The ensemble of writings attributed to John Chrysostom constitutes, next to Galen, the largest extant corpus of literary Greek texts. In addition to its material size, this corpus enjoyed great popularity both within Byzantium, as witnessed by the thousands of extant Greek manuscripts, and in the Christian Orient, as attested by the countless Chrysostomian translations…
The ṭirāz (طراز) cloth was a precious and highly valued textile in the court of many Muslim rulers in Egypt. This cloth was embroidered with the names and insignia of the caliphs using needlework and tapestry weaving techniques. Ṭirāz textiles were presented to government officials, dignitaries, and even rulers of foreign lands to express the…
The reign of Melissende of Jerusalem (1131-1163) was characterised by her struggle to establish her power as the first queen regnant of Crusader Jerusalem. Unable to command the army due to her gender, she utilised church patronage as her means of exercising power. During her reign, queen Melissende founded a monastery in Bethany, extensively funded…
The compilation of biblical catenae, which began in the sixth century and continued in the subsequent centuries, was based on earlier patristic literature. The extensive work of the Church Fathers provided the primary material to the compilers, who then reused, combined, and reassembled this material. Although these new projects either repeated the sources verbatim or…