by Cyril Mango
The sufferings of the martyrs, here the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, who froze to death in a lake during the persecution of the emperor Licinius. Tenth-century ivory after an Early Christian original.
Pilgrimage
MARLIA MUNDELL MANGO
An important phenomenon of Byzantine history was the development of pilgrimage centred, first of all, on sites in the Holy Land. This circuit was complemented by a series of memorial shrines commemorating Christianity’s heroes, the holy men and women who bore witness to Christ’s ministry, particularly those who gave their lives, the martyrs. A sacred landscape that stretched across the eastern parts of the empire was manifested by a network of impressive buildings between which pilgrim itineraries were established.
Both Jews and Christians considered Jerusalem the centre of the world. The city appears in a central position on a large map of the Holy Land laid as a tessellated pavement in the city of Madaba during the sixth century. In the fourth century Jerusalem had assumed a new spiritual status thanks to the interest of the emperor Constantine in the Holy Land. There he built large shrines at the Holy Sepulchre and the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem and at the cave of the Nativity at Bethlehem.
The city of Jerusalem, detail of a mosaic map at Madaba in Jordan. Recognizable features include the colonnades of the main north–south street (the cardo), a circular plaza with statue at the north gate (on left), the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre (lower centre), and the Nea church built by Justinian (upper right). Sixth century.
Plan of Jerusalem showing the principal stations in pilgrim itineraries as they had developed by the seventh century. The itineraries are known from the pilgrims’ written accounts of their visits.
To reach the Holy Land most pilgrims travelled by ship, on foot, or by donkey. Many journeys were long, even within the Holy Land: the trip from Jerusalem to Mt. Sinai could last 13–15 days. The first pilgrim to leave a written account of his journey came from Bordeaux in 333. At Jerusalem he mentions only the two buildings put up by Constantine. Yet even without commemorative shrines a holy topography existed which already in the fourth century included 34 areas in the Holy Land. By the seventh century, the principal churches of interest at Jerusalem itself came to include the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre on Golgotha, the churches of Holy Sion (the Last Supper), of Holy Wisdom (where Christ was condemned and scourged), and at the Sheep’s Pool (the Healing of the Paralytic and birth and childhood of Mary), and, in the Valley of Jehosaphat, at Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives (the Ascension). There followed trips to Bethany (the tomb of Lazarus) and Bethlehem. At Diocaesarea, pilgrims saw the chair of the Annunciation, at Cana were the jugs for water changed to wine, and at Nazareth the Christ child’s first notebook.
Reconstructed section of the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre as built by Constantine in the fourth century. On the left is the rotunda with the tomb of Christ in the middle. To the right in the open courtyard the site of Golgotha is enclosed by a small shrine seen in the lower right corner. To the right of the courtyard is the basilica where services were held.
The events commemorated at the shrines were illustrated on receptacles made to contain blessed substances relating to the Holy Land. Thus, a wooden box of c.600 preserved in the Vatican contains small parcels of soil, wood, and cloth labelled ‘from the Mount of Olives’, ‘from Sion’, etc. Its lid is reproduced below. Primary relics, such as the wood of the True Cross or bones of a martyr, were in limited supply, but secondary relics (called brandea), materials such as oil which came into contact with the primary relics, were in unlimited supply and could be put in containers for pilgrims, as in the decorated lead ampullae, inscribed ‘Oil of the Wood of Life of the Holy Places of Christ’ or similar text.
Left: Painted lid of a wooden box containing relics acquired in the Holy Land in c.600. The scenes depicted are major events of Christ’s life: (starting in the lower left) Nativity, Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. They incorporate ‘modern’ elements, such as grills under the manger and around Christ’s tomb, which were visible to pilgrims at Bethlehem and in the Holy Sepulchre.
Below: Lead ampulla decorated with the same scenes as on the painted box lid as well as the Annunciation and Visitation. Such ampullae were used to carry blessed oil home from the Holy Land. This and other ampullae were probably presented to the Lombard queen Theodelinda in c.600.
The remains of the column, originally 40 cubits high, on which sat the Elder St Symeon. From the surrounding, central octagon four basilicas radiate on a cruciform plan. The shrine, north-east of Antioch and now called Qal’at Seman (‘Castle of Symeon’), was built c.490 some 30 years after the stylite’s death. It had a large baptistery, an adjoining monastery, and, down the hill, further monasteries and inns built for pilgrims.
The shrines prospered on the donations of pilgrims, including devout emperors, on sales of ex-voto offerings and souvenirs such as the ampullae and reliquaries, and on the sale or leasing of land. Many of the pilgrims who came wished to live and die in the Holy Land. They constructed hospices, churches, and monasteries for others and bought houses and built tombs for themselves. A law of 545 states that many who were ‘attracted to Jerusalem through the desire of visiting the tomb of Our Lord wish to purchase buildings belonging to the Church with large sums of money’. The wealth generated by this buying and selling of property met the needs of the indigent and sick pilgrims who could become a burden on its charitable institutions. Another law of 535 described ‘leasehold’ sales of houses to provide the church with an income to meet its charitable obligations. Monasteries were founded to care for pilgrimage shrines and to provide lodgings for their visitors (see special feature on Monasticism).
Outside of the Holy Land, important shrines commemorated St Menas near Alexandria, St Sergius at Rusafa, St Thomas at Edessa, St Thekla at Seleucia, the Apostle Philip at Hierapolis, St Theodore at Euchaita, St John the Evangelist at Ephesus, St Demetrius at Thessalonica, in addition to Sts Peter and Paul at Rome. Most of these saints dated from apostolic times or were martyred, particularly under Diocletian in the early fourth century. Later holy men to attract devotion were the stylites, the first of whom, Symeon, mounted his column (40 cubits high) north-east of Antioch in the fifth century. After his death in 459 a large cruciform monument was built around his column at Qal‘at Seman where talismans were distributed to pilgrims. At Symeon’s column these were clay tablets or tokens stamped with his image. Likewise, clay ampullae, similar to the lead ones from Jerusalem, were produced at the shrine of St Menas near Alexandria and elsewhere to hold holy substances (blessed oil, water, soil, etc.) for the pilgrims.
Gilded silver plaque of St Symeon the Stylite shown seated on his column. The inscription at the bottom, giving thanks to the saint for a favour granted, indicates that this was an ex-voto offering. The snake entwining the column may be that featured in the Life of either the Elder (d. 459) or the Younger (south-west of Antioch, d. 593) Symeon.
Clay ampulla decorated with the inscribed image of St Menas shown in the posture of prayer, flanked by camels. This type of flask was distributed at his shrine south-west of Alexandria. The contents may have been curative water or another substance. Sixth century.
Upper half of a tenth-century icon showing King Abgar of Edessa receiving the holy towel (mandylion) with the imprint of Christ’s face. The mandylion was removed from Edessa in 944 by the Byzantines following a siege of the city and taken to Constantinople. Mount Sinai, St Catherine’s Monastery.
The geography of the holy suffered some dislocation when in 356–7 Emperor Constantius II translated the relics of Luke, Timothy, and Andrew to be placed in the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. The practice quickly spread to the west where Ambrose, bishop of Milan, imported further apostolic relics. Eventually, important relics of the Passion were removed from the Holy Land and concentrated in Constantinople which became known as the New Jerusalem. The Arab conquest of the Levant by 640 did not completely disrupt internatio
nal pilgrimage, but it became a less marked feature of Byzantine life. Byzantium’s partial and temporary reconquest of the Levant in the tenth century led to the acquisition of further relics such as the mandylion, or sacred towel, sent by Christ to King Abgar of Edessa in Mesopotamia, as portrayed in a contemporary icon. During the Middle Period, relics of the Holy Cross assumed a universal popularity and the great majority of the reliquaries produced then held pieces of the True Cross or were at least cruciform in shape. St Demetrius, whose cult was based at Thessalonica, likewise remained the focus of devotion and reliquaries continued to be made with his image.
Above: Gold and cloisonné enamel pendant reliquary originally decorated on the front with a portrait of St. Demetrius, now lost. On the reverse side appears St George, often associated with Demetrius. Inside the recess for a relic is decorated with an image of the latter in his shrine at Thessalonica. Thirteenth century.
Left: Reliquary of the True Cross made of gilded silver encrusted with precious stones and numerous gold plaques of cloisonné enamel decorated on the lid (seen here) with the Deisis and saints. Inside are recesses for the cruciform case of the Cross and other relics. The raised inscription states that the reliquary was made for Basil the proedros (964–5). The reliquary was removed from Constantinople after the sack of 1204. Limburg an der Lahn, Cathedral Treasury.
In 1204 the members of the Fourth Crusade removed prestigious relics from Constantinople to western Europe. In Paris, the Sainte Chapelle was built to house the most important of them, namely the Crown of Thorns and other relics of Christ’s Passion. But the Byzantine reserves were replenished subsequently and continued to attract veneration by Russian pilgrims down to the fifteenth century.
4
The Rise of Islam
ROBERT HOYLAND
To describe the Arabs, the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula and the Syrian desert, Byzantine writers used such expressions as ‘rapacious kites’, ‘wolves’, ‘unreliable and fickle’, ‘a barbarous nation’. In part, this reflects the prejudice of a settled state towards the uncivilized tribal peoples on its periphery. The aridity of much of the Arabs’ homeland meant that there were not the resources for complex social and political organization. Certainly there were some exceptions. Monsoon rains and spices allowed several kingdoms to develop in south Arabia, and statelets emerged in the Syrian desert when civilization showed itself willing to provide commercial revenues (thus the kingdoms of the Nabataeans and Palmyrenes) or imperial subsidies (thus the kingdoms of the Ghassanids and Lakhmids). But for most Arabs statelessness was the norm, and all Arabs, whether settled or nomadic, were organized in tribes, that is, descent groups based on self-help. In the absence of a law-enforcing agency, one had to seek justice for oneself and one’s kin by one’s own efforts—‘with the sword will I wash my shame away’, as one poet said. This uncouthness of the Arabs was coupled with another even more serious defect in the eyes of a Byzantine, namely their biblical ancestry; for as descendants of the slave-woman Hagar they were tarnished as religiously inferior, as ‘the most despised and insignificant peoples of the earth’.
It was nevertheless from a remote corner of Arabia and at the hands of an Arab that Islam was to arise. At the same time that the armies of the Persian emperor Khusro II were sweeping through the Byzantine provinces of Syria and Palestine, a man named Muhammad, of the Arab tribe of Quraysh, began preaching in his native town of Mecca, on the north-west Arabian littoral. His message, the Qur’an, consisted of warnings about the impending day of reckoning, legal prescriptions, polemic against infidels, an outline of Judeo-Christian and Arab prophetic history and, in particular, exhortations to adhere to the One True God, associating none other with Him. For those willing to accept this counsel Muhammad outlined a programme of action. They were to form a community (umma) united in ‘belief in God and the Last Day’, dissociate themselves from the unbelievers by making an exodus (hijra), and finally make war (jihd) on those unbelievers in order to convert them to the right belief or to bring them to submission. This programme of action was as effective as it was simple, and within two decades Muhammad had won much of northern Arabia over to his creed. His successors Abu Bakr (632–4) and ‘Umar (634–44) extended this success, first to the rest of Arabia, then, in a series of lightning military campaigns, to the whole Middle East.
How are we to explain this feat? To the Muslims the answer was easy: ‘It is a sign that God loves us and is pleased with our faith, that he gives us dominion over all religions and all peoples.’ And indeed we must give credit to the message which Muhammad imparted, its potency and simplicity guaranteeing its continual use by revolutionary and reformist Islamic groups until today. But why were the seventh-century Arabs so receptive to this message? Had something changed in Arabia that made its inhabitants particularly disposed to Muhammad’s teaching, or did he offer a new solution to some perennial problem? The latter hypothesis cannot be excluded. As noted above, tribes lack a coercive apparatus with the result that large-scale coordinated activity is all but impossible for them. Muhammad overcame this difficulty by giving the Arabs a sense of common purpose, one eminently suited to a tribal environment, namely to advance God’s cause through conquest (jihd f sabl Allah).
Mosaic inscription naming ‘Erethas [sic], son of al-Arethas’, the latter being presumably al-Harit ibn Jabala, king of the Ghassanids, 529–69. Church of St Sergius at Nitl (Jordan).
Facing: A small church-like building situated at the north gate of Rusafa (here seen looking towards the entrance) has been interpreted as the audience chamber of al-Mundhir, king of the Ghassanid Arabs from 569. A carved inscription in the apse may be freely translated as ‘Up with al-Mundhir!’.
More commonly, however, it is argued that the novelty lay more in the circumstances than in the message. And it is certainly true that the Near East underwent large-scale change in the century or so before the rise of Islam. The loose-knit empires of the Romans and Parthians had given way to the superpowers of Byzantium and Iran, and politics became increasingly polarized as both powers courted neighbouring peoples for their allegiance and support. The Arabs were both the beneficiaries and victims of this imperial scramble for influence. They could extract subsidies and power, but at the price of compromising their independence. Various Arab confederations emerged, the best known being the Ghassanids and Lakhmids, allied to the Byzantines and Persians respectively. We know very little about the Lakhmids, but we can see that the Ghassanids had over the course of the sixth century built up a considerable power base for themselves in Jordan and southern Syria. This is illustrated by the buildings and inscriptions which commemorate the names of their rulers, and by contemporary Syriac documents that speak of their patronage of and arbitration in matters of religion. Greek and Syriac texts mention them alongside Byzantine emperors as ‘our most pious and Christ-loving kings’, even speaking of their ‘kingdom’. And in the verses of their poets there would seem to be none more powerful: ‘Do you not see’, wrote one to his Ghassanid master, ‘that God has granted you such a degree of power that you will observe every king trembling at your feet; for you are the sun, the kings are stars, and when the sun rises, no star will be seen’. The elevation to power of these confederations meant that what had formerly been minor feuds between rival Arab tribes, in which ‘only one or a few of them might be killed’, now became significant confrontations. And it would seem that the Arab conquests began as a similar clash between the north-west Arabian and Ghassanid confederations, the former intending to usurp the latter’s position.
Mosaic in the courtyard of the Umayyad mosque of Damascus, built by the caliph al-Wald I (705–15) within the temenos enclosure of a pagan temple, itself transformed into a Christian church of St John. The courtyard mosaics depict landscapes and buildings in a ‘Hellenistic’ style, but have no living creatures in them.
The superpower conflict had ideological as well as political repercussions. Warfare assumed an increasingly religious character and religi
ous difference frequently became equated with political dissidence. On the Arabian stage this was played out most dramatically in the south when the ruler of Ethiopia, an ally of Byzantium, invaded Yemen in response to reports about persecution of Christians and installed on the throne a Christian king. Furthermore, traders turned missionaries, spreading Christianity, Judaism, and Manichaeism throughout the peninsula. Thus, by the time of Muhammad, monotheism had gained a firm hold in Arabia. What the relevance of this was for the rise of Islam is difficult to say, but at the very least it meant that Muhammad’s audience was already acquainted with the concept.
Decorated façade of the fortified palace of Mshatta (near ‘Amman in Jordan) before its removal to Berlin. The date of Mshatta has been much discussed, but it is now accepted as an Umayyad structure, probably put up by the caliph Walid II in 743–4. Its over-rich carvings include figures of animals.
