Byzantium display stirs interest in Christian and Islamic culture

ENI ^ | 6 January 2009 | Martin Revis

[GonzoII]

Martin Revis

Mosaic icon of Saint Stephen, c. 1108-1113. Image: Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts.

London (ENI). The Antioch chalice, regarded by some as the Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, is attracting the attention of about 6000 visitors each day at an exhibition in London depicting 1000 years of the Byzantine Empire. "Byzantium 330-1453" runs at Britain's Royal Academy of Arts until 22 March.

It displays icons, ivories, gold and silver metalwork, wall paintings and other artefacts brought to London from across Europe, the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Egypt.

They tell the story of the Byzantine Empire from the founding of Constantinople in 330 by Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, to the capture of the city by the forces of Mehmed II in 1453. This was during the period of the Ottoman Empire that preceded the modern state of Turkey and was in many aspects an Islamic successor to the Byzantine Empire.

"Fifty years ago an exhibition like this would have attracted historians concerned with dating and provenance, but today there is a much wider interest by the public in faith cultures and how art is used to support faiths," Professor Robin Cormack, the exhibition's curator, told Ecumenical News International.

The Antioch chalice, an undated plain silver cup discovered in 1911, is encased in a holder bearing images of Christ and 10 disciples dated by the decorative style of 6th century silver work. Cormack said an argument made in favour of the cup being the Holy Grail was that it was discovered at Antioch, a city associated with Christian relics.

Among the exhibits publicly displayed for the first time is a 9th century screen from the sanctuary of the Church of the Virgin at Skripou near Thebes.

One room at the exhibition is devoted to icons, where five of them, among treasures on display from the monastery of St Catherine in the Sinai desert, are reunited with two others that left the monastery 150 years ago with a visiting Russian priest, possibly as a gift. They are now owned by a Kiev museum.

These early examples from Kiev are believed to be part of a treasure given to the monastery by the 6th-century Roman Emperor Justinian in memory of his wife.

• Exhibition Web site: www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/byzantium/about/

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[2banana]

They tell the story of the Byzantine Empire from the founding of Constantinople in 330 by Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, to the capture of the city by the forces of Mehmed II in 1453. This was during the period of the Ottoman Empire that preceded the modern state of Turkey and was in many aspects an Islamic successor to the Byzantine Empire.

Such PC crap.

The Byzantine Empire was invaded by islamic armies. They were conquered, sold into slavery and forced to convert to islam.

[Star Traveler]

Constantinople — overrun by Muslims in 1453
Europe — overrun by Muslims in 2009
U.S. — overrun by Muslims in ....

[chuck_the_tv_out]

The capital of the East Roman empire, lasted 1000 years longer than Rome, centre of christendom, usually overlooked

They still bastardized christianity into a smells & bells religion, but were still a lot better than muzzies

[Mmogamer]

The Eastern Roman Empire preserved much of Roman and Greek
knowledge and passed it on to us, this crap about the Arabs
doing that is nonsense.

[FormerLib]

They still bastardized christianity into a smells & bells religion, but were still a lot better than muzzies

The Orthodox Christians preserved the Christian faith while the Western Christians scaled it down into a minimalist faith.

Accusing them of "bastardizing" Christianity speaks of a great deal of ignorance about the Orthodox Christian Church.

[GonzoII]

"smells & bells"

Love them all.

[gitmogrunt]

"They "still bastardized christianity into a smells & bells religion, but were still a lot better than muzzies.

Who is the "they" you are referring to?

[livius]

Puhleeze. The Muzzies destroyed the Byzantine Empire, just as they nearly destroyed Spain (which was an early-Christianized area heavily influenced by Byzantine Christianity, btw). The Spanish were able to drive them out but the various countries in the former Byzantine Empire never managed to do so.

In both cases, leftwing historians want to attribute any greatness of these civilizations to Islam. Why? They were great civilizations until Islam got there. Islam was very new and not fully consolidated when it came to Spain, so it took it more time to wipe out Christianity; Islam was much more powerful when it got to Turkey, and it took Islam no time at all to extinguish Christianity in Turkey, along with art, reason and civilization, until the secular rejection of Islam by Ataturk.

Spain fought for 800 years to avoid becoming another Islamic hell-hole of despotic government, ignorance and superstition, and Spain survived and went on to bring Christian civilization to the New World. (Well, Spain survived until socialism came along...but that’s a whole nother story.)

[livius]

Huh? The Greeks and the Romans both had very elaborate liturgical forms, because Jesus is not only your personal savior, but King of Glory, and the Lord must be received in the way that is fitting. Christianity started with Jewish ritual - which was very elaborate, although Christians of course did not celebrate in the Temple - and after the Council of Jerusalem in 50 AD, at which it was decided that the message of Christ was not meant only for the Jews, Christianity began to adopt the symbolism and iconography understood in non-Jewish cultures around it, such as that of Rome.

Protestantism is a fairly new religion, a little younger than Islam, actually, and Protestants need to learn more about the history of Christianity.

[Parmenio]

</i>They were conquered, sold into slavery and forced to convert to islam.</i>

Not entirely. As late as 1920, about 25% of the population of Istanbul was Christian, and many of the areas along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts had higher percentages of Christians.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

“The Greeks and the Romans both had very elaborate liturgical forms, because Jesus is not only your personal savior, but King of Glory, and the Lord must be received in the way that is fitting.”

Fine. I’m not looking for an argument. You have your opinion, I have mine.

“Christianity started with Jewish ritual - which was very elaborate”

Jesus lambasted elaborate rituals. He was against those who made elaborate prayers to look good in front of others.

“although Christians of course did not celebrate in the Temple - and after the Council of Jerusalem in 50 AD, at which it was decided that the message of Christ was not meant only for the Jews”

God had already decided that. That council merely drew attention to that fact. The likes of Peter took a lot of persuading, as I read it!

“Christianity began to adopt the symbolism and iconography understood in non-Jewish cultures around it, such as that of Rome.”

No, they didn’t! There can be no “began to adopt”. If you are “beginning to adopt” something, you are falling away from the faith. The teachings of Christ are very clear in that regard: man’s religion makes a mockery of God.

“Protestantism is a fairly new religion, a little younger than Islam, actually, and Protestants need to learn more about the history of Christianity.”

And babylonian priests sacrificing children to molech is older than them all. Does age make a thing right?

I’m not arguing with you. I had an opinion about Bytantine; which was mainly that it was worthy of study, much overlooked. I posted it. I see no point in stirring trouble between protestants and conservative Catholics, of which there are few enough!

[Parmenio]

it took Islam no time at all to extinguish Christianity in Turkey

Like I said in an earlier comment, there were high percentages of Christians in many cities in what is now Turkey. And even higher percentages in the European areas of the Ottoman empire. So your comment is incorrect.

[Pyro7480]

Jesus lambasted elaborate rituals. He was against those who made elaborate prayers to look good in front of others.

No. He was an observant Jew. He was against those who prayed who had an exterior devotion but were not Godly interiorly.

[eleni121]

Yes there were Christians living their lives out - as miserable as they were - under the Muslim Turks.

But what a life it was—their children forcibly and regularly taken and converted and massacred at the whims of local Muslims and forced to be dhimmis - at the complete mercy of Muslims...yes they were needed as slaves and whores and to be used as slave soldiers and sailors.

And then the final atrocity against the Asia Minor Christians—the “secular” savagery of Mustafa Kemal aka ataturk - - wiping out 3 million men women and children - basically all vestiges of Christendom in the 20th century.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

“He was an observant Jew”

He followed the law. Half the point of the NT is that the jews were not following the law, though thought they were. Largely though, they don’t even care. Like today, there are no sacrifices being made for the Jews by the high priest. Yet jews will call themselves “observant”. No, they aren’t observant. Like all religious people, they are doing some things, and they have told themeselves that those things are important.

[Parmenio]

And then the final atrocity against the Asia Minor Christians—the “secular” savagery of Mustafa Kemal aka ataturk - - wiping out 3 million men women and children

I believe you are referring to the Armenian genocide that occured in 1915. But at that time Turkey was not secular as you claim -- it was still Ottoman. And in 1915 Kemal was a colonel in Ottoman Army, commanding the forces defending against the allied invasion at Gallipoli and was in no position to do waht you said he did. I'm not trying to sugar-coat anything, but you owe it to yourself to get your facts straight.

[LiteKeeper]

AMEN!

[SamiGirl]

Thank you for saying that. As an Orthodox Christian, I am grateful for your reply. And I do love the smells and bells.

[gitmogrunt]

http://www.greek-genocide.org/