The Monastery of Mor Barsawmo

The monastery of Mor Barsawmo is exceptional in terms of its sculpture, for it is a fine example of medieval artistic interactions between Muslim and Christian traditions. It is remarkable also because some Christian features in its decoration have origins dating back to the Late Antique period, illustrating the strong continuities in the region (Keser Kayaalp, 2017: 280-281).

The monastic complex is carved into a curved rock surface, which creates an open space reminiscent of a courtyard in front of it. In the southern end there is a room with a destroyed ceiling. On its western wall there are traces of carved profiles, indicating that its façade, which has also collapsed, was decorated. The eastern wall extends toward North and it preserves traces of two niches topped by foliated arches. The one on the right has a shell-decorated conch and shows evidence of a circular basin under it. Above these niches runs a stalactite decoration. Just where the last niche finishes the other ground floor room starts, which has three small rectangular and two semi-circular niches on the east and south walls (Keser Kayaalp, 2017: 268). Immediately next to this room to the north and on the surface of the rock is a large semi-circular prayer niche. This outdoor prayer niche, which is elaborately decorated, is in the form of a beth ṣlutho (outdoor oratory). It is apse-shaped, composed of a curving wall and part of what most probably was a semi-dome above it. The latter was adorned with a carved monumental cross. The lower part of the vertical arm and part of the horizontal arm on the right have survived. In the background of the surviving part there is a carved semi-circular sunburst with traces of red paint.

The apse wall below the cross is elaborately carved with ornaments including floral scrolls, carved geometric decorations and two carved crosses in medallions, whose styles are different from the semi-dome cross above. The apse wall flanking the crosses is divided into sections. In the first section just to the right of the second medallion cross there are six eight-pointed star-shaped recesses. One of them is articulated with carved levels towards the centre of the star. The others seem to have been left unfinished. Next to them are three rows of five squares, under which there are interlocking six-pointed stars and hexagons. To their right, we find another series of eight pointed starshaped recesses. Below this is a band devoid of any sculpture except from the remains of the lower part of a cross, which may indicate that some parts were in fact decorated differently in the past. At the lowest level runs a decoration that is difficult to decipher. It looks like pseudo-Kufic writing. Some parts of the northern side of the apse are eroded and some are destroyed (Keser Kayaalp, 2017: 268-272).

The rest of the spaces, four rooms and a corridor, are on the upper level. The room at the northern end is a small space with an apse and an altar. On the east wall, to the left of the apse there is an inscription in red paint, written vertically, recording that in the year 1819 of the Greeks (1507/8) the altar was sculpted by the priest Ḥabīb, a recluse and a disciple of Patriarch Masʿud, who consecrated it in the name of Mor Barsawmo. On top of the altar in the apse conch there is a carved cross. An inscription divided into four sections around the cross is translated, from Psalm 44:5: ‘Through thee will we push down our enemies’. The epigraphist Henri Pognon, Consul of France who visited the region in 1906, did not record this inscription, which may suggest that it was carved after his visit in early twentieth century or he may not have seen it.

A corridor connects this room to the other parts of the monastery. A branch of the corridor leads to the entrance-like opening mentioned above and another leads to a room to the south, which has two small niches on its eastern wall. The function of the latter is difficult to determine. The only distinctive feature is a rectangular pit at its southeast corner. The larger room next to this one is probably the main church of the complex. The apse covers the whole eastern wall, which has four levels getting deeper towards the centre. The arch of the apse rests on carved pilasters. The apse conch is decorated with a carved cross. Unlike the cross in the northern room mentioned above, this cross has a sunburst or fluted background, as is the case of the two monumental crosses on the rock surface. This background decoration is enclosed by a scroll, out of which the arms of the cross extend. This cross also has almost equal arms and bulbous finials. Inside the apse niche there are traces of an altar on the floor, which has not survived. On the north wall of the church there is a carved inscription (Keser Kayaalp, 2017: 273).

VIRGINIA SOMELLA