Byzantine Terracotta Pilgrim’s Token with Angel at the Holy Sepulchre

Byzantine Terracotta Pilgrim’s Token with Angel at the Holy Sepulchre

Name: Byzantine Terracotta Pilgrim’s Token with Angel at the Holy Sepulchre
SKU: RCB-35
Availability: InStock

£ 295.00

A fine terracotta pilgrim token featuring an uneven circular body with a domed back. The flat obverse is impressed with an image of an angel sitting in front of a polygonal building surmounted by a cross. A crescent moon is depicted above the scene. The building is likely a representation of the Holy Sepulchre, the fourth-century church built on the site where Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, and on the site of Jesus’s empty tomb, where he was buried and later resurrected. A granulated frame surrounds the image. The obverse is undecorated but features fingerprint impressions, reflecting the handcrafted nature of the token.

Date: Circa 6th-7th century AD
Provenance: Collection of Biblical antiquities of a London gentleman.
Condition: Very fine condition. Some wear to the surface and pitting to the surface. Earthy encrustation throughout.

In stock

SKU: RCB-35 Category: Ancient Seals Tags: Crosses, Inscription, Religious

Description
Additional information

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church built on the traditional site of Jesus’ Crucifixion and burial. According to the Bible (John 19:41–42), his tomb was close to the place of the Crucifixion, and so the church was planned to enclose the site of both the cross and the tomb. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre lies in the northwest quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Constantine the Great first built a church on the site. It was dedicated about AD 336, burned in 614, restored by Modestus (the abbot of the monastery of Theodosius, 616–626), destroyed by the caliph al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh about 1009, and restored by the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. In the 12th century the Crusaders carried out a general rebuilding of the church.