PRAYER CROSSES-JORS OF THE BLACK SEA ADYGS-SHAPSUGS: BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE MAE RAS
Journal: History Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus
Year: 2024

Research into the hybrid and syncretic cults of the Black Sea Adyghe-Shapsugs inevitably faces the issue of interpretation of the prayer crosses-jors as ritual elements of a bygone tradition. These crosses come in three forms: T-shaped, Y-shaped, and Byzantine-Caucasian Christian. The first and last types have been documented since at least the 18th century through travelers’ descriptions. The T-shaped variant, however, is only mentioned in texts, while almost all drawings depict Byzantine-Cauca