Prothesis (altar)

The Prothesis is the place in the sanctuary in which the Liturgy of Preparation takes place in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches.

The Prothesis is located behind the Iconostasis and consists of a small table, also known as the Table of Oblation, on which the bread and wine are prepared for the Divine Liturgy. It is most often placed on the north side of the Altar, or in a separate chamber (itself referred to as the Prothesis) on the north side of the central apse.

Originally, the Prothesis was located in the same room as the Holy Table, being simply a smaller table placed against the eastern wall to the north of the Holy Table. During the reign of the Emperor Justin II (565–574), it came to occupy its own separate chamber to the north of the sanctuary, having a separate apse, and joined to the Altar by an arched opening. Another apsed chamber was added on the south side for the Diaconicon. So that from this time forward, large Orthodox churches were triapsidal (having three apses on the eastern side). Smaller churches still have only one chamber containing the Altar, the Prothesis and the Diaconicon.

Prothesis

Prothesis may refer to:

See also

Liturgy of Preparation

The Liturgy of Preparation, also Prothesis (Greek: Πρόθεσις "a setting forth") or Proskomedia (Προσκομιδή Proskomidē "an offering, an oblation"), is the name given in the Eastern Orthodox Church to the act of preparing the bread and wine for the Eucharist. The Liturgy of Preparation is done quietly before the public part of the Divine Liturgy begins, and symbolizes the "hidden years" of Christ's earthly life.

Eucharistic Elements

Only very specific elements may be offered at the Divine Liturgy:

Bread

The bread used for the Liturgy is referred to as prosphora. A prosphoron is a round loaf of leavened bread baked in two layers to represent the two natures of Christ. It has a square seal on the top side which has inscribed on it a cross and the Greek letters IC (an abbreviation in Greek for "Jesus") XC ("Christ") and NIKA ("Conquers"). The portion of the loaf that is cut out along this seal is the Lamb (Host), from which all are communicated, and therefore must be proportionately large for the number of communicants.

Prothesis (linguistics)

In linguistics, prothesis (from post-classical Latin based on Ancient Greek πρόθεσις próthesis 'placing before'), or less commonlyprosthesis (from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις prósthesis 'addition') is the addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure. A vowel or consonant added by prosthesis is called prothetic or prosthetic.

Prothesis is different from the adding of a prefix, which changes the meaning of a word.

Prothesis is a metaplasm, a change in spelling or pronunciation. The opposite process, the loss of a sound from the beginning of a word, is called apheresis or aphesis.

Word formation

Prothesis may be a way of word formation during borrowing from foreign languages or during derivation from protolanguages.

Romance languages

A well-known example is that /s/ + stop clusters (known as s impurum), in Latin, gained a preceding /e/ in early Romance languages (Old Spanish, Old French).

Thus, Latin status changed to Spanish estado and French état/été (in which the s was lost) "state"/"been", and Latin speciālis changed to Spanish and Old French especial (Modern French spécial, and English special).

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship. Today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple. Many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion.

Antiquity

Hebrew Bible

Altars (Hebrew: מזבח‎, mizbe'ah, "a place of slaughter or sacrifice") in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah. Altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses, (Adonai-nissi).

After the theophany on Mount Sinai, in the Tabernacle—and afterwards in the Temple—only two altars were used: the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense.

Altar (Sunn O))) and Boris album)

Altar is a collaboration album between Japanese doom band Boris and American drone doom duo Sunn O))), released on October 31, 2006 through Southern Lord Records. A limited two-CD edition was released on October 23 via Southern Lord with a 28 minute bonus track with Sunn O))), Boris, and Dylan Carlson, titled "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom". Inoxia Records released their own two-CD version in 2006 which features a bonus track on the first disc, "The Sinking Belle (Black Sheep)", and also features "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" on disc 2. The triple-vinyl edition by Southern Lord contains all of the songs from their two-CD edition, additional pictures, and liner notes by Kim Thayil. The Daymare 3LP version was released March 23, 2007 and features a bonus track not found on any other version of this release: "The Sinking Belle (White Sheep)".

In addition to major players Sunn O))) and Boris, Altar also boasts an extensive roster of guest musicians/collaborators such as Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Joe Preston (Earth, Thrones, Melvins, High on Fire), Phil Wandscher and Jesse Sykes (both of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) as well as long time Sunn O))) collaborators TOS Niewenhuizen and Rex Ritter.

Altar (Bible)

Altars (Hebrew: מזבח‎, mizbe'ah, "a place of slaughter or sacrifice") in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth (Exodus 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25). Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places (Genesis 22:9; Ezekiel 6:3; 2 Kings 23:12; 16:4; 23:8.) The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah (Genesis 8:20). Altars were erected by Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 13:4; 22:9), by Isaac (Genesis 26:25), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1-3), and by Moses (Exodus 17:15, Adonai-nissi).

After the theophany on Mount Sinai, in the Tabernacle—and afterwards in the Temple—only two altars are mentioned: the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense.

Altar of burnt offering

The first altar was the Altar of Burnt Offering (mizbach ha'olah) (Exodus 30:28), also called the Brasen Altar (Exodus 39:39), the Outer Altar (mizbach hachitzona), the Earthen Altar (mizbach adamah), the Great Altar (mizbach hagedola) and the Table of the Lord (Malachi 1:7) This was the outdoor altar and stood in the Court of the Priests, between the Temple and the Court of Israel, and upon which the korbanot (animal and bird sacrifices) were offered. The blood of the sacrifices would be thrown against the base of the altar (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 4:18), and portions of the sacrifices would be burned on top of it (precisely which portions would depend upon the type of sacrifice). Also consumed at the altar would be some of the meat offerings, and the drink offerings (libations of wine) were poured out here. All sacrifices had to be "seasoned with salt" (Leviticus 2:13, Numbers 18:19)