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On the Icons of Sinai and Raithou Martyrs in Saint Catherine's

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On the Icons of Sinai and Raithou Martyrs in Saint Catherine's On the icons of Sinai and Raithou martyrs in Saint Catherine’s monastery at Sinai, with an overview of the cult and iconography of these saints in East Christian art* Miloš Živković** Institute for Byzantine Studies, SASA, Belgrade, Serbia UDC 75.051:75.033.2](620Sinai) 75.041.5:271.2–36–34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/ZOG2044101Z Оригиналан научни рад The first part of the paper discusses the written testimonies faith. The central position in the upper register of the panel about the history of the cult of the holy fathers of Sinai and depicting the Sinai fathers is occupied by an image of the Raithou at St. Catherine’s monastery and the visual represen- Deesis – representing Christ being approached by the Vir- tations of these saints in East Christian art. The Sinai icons gin and John the Baptist in a supplicating position. The in question are then analysed in two ways. First, the choice of figures of the saints in the upper registers of the icons is con- composition of the Deesis includes another two figures on sidered. On the other hand, the iconography of the forty Sinai either side of the central image: representations of the ap- and Raithou martyrs is studied in greater detail. It is shown ostolic coryphei Peter and Paul, as well as the famed Sinaite that representations of the celebrated holy monks were used to hegoumenos John Climacus at the rear of the procession on paint their “portraits”. the right and St. Paul of Latros (Ο | Α|Γ|Ι|Ο|Σ / ΠΑΥΛΟΣ) Keywords: Sinai, Monastery of Saint Catherine, holy fathers of on the opposite side. Below this “extended Deesis” are the Sinai and Raithou, Byzantine art, icons, iconography frontal standing figures of the forty monks of Sinai (+ Η ΑΓΙΗ ΠΑΤΕΡΕΣ / ΤΟΥ ΣΙΝΑ) arranged into four rows Two icons depicting the holy fathers of Sinai and and holding crosses or (less commonly) rotuli in their Raithou, painted most probably in the early thirteenth hands. The uppermost section of the second icon contains century, are kept in Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount a representation of the Virgin with Christ at the center, Sinai (figs. 1–2).1 They are located in the monastery katho- which is approached by the archangels Michael and Gabri- likon, in the parekklesion dedicated to these martyrs of the el; it is flanked by another figure of John Clumacus and that of John of Damascus. As in the first icon, the figures of the monk-martyrs are arranged into four rows of ten hieratic * A shorter version of the paper was read at the round table “Issues in Sinaitic iconography” (convenors: M. Panagiotidou, M. images each (+ Η ΑΓΙΗ ΠΑΤΕΡΕΣ / ΤΗΣ ΡΑΙΘΟΥ). Marković, N. Fyssas and D. Mourelatos) held as part of the 23rd What attracted our attention to these two well- International Congress of Byzantine studies (Belgrade, 2016): cf. known but still insufficiently examined works of art are Proceeding of the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies some of their very interesting iconographic features. Prior Belgrade, 22–27 August 2016. Round tables, ed. B. Krsmanović, Lj. to their consideration, however, it seems useful to provide Milanović, Belgrade 2016, 1341–1347 (http://www.byzinstsasa.rs/srp/ uploaded/PDF%20izdanja/round%20tables.pdf). At this point I would a brief overview of the cult and iconography of the holy like to express my special gratitude to Julia Gearhart, Director of the fathers of Sinai and Raithou, as these hagiological and art- Visual Resources and Curator of the Image and Historic Collections historical problems have yet to be adequately elucidated. of the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, who generously helped me with obtaining the photos of the icons from the Monastery of Saint Catherine. The martyrs of Sinai and Raithou. ** [email protected]. Hagiography, relics, iconography. 1 Most authors were of the opinion that the icons were created in the early thirteenth century. Cf. Γ. Σωτηρίου, Μ. Σωτηρίου, Εικόνες The story of the slaughter of the Sinai and Raithou τής Μονής Σινά I, Αθήνα 1956, πίν. 153–154; II, Αθήνα 1958, 134–135 martyrs has reached us via two late antique writings. (late twelfth or early thirteenth century); D. Mouriki, Icons from the The first is the Report (Διήγησις, Relatio) by the Egyp- 12th to the 15th century, in: Sinai. Treasures of the monastery of Saint 2 Catherine, ed. K. A. Manafis, Athens 1990, 112, figs. 43–44; A. M. Li- tian monk Ammonius (BHG 1300). The author – who dov, Vizantiĭskie ikony Sinaia͡ , Moskva 1999, 28, 100, no. 30; Egeria. happened to be on a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai at the Monuments of faith in the medieval Mediterranean, ed. M. Kazakou, V. Skoulas, Athens 2008, 241–242, no. 36–37. For their dating to the 2 For the Greek text cf. Τὸ Μαρτυρολόγιον τοῦ Σινᾶ, еd. Δ. twelfth century cf. G. R. Parpulov, Mural and icon painting at Sinai in Τσάμης, Θεσσαλονίκη 2003, 288–330. Ammonius’s work was recently the thirteenth century, in: Approaching the Holy mountain. Art and lit- translated into English (D. F. Caner, History and hagiography from the urgy at St Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai, ed. S. E. J. Gerstel, R. S. Late Antique Sinai, Liverpool 2010, 141–171). The Aramaic, Syrian, Nelson, Turnhout 2010, 386, cat. no. 135/1–2. Arabic and Georgian versions have also been preserved (cf. ibid., 141). 101 ЗОГРАФ 44 (2020) [101–125] Fig. 1. Sinai, Monastery of St Catherine, Icon of the holy fathers Fig. 2. Sinai, Monastery of St Catherine, Icon of the holy fathers of Sinai (by permission of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, of Raithou (by permission of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt. Photograph courtesy of Michigan-Princeton-Alexandria Egypt. Photograph courtesy of Michigan-Princeton-Alexandria expeditions to Mount Sinai) expeditions to Mount Sinai) time – claims to have personally witnessed the slaughter The other description of this event, Διήγημα (Narra- of the Sinai monks at the hands of the barbarian tribe of tiones) by monk Nilus (BHG 1301–1307),5 was long – and Blemmyes,3 and that a survivor informed him on the very probably incorrectly – attributed to Nilus of Ancyra (†430) same day of the killings the Blemmyes had committed at based on the Byzantine tradition and its stylistic similarities Raithou. In fact, a detailed account of the second massa- and thematic parallelisms with the works of this Christian cre makes up the bulk of his text. Ammonius’s narrative author.6 The work in question is not uniform in genre and is believed to have been written in the late fourth or early combines the traditions of late antique novels, hagiograph- fifth century, but there are rather sound reasons to sug- ic texts and descriptions of martyrdoms.7 The author nar- gest that its final version was not compiled before the sec- rates, at times very vividly and poignantly, the massacre of ond half of the sixth century or even its last years.4 3 The inhabitants of the desert between the Nile and the Red D. Ward, The mirage of the Saracen. Christians and Nomads in the Sinai peninsula in Late Antiquity, Berkeley 2014, xvi–xvii, 92–110. Sea, in Upper Egypt. Cf. Blemmyes, in: ODB I, 296–297 (R. Bruce 5 Hitchner, A. Kazhdan); L. Kirwan, The early history of the Blemmyes, More recently, the text was published in several edi- in: idem, Studies on the history of Late Antique and Christian Nubia, tions. Cf. Nilus Ancyranus Narratio, ed. F. Conca, Leipzig 1983; Τὸ Ashgate 2002, XII, 46–48. Μαρτυρολόγιον τοῦ Σινᾶ, 354–452; Die Erzählung des Pseudo-Neilos 4 Cf. P. Mayerson, The Ammonius narrative: Bedouin and Blem- – еin spätantiken Märtyrroman, ed. M. Link, München–Leipzig 2005 mye attacks, in: Bible world. Essays in honour of Cyrus H. Gordon, ed. (including a German translation). For English and Russian translations G. Rendsburg et al., New York 1980, 133–148; I. Shahid, Byzantium cf. Caner, History and hagiography 73–135; D. E. Afinogenov, Nila and the Arabs in the fourth century, Washington D. C. 1984, 297–319; monashchestvuiushchego͡ povest' ob ubienii monakhov na gore Sinaiskoĭ, P.-L. Gatier, Les traditions et l’histoire du Sinaï du 4e au 7e siècle, in: Vestnik drevneĭ istorii 2/225 (1998) 210–220; 3/226 (1998) 241–252. 6 L’Arabie préislamique et son environnement historique et culturel, ed. T. On Nilus of Ancyra cf. Neilos of Ankyra, in: ODB II, 1450 (B. Fahd, Leiden 1989, 510–521; B. Flusin, Ermitages et monastere: Le mo- Baldwin, A. Kazhdan), including a bibliography. nachisme au Mont Sinaï à l’époque protobyzantine, in: Le Sinaï durant 7 On the distinctive characteristics of genre in Ammonius’s and l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge, ed. C. Bonnet, D. Valbelle, Paris 1998, 136– Pseudo-Nilus’s works, which set them apart from other late antique writ- 137; T. Hainthaler, Christliche Araber vor dem Islam. Verbreitung und ings dedicated to martyrs v. M. Detoraki, Greek passions of the martyrs in konfessionelle Zugehörigkeit. Eine Hinführung, Leuven–Paris– Dudley Byzantium, in: The Ashgate research companion to Byzantine hagiography 102 MA 2007, 43–47; Caner, History and hagiography, 51–63, 141–146; W. II. Genres and context, еd. S. Efthymiadis, Ashgate 2014, 78–79. Živković M.: On the icons of Sinai and Raithou martyrs in Saint Catherine’s monastery at Sinai... Fig. 3. Sinai, Monastery of St Catherine, katholikon, ground plan (after: Forsyth, The monastery of St. Catherine) the Sinai monks by the Saracens, as well as the captivity of astery10 before the tenth century is evidenced by an indirect his son Theodulos, who was eventually saved.
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