TARSUS in CILICIA 2-1stCenBC Tyche Sandan Lion Pyre Ancient Greek Coin i45704

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Seller: Top-Rated Plus Seller highrating_lowprice ✉️ (26,786) 100%, Location: Rego Park, New York, US, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 321631582016 TARSUS in CILICIA 2-1stCenBC Tyche Sandan Lion Pyre Ancient Greek Coin i45704. "In honour of Sandan-Heracles there was celebrated every year in Tarsus a funeral pyre festival, at the climax of which the image of the god was burned. The pyre of Sandan is featured on coins of Tarsus.
Item: i45704 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Tarsos in Cilicia Bronze 21mm (7.86 grams) Struck 2nd-1st Century B.C. Reference: Sear 5672 var. Veiled and turreted head of Tyche right, dotted border.  Pyre of Sandan, in the form of pyramidal structure, containing figure of Sandan on lion, surmounting square basis; eagle perched on apex; TAPΣΕΩΝ in field to right, monogram in field to left.

Hittite/Babylonian sun, storm, or warrior god, also perhaps associated with agriculture, who the Greeks equated with Herakles (Hercules) and who the Lydians believed their royal house descended from. Sardis (Sardes, Sardeis), the capital of Lydia, may have been named after Sandon. "In honour of Sandan-Heracles there was celebrated every year in Tarsus a funeral pyre festival, at the climax of which the image of the god was burned. The dying of nature under the withering heat of the summer sun and its resurrection to new life was the content of this mystery, which at once suggests its kinship with the cults of the Syrian Adonis, the Phrygian Attis, the Egyptian Osiris, and the Babylonian Tammuz." The pyre of Sandan is featured on coins of Tarsus. Sandan is also associated on coinage with a lion.

The first city of Cilicia and capital of the native rulers down to circa 400 B.C., Tarsus was situated in the fertile eastern plain on the river Kydnos, about 12 miles from the sea. In the 4th century, until the arrival of Alexander in 333 B.C., Tarsus was the chief mint of the Persian satraps. Eventually, in the 1st century B.C., it became the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia.

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Tyche (Greek for luck; the Roman equivalent was Fortuna ) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. Increasingly during the Hellenistic period, cities had their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a mural crown (a crown like the walls of the city). The Greek historian Polybius believed that when no cause can be discovered to events such as floods, droughts, frosts or even in politics, then the cause of these events may be fairly attributed to Tyche.

Stylianos Spyridakis  concisely expressed Tyche's appeal in a Hellenistic world of arbitrary violence and unmeaning reverses: "In the turbulent years of the Epigoni of Alexander , an awareness of the instability of human affairs led people to believe that Tyche, the blind mistress of Fortune, governed mankind with an inconstancy which explained the vicissitudes of the time."

In literature, she might be given various genealogies, as a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite , or considered as one of the Oceanids , daughters of Oceanus and Tethys , or of Zeus. She was connected with Nemesis and Agathos Daimon ("good spirit").

She was uniquely venerated at Itanos in Crete, as Tyche Protogeneia , linked with the Athenian Protogeneia ("firstborn"), daughter of Erechtheus , whose self-sacrifice saved the city.

She had temples at Caesarea Maritima , Antioch , Alexandria and Constantinople . In Alexandria the Tychaeon , the temple of Tyche, was described by Libanius as one of the most magnificent of the entire Hellenistic world.

Tyche appears on many coins of the Hellenistic period in the three centuries before the Christian era, especially from cities in the Aegean. Unpredictable turns of fortune drive the complicated plotlines of Hellenistic romances , such as Leucippe and Clitophon or Daphnis and Chloe . She experienced a resurgence in another era of uneasy change, the final days of publicly sanctioned Paganism , between the late-fourth-century emperors Julian and Theodosius I who definitively closed the temples. The effectiveness of her capricious power even achieved respectability in philosophical circles during that generation, though among poets it was a commonplace to revile her for a fickle harlot.

In medieval art , she was depicted as carrying a cornucopia , an emblematic ship's rudder, and the wheel of fortune , or she may stand on the wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate.

The constellation of Virgo is sometimes identified as the heavenly figure of Tyche, as well as other goddesses such as Demeter and Astraea .


Sandan was the Anatolian (Hittite) lion god during the Classical period. He used to be represented in association with a horned lion, and often resided inside a pyre surmounted by an eagle. Sandan was often associated to the Greek god Herakles . In ceremonies, an image of the god was placed inside a pyre and was set on fire.

Sandan appears in the coins of the Seleucids , as well as on other coins of Tarsus (Cilicia) during the time of the Roman emperors.


A pyre (Greek: πυρά, pyrá , from πυρ, pýr , fire), also known as a funeral pyre , is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. As a form of cremation , a body is placed upon the pyre, which is then set on fire .

Uses

Religious The funeral pyre of Chan Kusalo (the Buddhist high monk of Northern Thailand) at Wat Chedi Luang , Chiang Mai, Thailand

Traditionally, pyres are used for the cremation of the deceased in the Hindu and Sikh religions, a practice which dates back several thousands of years. Funeral pyres were also used in Viking culture, typically on floating boats, as well as by the Romans .


Tarsus (Greek: Ταρσός, Armenian : Տարսոն , Darson ) is a historical city in south-central Turkey , 20 km inland from Mediterranean Sea . It is part of Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area , fourth largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million. Tarsus is an administrative district in Mersin Province and lies in the core of Çukurova , a geographical, economical and cultural region.

With a history going back over 9,000 years Tarsus has long been an important stop for traders, a focal point of many civilisations including the Ancient Romans when Tarsus was capital of the province of Cilicia , scene of the first meeting between Mark Antony and Cleopatra and birthplace of Saint Paul .

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 Geography

Located on the mouth of the Tarsus Çay (Cydnus), which empties into the Mediterranean Sea , Tarsus is a junction point of land and sea routes connecting the Cilician plain (today called Çukurova ), central Anatolia and the Mediterranean sea. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean region, summers very very hot, winters chilly and damp.

Tarsus has a long history of commerce and is still a commercial centre today, trading in the produce of the fertile Çukurova plain; also Tarsus is a thriving industrial centre refining and processing that produce same for export. Industries include agricultural machinery, spare parts, textiles, fruit-processing, brick building and ceramics.

Agriculture is an important source of income, half of the land area in the district is farmland (1,050 km²) and most of the remainder is forest and orchard. The farmland is mostly well-irrigated, fertilised and managed with the latest equipment.

 Etymology

The ancient name is Tarsos , (Greek: Ταρσός ) possibly derived from a pagan god, Tarku ; at other times the city was named Tarsisi ; Antiochia on the Cydnus (Greek: Αντιόχεια του Κύδνου , Latin : Antiochia ad Cydnum ); and Juliopolis . [Տարսոն, Darson in Western Armenian and Tarson in Eastern Armenian ] . The Hittites referred to Tarsus as Tarsa .[1]

Pegasus the winged horse was a mortal. Because of his faithful service to Zeus the Greek god, he was honored with a constellation.[5] On the last day of pegasuses life, Zeus transformed him into a constellation, then a single feather fell to the earth near the city of Tarsus {Ταρσός} in Greek.

 History

 Antiquity

 Foundation and prehistory

Excavation of the mound of Gözlükule reveals that the prehistorical development of Tarsus reaches back to the Neolithic Period and continues unbroken through Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages .

The settlement was located at the crossing of several important trade routes, linking Anatolia to Syria and beyond. Because the ruins are covered by the modern city, archaeology has barely touched the ancient city. The city may have been of Semitic origin; it is mentioned as Tarsisi in the campaigns of Esarhaddon , as well as several times in the records of Shalmaneser I and Sennacherib . A Greek legend connects it with the memory of Sardanapalus (Ashurbanipal), still preserved in the Dunuk-Tach, called 'tomb of Sardanapalus', a monument of unknown origin. Stephanus of Byzantium quotes Athenodorus of Tarsus as relating another legend:

Anchiale, daughter of Iapetus , founded Anchiale (a city near Tarsus): her son was Cydnus , who gave his name to the river at Tarsus: the son of Cydnus was Parthenius, from whom the city was called Parthenia: afterwards the name was changed to Tarsus.

Much of this legend of the foundation of Tarsus, however, appeared in the Roman era, and none of it is reliable. The geographer Strabo states that Tarsus was founded by people from Argos who were exploring this coast. Another legend states that the winged horse Pegasus was lost and landed here, hurting his foot, and thus the city was named tar-sos (the sole of the foot ). Other candidates for legendary founder of the city include the hero Perseus and Triptolemus son of the earth-goddess Demeter , doubtless because the countryside around Tarsus is excellent farmland. Later the coinage of Tarsus bore the image of Hercules , due to yet another tale in which the hero was held prisoner here by the local god Sandon . Tarsus has been suggested as a possible identification of the biblical Tarshish , where the prophet Jonah wanted to flee, but Tartessos in Spain is a more likely identification for this. (See further[2])

 Early antiquity, Greece and Persia

In historical times, the city was first ruled by the Hittites , followed by Assyria , and then the Persian Empire . Tarsus was the seat of a Persian satrapy from 400 BC onward. Indeed, Xenophon records that in 401 BC, when Cyrus the Younger marched against Babylon , the city was governed by King Syennesis in the name of the Persian monarch.

Alexander the Great passed through with his armies in 333 BC and nearly met his death here after a bath in the Cydnus. By this time Tarsus was already largely influenced by Greek language and culture , and as part of the Seleucid Empire it became more and more hellenized . Strabo praises the cultural level of Tarsus in this period with its philosophers, poets and linguists. The schools of Tarsus rivaled Athens and Alexandria . 2 Maccabees (4:30) records its revolt in about 171 BC against Antiochus IV Epiphanes , who had renamed the town Antiochia on the Cydnus . In his time the library of Tarsus held 200,000 books, including a huge collection of scientific works. The name didn't last, however, due to the confusion of so many cities named Antioch.

 Rome

Oscillum depicting a couple kissing. Terracotta figurine made in Tarsus, Roman Era

Pompey subjected Tarsus to Rome, and it became capital of the Roman province of Cilicia , the metropolis where the governor resided. In 66 BC, the inhabitants received Roman citizenship. To flatter Julius Caesar , for a time it took the name Juliopolis . It was also here that Cleopatra and Mark Antony met and was the scene of the celebrated feasts they gave during the construction of their fleet (41 BC).

When the province of Cilicia was divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious metropolis of Cilicia Prima, and was a grand city with palaces, marketplaces, roads and bridges, baths, fountains and waterworks, a gymnasium on the banks of the Cydnus , and a stadium. Tarsus was later eclipsed by nearby Adana , but remained important as a port and shipyard. Several Roman emperors were interred here: Marcus Claudius Tacitus , Maximinus , and Julian the Apostate , who planned to move his capital here from Antioch if he returned from his Persian expedition.[3]

 Christianity

Tarsus was the birthplace of Saint Paul (Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3), who returned here after his conversion (Acts 9:30). From here Barnabas retrieved him to help with the work in Syrian Antioch (Acts 11:25). Already by this time a Christian community probably existed, although the first recorded bishop, Helenus , dates only from the third century; Helenus visited Antioch several times in connection with the dispute concerning Paul of Samosata . Later bishops of Tarsus included Lupus , present at the Council of Ancyra in 314; Theodorus, at the Council of Nicaea in 325; Helladius, who was condemned at the Council of Ephesus and who appealed to the bishop of Rome in 433; above all the celebrated exegete Diodorus, teacher of Theodore of Mopsuestia and consequently one of the fathers of Nestorianism .[4] From the sixth century the metropolitan see of Tarsus had seven suffragan bishoprics;[5] the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople archdiocese is again mentioned in the tenth century ([6]), and has existed down to the present day, part of the Patriarchate of Antioch .

Owing to the importance of Tarsus, many martyrs were put to death here, among them being Saint Pelagia , Saint Boniface , Saint Marinus , Saint Diomedes , Saint Quiricus and Saint Julitta .

At about the end of the tenth century, the Armenians established a diocese of their rite, which still exists; Saint Nerses of Lambroun was its most distinguished representative in the twelfth century.

A cave in Tarsus is one of a number of places claiming to be the location of the legend of the Seven Sleepers , common to Christianity and Islam.

 Islam and beyond

The Tarsus region was annexed by the Forces of Rashidun Caliphate under the command of Khalid ibn Walid in 637. Tarsus was on the edge of the de facto border with the Byzantine empire in this period of the Taurus Mountains range separating the Armeniac and Anatolic themes from Cilicia, Syria and northern Iraq. Tarsus was near the strategically important Cilician Gates which passed through the Taurus Mountains as well as access to the Mediterranean Sea which was used for both land and naval operations further in the Byzantine territory. While the region was lost by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 637, it is unclear when the city was permanently occupied by the Arabs as sources indicate the city was garrisoned and retaken multiple times until the 9th century.[7]

According to the Arabic geographer Ibn Hawqal and the accounts of Arab historian Abu Amr Al-Tarsusi, Tarsus was a stronghold of Muslim forces with thousands of volunteers from across the Islamic world coming to fight in jihad against the Byzantine Empire. The city was a base of operations for the regular summer raids (ṣawāʿif ) into Byzantine lands through the Cilician Gates when the mountain snows had melted and passage was possible. Later the city was used in defense of the frontier in response to a resurgent Byzantine empire in the mid-10th century.[8] The city was lost in 965, when Nicephorus Phocas returned it to the Byzantine Empire for nearly a century. The area was retaken by the Seljuk Turks , recaptured in 1097 during the Crusades and then disputed between Latins, Greeks, and Armenians of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Kingdom of Lesser Armenia); these last became definitively masters until about 1360, when it was captured by the Ramazanoğlu Turks. Finally, the area was brought under the control of the Ottomans by Selim I in 1517.

In the Middle Ages Tarsus was renowned throughout the Middle East; a number of Arab writers praised it as a beautiful and well-defended city, its walls being in two layers with five gates and earthworks outside, surrounded by rich farmland, watered by the river and the lake. By 1671 the traveller Evliya Çelebi records "a city on the plain, an hour from the sea, surrounded by strong walls two-storeys high, moated on all sides, with three distinct neighbourhoods inside the walls" .

Despite its excellent defences, Tarsus was captured from the Ottomans in 1832 by the Mamluks of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt , son of Muhammad Ali , and for 8 years remained in the hands of the Egyptians, who began growing cotton on the surrounding plain. Upon the return of the Ottomans this cotton drove a substantial growth in the economy of the area, due to increased world demand for the crop during shortages caused by the U.S. Civil War . A new road was built to the port in Mersin and the city of Tarsus grew and thrived. Still today many large houses in the city stand as reminders of the wealth generated during this period. However after being a port for 3,000 years, by the end of the 19th century neglect resulted in Tarsus no longer having access to the sea, and the delta became a swamp. At this point Tarsus was a typical Ottoman city with communities of Muslim Turks, Christian Greeks and Armenians . At the founding of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s the swamp was drained and the River Berdan was dammed to build Turkey's first hydro-electric power station. Irrigation, roadworks and a railway brought the economy of Tarsus back to life, with new factories, particularly producing textiles.

 Life in Tarsus today

Tarsus has slightly more in the way of culture (cinema, theatre, museums) than most Turkish country towns, but in many ways still has a small town feel; people walk in the road rather than on the pavements. Predictably, the people of the mountain forests in the hinterland have an even quieter rural existence.

The local cuisine includes: hummus ; şalgam (pickled turnips); tantuni (a sandwich of grilled meats; the tiny pizzas called "fındık lahmacun" ; and cezerye (a confection made out of carrots).

 Places of interest

Tarsus has a great many ancient sites of interest, with many in need of restoration and research. The best known include:

Church of St. Paul in Tarsus, (the church and the surroundings are on the UN World Heritage tentative list

  • Cleopatra Gate - to the west of the city, the only ancient city gate still standing, where Anthony and Cleopatra entered the city in 41 BC, though the "restoration" of this structure has involved covering much of it over with shiny new stone (see [2] for a picture of the gate before the work was done).

  • The Roman bridge of Justinian over the Berdan River. Still in good condition.

  • Tarsus Museum - contains lots of ancient coins and a severed mummified arm.

Sites of religious interest and pilgrimage:

  • The church and well of St Paul.

  • The tomb of the Seven Sleepers , busy place of pilgrimage for Muslims today.

  • The mosque said to be the burial place of the Prophet Daniel .

From the Turkish era:

  • The old baths; the dark brown spots on the white marble walls are said to be the bloodstains of Shah Meran , the legendary Snake King who was killed in an ambush in the baths.

  • Tarsus American College ; founded in the Ottoman period, still active today.

  • "Nusret (Nusrat)" the minelayer used to defend the straits before the Battle of Gallipoli is being restored in Tarsus; it is to be part of a memorial park to those lost in the fighting.

Places of natural beauty include:

  • Tarsus Waterfall; since the construction of the Berdan dam the water of the Tarsus river has been distributed in canals for irrigation, with the result that the waterfall can now be seen only in seasons of very heavy rainfall.

 Notable residentss
  • Antipater , Stoic philosopher

  • Caliph Al-Ma'mun died near Tarsus

  • Journalist Oral Çalışlar was born in Tarsus.

  • Chrysippus , Stoic philosopher

  • Cleopatra

  • Lokman the Physician

  • Mark Antony

  • Saint Nerses of Lambron , Archbishop of Tarsus in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

  • Paul the Apostle (Saul of Tarsus), Christian apostle, missionary, martyr, and saint, was born here and returned for a brief period later in life.

  • Saint Theodore of Tarsus , Archbishop of Canterbury .

  • Tarsus is one of a number of cities that claims to be the burial place of Bilal ibn Rabah , first muezzin , or caller to prayer, in Islam.

  • Tarsus Idman Yurdu is the local football team.

A veil is an article of clothing or cloth hanging that is intended to cover some part of the head or face , or an object of some significance. It is especially associated with women and sacred objects.

One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space. The actual sociocultural, psychological, and sociosexual functions of veils have not been studied extensively but most likely include the maintenance of social distance and the communication of social status and cultural identity. In Islamic society, various forms of the veil have been adopted from the Arab culture in which Islam arose. The Quran has no requirement that women cover their faces with a veil, or cover their bodies with the full-body burqua or chador .

History

The first recorded instance of veiling for women is recorded in an Assyrian legal text from the 13th century BC, which restricted its use to noble women and forbade prostitutes and common women from adopting it.[citation needed ] The Mycenaean Greek term a-pu-ko-wo-ko meaning "craftsman of horse veil" written in Linear B syllabic script is also attested since ca. 1300 BC. In ancient Greek the word for veil was "καλύπτρα" (kaluptra , Ionic Greek "καλύπτρη" - kaluptrē , from the verb "καλύπτω" - kaluptō , "I cover") and is first attested in the works of Homer .

Classical Greek and Hellenistic statues sometimes depict Greek women with both their head and face covered by a veil. Caroline Galt and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones have both argued from such representations and literary references that it was commonplace for women (at least those of higher status) in ancient Greece to cover their hair and face in public.

For many centuries, until around 1175, Anglo-Saxon and then Anglo-Norman women, with the exception of young unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their necks up to their chins (see wimple ). Only in the Tudor period (1485), when hoods became increasingly popular, did veils of this type become less common.

For centuries, women have worn sheer veils, but only under certain circumstances. Sometimes a veil of this type was draped over and pinned to the bonnet or hat of a woman in mourning , especially at the funeral and during the subsequent period of "high mourning". They would also have been used, as an alternative to a mask, as a simple method of hiding the identity of a woman who was traveling to meet a lover, or doing anything she didn't want other people to find out about. More pragmatically, veils were also sometimes worn to protect the complexion from sun and wind damage (when un-tanned skin was fashionable), or to keep dust out of a woman's face, much as the keffiyeh is used today.

Religion

In Judaism , Christianity and Islam the concept of covering the head is or was associated with propriety and modesty. Most traditional depictions of the Virgin Mary , the mother of Christ , show her veiled. During the Middle Ages most European and Byzantine married women covered their hair rather than their face, with a variety of styles of wimple , kerchiefs and headscarfs. Veiling, covering the hair rather than the face, was a common practice with church-going women until the 1960s, typically using lace, and a number of very traditional churches retain the custom. Lace face-veils are still often worn by female relatives at funerals.

In North India, Hindu women may often veil for traditional purposes, it is often the custom in rural areas to veil in front of male elders. This veil is called the Ghoonghat or Laaj. This is to show humility and respect to those elder to the woman, in particular elder males. The ghoonghat is customary especially in the westerly states of Gujarat and Rajasthan .

Although religion stands as a commonly held reason for choosing to veil, it has also reflects on political regimes and personal conviction, allowing it to serve as a medium through which personal character can be revealed.

Praying Jewish woman wearing Tichel

Judaism

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem , the synagogues that were established took the design of the Tabernacle as their plan. The Ark of the Law , which contains the scrolls of the Torah , is covered with an embroidered curtain or veil called a parokhet . (See also below regarding the veiling – and unveiling – of the bride.)

The Veil of our Lady is a liturgical feast celebrating the protection afforded by the intercessions of the Virgin Mary.

Traditionally, in Christianity, women were enjoined to cover their heads in church, just as it was (and still is) customary for men to remove their hat as a sign of respect. This practice is based on 1 Corinthians 11:4–16 , where St. Paul writes:

Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon his head. But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved. For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil. A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; nor was man created for woman, but woman for man; for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord. For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a disgrace to him, whereas if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because long hair has been given (her) for a covering? But if anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such a custom, nor do the churches of God (New American Bible translation)

In many traditional Eastern Orthodox Churches , and in some very conservative Protestant churches as well, the custom continues of women covering their heads in church (or even when praying privately at home).

In the Roman Catholic Church , it was customary in most places before the 1960s for women to wear a headcovering in the form of a scarf, cap, veil or hat when entering a church. The practice now continues where it is seen as a matter of etiquette, courtesy, tradition or fashionable elegance rather than strictly of canon law. Traditionalist Catholics also maintain the practice.

The wearing of a headcovering was for the first time mandated as a universal rule for the Latin Rite by the Code of Canon Law of 1917 , which code was abrogated by the advent of the present (1983) Code of Canon Law. Traditionalist Catholics majorly still follow it, generally as a matter of ancient custom and biblically approved aptness, some also supposing St. Paul's directive in full force today as an ordinance of its own right, without a canon law rule enforcing it. The photograph here of Mass in the Netherlands in about 1946, two decades before the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council , shows that, even at that time, when a hat was still considered part of formal dress for both women and men, wearing a headcovering at Mass was not a universal practice for Catholic women.

A veil over the hair rather than the face forms part of the headdress of some religiouss of nuns or religious sisters; this is why a woman who becomes a nun is said "to take the veil". In medieval times married women normally covered their hair outside the house, and nun's veils are based on secular medieval styles, reflecting nuns position as "brides of Christ". In many institutes, a white veil is used as the "veil of probation" during novitiate , and a dark veil for the "veil of profession" once religious vows are taken – the color scheme varies with the color scheme of the habit of the order. A veil of consecration , longer and fuller, is used by some orders for final profession of solemn vows .

Nuns also wear veils

Nuns are the female counterparts of monks, and many monastic orders of women have retained the veil. Regarding other institutes of religious sisters who are not cloistered but who work as teachers, nurses or in other "active" apostolates outside of a nunnery or monastery, some wear the veil, while some others have abolished the use of the veil, a few never had a veil to start with, but used a bonnet-style headdress even a century ago, as in the case of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton .

The fullest versions of the nun's veil cover the top of the head and flow down around and over the shoulders. In Western Christianity, it does not wrap around the neck or face. In those orders that retain one, the starched white covering about the face neck and shoulders is known as a wimple and is a separate garment.

The Catholic Church has revived the ancient practice of allowing women to profess a solemn vow as consecrated virgins . These women are set aside as sacred persons who belong only to Christ and the service of the church. They are under the direct care of the local bishop , without belonging to a particular order and receive the veil as a sign of consecration .

There has also been renewed interest in the last half century in the ancient practice of women and men dedicating themselves as anchorites or hermits , and there is a formal process whereby such persons can seek recognition of their vows by the local bishop – a veil for these women would also be traditional.

Some Anglican women's religious orders also wear a veil, differing according to the traditions of each order.

In Eastern Orthodoxy and in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, a veil called an epanokamelavkion is used by both nuns and monks, in both cases covering completely the kamilavkion , a cylindrical hat they both wear. In Slavic practice, when the veil is worn over the hat, the entire headdress is referred to as a klobuk . Nuns wear an additional veil under the klobuk , called an apostolnik , which is drawn together to cover the neck and shoulders as well as their heads, leaving the face itself open.

Islam

A variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women and girls in accordance with hijab (the principle of dressing modestly) are sometimes referred to as veils. The principal aim of the Muslim veil is to hide that which men find sexually attractive. Many of these garments cover the hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. The khimar is a type of headscarf . The niqāb and burqa are two kinds of veils that cover most of the face except for a slit or hole for the eyes.

The Afghan burqa covers the entire body, obscuring the face completely, except for a grille or netting over the eyes to allow the wearer to see. The boshiya is a veil that may be worn over a headscarf; it covers the entire face and is made of a sheer fabric so the wearer is able to see through it. It has been suggested that the practice of wearing a veil  – uncommon among the Arab tribes prior to the rise of Islam  – originated in the Byzantine Empire , and then spread.

The wearing of head and especially face coverings by Muslim women has raised political issues in the West; see for example Hijab controversy in Quebec , Islamic dress controversy in Europe , Islamic scarf controversy in France , and United Kingdom debate over veils . There is also high debate of the veil in Turkey , a Muslim majority country but secular, which banned the headscarves in universities and government buildings, due to the türban (a Turkish styled headscarf) being viewed as a political symbol of Islam , see Headscarf controversy in Turkey .

Frances Perkins wearing a veil after the death of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hats

Veils pinned to hats have survived the changing fashions of the centuries and are still common today on formal occasions that require women to wear a hat. However, these veils are generally made of netting or another material not actually designed to hide the face from view, even if the veil can be pulled down.

Wedding veils

An occasion on which a Western woman is likely to wear a veil is on her white wedding day. Brides once used to wear their hair flowing down their back at their wedding to symbolise their virginity. Veils covering the hair and face became a symbolic reference to the virginity of the bride thereafter. Often in modern weddings, the ceremony of removing a face veil after the wedding to present the groom with a virgin bride is skipped, since many couples have already entered into conjugal relations prior to their wedding day – the bride either wears no face veil, or it is lifted before the ceremony begins, but this is not always the case. Further, if a bride is a virgin, she often wears the face veil through the ceremony, and then either her father lifts the veil, presenting the bride to her groom, or the groom lifts the veil to symbolically consummate the marriage, which will later become literal. Brides who are virgins may make use of the veil to symbolize and emphasize their status of purity during their wedding however, and if they do, the lifting of the veil may be ceremonially recognized as the crowning event of the wedding, when the beauty of the bride is finally revealed to the groom and the guests. It is not altogether clear that the wedding veil is a non-religious use of this item, since weddings have almost always had religious underpinnings, especially in the West. Veils, however, had been used in the West for weddings long before this. Roman brides, for instance, wore an intensely flame-colored and fulsome veil, called the flammeum , apparently intended to protect the bride from evil spirits on her wedding day. Later, the so-called velatio virginum became part of the rite of the consecration of virgins , the liturgical rite in which the church sets aside the virgin as a sacred person who belongs only to Christ.

In the 19th century, wedding veils came to symbolize the woman's virginity and modesty . The tradition of a veiled bride's face continues even today wherein, a virgin bride, especially in Christian or Jewish culture, enters the marriage ritual with a veiled face and head, and remains fully veiled, both head and face, until the ceremony concludes. After the full conclusion of the wedding ceremony, either the bride's father lifts the veil giving the bride to the groom who then kisses her, or the new groom lifts her face veil in order to kiss her, which symbolizes the groom's right to enter into conjugal relations with his bride.

The lifting of the veil was often a part of ancient wedding ritual, symbolizing the groom taking possession of the wife, either as lover or as property, or the revelation of the bride by her parents to the groom for his approval.

A bride wearing a typical wedding veil

In Judaism, the tradition of wearing a veil dates back to biblical times. According to the Torah in Genesis 24:65 , Isaac is brought Rebekah to marry by his father Abraham's servant. It is important to note that Rebekah did not veil herself when traveling with her lady attendants and Abraham's servant and his men to meet Isaac, but she only did so when Isaac was approaching. Just before the wedding ceremony the badeken or bedeken is held. The groom places the veil over the bride's face, and either he or the officiating Rabbi gives her a blessing. The veil stays on her face until just before the end of the wedding ceremony – when they are legally married according to Jewish law – then the groom helps lift the veil from off her face.

The most often cited interpretation for the badeken is that, according to Genesis 29 , when Jacob went to marry Rachel, his father in law Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, Rachel's older and homlier sister. Many say that the veiling ceremony takes place to make sure that the groom is marrying the right bride. Some say that as the groom places the veil over his bride, he makes an implicit promise to clothe and protect her. Finally, by covering her face, the groom recognizes that he his marrying the bride for her inner beauty; while looks will fade with time, his love will be everlasting. In some ultra-orthodox traditions the bride wears an opaque veil as she is escorted down the aisle to meet her groom. This shows her complete willingness to enter into the marriage and her absolute trust that she is marrying the right man. In Judaism, a wedding is not considered valid unless the bride willingly consents to it.

In ancient Judaism the lifting of the veil took place just prior to the consummation of the marriage in sexual union. The uncovering or unveiling that takes place in the wedding ceremony is a symbol of what will take place in the marriage bed. Just as the two become one through their words spoken in wedding vows, so these words are a sign of the physical oneness that they will consummate later on. The lifting of the veil is a symbol and an anticipation of this.

In the Western world , St. Paul's words concerning how marriage symbolizes the union of Christ and His Church may underlie part of the tradition of veiling in the marriage ceremony.

Dance

Veils are part of the stereotypical images of courtesans and harem women. Here, the mysterious veil hints at sensuality, an example being the dance of the seven veils. This is the context into which belly dancing veils fall, with a large repertoire of ways to wear and hold the veil, framing the body and accentuating movements. Dancing veils can be as small as a scarf or two, silk veils mounted on fans, a half circle, three-quarter circle, full circle, a rectangle up to four feet long, and as large as huge Isis wings with sticks for extensions. There is also a giant canopy type veil used by a group of dancers. Veils are made of rayon, silk, polyester, mylar and other fabrics (never wool, though). Rarely used in Egyptian cabaret style, veil dancing has always played an important part in the international world of belly dance, extending the range of the dance and offering lovely transitory imagery.

Courtesans

Conversely, veils are often part of the stereotypical image of the courtesan and harem woman. Here, rather than the virginity of the bride's veil, modesty of the Muslim scarf or the piety of the nun's headdress, the mysterious veil hints at sensuality and the unknown. An example of the veil's erotic potential is the dance of the seven veils .

In this context, the term may refer to a piece of sheer cloth approximately 3 x 1.5 metres, sometimes trimmed with sequins or coins, which is used in various styles of belly dancing . A large repertoire of ways to wear and hold the veil exists, many of which are intended to frame the body from the perspective of the audience.

Veils for men

Among the Tuareg , Songhai , Moors , Hausa . and Fulani of West Africa , women do not traditionally wear the veil, while men do. The men's facial covering originates from the belief that such action wards off evil spirits, but most probably relates to protection against the harsh desert sands as well; in any event, it is a firmly established tradition. Men begin wearing a veil at age 25 which conceals their entire face excluding their eyes. This veil is never removed, even in front of family members.

In India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , and Nepal , men wear a sehra on their wedding day. This is a male veil covering the whole face and neck. The sehra is made from either flowers, beads, tinsel, dry leaves, or coconuts. The most common sehra is made from fresh marigolds. The groom wears this throughout the day concealing his face even during the wedding ceremony. In India today you can see the groom arriving on a horse with the sehra wrapped around his head.

Etymology

"Veil" came from Latin vēlum , which also means "sail". There are two theories about the origin of the word vēlum :-

  • Via the "covering" meaning, from (Indo-European root ) *wel - = "to cover, to enclose".
  • Via the "sail" meaning, from Indo-European *weghslom , from root *wegh- = "way" or "carry in a vehicle", because it makes the ship move.

 

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