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276880

The Iconography of Weapons in Coptic Paintings from the Fourth Century till the Thirteenth Century AD

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

ادارة التراث

Abstract

Weapons, particularly the spear, lance, sword, and the protective shield appeared on a great scale in Coptic paintings as early as the fourth century onwards.  These scenes are usually found on the walls of churches and monasteries, in which the military saint appears, riding his horse, carrying a spear in his hand, stabbing one of the enemies. Moreover, archangels were frequently depicted with spears and swords in their hands. Weapons were also depicted in Biblical scenes inspired from the Old Testament particularly scenes of the Massacre of the Innocents, the conflict of David with Saul and Goliath and the sacrifices of Abraham and Jephthah. Rare hunting scenes show bows and arrows as weaponry tools. However, prior research had shed light on these scenes without analyzing the iconography of every weapon in detail. Recent studies did not examine the parallels and contrasts between the depicted weapons nor the concept of every weapon. From this point on, the significance of this study is undeniable in that it approaches the concept and iconography of weapons in Coptic paintings according to the context and artistic iconography. The present paper aims to study and analyze the artistic features of weapons illustrated in Coptic paintings. Furthermore, the paper aims to study the context of the depicted weapons to approach the concept of every weapon in detail.  The study also analyzes the accompanying body postures of the weapon's carrier and his opponent and their symbolism. To approach the earlier aims, a descriptive approach was followed in giving a comprehensive account concerning the origin, concept as well as the iconography of every weapon in detail. Furthermore, the researchers used the comparative analytical approach to trace the similarities and differences between the weapons and to trace the development in every weapon in Coptic art till the thirteenth century AD.

DOI

10.21608/jihtha.2022.276880

Keywords

weapon, Coptic, saint, Monastery, Biblical scenes

Authors

First Name

Sara

Last Name

Kitat

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

sarakitat@alexu.edu.eg

City

Alexandria

Orcid

0000-0002-1750-8770

First Name

Engy

Last Name

Fekry

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

-

City

Alexandria

Orcid

-

Volume

16

Article Issue

2.1

Related Issue

38097

Issue Date

2022-12-01

Receive Date

2022-12-29

Publish Date

2022-12-01

Page Start

1

Page End

25

Print ISSN

2636-4115

Online ISSN

2636-4123

Link

https://jihtha.journals.ekb.eg/article_276880.html

Detail API

https://jihtha.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=276880

Order

276,880

Type

المقالة الأصلية

Type Code

810

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

المجلة الدولية للتراث والسياحة والضيافة‎

Publication Link

https://jihtha.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Iconography of Weapons in Coptic Paintings from the Fourth Century till the Thirteenth Century AD

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023