Steatite icons

Öz
İstanbul’da bulunan Haluk Perk Müzesi, nadir örnekler barındıran zengin koleksiyonuyla ülkemizin özel müzeleri arasında
saygın bir yer edinmiştir. Haluk Perk tarafından 1995 yılında müzeye dönüştürülen bu koleksiyon, Bizans Dönemi’ne ait çok
farklı kategoride esere de ev sahipliği yapmaktadır. Makalemizde, bu koleksiyondan Bizans dünyasındaki inanç, münzevi
yaşam, hac ve hacılık kavramların sanata nasıl yansıdığı hakkında bilgi veren, toplam on beş adet eser konu edilmektedir.
Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun farklı dönemlerine tarihlenen bu eserler arasında bir hacı tokeni; taşınabilir nitelikte iki küçük
ikona; kutsal kişi tasvirleriyle bezeli dokuz enkolpion ile takılara ait üç bronz obje yer almaktadır. Söz konusu eserler,
üzerlerindeki zengin ikonografinin bir anlam kazanabilmesi ve ortaya çıkmalarında hâkim olan düşüncenin neler olduğunun
daha iyi anlaşılabilmesi amacıyla, Bizans dünyasındaki inanç ve ibadet ilişkisine vurgu yapan birtakım kavram, kişi ve
fikirlerle birlikte ele alınmıştır. İkonografileri, üslupları ve benzer örnekleri göz önüne alınarak incelenen ve tarihlendirilen
bu eserler, Bizans Sanatı’nın Anadolu buluntusu nadir ve özgün örnekleri olmaları bakımından da son derece önemlidir.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Haluk Perk Müzesi, İnanç, Münzevi Yaşam, Hac, Enkolpion, Bizans
Abstract
Haluk Perk Museum in Istanbul has gained a prestigious place among the private museums of our country with its rich
collection containing rare examples. The collection, which was turned into a museum by Haluk Perk in 1995, also includes
many different categories of works from the Byzantine Period. In our article, a total of fifteen works from this collection,
which give information about the beliefs, ascetic life, cross and pilgrimage concepts in the Byzantine world and how they
are reflected in art, are discussed. Of these works, which are dated back to different periods of the Byzantine Empire,
there is one pilgrim’s token, two icons that are portable, nine encolpia decorated with the depictions of saints and three
bronze objects of jewelry. The works in question were handled together with the concepts, people and ideas emphasizing
the relationship between belief and worship in the Byzantine world in order for the rich iconography in them to gain a
meaning and to be able to better comprehend what the dominant thought was in their emergence. The works, which have
been examined and dated considering their iconography, styles and similar examples, are extremely important in terms
of being rare and unique examples of Anatolian finds within the scope of Byzantine Art.
Keywords
Haluk Perk Museum, Faith, Asceticism, Pilgrimage, Encolpion, Byzantine

Zusammenfassung
Lavez, unter anderem auch Steatit, Speck-, Seifen-, Topf- oder Ofenstein genannt,
wird wegen seiner leichten Bearbeitbarkeit und Feuerfestigkeit seit
dem Neolithikum als Rohstoff für verschiedenste Gegenstände wie etwa
Gussformen, Gefäße, Ofenplatten, oder auch Schmuck eingesetzt. Lavezlagerstätten
fi nden sich weltweit, auch in den Alpen.
Im Rahmen des Interreg-IV-Projektes „Pfi tscherjoch grenzenlos“ zwischen
Nord- und Südtirol gelang es in den Jahren 2012 und 2013 am Pfi tscherjoch
auf Nordtiroler Seite insgesamt 9 Lavezbrüche zu dokumentieren. Die
Fundsituation ist österreichweit bislang einmalig.
Die Abbauspuren zeigen sich in Form von teils kreisrunden bis zu 50 cm
großen Vertiefungen sowie oberfl ächlichen Pickel- und Meißelspuren.
Durch die geringe Humusbildung in den hochalpinen Lagen können zudem
in den Halden der Brüche halbfertige und beschädigte Rohlinge an
der Oberfl äche ausfi ndig gemacht werden. Meist handelt es sich hierbei
um am Ort des Abbaus hergestellte Vorformen für Gefäße und Gefäßdeckel,
die anschließend an anderer Stelle mit Hilfe von wasserkraftbetriebenen
Drechselbänken zu den jeweiligen Endprodukten weiterverarbeitet
wurden. Interessant ist auch die Tatsache, dass der Begriff Lavez und die
Flurbezeichnung Lavitzalm wahrscheinlich demselben Wortursprung zu
Grunde liegen.
Die zeitliche Einordnung von acht der neun Lavezbrüche erweist sich aufgrund
der noch nicht erfolgten archäologischen Ausgrabungen bislang als
schwierig. Dennoch war es möglich einen der Brüche sowie eine holzkohleführende
Schicht mit zwei Lavezgefäßfragmenten bei einem überhängenden
Fels ins Frühmittelalter zu datieren.

Summary
Soapstone, also known as steatite or soaprock, has been used since Neolithic
times. It is easy to work and resistant to fi re, making it ideal for
everything from moulds, vessels and stove plates to jewellery. Soapstone
mining sites are found around the world, including in the Alps. Between
2012 and 2013, as part of the Interreg IV project “Pfi tscherjoch grenzenlos”
between North and South Tyrol, researchers managed to document
a total of nine soapstone mining sites on the North Tyrolean side of the
Pfi tscherjoch ridge, near the Lavitzalm. This fi nd is unique in Austria.
Depressions of up to 50 cm, some of which are circular, as well as superfi
cial traces of picks and chisels are evidence of mining activity. The low
density of top soil in high alpine locations also means that half-fi nished
and damaged objects discarded onto the rock waste pile can be easily discovered
on the surface. These are mostly rough models of vessels and lids
which were then milled into fi nished products at other locations using
water-driven milling machines. A soapstone core, a waste product from
making a soapstone vessel, found near the top of the ridge indicates that
soapstone products were made here. As well as rough models, a number
of half-fi nished slabs have also been found. These may have been used
in soapstone ovens or raw moulds. It is also interesting that the nearby
Lavitzalm probably takes its name from the German word for soapstone,
‘Lavez’.
As archaeological excavations have not yet taken place, it has so far
proved very diffi cult to date eight of the nine soapstone mining sites. Two
14C-dated charcoal samples from the waste site at site number 7 as well
as a wide range of soapstone vessel fragments from the nearby ‘Abri 2’ site
have been dated to the early Middle Ages (7th century AD).

The paper presents fragments of a Byzantine icon discovered in 2015 during regular archaeological excavations carried out in Chełm, eastern Poland. Iconographic analyses allow the nine surviving fragments to be interpreted as belonging to a diptych wing with the Great Feasts cycle. The icon represents archaic iconography of the subject, with the scene of Transfiguration placed after Entry into Jerusalem and before the Crucifixion. The artefact was created in the second half or at the close of the 12th century, and it was made from steatite, which has been confirmed by petrographic analyses. The icon was discovered in the remains of a palace complex of King Daniel Romanovich, the greatest ruler of the Galicia-Volhynia Lands. The results of the archaeological research allow the terminus ante quem for the icon’s arrival in Chełm to be determined as before the middle of the 13th century. Various possible explanations as to how the icon found its way to Chełm are also explored in the paper.