Saint Mercurius’ Bier, the Acheiropoietos of Camulia and Mauricios’ Foundation of Arabissus. Early Byzantine Archaeology of Cappadocia in Coptic and Syriac Texts

Abstract

At the end of the Coptic 8 th Miracle of Saint Mercurius the General, a martyr executed c. AD 250 in Caesarea Mazaca, we find a description of Kuris Hermapollo’s votive offering located at St. Mercurius’ sanctuary of Caesarea. It was a bier of pine wood logs adorned with carved ivory plaques and the Martyr’s icon fixed to it. In a Syriac historical compilation composed by an anonymous author from Amida (before 568/9) we learn about the Camoulia acheiropoietos icon of Jesus. We read in the text that during Christ’s lifetime a woman from Kamoulia near Caesarea found an image of Jesus on a linen cloth in a fountain of water in her garden. The story combines the two main varieties of the acheiropoietoi: a celestial image and its copy or imprint. The two most famous acheiropoietoi of the pre-iconoclastic period appeared roughly at the same time in the mid-6 th century in their own sanctuaries in Syria, Phrygia and Cappadocia. In both Coptic and Syriac texts we find some interesting words and phrases referring to the visual arts.