Faith, Asceticism and The Concepts of Pilgrim and Pilgrimage in The Byzantine Empire with Samples from Haluk Perk Museum
Ceren Ünal, Zeynep ÇakmakçıHaluk Perk Museum in Istanbul has gained a prestigious place among the private museums of our country with its rich collection containing rare examples. The collection, which was turned into a museum by Haluk Perk in 1995, also includes many different categories of works from the Byzantine Period. In our article, a total of fifteen works from this collection, which give information about the beliefs, ascetic life, cross and pilgrimage concepts in the Byzantine world and how they are reflected in art, are discussed. Of these works, which are dated back to different periods of the Byzantine Empire, there is one pilgrim’s token, two icons that are portable, nine encolpia decorated with the depictions of saints and three bronze objects of jewelry. The works in question were handled together with the concepts, people and ideas emphasizing the relationship between belief and worship in the Byzantine world in order for the rich iconography in them to gain a meaning and to be able to better comprehend what the dominant thought was in their emergence. The works, which have been examined and dated considering their iconography, styles and similar examples, are extremely important in terms of being rare and unique examples of Anatolian finds within the scope of Byzantine Art.
Haluk Perk Müzesi’nden Örnekler Eşliğinde Bizans İmparatorluğu Döneminde İnanç, Münzevi Yaşam, Hac ve Hacılık Kavramları
Ceren Ünal, Zeynep Çakmakçıİstanbul’da bulunan Haluk Perk Müzesi, nadir örnekler barındıran zengin koleksiyonuyla ülkemizin özel müzeleri arasında saygın bir yer edinmiştir. Haluk Perk tarafından 1995 yılında müzeye dönüştürülen bu koleksiyon, Bizans Dönemi’ne ait çok farklı kategoride esere de ev sahipliği yapmaktadır. Makalemizde, bu koleksiyondan Bizans dünyasındaki inanç, münzevi yaşam, hac ve hacılık kavramların sanata nasıl yansıdığı hakkında bilgi veren, toplam on beş adet eser konu edilmektedir. Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun farklı dönemlerine tarihlenen bu eserler arasında bir hacı tokeni; taşınabilir nitelikte iki küçük ikona; kutsal kişi tasvirleriyle bezeli dokuz enkolpion ile takılara ait üç bronz obje yer almaktadır. Söz konusu eserler, üzerlerindeki zengin ikonografinin bir anlam kazanabilmesi ve ortaya çıkmalarında hâkim olan düşüncenin neler olduğunun daha iyi anlaşılabilmesi amacıyla, Bizans dünyasındaki inanç ve ibadet ilişkisine vurgu yapan birtakım kavram, kişi ve fikirlerle birlikte ele alınmıştır. İkonografileri, üslupları ve benzer örnekleri göz önüne alınarak incelenen ve tarihlendirilen bu eserler, Bizans Sanatı’nın Anadolu buluntusu nadir ve özgün örnekleri olmaları bakımından da son derece önemlidir.
In the process of the spread of Christianity, the development of the concepts of faith and worship began to appear through various pursuits. In the early Christian period, the believers chose to spend all their lives devoting themselves entirely to spiritual life and being free of worldly pleasures in order to be closer to God and to become true disciples. These people, who are described as hermit monks and ascetics, were revered as saints. The believers regarded them as a saints after their death. Some of them passed away redeeming themselves from sins and some became martyrs because of their faith. Both life processes have not lost their popularity since the 4th century to the present day because they represent devoted lives for Christianity and serve as a model for other believers as well. There are various objects including depictions of Saint Symeon Stylites the Younger, Saint Onouphorios, Saint Nicholas, Saint Tryphonos, and Soldier Saints Georgios and Demetrios, who became the instructive and revered saints of the Christian world from different regions and with different life stories. The concept of carrying objects containing depictions of the saints, which are thought to be protective because the saints sacrificed their lives for a sacred purpose and believed to have healing abilities, and going on pilgrimage by visiting saints’ tombs, which are believed to be sacred since they were buried there or martyred, have been accepted in Byzantine society since the 4th century onwards.
Along with the spread of Christianity, it is visible that the concepts of pilgrim and pilgrimage gained importance. The facts of pilgrim and pilgrimage are identified with the spiritual journey to the loca sancta between the beginning of the 4th century and the 7th century. The believers following the traces of the spiritual journey on which Constantine I’s mother Helena once had gone to find the true cross where Jesus had been crucified has hence developed into the concept of pilgrimage. The purpose of pilgrimage travel differs according to believers. The main reasons for pilgrimage are worship, donations and offerings, redemption of sins or getting advice to heal physical or mental ailments. The pilgrims purchased souvenirs made of various materials from the loca sancta or the sacred area visited on the route. As the popularity of pilgrimage increased, so did the variety of souvenirs or protective objects purchased by pilgrims. Encolpia, pilgrimage flasks, oil lamps, censers, tokens rings, liturgical seals and cross pendants were bought by pilgrims. The concept of pilgrim on the other hand is fully associated with the ascetic life in Early Christianity. Christian believers, who performed a pilgrimage by visiting a loca sancta, also showed great interest in ascetic monks who have a very important place in Early Christianity. Ascetic monks who established a life that isolated themselves from worldly riches for eternal salvation were later honored by being declared saints. For centuries, pilgrimage has been performed to pay homage to the hermit monks who have played an important role in the beginning of the Christian faith and are examples for conveying this doctrine to believers, and these sacred visits are maintained within the same emotion and faith today as well.
Haluk Perk Museum, which has quite original and various objects dated back to different periods of the Byzantine Empire, has a distinguished position in Turkey. The token, medallion pendants and small icons in the Haluk Perk Museum stand out as important concrete documents that provide information about faith, worship and pilgrimage. As well as the depictions of pillar saints or martyr saints, these objects including depictions of Mary with the title of Mother of God and whose protective identity is emphasized contain both faith and protective and healing talisman functions. The terracotta token, the small hematite icon, the small steatite icon, three medallions and nine encolpia date back to the Early Byzantine Period. They will be presented in detail. They are also very important objects to emphasize the features of their periods. The pilgrim token, which occupies a privileged place among these objects, is a typical example of the Symeon token of the 6th and 7th centuries. This token, one of the rare specimens found in Turkey, is probably of Antioch origin. The double sided icon, which is made of hematite and contains Saint Onouphrios on the one side and the “Daniel in the lions’ den” depiction from the Old Testament on the other side, must have been made for a devout Christian who believed that it would provide divine protection, goodness and healing. Although there is no clear information about the production date of the icon, it is thought that it can be dated between the 12th and the 14th centuries. The icons were proctective objects. The steatite is also believed to be a proctective substance. In our study, both of them will be discussed in a detailed way. The inscription on the object can be partly read because it is broken. However, since the person on the object has a bishop attire, he must be St Nicholas because it is his characteristic costume. Taking into consideration the popularity of steatite in the Byzantine world, the object has been ascribed to the period between the 11th and the 13th centuries. Three encolpia on which we see Virgin Mary in three different types of depiction are rare examples of which we cannot come across many similar ones. In the first one, the reverse was destroyed. In the second one, the reverse was devoted to the military Saint Georgios; in the third one, the martyr Saint Tryphonos of Nicaea is depicted. Although the encolpion varies according to the pendant, it is estimated that they belong to the period between the 10th and 14th centuries due to the depiction types and iconographic details of these three objects. The three bronze objects whose obverse and reverse have depictions and are probably attached to a similar medallion by means of rings are among the interesting examples of the collection. Although their exact forms are not certainly known, they are thought to be bracelets, necklaces, belts or pendant fragments. The objects having the inscriptions and depictions of saints were used in Christianity for centuries in order to obtain divine help. Finally, the six clover-shaped encolpion pendants included in the collection repeat one another in both the form and the depictions on them. It is known that this kind of pendant, which actually emphasizes a cross in its clover form, has become widespread since the 10th century and it is under consideration that the examples in the museum date back to the 12th and 14th centuries.
