‘Supplied for the journey to heaven’: a moment of West-East cultural exchange: ceramic chalices from Byzantine graves

Abstract

This paper discusses the historical significance of goblets, here identified as chalices, which were found in late Byzantine graves. Comparable goblets are known from other Byzantine burials, but they are absent from the funerary record prior to the thirteenth century. The practice of placing chalices in graves is found in the Latin West, however, where it was restricted to clergy. This paper proposes that the custom of funerary chalices was adopted by Byzantine clergy in emulation of their Latin counterparts, but that it was assimilated into existing Orthodox practice to meet specific hierarchical and eschatological needs. Introduction: Cultural exchange between Byzantine East and Latin West The impact of Byzantine civilization upon western medieval Europe has long been acknowledged and explored in modern scholarship. Aspects studied have included diplomatic relations, the influence of Byzantine architecture and iconography, and intellectual and cultural

A Lord’s Prayer inscription from Amorium and the materiality of early Byzantine Christian prayer

“…Indeed, it has been long noticed that is almost impossible to discern between ordinary tableware items and those used in church, unless there is a clear context indicating one use or the other (Taft 1996: 214). And even the best-known terracotta inscribed vessels that apparently are connected with the liturgy are 13th-and 14th-century late Byzantine ceramic chalices usually found inside burials as funerary goods, which probably imitate the actual metal originals used in the liturgy (Ivison 2000b;2001).…”