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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On Thursday, September 30, 2010, at 11:34 pm, Genevra Kornbluth wrote: > Dear John, > While it would be lovely to see the life of Thecla played out > extensively on these panels, I'm afraid that there are some major > problems with that interpretation. The top panel really can't be T > receiving water, as all figures shown are male. Dear Genevra, You're quite right about this. I should have noticed the obviously male dress of the figure drinking the water from the rock. > ... and both he and the man behind him > wear "oriental" hats (not the loose hair or veils of women). Are women never shown wearing such headgear? Thecla appears to be wearing something similar in the scene of her listening to Paul preach (of course, then she's still pagan): http://tinyurl.com/29neypn > The second panel is generally thought to show the resurrection of > Tabitha by Peter, a servant woman reacting in amazement on the left. I'm trying to remember where it was that I saw this panel interpreted as Thecla being handed over to Tryphaena and, at left, T. next to her baptismal pool in the amphitheatre. It was a recollection of that interpretation which led to my misguided statements about the panels. Thank you for the prompt correction. Best again, John Dillon PS: I had also written: > The British Museum's text accompanying that image describes only the > lowest of the three panels shown. The BM has parallel texts for the other two panels (just not linked to from that particular page): http://tinyurl.com/2fghdmc http://tinyurl.com/27s6mt3 ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html