Complejo Iglesia de San Esteban
Foto tour informativo por el complejo Iglesia de San Esteban en Umm er-Rasas, incluyendo varias iglesias, capillas y dependencias.
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La inscripción dedicatoria a lo largo del escalón frente al presbiterio incluye el antiguo nombre de Umm er-Rasas: Mefaa o Kastron Mefaa. También menciona que mosaiquistas anónimos de la época del obispo Sergio II realizaron la decoración adicional de la iglesia.
Debajo de la inscripción estaban retratados los benefactores de la iglesia como portadores de ofrendas. Las figuras fueron destruidas por iconoclastas, aunque dejaron la cabeza de un cordero (vea el detalle en la página siguiente). Los mismos iconoclastas destruyeron todas las figuras de las escenas de caza, agricultura y pastoreo en las 11 hileras de roleos de vid que decoran la nave.
© Foto y traducción: Haupt & Binder
Plano: UiU en base a un dibujo del Departamento de Antigüedades (DoA), Jordania
Foto tour informativo por el complejo Iglesia de San Esteban en Umm er-Rasas, incluyendo varias iglesias, capillas y dependencias.
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.