Architectural Elememts of Churches, Iconostasis

Ashby, T. "The Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna." Papers of the British School at Rome 4 (1907):3-153. Fakhry, A. Baharia Oasis. Cairo, 1950. Hauschild, T., and H. Schlunk. Hispania Antiqua. Mainz, 1978. PETER GROSSMANN Iconostasis An iconostasis is the screen or wall in a church that separates the sanctuary, presbytery, or bema, restricted to the clergy, from the naos, or area of the laity. It developed in the fourteenth century in Byzantine areas, earlier in Egypt. The Arab word for it is hijab, which literally means "curtains." The spatial separation of clergy from laity began in the early church, where low cancelli (see above) shielded the sanctuary but did not hide it from view. In the sixth century in Byzantine areas the cancelli developed into the templon, a more ornate screen with curtains above it, which concealed the acts carried out at the altar from the view of worshipers. It is not known exactly when such concealment was considered necessary. A similar effect was achieved when curtains were added above the cancelli in Western churches, first mentioned in the seventh century in Liber pontificalis (Duchesne and Vogel, 1955-1957, p. 375). About the same time, the western wall of the khurus, a room between the naos and the sanctuary, was performing the function of concealment in Egyptian churches. The wall had a central opening, which might be narrow and provided with wooden doors, as in the churches of Dayr al-Suryan and Dayr al Baramus in Wadi al-Natrun, which have doors from the tenth century (Evelyn-White, 1972, pp. 187-90, 197-200). If the central opening was wide, as in the Church of Saint Mercurius in Dayr Abu Sayfayn, Cairo, columns were inserted in it and the space between them was provided with a wooden framework probably to hold a curtain. During the Middle Ages the west wall of the khurus became more solid and elaborate. Made of wood or stone, it was taller than a man and contained a main entrance that could be closed by a wooden door that was sometimes richly carved (see WOODWORK, COPTIC). There were also side entrances or windows. The stone khurus was usually an undecorated wall surmounted by a simple cornice, but the wooden khurus was frequently elaborately carved. In the Fatimid period (tenth to twelfth centuries) a series of panels with figurative and ornamental carving, sometimes inlaid with ivory, were joined in a continuous framework. In the Mamluk period (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries) the khurus wall was artfully constructed of different colored wood and ivory panels, as can still be seen in churches in Cairo. Meanwhile the khurus room itself was opening into the sanctuary and gradually disappeared. The function of the west wall in hiding the sanctuary was then served by the iconostasis, a solid wall pierced by doors, which is covered with paintings of holy persons called icons. These are arranged according to a fixed pattern of subject matter and add greatly to the spiritual meaning and decorative effect of Coptic churches. BIBLIOGRAPHY Burmester, O. H. E. The Egyptian or Coptic Church. Cairo, 1967. Chatzidakis, M. "Ikonostas." In Reallexikon der byzantinischen Kunst, Vol. 3, ed. K. Wessel and M. Restle. Stuttgart, 1978. Duchesne, L., and C. Vogel, eds. Liber pontificalis. 2nd ed., Paris, 1955-1957. Evelyn-White, H. G. The Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n Natrun, Pt. 3. New York, 1932; repr. 1972. Graf, G. Verzeichnis arabischer kirchlicher Termini. CSCO 147. Louvain, 1954. Leroy, J. Les Peintures des couvents du désert d'Esna. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale 94. Cairo, 1972. Pauty, E. Bois sculptés d'eglises coptes (époque fatimide). Cairo, 1930. PETER GROSSMANN Khurus A khurus (Greek, choros) is a room reserved for the clergy between the presbytery, or sanctuary, and the naos. It developed in the medieval Egyptian church in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Its front (western) wall, which sets it off from the laity, fulfills a function similar to that of the templon (a type of cancelli) in Byzantine architecture. Both structures serve primarily to hide the liturgical actions carried out in the sanctuary from the view of the believers. Unlike the Byzantine templon, however, the khurus is built as a massive wall reaching to the ceiling. The khurus presumably derived from a row of columns, unconnected to the ceiling, that was set up in front of the opening of the apse and whose purpose was purely aesthetic, to enrich the appearance of apsidal openings that in some churches appeared somewhat small. Among the earliest examples are the sanctuaries of the two monastic churches at Dayr Anba Shinudah and Dayr Anba Bishoi (both fifth century) and the church in front of the pylon of the Luxor temple. An intermediate link that illustrates the development of the khurus is the small basilica, unfortunately not yet exactly dated, in front of the eastern gate of the temple of Madinat Habu. Here the columns placed in front of the apse have become a closed wall structure with only one opening in the middle. In this building, however, the presbytery clearly still extends beyond that wall into the nave, and consequently, at this stage there is no question of a change in use. The khurus also developed in Nubian churches. The wall block in front of the apse, containing an aperture in the middle, is in