Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/137

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IN THE LEVANT.
109

of the church. In one place I remarked a napkin with a figure of the archangel embroidered in gold on it. I asked what this was, and was told that the embroidery was an offering made by the women of Mandamatha on the feast of the saint to whom the church was dedicated. Here we have a custom exactly analogous to the Athenian ceremony of offering a new veil to Pallas Athene on the occasion of her great festival, the ornaments of which were the exploits of the goddess, embroidered by the Athenian maidens. Thus, in the Greek temple and in the Byzantine church, the local legend was first recorded and celebrated in permanent monu- ments of art, and then in ephemeral and perishable materials, such as veils and napkins.

On the sea-coast, at the distance of one hour and a half to the S.E. of Mandamatha, one hour from Palaio Liman, and two hours and a half from Yeni Liman, is a roofless church, dedicated to St. Stephen (Agios Stephanos). In front of the altar is a flat stone, on which is a Greek dedication by the people of some unknown place to a lady called Allobogiona, the daughter of Deiotaros, in acknoAV- ledgment of her services to the city. This name seems to be Galatian.46

Close to Palaio Liman, within the bay formed by the promontory Tokmakia (called in the chart Tomari), is a place on the shore called Anoikto, where are fragments of columns and foundations. Here is a large well, which may be antique. The soil is very black. This place is distant two and a half hours from Mandamatha, and two hours from Yeni