Matta al-Miskin in his book on monasteries as mamarr al-madkhal ("vestibule"). In its single bay it may be compared to a propylaeum, an important temple or other entrance, especially between two pylons (truncated pyramidal towers) (Vitruvius 6.7.5), or a prothyron (a two-columned porch, see below). The duksar is where modern churchgoers remove their shoes. The oldest examples of the duksar are in front of the two original east entrances of the church of Dayr Anba Hadra. Similar examples in front of the churches of Dayr al-Suryan and Dayr Anba Bishoi date from the Mamluk period. The porch in the al-‘Adhra church of Dayr al-Suryan originally had the shape of a tetrapylon (a porch with four pylons); the lateral arched openings were later blocked off.
Architectural Elements of Churches, Presbytery
بقلم Peter Grossmann
نص المقالة بالإنجليزية كما ورد في الموسوعة.
اسأل عن هذه المقالة- المؤلف
- Peter Grossmann
المراجع
Burmester, O. H. E. The Egyptian or Coptic Church, p. 21. Cairo, 1967. Evelyn-White, H. G. The Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n Natrun, Vol. 3, The Architecture and Archaeology. New York, 1926-1933. Horner, G. The Service for the Consecration of a Church and Altar. London, 1902. Matta al-Miskin. Al-Rahbanah al-Qibtiyah, Cairo, 1972. PETER GROSSMANN Presbytery A presbytery (Greek, presbyterion, from presbyteros, meaning "elder") is the area of the church reserved for the clergy to carry out their liturgical functions. It is identical with the sanctuary. In early Christian basilicas the presbytery was usually a rectangular area at the east end of the nave in front of the apse. It was raised above the floor by several steps—it is sometimes called a bema (the Greek word for "raised platform")—and was shut off by cancelli from the area of the church for laity on the west and frequently also from the apse on the east. The altar stood at the western end facing the area for the laity. The reading of scripture also took place at that end. The presbytery could be entered from both sides and from the western end. In special situations a prostasis (an area of varying length closed at the sides by cancelli) was placed in front of it, as in several churches in Abu Mina. In several large Egyptian churches the presbytery was itself subdivided by inner screens in two sections. In early monastic churches at Kellia the presbytery was simpler—a rectangular altar chamber closed off from the laity by a screen between the jambs of the triumphal arch that formed its front opening. The presbytery continued in use in medieval English cathedrals, where it often occupied the space between the choir and the high altar. In Egypt, however, it lost its significance, as the khurus (see above) developed in the late seventh and eighth century as a room for the clergy carved out of the naos. BIBLIOGRAPHY Delvoye, C. "Bema." In Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, Vol. 1, pp. 583-99. Stuttgart, 1966. Nussbaum, O. Der Standort des Liturgen am christlichen Altar vor dem Jahre 1000, Vols. 1-2. Bonn, 1965. Orlandos, A. K. Basilik», pp. 509-535. Athens, 1952. PETER GROSSMANN Prothesis The term "prothesis" refers both to a small room in a church where the elements of the Eucharist are prepared and stored and the rite of preparation. In Greek antiquity prothesis meant, among other things, the ceremonial lying in state of the dead inside the house. Later in Christian usage the term referred to the ceremony, also called proskomide, dating from the late eleventh century, in which the bread and wine are laid out for the celebration of the Eucharist. It also meant the small room on the north side of the sanctuary (see pastophorium, above) in which the ceremony takes place and the table that is used. The Arabic term for the room is haykal al-taqdimah (Graf, 1954, p. 89).