ABSTRACT

This article explores the materiality of the Orthodox Christian cult of the Epitaphios on Good Friday of 2020 when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and isolation were deemed the most effective means of protecting societies from exposure to the virus. Epitaphios is a metonym that references a venerated object, a decorated cloth or wooden icon bearing the image of Christ prepared for burial. It is placed upon a wooden bier, representing the Tomb of Christ, also called the Epitaphios. During the pandemic, people reacted inventively to restrictions imposed on practicing this communal cult publicly in churches by constructing homemade Epitaphioi and displaying them in privately-owned spaces. We examine the materiality of the homemade Epitaphioi in the context of popular religion, evaluating how crisis may divert the forces of the longue durée into a different channel, and how ethnographic analogy may be useful for understanding ritual and cult in archaeology.

摘要

本文探讨了2020年耶稣受难日东正教基督教会Epitaphios的重要性，当时在COVID-19大流行期间，社会隔离和孤立被认为是保护社会免受病毒感染的最有效手段。Epitaphios是一个代名词，指的是尊贵的物件，装饰有布料或木制的圣像，上面带有准备埋葬的基督的像。它被放置在一个木制的棺材上，代表着基督的坟墓，也被称为Epitaphios。在大流行期间，人们通过建造自制的Epitaphioi，对在教堂中公开实行这种公共礼拜活动所施加的限制做出了创造性的反应。并在私人拥有的空间中展示它们。我们在通俗宗教的背景下研究了自制Epitaphioi的重要性，评估了危机如何将durée的力量转移到不同的渠道，以及人种学的类比对理解考古学的仪式和邪教有何用处。