Wysokie krzyże iryjskie a grobowce Edessy

Vox Patrum ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Ryszarda M. Bulas

The author in the article refers to a broad discussion on the origin of ideas and artistic inspiration for Celtic crosses. She refers to a Hilary Richardson of the Armenian and Georgian origin of the concept of the Celtic cross, also to the results of her book The symbols of pagan Celtic crosses. Myths, symbols, images. In this book she indicates a cultural affinity of Ireland and the Syria. She points to the compositional and iconographic parallels between the Early Medieval Irish crosses and tombs mosaics of Edessa, dated to the III century. Reinforcing the thesis of H. Richardson, indicates the possibility of the existence an artistic tradition, in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Syria, which is able to reach Ireland. She indicates the Celtic crosses, which have the most parallels with Syrian decoration (monasteries from Arboe, Monasterboice, Kells, Clones). The author concludes that they are grouped only in the Middle East of Ireland, in several counties (Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Tyron).

2019 ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
P.V. Kuzenkov

The article offers a new evaluation of the wellknown phenomenon of cultural renaissance of the peoples of the Middle East and Egypt of the Syrians, the Copts, the Armenians, the Georgians, etc., in the first centuries AD. This period is commonly associated with the spreading of Christianity around the territory of the Roman Empire and the Parthian, later on Sassanid Iran. According to the author there are reasons to regard the genesis of the Christianity in the Middle East as a single yet multifaceted process of transformation of the Late Antiquity culture in its totality of the Eucumene, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamir mountains. The essence of this process could roughly be defined as overcoming the Hellenistic culture crisis called forth by the ever deepening disparity between the transcendental intellectual environment it had given rise to, on the one hand, and its ideological nucleus rooted in the archaic Greek mythology, on the other. The only feasible recourse out of this crisis was the appearance of a new cultural nucleus, conventionally described as the canonized sacred text (The Holy Scriptures). This nucleus, together with the Hellenistic cultural and technological achievements (general literacy, school education, science, literature, symbolic culture, etc.) gave rise to religious civilizations with Christianity as the principal example. Thus, the author describes the historical transition from the Late Hellenistic and Post Hellenistic cultures of the Ancient Rome and the Ancient Middle East that resulted in the new nationallytinged in form but supranational in content cultures of the Christianity in the Middle East.В статье предлагается новая оценка известного феномена культурного возрождения народов Ближнего Востока и ЕгиптоСирийцев, Коптов, Армян, Грузин и др. в первые века нашей эры. Этот период обычно связывают с распространением христианства по территории Римской Империи и Парфянского, позднее Сасанидского Ирана. По мнению автора есть основания рассматривать генезис христианства на Ближнем Востоке как единый, но многогранный процесс трансформации культуры поздней Античности в ее тотальности Ойкумены, от Атлантического океана до Памирских гор. Суть этого процесса можно приблизительно определить как преодоление кризиса эллинистической культуры, вызванного все более углубляющимся несоответствием между трансцендентальной интеллектуальной средой, которую она породила, с одной стороны, и ее идеологическим ядром, коренящимся в архаической греческой мифологии, с другой. Единственным возможным выходом из этого кризиса было появление нового культурного ядра, условно описываемого как канонизированный священный текст (Священное Писание). Это ядро, наряду с эллинистическими культурными и технологическими достижениями (общая грамотность, школьное образование, наука, литература, символическая культура и др.) породило религиозные цивилизации с христианством, в качестве основного примера. Таким образом, автор описывает исторический переход от Позднеэллинистической и Постэллинистической культур Древнего Рима и Древнего Ближнего Востока к новым национально окрашенным по форме, но наднациональным по содержанию культурам христианства в Cредние века.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 451-489
Author(s):  
Marco Valenti

This article discusses the design and architectural structures of Early Medieval rural settlements in Tuscany, covering the period between the 7th and 10th c. It considers hut types, granaries and store-buildings, along with enclosures, roads, courtyards and artisanal structures. The construction of palisades, ditches and stone fortifications is also discussed. Technological characteristics are discussed in detail. A social interpretation of village development is presented. The origin of village settlement seems to be in the reaction of rural populations to the failure of centralised leadership in Late Antiquity, through the formation of communities, of an egalitarian nature, to cope with changed circumstances. The increasing structural complexity of the settlement is connected to the emergence of a resident elite.


1989 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 473
Author(s):  
Anthony Cutler ◽  
Michael McCormick

Author(s):  
Christian C. Sahner

This chapter explores the nature of conversion in the early medieval Middle East by focusing on the first half of these convert martyrs, who began their lives as Christians, embraced Islam, and then returned to Christianity. Among these, there were several subgroups, including Christians who converted to Islam as slaves or prisoners, Christians who converted under disputed or contingent circumstances, and martyrs who were brought up in religiously mixed families. Because of the contingent nature of this process, conversions could also be undone, leading to sizable numbers of apostates over the course of the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries. Even if the number of apostates paled in comparison with the number of those who converted and remained Muslims, their paths in and out of Islam tells a great deal about how conversion worked, especially the myriad social, spiritual, economic, and political pressures that powered religious change in the period.


Author(s):  
Jack Tannous

This chapter studies Christian education in the post-Chalcedonian Middle East. It is unlikely that an attempt would be made to educate all young Christian boys—the need for child labor in an overwhelmingly agrarian society would have made such a goal difficult to achieve. In fact, it was perhaps only in the regions which surrounded certain especially strong monasteries that educating all boys was even an ideal. However, one should still recognize that the spread of Christianity in the Middle East and the post-Chalcedonian increase in educational efforts must have had a positive effect on literacy rates, even if those rates remained quite low. A two-tiered system seems to have been the most typical course that education took in the late Roman and early medieval Middle East. Indeed, some members of the clergy would receive more than just the basic education.


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