DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47598#0093
stonecarvers coming from Old Dongola23. Another building which seems to have been influenced
by the “Church of the Granite Columns” is the church at Aksha, with a similarly designed naos,
also possessing three apses placed on the principal axes24 (fig. 8). On the other hand,
reminiscences of the design represented by the “Cruciform Building” may be found in the “Church
of the Angels” at Tamit (fig. 9). Its layout has already earlier been found by Ugo Monneret de
Villard to derive, inter alia, from the plans of Syrian martyria25.
In the light of the considerations presented in this article a new view of Nubian church
architecture begins to take shape. Alongside of the principle of the elongate plan, reigning supreme
in the initial period, there soon appears the canon of central design with its characteristic wealth
of means of expression. These two determinants of development, acting upon one another, led to
the emergence of a new design, being a combination of the model solutions (fig. 10). Much seems
to indicate that precisely this latter factor assumed a leading role in shaping the ecclesiastic
building during the peak period of architectural development which, in my opinion, coincides with
the period following the political integration of Nubia. The examples of Old Dongola, Faras and
Aksha appear to confirm this hypothesis.
23 I. Ryl-Preibisz, Chapiteaux en granit de Nubie, Etudes et Travaux V (1971), p. 234; also K. Michalowski, Faras,
die Kathedrale aus dem Wüstensand, Einsiedeln-Zürich-Köln 1967, p. 65; id.. Les fouilles polonaises à Dongola,
pp. 163-165.
24 H. de Contanson (and others), Aksha I, La basilique chrétienne, Paris 1966, p. 19, plan B. The view expressed here,
that the arrangement of the naos is a reflection of the Egyptian trefoil sanctuary, in my opinion no longer holds good in
the light of the recent discoveries at Old Dongola. Cf. Note 12.
25 Monneret de Villard, La Nubia Medioevale, III, Chapter II—Le chiese a planimetria centrale, pp. 43-50.
by the “Church of the Granite Columns” is the church at Aksha, with a similarly designed naos,
also possessing three apses placed on the principal axes24 (fig. 8). On the other hand,
reminiscences of the design represented by the “Cruciform Building” may be found in the “Church
of the Angels” at Tamit (fig. 9). Its layout has already earlier been found by Ugo Monneret de
Villard to derive, inter alia, from the plans of Syrian martyria25.
In the light of the considerations presented in this article a new view of Nubian church
architecture begins to take shape. Alongside of the principle of the elongate plan, reigning supreme
in the initial period, there soon appears the canon of central design with its characteristic wealth
of means of expression. These two determinants of development, acting upon one another, led to
the emergence of a new design, being a combination of the model solutions (fig. 10). Much seems
to indicate that precisely this latter factor assumed a leading role in shaping the ecclesiastic
building during the peak period of architectural development which, in my opinion, coincides with
the period following the political integration of Nubia. The examples of Old Dongola, Faras and
Aksha appear to confirm this hypothesis.
23 I. Ryl-Preibisz, Chapiteaux en granit de Nubie, Etudes et Travaux V (1971), p. 234; also K. Michalowski, Faras,
die Kathedrale aus dem Wüstensand, Einsiedeln-Zürich-Köln 1967, p. 65; id.. Les fouilles polonaises à Dongola,
pp. 163-165.
24 H. de Contanson (and others), Aksha I, La basilique chrétienne, Paris 1966, p. 19, plan B. The view expressed here,
that the arrangement of the naos is a reflection of the Egyptian trefoil sanctuary, in my opinion no longer holds good in
the light of the recent discoveries at Old Dongola. Cf. Note 12.
25 Monneret de Villard, La Nubia Medioevale, III, Chapter II—Le chiese a planimetria centrale, pp. 43-50.