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A ferry across the Jordan. A Lion, destroyed by iconoclasts, hunting a gazelle. Aenon, the spring where Saint John used to baptize (above the Jordan, right). Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing (John 1:28)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
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From Medieval Greek = icon / to break
Rejection or destruction of religious images or sacred objects.
During the Byzantine Empire the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Eastern Church. A widespread destruction of images and persecution of image veneration supporters took place. The first phase lasted from 730-787.
In Jordan, human and animal images were deliberately destroyed in the mosaics of a considerable number of Byzantine churches. This occurred not because the images were venerated, but rather because of the objection to any depiction of living beings.
The area of modern Jordan, previously part of the Byzantine Empire, became integrated into the Umayyad Empire (the first Muslim dynasty) in the early 7th century. For this reason some attribute the iconoclastic activities to an edict issued by the Umayyad caliph Yazid II (720-724). But its authenticity is questioned, and it is not mentioned in any early Arabic sources.
Often destruction and repair were done simultaneously: the plucked out tesserae were carefully reinserted as pixelated blurs, which indicates a procedure done by the local Christian communities themselves. Therefore, it is likely that the defacement of living beings was a consequence of the socio-religious environment of those communities, and the continued polemics, and persistent criticism from different groups (incl. Muslims, Jews and Christian groups) during that time.
