Tom Izbicki wrote:
>The "monstration" of the robe to ward off attackers reminded me of a
Byzantine practice using certain icons. Is the practice known elsewhere
in the West?
No other specific instances come to my mind, but the practice must have been
quite common, East & West, probably from ancient times (how about
the Lion Gate at Mycenae?).
Related, it seems to me, would be the practice of imbedding
relics/statues in city walls/gates, niches for which purpose are not unusual
survivals (legend has it that the _Sindon_ [=? shroud] was discovered in such
a spot, in the wall of the city of King Agbar at Edessa, from whence it was
sold to the Emperor).
The common thread would be perhaps the notion that the city gate represented
(i.e., actually *was*) a point of extreme vulnerability, needing the
protection of all the first-class ju-ju which the community could bring to
bear.
Best,
Christopher
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