A Newly Discovered Wall Painting in the Church of Mar Giworgis in Qaraqosh, Iraq

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ECA 4 (2007), p. 27-48; doi: 10.2143 / ECA.4.0.2024665

Bas SNELDERS*

Since the 1970s, a considerable number of artistic context of Qaraqosh in general and the medieval wall paintings have come to light in Church of Mar Giworgis in particular. churches and chapels in Lebanon (about thirty), Before turning to these matters, however, some Syria (about ten), and Egypt (about fifteen)1. general remarks should be made. Due to the pres- Together with icons, illuminated manuscripts, ent political circumstances in Iraq, it has not been woodwork and sculpture, they are the visual expo- possible to study the church and the painting in nents of the flourishing Christian culture in the situ. Inadequate photographic documentation fur- Middle East in the period from the eleventh to the ther hampers a thorough analysis. A series of photo- thirteenth century. The numbers of surviving wall graphs were taken in October 2005, shortly after paintings are remarkably high, especially compared the nineteenth-century layer of plaster was taken with other regions in the eastern Mediterranean. Moreover, with an average of approximately two new discoveries a year in Lebanon and Syria, this list is steadily increasing. In Iraq, on the other * The author would like to thank Prof. Amir Harrak (Uni- hand, until now, Christian wall paintings were versity of Toronto) for providing an advance copy of his forthcoming Corpus of Syriac and Garshuni Inscriptions of 2 either only attested in the written sources , or lim- Iraq; bakhdida.com for their permission to publish photo- ited to some minor fragments3. graphs; Nicholas Al-Jeloo for the translation of some Ara- Considering the limited number and rather frag- bic texts; Dr. Gertrud van Loon (University of Leiden) for mentary state of wall paintings uncovered in Iraq so her comments on an earlier version of this article; Kees Snelders for the line drawings; and Maria Sherwood-Smith far, the mural which has recently come to light in for her help in correcting the English in the article. The the ruined Church of Mar Giworgis (St George) in research is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Sci- Qaraqosh, located to the southeast of Mosul, is entific Research (NWO). 1 highly significant. It is the first relatively well pre- Bolman 2002; Cruikshank Dodd 2001; idem 2004; Immerzeel 2004b; van Loon 1999; van Loon/Immerzeel served example from the area. During rebuilding 1998; idem 1999; Schmidt/Westphalen 2005, all with fur- activities conducted at the site in 2005, a nine- ther references. teenth-century layer of plaster covering part of the 2 A summary of Arabic sources, both Christian and Muslim, interior of the church, painted with a rather crude with references to wall paintings in churches in Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Palestine can be found in Nasrallah 1969, 70-80. representation of St George as an equestrian saint, A more systematic compilation and study of such refer- was removed. From underneath the plaster appeared ences, including those found in Syriac sources, would be a a large rendering of the Baptism of Christ. Although valuable contribution to scholarship in this field. Cf. its iconography is largely in accordance with the Snelders, forthcoming 3 Archaeological excavations conducted during the 1990s at common composition of the scene, some of the the site of al-Chenisa (Kanisat al-{Abid; ‘Church of the iconographical details are unusual and appear to be Servants’) in Takrit, for instance, brought to light small unique in Christian art. Until now, this painting fragments of paintings, including isolated figures of monks, has only been introduced briefly on the internet by animal motifs, crosses and ornamental designs (Harrak 2001, 13-14, 16, 19). Although these paintings have 4 Fr. Behnam Sony . In the present article, an attempt not yet been sufficiently studied and published, they may will be made to explain the remarkable iconogra- at least be assumed to date from before the fourteenth phy and to provide a dating for the painting by century, when Christianity had entirely disappeared from means of both iconographic and stylistic analysis. Takrit (Fiey 1963, 289-342; idem 1968, 110-114; Cf. Harrak 2001, 11). Finally, to shed some more light on the date, atten- 4 Sony 2005: www.bakhdida.com/FrBehnamSoni/Icon- tion will also be paid to the wider historical and markorkis.htm (accessed July 2006).

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from the wall, and were subsequently published on side-room contains a baptismal font. From the nave, the internet. Although these photographs are useful a large rectangular doorway (Royal Gate) gives for a preliminary iconographic study, their small size access to the sanctuary, while the side-rooms can be and the general lack of detailed shots make a com- reached from the aisles through small pointed arch- prehensive stylistic analysis impossible. Moreover, at ways. All three rooms are connected with one the time of writing, the painting had not yet been another by means of archways. The only entrance cleaned and the dirty surface hinders detailed exam- to the church is located in the north wall. ination. Therefore, the following discussion should At present, little can be said of the architectural be considered provisional. history of the church, as it has not been possible to study the building in situ. It has been assumed that DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH AND CHRONOLOGY the first construction of the church dates back to OF THE BUILDING the sixth or seventh century6, although this has not been established on the basis of any archaeological The Church of Mar Giworgis is located in the or written evidence. The earliest mention of the southern part of Qaraqosh, on the road which leads Church of Mar Giworgis comes from a thirteenth- to the nearby Monastery of Mar Behnam5. The century manuscript (see below). Other historical church is built of bricks and rough stones, and the evidence relating directly to the church dates from interior and exterior of the building are covered more recent times. Two lengthy inscriptions, carved with layers of plaster, of which large parts have in stone and applied on the north wall of the nave, flaked off. The plan of the church is simple, com- inform us of the digging of a well there in 17397. prising a small edifice with an eastern section, a Above the entrance to the northern pastophorion, nave and two aisles separated from each other by an there is a naïve rendering of St George, in blue paint arcade of solid piers (Fig. 1), with an adjoining (Pl. 1). An inscription in the same paint informs us courtyard on the north flanked by subsidiary build- that this commemorates a renovation of the church ings. The nave and the aisles were originally barrel- in 1866, which took place under the direction of a vaulted. The eastern section, separated from the certain priest named Istefo8. In the course of this nave by a transversal wall, consists of a nearly square renovation, the entire structure was probably cov- sanctuary with a straight back wall (as opposed to ered with a new layer of plaster, obscuring the an apsidal sanctuary), surmounted by a dome, and painting of the Baptism from our view. two rectangular side-rooms, pastophoria. A large rec- Apparently, the roof of the nave and the north tangular altar occupies the centre of the sanctuary, aisle collapsed at some point during the twentieth while a smaller secondary altar is placed against the century, thereby creating a large open space. It back wall of the northern side-room. The southern seems, however, that the roof was still left undam- aged when Jules Leroy and Jean-Maurice Fiey vis- ited the church in the 1950s and 1960s. In his corpus of illuminated Syriac manuscripts, Leroy 5 Fiey 1965, 458; Harrak, forthcoming. discusses a late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-cen- 6 Fiey 1965, 458; Harrak, forthcoming; Sony 2005. tury specimen which was then still kept at the 7 Harrak 2004, 100; idem, forthcoming. This was done at church9. Fiey refers to the restoration activities the order of the abbot of the Monastery of Mar Behnam, of 1866, but does not mention the painting of Bishop Karas, who was also the instigator behind the 10 rebuilding of many of the village’s churches after the St George . Finally, when Amir Harrak recorded destruction of Qaraqosh by the Persian Nadir Shah in 1743 the Syriac inscriptions preserved at the church, in (Fiey 1965, 444-445, 458; Harrak, forthcoming). 1998-1999, the roof of the nave and the north aisle 8 Harrak, forthcoming. had already collapsed some years earlier11. At pres- 9 Hunt 2000b, 193, Fig. 30; Leroy 1964, 390-396, Pls 142- 144. It is not known when this manuscript, which displays ent, the church is being restored by local craftsmen, some Armenian influence and was probably produced in as part of larger building and restoration activities northern Mesopotamia, entered the Church of Mar Giwor- in the village of Qaraqosh. Unfortunately, this work gis. Leroy mentions that, according to a now lost Arabic has not improved the very poor situation of the inscription, it was donated by a Kurdish prince to the nearby Monastery of Mar Behnam. painting. The entire west section of the church has 10 Fiey 1965, 458. been pulled down in order to substitute it with a 11 Harrak, forthcoming. new structure, in the meantime leaving the mural

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constantly exposed to weather influences. The condition of the mural will decline rapidly if steps are not taken soon to protect it from further decay. The mural is located at the east end of the north aisle, above the small pointed doorway giving access to the northern pastophorion (Fig. 1, A). Assuming a clear correlation between the function and symbolism of this church section and the symbolism of its decoration, it may be postulated that this side- room was the place where baptisms were carried out, at least at the time of the painting’s execution. The presence of a relatively modern baptismal font in the southern pastophorion indicates, however, that the site for performing the sacrament of baptism was relocated at some point, perhaps during one of Fig. 1. Ground plan the restoration programmes of the eighteenth and (Adapted from Muhammad Amen 2001, Fig. on p. 197) nineteenth centuries.

Pl. 1. Church of Mar Giworgis, east wall of the nave: St George

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DESCRIPTION OF THE WALL PAINTING All four of these small figures are adorned with a nimbus. Finally, the entire scene is bordered under- The mural revealed underneath the nineteenth-cen- neath by a frieze filled with an intricate ornamental tury layer depicts Christ, wearing a dark-red loin- design, consisting of a continuous white interlace cloth tied around his waist, standing in the river Jor- pattern and grey scrolling stems with hooked leaves dan (Pls 2-3, Fig. 2). Numerous orange fish are (Pl. 7). swimming in the river12. Christ is flanked on either side by a rocky landscape, in which the two river- banks are each indicated by a zigzagging line. Part of the upper left section is almost entirely lost, making it impossible to discern Christ’s facial features. Christ’s head is turned towards the personification of the river standing at the lower left: the river is represented as a youth dressed in a white knee-length tunic. He looks at Christ, and holds an overturned jar. Between the personification and Christ there is a platform with four steps, surmounted by a cross. John the Baptist stands in the landscape on the right, baptizing Christ with his right hand. He has mid- length, brownish (?) hair and a beard, and wears a yellowish tunic with short sleeves. Behind the Bap- tist, one sees two angels, one wearing an orange-red tunic and white mantle, and the other a white tunic and an orange-red mantle. Their hands are covered with a cloth. On the opposite side of the composition, three other angels are turned towards Christ, the one in the background being the only angel who has survived completely (Pl. 4). They are similarly dressed in a tunic and mantle, with a cloth covering their hands, preserved only in case of the angel on the left. They have red hair and wings. Pl. 2. Church of Mar Giworgis, east wall of the nave: Some unusual details occur in the lower part of Baptism of Christ the painting. In the left corner, two small women face towards the centre of the composition, with their arms raised (Pls 4-5). Each woman holds a small object in her right hand. The woman at the front is dressed in a white tunic and a red-brown maphorion, the veil of which seems to be furnished with a small cross. The woman at the back is similarly dressed, though the colours are reversed. An antithetically arranged pair of small figures, a man and a woman, are placed on the other side, in the lower right corner (Pl. 6). The man standing at the front has white hair and beard, his right hand raised in admiration. He is dressed in a red tunic and a white mantle. Behind him, the woman is shown as an orant, wearing a white tunic and a red maphorion.

12 The painted area measures approximately 2.46 x 2.46 m Pl. 3. Church of Mar Giworgis, east wall of the nave: (Sony 2005). Baptism of Christ

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towards the latter, Christ faces the three angels on the opposite bank. Furthermore, in contrast to the more common Byzantine arrangement, the Baptist is placed on the right, at Christ’s left hand. This reversal of the usual disposition appears to have enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in thirteenth-century Syriac manuscripts, in which it is featured three times. One of these examples is a lectionary made at the Monastery of Mar Mattai near Mosul (Vat. Syr. 559), dating from 1220 or 126014. Erica Cruikshank Dodd has suggested that this reverse composition is a typical exponent of an East- ern Christian iconographical tradition15. It should be observed, on the other hand, that the reversal as such is by no means confined to Eastern Christian examples of the Baptism. Given that it already featured in a significant number of eleventh- and twelfth-century Byzantine renderings of the scene, Fig. 2. Line drawing of the Baptism of Christ both in monumental and minor art16, one should not exclude the possibility that it re-entered East- ern Christian art through Byzantine models func- ICONOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS tioning as intermediaries. Although it is impossible to trace the lines by which this particular type was The representation of the Baptism of Christ is transmitted, it nevertheless appears that the posi- largely in accordance with the common composi- tioning of John the Baptist in relation to Christ, tion of the scene, with Christ standing in the river either to his left or to his right, should not be Jordan, flanked by a group of figures on either side accorded too much weight, especially in view of the turning towards him. First represented in the third century, the Baptism had assumed its basic iconographical schema by the sixth century: Christ standing in the water frontally or in profile; John the 13 An abundant body of literature exists on the iconography Baptist on one side, angels on the other; the ray of of the Baptism of Christ. Fundamental studies include: light and the dove descending from the heavens; the Hadermann-Misguich 1975, 120-130; Lafontaine-Dosogne 1989; Millet 1961, 170-185; Mouriki 1985, 122-126; idem personification of the river Jordan below. Except for 1995; Nicolaïdès 1996, 83-87; Ristow 1957; idem 1965; some minor modifications and additions, some of Schiller 1966, 137-146; Walter 1980, 8-25; Wessel 1988. which will be discussed below, the composition 14 Fol. 262r: Leroy 1964, 284-285. On the two different read- remained virtually unchanged throughout the cen- ings of the date mentioned in the manuscript’s colophon, see Hunt 2005, 201 n. 48. Cf. London, British Library, turies. As the general development of the theme has Ms. Add. 7170, ca 1220, fol. 30r (Leroy 1964, 304); Paris, been outlined frequently and its basic constituent Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Syr. 355, ca 1200, fol. 2v elements are well known13, the following discussion (Leroy 1964, 269, Pl. 67,1). A similar arrangement is found will be limited largely to those iconographic details in a wall painting in the (Maronite?) Cave Chapel of Sayyi- dat ad-Darr in Becharreh, Lebanon, which dates from either which may be indicative of a date. Further atten- the late twelfth or early thirteenth century (Cruikshank tion will be paid to the features that differ from the Dodd 2004, 46, 48, Pls XXXIII, 11.2-4, who argues for a usual renderings of the theme, i.e. the two groups thirteenth-century dating; Hélou 2003, 124, Fig. 10; idem of subsidiary figures which are included in the lower 2006, 61, Pl. 9). 15 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, 46-48. part of the painting. Before discussing these mat- 16 Byzantine examples featuring John the Baptist on the right, ters, however, a more general observation should be at Christ’s left hand, include the Baptism mosaic at Hosios made concerning the distribution of the different Lukas in Central Greece (Diez/Demus 1931, 57-60, Fig. 6), protagonists. and a wall painting in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Perachorio, Cyprus (Megaw/Hawkins 1962, 321, Fig. 35). One remarkable feature is the position of Christ Cf. the examples listed by Millet 1961, 180-182, Figs 141- in relation to John the Baptist; instead of turning 143.

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fact that both arrangements were already inter- one which was ‘…much less common than the one changeable in the Early Christian period17. which prescribes the personification as a mature Turning to a discussion of the various icono- man’18. Examples of the personification of the river graphic details featured in the painting, the person- Jordan without a beard are found in the Capella ification of the river Jordan is presented here as a Palatina in Palermo (mid-twelfth century)19, the beardless adolescent, looking up at Christ and Church of St George in Kurbinovo (1191) on holding an overturned jar. In Byzantine art, he is Cyprus20, and in several wall paintings in Cap- usually shown as an old man with a beard, a rem- padocia, where he is frequently shown blowing a iniscence of the river god of Antiquity, featured horn21. The state of preservation of any medieval either as a reclining figure leaning against an over- murals showing the Baptism which have survived turned amphora, or turning away in fright. Accord- in Egypt22 or Greater Syria23 is so poor that it is ing to Doula Mouriki, the rendering of the river as impossible to tell whether the personification of a youth also has a basis in an ancient tradition, but the river Jordan was originally depicted. He is not featured in any surviving Coptic manuscripts, and the only Syriac example is the lectionary written by Bishop Dioscorus Theodorus (ca 1250), which 17 For instance, in the Neonian Baptistery (ca 451) in Ravenna, John the Baptist is placed on the left of Christ, is now in the Library of the Church of the Forty while in the nearby Arian Baptistery (first quarter of the Martyrs in Mardin. In this manuscript he is even sixth century) he stands to the right (Kostof 1965, 86, Figs featured twice, to the left and right of Christ24. The 43, 136). In the corpus of lead ampullae from Palestine personification on the left is a bearded man, who (sixth to seventh century), the Baptist is featured in both positions; for instance, to the left of Christ on Monza, appears to be swimming and holds an overturned Cathedral, no. 2 (Grabar 1958, 19, Pls V-VI), and on Bob- jug; the one on the right, who holds an upright bio, Church of St Colombano, no. 19 (Grabar 1958, 42, jug, is rendered as an old man in an attitude of Pl. L). He stands on the right on the following pieces fear. He has started to run away from Christ, his (among others): Bonn, F.J. Dölger-Institut, nos 131-132 (Engemann 1973, 13-14, 16, Pls 1a, 2a); Berlin, Staatliche body abruptly turning, but his gaze still fixed on Museen, Frühchristliche-byzantinische Sammlung, ampulla him. no. 2 (Engemann 1973, 16, Pl. 8e). Several particular iconographic details in the Bap- 18 Mouriki 1985, 123-124. An early example is found on a tism painting may perhaps be useful in establishing sixth-century ivory panel from the Throne of Bishop Max- imian in Ravenna, Museo Arcivescovile (Ristow 1957, 124- the date of its execution. First, there is the number 125, Fig. 4; idem 1965, Fig. 10). of attending angels, whose hands are covered with a 19 Kitzinger 1992, 46, Figs 180-183. robe in which to wrap the naked body of Christ. 20 Hadermann-Misguich 1975, 130, Fig. 55. Further exam- Although the inclusion of more than two angels is ples are listed in Mouriki 1985, 124. 21 Jolivet-Lévy 2001, 173, Fig. 11. already encountered in a few representations of the 22 Personifications of the river Jordan are found, however, in Baptism from the tenth and eleventh century, it the Baptism scenes painted in two chapels at the Monastery became widespread in Byzantine art in the twelfth, of St Apollo in Bawit, which are roughly dated between the with a preference for a total of three angels, proba- fifth and seventh century: in Chapel XVII (Bolman 2001, 25 46, Fig. 16; Clédat 1904, 77, Pl. XLV, 2), and Chapel XXX bly as a reference to the three main hierarchies . In (Badawy 1978, 252, Fig. 4.29; Clédat 1916, Pl. IV; Zibawi addition, numerous examples include four angels, 2003, 77, Pl. 83). In the former painting, the personifica- generally grouped together on one side of the river tion of the river is depicted as a naked woman who is seen, Jordan, opposite John the Baptist26. Sometimes the together with a small male swimmer holding a disk opposite her, at the feet of Christ. number of angels is increased still further, as, for 23 The term ‘Greater Syria’ is used here to indicate the region instance, on the reverse of the thirteenth-century which, in the period under discussion, was the cultural area bilateral icon preserved in the Monastery of Our of Syria, i.e. modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, parts Lady in Kaftun, Lebanon, which shows a group of of Turkey, and Iraq. 27 24 Fol. 55: Leroy 1964, 372, Pl. 128,2. Cf. Doumato 1999, six angels . The fact that there are five attending 247-248, Fig. 1. angels in the Church of Mar Giworgis, therefore, 25 Hadermann-Misguich 1975, 128-129; Lafontaine-Dosogne makes it most unlikely that the painting dates from 1989, 55-56; Millet 1961, 178; Mouriki 1985, 135; Nico- before the twelfth century. laïdès 1996, 85. 26 Hadermann-Misguich 1975, 129. Another important detail perhaps indicative of 27 Hélou 2003, 101-131, Fig. 2; idem 2006, 58-62, Pl. 7; a date is the fish swimming in the river Jordan. Immerzeel 2004a, 49-51, Pl. 24. As regards the provenance of these particular genre

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elements in the Baptism, Cruikshank Dodd pro- poses a Coptic or Syrian origin28. Her suggestion finds support in a fifth- to seventh-century wall painting of the scene from Chapel XXX at the Monastery of St Apollo in Bawit, Egypt, which features both the personification of the river and four fish and a crab in the river29. Apart from this sin- gular early occurrence, fish are extremely rare in early-medieval depictions of the scene. It is not until the late twelfth and early thirteenth century that they become more common in both Syriac30 and Coptic manuscripts31, and simultaneously make their appearance in Byzantine monumental art32. Susan Boyd has argued that the fish only became a traditional element of the Baptism scene towards the middle of the thirteenth century33. Perhaps the inclusion of fish in the Baptism painting at the Church of Mar Giworgis was part of the same development. The inclusion of a cross on top of a stepped platform, finally, is familiar from Byzantine art, where it is often included within the Baptism scene from the eleventh century onwards. This is a reference to the marble column surmounted by a cross that was erected at the site in the river Jordan where the Bap- Pl. 4. Detail of the Baptism of Christ tism was traditionally held to have taken place34. One of the earliest renderings of this topographical motif can be found in the Menologion of Basil II (Ms. Vat. Cod. Gr. 1630, fol. 299), a Constantinopolitan work dating from around 1000, in which it is still only a minor detail. This new iconographical motif is featured more prominently in the Baptism mosaic at 28 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, 47. 29 35 The painting has only come down to us in a watercolour Hosios Lukas (first half of the eleventh century) . copy: Badawy 1978, 252, Fig. 4.29; Clédat 1916, Pl. IV; Strikingly, this locus sanctus motif is not depicted in Zibawi 2003, 77, Pl. 83. Coptic manuscripts, and it is featured only once in 30 London, British Library, Ms. Add. 7169, twelfth/thirteenth the corpus of Syriac manuscripts36. century, fol. 9r (Leroy 1964, 351, Pl. 212,1); Paris, Biblio- thèque Nationale, Ms. Syr. 355, ca 1200, fol. 2v (Leroy In sum, the motifs described above are largely 1964, 269, Pl. 67,1); Vatican Library, Ms. Syr. 559, 1220 consistent with Byzantine renderings of the Baptism or 1260, fol. 26r (Leroy 1964, 284-285, Pl. 79,1); Mardin, dating from the twelfth and thirteenth century. It Church of the Forty Martyrs, ca 1250 (Leroy 1964, 372, is more problematic, however, to interpret the four Pl. 128,2). 31 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Copte 13, AD small subsidiary figures in the lower section of the 1179/1180, fol. 8v (Leroy 1974, Pl. 46,1); Paris, Institut composition and pinpoint their iconographical Catholique, Ms. Copte-Arabe 1, AD 1249/1250, fol. 66r source. The fact that they are each provided with a (Leroy 1974, Pls F, 84). nimbus excludes the possibility of them being 32 E.g.: Church of Panagia Amasgou in Monagri, Cyprus, ca 1192-1235 (Boyd 1974, 296-298, Fig. 24); Kar≥ Kilise in donors. Unfortunately, no traces have been found Cappadocia, 1212 (Restle 1967, III, Fig. 472). of inscriptions which could have identified these fig- 33 Boyd 1974, 298. ures. Interpretation is further hampered by the com- 34 Diez/Demus 1931, 58, n. 3; Engemann 1973, 19, n. 103; plete lack of reference material, for it appears that Ristow 1965, 50-54. 35 Diez/Demus 1931, Fig. 6. Other examples are listed by this is the only example of this particular iconogra- Engemann 1973, n. 105, Pls 14b, 15a-b. phy that has come down to us. Moreover, as no 36 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Syr. 355, ca 1200, other murals seem to have been preserved in the fol. 2v (Leroy 1964, 269, Pl. 67,1; Ristow 1965, Fig. 25).

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Pl. 5. Detail of the Baptism of Christ

church (or have yet been uncovered, in any case37), it is impossible to determine whether the Baptism painting was part of a larger decoration programme that might provide additional clues. So how should one interpret these figures and what is the exact meaning of the composition? Three different approaches, which will be explored consecutively in the following sections, may lead to Pl. 6. Detail of the Baptism of Christ a satisfactory answer: first, considering the various subsidiary motifs which are often included within the imagery of the Baptism of Christ; second, reviewing the scenes from the Christological cycle to which the Baptism is often related, both symbol- ically and visually; third, studying possible literary sources. This latter approach may prove particularly fruitful in elucidating the inclusion of these motifs, because the inspiration for this compilation may originate in liturgical practice associated with baptism, e.g. the performance of baptism in the context of the liturgical celebration of Easter.

Frequently recurring subsidiary figures

Aside from the standard protagonists of the Baptism, Pl. 7. Detail of the Baptism of Christ there are several other figures that frequently com- plement the theme. These include the two apostles who, especially from the eleventh century onwards, are regularly depicted behind a hill on the upper left 37 Slight traces of wall painting appear to be visible to the left side of the scene. They are usually characterized as and right of the small archway leading into the northern the disciples John and Andrew, who participated in pastophorion, underneath the nineteenth-century layer of the Third Witnessing of Christ by John the Baptist plaster (Pl. 2). 38 38 Mouriki 1985, 126; Nicolaïdès 1996, 87. (John 1:35-43) . In thirteenth-century Byzantine 39 On this trend, see: Eastmond 2004, 131-134; Gouma- art, following the general trend towards the increase Peterson 1984-1985, 54-57. of narrative detail39, the Baptism was often expanded

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with numerous other subsidiary figures. This narra- the two themes. From the eighth century onwards, tive elaboration mainly involved the inclusion of the Anastasis was the most important pictorial sym- bystanders, such as boys undressing and swimming bol of the resurrection of Christ; but the Baptism, in the river, as well as the multiplication of men and too, besides revealing Christ’s divinity and being a women watching the various episodes of the scene40. symbol of rebirth, was also traditionally considered Although the accumulation of narrative detail in the a symbol of his death and resurrection. In addition, Baptism scene was already established in the Mid- the baptismal rite itself was perceived as a dying and dle Byzantine period, it would finally reach its peak rising in Christ. According to St Paul, the neophyte in the fourteenth century, in large baptismal cycles was granted the remission of his sins and admitted consisting of a central Baptism, surrounded by sev- into the community of the earthly Church by par- eral other subjects relating either to baptism in gen- ticipating in Christ’s entombment and resurrection eral, or to John the Baptist41. through baptism: ‘Do you not know that all of us Unfortunately, the subsidiary figures featured in who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were bap- the known versions of the Baptism do not provide tized into his death? We were buried therefore with us with any distinct parallels for the four small fig- him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was ures in the lower part of the painting. It may nev- raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we ertheless be postulated that the intricate rendering too might walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:3-4). of the Baptism at the Church of Mar Giworgis as The thematic association between baptism and such accords well with the general tendency towards resurrection was effectively evoked in the Easter constructing more sophisticated compositions liturgy. According to the Constantinopolitan tradi- through the addition of secondary detail and nar- tion of the Middle Byzantine period, the sacrament rative elements, which would eventually reach its of baptism was the focal point of the first part of apogee in the elaborate versions of the late Byzan- the Easter Vigil, which was appropriately concluded tine period. This, in turn, would imply the avail- by the reading of Romans 6:3-11. The second part ability of models that reflected current develop- was entirely devoted to the theme of the resurrec- ments in Byzantine painting. A detailed estimation tion43. This practice can be traced back to at least of Byzantine influence on the artistic tradition of the fourth century. Several early documents show northern Mesopotamia falls outside the scope of the that the rite of baptism played an important role in present study. However, there is evidence that dur- the celebration of Easter in Jerusalem. For instance, ing this period Byzantine artists occasionally worked Egeria’s pilgrimage account (383-385) testifies that in the Mosul area (see below), while Byzantine in Jerusalem, the baptismal rite was performed at influence on local manuscript illumination is well- the moment of Christ’s resurrection at dawn on attested42. Assuming that this particular rendering Easter Sunday44. In fact, in the early period, Easter of the Baptism originates in Byzantine art, the mat- was deemed the most appropriate moment for per- ter of how to interpret the four subsidiary figures forming baptisms, because of its resurrectional sym- still remains to be determined. A short discussion bolism45. Although Romans 6:3-11 was initially not of the scene with which the Baptism is traditionally most often associated, as well as the Byzantine liturgical tradition surrounding baptism (areas which 40 Mouriki 1985, 124-125; idem 1995. will prove to be closely related) will be helpful in 41 For instance, in the Catholicon of the Chilandar Monastery, explaining the intricate iconography. Mount Athos (Underwood 1975, 273-274, Fig. 9); the Church of Bogorodica Ljeviska, Prizren, Serbia (Under- wood 1975, 274-275, Figs 10a-b); the Afendiko in the Baptism and Resurrection of Christ Monastery of the Brontochion in Mistra, Greece, 1311/1312-1322 (Mouriki 1995, 311-313, Fig. 1); the Old Metropolis in Veria, ca 1310-1320 (Mouriki 1995, 313- In Byzantine art, the representation of the Baptism 314, Figs 6-11). Cf. Mouriki 1995, 315, n. 17. of Christ, the classical image for the feast of the 42 For instance, see: Grabar 2005, 29-34; Hunt 2000b, 154- Epiphany, is most often related visually with the 183. Anastasis, also known as Christ’s Descent into Hell, 43 Bertonière 1972, 132-139; Kartsonis 1986, 156, 175. 44 Egeria 38, 45-47: edition and translation by Wilkinson the image for Easter. The strong visual link between 1999, 157, 161-163, cf. 57-59; Kartsonis 1986, 175; the Baptism and the Anastasis is not surprising, Wharton 1992, 317, 320. given the distinct symbolic correspondence between 45 Kartsonis 1986, 175; Wharton 1992, 319.

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featured in the series of readings for the Vigil in the The idea of Christian baptism as an imitation of Jerusalem tradition, it would eventually be incorpo- Christ’s death and resurrection was also developed rated due to Constantinopolitan influence, proba- in the commentaries of John Chrysostom (d. 407), bly around the seventh or eighth century46. Besides Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428), and, in the West, its evocation in the Easter liturgy, the relationship by Ambrose of Milan (d. 397)50. Considering that between baptism and resurrection was fully explored the mural under discussion is painted within a Syr- in the mystagogical interpretations of the baptismal ian Orthodox church, it is important to note that rite itself. the same symbolic imagery is found in the com- By the fourth century, the tendency to associate mentaries on the baptismal rite by West Syrian (or various parts of the liturgy with different episodes Syrian Orthodox) authors, such as George, bishop in the life of Christ had become widespread47. As of the Arab tribes (d. 724)51, Moses bar Kepha far as the baptismal ceremonies are concerned, for (d. 903)52, Dionysius bar Salibi (d. 1171)53, and most early commentators the Pauline theology of Barhebraeus (d. 1286)54. They invariably adopted death and resurrection constituted their principle the Pauline view in explaining the baptismal act, means for interpreting the successive stages of the describing it as a death, burial and resurrection. As baptismal service. An illustrative example is the argued by Sebastian Brock, the fusion of the two instruction on the meaning of the mystery of bap- themes can be explained from the fact that the tism by Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 387), delivered to the liturgy is set in sacred time instead of historical neophytes during Easter week, after they had been time. This means that events with the same salva- baptized on the night of Holy Saturday. Cyril’s Mys- tional content can coincide in sacred time even tagogical Catecheses were read in the Holy Church though they are separated within the temporal of the Sepulchre, i.e. at the very spot where Christ sequence of historical time. Brock points out that was buried, and it was this baptismal instruction within this framework, many parallels can be found that was recorded by Egeria when she witnessed the between the purpose of the Baptism of Christ and paschal liturgy in Jerusalem48. In relating the the Resurrection55. Pauline theology of baptism from Romans 6 to the As mentioned above, baptism and resurrection liturgical ceremony at Jerusalem, Cyril interprets the were not only associated with one another liturgi- performance of the baptismal rite as a direct imita- cally and theologically, but also visually. In her fun- tion of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. damental study on the development of the iconog- He likens the movement to the font with the car- raphy of the Anastasis, Anna Kartsonis argues that rying of Christ from the cross to the sepulchre, the the visual alignment of the Baptism and Anastasis triple immersion in the water with the three days is indeed the result of the liturgical practices sur- Christ spent in the tomb, and the emergence from rounding the celebration of Easter: ‘The alignment the font with the resurrection. Accordingly, the font of the two images reflected the parallel performance itself is equated with the tomb of Christ49. of Baptism and Anastasis in the Easter Vigil. The rite of the baptism typified the burial of original sin and opened the road to redemption for those that 56 46 Bertonière 1972, 61, 67. received it’ . An indication that the link between 47 Varghese 2004, 17-19. the two themes already found its pictorial expres- 48 Wilkinson 1999, 57. sion in the pre-Iconoclastic period can be found in 49 Riley 1974, 228-242. 50 Riley 1974, 242-298. a lead ampulla from Palestine (sixth to seventh cen- 51 Connoly/Codrington 1913, 14. tury) formerly preserved in Berlin, which features 52 Aytoun 1973, 11-13. the Baptism of Christ on one side, and the Cruci- 53 Brock 1979, 81. fixion and the Women at the Tomb on the other57. 54 Kohlhaas 1959, 35. 55 Brock 1991, 191. Cf. Buchan 2004, 232-257; McDonnell Here one should bear in mind that in the Early 1995; idem 1996, 156-170; Rousseau 1951-1952, all with Christian and Byzantine world, the representation further references. of the Women at the Tomb was the most important 56 Kartsonis 1986, 175-176. prototype of the Resurrection. Significantly, the 57 Berlin, Staatliche Museen, inv. no. 6697 (destroyed during World War II): Engemann 1973, 16, Pls 8e-f; Kartsonis Easter Vigil had the corresponding text (Matt. 28:1- 1986, 175. 20) as its main New-Testament reading, after the 58 Bertonière 1972, 60, 112; Hunt 2000a, 150. sacrament of baptism had taken place58.

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By the eighth century, the role of the scene of affinities with local decoration programmes. This the Women at the Tomb as the reference to the Res- disposition is unknown in Byzantine church deco- urrection of Christ was taken over by the Anastasis, ration, where the scene is usually featured in the with which the Baptism was from then on conve- nave as part of the twelve scenes of the festival cycle niently allied59. Examples of the pairing of these (Dodekaorton). The rare occurrence of this image in themes are featured in a considerable number of Middle Byzantine works of art dating from the ninth to the thirteenth century, both in minor and 59 Kartsonis 1986, 78, 134. 60 Examples are listed by Kartsonis 1986, 175-177, Figs 25a-b, monumental art. These include a number of Con- 26a-b, 69-70; Nicolaïdès 1996, 88, n. 779. stantinopolitan ivories and phylacteries (ninth to 61 Kartsonis 1986, 174, 176, Fig. 63; Weitzmann 1967, cat. eleventh century)60, a tenth-century icon at the no. B.55. Monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai61, the 62 Kartsonis 1986, 215, Fig. 81; Mouriki 1985, Pls 130-131. 63 Jolivet-Lévy 1991, 15; Kartsonis 1986, 173-177, Fig. 65; mosaics in the Katholikon of Nea Moni on Chios Restle 1967, III, no. XXVI, Fig. 302. 62 (1042-1056) , several wall paintings in Cappado- 64 Restle 1967, II, no. XXI, Figs 210-211. cia, such as those in the Cavusin Dovecote (ca 963- 65 Nicolaïdès 1996, 88, Pl. 2, Fig. 67. 964)63 and Çarıkılı Kilise (second half of the twelfth 66 The Anastasis does not seem to have been a very popular 64 iconographical subject in Coptic art; the image has not century) , and the murals in the Church of Pana- been preserved in either wall paintings, or manuscript illu- gia tou Arakou in Lagoudera on the island of minations. In the Coptic context, the Anastasis is only Cyprus (1192)65. encountered on a carved wooden panel from a screen in the At this stage of the discussion, it should be Church of al-Mu{allaqa in Old Cairo, ca 1300 (Hunt 1998, 309-310, Fig. 9) and on several icons which, according to observed that both in Greater Syria and Coptic Zuzana Skalova, were painted by Byzantine-trained Coptic Egypt, the Baptism is never directly paired with the artists: e.g. a thirteenth-century icon in Deir al-Surian Anastasis or the Women at the Tomb, either in in the Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt (Skalova/Gabra 2006, 119, monumental or minor art66. The only exception Ill. 35); and an icon beam decorated with the Seven Major Feasts from the Church of the Holy Virgin in Harat presently known is the decoration programme at the Zuwayla, Cairo, ca 1200 (Skalova/Gabra 2006, 118, cat. Church of St Phocas (Mar Fauqa) in Amiun, no. 17). In Egypt, the theme is found more often within a Lebanon, where the Baptism is painted on the sec- Byzantine Orthodox context. In addition to the tenth-cen- ond layer of the west side of the northern pier, in tury specimen referred to above (see n. 61), which shows the Anastasis and the Baptism in conjunction, several Mid- front of the apse, which features the Anastasis (layer dle and Late Byzantine icons and templon beams in the 67 1) . At first sight, one might be inclined to explain Monastery of St Catherine at Mount Sinai display the Anas- this exceptional pairing from the distinct religious tasis and the Baptism as part of the Dodekaorton (Mouriki, context in which it has been preserved. The Church 1990, 105-108, 121, Figs 28, 72; Skalova/Gabra 2006, 88- 89, Ill. 27, Appendix no. 5). The Anastasis is also featured of St Phocas appears always to have been of the in a late thirteenth-century miniature from an Arabic Byzantine Orthodox (Melkite) denomination, as it Gospel book (incorporated into a later manuscript dated to is today68. Accordingly, one might posit that the AD 1331: Leiden, University Library, Or. 1571, fol. 195v), pairing of the Baptism and Anastasis in this partic- which, according to Hunt, was painted by a Syrian artist at Mount Sinai (Hunt 2000b, 184-189, Fig. 17). ular context was the result of direct Byzantine influ- 67 Cruikshank Dodd (2004, 82-83, Pls 1.27-1.28, Figs 1.2- ence on the iconography. Closer inspection makes 1.3) has suggested that the image displays a naked male fig- this highly unlikely, however. First of all, the scenes ure being tempted by a small demon on the right. Recent are painted on two different layers: whereas the analysis has shown, however, that the supposed demon is furnished with a nimbus, and is part of a rendering of the Anastasis was painted by a Byzantine artist, perhaps Virgin and Child painted underneath the Baptism (personal from Cyprus, in the late twelfth or early thirteenth communication by Mat Immerzeel). Cf. Nordiguian/Voisin century, the Baptism was probably executed by a 1999, 364, color plates on 286. Stephan Westphalen local artist somewhat later in the thirteenth century. hypothesizes that the Anastasis may originally have been included in the partly preserved cycle of paintings from the Moreover, even though the Baptism and the Anas- life of Christ in the Chapel of Mar Ya{qub (first half of the tasis are now the only two Christological scenes in eleventh century), a Byzantine Orthodox (Melkite) strong- the decoration programme, which consists other- hold in Syria (Schmidt/Westphalen 2005, 89). A direct con- wise of representations of saints and Christ in iso- nection between the two themes can be excluded however; if the Anastasis was indeed depicted, it would have been sit- lation, much of the original decoration programme uated on the north wall, while the Baptism is located on has been lost. Furthermore, the location of the the west wall. Anastasis in the central apse appears to have more 68 Immerzeel 2004b, 24.

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the apse, which is also encountered in the Church becomes a figure of his sojourn in Hell73. This idea of Abu Gosh (ca 1170) near Jerusalem69, may be is even developed more fully in late-Byzantine ren- due to influence of the (now lost) eleventh-century derings of the Baptism in which the motif of the mosaic of the Anastasis in the main apse of the broken gates of Hades, which have fallen in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem70. On shape of a cross, features prominently in the Jor- the other hand, one should not exclude the possi- dan where it is placed under Christ’s feet. A good bility that the choice for including the Anastasis and example is the wall painting at the Monastery of the Baptism was governed by the main functions of Gracanica in Serbia (late fourteenth century)74. In the Church of St Phocas itself. There are strong borrowing the gates from the Anastasis, the com- indications, both in the architecture of the church piler of this composition has ingeniously fused the and the lay-out of its decoration programme, that descent into the Jordan with the descent into Hell. it was particularly used for funerary and baptismal In turn, the link between the two themes is estab- purposes71. lished even more naturally within the Anastasis As far as the Byzantine tradition is concerned, through the addition of John the Baptist, who the strong thematic affiliation between the Baptism forms an integral part of the theme from the tenth and the Anastasis did not result only in the mere century onwards. Kartsonis argues that his inclu- juxtaposition of the themes, but also initiated the sion may be due, at least in part, to the liturgical exchange of compositional elements and icono- association between baptism and resurrection, graphical motifs. In this respect, the most striking emphasizing that John’s appearance in any given example is perhaps the distinct parallelism, which composition inherently brings to mind the Baptism is often encountered between the jagged rocky out- of Christ75. Now, bearing this strong symbolical, line of the banks of the river Jordan and the open- liturgical and visual relationship between baptism ing of Hades72. This topographical similarity con- and resurrection in mind, let us turn again to the stitutes a visual reminder that Christ’s immersion iconography of the Baptism painting in the Church in the river of death is analogous to his descent into of Mar Giworgis. Hell. Especially in versions portraying the Jordan as the waters of Death, for instance through the An accumulation of resurrectional symbolism inclusion of dragons and snakes (evoking Psalm 73:13-14), Christ’s descent into the river Jordan An important clue to the interpretation of the two women in the lower left corner of the mural is provided by the vessels that they carry in their right hands (Pl. 4). These attributes clearly associate them 69 Kühnel 1988, 153-155, Pls XL-XLI. 70 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, 40; Kühnel 1988, 155. with the women who brought spices and ointment 71 Personal communication by Mat Immerzeel. to Christ’s tomb on Easter Sunday morning, who 72 Schiller 1966, 145. are known better as the Myrophores or the Women 73 ODB, II, 1220; Schiller 1966, 146-147; Wessel 1988, at the Tomb76. Although the Holy Women are also esp. 379-381. Early examples include several Psalters with marginal decorations in which Psalm 73:14 is accompanied included in other themes, such as the Chairete and with an illustration of a dragon beneath the Baptism, the Crucifixion, in those scenes they are commonly e.g. in the Chloudof Psalter, Moscow, Historical Museum, depicted without vessels. It has often been argued Cod. Gr. 129, ninth century (Schiller 1966, Fig. 359). that in Byzantine and Eastern Christian art the rep- Similar representations were also developed in the West. For instance, one of the panels from the wooden doors resentation of the Women at the Tomb is usually (ca 1060) in the Church of St Mary at the Capitol in confined to two women, because of the more Cologne, depicts the Baptism with Christ standing on a important position of Matthew 28:1-10 in many dragon (™aptas 1999, 234, Fig. 5). eastern liturgies, while the West favours three 74 Lafontaine-Dosogne 1989, 56, Fig. 11; Millet 1961, 198, women, in accordance with Mark 16:1-1077. Fig. 171; Milosevic 1989, 52, Fig. 29; Wessel 1988, 380- 381. Thomas Mathews has shown that this geographical 75 Kartsonis 1986, 172-173. division cannot be maintained, pointing out that 76 On the iconography of the Women at the Tomb, see: Armenian iconography commonly represents three Kartsonis 1986, 19-24; Millet 1961, 517-540; Vilette 1957, 59-87. women at the tomb in accordance with the Armen- 78 77 Leroy 1964, 382; Millet 1961, 517. ian liturgy which uses Mark for Easter . Although 78 Mathews/Sanjian 1991, 115-117. the Armenian material thus appears to confirm a

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liturgical connection, the occurrence of three women Tomb carrying their phials of ointment on Easter in the scene at Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in Syria morning. (layer 2; AD 1095: see the contribution of Stephan While the two women clearly relate to the Westphalen in the present volume), and Deir Anba Women at the Tomb, the old prototype of the Res- Antonius (late thirteenth century) near the Red Sea urrection, the two figures on the opposite side of in Egypt79 shows that one cannot make clear-cut dis- the composition appear to allude to the new proto- tinctions. type of the Resurrection, the Anastasis. As far as the Although the various accounts of the events of iconography of the latter theme is concerned, the Easter Sunday in the Gospels do not mention the type most frequently used from the eleventh cen- Virgin Mary, from the sixth century onwards one tury onwards shows Christ raising Adam from his of the women tends to be characterized as Christ’s tomb by pulling him by the hand. Eve usually fol- mother, drawing on the allusion to the ‘other Mary’ lows immediately behind Adam, raising her hands in Matthew 28:1. She is then distinguished in a in supplication to Christ. Adam is invariably repre- variety of ways, either through the addition of a sented as an old man with white hair and a beard, clarifying inscription (as in a seventh-century icon Eve wears a tunic and maphorion, which is tradi- from Sinai showing the Chairete, for example) or tionally red in colour83. It is not difficult, then, to in her general appearance, for instance through the recognize the obvious similarities between the two purple colour of her dress and the addition of four subsidiary figures in the lower right corner of the points or stars above her forehead and on her shoul- Baptism painting and the Adam and Eve of the ders (for instance on the Sancta Sanctorum reli- Anastasis. The male figure in front is similarly por- quary box). Sometimes the Virgin is given a nim- trayed as an old man with white hair and a beard, bus and the other women are not thus endowed while the woman standing behind him is appropri- (Rabbula Codex)80, or there may be a difference in ately dressed in a red maphorion. The fact that both colour if they are all provided with a nimbus. It figures are nimbed does not impede their identifi- appears that in our wall painting the Mary at the cation as Adam and Eve, for the protoplasts can be front is distinguished as the Mother of God by the represented either with or without a nimbus. In Syr- small cross that seems to be placed on her iac manuscripts, for instance, Adam and Eve have maphorion (Pl. 5), but it will not be possible to con- haloes in the lectionary from the Monastery of Mar firm this until the painting has been cleaned and Mattai (Vat. Syr. 559; 1220 or 1260), whereas in studied in detail. the closely related manuscript Add. 7170 (ca 1220) It may be argued that the inclusion of the two they do not84. holy women, who apparently function as a sort of pars pro toto for the Women at the Tomb, is a direct reference to the Resurrection. As mentioned above, the image of the Women at the Tomb was the most important pictorial symbol of the Resurrection in 79 Bolman 2002, 135, Fig. 8.4. Three women were perhaps also featured at the tomb in a now-lost wall painting the Early Christian and Byzantine world. Although (AD 953) at Tebtunis in Fayyum: Walters 1989, 197-199, this role was soon taken over by the Anastasis, the Pl. XXII, who suggests that the scene may have been the scene retained this connotation throughout the result of a conflation between the Women at the Tomb and centuries. In this context, one should mention a the Chairete. On the dating of this painting, see: Bolman 2002, 93 n. 18. thirteenth-century icon from Deir al-Surian in 80 For the icon representing the Chairete from Sinai, see: Egypt, which displays an elaborate version of the Weitzmann 1974, 43, Fig. 25; for the wooden reliquary Crucifixion. Several of its iconographical details box from the Sancta Sanctorum, Rome (sixth century), see: have led Lucy-Anne Hunt to relate this icon to the Weitzmann 1974, 42, Fig. 23; for the Rabbula Codex, see: Leroy 1964, 180, Pl. 32. Easter liturgy in Jerusalem and to propose a Pales- 81 Hunt 2000a, 127-152; idem, 2005, 198-200, Fig. 110; 81 tinian provenance . She suggests a comparable ref- Skalova/Gabra 2006, Pl. 6c. erential function for the female personification in 82 Hunt 2000a, Fig. 6. the top left corner, holding a flask and standing in 83 Nicolaïdès 1996, 90. 84 82 Vatican Library, Ms. Syr. 559, fol. 146v (Leroy 1964, 294, a shell which is held by an angel . Similarly to the Pl. 92,2); London, British Library, Ms. Add. 7170, Baptism painting, the inclusion of this attribute fol. 156v (Leroy 1964, 308, Pl. 92,1). Cf. Nicolaïdes 1996, clearly associates this figure with the Women at the 90.

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Strikingly, Adam and Eve are also regularly fea- Karanlık Kilise (ca 1200-1210)93. In this context tured in other epiphanies, such as the Last Judge- there is a unique late Byzantine icon in the Walters ment, in which they are placed beside the Hetoima- Gallery of Art in Ohio, dating from the early four- sia85, and in apocalyptic visions, e.g. in the apse of teenth century, which also deserves to be men- the Church of St Barbara (1006 or 1021) at Soganli, tioned94. The upper part of the icon is devoted to Cappadocia86. Kartsonis suggests that they were the Anastasis. In the lower part, the theme of the directly borrowed from the Anastasis, pointing out Women at the Tomb is elaborated into two succes- that the semantic interrelationship between these sive episodes, illustrating Matthew 27:61 and 28:2 themes resulted in the exchange of iconographical respectively. motifs87. A similar process may thus be postulated Syriac manuscript illumination also provides par- for the inclusion of Adam and Eve in the Baptism allels for the combination of the Anastasis and the painting. Women at the Tomb. In the lectionary from the Finally, it should be observed that the Women Monastery of Mar Mattai (1220 or 1260) the two at the Tomb and the Anastasis are often paired in scenes are featured side by side, albeit in separate Middle Byzantine church decoration, especially, it miniatures: the Women at the Tomb (together with appears, in Cappadocia. In the Old Tokalı Kilise, for the Chairete) on the left, and the Anastasis on the instance, these subjects form the last two scenes of a right95. The Lectionary of Dioscorus Theodorus (ca sub-cycle of paintings (tenth century) dealing with 1250) also links the two themes96. This manuscript the death and resurrection of Christ88. Kartsonis has contains nineteen illuminations executed in a pointed out that the scenes are not simply juxta- Byzantine style, eleven of which depict scenes relat- posed, but are inventively connected with each other ing to the Holy Week and Easter. The miniature of by means of Christ’s tomb, which functions simul- the Anastasis is included on page 30797, directly taneously as the sarcophagus from which David and preceded by the Women at the Tomb on page Solomon emerge89. The same combination is found 30698. In contrast to the usual composition, the latin Kar≥ Kilise (1212)90. The two scenes are also ter scene is not confined to the angel and the paired in Chapel 9 in Göreme (late tenth century)91, Myrophoroy at the empty tomb, but it also promi- in Çarıklı Kilise (second half of the twelfth cen- nently features the figure of Christ, who himself tury)92, in Karaba≥ Kilise (eleventh century) and in points out the grave to the women. Even more interesting is the large patriarchal cross which Christ displays. This type of cross is not only a general reminder of the Passion of Christ, but also a spe- 85 E.g.: Torcello, eleventh century (Kartsonis 1986, Pl. 58); cific visual and symbolic reference to the Anastasis, Canavar Kilise, Soganli Dere, Cappadocia, thirteenth century (Restle 1967, III, no. Pl. 465); Deir Mar Musa al- of which, from the eleventh century onwards, it is 99 Habashi, Syria (Cruikshank Dodd 2001, Pls XVII, 64); one of the most important attributes . Thus, the Church of Mart Shmuni, Lebanon (Cruikshank Dodd inclusion of Christ carrying a patriarchal cross in 2004, nos 13, 41-42, Pls XLVI-XLIX, 13.3-13.11). the scene of the Women at the Tomb is a direct allu- 86 Jolivet-Lévy 1991, 260, Pls 143/2, 144/2, 145/1; Restle 1967, III, no. XLVI, Fig. 433. sion to the Anastasis featured on the following page. 87 Kartsonis 1986, 153-156. To conclude the iconographical analysis, the wall 88 Restle 1967, II, no. X, Figs 77, 94-95. painting at the Church of Mar Giworgis is an 89 Kartsonis 1986, 166, Fig. 61. ingeniously created composition consisting of a reg- 90 Jolivet-Lévy 2001, 176-177, Figs 5, 9; Restle 1967, III, no. LI, Figs 471-472. ular Baptism of Christ combined with the two 91 Restle 1967, II, no. XII, Fig. 124. women from the scene of the Women at the Tomb 92 Restle 1967, II, no. XXI, Figs 210-211. (Myrophores), and Adam and Eve from the Anas- 93 Restle 1967, III, no. XLVIII, Figs 456, 461-462; idem, II, tasis. The inclusion of these additional figures no. XXII, Figs 238-239. 94 The Walters Art Gallery, Washington D.C., inv. no. 37.751 clearly stresses the resurrectional symbolism of the (Gouma-Peterson 1984-1985, 48-60). Baptism. The ultimate literary source for the com- 95 Vatican Library, Ms. Syr. 559, fol. 146v (Leroy 1964, 294, bination of these three subjects is found in the Pls 79,2, 92,2; Sminé 1993, Fig. 13). Pauline teaching of Romans 6, according to which 96 Leroy 1964, 371-383. Cf. Doumato 1999. 97 Leroy 1964, 376, Pl. 133,1. the sacramental act of baptism is a participation in 98 Leroy 1964, 376, Pl. 132,2. the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. 99 Kartsonis 1986, 205-207. To paraphrase Kartsonis, the Baptism painting at

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the Church of Mar Giworgis can therefore be con- long sweeping curve to the left. All in all, whereas sidered a synoptic review of this teaching100. the iconography of the Baptism painting can be Although direct compositional models do not characterized as sophisticated, its style can best be appear to have been preserved, the pictorial synthe- described as simplistic. The poor quality of the work sis between the Baptism and the Anastasis, familiar as a whole was perhaps determined by geographi- from Middle Byzantine art, should be given serious cal, social and economic factors. It should be borne consideration as a visual precedent. It may at least in mind that we are dealing with a small parish be argued that our complex composition and the church, arguably decorated by an artist who was Baptism-Anastasis pair stem from the same tradi- hired with the limited financial resources of its rural tion, in which the Baptism is directly associated community. Of course, great wealth would have with the Resurrection. been required to obtain the skills of the most highly trained artists. On the other hand, the patrons STYLISTIC ANALYSIS would also have been dependant on the availability of workshops; perhaps there were simply no artists As mentioned in the introduction, the analysis of active in the area at the time who could have pro- the style of the Baptism painting is hampered by its duced murals of a more elevated quality. present condition and the insufficient photographic Contrary to the iconography of the painting, material. Nevertheless, some preliminary observa- there is nothing in its style which points to Byzan- tions can still be made. Although large parts of the tine influence. This immediately reinforces the painting are covered with white dust, which has hypothesis of a locally trained artist. Given the lack remained on the surface after the removal of the of Christian wall paintings in Iraq, the first com- nineteenth-century layer of plaster, it seems that the parison to be made is with two Syriac lectionaries artist’s palette was limited, with reddish colours pre- made for the Syrian Orthodox Church: the one dominating. Dark red is used for the contours sep- from the Monastery of Mar Mattai (Vat. Syr. 559), arating the different parts; white, ochre-yellow, dating from 1220 or 1260101, and the related codex orange, red, and red-brown for the clothes; and (Add. 7170), from about 1220102. These two man- orange for the fish. The depiction of the figures is uscripts display the same tendency towards the flat- characterized by the flat rendering of their faces, tening and simplification of forms, although admit- hands and dress, of which the outlines and folds are tedly they are painted with more tonalities and indicated by heavy contour lines. No attempt has subtle shading, in particular in the dress and the been made to give the persons any sense of corpo- faces. In the simple treatment of the facial features reality. On the contrary, the general lack of high- of the Holy Women, John the Baptist and the lights or indications of shadowing gives them an angels, the painting echoes the figures depicted in insubstantial presence. The hair and beards are three-quarter view in both lectionaries, with the dis- schematized; the eyes, ears, noses and mouths des- tinction that the latter, which often feature almond- ignated merely by simple lines. shaped eyes, more closely follow trends in Islamic The artist was certainly not a very highly skilled painting. While the painting employs a limited painter. His line drawing is unstable and the pro- palette, the lectionaries are typified by a broad range portions of some of the figures are clumsy. Con- of colours, such as orange, vermilion, yellow, light sider, for instance, John the Baptist (Pl. 8), whose green and ultramarine, which are often heavily con- left arm is nearly twice as long as his right. The lim- trasted. Although they share some general charac- ited skills of the artist are especially visible in the teristics, the suggestion of a direct link between the rendering of the four small subsidiary figures in the manuscripts and the painting can be excluded. lower half of the painting, with their narrow shoul- ders and oversized hands in comparison to the heads. Similar flaws can be found in the awkward representation of Adam’s right arm, the apparent 100 Kartsonis 1986, 215: ‘… the antithetical pair Baptism- inability to typify the attributes carried by the two Anastasis … may be considered an equally synoptic review of the doctrine of re-creation and redemption, and hence, women, and the execution of the mantle of the of Christ’s divine nature’. front angel on the left: instead of revealing the lower 101 Leroy 1964, 280-302. leg underneath, the mantle makes an unnaturally 102 Leroy 1964, 302-313.

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Besides sharing some general stylistic and com- Despite obvious differences in execution and positional features with the illuminations from the craftsmanship, some basic characteristics shared two lectionaries, the style of the painting at the with the ‘Syrian Style’-paintings mentioned are the Church of Mar Giworgis also shows some similari- general tendency towards the flattening and simpli- ties, albeit very general, with thirteenth-century wall fication of forms, together with a common prefer- paintings from Lebanon and Syria, executed in what ence for strongly indicated folds and contours. In is known as the ‘Syrian Style’103. They are typified other words, they exhibit a comparably flat, linear by a restrained palette, a simplified use of colours style which does not aim at portraying the human and shadows, a distinct linearity in design, and figure with mass and volume. On a more detailed compact, squarely-built figures with round or egg- level, the frontally depicted figures display the same shaped heads. Typical exponents of this local style shape of heads and necks. The small figure of Eve are found in Lebanon in the Church of Mar Tadros (Pl. 9) may be compared with the Virgin Galac- (St Theodore) in Bahdeidat104, the Church of Mar totrophousa in the Church of SS Sergius and Bac- Charbel in Ma{ad105, and the Church of Mar Saba chus in Qara111, the Virgin with souls on her lap in in Eddé al-Batrun106, all three probably dating from Deir Mar Musa112, and with St Daniel as an orans around the second or third quarter of the thirteenth in the Church of Mar Tadros in Bahdeidat113. The century107. The same style of paintings also adorns heads of these figures are all oval-shaped and rest on the walls of several churches in Syria, e.g. layer 3 in conical necks, rather resembling an egg in an Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (AD 1208)108, the eggcup. The facial features, however, are strikingly Church of SS Sergius and Bacchus, and the second different. In the case of the murals executed in the layer in the Chapel of Deir Mar Ya{qub (ca 1200- ‘Syrian Style’, the faces are typified by delicate 1266), both in Qara109. This group is contrasted mouths with clearly defined lips, large eyes with with a second cluster of paintings whose formal curling eyelashes, and heavy dark eyebrows, both characteristics betray Byzantine influences110. continuing into the long straight nose with small circles for the nostrils. By contrast, the eyes of Eve in the Baptism are small, and her nose is slightly 103 The term ‘Syrian Style’ was first coined and defined by curved and indicated only by one line. Another sim- Erica Cruikshank Dodd. Cf. the contribution by Stephan ilarity that can be seen is in the way the background Westphalen in the present volume. 104 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, cat. no. 19, with further refer- is filled up with a continuous pattern of circles, ences; Hélou 1999, 16-17, Pls 1-6; idem 2006, 66-67. which in our painting is best visible between the fig- 105 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, cat. no. 18, with further refer- ures of Adam and Eve114. ences; Hélou 1999, 17-18, Pls 7-9. Finally, two more general observations can be 106 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, cat. no. 15, with further references; Hélou 1999, 18-19, Pls 10-12. made. The first is that in the twelfth and thirteenth 107 Personal communication by Mat Immerzeel. century the jagged rocky outline of the banks of the 108 Cruikshank Dodd 2001. On the date of AD 1208 for the river Jordan encountered here is often favoured, as paintings of layer 3, see the contributions of Bas ter Haar opposed to smoother contours115. The second is Romeny, Johannes den Heijer, Mat Immerzeel and Stephan Westphalen in the present volume. that the winding spirals in the decorative frieze 109 Schmidt/Westphalen 2005, 120-124, Pls IX-XI, 4-12, 15. underneath the painting, with their regularly wind- 110 Cruikshank Dodd 2001, 112-114, 117-119; idem 2004, ing pattern (Pl. 7), bring to mind the scrolling 95-96, 102-103; Immerzeel 2004b, 24-26; Schmidt/West- stems with hooked leaves that are encountered phalen 2005, 120-124. 111 Cruikshank Dodd 2001, 110-111, Pl. 89; idem 2004, on a bronze liturgical fan (AD 1202/1203), made Pl. C5; Schmidt/Westphalen 2005, Pl. 12a; Westphalen for the Syrian Orthodox community living in Deir 2000, Fig. 26. al-Surian in Egypt, which was produced in north- 112 Cruikshank Dodd, 2001, Pl. 69c. ern Mesopotamia116. This floral ornament is a 113 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, Pls 19.12, 19.25; Hélou 1999, 16-17, Pl. 4. common feature of thirteenth-century Syrian and 114 Compare, for instance, with backgrounds in Deir Mar Mesopotamian metalwork and may therefore be an Musa al-Habashi (Cruikshank Dodd 2001, Pls 54a, 79b), indication of local influence, although at present and the Chapel of Deir Mar Ya{qub in Qara (Schmidt/ this must remain a mere hypothesis. Westphalen 2005, Pls XIb, 8-9). 115 Boyd 1974, 297. To summarize, the wall painting at the Church 116 Snelders/Immerzeel 2004, 116, 130, Pls 1, 3. Cf. Snelders of Mar Giworgis is executed in a provincial style, 2006. which is comparable to a certain degree with the

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two Syriac lectionaries from northern Mesopotamia, and the ‘Syrian Style’ murals from Lebanon and Syria, even though some of its features set it apart. The individual style of the painting has no direct parallels. At present, it cannot be established whether the unique characteristics are strictly the result of the primitive style of the artist, or whether they betray a local painting tradition of which no other traces remain. In general terms, similarities can be found in the preference for the simplification of forms, the lack of shading, and the predom- ination of strong contours, but it is too early to draw particular connections between our painting and those from Lebanon and Syria. Future finds may be more revealing in this matter. Nevertheless, Pl. 8. Detail of the Baptism of Christ the art-historical research on the Baptism painting has provided enough elements to support the hypothesis that it was painted in the thirteenth century. Some of the iconographical details, i.e. the numerous fish and the multiplication of attending angels, are mainly encountered from that period onwards. Furthermore, the stylistic similarities with the Syriac lectionaries and a group of wall paintings from Lebanon and Syria executed in the so-called Syrian Style contribute additional evidence for attributing the painting to the thirteenth century. In order to shed some more light on the date, we shall turn to the history of Qaraqosh in general and the Church of Mar Giworgis in particular, especially around the thirteenth century and within the greater context of the historical events of that period. Pl. 9. Detail of the Baptism of Christ

WIDER HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC CONTEXT

The history of Qaraqosh (or in Syriac Beth- East-Syrians (Assyrians/Nestorians), Mosul was an Khudeda, Bukhdeda or Bagdeda) and its churches important Syrian Orthodox centre during the period can be traced on the basis of a variety of sources, under consideration. The Syrian Orthodox commu- especially the colophons of manuscripts copied there nity centred on the monasteries of Mar Mattai and and the large number of inscriptions, ranging from Mar Behnam, both located just outside Mosul, and the twelfth to the twentieth century, which have several churches situated in the capital itself. recently been compiled and studied by Harrak117. During the twelfth and thirteenth century, the Unfortunately, little is known about the history of Mosul area experienced a flourishing period, which the village prior to the twelfth century. It has gen- was marked by great artistic activity. The political erally been assumed that Qaraqosh was ‘Dyophysite’ circumstances at the time were an influential factor (formerly often referred to as ‘Nestorian’) in Late in this prosperity. In this period the city reached its Antiquity, but turned to ‘Miaphysitism’ around the political and cultural apogee, first under the Zangid beginning of the seventh century, under the influence of the Monastery of Mar Mattai118. Even though the majority of the Christian population of 117 Harrak, forthcoming. northern Mesopotamia traditionally consisted of 118 Fiey 1965, 442; Harrak, forthcoming.

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dynasty (1127-1234) and then under the Zangid’s cultural wealth of the later twelfth and thirteenth successor Badr al-Din Lu’lu’ (1210-1259), who centuries is the Monastery of Mar Behnam, located reigned initially as a vizier of the last Zangids and just to the south of Qaraqosh. Although a dedica- from 1234 as an independent ruler. Due to his tory inscription in the sanctuary reports that a sig- excellent political and diplomatic skills, Badr al-Din nificant restoration took place in AD 1164 (AG Lu’lu’ was able to maintain a relatively peaceful 1475)125, most of the surviving sculptural decora- regime, during which the economy and prosperity tion closely resembles examples from the reign of of the region grew tremendously119. The Muslims Badr al-Din Lu’lu’, and may therefore be dated to were not the only ones who benefited from this sta- 1233-1259. In this period the monastery seems to bility. Apart from a few short interim periods when have seen its greatest heyday, during which both the restrictions were placed on their freedom, the local interior and exterior of its church were adorned Christians enjoyed a great deal of tolerance and pro- with new stone carving. The decoration programme tection at the hands of the Muslim authorities. The juxtaposes distinctively Christian themes such as Christians participated fully in the political, eco- crosses, figures of saints, martyrs and monks with nomic and cultural life of the time. Besides the blos- motifs recognizable from the local Islamic context, soming of Islamic art, the production of Christian including a wide range of decorative patterns, art also reached a peak; the output of manuscript images of entwined dragons and seated lions with illumination120, metalwork121, and sculpture122 asso- their tails ending in dragons’ heads126. Some of the ciated with the Syrian Orthodox community is con- artists who contributed to the refurbishment of the siderable. In the flourishing of Syrian Orthodox monastery’s church may also have been responsible art123 in the Mosul area, the relocation of the seat for the stone sculpture decorating the Royal Gate of the maphrian from Takrit to the Monastery of in the Church of Mart Shmuni in Qaraqosh, which, Mar Mattai in 1155124 must have played an addi- on the basis of stylistic analysis, must be dated to tional catalysing role. the mid-thirteenth century127. One of the Syrian Orthodox monasteries which Qaraqosh is also known to have brought forth appears to have profited from the economic and several famous scribes during this period, such as the monk Isa{aya from Deir Mar Mattai128, and the brothers Rabban Sarkis and Rabban Bakos, who 119 Snelders 2006. were monks at the Monastery of the Mother of God 120 Leroy 1964, passim; Snelders, forthcoming. (or of the ‘Hermits’) in Edessa. In the second part 121 Leroy 1974-1975; Snelders, forthcoming; Snelders/ of his long career, Bakos was active at Deir al-Surian Immerzeel 2004. in Egypt, probably between 1230 and 1257129. 122 Fiey 1965, 565-609, Pl. E; Preusser 1911, 3-13, Pls 1-20, Fig. 2; Snelders 2006; idem, forthcoming; Snelders/ Moreover, he was not the only monk at Deir al- Jeudy 2006, 126-135, Pls 15-17; Zibawi 1995, 61-62, Surian originating from Qaraqosh. Only two decades Figs 43-44; idem 2005, 345-346, Figs 4-8. before him, John of Beth-Khudeda, together with 123 The term ‘Syrian Orthodox art’ is used here simply to refer the monk Zakhe, donated several manuscripts to the to those artistic products that were used by the Syrian 130 Orthodox community during the period under considera- monastery . Another monk from Qaraqosh, a cer- tion. In fact, the question of what makes art ‘Syrian Ortho- tain Mansur, also went down in the annals, though dox’ still needs tackling. Cf. Ter Haar Romeny 2005, 389- not as a scribe. He is credited with the construction, 395. before 1286, of the small cave on the Jabal Maqlub 124 Fiey 1965, 338-339, 419; idem 1974, 145, 387; Kawerau 1960, 23. which was used by Maphrian Barhebraeus. The cell 131 125 Fiey 1965, 590-592; Harrak 2004, 95; Pognon 1907, 134- is located slightly to the north of Deir Mar Mattai . 135, no. 75. The middle of the thirteenth century was clearly 126 See n. 122. a time when the spiritual and cultural life of 127 Snelders, forthcoming. Cf. Fiey 1965, 449, Pl. C. 128 Barsoum 2003, 488; Fiey 1965, 443. Qaraqosh and other nearby Syrian Orthodox villages 129 Bigoul el-Suriany 2004, 285; Evelyn White 1933, 449; and monasteries flourished. The prosperous period Fiey 1965, 444; Leroy 1962, 103-120; idem 1964, 106, in the Mosul area soon came to an end, however. 318, n. 6. Lacking the political insight of their father, the sons 130 London, British Library, Ms. Add. 17263: Wright 1870- 1872, III, no. DCCCCXXXXI, 1080. Cf. Snelders, forth- of Badr al-Din Lu’lu’ joined the Egyptian Mamluk coming; Snelders/Immerzeel 2004, 132-133. sultan Baybars (1260-1277) against the Mongols, a 131 Harrak, forthcoming. fatal mistake which eventually resulted in the plun-

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dering of Mosul in 1261/1262. During the siege by the invading Mongol army, a disaster which is many churches in the capital were destroyed. The commemorated in a lengthy Syriac inscription political disturbances of early Mongol rule also placed inside the church of the monastery137. After entailed difficulties for the numerous villages of the these disturbances, the relics of Mar Behnam were Mosul plain. Once the stabilizing political power of transferred to the nearby mausoleum, where they the Atabegs ceased to exist, various bands of raiders, were buried in a new stone grave with ornamental Mongols and Kurds in succession, freely roamed the decoration, built in the year AD 1300 at the behest province, attacking and plundering villages and of Mas’ud ibn Ya’qub ibn Mubarak Naziq of monasteries on their way. In 1261, Kurdish raiders Bartelli138. attacked the Monastery of Mar Mattai as well as This finally brings us to the manuscript which Qaraqosh – the first of several attacks the village was preserves the first historical mention of the Church to suffer over the following centuries132. Barhebraeus of Mar Giworgis. The manuscript, a service book records in his Chronicle that the raiders occupied a containing the order of the Fast of Nineveh and the ‘nunnery of the sisters’ and massacred its occupants, order of the Commemorations of the Priests, the and killed many women and children133. As a result Strangers and the Dead, is currently preserved in of the instability and the dangers with which they the Church of al-Tahira in Qaraqosh, as Ms. 11. were confronted, many of the Syrian Orthodox According to the colophon, it was transcribed by Christians fled from the Mosul area towards Arbela Priest John Khamis of Sinjar and Deacon Michael (modern Erbil) in 1262134. at the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs in Bartelli When it comes to dating the Baptism painting, for the Church of Mar Giworgis in Qaraqosh, in one should be careful about considering the year the year 1581 of the Greeks, which corresponds to 1261/1262 as the terminus ante quem for its execu- AD 1269/1270139. Although there is nothing to tion. Despite all the setbacks mentioned, great cul- indicate a direct relation between the date of the tural activities were still ongoing in the Syrian manuscript and the painting of the Baptism, the Orthodox villages of the Mosul plain. In 1282, fact that the former was made for the Church of Barhebraeus commissioned Gabriel of Bartelli, a Mar Giworgis at least shows that there was spiritual monk from the Monastery of Mar Mattai whom he and cultural activity there in the second half of the would ordain bishop in 1285 (i.e. Dioscorus of Jazi- thirteenth century. Furthermore, the peaceful and rat ibn {Umar, d. 1300), to build a church in prosperous situation around the middle of the Bartelli to house the relics of Yohannan bar Nag- thirteenth century would have created favourable gare (‘the son of the carpenters’), after the Mongols enough conditions to generate cultural activities in had destroyed the previous church dedicated to this Qaraqosh. Some of the churches and monasteries in saint in the nearby village of Beth Agre135. The the vicinity were provided with new decoration pro- church was decorated by one of two Constantinop- grammes at this time, and it is not improbable that olitan artists who had previously been working in the wall painting in the Church of Mar Giworgis the ‘Greek Church’ in Tabriz. The construction and was also executed in this period. All in all, the Bap- decoration campaign took three years (1282-1285), tism painting may provisionally be dated to the and according to the description of the architect thirteenth century. Gabriel himself, the following scenes were represented: the Chariot of Ezekiel surrounded by cherubim in the dome, above the altar (i.e. an enthroned Christ within a mandorla, surrounded by the four 132 Fiey 1965, 444; idem 1975, 28. four-winged apocalyptic creatures, which Ezekiel 133 Budge 1932, I, 441. calls ‘Cherubim’); prophets, probably on the walls 134 Fiey 1959, 47; idem 1975, 96. 135 Fiey 1965, 433-434; idem 1975, 96; Kawerau 1960, 59, of the transitional zone under the dome; four evan- 66, 115 n. 8, 120. gelists on the undersides of the archways support- 136 Fiey 1965, 433-434. ing the dome; and the Virgin flanked by church 137 Harrak 2004, 101-102; Harrak/Ruji 2004, 68-69, Fig. 3. fathers behind the altar136. 138 Fiey 1965, 606-608; Harrak/Ruji 2004, 66-72, Fig. 4; Zibawi 2005, Fig. 5. Another case in point is the sculptural activity at 139 Barsoum 2003, 74-75, 103, 544; Fiey 1965, 435, 458; the end of the thirteenth century at the Monastery Sony 2005. For the history of the Monastery of the Forty of Mar Behnam. In 1295, the monastery was looted Martyrs, see: Fiey 1965, 435-437.

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