Archaeology Wordsmith

Results for reliquary:

reliquary: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A portable shrine, box, or casket in which the relic(s) of a saint or other holy person were kept. A reliquary made to be worn around the neck was called encolpium or phylacterium.
Ardagh Chalice: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A large, two-handled silver cup decorated with gold, gilt bronze, and enamel, that is one of the finest examples of early Christian art from the British Isles. Discovered in 1868 along with a small bronze cup and four brooches in a potato field in Ardagh, Ireland, the chalice may have been part of the buried loot form a monastery after an Irish or Viking raid. The outside of the bowl is engraved with the Latin names of some of the Apostles. There are similarities between the letters of the inscription and some of the large initials in the Lindisfarne Gospels, which probably dates from about 710-720 AD. Thus, the Ardagh Chalice is thought to date from the first half of the 8th century. The chalice displays exceptional artistic and technical skills applied to a variety of precious materials. So far, its manufacture has not been attributed to a particular workshop but the chalice does have similarities to the celebrated Tara brooch and the Moylough belt-reliquary. It is now housed in the National Museum of Ireland at Dublin.
relic: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Any object surviving from an earlier culture, especially a valuable or symbolic object. In religion, a relic is the mortal remains of a saint and includes any object that has been in contact with the saint. Christianity was governed throughout the Middle Ages by the belief that spiritual virtue could be transmitted through relics of a person who in life was blessed with miraculous powers. Coffins and small objects such as combs, jewelry, and clothing were commonly sanctified and subsequently housed in beautiful reliquary caskets or shrines. Ecclesiastical centers with a collection of relics would be visited by large numbers of pilgrims, especially on saints' days, when the objects were put on special display and sometimes paraded.

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