KAPADOKYA BÖLGESİ BİZANS KİLİSELERİNDE “MASUMLARIN KATLİ” SAHNESİ

This study focuses on the “Massacre of the Innocents” scene depicted in the wall paintings of Byzantine churches in the Cappadocia region. The source of this scene is the Gospel of Matthew, and it is also mentioned in the apocryphal Gospels of Barnabas and James. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. Astronomer kings see his star in the east; Herod tells them that he wishes to worship the child and asks them to inform him when they find the child. However, after finding and worshipping Jesus, the astrologers are warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they take another route back to their country. Enraged by this, Herod orders the killing of all male children aged two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Before this event occurs, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, instructing him to flee to Egypt, which allows Jesus to escape the massacre. This scene appears in 13 structures in the Cappadocia region and is significant as it depicts the first martyrs of Christianity. The scene is divided into three sequences: King Herod, who orders the killing of the children; the soldiers carrying out the order; and Rachel weeping for her children. Unlike comparative examples, there is iconographic unity within the region.