Ein kaiserzeitlicher Rankenfries und früh- bis mittelbyzantinische liturgische Ausstattungsteile aus Tavium

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses several recently documented ancient architectural pieces from Tavium and its surroundings (Turkey, province of Yozgat, Büyüknefes). The first part deals with three blocks of a limestone tendril frieze which originally were part of a monumental building. Although the tendril frieze shows early Imperial elements, the technical analysis dates the frieze to the late 1st or to the beginning of the 2nd cent. A. D. The second part of this contribute presents some early and mid-Byzantine liturgical furniture which originally decorated the churches of Tavium and its surroundings. The objects can be identified as chancel barriers, and chancel posts, a basin support, a miniature capital belonging to the column of an altar, the arch of a ciborium and a middle Byzantine ambo fragment with the depiction of a peacock drinking water from a fountain. The objects are either made of white marble or of reddish conglomerate. Even in their often fragmentary condition, they are precious witnesses for the presence of churches in the area of Tavium. The percentage of liturgical furniture from early Byzantine times is clearly higher than the percentage of middle Byzantine times.