Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 5. One of many scenes from Pharaonic tombs: an image of the tree goddess pouring blessings
011 the deceased. Under the sycamore's shadow are the souls of these deceased ill the form of Ba birds.
After N. de Garis Davis's Seven Private To mbs at Kurnah. Mond Excavations at Thebes [I.
1948. Ed. A. H. Gardiner. London, plate XXXIV.
The symbolic importance of the sycamore tree for Copts originates in Luke
19:4, where the sycamore tree was said to have been climbed by Zachaeus
in his eagerness to see Christ. In Coptic folklore, the sycamore apparently
symbolizes the Coptic people (13). This suggests strong continuity with the
traditional worship of the sycamore.
In ancient Egypt, the sycamore was so common that one of the names of
Egypt was "Land of the Sycamore" (14). It was considered the most holy
tree, thanks to the deep shadow its protective crown offered in this sunny
country. Hathor, Nut, and Isis-the three ancient goddesses-were believed
to dwell in the sycamore and were often depicted nestling in its crown, mostly
as a personification of the tree itself (Fig. 5) (15).
The Pharaonic sycamore cult seems to have survived into local Christian
mythology (16). Even today, people do not like to cut old sycamore. The tree
grows in village cemeteries to provide protective shadow. Associations with
the Virgin Mary resting in Egypt under the sycamore also remain alive to
this day. At the well at Matariyya in Heliopolis, today a suburb of Cairo, a
centuries-old sycamore still grows that is believed to have been visited by the
Virgin with the infant Jesus. This holy place is abundantly described by many
pilgrims as having contained, through the Middle Ages, an enchanting orchard
of balsam and other exotic trees, such as cypresses (17).
Christian Ethiopia, which is closely connected with Coptic Egypt, still believes
that in each sycamore one Maria lives; they call the sycamore Marianet.
The link between the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, Lady of the Sycamore,
and Christian Virgin Mary can be surmised (18).
Conclusion
In Egypt, image veneration and sycamore tree veneration have been practiced
since antiquity, and great importance was attached to the use of special wood
for sacred images. This tradition was so strong that its survival into Coptic
times is not surprising. Thus the Coptic icons are the repository of an earlier
heritage.
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Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice