The practice and tradition of Palestinian sacred tattooing among Russian orthodox pilgrims and travelers to Palestine in 2nd half 19th — early 20th cc.
https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2024-156
Abstract
This article examines the tradition of pilgrimage tattooing in Jerusalem in relation to Orthodox pilgrims and travelers from Russia, the practice of tattooing Russian Orthodox pilgrims in Palestine, as well as the vector of the development of the tradition of applying a pilgrimage tattoo in the 2nd half 19th — early 20th cc. The channels for disseminating information about pilgrimage tattoos among potential pilgrims, mentions of this tradition in periodicals and in travelogues of pilgrims and travelers are analyzed. The study also involves a corpus of lesser- known sources, which describe the meeting places of Russian travelers and pilgrims with tattooists, the process of applying tattoos and variants of such tattoos. Based on the available data, we draw the conclusions about how widespread the practice of sacred tattooing was among Russian Orthodox pilgrims to Palestine, and the signs of the transformation of practice into tradition in the beginning of 20th c. and analyze the silences about the existence of such a tradition in Russian- language literature. The work also provides an overview of references to the practice of tattooing Russian Orthodox pilgrims in studies on the history of tattooing. For the first time in the history of studying Russian Orthodox pilgrimage, the practice and tradition of tattooing Russian Orthodox pilgrims and travelers to Palestine is the subject of special consideration.
About the Author
A. Yu. Bokatov
St. Petersburg Institute of History of Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Aleksey Yu. Bokatov — postgraduate student of the Department of New History of Russia
Saint- Petersburg
References
1. Alexandrov, G. N. (1873). The Seal of the Antichrist (Letter from Peter the Great to Prince Ya. F. Dolgoruky). Russian Archive, (7). (In Russ.)
2. Alexandrov, G. N. (1873). More about the seal of the Antichrist. Russian Archive, (7). (In Russ.)
3. Bezobrazov, P. (1914). An English traveler about Russian pilgrims. Communications of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, 25, 66-94. (In Russ.)
4. Biblical archaeology [Textbook for spirits. seminaries] (1884). Comp. Archim. Jerome. Vol. 1: Home Antiquities: Vol. 2. St. Petersburg: Type. F. Eleonsky and Co.; [2], IV, [2], 383. (In Russ.)
5. Bulgarin, F. V. (1849). Memories. Part 6. St. Petersburg: Type. Karla Kraya; [3], 324. (In Russ.)
6. Shapovalov, M. S., Bokatov, A. Yu., Valitov, A. A., Gerasimova, V. A., Grigoryan, E. R., Mantsevich, L. N., Muratova, K. A., Shevelev, D. L. (2021). Imagining Palestine: The Holy Land and Russian Identity in the XIX — early XXI century. Collective monograph. St. Petersburg: Nestor- history; 774 p. EDN: LPAEFO (In Russ.)
7. Europin, P. (1907). On the significance of pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the merits of the Imp. Right. The Palestinian Society in contributing to this cause. Tula: Type and electric printing of Fortunatov and nasl., Tula Diocesan Gazette, (28), 1-18. (In Russ.)
8. Eliseev, A. V. (1885). With Russian pilgrims in the Holy Land in the spring of 1884: Essays, notes, observations. St. Petersburg: V. Kirshbaum Type, 365 p. (In Russ.)
9. The misconceptions of the bespopovschinsky sect of wanderers- runners (1896). Kostroma: Provincial Printing House, Kostroma Diocesan Gazette, (11), 287-295. (In Russ.)
10. Kamenskaya, M. F. (1894). Memoirs. St. Petersburg: Type. A. S. Suvorin, Historical Bulletin, LVIII. (In Russ.)
11. Catholicos of the East and his people: Essays on the church- religious and everyday life of the Syro- Chaldeans (on the conversion of the Syro- Chaldean Bishop Mar- Jonah to Orthodoxy on March 25, 1898) (1898). St. Petersburg: A. P. Lopukhin Type, 99. (In Russ.)
12. Kutepov, N. (1901). On the veneration of St. The cross. Novocherkassk: Private Don Printing House, Don Diocesan Gazette, (36), 917. (In Russ.)
13. Maximov, S. V. (1871). Siberia and penal servitude. Part 2.: Guilty and accused. St. Petersburg: Tip. A. Tranchel; [4], 353, [1], IV p., table. (In Russ.)
14. Missionary interview on October 20th. (1885). Perm: Kamensky Printing House, Perm Diocesan Gazette, (46), 633-640. (In Russ.)
15. Fraud. (1891). Kaluga: Provincial Printing House, Kaluga Diocesan Gazette, (16), 548-549. (In Russ.)
16. The extraordinary adventures and travels of the Russian peasant Dementiy Ivanov Tsikulin in Asia, Egypt, and Eastern India from 1808 to 1821, described by himself. (1825). The Northern Archive, (9), 348-362. (In Russ.)
17. The unfortunate adventures of Vasily Baranshchikov, a philistine of Nizhny Novgorod in three parts of the world: in America, Asia and Europe from 1780 to 1787. A new edition with an addition and figures (1788). St. Petersburg, 124 p. (In Russ.)
18. About the coming of the Holy prophets Elijah and Enoch and about the Antichrist. (1897). Astrakhan: Type. Roslyakova, Astrakhan Diocesan Gazette, (16), 699-715. (In Russ.)
19. Paul (Archimandrite) (1883). A brief description of a trip to the holy city of Jerusalem and other holy places in 1881. Moscow: Univ. Type., Soul-useful reading, Ch 1, 214-230. (In Russ.)
20. Paul (Archimandrite) (1894). Reflections on reading the Apocalypse, set out in the answers to the interlocutor’s questions. M.: Type. E. Lissner and Y. Roman, Bratskoe slovo: A journal dedicated to the study of schism, 1, 285-300. (In Russ.)
21. Journey to Palestine: From the diary of Peter Aistov (1894). St. Petersburg: Typo-lithography by A. Bussel, 184, II p. (In Russ.)
22. S.M.B. More about the so-called Palestinian collectors. (1875). Vilna: Type. Vilna Provincial Government, Lithuanian Diocesan Gazette, (38), 321-322. (In Russ.)
23. The Holy Land and the Bible: Dr. Geika’s description of Palestine and the customs of its inhabitants (1894). A retelling from the English. edited by F. S. Komarsky. St. Petersburg: Type. M. M. Stasyulevich, XXXII, 1115. (In Russ.)
24. Reports on new books (1893). St. Petersburg: Synodal Printing House, Church Gazettes published under the Holy Governing Synod: Weekly edition with additions, (39), 1425-1429. (In Russ.)
25. Suvorin, A. A. (1898). Palestine. Written by A. A. Suvorin. Ill. A. D. Kishchenko and V. I. Navozov. St. Petersburg.: Type. A. S. Suvorin, 12 l. ill., maps., 352 p. (In Russ.)
26. Fibikh, D. V. (2010). Two-core Russia: diaries and memoirs. Publ. M. Y. Dremach. M.: The first of September, 592 p. [electronic resource] https://corpus.prozhito.org/note/171200 (date of application — 30.04.2024). (In Russ.)
27. Khachikogi (1901). Penza: Printing House of the Penza Provincial Government, Penza Diocesan Gazette, (6), 178-188. (In Russ.)
28. Beaulieu, M.-A. (2019). Like a Seal on Your Arm: The Tradition of Tattooing among Jerusalem Pilgrims. Jerusalem Quarterly, 78, 86-92.
29. Diktas, M. (2020). The Imprint of the Pilgrimage: An Ethnography of a Tattoo Studio in Jerusalem. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 8(5), 1-11.
30. Carswell, J. (1958). Coptic Tattoo Designs. 2-nd edition. Published by the Faculty of Art and Science American University of Beirut. Beirut, 127 p.
31. Cocheris, P. (1894). Les parures primitives: avec une introduction sur les temps préhistoriques. Paris: Librarie Furne Jouvet & C, editeurs, 266 p.
32. Geikie John, C. (1888). The Holy Land and the Bible: A Book of Scripture Illustrations Gathered in Palestine, 1. New York, XXXII, 1115 p.
33. Graham, St. (1913). With the Russian Pilgrims to Jerusalem. London, 307 p.
34. Hambly, W. D. (1925). The History of Tattooing and Its Significance: With Some Account of Other Forms of Corporal Marking. London: H.F.G. Witherby, 346 p.
35. Jahn, J. (1797). Biblische Archaeologie: Haeusliche Alterthuemer. Wien, 666, [5].
36. Lithgow, W. (1906). The totall discourse of the rare adventures & painefull peregrinations of long nineteen yeares travayles from Scotland to the most famous kingdomes in Europe, Asia and Affrica. Glasgow: J. MacLehose, 448 p.
37. Ousterhut, R. (2015). Permanent Ephemera: The ‘Honourable Stigmatisation’ of Jerusalem Pilgrims. Between Jerusalem and Europe: Essays in Honour of Bianca Kühnel By R. Bartal, H. Vorholt. Leiden- Boston: Brill, 94-109.
38. Sinclair, A. T. (1908). Tattooing — Oriental and Gipsy. American Antropologist, 10(3), 361-386.
Review
For citations:
Bokatov A.Yu. The practice and tradition of Palestinian sacred tattooing among Russian orthodox pilgrims and travelers to Palestine in 2nd half 19th — early 20th cc. Russian Journal of Church History. 2024;5(3):25-47. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2024-156
Views:
332
Email this article 