Was a sacred curtain (Parokhet) depicted on portable shrines in the ancient near east?

Madeleine Mumcuoglu*, Yosef Garfinkel*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Parokhet, or sacred curtain, was an important item of cultic paraphernalia in the ancient Near East. It is known from the Sumerian and Akkadian texts, the biblical tradition, the Second Temple in Jerusalem, Greek temples, and synagogues of the Roman and Byzantine eras, and is still in use today. We suggest that such a sacred curtain is depicted on several of the miniature clay objects known as portable shrines. In Egypt, thanks to the dry climate, a miniature curtain of this kind has indeed been preserved in association with a portable shrine. Depictions of shrines on Egyptian sacred barks also include life-size curtains.

Original languageEnglish
Article number469
Pages (from-to)1-19
Number of pages19
JournalReligions
Volume11
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Architectural models
  • Egyptian barks
  • Parokhet
  • Portable shrines
  • Sacred curtain

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