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Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal dedicated to the study of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in January and July) by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998, Hugoye seeks to offer the best scholarship available in the field of Syriac studies.
The bema, a raised platform located in the centre of the nave, was an important architectural and liturgical feature in the early East and West Syriac churches. However, there are many unanswered questions concerning the correlation between the archaeological remains and the liturgical importance of this structure, particularly in the East Syriac milieu. While the bema was considered integral to the early liturgy of the East Syriac church, little archaeological material independently confirms its importance. This paper will deal primarily with the East Syriac bema, and the discrepancies which exist between the written and architectural evidence.
The best discussions of sources as they relate to
the bema are found in Robert F. Taft, “Some Notes on the
Bema in the East and West Syrian Traditions”
(
The term East Syriac in this paper refers to the
Christian community living in the Sassanian Empire which is
often given the misnomer "Nestorian". This is too limited a
term, however, and does not take into account the regional
variation or independent development of this community. Primary
sources for the bema include the fifth century OCP 34 [1968]), 326-359; idem., “On the Use of
the Bema in the East-Syrian Liturgy” (ECR 3
[1970]), 30-39 (Both republished with comments in Liturgy
in Byzantium and Beyond, Collected Studies Series CS493
[Aldershot: Variorum, 1995]); Pauline Donceel-Voûte,
Les pavements des églises de Syrie et du Liban.
Décor, archéologie, et liturgie, 2 Bde
(Louvain-la-Neuve: Département
d’archéologie et d’historie de l’art,
Collège Érasme, 1988), 511-523; and Pauly
Maniyattu, Heaven on Earth (Rome: Mar Thoma Yogam,
1995), 164-172. See also J. Dauvillier,
“L’Ambon ou Bêmâ dans les textes de
l’église Chaldéenne et de
l’église Syrienne au Moyen Age”
(CAr 6 [1952]), 11-31.
Synodicon
Orientale as well as the ninth century Thomas of Marga.
For the former source, see J.B. Chabot, Synodicon
Orientale (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1902), 28, 267-8;
for the latter see E.A.W. Budge, The Book of
Governors, 2 vols. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner,
& Co., 1893), vol. 1, 306; vol 2; 543. See also Taft, "Some
Notes," 332-333.
Ibid., 326-359.
Donceel-Voûte,
Erich Renhart,
See: Yasuyoshi Okada, “Ain Sha’ia and
the Early Gulf Churches: An Architectural Analogy”
(Les pavements, 521.
Das Syrische Bema, Grazer
Theologische Studien 20 (Graz: Grazer Theologische Studien,
1995). His article concerning the bema, “Encore une fois:
le bema des églises de la Syrie du nord”
(PdO 20 [1995]), 85-94 was recently brought to my
attention, although I have not yet been able to consult it.
Renhart and Donceel-Voûte discuss East Syriac sources
extensively, but are geographically concerned with Byzantine
Syria and Northern Mesopotamia.
al-Rafidan 13 [1992]), 87-93 and “Early
Christian Architecture in the Iraqi South-Western Desert”
(al-Rafidan 12 [1991]), 71-83. Okada has
recognized the regional similarities of the churches in
southern Iraq and the Persian-Arabian Gulf.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 337ff.
J.M. Fiey,
Taft, “Some Notes,” 349-350.
Ibid., 350. Donceel-Voûte,
Mossoul Chrétienne
(Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique, 1959), Plate III. This plan is
based on both written and archaeological sources. Fiey did,
however, note the variations which occurred in the
architectural reality in both the East and West Syriac churches
of Mossul. Ibid., 75, 98. Donceel-Voûte, Les
pavements, 513-514 illustrates some of the variations
which occur within this corpus of churches.
Les pavements, 520-521 also draws attention to the
fact that there were certainly variations between how the East
and West Syriac communities used the bema.
Fig 1. "Syro-Jacobite" plan. J.M. Fiey.
Mossoul Chrétienne, (Beirut: Imprimerie
Catholique, 1959), Plate III.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 351ff.
Ibid., 351. This arrangement would give to
the bema the same significance as the ambo in the Byzantine
rite.
Taft cites Yahya ibn Garir, for example.
Ibid., 354-355. Taft relates this to their geographical
relation to the so-called “Nestorians” of the
Sassanian Empire.
Maniyattu,
Amir Harrak, “Recent Archaeological
Excavations in Takrit and the Discovery of Syriac
Inscriptions” (Heaven on Earth, 164ff.
Journal of the CSSS, 1[2001]),
15-16. See also Taft, “Some Notes,” 354-355.
For the West Syriac tradition, see
particularly Donceel-Voûte,
Taft, “Some Notes,” 331.
The dates for these churches are somewhat
approximate. Mound XI is dated to the sixth century and Mound V
is dated to the seventh century in the original archaeological
reports. For discussion of this site see Okada, “Ain
Sha’ia,” 87-93 and “Early Christian
Architecture,” 71-83. For the original excavation
reports see D. Talbot Rice, “The Oxford Excavations at
Hira” (
The Upper Church at Ctesiphon dates to
approximately the beginning of the seventh century. For
discussion of these churches see the above articles by Y.
Okada, as well as Oscar Reuther, “The German Excavations
at Ctesiphon” (
This is a provisional date. Taft,
“Additional Notes and Comments” in
Fiey, Les pavements and
Renhart, Das Syrische Bema.
Ars Islamica 1 [1934]), 51-73 and
“The Oxford Excavations at Hira, 1931”
(Antiquity 6 [1932]), 276-291.
Antiquity 3 [1929]),
434-451, and “Sasanian Architecture” in A
Survey of Persian Art, ed. Arthur Upham Pope. Volume II,
Reprint. (London: Oxford University Press, 1967). It should
also be stressed that the church was not completely excavated.
Liturgy in
Byzantium and Beyond (Aldershot: Variorum Reprints, 1995):
3-4.
Synodicon Orientale. The idealized liturgical
arrangement, based primarily on sources, can be seen in Fiey's
"Chaldean-Nestorian" plan [Figure 2].Mossoul Chrétienne,
Plate II.
Fig 2. "Chaldean-Nestorian" plan. J.M. Fiey.
Mossoul Chrétienne, (Beirut: Imprimerie
Catholique, 1959), Plate II.
Maniyattu,
This discussion of the sources is based on
Taft’s work in “Some Notes,” 331-332.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 333.
Maniyattu,
Ibid., 169-170.
Heaven on Earth, 164ff;
Donceel-Voûte, Les pavements, 511ff.
Synodicon Orientale,
the spiritual implications can be seen in later
sources.qestromã,
extended out into the nave. From the center of this platform,
before the central door, a narrow pathway, the
bet-šqaqona, extended down the center of the
nave to connect the qestromã to the
bema.”Heaven on Earth,
168.
For a discussion of this community see S.P.
Brock, “Christians in the Sasanian Empire: A Case of
Divided Loyalties” in Religion and National
Identity, ed. Stuart Mews (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1982),
1-19 and Michael G. Morony, “Religious Communities in
Late Sasanian and Early Muslim Iraq” (JESHO 17
[1974]), 113-135.
These structures were published by Yasuyoshi
Okada, “Ain Sha’ia,” 87-93 and “Early
Christian Architecture,” 71-83.
These are mid-late Sassanian in date. For
both sites see Barbara Finster and Jurgen
Schmidt,“Sasanidische und Fruhislamische Ruinen im
Iraq” (
Roman Ghirshman,
Ghirshman,
Circa mid-seventh century. See Derek Kennet,
“Excavations at the Site of Al-Qusur, Failaka,
Kuwait” (
Sixth to seventBaghdader Mitteilungen 8 [1976]), 26-43.
See also Okada, “Early Christian Architecture,” 76,
77. There are two churches at Qusayr, neither of which have the
remains of a bema.
The Island of
Kharg (Tehran: Iranian Oil Operating Companies, 1964),
17-20. The original publication of this church dates the
structure to the sixth century. However, based on a number of
factors, this seems far too early a date and it was probably
built 100-200 years later. Okada, “Ain
Sh’aia,” 93.
The Island of Kharg, 19.
The remains of the altar-site are clear, as is a large chest
reliquary. The fact that these have survived suggests that the
bema was not simply lost through time.
PSAS 21 [1991]), 97-111; Vincent
Bernard and Jean-Francois Salles, “Discovery of a
Christian Church at al-Qusur, Failaka, (Kuwait)”
(PSAS 21 [1991]), 7-21; and Vincent Bernard, Oliver
Callot and Jean-Francois Salles, “L’Église
d’al-Qousour Failaka, État de Koweit”
(AAE 2 [1991]), 145-181.
h century. G.R.D.
King and Peter Hellyer, “A Pre-Islamic Christian Site on
Sir Bani Yas” (Tribulus 4 [1994]), 5-7; G.R.D.
King, D. Dunlop, J. Elders, S. Garfi, A. Stephenson, C.
Tonghini, “A Report on the Abu Dhabi Islands
Archaeological Survey (1993-4)” (PSAS 25
[1995]): 63-74; Peter Hellyer, Filling in the Blanks.
(Dubai: Motivate Publishing, 1998), 42-49. Based on these
reports, there appears to be no evidence for a bema.
The archaeological reports from Failaka talk
at length about the plaster floors of the church: Bernard and
Salles, “Discovery,” 11 and Bernard, Callot, and
Salles, “L’Église,” 150.
For example, large chests and floor markings
were found in both of these churches.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 358-9.
One of many extant examples is found at
Sardis. See A. Seager, “The Synagogue at Sardis” in
bimah, or reader’s platform, in some of the
synagogues in the region of Anatolia and Syria may provide the
context for the initial adoption of this architectural
aspect.Ancient Synagogues Revealed. Lee I. Levine, ed.
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press: 1982), 178-184. A
convincing argument for the Jewish origins of the bema can be
found in G. Rouwhorst, “Jewish Liturgical Traditions in
Early Syriac Christianity” (Vigiliae Christianae
51 [1997]), 72-93. I am not convinced that the bema had to come
to the Syrian and Mesopotamian population from a Christian
context. In Syria and northern Mesopotamia, it could very
plausibly have come from the Jewish architectural tradition.
In this regard, I strongly agree with Y.
Okada’s assessment that the impetus for these church
types must be local and contemporary. See particularly,
“Early Christian Architecture,” 80-81. This idea
was expressed earlier by Reuther, “Sasanian
Architecture,” 564-565.
Ibid.
ex nihilo.
W. Stewart McCullough,
Morony, “Religious Communities,”
115-116.
Ibid., 117-118. Morony provides a
fascinating image of the Christian hierarchy imitating the
Sassanian political structure – which may also have
provided the impetus for architectural borrowing (or
vice-versa).
A Short History
of Syriac Christianity to the Rise of Islam, (Chico:
Scholars Press, 1982), 96ff.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 337.
Ibid., 350.
The first one is East Syriac and is
discussed in Taft, “Additional Notes and Comments,”
3. The second one is West Syriac and is discussed in Harrak,
“Recent Archaeological Excavations,” 15-16.
Taft, “Some Notes,” 337. Taft
also indicates that this is true in modern Chaldean churches.
Also see, Fiey,
When the controversy of Nestorius hit
Byzantium, many of his followers went into honoured exile in
the Eastern regions—where they encountered a vibrant and
highly independent church. See S. A. Harvey,
“Nestorianism”, “Nestorius” in
qestromã, or area in front of the
sanctuary.Mossoul Chrétienne, 78.
Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, Everett Ferguson,
ed. (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990). See also Amir Harrak,
“Early Eastern Christianity and Monasticism in
Mesopotamia” (Bulletin of the Canadian Society of
Mesopotamian Studies, 18[1989]), 11-23.
Mossoul
Chrétienne.
_______
† This article is based on the paper "The Bema
in the West and East Syriac Churches" given as part of the
Syriac panel at the two hundred and eleventh meeting of the
American Oriental Society in Toronto, Canada, in March, 2001.
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