‘Supplied for the journey to heaven’: a moment of West-East cultural exchange: ceramic chalices from Byzantine graves

AbstractThis paper discusses the historical significance of goblets, here identified as chalices, which were found in late Byzantine graves. Comparable goblets are known from other Byzantine burials, but they are absent from the funerary record prior to the thirteenth century. The practice of placing chalices in graves is found in the Latin West, however, where it was restricted to clergy. This paper proposes that the custom of funerary chalices was adopted by Byzantine clergy in emulation of their Latin counterparts, but that it was assimilated into existing Orthodox practice to meet specific hierarchical and eschatological needs.