Byzantine influence in Africa
[Jeenah Moon/The New York Times]
An atmosphere of Byzantine mysticism pervades the new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which has as its theme the influence of Byzantium in Africa.
It is a large, international production with over 200 rare exhibits, such as the icon of Saint George from Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt (photo), which showcase a less illuminated area of history through the osmosis of Byzantine culture with its then flourishing societies North and East Africa.
The Christian Byzantine Empire based in Constantinople was also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, which continued for almost a millennium after the fall of the empire’s western part.
