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CHAPTER XV.

 

Churches at Asheetha and Leezan.—Nestorian Clergy, their incomes, and the veneration in which they are held.—Observance of Sunday and Friday.—Feast in commemoration of the dead.—Anthem used on such occasions.—Thank offerings.—Office for the purification of unclean water.—Design of that service.—Charms in use among the Nestorians.—Specimens of the same.

 

There is but one church at Asheetha, which is dedicated to Mar Gheorghees (S. George), a favourite saint among the Nestorians. The building is of stone, with a flat roof, and stands alone, in which respect the mountain churches differ from those of the plains, which for greater security against Mohammedan bigotry and oppression, are enclosed within an outer court. The church at Asheetha is small for the population of the place, being not more than fifty feet square, divided into two chapels, the inner one being used in winter, and the outer during summer. The sanctuary, or bema, occupies nearly one-third of the area, and is separated from the nave by a wall-screen, the opening through which is covered by a moveable curtain. The stone altar is fixed against the wall, and before it is a raised step where the priest stands during the celebration of the liturgy. In the chancel, which in the mountain churches is not generally marked off by a partition of any kind, stand two stone lecterns, one for the prayer-books, and the other for the New Testament lectionary. On the cover of the latter a metal cross is placed, which all devoutly kiss before and after divine service. The baptistery occupies a square apartment to the south of the sanctuary, and serves also for a vestry, where I saw the breeches, surplice, girdle, stole, chasuble, and shoes,^[1] used by the Nestorian clergy in their ministrations.

1. Called severally in Syriac: prazôna, peena, zunnâra, hurrâra, estla or shoshippa, and msâné.

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