ABSTRACT
The rock-carved complex known as Eski Gumus, near Nigde in Byzantine Cappadocia, was first studied by Michael Gough in the early 1960s, although his results were never fully published. This chapter argues that Eski Gumus was a secular residence, and that the decorated room was the private salon or reception room of a provincial magistrate. The detailed examination of the residential complex and its painting also encourages a re-examination of the position of Aesop’s Fables in Byzantine literature. Lauxtermann and others have encouraged us to place Aesop’s Fables in a monastic context. Although Gough identified the room as the cell of a monk – a view accepted by Rodley, Lauxtermann and Rhoby – perhaps this should be identified instead as the sitting room of a local archon or magistrate, from which he could oversee the comings and goings of his household, as well as the activities in the courtyard below.
