Votive Research Articles

Metal Jewellery in the Context of a Sanctuary: Interpretation Potential

Abstract Metal jewellery used as votive offerings is discovered at the “barbarian” mountain sanctuary of Eklizi-Burun (the Crimea) and dating from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD. Most of these items were probably part of female costume known from funerary contexts in the Central Crimea, which differ both regarding their location (in the Crimean Foothills and on the South-Coast), as well as the specific features of the burial rite (“cremation” vs. “inhumation”). A small part of the jewellery is characteristic only for the cemeteries in the South-Coast area containing burials with remains of cremation. An analysis of the cultural environment, in which the jewellery items deposited in the Eklizi-Burun sanctuary of the Roman period were produced and used, suggests that its worshippers came from communities living on the southern macro-slope of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains and practised cremation of the dead. Apparently, these people appeared in the Graeco-Roman narrative tradition and local epigraphic documents of the Roman period as “Tauri”, “Scythian-Tauri”, and “Tauro-Scythians” inhabiting “Taurica”. They are presumed to have appeared in the Crimean Mountains in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC (migrating from areas with archaeological cultures influenced by the La Tène culture?) and to have maintained their cultural identity until the beginning of the 5th century AD.

Theocritus’ Idyll 15: A Metapoetic Manifesto

The article discusses the metapoetic import of Idyll 15. The tapestries and the Adonis song evidence a metapoetic significance, as well as the votive offerings described in this song. In addition, throughout the poem, the association of cloths and poetry is encouraged. The poem functions as a “metapoetic manifesto” designed to indicate the poetic qualities defended by Theocritus. At the same time, it promotes itself as an example of the refined literature and art promoted by the Ptolemaic court and by Arsinoe, and introduces a recognition and appraisal of Arsinoe as responsible for the patronage and promotion of these forms of art.

Piezas discoidales recortadas en cerámica: perspectiva desde un depósito íbero de Iliberri (Granada)

In this paper we present some pieces considered insignificant by their formal features: fragments of vascular ceramics cut from which their various functionalities are analysed. For this reason we have focused on a specific find, the Iberian votive deposit of Iliberri dated in the ivth century bc. We have studied these pieces, evaluating them within their archaeological context in order to try to understand the relationship between the functionality of these objects, their analogy and the parallels with other contextual studies. With that in mind, we have selected the most significant cases, trying to determine, on the one hand, the different variants of shapes on which the discoidal pieces have been cut and, on the other, trying to clarify their use.The analysis and contrast of the context that we present, corresponding to the Granada discovery in the Zacatin Street, and other similar archaeological contexts that we have been able to identify in the archaeological bibliography, allow us to affirm that in order to arrive at a correct interpretation of these pieces it is necessary to evaluate them within contextual, iconographic and technological analyses.

Ártemis del quitón. Una aproximación a su culto en la antigüedad = Artemis Kithone. An approach to her cult in antiquity

Resumen: Este artículo pretende recopilar la documentación textual, tanto epigráfica como literaria, del culto de Ártemis bajo la epiclesis Κιθώνη para dibujar un escenario general de su veneración en la Antigüedad. Esta epiclesis, documentada por primera vez en Mileto en época arcaica (siglo VI a.C.), parece referirse al tipo de ofrendas que la diosa recibía bajo esta advocación. En efecto, la ofrenda de vestidos está bien atestiguada epigráficamente en el Ática y en la Jonia anatólica, donde han sido descubiertos inventarios de santuarios que describen con gran precisión ofrendas textiles en el marco del culto a Ártemis. Las fuentes literarias, por otra parte, amplían las prerrogativas de Ártemis del Quitón relacionando a la divinidad con la música, el baile e incluso con la fundación mítica de Mileto; también amplían su geografía cultual, que se inserta en el mundo dórico a través de Siracusa.Abstract: The aim of this article is to provide a general framework for Artemis Κιθώνη cult through the collection of Greek epigraphic and literary sources. This epiclesis, first attested in Miletus during the archaic period (VI BC), seems to refer to the offerings received by the goddess under this particular invocation. Indeed, clothing offerings are epigraphically recorded in Attica and in Ionia, where temple inventories describing accurately textiles as votive gifts for Artemis have been discovered. On the other hand, literary sources extend Artemis Κιθώνη prerogatives, linking her to music, dance and even to the mythical foundation of Miletus; they also expand the influence area of her cult into the Doric world through Syracuse.Palabras clave: Ártemis Κιθώνη, culto, epiclesis, inventarios de vestidos, Jonia, Mileto.Key words: Artemis Κιθώνη, cult, epiclesis, Ionia, Miletus, textile inventories.

Inscribing Votive Offerings and Tamata: Narratives, Artefacts, Asklepios, and Panagia Megalochari

Inscribing Votive Offerings and Tamata: Narratives, Artefacts, Asklepios, and Panagia Megalochari

“Equal Rites”: Fragmenting and Healing Bodies in the Early Modern Bay of Kotor

The aim of this paper is to examine the exchange of practices that developed when treating the bodies of ordinary laymen and those of saints. Body parts that had been obtained in unorthodox ways were used in private households in a manner strongly resembling the official methods of relic veneration. Conversely, the church authorities carried out repairs to damaged reliquaries by adopting an approach that mirrored the ways in which common people were healed in their homes (the application of holy images, use of votive gifts, etc.).

From a Noble Substance to an Imitative Body. The Image and Meaning of Wax Figures in a Votive Offering

The Polish version of the article was published in Roczniki Humanistyczne vol. 62, issue 4 (2014).
 In a wealth of votive gifts, the wax ones undoubtedly deserve special attention. They were common as early as in the Middle Ages, and they were used until the 20th century. There was a variety of such votive offerings, starting with candles, through lumps of wax, and ending with full-scale wax figures that started being used as a votive gesture at the break of the 13th and 14th centuries in the north of Europe. In the 15th and 16th centuries this custom became popular among the wealthy German, Austrian and Italian noblemen. Making wax votive figures took a lot of skill so they were made by specially qualified artists (in Italy wax figures called Boti were produced by sculptors called Cerajuoli or Fallimagini). Religious orders collaborated with the artists-artisans, undertaking to supply wax, whereas the artisans prepared wooden frames, natural hair, glass eyes, paints, textiles and brocade. In the following centuries, the production of wax figures developed ever more dynamically, especially in the north of Europe, with less skilled wax modellers, artisans and gingerbread makers often being their producers. The latter ones mainly made smaller wax figures, cast or squeezed from two-part concave models (this type of items in their form and type reminded of figures made of gingerbread).
 Wax votive figures (especially of children aged three to 12) funded in the area of Upper and Lower Franconia (the Bamberg and Würzburg dioceses) from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century are a separate and rather unusual phenomenon. Popularity of this votive offering became stable about 1880, in the years 1900–1910 it reached its climax; and in the 1950s it came to an end. Franconian offerings were always constructed in a similar way: they had wax faces and hands (more rarely feet), and the other members were made of wood, metal and some other padding materials. Dolls were a dominating model for the production of these votes, and that is why, like dolls, they had wigs made of natural hair on their heads, glass eyes and open mouths. A very important role was played by clothing, in which figures were willingly dressed; they were children’s natural, real clothes (girls were often dressed in the First Communion dresses); moreover, the effigies had complete clothing, which means they had genuine underwear, tights, leather shoes. The figures were supplied with rosaries and bouquets held in their hands, and on the heads of girls there were garlands. The figures were put in cabinets and glass cases, sometimes with wallpaper on the back wall, and they had a longer text on the front glass with the name of the child, or possibly of its parents, and the time when the figure was offered.
 Despite the many features making the Franconian offering deposits different from votive figures from other regions, all these items are joined by a timeless and universal idea, in which—to quote H. Belting—“an artificial body has assumed the religious representation of a living body…”

한국 복장(腹藏)에 수용된 포자법(布字法)의 전개와 특징

한국 복장(腹藏)에 수용된 포자법(布字法)의 전개와 특징

Risham Majeed. Review of "Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place" by Ittai Weinryb.

Risham Majeed. Review of "Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place" by Ittai Weinryb.

Gendered Healing Votives in Roman Gaul: Representing the Body in a Colonial Context

After the annexation of Gaul into the Roman empire, a new religious practice began in the Gallic provinces: offering votive objects representing either parts of the body or the entire body at healing sanctuaries. Analysis of these votives offers a unique way to study the identities of women, especially nonelite women who are often archaeologically invisible. Representational healing votives allow for study of gendered experiences of colonialism in Roman Gaul because women and men were positioned differently with respect to the colonial power structure. This study of 1,050 published votive objects reveals gendered differences in body parts represented, materials used, and preferred artistic style. In scholarship on gendered behavior in colonial contexts, it is commonly argued that women generally acted as guardians of indigenous cultural practices while men more readily took on the culture of the colonizer. The results of the present examination suggest that, in Gallo-Roman healing religion, the opposite was true: while men more often referenced an indigenous identity in their votives, women represented themselves in a Roman manner more often. These results have significant implications for our understanding of gendered experiences of colonialism in the Roman provinces.

Environmental monitoring of sacred artworks – A case study for the search for an index of correlation between particle concentration and mass of fine dust

The present work concerns the study of the concentration of Total Suspended Powders (TSP) mainly from uncombusted residues of smoke candles or incense. The aim is identifying the most critical situations for the preservation and conservation in situ of works of sacred art, normally exposed to the veneration of the faithful. These peculiar types of works of art cannot be placed out of context. This because the artifact is an object of worship for many years, it is often object to physical contati by the faithful, subjected to frequent expositions and microclimate changes. Also it suffers an intensive smoking derived from incense and votive candles. The experimental analysis carried out by the authors concerned the monitoring of TSP in the niche of the SS. Crucifix in the Church of St. Papino in Milazzo (ME). The niche, as well as the wooden statue of the Crucified contained, includes a great variety of objects of different nature: bone relics, scrolls, tapestries, precious votive offerings. At present all this precious material is been pouring in clear degradation. The monitoring of TSP was performed using a particle counter and a extractor plug with a collection filter for the gravimetric test. Tools have provided quantitative data of the number of particles per unit volume and the value of particles mass per unit volume, respectively. Then it was possible to determine a correlation marker between the two different instrumental control methods. Scanning electronic microscope analysis, applied to the samples collected, also provided detailed indication on the nature of various inorganic components stored on filters. The research results will lead to the definition of new screening equipment useful for particulate matter filtering or suppression, specifically in churches. These devices can be validated by subsequent and more detailed monitoring surveys.

Handover of the buildings and equipment remaining after the dissolution of the Pauline monastery in Leśna Podlaska in 1864 to the Eastern Orthodox Church and its further history

In Leśna Podlaska, the image of Mother of God has been an object of worship since 1683. In 1727, the Leśna parish was taken over by monks from the Pauline Order. In 1875, on the basis of Tsar Alexander II's decree, the church in Leśna Podlaska, together with the venerated image, the great altar, and votive offerings, were handed over to the Eastern Orthodox Church. The remaining furnishings were transferred to 18 parish churches of the liquidated dioceses of Podlasie and Lublin. The organ was transferred to All Saints Church in Warsaw. The book collection of the Pauline monks from Leśna was donated to the library of the seminary in Lublin. In the years 1879–1881, the exterior of the church was changed, giving the building an appearance characteristic of Orthodox Church temples. Leśna Podlaska became an important centre of Russification policy carried out by Russia.

From Domestic Devotion to the Church Altar: Venerating Icons in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Adriatic

Although traditionally associated with Eastern Christianity, the practice of venerating icons became deeply rooted in the Catholic societies of the broad Adriatic region from the Late Middle Ages onwards and was an indispensable part of everyday popular piety. The evidence lies in the massive amount of icons located today in public and private collections throughout the Italian Peninsula, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro. At a time when Greeks were branded as “schismatics”, and although the Byzantine maniera greca had become obsolete in Western European art, icon painting managed to survive at the margins of the Renaissance, and ultimately went through its own renaissance in the sixteenth century. Omnipresent in Catholic households, icons were very often donated to churches as votive offerings and were gradually transformed into the focal points of collective public devotion. Through the combined study of visual evidence, archival records and literary sources, this article will shed light on the socio-political, confessional, and artistic dynamics that allowed for Byzantine or Byzantinizing icons to gain unprecedented popularity throughout the Catholic milieus of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Adriatic, and become integrated into domestic and public devotional practices.

Pilgrims and votives at war memorials: a vow to remember

Votive deposition is an ancient practice, forming a key component of pilgrimage, which manifests an agreement between a pilgrim and a deity. At war memorials, tourists deposit votives such as wreaths, ‘from home’, to the dead for their sacrifice. These acts help to maintain social memories of war. Observations at memorials in the UK, France and Belgium identified ritualization of votive form and statistical analysis confirmed that memorial design influenced their placement. Deposition was associated with connections between the dead and their nation, family and community. Personal relationships were associated with variation in votive form, but not in placement. The study proposes a Model of votive deposition comprising the pilgrim, site, votive and the dead, in fulfillment of a vow.

Kėdainių katalikų parapija XVII a.: parama ir konfliktai

Kėdainiai was a multicultural city in the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the second half of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century Protestants made up the majority of the population. The article sets out to analyse the material situation of the Kėdainiai Catholic parish in the 17th century, the relations between Catholics and Protestants, as well as the relations within the Catholic community. It aims to reveal the problems faced by the priests of the Catholic parish in the administration of the parish situated on the border between Vilnius and Samogitian dioceses and between Catholic and Protestant communities. The research was carried out on the basis of the material from the Archive of the Kėdainiai Catholic Parish, the data of visitations and inventories and other manuscript sources. Keywords: Kėdainiai, Holy Trinity and Saint George Parish, Catholics, Protestants, 17th century. Summary The article intends to show how parishioners supported Kėdainiai Holy Trinity and Saint George Church, what material, administrative and pastoral care related requirements were placed on priests, what conflicts used to arise and how they were solved in a multi-cultural parish. The research found that in the 17th century the Kėdainiai Catholic parish received its material support from the estate of Kunigiszki as well as the folwark of Boiany granted by Krzysztof Radziwill in 1627, the folwark of Paxteliszki bequeathed by the resident of Kėdainiai Kristina Paxtelowa in 1657 and the estate of Andrukiszki granted by the nobleman of Kaunas district, royal secretary, clerk of the Kaunas Castle Stefan Franciszek Medeksza in 1667. Several noblemen (Zabiello, Szukszta, etc.) granted certain sums of money to the parish the recovery of which would sometimes even lead to court proceedings. Quite a few noblemen and townspeople (including the Gypsies of Kėdainiai) gave various liturgical objects to the church and decorated altars with votive offerings – the signs of gratitude for the mercies received. The study showed that a number of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants as well as within the Catholic community used to arise in the Holy Trinity and Saint George Parish. In the first half of the 17th century the Protestants of Kėdainiai restricted the organization of the major annual holiday of the Catholic parish – the Feast of Corpus Christi – in the city by not allowing to hold a procession from the church to the Town Hall Square and to have a divine service near the temporary altars set up in the city. In the second half of the 17th century the forces of Evangelicals reduced in the city, but Catholics engaged in conflicts among themselves over material valuables and the ways of expanding the Catholic faith in the city. The townspeople raised their requirements for the priest as regards the administration of the parish property as well as education and pastoral care related affairs. In the second half of the 17th century the townspeople of Kėdainiai were planning to have a small monastery and a high-standard Catholic school with professional secular teachers teaching in it as well as to participate in the distribution of the parish income.

MATER MATUTA, ‘FERTILITY CULTS’ AND THE INTEGRATION OF WOMEN IN RELIGIOUS LIFE IN ITALY IN THE FOURTH TO FIRST CENTURIES BC

This study explores social and gendered aspects of female fertility in popular religious practices in Italy in the last four centuries BC, and it investigates the role of supplication and votive dedications in promoting maternal health and family continuity. It tackles modern assumptions which have strongly aligned the religious activities of women in Republican Italy with their generative interests and specific ‘fertility cults’ or ‘women's goddesses’. Divinities associated with fertility are explored here, with particular emphasis on Mater Matuta who is often defined in modern research as a ‘mother goddess’. The study shows that cults purely concerned with fertility are unlikely to have existed. Fertility was only one of several fundamental personal concerns brought by women and men to the generalist and polyvalent deities of Republican Italy. Items associated with fertility, such as terracotta wombs, male and female genitals, and swaddled infants, always occur together with other anatomical ex-votos across a wide range of sites and were dedicated to many deities. Considering the archaeological and textual evidence, Mater Matuta can be shown to have occupied a more flexible and encompassing space in the pantheon, and her involvement in marriage, motherhood and childbearing was part of a wider repertoire of responsibilities. The study also focuses attention on a distinctive, but largely overlooked, votive assemblage from Capua which includes numerous tufa statues of women and babies. The paper proposes that they should be understood as votive objects offered to an unknown deity by Capuan women as thanks for support in the generative enterprise, personally and more broadly in the context of the city's religious and civic identity.

Magia ascunsă a unor amulete din Dacia preromană. În legătură cu un pandantiv-căldărușă din sudul Transilvaniei / The hidden magic of some amulets from pre-Roman Dacia. About a bucket-shaped pendant discovered in southern Transylvania

A bucket-shaped pendant was recently discovered by treasure hunters in southern Transylvania, in the Dacian fortresse from Tilişca probably. More than two decades ago, it was noted that among the pendants from pre-Roman Dacia was a category of finds made of bronze or iron which resemble the shape of a miniature bucket. #ese pendants were worn around the neck on strings, sometimes in combination with other items, for example glass beads. Chronologically, such pendants were used in the Dacian environment from the 1st century BC, but they are more numerous in contexts dated to the 1st century AD. Similar ornaments were also used in the following centuries in different cultural areas, for example in the territory of the Przeworsk culture, among the communities belonging to the Carpic culture or in the Sarmatian environment. It can be therefore presumed that the use of the pendants in question had a “supra-regional” character. In pre-Roman Dacia, they are mostly encountered in the areas outside the Carpathians range, mainly in Dacian settlements on the Siret valley, whereas similar finds are quite scarce in Transylvania. More recently, the number of finds has increased due to several archaeological investigations. Some examples are provided by the investigations carried out in the garden of the medieval castle at Hunedoara, in south-western Transylvania, which unearthed a cult place used since the Early Iron Age for various ritual practices, including votive offerings and human cremations and inhumations. Regarding the function of these pendants, Pliny the Elder lists numerous medical or protective remedies based on mineral, vegetal or animal substances. In order to be efficient, these had to get in close contact with the “patient”, so different means were used to keep them attached to the body. #ese included different types of containers which could have been made of organic materials, for example leather or textiles, while others were made of more durable materials, for example metal. One of the better known examples is the bulla, which was used in the Etruscan and Roman environment. #e bucket-shaped pendants more likely had fulfilled a similar role, holding medical and protective remedies of organic origin. Since they were lacking a lid, their contents could have been replaced according to the necessities. #eir presumed apotropaic function is also supported by their association with strings of glass beads and other metal pieces. Aside from these pendants, some bracelets having a split middle or a small middle tube have been identified in pre-Roman Dacia, but also in other cultural areas. #e small tubes were more likely used in the same way as the bucket-shaped pendants mentioned above. Various materials of mineral, vegetal, or animal origin could have been inserted to protect the owners of the respective bracelets (see Pliny the Elder, Nat. Hist. XXVIII. 9 and 47). Both the pendants and the bracelets were worn in a very visible manner, though their content, which aimed to offer protection, remained concealed. In both cases, the magical power of these remedies was augmented by the act of concealing them. Lastly, the widespread circulation of the bucket-shaped pendants was a result of individual mobility across the Dacian cultural area and also in the surrounding regions. #is mobility allowed the circulation across time and space of knowledge and practices that seldom left behind archaeological traces.

John Paul II and the Black Madonna of Jasna Góra

The article contains reflections on John Paul II’s exceptional attitude towards Mary venerated in the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. This relationship is described on the basis of testimonies taken from interdisciplinary studies. The article includes descriptions of the Pope’s pilgrimages to the Jasna Gora shrine, pieces of his speeches, titles which he bestows on Our Lady of Czestochowa, proper names of places and buildings of Jasna Gora connected with the Polish Pope. The article also chatacterises the votive offerings that John Paul II gave to the Mother of God. All this enables one to reconstruct those excerpts of the Pope’s biography which concern Jasna Gora, the shrine of particular devotion of our people to the Queen of Poland.

The sanctuary of Zeus Sarnendenos and the cult of Zeus in northeastern Phrygia

AbstractThis article presents the discovery of two fragmentary inscriptions which demonstrate the existence of an unknown naos of Zeus Sarnendenos in the northern part of the Choria Considiana, an extensive imperial estate in northeastern Phrygia. It also presents a votive offering to Zeus Sarnendenos and five new votive inscriptions to Zeus Akreinenos found in the village of Kozlu near İkizafer (ancient Akreina?), which was apparently part of another estate, belonging to the Roman senatorial family of the Plancii, situated to the east of the Choria Considiana. These inscriptions were found during the course of an epigraphic survey carried out in 2015 in Mihalıççık, a region located 90km to the northeast of Eskişehir in modern Turkey. The article consists of three main parts. It begins with an introduction to the historical and geographical backgrounds of the survey area; this is followed by a catalogue of inscriptions and, finally, an analysis of the sanctuary of Zeus Sarnendenos and the new votive offerings to Zeus Akreinenos, with reference to other evidence for the cult of Zeus in Phrygia and neighbouring regions. The inscriptions discovered in this area provide new information about the location and dispersal of the cult of Zeus in northeastern Phrygia.

A SHOSHONEAN PRAYERSTONE HYPOTHESIS: RITUAL CARTOGRAPHIES OF GREAT BASIN INCISED STONES

The prayerstone hypothesis, grounded in Southern Paiute oral history, holds that selected incised stone artifacts were votive offerings deliberately emplaced where spiritual power (puha) was known to reside, accompanying prayers for personal power and expressing thanks for prayers answered. Proposing significant and long-term linkages between Great Basin incised stones and overarching Shoshonean cosmology, this article explores the prayerstone hypothesis in the context of the 3,500 incised stones documented from the Intermountain West, an assemblage spanning seven states and seven millennia. Employing object itinerary perspectives, it becomes possible to develop ritualized cartographies capable of matching oral Shoshonean traditions with specific geographic indicators. The results demonstrate that many (but not all) such incised stones are consistent with the votive emplacement of prayerstones. Multiple constellations of prayerstone practice operated across the Great Basin for more than 5,000 years and carried forward, without perceptible break, among several (but not all) Numic-speaking populations of the ethnohistoric interval. The diversity and antiquity implied by the prayerstone hypothesis suggest dramatically more complex cultural trajectories than those of Lamb's (1958) widely accepted model of a single, late, and simultaneous Numic spread across the Great Basin.