Search Results (86)

This paper focuses on a radical claim that the Lotus Sūtra makes about itself—namely, that it contains the “whole body of the Thus Come One”—and its influence on material expressions of Lotus Sūtra worship in early medieval Japan. Iconographical strategies adopted in some of the copies of the sūtra produced in this period establish the identification between the scripture and relics by, for example, inscribing each character in a stūpa. The practice of burying sūtras, which began in earnest around the second half of the 11th century, extended this logic of identification between scripture and relic. Sūtra tubes, in which sūtra copies were stored before being buried, were at times made to reflect the symbolism of the stūpa, fashioned in the shape of jeweled stūpas or gorintō. These objects—copied sūtras and sūtra receptacles—reveal a great attention paid to discourses present in the Lotus Sūtra concerning the ontological status of the sūtra itself, but also a devotional approach that attempted to project that ontological status of the sūtra as relic onto its material forms of reproduction. The Lotus Sūtra, copied and buried, written and carved, was indeed understood, at least by some, as “the whole body of the Thus Come One.” Full article

“Song-style 宋風 stone lions” is a term commonly seen in scholarly literature on medieval Japanese stone carvings. It refers primarily to the Chinese stone lions imported into Japan from around 1200 to the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as to stone lion figures carved by Southern Song stonemasons in Japan. Like other Song-style stone carvings such as Satsuma pagodas 薩摩塔, they are important remains of cultural exchange along the Sino-Japanese maritime Silk Road. Through comparative analysis of their morphological features, it is possible to trace the evolutionary lineage of the extant Song-style stone lions in Japan. The imported examples can be divided into two main types, A and B. Type A can be further subdivided into three sequential subtypes (I, II, III). All stone lions of Subtypes I and II of Type A and the earliest ones of Subtype III, together with Type B examples, generally date from around 1200 to the Song-Yuan transitional period, and can therefore be considered “Song-style” stone lions in the strict sense. The lion figures left by Southern Song stonemasons in Japan, which are mainly works of the late 12th to early 13th century, share morphological characteristics with the early imported Song-style stone lions—namely, Subtype I of Type A. The analysis of stone material sources suggests that most of the extant imported Song-style stone lions in Japan might have come from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang 江浙 region, China. In fact, the lineage of Song-style stone lions outlined on the basis of the Japanese examples is equally applicable to the study of contemporaneous stone lions found in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region. Moreover, it should also be noted that the transmission of Song-style stone lions and their craftsmanship to Japan occurred in the context of the prosperity of the Sino-Japanese maritime Silk Road and the eastward spread of Song-style Buddhist culture. The production, importation, placement and preservation of most Song-style stone lions in medieval Japan are closely tied to Sino-Japanese Buddhist cultural exchanges. Full article

This Y-chromosome study of Moroccan Jews, the largest conducted to date, analyzes the patrilineal origins of 288 men of genealogically verified Moroccan Jewish descent through the Avotaynu DNA Project, identifying 111 distinct founder lineages. The long-standing hypothesis of large-scale Berber Judaization has not previously been tested at full Y-chromosome resolution; our findings provide the first systematic evidence against it. Approximately 71% of founder lineages and 80% of individuals trace to haplogroups common in the Middle East. Only 4.5% of founder lineages are of autochthonous North African origin. Iberian-origin lineages account for 11% of Moroccan Jewish founder lineages reflecting sustained demographic and cultural exchange between Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula over many centuries. Split dates between Moroccan and Ashkenazi or Sephardic subclades cluster between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, suggesting that the ancestral lineages of contemporary Moroccan Jews were already present across the Mediterranean basin during late Antiquity and the early medieval period. Analysis of 190 distinct Moroccan Jewish surname roots identifies 29 polygenic and 30 monogenic surnames, and demonstrates that the linguistic origin of a surname, including surnames of Maghrebi morphology, does not necessarily reflect its bearer’s Y-chromosome ancestry. Unlike Ashkenazi Jews, Moroccan Jews show no evidence of a founder effect or genetic bottleneck, and display a remarkable patrilineal diversity. Among the individual lineages documented here are the first paleogenetic link between a contemporary Moroccan Jewish patriline and a victim of the 1348 Tàrrega pogrom, an Iberian/Ashkenazi split traceable to tenth-century al-Andalus, and an unexpected connection between a predominantly Moroccan Jewish lineage and the Saint Thomas Syrian Christian community of Kerala. Moroccan Jewish patrilineal heritage is overwhelmingly Middle Eastern in origin and has been preserved with remarkable continuity across two millennia of diaspora, persecution, and migration. Full article

This study presents a high-resolution, multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Tövises fen at Pocsaj, Hungary, utilising lithostratigraphical, geochemical, malacological, and palynological analyses supported by radiocarbon dating. The sedimentary sequence documents the transition from a Late Glacial fluvial system (c. 19,000–16,000 cal BP) to a cut-off meander and subsequent oxbow lake, eventually evolving into a peat-forming fen. Malacological and palynological data reveal the co-occurrence of cold-tolerant Late Pleistocene elements and the early appearance of thermomesophilous taxa at the onset of the Holocene. This suggests that the favourable microclimate of the adjacent loess-covered high bank and the humid alluvial plain functioned as a cryptic refugium for temperate broad-leaved trees and associated fauna during the Late Glacial. Anthropogenic impact is traceable from the Mesolithic, characterised by Corylus management, intensifying through Neolithic agriculture to a peak during the Roman Imperial Period. Geochemical markers in the upper peat sequence reflect increased biomass and medieval habitation, while recent malacofaunal shifts indicate progressive desiccation. Despite modern drainage attempts, the Tövises fen remains a biodiversity hotspot of high conservation value, preserving relict wetland communities. Full article

Although the figure of Salome has received much attention from artists and critics alike in the last century and a half, the sources of the legend of her death by ice remain little known. This article traces the origin, development, and transmission of the legend from late antiquity through the early modern period, highlighting its rich presence in medieval Eastern and near total neglect in medieval Western Christian traditions. Drawing on Syriac, Greek, Coptic, Arabic, and Slavic sources, it demonstrates that the legend emerged before the sixth century in the Christian East, where it circulated widely in apocryphal, hagiographical, and historiographical texts. Early attestations, such as the Epistle of Herod to Pilate, already contain core narrative motifs, which later Byzantine authors elaborated into a sophisticated typological narrative of divine retributive justice. In Greek and Slavic traditions especially, the legend achieves rhetorical refinement through the image of decapitation “not by iron but by ice,” while Syriac, Coptic, and Arabic retellings amplify the punitive dimension through the accumulation of often extravagant forms of divine punishment. In contrast, the medieval Latin West preserves only faint and fragmentary echoes of the legend, typically reducing it to brief notices of drowning and largely stripping it of its typological force. Instead, an alternative motif—Salome swallowed by the earth—gains prominence in Western textual and visual culture, possibly facilitated by the conflation of Salome with her mother. The article argues that the fully developed Eastern narrative entered Western Europe only in the sixteenth century through printed Latin translations of Byzantine historiography, particularly the works of Symeon Metaphrastes and Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos. This print-mediated transmission enabled the legend’s broader reception in early modern Europe and its eventual transformation into a folkloric and literary motif, culminating in the nineteenth-century Decadent literature and art. Full article

In many parishes, lay communion from the chalice ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has yet to return. This article summarizes the historical development of practice and theology regarding the chalice and proposes a symbolic and phenomenological account of communion with the blood of Christ. The practice of lay communion from the chalice in Western Christianity has gone through several distinct phases. From early Christianity into the medieval period, lay reception from the chalice was practiced regularly. In the twelfth century, the practice ceased due to increased focus on Christ’s real presence in the consecrated elements and increased fear of dropping or spilling Christ’s body and blood on the ground. The doctrine of concomitance arose to explain that in exceptional circumstances where communion was possible under only one species, communicants still received Christ whole and entire. Later, concomitance was used to support the practice of withholding the chalice from the laity, which lasted from the twelfth century until Vatican II. Without challenging the Council of Trent’s pronouncement that communion under both species is not required for salvation, this article argues that communion under both species maximizes the multivalent symbolism and the phenomenological experience of eucharistic communion for sacramental participants. Full article

This paper examines the iconography of the Mother of God holding a book in Early Christian and Medieval art, focusing on representations in which a book or scroll functions as an attribute of the Virgin Mary. Particular attention is given to scenes depicting Mary in relation to the Christ Child, Christ Pantocrator, and the Magnificat. The study explores the symbolic significance of the book and scroll through the textual tradition of the Church Fathers. Adopting the methodological approach to the iconographical structure developed by André Grabar, the paper centers on three interconnected case studies. First, it offers a close re-examination of a Marian scene on the ivory relief of the Werden casket (9th c.) of which the meaning is hard to understand. Second, it analyzes the depiction of the Mother of God in the vault of the crypt of Epiphanius at San Vincenzo al Volturno (9th c.), with particular emphasis on motifs that associate the image with the theme of Mary’s Triumph. Finally, it considers a fresco of Mary and Christ enthroned from the Egyptian monastery of Deir al-Suryan (10th c.), treating these works as semantically and conceptually related. Through this comparative analysis, the paper advances several interpretations of the Magnificat as articulated in Early Christian visual culture and developed in later periods with the contribution of the Byzantine theology. Given the well-established influence of Early Christian art on both the Carolingian Renaissance in the West and the Byzantine East, the shared iconographical details identified here—both formal and conceptual—are understood as deriving from a common visual tradition rooted in Antiquity. Full article

This study re-examines a previously undocumented mural panel in the second-story circumambulation corridor of Shalu Monastery, Tibet. Challenging conventional dating, it attributes the murals to the expansion under Grags pa rgyal mtshan (1306–1333) rather than a later period. Furthermore, their precise date likely falls after Butön Rinpoche assumed the role of abbort in 1320. The iconographic program, centered on Śākyamuni and Maitreya and flanked by the Thousand Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa, integrates narratives of the Buddha’s life and Maitreya’s descent. The inclusion of Cakravartin ideology reflects the politico-religious ideology of the Yuan era. The analysis argues that the mural design embodies the Buddhist vision of Butön Rinpoche, synthesizing doctrines of prophecy, the integration of the Thousand Buddhas into the Vajraśekhara Maṇḍala system, kingship, etc., and establishes these murals as an influential early paradigm in Tibetan medieval art. Full article

From its esteemed place as the queen of the sciences in the medieval period, theology has suffered in the public eye in comparison to philosophy. While philosophy came to be more esteemed, especially in early modernity, theology was relegated to private, secondary status. In the modernist paradigm, theology was seen as too biased to be objective and fully rational. While theology and philosophy had worked hand in hand in the medieval period, in the modern period, they essentially went through a divorce. They became separated in terms of disciplines, methods, ethos, and even schools. The relationship often became hostile. The cracking of the modern framework in the last century, however, has reshaped both. New possibilities have emerged, yet not without continued strain, not unlike fractured families who continue to have ties that draw them together. Given that these two disciplines are foremost in the quest for truth and meaning, these new possibilities of an amicable relationship are what I would like to explore. Full article

Background: This study presents the sequencing and analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes from nine early medieval horse remains excavated across archaeological sites in Silesia region in present day Poland. Methods: Using aDNA extraction protocols optimized for short fragments, combined with target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing, we reconstructed partial mtDNA sequences for seven of the specimens. Results: The authenticity of the aDNA was confirmed through damage pattern analysis. Phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that the specimens belonged to six distinct mtDNA lineages (B, D, E, G, L, and M), indicating a high level of mitochondrial diversity within medieval Silesian horse population. Conclusions: These findings highlight the extensive mtDNA variability among domestic horses, reflecting the diversity of their ancestral populations rather than modern breed differentiation. This research enhances our understanding of horse population structure in medieval Europe, emphasizing the genetic complexity present during this period. Full article

This article examines the evolution of heraldic memory and genealogical consciousness within the Czerny family from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Focusing on this single lineage makes it possible to trace, in a longue durée perspective, how heraldic narratives emerged, were transformed, and became embedded in family identity. The study employs a mixed methodology combining historical and genealogical analysis of municipal and noble registers, heraldic artefacts, epitaphs, and family archives with critical interpretation of early modern panegyrics and oral traditions. This approach enables reconstruction of both material and symbolic aspects of heraldic memory and its adaptation to changing political and social contexts. The findings reveal three major patterns. First, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Czerny (Szwarc/Czarny) family consolidated its noble status by linking the Nowina coat of arms to heroic myths, especially after the death of Mikołaj Czerny at Pskov. Second, in the 17th century, Michał Czerny introduced the “Szwarcenberg” element to the surname, signifying aspirations to aristocratic prestige rather than actual heraldic adoption. Third, these narratives persisted in epitaphs, literary texts, and oral tradition into the modern period. The case illustrates how heraldic memory operated as a dynamic instrument of symbolic self-legitimation among the Polish nobility. Full article

Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu (c. 1385–1470) was one of the most prominent surgeons of the early Ottoman period, particularly noted for his systematic and visually documented surgical approaches to breast tissue. His principal work, Cerrahiyyetü’l-Hâniyye, is based on the 30th volume of the Andalusian physician al-Zahrawi’s Kitab al-Tasrif, yet it goes well beyond a translation by incorporating Sabuncuoğlu’s clinical observations, experiential knowledge, and original surgical explanations. The text provides detailed descriptions of breast pathologies, including gynecomastia, and outlines diagnostic procedures, therapeutic strategies, surgical drainage methods, local wound-cleansing practices, and the definitions and uses of numerous surgical instruments, many of which are illustrated via miniatures. His second major work, Mücerrebnâme, is equally significant from a pharmacotherapeutic perspective, containing experiential prescriptions for swelling, inflammation, and painful breast lesions and reflecting the empirical reasoning he applied to drug-based treatments. Together, these two works portray Sabuncuoğlu as a versatile physician who combined operative techniques with pharmacological knowledge, offering a comprehensive view of medical practice in the early Ottoman period. His detailed account of gynecomastia surgery, supported by observations on pre- and postoperative care, represents an important source for understanding both medieval surgical practice and the development of anatomical and therapeutic knowledge in the Islamic medical tradition. Full article

This article critically considers sample multigenerational oral traditions of Numic-speaking communities known as the Nüümü (Northern Paiute), Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Newe (Western Shoshone), written down over the last 151 years. Utilizing the GOAT! phenomenological method to compare the onto-epistemologies of Numic peoples with a wide range of data from (G)eology, (O)ral traditions, (A)rchaeology and (A)nthropology, and (T)raditional knowledge, the author analyzed 824 multigenerational ancestral teachings. These descriptions encode multigenerational memories of potential geological, climatic, and ecological observations and interpretations of multiple locations and earth processes throughout the Numic Aboriginal homelands within California and the Great Basin. Through this layered and comparative analysis, the author identified potential convergences of oral traditions, ethnography, ethnohistory, rock art, and geological processes in the regions of California, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau, indicative of large-scale earth changes, cognized by Numic Indigenous communities as earth birthing events, occurring during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene to Middle and Late Holocene, including the Late Dry Period, Medieval Climatic Anomaly, and Little Ice Age. Full article

This essay explores themes in monk–underworld stories from the early medieval to Song periods, shedding light on evolving monastic–lay relations. These tales typically follow an individual who visits the afterlife and returns to share their experience. Monks frequently appear in these narratives, revealing shifting perceptions of the clergy. In earlier stories, monks often serve as underworld guardians or bodhisattvas, but by the Song period they are more commonly depicted as recipients of punishment, often for neglecting their obligations to lay patrons. This shift suggests that Song society increasingly viewed monks through a commercial lens, expecting them to provide specific services. However, these underworld tales do not indicate a decline in respect for the clergy. A broader look at Song literature confirms that monks remained highly regarded, despite changing expectations of their role within society. Full article

A series (n = 22) of glasses from the site Kapucinski vrt (garden of the Capuchin monastery, 5th–17th c. CE) in Koper (Capodistria), a port town in the northern Adriatic, was measured using a combined PIXE and PIGE method. Koper has been continuously populated since the late Roman period, with a rich medieval history, thus offering an opportunity to study Early Medieval glass. Stemmed goblet fragments, in the original publication dated between the 6th–9th centuries CE, and several other vessel types (beakers and flasks or bottles and lamps) were selected for analysis. The measurements were expected to show the trends in glass production and consumption from Late Antiquity until the Middle Ages, notably the transition between natron to plant ash glass and the supply of fresh glass. Among the set of 22 glass vessel fragments, both natron and plant ash glass were identified. For finer classification, we relied on a newly developed method of Euclidean distances with respect to major concentrations. Natron glass of the types Foy 2.1 (9 examples), Magby (2 examples), and Levantine I (Apollonia; 2 examples) was found. Two glasses remain undetermined but testify to an Egyptian origin. Most natron glasses show signs of recycling. Among the three unrecycled glasses (about 20% of the whole set), there are two examples of Levantine glass and a Magby glass lamp; this may indicate a modest supply of fresh glass during the period. Plant ash glass may be attributed to the Early or High Middle Ages, exploiting the purified alkalis of the Levantine coasts (known as alume catino in later Venetian glassmaking), and the admixture of impurities in the siliceous sands suggests the circulation and consumption of glass that was produced and traded in the eastern Mediterranean since the 10th century CE. Full article