Female diaconate in medieval Nubia
Evidence from a wall inscription from Faras
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2815105 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Grzegorz Ochała (0000-0002-1935-0508, University of Warsaw, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 351-365 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0041977x2300054x |
| OpenAlex | W4387463689 |
| Language | IT |
| Citations received | 1 |
This paper offers a re-edition and reinterpretation of a Greek inscription painted on a wall at the Rivergate Church at Faras in medieval Nubia and dated to the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries. This dedicatory prayer is the first evidence for the existence of the female diaconate in the entire Nile Valley. While the close reading of the text in its architectural and art-historical settings allows us to formulate some hypotheses about the functions of Nubian deaconesses, in a broader perspective, the inscription is also a valuable piece of evidence for the high position of Nubian women on the one hand and the "Byzantineness" of Christian Nubian culture on the other
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeological evidence · Art · Linguistics · Perspective (graphical) · Prayer · Reading (process) · Reinterpretation · Theology · Visual arts · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classics · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |