Numery archiwalne

Autor: Guntram Koch   |   Strony: 133–148


 

Streszczenie

The early Christian sarcophagus, which is preserved in the church of Mar Elian (Saint Ioulianos) in Emesa-Homs is an unusual and even unique piece in several aspects. In the Roman province of Syria it is – besides a small chest in Maarat an-Nouman – the only example, which is made of marble. It has been reused and for that purpose totally recut from a half-finished garland sarcophagus of the late Second century AD, belonging to the group of Proconnesus and imported in the Roman Imperial times. Parallels for such thorough rework are extremely rare: e.g., a chest in Ephesus, from early Christian times, carved from a half-finished garland sarcophagus of the local production, and a chest in Messina, from early Byzantine times, where the figural scene on the front side was entirely removed and cut away. The Emesa piece has got a new decoration, namely crosses on all four sides. This is unusual for Asia Minor and Syria, but was probably suggested by the chest’s original decoration consisting of garlands on all four sides. With all probability the sarcophagus has been worked over for the translatio of the relicts of Mar Elian on the 15th of April, 432 AD, to the newly built church and the attached martyrium, where it is still standing, at a designated place. That means – and this is absolutely exceptional – that we can connect the sarcophagus with an event known from written sources, and date it exactly. It gives also some hints, that there were in Emesa active sculptors able to work marble still in the Fifth century AD. Thus one would expect much more marble sculptures produced in that city in the Late Antiquity. However, would that be true, nearly all of them must have perished, since only one marble statue of a sitting man presumably attributed to the Fifth century AD, is known so far.

 

 

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