Bas-relief of St. Simeon Stylites
Basalt
AD 500

St. Simeon Stylites was one of the monks whose numbers grew considerably with the triumph of Christianity in Syria after it was integrated into the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire, in 395. Some of these monks wished to live as Christ had and sought to isolate themselves so that they could pray and meditate; these monks became hermits. St. Simeon found an original way of doing this: he lived on top of a pillar. His epithet, Stylites, comes from the Greek word stylos, meaning “column.” However, his originality brought him many visitors. He is shown here with only his head sticking out above the structure built on the pillar. A bird, representing Christ, is crowning him with a wreath, a symbol of the saints in Christian iconography. A person on the ladder holds a censer

Hama region
66 x 78 x 16 cm
Hama Museum 1088
Syrien 49

_{© Musée de la civilisation, 1999}