Guarding the Entrances: Equestrian Saints in Egypt and North Mesopotamia
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ECA 3 (2006), p. 105-142; doi: 10.2143 / ECA.3.0.2018706 Guarding the Entrances: Equestrian Saints in Egypt and North Mesopotamia Bas SNELDERS and Adeline JEUDY* Mounted saints were a popular iconographical sub- the opposite site of the apse may be reconstructed ject in the decoration of churches in the Middle here. The exceptional occurrence of this composi- East, especially in Egypt, Lebanon and Syria1. The tion may be explained from the fact that there was most frequently venerated of these oriental warrior simply enough room on the east wall to render a saints are George, Theodore, Demetrius, Mercurius, monumentally painted horseman on either side of Sergius, Bacchus, and Menas2. According to their the sanctuary, in contrast to other churches in the Passions, these saints were originally Roman soldiers area. This suggests that there is a direct link who were martyred during the persecutions of between the existing architecture and the choice for Christians in the third and fourth centuries. They this particular subject matter. Or to be more pre- were soon considered true Christian warriors: sol- cise, the lack of space in most churches of Lebanon diers of Christ. In a wide area to the East of the and Syria seems to have dictated the ‘choice’ to Byzantine Empire, stretching from Georgia in the refrain from representing pairs of mounted saints north to Ethiopia in the south, these soldier mar- on their east wall. tyrs are represented as triumphing cavalrymen, Juxtaposed equestrian saints figuring on the east dressed as Roman soldiers, either with or without a wall appear to be more prominent in Egypt and defeated adversary at the feet of their horses. The North Mesopotamia, where several examples can be enemy was depicted as a dragon, a ferocious beast found dating from the eleventh to twelfth century or a prostrate human figure, all three being a gen- and the thirteenth century, respectively. In these eral symbol of evil. Hence, the equestrian saints are cases, the horsemen appear to be largely restricted generally seen as apotropaic epitomes of the eternal to wood and stone carving, which are inherently less struggle between Good and Evil3. space-consuming than their painted counterparts. Equestrian saints are mostly depicted in wall This suggests that the particular medium in which paintings found in the nave of a church, their num- paired mounted saints are featured – in close con- ber varying in accordance with the amount of space nection with the local architectural tradition – made available. A good example of the common disposi- it possible to depict them on the east wall. In tion is the Chapel of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in Syria (layer 3; ca 1200; Fig. 1), where no less than six mounted saints are depicted on the upper zone of the side walls, all galloping towards the East4. The * The authors would like to thank Ray Jabre Mouawad north and south walls are not the only locations in (American University, Beirut) for her permission to publish which horsemen can be found; they are also dis- her photographs of Deir Mar Behnam, and Maria Sher- wood-Smith for her help in correcting the English in the played on the east wall, in close connection with the article. The research of Bas Snelders is funded by the sanctuary. It is especially in this prominent position Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). that the protective capacity of the soldier saints is 1 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, 70-75; Immerzeel 2003a and fully exploited. This disposition is found in Lebanon 2004a. 2 For a general introduction to the military saints, see Wal- and Syria perhaps only once, in the Church of Mar ter 2003a. Elian in Homs, where the traces of a painted eques- 3 For instance, Bolman 2002, 61, 116-117; Immerzeel trian saint were discovered next to the apse (layer 1; 2004a, 36; Thierry 1999; Walsh 1982, 96-98; Walter ca 1150-1250)5. Given that mounted saints are usu- 2003a, 37, 42, 277. 4 Immerzeel 2004a, no. 17, with further references; Cruik- ally depicted in pairs, probably as a result of the shank Dodd 2001a, 50-56, 133-134, Pls IX-X, 27-33. common preference for symmetry, a second rider on 5 Immerzeel 2005b, 154, Fig. 1, Pl. 7. 105 Fig. 1. Map of the Middle East (M. Immerzeel) exploring this suggestion, the architectural tradi- Christian one. This raises important questions tions of the three regions will be taken into account. about the influence of the Islamic artistic tradition Moreover, the churches in Egypt are furnished with on that of the Christians. Questions to be answered an extra zone of transition, the khurus, which opens include those of why these specific images were up another possibility for artists to paint equestrian chosen and how they should be interpreted. saints as sanctuary guardians. Finally, of particular interest for the present EQUESTRIAN SAINTS IN EGYPT study is the relationship with Islamic art, as in some instances the mounted saints seem to be repre- The horseman pattern in Coptic Egypt sented in the guise of falconers, a motif apparently transplanted from a secular Islamic context to a The image of the mounted saint is especially wide- spread in Egypt, where the oldest examples have survived, dating from the Early Christian period 6 6 The outstanding popularity of the mounted saint in Cop- onwards . In Chapel XVII at the Monastery of tic art has lead Jules Leroy (1974, 214, 215 n. 1; 1975, 59 St Apollo in Bawit, for instance, several wall paint- n. 3) to suggest that the Copts invented a ‘mounted Christ’ ings dating from around the sixth century have between two angels, which should be differentiated from been preserved, including representations of the Entry into Jerusalem. This unique iconographical fea- ture is encountered on a stone relief from Sohag, currently St Phoibammon and St Sisinnius on horseback, 7 preserved in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, inv. no. I. 4131 the latter spearing a woman named Alabasdria . (Badawy 1978, 195, Fig. 3.153). For other interpretations They are painted on either side of a shallow niche, of this scene, see the discussion in Schiemenz 1986, 44-47, in the western wall of the chapel. To these exam- with further references. 7 Bolman 2002, 92, Figs 6.2-6.3; Brune 1999, 233, Pl. II.5; ples can be added a stone relief at the Coptic 8 Walter 2003a, 37, 241-242, 271. Museum in Cairo , and a limestone relief from 8 Zibawi 2003, 56, Fig. 52. Bawit, showing an equestrian saint killing a snake 106 with his lance9. On a stone lintel from Sohag in the Deir al-Surian in Wadi Natrun13; Deir al-Malak Coptic Museum in Cairo, probably dating from the Gabryal in Fayyum14; Deir Maymun (traces of an ninth century, two confronted mounted saints are equestrian saint in the northern haykal, perhaps depicted, to the left and right of a cross within a St Mercurius) and the Church of Abu Saifein in wreath10. They are designated by Coptic inscrip- Old Cairo (St Mercurius has been preserved on the tions as St Pakene and St Victor. This short list can north wall of the upper gallery)15. All these paint- easily be extended with numerous other represen- ings date before the thirteenth century. Depictions tations of equestrian saints, appearing in all differ- of equestrian saints can also be found in locations ent types of artistic media11. or on objects constituting the entrance or the gate Previous authors concerned with the image of itself, which leads into the sanctuary. In Coptic the mounted saint have firmly established its ori- churches, the sanctuary is hidden from the worship- gins in images of Solomon on horseback killing a pers’ view. Access, which is restricted to the clergy, female demon, which are mainly found on magical takes place through the central door of a screen amulets, bracelets and seals, from at least the third which transverses the entire choir. Sometimes the century onwards12. These kinds of objects are also entrance to the sanctuary is concealed still further: common in Syria. The iconographical type of it is separated from the nave by an extra room called Solomon was readily adapted by the Christians and the khurus16. Apparently derived from the low sanc- the obvious apotropaic meaning the images con- tuary barrier, the khurus originated around the sev- veyed was fluently put to their own use. In their enth century and is a typical Egyptian architectural protective capacity, these christianized horsemen feature. Its aesthetic purpose would have been to foreshadow the use of equestrian saints as guardians hide the sanctuary with more than just a low bar- flanking doorways on the exterior of the church as rier, and, in the words of Peter Grossmann, to well as in the interior, at the entrance to the sanc- ‘enrich the appearance of apsidal openings that in tuary. At the same time, they prefigure the horse- some churches appeared somewhat small’17. The men so widely represented in the medieval Arab khurus is all the more interesting here since the repertory, enhancing the horse-riding culture. depictions at the basis of our study are located either In Coptic art, the horseman is painted and on the walls of the khurus, or directly on the sanc- carved on walls, panels, icons, screens and illumi- tuary screen. As for the interior of the sanctuary, it nated manuscripts – although apparently not in any systematic fashion. Most of the time he is depicted as an equestrian hero defeating his adversary, as an 9 Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. no. 17075; Clédat 1999, apotropaic epitome of the eternal fight between Photo 208.