Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries

<p>Christian archaeology and art of the region under the jurisdiction of the Church of the East in the Late Antique and early Islamic period is an underresearched field of studies, which exists in between more developed disciplines such as Byzantine and Syriac studies as well as Early Christia...

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Main Author: Lic, A
Other Authors: DeLaine, J
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
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author Lic, A
author2 DeLaine, J
author_facet DeLaine, J
Lic, A
author_sort Lic, A
collection OXFORD
description <p>Christian archaeology and art of the region under the jurisdiction of the Church of the East in the Late Antique and early Islamic period is an underresearched field of studies, which exists in between more developed disciplines such as Byzantine and Syriac studies as well as Early Christian, Sasanian and Islamic archaeology and art history. However, archaeological excavations of the last century, especially in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf region, now allow research to be conducted on the most important medium of artistic expression of the region – stucco. Considered from the technological, stylistic and iconographic point of view and within the aforementioned cultural contexts, it reveals that the Christian stucco production of the region was shaped by Sasanian traditions and contemporary Byzantine and Islamic influences, but also that it developed an innovative and highly creative vocabulary of forms and motifs. It was especially among the Gulf communities of Sir Bani Yas, al-Qusur and other sites that this transformative approach towards traditional and contemporary artistic models manifested itself within a short period between the late seventh and the early ninth centuries. Slightly more conservative is the character of Christian art of southern Mesopotamia in the eighth and early ninth centuries. An interesting exception is a relief found at a church in Koke in the region of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in which the Sasanian technique of deep relief is combined with the Byzantine dress of the person represented. This fusion of culturally divergent elements testifies to the double identity of the Christians living under the Sasanians – and later, in the early Islamic caliphate – who were recognized as a part of society but distinctive for their religion.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:23636a63-9682-4a2a-b27b-49f2f3df59ac2024-12-01T18:28:32ZChristian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuriesThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:23636a63-9682-4a2a-b27b-49f2f3df59acArchaeologyEnglishORA Deposit2017Lic, ADeLaine, JMango, M<p>Christian archaeology and art of the region under the jurisdiction of the Church of the East in the Late Antique and early Islamic period is an underresearched field of studies, which exists in between more developed disciplines such as Byzantine and Syriac studies as well as Early Christian, Sasanian and Islamic archaeology and art history. However, archaeological excavations of the last century, especially in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf region, now allow research to be conducted on the most important medium of artistic expression of the region – stucco. Considered from the technological, stylistic and iconographic point of view and within the aforementioned cultural contexts, it reveals that the Christian stucco production of the region was shaped by Sasanian traditions and contemporary Byzantine and Islamic influences, but also that it developed an innovative and highly creative vocabulary of forms and motifs. It was especially among the Gulf communities of Sir Bani Yas, al-Qusur and other sites that this transformative approach towards traditional and contemporary artistic models manifested itself within a short period between the late seventh and the early ninth centuries. Slightly more conservative is the character of Christian art of southern Mesopotamia in the eighth and early ninth centuries. An interesting exception is a relief found at a church in Koke in the region of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in which the Sasanian technique of deep relief is combined with the Byzantine dress of the person represented. This fusion of culturally divergent elements testifies to the double identity of the Christians living under the Sasanians – and later, in the early Islamic caliphate – who were recognized as a part of society but distinctive for their religion.</p>
spellingShingle Archaeology
Lic, A
Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title_full Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title_fullStr Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title_full_unstemmed Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title_short Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries
title_sort christian stucco decoration in southern mesopotamia and the persian gulf region sixth to ninth centuries
topic Archaeology
work_keys_str_mv AT lica christianstuccodecorationinsouthernmesopotamiaandthepersiangulfregionsixthtoninthcenturies