26 Coptic Prayer Book Leaves: Warrior Saint Images Early eighteenth century CE Egypt Vellum, Dimensions: 19.5 x 13.7 cm Portland State University Library, Special Collections, Mss 40 The images that accompany the readings from an early eighteenth-century Coptic prayer book, or Agpeya, are a testament to the nature of religious texts created in the Christian East. Eastern Christian religious art was generally expected to follow a strict iconographic code, within which adaptation or change was not viewed as desirable. Here the images of warrior saints, Saint George, Saint Theodore the Eastern, and Saint Mercurius, not only fit within the hagiographic tradition, but may have been copied from pattern books circulating during the period.1 Especially popular in Coptic Christian Egypt, equestrian saint’s images and relics were commonly believed to possess apotropaic, or protective powers. Others have also noted that rider saint figures often represented guardian imagery and were frequently rendered in pairings or groups.2 This could be one possible explanation for the parallel images included in this manuscript. On these pages, each of the three saints is represented by a particular set of symbolic imagery. The mounted Saint George is easily identified by the dragon underfoot which he spears with his pike. Saint Mercurius, also known in Arabic as Abu Sifayn, is recognized by the dual swords he wields overhead, while below, Julian the Apostate lays lifeless beneath the hooves of his mount. The final image portrays Saint Theodore the Eastern dethroning the Roman Emperor Diocletian, famed for his intense persecution of Christians, with a cross-topped spear. All three saints enter the scene piercing their targets from the left, while each victim occupies the lower right register on a blank field. Presented as simplified forms here, the warrior saint has become a legible “type” created with limited, but commonly understood signifiers. Mounted warrior saints, especially prevalent in Egypt after the Crusades, had been portrayed in church frescos, sculptures, and woven into fabrics as early as the sixth or seventh centuries. But after the region became Islamicized, and Copts existed as part of the Christian minority, these images became increasingly important. One scholar notes that although Copts portrayed their most beloved martyrs as equestrian warriors, they themselves, were forbidden to own or ride horses under Ottoman rule. It is generally thought that to Coptic Christians, mounted warrior saint figures
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz