Fragment of Pseudo-Sarcophagus “Moses-Relief”

The relief is an example of a “pseudosarcophagus”, that is to say a stone slab forming the front of a coffin made of bricks, small stones or another cheap material. The overwhelming majority originate from burial complexes in Constantinople in the region around the Theodosian land walls. Of the original three image fields, the one on the far left has survived. In the gable two peacocks flank a cross. The remains of an inscription in Greek for a doctor, John, can still be seen on the architrave. The image space combines two episodes depicting either the Call of Moses at Horeb or the Receipt of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai: The retreating figure to the left is Moses, who initially refuses God’s order. On the right, Moses, half kneeling and with his hands covered by his robe, receives a scroll from God’s hand. The mountains in the lower right-hand corner of the image hint at the place where the event occurs. The representation is based on courtly ceremony: Moses receives the scroll from God’s hand as a sign of his calling in the same way an official would from the emperor’s hand.