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Source Description
In the Christian East, priests and lay people have always taken Communion with both bread and wine (in the medieval West, wine was reserved for the clergy). The bread is soaked in the wine and presented to the worshipers with spoons like this one. Its inscription, "For the prayer of Heliodorus," shows that such gifts to a church were seen as permanent, material prayers for one's salvation. The church at Kaper Koraon, a relatively small settlement in Byzantine Syria, owned numerous silver vessels, of which 56 survive. A holy oil bottle and a chalice were also donated by the same Heliodorus.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
36298
label
Spoon
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
36298
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Spoon
description
In the Christian East, priests and lay people have always taken Communion with both bread and wine (in the medieval West, wine was reserved for the clergy). The bread is soaked in the wine and presented to the worshipers with spoons like this one. Its inscription, "For the prayer of Heliodorus," shows that such gifts to a church were seen as permanent, material prayers for one's salvation. The church at Kaper Koraon, a relatively small settlement in Byzantine Syria, owned numerous silver vessels, of which 56 survive. A holy oil bottle and a chalice were also donated by the same Heliodorus.
provenance
[Excavated in Syria, 1908-1910]; Tawfic Abucasem, Hama and Port Said, ca. 1913, by purchase; Joseph Brummer, Paris, ca. 1928, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 565 (Late Antique)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Gold, Silver & Jewelry
spoons
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
2.5
height
18
dimensionsRaw
1 x 7 1/16 in. (2.5 x 18 cm) (h. x l.);bowl: 1 7/16 in. (3.7 cm) (w.)
Source extras
cul
Byzantine
inscriptions
[Translation] + In fulfillment of a vow of HELIODOROS.
med
silver, traces of niello
creator_ids
6640
collection_ids
BYZ
exhibition_ids
1957
358
246
2289
2699
2752
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1f42aafc61a23dda