but has two hinged handles (figs. to attached the sides just below the rim, and the splayed foot was itmore stable. filled with lead to weight the basin down and make Similar handled basins are known from sites as far away as Britain
358
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
12 DOP 59 (2005): 237 and fig. 6; see also O. Kocyigit, "Terracotta Spacers from the Bathhouse at Amorium," AnatSt 56 (2006): 113-25.
o
5m
Fig. 8 Plan of Trench XC east of the Bathhouse. Drawing by B. Arubas. Fig. 9 Section drawing of part of the northeast baulk of Trench XC. Drawing byM. A
-?
' ^~~^
^
........
^^
461 ?
?
^~><-J^L-
-""_"_ _
^
~ / / \/~^^
?
.^^^^^f^rTT^^i^^-~
liPf/fTT// 444/448 77/ / 1/11111/-? ?
I cr^
?
?en and U. Akabak.
B
??
5?L_JtS_^=====> ? _ _ ?S'
-Z^J_^ o
~~" Wal1
O?-465 gg| 3=-=r-
f?~-^=^______
\/ /]
E3
" ^n
Earthfill Yellow
earth layer
Ashlayer Brick
1m
0.5
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
359
Copper
Fig-IO
^mttl^^^^^^^^m^^^^mmmMLa_ in Trench XC, Context :_j___|f|__?_________________
Photo by
^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bk
_f__________B__BPW^^^^ ir ^^PR__jj_____________________Bi^ " -** ** '**-"%^'^W^'^^^BBB^HH^BB^BBbB; BaBBbBPmwj ^* -^ _^|^__BBBF^BVflTflBaflBaflBW _____fB^^^W __?_ ^'^^^^PIiP^^iBmBBB*BB
_* JB^BBBBBfflS?^^
'
'~^^^^BBBB_M_<S_d_i_i^l''B^^BmBB^
"T^J^*"
Pig-11 Copper ? ^1
*
^I^^^^^HHfeBMBB
"O"
\
H
o
5 cm
inAfrica on the and northwest Europe on the one hand, and Nubia to well-known other. They groups of Byzantine metalwork, belong were in rich, ifnot which royal burials. They exported and ended up are
to the late sixth and seventh centuries.13 Few exam usually dated as in the ples, however, have been found within the empire itself and, case of a to be continuity and unifor jugs and flasks, there appears
mity in the production of large, footed basins from early Byzantine times until at least the first half of the ninth century.14 13 M. Mundell Mango, "Beyond the Evidence for Amphora: Non-Ceramic Late Antique Industry and Trade," in Economy and Exchange in theEast Mediterranean Proceedings
360
LIGHTFOOT,
during Late Antiquity: a of Conference at Somerville
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
College, Oxford, 29thMay, 1999, ed. S. and M. Decker (Oxford, 2001),
Kingsley
89-91, figs. 5.4-5. 14 Mundell Mango, Amphora,"
YAMAN,
"Beyond the
93.
LINSCHEID,
alloy basin (SF5707)
AND
FOLEY
alloy basin (SF5707)
foundinTrenchXC, Context444/448.
Drawing
by P. Pugsley.
Fig. 12 Destruction Context 444/448, basin (SF5707) (SF5699)
From
the same layer and found
in close proximity
layer inTrench XC, showing the copper alloy
and one of the iron frames
in situ. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
to the basin
(fig. 12) came two sets of iron frames (SF5696 and $699), hinged
at the middle
so that they could be folded and unfolded.15 Similar as at Sardis in identified objects, folding stools, have been excavated contexts of the as well as in several Byzantine early seventh century, of the tombs at Ballana association
15
with
inNubia.16 At Amorium
a number
of gaming
The first iron frame, SF5696, was
found in Context 414, immediately above Context 444/448.
counters
16
were found in they that clearly formed
J. C. Waldbaum,
Metalwork from
Sardis: The Finds
through 1974 (Cambridge, 1983), 79, nos. 423-24, plates 26-27; W. B. Emery and L. P. Kirwan, The Royal Mass.,
Tombs ofBallana and Qustul, 2 vols. (Cairo, I938)? 359-61, nos. 794-801, plate 95.
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN IOO3
361
a set of black part of
and white
(fig. 13).17
pieces
was found Finally,a roundbronzeweight (SF5757) 487, farther to the southwest. It is of at the center the letters a standard type, bearing T T, indicating itsweight of three uncia (81.11 g), in Context
and around the edge iswrittenXA[PIC] 0EOV,
few discoid weights (fig. 14).18Very con a in clear such have been found archaeological
"Grace of God"
II
text at a Byzantine site.19 Indeed, those with prov enances come mainly from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, to the and and Italy, they belong predominantly period centuries.
between 20
the seventh and
iiaM^^^^^^^^^^B
jnflHBBBH^^^^^SHHH^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^B ^#...;;; j^HH^BBHiHHfHMHH^^^^^^^^H
the early ninth
^ ^iiH^Hi^^llfl^^^^HSIH^KlBHH^^^^^^^^H
of these finds came from layers (Contexts a that also included 451, and 487) 444/448, and broken concentration of burned very large and some roof tiles, bricks (including mud-bricks) All
-^BH^HBHHI^HBfl^^^H
with some sizeable pieces of carbonized together wood, possibly fallen from the upper courses of thewalls or ceiling (figs. 9 and 12).21No coins were to found in these destruction layers help clarify their date, but
it should be noted
that other con
texts, containing more evidence of ash and debris in Trench XB, and found nearer the Enclosure wall
did produce and Theophilos
II (820-29) emperors Michael is required, espe (see below, pp. 370-71).22 Further work (829-42) ceramic material, before it can be positively in of the the study cially in Trenches XC asserted that the ash and destruction layers found are related and contemporaneous.23 and XB coins of the Amorian
17
Five are made
see J.Witte-Orr, Boards,"
of bone, but one is stone;
"Toys, Game
Pieces, and
inAmorium Reports 3, forthcoming
(above, n. 7). 18
C. S. Lightfoot, "Byzantine Weights inAmorium Reports and Related Material," 19
Museum
similar examples in the British are P&E 1938.10-4.30 from Egypt
(weight 80.79 g)> and P&E from the Roper Collection
1980.6-1.53
(weight 78.64 was kindly supplied g). This information by Dr. C.J. S. Entwistle. For others, at Corinth, see also including those found Corinth XII: TheMinor G. R. Davidson, Objects
362
(Princeton,
LIGHTFOOT,
from British Collections 99-100, no. 108. 20
(London,
1994),
1952), 210, nos. 1599
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYiGiT,
"Byzantine Weights," in The Economic History ofByzantium: From
ed. A. Laiou
2002), (Washington, D.C, 2: 612 (with refs.). 21 Samples of oak and cedar, each were subse containing over 100 tree rings, quently taken by Prof. Peter Kuniholm and his team for dating at theMalcolm and Carolyn Wiener Laboratory forAegean and Near Eastern Dendrochronology, Cornell University.
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
Context 451. Photo by C. Lightfoot. Fig. 14 Bronze weight (SF5757) found in the destruction layer inTrench XC, Context 487. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
22
One of the coins found in this trench,
however, has been identified as a copper alloy follis of Theophilos, class i:AM03/ XC428/SF5594;
C. Entwistle,
the Seventh through theFifteenth Century,
3, forthcoming. Two
1602, plate 94; D. Buckton, Byzantium: ofByzantine Art and Culture
Treasures
Fig. 13 Bone gaming counters (SF5648A-D) found in the destruction layer inTrench XC,
AND
FOLEY
28.5-26.1 mm; 6.30 g; -h.
study of the pottery assemblage associated with the burned layers inTrench XB was initiated by Dr. in 2004 and Beate Bohlendorf-Arslan 23
The detailed
will be extended
to include material
the relevant contexts inTrench XC
from in 2005.
Fig-J5 Terracotta lamp (SF5988, length 8*8 cm) f?und inTrench XC, Context 537.
j/\Sh. Y-i-./H^ ^H&; ^\ fasd&^%
''' V J:'$^JL
Drawing
W
by E. Churakova.
a
537) to the west of the bath layer (Context deeper house came the first intact terracotta lamp (SF5988) to be found at 8.8 cm in It was mold-made, measuring with a Amorium.24 length, a in the circular and stub handle projecting nozzle, roughly body, The fabric of the lamp is very poor, form of a raised palmette (fig. 15). a so itmay be a local imitation of a type exem with thin red slip, and From
no close plified by finds from Ephesus, Sardis, and Knidos, although its It probably parallel for design and decoration has yet been found. a to the sixth or that would early seventh century, belongs dating seem to be confirmed were in asso the that sherds found pottery by western sector of ciation with it.Another interesting find from the in 2003 was
Trench XC
an
in brown tufa (Tiy63a, engaged column broken into three sections that were found
b, and T1764). Although in a disorderly tumble, the entire length of the column could be reconstructed. At the bottom it has a squared-off base (T1764) deco rated at the front with a carved geometric pattern; above the plain
rounded shaft(Ti763b) comes another squaredpanel (Ti763a) with
an architectural (figs.
16 and
crosses design comprising double arches enclosing tufa blocks have 17).25A number of similar decorated
no at Amorium, precise dating has previously been noted although been ascribed to them.26 The context of the present find, however, Lightfoot, "Amorium 2003," 19, (above, n. 1). The upper squared section was num 25
For example, a double column (T114) found in the Lower City Church; see E. A. Hendrix, "Painted Polychromy on
bered T1763A,
Carved
24
drum T1763B,
the plain, engaged column and the base section T1764;
all from Trench XC, Context height 2.55m.
521; total
26
Stones from the Lower City Church," inAmorium Reports 2,130,134, plate IX/5 (above, n. 6), where itwas assigned to the 9th-nth centuries. Compare also the
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
decoration
on a tufa tombstone found at
Yedikapi, Kemerkaya, some 25 km southwest of Amorium; see S. ?ahin and M. Uyiimez, "Kemerkaya Yedikapilar Kaya Yerlesimi ve Yeralti Yerlesimi Temizlik C^alismasi," 12. MuzKazSem,
2S-27 Nisan
2001,Kusadasi
(Ankara, 2002), 267, plate 15.
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
363
suggests that these stones belong earlier than the middle Byzantine remains period (late ninth-eleventh century). Their precise dating under
review.
Figs. 16-17 Engaged (T1763A and T1764) Context
column fragments found inTrench XC,
521. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
in both sectors of Trench XC was very com stratigraphy as elsewhere in the Enclosure, there was very little evidence plex but, for any Seljuk or Ottoman occupation. By contrast, the excavations showed that during the Byzantine period the layout of the Enclosure The
over time. put changed radically we encountered Immediately below the topsoil occupation layers cen to the middle ninth-eleventh Byzantine period (late belonging area and
the use
to which
itwas
tury). The buildings, poorly constructed of small rubble masonry, amount of architectural contained a considerable spolia fragments. use The of the structures remains uncertain, but itwould appear that they were principally small from their size and arrangement their irregular layout theywere workshops and storerooms.27 Despite built on well-defined,
substantial
foundations,
and so their overall
was not as as arrangement they might appear. The north haphazard ern little evidence part of the eastern sector of Trench XC produced to excavate itwas of any middle Byzantine structures. Here possible included the building (Context down to an earlier stratum, which
364
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
27
For a similar collection of small
rooms built inside part of the Roman baths at Hierapolis in the "late Byzantine period," see C. ?imsek, "V. Donem Hierapolis Roma Hamami Kazisi," 8.MuzKazSem, 7-9 Nisan 1997,Kusadasi 463-64,
(Ankara, figs. 1-2.
1998), 461-92,
esp.
^EB^fljj^^^^BfiSiili^^
that
480)
contained
^^^^HPBI^^^^^^^^^^I^^^^^HIh^^hBI
the destruction
444/448). layer (Context or channel was side of this structure, a drain Flanking large found running roughly from south to north, following the slope of was stone lined and had 8 the terrain cap (figs. and 18). The channel the west
Fig. 18 Trench XC,
showing large drain or channel, looking west, behind the building (Context 480) that contained the destruc tion layer,Context 444/448.
Photo by C.
Lightfoot.
stone. no surface was identified as that ping blocks also of Although some such of a street, the channel open probably marks the line of to In some addition the fact that of the of this phase, space. buildings to the first half of the ninth century, were provisionally dated clearly itwas apparent that constructed of mud-brick on stone foundations, in some areas
they had been robbed of much of theirmasonry during the later,middle Byzantine suffi phase of occupation. Nevertheless, cient evidence has survived to indicate that a they had completely different layout from that of the middle Byzantine It is buildings. also likely that they served a different function.
a result of the ithas density of the Byzantine occupation, only been possible to penetrate to earlier levels in a few isolated places. a considerable amount ofmaterial has been recovered from Although these deeper soundings, little by way of structures or comprehensible As
overall
layout could be found. For the present
it is
impossible
THE
AMORIUM
to tell
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
365
if this material,
the complete mold-made
terracotta
lamp of the sixth represents early Byzantine occupation and early seventh centuries or belongs to layers containing residual to the earlier dark ages in the second half of the deposits that date described
including
above,
seventh century.
Marble Fragmentsfrom theBathhouse (byO. Karagiorgou)
the 2003 season, work concentrated on processing and study During the marble finds from the 2000, 2001, and 2002 seasons, with ing on the marble found the excavation of the bath emphasis during house (the polygonal hall and Structure 1) inTrench XC.28 The stones were first to season and context, counted, and separated according
of the pieces were inventoried (i.e., given "T" and others were entered into notebooks. So, for example,
then described. numbers),
Some
six 118 produced thirty-three examples, ofwhich were recorded as T1789, T1790, T1791, T1792, T1793, and specimens came from AM02/XC Contexts T1691. The largest concentrations was a amount time of and and considerable 311 325, spent trying to see how many of the from these (or neighboring contexts) fragments could be joined together. Out of the 481 fragments from these con more 102 to texts itwas that join fragments fragments, plus 3 possible came from other contexts (AM01/XC Context 118/31,AM02/XC
AM01/XC
Context
234/16). So far twenty-four identified as materials used in the floor Context
Context
215/6, and AM02/XC different slab types have been
revetment of the bathhouse.29 Important pieces included flanked the stylobate of that slab curved T1746 (a fragment originally the polygonal hall), T1892 (a slab fragment that also preserves part of a a brick, and T1890 possibly the uppermost brick of hypocaust pier), and T1891 (two slabs that preserve holes for iron clamp fittings).30 It is the revetment slab fragments from hoped that further study of Contexts and in particular from AM02/XC Trench XC, 311 and and wall
with (a) the study of the spacers that have been the excavated during past two seasons, (b) the marble preserved in of its floor and wall situ in the bathhouse, and (c) the measurements on more interior decoration of the information surfaces, may reveal
325, in combination
thisbuilding.
28
In addition, new marble
findswere
as they came into the dig house processed season. Iwould like to thank the during Dr. Johanna Witte-Orr for her assistance in thiswork. The work on the very large 29 assemblage ofmaterial from Contexts
366
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
and 325was not completed and so will be continued in a future season. 30
For T1746,
surface of T1892
compare also T1662. The is covered with a peculiar
substance that looks as if ithad melted onto it,but as yet no analysis has been carried out
311
KOCYIGIT,
to identify it.
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
At present
general finds from the 2000,
marble
a
three
observations
can be made
2001, and 2002
regarding the seasons. First, there is
significantgroup (36 fragmentsin total) that can be identifiedas
tiles from opus sectile floor(s). in various They appear shapes; trian are the most common, but there are also gles compressed hexagons, more such tiles and roundels. squares, octagons, hexagons, Eight
were also discovered
in 2003. Of
are T1833 and T1841, special interest slabs thatwere used in between opus
are most probably marble sectile floor tiles or as borders to opus sectile floors. Detailed study of all these pieces may reveal the pattern(s) of the opus sectile floor (s),
which
aswell as (possibly) indicatingthe actual floor(s) that theyoriginally
it should be to calculate the surface possible area that was covered by the surviving slabs. Second, although ithas been assumed that most of the marble used at Amorium came from
decorated.
Moreover,
(Iscehisar), which lies only some 50 km to the southwest, this remains to be proven by direct comparison with samples from the modern quarries and by isotopic analysis of individual pieces.31 Third, among the finds studied this year there were also a number
Docimeium
are not from quarries in Asia Minor. Three main fragments that of Greek marble were identified: verde antico (from types imported Thessaly), green porphyry (from near Sparta), and cipollino (from of
Karystos
on Euboea), whereas origin.32 These finds,
the alabaster
fragments may be of small in size and quantity,
Egyptian are of considerable
although the nature importance for understanding of the marble trade in complexity early Byzantine times.33
and
TheLower CityEnclosure, TrenchXB (byO. Kofyigit)
The main
thrust of the work
more
the destruction
of
in Trench XB
layer that had
31 See, for example, T. Drew-Bear, "Phrygia, Pisidia ve Lycaonia'da Epigrafik 21.ArSonTop (Ankara, Yiizey Arastirmalan," 1:105. A thorough study of this neglected aspect of themarble material 2004),
collected, not only from the bathhouse but also (in even larger quantities) from the Lower City church, awaits the initiation of a regional study around Amorium; misleading
for some
remarks, see C. S.
preliminary Lightfoot, "Amorium 2004," AnatArch 10 (2004): 14 (above, n. 5). For more accurate comments, see C. S. Lightfoot, "Trade and Industry in Byzantine Anatolia?The
Evidence
fromAmorium" (see above, p. 269). Green porphyry: T1686-8, T1704, T1897, T1904, and T1919; compare E. Dolci 32
and L. Nista, MarmiAntichi
da Collezione.
in 2003 was
been
to reveal
identified
in the
La Raccolta Grassi delMuseo Nazionale
the 22nd Symposium of Byzantine and
Romano
(Carrara, 1992), 85, plate 159.Other fragments of verde antico had been noted
in earlier seasons, most notably the pieces of a reliquary casket of the 5th-6th century (AnatSt 45 [1995]: 112).Recent research has concluded that the verde antico quarry was
during themiddle Byzantine period (9th 10th c); see O. Karagiorgou, "Seal Axpaicoc. iinzocra (u?p[xapa) XevpQv ^9wv 7r?$loic eXo^euag ...': The Quarry atOmorphochori
Kiitahya
castle, see C. Foss, Survey of Castles ofAnatolia, vol. 1, Kiitahya
(Oxford, 1985), 51,59, fig. 82. Few examples of Greek imports have so far been recorded from sites in Asia Minor; 33
(Thessaly) and Its Contribution to Byzantine Art," in Archaeological Evidence on Installations Manufacturing during the
AMORIUM
and Nista, Marmi, 81,plates 139-40. For early Byzantine chancel columns in porphyry used as spolia in thewalls of
Medieval
near Larisa
THE
(T853) of red porphyry from Egypt had also been recorded as a surface find in 1997; compare Dolci
extensively exploited in the Roman period (2nd-3rd c), the late antique period (mid 5th-mid-6th c), and again (on a smaller scale)
Byzantine Period (sth-isth c), Proceedings
Postbyzantine Archaeology and Art (Athens, 2004), 183-219 and 385-386 (inGreek with Greek and English summaries). A fragment
see Pietree Marmi Antichi: Natura, Origine, Storia d'Uso, Diffusione, Collezionismo, ed. L. Lazzarini Caratterizzazione,
of
(Padua, 2004),
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
112, fig. 16, and 115,figs.22-23.
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
367
previous
season.34 To
this end the trench was
eastwards
extended
inner face of the Enclosure wall and northward as following the The far as the southeast corner of the bathhouse (figs. 19 and 20).
measures 12 10m. Close area thus to the by exposed approximately 2 m a some was Enclosure wall encountered, layer of collapse deep mortar and rubble masonry from the wall itself. Several comprising in the construction of fragments that had been reused were the Enclosure wall recovered from the debris. Below this layer, to the Enclosure wall, a well-built rubble running roughly parallel
architectural
to a structure that It clearly (W109) was uncovered. belonged construction The northwest of the Enclosure wall. the predates
wall
corner of this structure was
identified, along with
a second,
shorter
wall (W133),and an internaldividingwall (W131),both ofwhich run up to and under the lower courses of the Enclosure wall. The latter out are here beyond the face of the upper part of thewall and stepped were thicker than probably represent the wall foundations, which the superstructure 34
and mark
the level of the contemporary
The work inTrench XB was not
included in the selection ofmaterial
that
featured in the report on the 2002 season (DOP 59 [2005]: 233). This was not a reflec tion of its lack of significance, but rather since the excavation inTrench XB was
368
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
ground
ongoing, it seemed appropriate to devote space to other aspects of the work in 2002 that had reached more of a conclusion. For a briefmention from Trench XB
of the operation
"Amorium," AnatArch
YAMAN,
and finds
see C. Lightfoot, 8 (2002): 11.
in 2002,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
Fig. 19 General view of Trench XB during excavation with the Enclosure wall at rear, looking south, with stone trough (T1741) situ at center. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
in
Fig. 20 State plan of Trench XB after removal of stone trough (T1741). Drawing by O. Kocyigit and U. Akabak.
J f^a
jjflQ01^
j^
BathhuUSe ^^^^^^^^^^^ xrenchxc r^^0 ^^^^^
Roomi
___._.
fCj?Q^i^???'5^^--?^
_
8^_Ql6__.
_
Enclosure Wall
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
369
Fig.21 Stonetrough(T1741),decorated on one side with a six-petal rosette. Photo by C. Lightfoot. opposite page Fig. 22 View of section (A-B) of north east baulk of Trench XB, showing ash layer and collapsed mud brick. Photo by C. Lightfoot. Figs. 23-24 Copper alloy follis of II (SF6412) found inTrench Michael the even, pitted 142?note surface of both the obverse and reverse.
XB, Context
Photo by C. Lightfoot.
in which the massive foundations were irregular way had initially led us to believe that the Enclosure wall
surface. The constructed
two distinct In fact it can now be seen that the "comprised phases."35 Enclosure wall was probably all of one period; in places it has deep rubble foundations that have been cut down through earlier fills and minor walls, directly Wall
but elsewhere
the lower courses of the wall were
built
over
existing large buildings and features. 109 served to divide a row of rooms to the south from a
a work area or open to the north. courtyard, larger space, possibly exterior face of the wall was a row of along the northern Arranged was carved out of a massive block one stone of which three troughs,
a rosette in relief design long side with was It had been overturned and found with its front side (fig. 21).36 two in situ. the other but plain troughs remained facing upward, and troughs was Associated with the walls (W109, W131, and W133) rooms and a deep layer of ash, covering both the floors inside the of limestone decorated
on one
the surface of the supposed courtyard (fig. 22). Four copper alloy coins were found at different spots in this destruction layer and, despite
their corroded
condition,
possible
to
identify them all
C. S. Lightfoot and Y. Mergen, "1996 35 Y1I1 Amorium Kazisi," 19.KazSonTop, 26-30
to the destruction layer disturbed by the construction of the Enclosure wall, but it
Mayis 1997,Ankara (Ankara, 1998), 2: 350 52 (1998): 327. Itwas further noted 51;DOP
remains uncertain what
that "the interior face of the first (lower) phase was clearly marked by scorch marks on the surfaces of the blocks in its upper most row and by associated ash layers." For the Carbon-14
dating of the ash from Trench XB Context 16, see DOP 53 (1999): 337. The ash layersmay now be assigned
370
itwas
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
scorch marks
tomake of the
thatwere observed
in the 1996
excavations. 36
T1741 from Trench XB, Context
L. 1.56m; W.
116;
0.655 m; H. 0.82 m. This
trough, which was found tipped over onto its side, was removed to theDig House depot before the end of the season.
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
IBilllM
MB
HHHiHHIHIIIi^HHIIHHHHHHH as copper alloy folles ofMichael II (820-29) (figs.23 and 24) and
with the fact that a similar layer of (829~42).37 Combined Theophilos ash and collapsed mud-brick was detected elsewhere in Trench XB in previous
seasons, this evidence argues strongly for accepting the a as rather than an isolated phenomenon. ash layer part of widespread The coin evidence recovered in 2003 helps to date this burning and destruction to the second quarter of the ninth century. Itmay there fore be suggested that the destruction layer could be associated with a specific historical event, namely, the siege and sack of Amorium was in 838. Another exposed building (fig. 25) sector of the trench but of different orientation
of the structures
to the southeast.
It comprised three rubble walls to its north it abutted the main south and
andWin), (W108, Who, east wall of the bathhouse.38
37
A follis ofMichael
AM03/XB142/SF6142:
II (820-29),
Here,
class 3:
32.5-30 mm; 7.32 g;
6 h; three folks of Theophilos (829-42), class 1,dated 829-30/1: AM03/XB124/ SF5702:
in the northwestern
and date from those
in contrast, no evidence
AM03/XB132/SF572.7'
3I-29 mm;
for a
8.25 g; 6 h.
i %**** ^^w^^^^^E^eKajIH^^^^^^HHIoH
?4;^C^HIHiSI^BSBiHHBH ^;l^iSliH^^^KHI^BHBH^^HiHB
This wall, designated Trench XC/W02, 38 was first exposed in 1998 (DOP 55 [2001]: 382, figs. H and 13).
27.5-26 mm; 7.74 g; 6 h; AM03/
XB132/SF5725:
32-31 mm; 6.29 g; 6 h; and
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
371
^^^^^^F~ ^^^B^^BB^^^^Hw^fl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^HLJ^nB^B^""
^
*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^H^H^H^^^^^^^H^Hol^^^B^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^^H
Ml V%*--jm^^^Bfr* !iiP^^^^^^^^^^BIl^^HI^Bi^39^^^^HQI^^^^^^^^^HI^H^^^^HH^^^^^^R^^1&r Mw^k^cr^Ff ^K*?^JJaHJjHM|^H BIHfli^Bi^^HB^^^^^^HIVE^^BI^^^B^^^^H^^^IHI^Pv^' ?n3HHh^KkSB^Kl^driBi^^^B^^^^^H M^jMMI^^^^W^^^i^^^^^BM^^^^^^^^MWt^^^^^^^HII^W^B^^^^^^^MI^^^^^^^^^MBm^
was detected; instead, the finds indicated that the layer room was built in the tenth or eleventh century, in part earlier using nature of the terrain, it Because of the walls (such asW99). sloping seems (and earlier) layers still remain likely that the ninth-century destruction
buried
in this sector.
TheLower CityEnclosure, TrenchXM
Whereas
the excavations
in Trenches
XC
(byH. Yaman)
and XB
concentrated
on
the investigation of layers predating the construction of the new a was corner in trench the southeast wall, opened intention of investigating the of the Enclosure specifically with the nature of this massive wall XM proved that (figs. 3 and 26). Trench
Enclosure
no
or entrance into the Enclosure existed at the corner of gateway the wall, and it also showed that the circuit of defenses was not
here by a corner tower, either internal or projecting. strengthened would therefore seem that, rather than serving as a fortification a
sense with towers and parapet walk, military must be viewed as a substantial barrier intended the Lower City off as a distinct,
372-
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGiT,
the Enclosure to mark
LINSCHEID,
AND
in
wall
one area of
secure zone.
YAMAN,
It
FOLEY
Fig. 25 Trench XB, view of Room I with corner of bathhouse at rear, look ing northwest. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
I
N//
o
i
2m
'
Entranceph
I RoomQ
/>
|
;J_^2S^^
______ __J
jV-^^^^^S^^^^3^^^^\
;
EnclosureWa11
^4
Line of Enclosure Wall
Parts of two stretches of the Enclosure their full width.
{
'_jr^
wfit&jF*
-?-_'X?lNsT~^'
wall were
The outer face at the corner was
to exposed built of conspicu
'
Fig. 26 State plan of Trench XM. Drawing by H. Yaman, S. Karakaya, and L Kocak.
to add It was ously larger blocks, presumably weight and stability. also clear that both sections were constructed together using the same materials a considerable and technique. Although length of the southern been
found
stretch had already been excavated, little evidence had any of the structures previously excavated
to connect
inside the Enclosure wall
itself.39 Indeed
with
the construction
it has been
shown
or use of the Enclosure
that most,
if not all, of the
run under the Enclosure wall. to earlier belong buildings and came as a a to find series of rooms in Trench XM It thus surprise
walls
that was
closely associated with the Enclosure wall, constructed a similar way with a mortar and rubble core and facing blocks
THE
AMORIUM
in of
PROJECT:
39
The southern wall had earlier been
asW03 inTrench XD (DOP 57 [2003]: 288, fig. 13).Here itwas given the context number Trench XM/W25, while the
designated
running northwest from the corner had not previously been excavated and so was designated as Trench XM/W04.
wall
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2OO3
373
-
-?""**f_ __fetjM^JHKkAiTrfSI|_l[__||f_^^*^___ix $ * "^ * .lB_BI^H^^^BMHH?BBI^BBBf^j^^ ___________~^^^^ ^_J___fiE______i^ 1 F^___jl -JTste
?^???jmi?^^^^^^^^?^W^Mlli?*^r * ^^^^^^^^^^M^MBI&y?HBii?MHfiiHi^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^W-Sk?. M' Lll^g^^ .__'. \_ rife-?fa^y^P^ *''*--v * * ??? *? *-<. ___________________B_OC9_tM_Mf_^
^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^B^II^iiffl^^^^i^^H
JP^"*
' *
",
?
.
> - _*<_,-
^^^_^opyH9^^^_^_S
5,,%v _$ -t , -' *<^^"-wyu""^'jp?';'^MiiliPJP^^^;j^MfcJlg^M^i^M^'^fe ?te*"*"" V ,J,^>'MKg#-^,^IS^I-sil^lS^^^?t **_ sir*
?~*r* -^*sr, ' flfi
*^ * ?* * *^i^F^mi&\ ^ lLj!^-**stv^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HwSNfl^9^Kl3^HS?K9^^KPir^ISsjY *>,? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ll^^^^^@il^^^^li^^^HI^^Hi sS^^sf^^^^Kl; -^ _. ______________________________________ *?*^__ ^'-"-
*?-
"-?"Will^il^aK^^P^Tl^SM'^^^^SB^^^^g^
*!'*l^^** ~ **-"! ?>-.., <>i-^fc
*
"&^i ^ *$&&. ' ^^!^||_%__9w____HM||_____i%^|^^j|^^ftMS^^^MM^M_^^^ jdP^THW* t *3K^Ih^^9s|?i_^_|P^^s 4^^Mj^^BjB_i^Bg^^M^^^^
^|pg!^_IP1*^^^
." ?i- .^^_^_____H___B____8__________B^^^^P ___________________________________________________________HH______h
~ "^* 'W^W. ^^S| ?^1IW/*P.. ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B^MJMBBMJ^M^^^g^^y^^^^ *fl___^_^B|^__^n_^_^_^_^_^_^_|_l *A "- ^ ** >>'?w^BK^!f*--i?>??__ ?. V?,
a number of the pieces of spolia. During irregular sizes, including season, four rooms were exposed, built into the corner angle of the Enclosure. The sidewalls of the rooms abutted the inner face of the Enclosure
It is clear, wall, indicating their secondary construction. rooms as one were that the built however, unit, taking advantage of corner of the Enclosure wall. The more the angle provided by the sheltered corner room (Room III) was found to contain a raised tile
hearth
at its center, and Room
Room
III. These
two rooms,
Fig. 27 Middle Byzantine closure slab (T1908) reused in the parapet to Room
II inTrench XM.
Photo by C. Lightfoot.
IV could
only be entered through then, by reason of their location and
features may be interpreted as living quarters. The other two rooms (Rooms I and II), which
ranged along the on northeast section of the Enclosure wall, the other hand, may have served other purposes, and both opened directly onto the interior
Room II was of interest, since it had particular floor and no doorway. Instead a low parapet wall a closure slab, comprising spolia slabs, including middle-Byzantine across the front of the room, and T1908 (fig. 27), had been erected an was next to the parapet as a block step to climb impost placed of the Enclosure.
no well-defined
into the room
II may, therefore, have served as a Room (fig. 28).40 area for grain and/or other supplies. The four rooms were storage
374
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
40
At the northern end of the barrier was
a limestone closure slab, decorated
on the
frontwith a cross with lobe-shaped arms: T1908 from Trench XM, Context 16; L. 1.365 m; H.
(as visible, still partially buried in brick floor at front) 0.56 m; Th. 0.17 m.
M
*
-m
Jfc'.-< !% iJ^.?,^"* '*T^T^IIbbV*. ^Jw?"* F> ^<0*&m
'*>*,d^ /
#
/* yap!
/'
-
^
*
*
j"t?'"-.
* j?]gpiilv% % Ji
?>\,*? f ilblii^_|______________________________________ Ai^%lJliiJ__________
-*."*-/S-dif ^____________________________________________________________
_>^
v, _9_i___________________________________^
^j^jmBMbI^-^
^m^SiBB_BM^^^BIIag^BB^5^^B????M!il^lf^^a
__BPI_____BBBB>BBBB>BS>>BBBBBBBBB>>sBslm^^WMttO
, ^.hst** |L*
^
<j(BB^^^____ByJlfl ^^^^^^^_^^S^^^B?????????????????????????????????B
^^t^*_______________________________________B?
an area of tiled pavement that probably apparently arranged around a to constituted part of courtyard. In addition recycled bricks, the was a to contain if found broken, circular grind pavement complete, on its southeast side, onto Room IV, a low stone ing stone; backing bench-like
feature was
also
identified, and a second
Fig. 28 Trench XM, general view of paved courtyard area, looking southeast. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
impost block
formedpart of the thresholdthat led intoRoom III to its left(fig.
28). A large column-shaft fragment was also excavated lying in the earth fill above the brick floor in the courtyard. Its relationship to the buildings remains unclear but the layer of earth below it implies the lapse of some considerable time before itwas deposited here.41 in the construction of the rooms Apart from the spolia used
and courtyard, Trench XM produced relatively few finds, although a was iron found next to the Enclosure long javelin point, SF6172, III. In addition, at least two of the rubble masonry wall in Room blocks used
in the walls
of the rooms retained
traces of fresco from
their primary use elsewhere. The best-preserved example was found was small and its in Room IV and, although the fragment design at somewhat indistinct, it clearly had least two painted layers. This evidence, together with the fact that the spolia included not only late antique/early
Byzantine
architectural
elements but also middle
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
The possibility that itmerely represents part of the stone-robbing
41
activities of the villagers during the 20th century cannot be discounted.
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
375
construction of the Byzantine material (fig. 27), suggests that the rooms must be placed late in the sequence of Byzantine occupation. Likewise only three coins were recovered from Trench XM, two of
which were follesofConstantineVII Porphyrogenitos(913-59).42 On the other hand, no evidence was
found to suggest that later Turkish of the sitemade any use of
or modern)
occupants (Seljuk, Ottoman, the area at all beyond robbing of the Enclosure wall.
stone from the exposed
outer corner
The Textilesfrom theNarthex Tombs in theLower City Church (byP. Linscheid)
the excavations in 1998 and 2002 nine tombs, which can be During in the nar dated to the tenth or eleventh century, were uncovered thex of the Lower City Church.43 Two of the tombs (nos. 4 and 6) were found to contain textile state of preserva in a good fragments the 2003 excavation
tion.44 During
tombs were and
studied
fragmentary,
season, the textiles from the two
is and, although the material extremely fragile tomake some ifprelimi important, possible
itwas
nary, observations. 6 contained Tomb
four articulated
individuals,
burials
1-4,
laid in an overlapping fashion one on top of the other in a sealed to burial stone Most of the textiles retrieved sarcophagus. belonged 1,which was the last body to be put into the grave. A cord, of an
a tubular braid in consisting of ran twice around the was tied body and oblique interlacing, together with two overhand knots at approximately knee level. The cord was that covered at least the lower part wound around burial wrappings (as yet) undetermined
fiber material
1, including the shoes. The function of this textile is not itwas secured by absolutely certain, but considering the fact that as a shroud rather than as a garment. a cord, itmore likely served
of burial
fabric consisted of extremely fine threads, probably of silk, used in pairs. In one of the two thread systems, the fine double threads alternate with thicker single threads of unspun fibers. The weave is a
The
was decorated with small rosettes of open tabby. The cloth 1 cm in diameter, in a netlike arrangement presumably placed
balanced about
as They have both been identified to class 5,dated 945-ca. 950: belonging
42
AM03/XM10/SF5692:
28-25.5 mm; 7.66 g;
6 h (?); and AM03/XM43/SF5872:
28-25.5
mm; 7.74 g; 6 h. The remaining coin was an follis of class G (ca. 1065-70):
376
B-F, 7-10, and DOP
59 (2005): 243-52, figs. 11-20. For the human remains, see J.A. Roberts,
"Remains from the Lower City Church, Narthex Tomb, 1998," inAmorium Reports 2,169-71 (above, n. 6), and DOP 59 (2005): 254-56. The organic material, including the 44 textiles, was recovered and partly consoli dated by Lisa Usman (formerly of the
anonymous 28-26 mm; 5.59 g; 6 h. AM03/XM31/SF5750: For a detailed preliminary report on 4 3 the tombs, seeDOP 55 (2001): 374-79, figs.
AHRB
KARAGIORGOU,
YAMAN,
LIGHTFOOT,
KOCYlGTT,
Centre for the Evolutionary Analysis
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
of Cultural Behaviour,
Institute of
Archaeology, University College, London). For a preliminary report on thematerial from Tomb 6, see L. Usman, "Excavation, and Analysis of Organic from a Tomb in theNarthex of the
Conservation Material
Lower City Church," 193-201.
inAmorium Reports 2,
all over the cloth. These
rosettes are made
from the thicker threads in
one of the thread systemsof thegroundweave and fromadditional
The technique employed is not yet fully understood, but itmay well be a nonwoven one. Further decoration are as small was achieved portions by floats of the thicker threads, in some areas of the cloth. extending unbound In addition, fourteen textile roundels with a diameter of 3-5 cm threads of the same material.
have been preserved from burial 1.The roundels were once placed on means of a a similar fine cloth and were made technique similar by to that used on the rosettes. It is not yet clear whether these roun textile or belonged dels were originally part of the rosette-decorated to a second fine fabric that covered burial 1, since only minute weave traces of the surrounding the roundels have survived. ground were on the to the body, the roundels find-spots arranged According a on the cloth in a vertical line down the of the body and length horizontal composed
line at knee height. Some roundels reveal that they are of a central field enclosed by a circular frame; the central
fielddepicts an (as yet) unidentifiedfigure.Presumably thispattern in different colors that cannot now be made originally visible out, since the chemical conditions in the sarcophagus have turned all the textile dyes into a dark brown color.
was
at least two further textiles are preserved fragments of from burial 1; one is a faced tabby weave decorated with brocad Smaller
a as ing, and the other is balanced tabby. As well wearing shoes, the in burial 1was clothed in other garments, and body presumably two therefore these textiles may have belonged to items of clothing. Further research in 2004 will be carried out on the skin fragments
in the expectation that adhering layers of different textiles this will reveal the order and eventually the function of the single textile items.
with
4 contained two burials, those of a middle-aged man and laid side by side. Most of the textiles are in a very decom state and so not much information could be retrieved from
Tomb woman,
posed were covered with a them in 2003. The tex legs of the deceased light tile in open tabby weave. Further textiles survive from the chest area, at least from behind the head, and from the hand; they consist of two different fabrics in weave. tabby a state In better of preservation
are some
small of fragments made of The thread, apparently gold. a dark-colored 8 is with cm, scroll 1.5 largest fragment, by patterned a an each scroll against golden background, enclosing arrow-shaped as a leaf. The gold thread consists of a flat ribbon wound gold spiral were around a fiber core. The to the dense threads gold applied textile decorated
with metal
tabby-woven ground
fabric by sewing with
a very fine sewing thread,
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
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AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
377
the scroll and
whereas The
thread
leaves were
runs
embroidered with and
turns back
a dark
thread.
at the areas of
continuously not thus embroidery; overlap each other applique and embroidery do a mosaic. but fit together like gold
consists of two pieces whose under longitudinal fragment rated reverse sides were sewn back to back; the front sides show the This
one same pattern but turned is preserved upside down. Only selvege one of the two one all the other side of while along joined pieces, long are torn out. It is difficult, therefore, to ascertain the original edges on the position of the gold decoration object and the function of the with the two-faced decoration object itself. This part of the object was meant to be used and seen from both sides; the upside obviously of the pattern on the two sides of the fabric suggest a back. The crude stitches joining the two pieces of the lon folding are in marked contrast with the extraordinarily gitudinal fragment fine applique work and raise the question of whether the gold-deco rated parts of another textile were reused here. down directions
Five
other
served. From might
well
are pre tiny fragments with gold thread applique the technical features observed so far, these fragments
as did the same object fragment originate from the the scroll. At least two of these minute pieces are deco
depicting rated on both sides of the cloth as well. Two
of the fragments reveal traces of a pattern that is different from the scroll, suggesting that to a the scroll pattern might have belonged larger design of gold applique decoration.
to and recording of complete the study required that was given material the finds, including the badly decomposed to the analysis of less attention in 2003. Emphasis will also be given More
work
is
the fibers, gold thread, and dyes.We hope that itwill be possible to from burial 1 reconstruct the of the wrappings original appearance in tomb 6. This is clearly a very rare find in itself, regardless of the
nature of the material and the decoration. Efforts will also be costly made to identify at least part of the clothing of the deceased.45 various textiles from tomb 4 may reveal Detailed study of the
the furnishings of that burial, which may in turn precisely allow for an interesting comparison of the burial practices adopted in tombs 6 and 4. Further attention to the fragments with gold thread
more
is needed to determine their possible function applique from tomb 4 in primary and secondary use. The study of the textiles from tombs
their comparison with other contemporary material, of the status will contribute substantially to a better understanding and wealth of the deceased, who must have been not only important but also influential figures in the patrons of the Lower City Church 6 and 4, and
local community.46
378
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
Very few ancient shrouds have been excavated. For remnants of one found
45
in a Roman lead sarcophagus, dated to ca. 240, uncovered in Jerusalem in 1956, see L. Y. Rahmani,^ Catalogue ofRoman and Byzantine Lead Coffinsfrom Israel (Jerusalem, 1999), 101. 46
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
See DOP
59 (2005):
251.
'j^^^^?^^^^^'^^'^^^^^^u^^^-^^il^^K*^fc^!lk
"^^fftJSyyaiKSljj^^
ConservationWork in theLower City Church (byJ. F. C. Foley) as a
inwhich the walls, floor, syn single entity, in due course and attached wall thronon, ambo, tombs, plaster will be brought to a unified state of stability. The period of essential work is forecast to last five years; 2002 was the first year of this plan.
The
church
is viewed
Fig. 29 The apse and synthronon of the Lower City Church, after stabilization and consolidation
in 2003, looking east.
Photo by C. Lightfoot.
and synthronon are in a condition that requires immediate attention, but all the walls are under
Iwalls
The Phase
more greater and observation and are receiving treatment where appropriate (figs. 29 and 30). The wall plaster fragments, including the wall painting, reflect in their present state the damage inflicted by environmental conditions. The wall plaster fragments, decorative or otherwise, that remain attached to the structure are receiving attention simultane ously with the substrate. In 2003
a
stone and wall
thorough
survey was carried out of the condition of that had received treatment in 2002 and in
plaster seasons. A separate survey of stone that needs to be removed, structure and primarily for the good of the secondly for aesthetic was out. also carried the survey, blocks that are in reasons, During previous
poor shape but can be treated were examined, and decisions on their treatment were made. Some 150 separate preventive and remedial
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
379
^ % *P l_^*^**v^^Tfi . _fj___^H_^___PR_^^i^K __^B^LJbF*^Wk^
** v1**s ^ v *~1%k '^TmBktehr
*
f ^__jSsP^_3___^?
* ^s***^'*
-^
- ' * "f 4 *Jl_ifel s_f?!l-MBffii?fflJES? ___B^ *_*?____?^^^gBliPr _w^ j j*^ __5jIL j____^L_3hr'' itSmE* *JP St *#* n>_H ^*5 ^ , *? .__j .** __Br* mJ^^^^m "-*9_m-*^x I"V 5%_Pf_H^^^HOHL _??P^ < -It?BBF wMjiWi^^s'SWEiWL
** - ,
*
' jp
"*_ * . * _J * ?s?*r-
' l*l_L/?T 1f^ 1 i J ^'j^___________________________%f^^^ ^__^^^MhQh^ v9^^^^^|^gp^W^B|_______________HF ^SH_H__B| * 1 ^ ^^^^?'^^\^^^_!a^BRmmL. *% __B_ifff**? ^y|^_-*_^i_?4iK ^V__k__^_?iHj|__Hj^H|^__________B 4HmilllllllB^^^^t_i^t J:^''i"-"*** i_fllHt^___pp^^2-^-PiKm^^^R9^HH^^^BK_-^^^^^l^^^^9^^^^^^^^BI ;HiTOiB-TB^BMr^ff? ^PElff-^_______________________________________|^^r
________Bh*I1shhBeC^'^
>':
HB
B|^^^^^^B|m3_b_m_bB
were noted for the fabric of the requirements church on both exterior and interior walls, piers and buttresses, and on the was also noted that the church contains many synthronon. It conservation
treatment
different kinds of limestone. The dense hard
stone was
seen to have
many more fractures than did the softer limestone, which displays surface spalling and fracture but no loss of internal material and col "tubes" of calcite, limestone, containing lapse. The brown-colored which formed over time under pressure around plant fibers, has high to its open network of calcium tubes, but the matrix porosity due is very strong and cohesive. These of decay. The mortar
the church and
and limewater
blocks
show almost no evidence
treatments used
in the wall
in 2002
throughout niche on the south wall have
painting is in 2002 holding well. The trench dug in front of the wall painting has been reasonably effective. However, salt efflorescence was again apparent in the lower regions of the fresco surface and on the stone beneath.
been
effective. The mortar
continue to be the basis for all Sympathetic, natural materials treatment to the structure and wall plasters, with synthetic help
380
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
Fig. 30 Mortar repairs being carried out at thewest end of the north aisle of the Lower City Church,
looking southwest. Photo by C. Lightfoot.
where
required. During in the north aisle and
the season the treatments were concentrated
as well as in the apse and syn adjacent areas, were out treatments in the church of other carried but thronon, parts as deemed necessary. The types of treatment follow:
Biological Growth
was removed from the capping mechanically plant material on outer walls. and the (earth, tile, mortar) piers, buttresses, and 2. Plant that was coming through the floor protection from growth or between the floor remnants was pulled out by the the earth under i. All
roots. Care was
taken to remove seeds during this process. 3. Ethanol was applied neat, by brush and dropper, to the lichen 1 (north face). on the stone surface on the exterior of wall growth This resulted in a color change in the lichen within 24 hours. Long term effectswill be monitored.
Mortar Repairs
1. Lime mortar was mixed
and toned with earth pigments and/or as far as stone where the repair possible with the was in The fill surface material and pro gaps repairs being applied. vide strength to fragile surface stone with internal decay in progress. water resistance whilst The mortar contained ingredients that provide sieved soil tomatch
were carried out movement of water vapor. The repairs allowing free was mortar in stages where the In this case of depth required large. the mortar was built up in layerswith rough mortar first containing
small pre-soaked stones and The finish layerwas fragments of brick. next day. applied the 2. Lime mortar were mixed to applications of fine grade ingredients areas or the in finest of the region of grout edges missing material lines of fracture. This mortar was also used to bind the edges of wall were plaster fragments where they detaching (re-adhering the frag to the surface). 3. Lime-based grouts were mixed
ments
in varying consistencies depending on the to be filled. All the of void grouts contained a plasti depth cizer (Primal WS24). Some grouts had considerably more aggregate a void was located in a stone than others to fill the larger voids. Once or behind
a wall were made in the top plaster fragment, entry holes or in the case of surface laminations was to the grout edge applied or of of surface wall edges. Open edges laminating pieces plaster were filled with a mix of mortar of suitable for the fragments grade size of the gaps. One hole was to pass out. The always made for air
grouts were introduced via syringe and needle, or syringe and rubber tube or aspirating bowl and rubber tube of to facili varying grades tate the free movement was of whichever thickness of slurry being
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN 2003
381
introduced. Once
the grouts had filled the voids and had cured, the sealed with fine mortar.
holes were
Shelter-coats were
to four blocks were lime applied only. They to based, mixed slurrywith small aggregates and earth pigments protect the surfaces of those stones and act as protective layers. In this way a total of 196 blocks received mortar, mortar fills and lime grout, 4.
in a
treatments
season. coats of Thirty during the 2003 limewater were sprayed onto the inner perimeter of the outer wall season. This is sufficient to during the strengthen the pores of the as water in will re-carbonate in the pores of the calcium the stone, and shelter-coat
also carried out pointing on several wall faces. 5. Stones that had been marked for replacement in the survey and treatment of other could be cleared easily during the conservation the stone.Workmen
stones were
removed and replaced. In addition, four sections of wall to In total 97 stones were received replace missing blocks. in.Most were small upper-course wall stones added and mortared stone
or those that fitted into the top of piers. Only
two
major
blocks
were
replaced. the stones installed many were associated with areas of collapse. was deemed necessary in three areas of wall 7 and Reconstruction 6. Of
wall
26.47One
of these was
the area of the window
in the east bay of
the north aisle of the church.
TheWall Painting in theWest Bay of theSouth Aisle
salts on the surface of the fresco were removed crystallized and water poul mechanically with blunt scalpel blades and by paper tice. The salts beneath on the stone surface were also removed by The
these methods. where
The dark area on the proper left side of the painting was consolidated with Paraloid B72 flaking
the surface was
at three percent. Two two-meter deep by one-meter wide were at the rear of the south wall behind the fresco and trenches dug filled with dry stone rubble. The top was covered with geo-textile to reduce salt and pumice. This was done as a preventive measure in acetone
penetration from behind by increasing drainage soil that carries salts and moisture.48
and removing
Concluding Remarks
the
on latest five-year plan of work at Amorium, concentrating the Lower City Enclosure, has undoubtedly proved the correctness of the general principle that there is no real substitute for excava tion. For example, the nature of the embankment enclosing this central area of the site has now been clearly established to be a mas sive circuit wall, dating to the late tenth or early eleventh century. it could not have formed part of the city's main defenses, Although The
382
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGlT,
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
FOLEY
47
F?r the location of these walls,
Amorium Reports 2,127, fig.VIII/i
see (above,
n.6). 48
It should also be mentioned
that a
insect from the calcium-carbonate-eating family Ixodidea was identified on thewalls of the church in 2003. It is a type of parasite that is carried by birds. Thanks go to Sedat Oktay
for this information.
which only existedon theUpper City mound at that time, itmust have been built at considerable
expense
to isolate that part of the
to protect whatever City and lay within. The installations inside the Enclosure wall were therefore also valuable and impor tant; theymust surely have served a military and strategic purpose as yet unknown. Likewise, once excavated, the bath complex could be
Lower
identified on plans produced by the geophysical surveys conducted are in 1997.49 The size of the in shape and particular polygonal hall some not in itwould shown there detail. However, have been pos excavation
sible without
to ascertain
the complex's function or date. of the history of the site between
our knowledge generally, too, the sixth and eleventh centuries has been greatly enhanced by the detailed and systematic investigation of the various layers of occu use and pation, with the changing pattern of layout that they have
More
revealed. Admittedly the results have also posed a number of new questions, and all the problems concerning the interpretation of the or of individual finds may not be complex stratigraphy fully resolved in the final analysis. Nevertheless, the excavations have provided an overall impression that is firmly based on the data. archaeological The results may be summarized
as follows. most strik Firstly, the con period (sixth century) is the
ing evidence for the early Byzantine struction of a new, freestanding bath complex. Secondly, during the dark ages (seventh-early ninth century), the continued use of the rectangular
bathhouse
and the construction
of numerous
new build
ings, including other large rectangular structures (such as Structure 2 in Trenches XC and to the south of the bathhouse, attest to XD) a
and density of occupation and importance of Amorium tification of substantial
use that confirm the size intensity of during that period. Thirdly, the iden at various
points in the a view event affected the that supports major catastrophic are the city. The fact that these not detract from layers sporadic does the argument, numismatic the evidence, that this event supported by destruction
layers
Enclosure
could be associated with
the Arab
sack of Amorium
in 838. It is also
clear that certain areas were
subsequently abandoned, leaving earth over the seems This collapsed buildings. particularly true of structures made ofmud-brick and timber. On the other hand, to accumulate
the
larger stone-built structures survived the catastrophe, and were cen put to new use in the middle Byzantine period (tenth-eleventh same a At the in alteration the entire of the time, major turies). layout area was about construction the of the Enclosure wall in by brought the late tenth or of early eleventh century. Finally, the abandonment area appears to have taken the Enclosure the last quar place during ter of the eleventh was no and or further century, occupation lasting; use of the area took times. place until modern
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
49
DOP
53 (1999): 334-37, %s.
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
A-F.
IN 2003
383
In addition,
the excavations
allow for a number
vations. Firstly, there is abundant evidence ings and materials throughout the Byzantine
of general obser for the recycling of build
is also period, but there little to suggest that use of the Enclosure area declined significantly. the abandonment of the use of the bathhouse Likewise, although may mark a diminution of the area's status, there is nothing to indi into an area of sparse, squatter-like occupation economic Various after the mid-ninth and commercial century. cate that it turned
there, as attested by both the coin finds and features such as ash pits, slag deposits, etc. Indeed, what appears to have been an area of residential buildings (for exam seem to have been
activities
carried out
ple, inTrench XC East) before 838may have become more heavily industrialized
during lack of
the middle-Byzantine
period. accumulations of earth between
Secondly, significant nature of the vertical the main occupation layers and the complex stratigraphy make precise identification and interpretation difficult. still remain to be resolved. As a result two fundamental questions concerns
a
at Amorium in occupation immedi possible break in 838, the destruction layers and ately after the sack suggested by of certain buildings. The evidence, however, is incon abandonment
One
(for example, at the Lower City Church), cleaned out, and earlier structures were either
clusive since, as elsewhere
areas were reoccupied reused or demolished for their materials.
Coins may provide the best in since there is a marked decline indication occupation, in the number of ninth-century issues after Theophilos' reign. The coin finds only increase significantly after ca. 950, perhaps indicating when the Enclosure area was resettled.50 Thirdly, there is the problem of a break
levels of identifying the late Roman and early Byzantine occupation a strata. it are As has result later concealed below the that largely
been difficult as yet to place the bath complex in its original context of the polygo and to explain the circumstances of the abandonment nal hall. Itwould be most interesting to discover whether this marks a in occupation not only of the Enclosure area but significant change site. At present there is insufficient data to resolve also of the whole
suffered a major decline in the the question of whether Amorium or the pattern that seems late sixth early seventh century, following at that time. to be the case for most cities in Asia Minor Only fur ther excavation will
50
tell if such questions
From the various trenches within
Enclosure
the
area some 108 coins have been
recovered since 1996. However,
for the
second half of the 9th and first half of the 10th centuries only 6 coins have been identi fied: a copper alloy follis of Leo VI (886
384
LIGHTFOOT,
KARAGIORGOU,
KOCYIGIT,
can be answered.
912): AM03/XC446/SF5638; Romanos SF6014;
I (920-44):
a follis of
AM03/XB145/
and four folles of Constantine
(913-59): AM02/XC304/SF4350, XC508/SF5647,
AM03/XM43/SF5872,
AM03/XM10/SF5692.
YAMAN,
LINSCHEID,
AND
VII
AM03/
FOLEY
and
The Amorium Project gratefullyacknowledges the continued support of the Turkish authorities in Ankara, Afyonkarahisar, and Emirdag, the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara,
D.C. Oaks, Washington, (on behalf of the Trustees of Museum The of Art, New and University), Metropolitan came from an anonymous American York. Additional funding source. The Amorium is enormously for this gener Project grateful we would to thank ARIT-American ous Research like and funding, Sams and Nancy Kenneth Institute in Turkey (especially Prof. Dumbarton
Harvard
Leinwand), and theWells Fargo Bank Minnesota
(especiallyMr.
Schwartz) for their kind assistance in this respect. Thanks also go to themany friends and supporters of theAmorium Project; they include Prof. Dr. Thomas Drew-Bear France), Dr. Hugh (CNRS, Dr. Stanley Elton (former director, British Institute at Ankara), Paul
Ireland (UniversityofWarwick), Prof. StephenMitchell (Exeter
(University of Oxford), University), Dr. Bryan Ward-Perkins Dr. Carlos A. Picon, Doralynn Pines, and Carl Koivuniemi
and
(The season would The 2003 York). Metropolitan not have been so successful without the generous help of Sayin Mehmet Soylemez (government representative, General Directorate ofMonuments and Museums, Ankara), Sayin Seracettin ?ahin and Museum
of Art, New
Museum), Gina Coulthrad SayinMevliit Uyiimez (Afyonkarhisar andGulgiin Girdivan (BritishInstituteatAnkara), and Sayin Ismet we express our (former mayor of Emirdag). Finally gratitude to interest in and enthusiasm for Bishop John of Amorion, whose
Giiler
the fieldwork continue
to
provide
us with much
encouragement.
THE
AMORIUM
PROJECT:
EXCAVATION
AND
RESEARCH
IN IOO3
385
Becoming Byzantine: Children and Childhood in Byzantium: Symposiarchs: Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Paris, and Alice-Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks Symposium, 28-30 April 2006 Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 389-390 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472055 . Accessed: 25/06/2011 14:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
http://www.jstor.org
BecomingByzantine:Childrenand Childhood inByzantium Symposiarchs: Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Paris, and Alice-Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks Symposium, 28-30 April 2006 have
BYZANTINISTS
SHOWN
childhood,
in classical, medieval,
topic
little interest in children
and
even after the fin-de-siecle
surge of studies on that and early modern studies. Two
books and two doctoral dissertations devoted recently published to orphans, childhood disease, children's education, and respectively the visual representation of children, do show an increasing curiosity on the topic. Even so, the Byzantine childhood bibliography over remains a short one, and does not include any substantial general
about
of the aims of the conference was
view. One
to
provide this overview, as yet in Byzantium. by looking into neglected aspects of childhood The focus of the conference was on the Middle and Late
Byzantine periods, some of the papers The papers and social
subjects of definition, life and death, education
representation, but issues of everyday as well.
April
Introduction
hitherto, although neglected as well. from Late Antiquity
on the basic
status,
were discussed
Giinter
included materials
concentrated
acculturation,
Friday,
the ones most
life, such as toys and games,
28
by Arietta
Beatrice Caseau
Papaconstantinou
Prinzing
(UniversityofMainz)
The Status ofChildren and Adolescents in Byzantium under Law and in Court
(OxfordUniversity) ofAge
(Universityof Paris IV) Holy Childhood,OrdinaryChildhood: Children
in Saints' Lives
Cecily Hennessy (Courtauld Institute) The Visual Representation
Children inByzantineArt
Jane Baun
Coming
legal and
inByzantium:
Saturday,
April
Rites ofPassagefor Children
Youval Rotman
Dimiter
(YaleUniversity) WorkingKids
Angelov
(UniversityofBirmingham) Ideal Children: TheChildhood ofGreatMen andWomen
of
29
Richard Greenfield (Queen's University, Kingston) Children inByzantine Monasteries: Innocent or Vessels in theHarbor Hearts the Devil? of SYMPOSIUM
389
TimothyMiller (SalisburyUniversity) From Foster Care
Marie-Helene
to the Great Orphanotropheion
a variations du desir Byzance d'enfant
Alice-Mary
Talbot
(DumbartonOaks) TheDeath and Burial ofChildren Chryssi Bourbou (UniversityofCrete) On theBioarchaeologyofBirth andDeath: Aspects ofChildhood and SubadultMortality Patternsduring theEarly andMiddle Byzantine
Times
in Greece
Chryssi Bourbou
(UniversityofCrete)
Sandra Garvie-Lok
(UniversityofAlberta) and Weaning Patterns: Evidence Breastfeeding Human Remains and Written Sources from
390
SYMPOSIUM
Nikolaos
30
Kalogeras
(Universityof theAegean) ChildhoodEducation inByzantium
Congourdeau
(CNRS, Paris) Les
April
Sunday,
Claudia Rapp (University of California, Los Angeles) and the Imperial Court as a Constantinople
Classroom: The Shaping ofa Social Identity Brigitte Pitarakis
(CNRS, Paris) TheMaterial Culture ofChildhood Ronald
Finucane
(Oakland University) Conclusions
and Comparisons
WesternMedieval World with the
