1 Regarding the church of Hagia Sophia, see Müller-Wiener, W., Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion-Konstantinopolis-lstanbul bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts (Tübingen 1977) 84–96 Google Scholar, and Janin, R., La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin. I. Le siège de Constantinople et le patriarcat oeco-ménique, 3. Les églises et les monastères, 2nd edn (Paris 1969) 455-70Google Scholar.

2 In the nave and aisles below, I found only four graffiti, in the western end of the church.

3 According to Mathews, T. (The Early Churches of Constantinople: Architecture and Liturgy (University Park 1971) 133) ‘the original and principal use of the galleries was probably for catechumens’Google Scholar. Taft, R. (‘Women at church in Byzantium: Where, when — and why?’, DOP 52 (1998) 31) has good grounds for arguing that the term gynaikion ‘is used to designate areas on the ground floor assigned, presumably, to the women’Google Scholar.

4 Regarding the galleries of Hagia Sophia and some of their functions, see Mathews, , The Early Churches, 128-33Google Scholar.

5 The reader is directed to the relevant passages and conclusions in Taft, ‘Women at church’, 31, 34,41-2, 49, 55-6, 59, 62, 86-7.

6 Regarding the different views on the galleries cf. Mathews, The Early Churches, 125-6,130-3. In Hagia Sophia, as in all the large churches in the East, women and men were segregated for cultural and moral reasons; in most churches, women occupied the north side and men the south side (churches were always oriented to the east). See Gerstel, S., ‘Painted sources for female piety in medieval Byzantium’, DOP 52 (1998) 91–92 Google Scholar. See also Taft, ‘Women at church’, 57, who even notes a funeral rubric in an eleventh-century codex that calls for the body of the deceased to be placed on the right (south) side of the church if male, and on the left (north) side if female. However, most textual evidence for Hagia Sophia indicates that women occupied both the north and south aisles, with men in the central part of the nave.

7 See Mathews, The Early Churches, 131 and Taft, ‘Women at church’, 49, 62.

8 For details, see Taft, ‘Women at church’, 42.

9 We should note that ordinations to the priesthood, loyalty oaths, ecclesiastical synods, miraculous cures, and exorcisms were all administered there. There can be added to this, reference to distributing stipends (roga) of the clergy, to imperial receptions and dinners, to sessions of the ecclesiastical tribunal and meetings of the standing synod, etc. See in particular Taft, ‘Women at church’, 59.

10 Taft (loc. cit.) emphasized that the galleries were employed ‘for just about every imaginable purpose, legitimate or not, including even temporary lodgings and sexual dalliance’. He also noted that ‘women and the imperial party attend liturgy in the galleries and have the sacrament brought to them there’ and that ‘oratories and the imperial apartment, refectory, and loge-metatorion could all be located there.’ Cf. Mathews, The Early Churches, 133.

11 This is the conclusion of R. Taft (‘Women at church’, 42).

12 I directed my investigation mainly to the Cyrillic inscriptions. At Hagia Sophia I had ample opportunity to find separate letters and short texts scratched as graffiti in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets. Today they number a total of 62 signs. I have published some of them: ‘Edin patriarcheski grafit ot hrama Sofia, “Sv.” v Konstantinopol’ in Srednovekonnijat bulgarin I „drugite”, Sborník v chest na 60-godishninata na prof. Petâr Angelov (Sofia 2012) 227-30Google Scholar; ‘Igra na “dama” v hrama Sofia”, “Sv., Konstantinopol’ in Bułgarsko srednove-kovie: obstestvo, vbst, istorila, Sborník v chest na prof. Miljana Kajmakamova (Sofia 2012) 439-55Google Scholar; ‘Tri grafita na kirilitsa ot hrama “Sv. Sofia, ” v Konstantinopol’ in Duhovnijat svjat na Aton (V. Tűrnovo 2013)Google Scholar; ‘Edin grafit za Hristovite strasti v Sofia, “Sv.”, Konstantinopol’ in QUOD DEUS VULT! Sborník v chest na prof. Krasimira Gagova (http://www.mediaevalia.eu) Google Scholar; ‘Tri risynki-grafiti ot Sofia, “Sv.”, Konstantinopol’ in Srednovekovnijat tchovek 1 negovijat svjat (V. Tűrnovo 2013)Google Scholar. A Russian team of scholars-epigraphers (I. Zaitzev, J. Artamonov and A. Gyppius) searched the galleries of Hagia Sophia and published their findings in a series of articles. For a detailed survey of their publications, see Artamonov, lu., Gippiys, A., ‘Drevnerusskie nadpisi Sofii Konstantinopol’skoj’, in Shvjanskij almanach 2011 (Moscow 2012)Google Scholar. Here I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Alexej Gyppius who kindly sent me information about his discoveries and a copy of the paper cited above. A paléographie analysis shows without doubt the Russian origin of almost all the Cyrillic inscriptions. It seems to me that Bulgarians wrote only three of them.

13 Unfortunately, there are only two inscriptions containing the typical datatio formula: ‘In the year of... ‘. I submitted one of them for publication in ‘In the year of 6905’, Bulgaria Medievalis 4 (2013) (in press).

14 I am planning to publish them in another study. Unfortunately, I am not yet in a position to say definitely that there are only 35 ship graffiti. As one can easily verify, it is extremely difficult to see what is concealed behind the enormous photos arranged in the entire north gallery. Nevertheless, I was able to look behind the photos in the central part of the gallery and to discover one galley with human figures on board and two cogs. However, such an action is banned today. It should be noted that only two ship graffiti have been published so far. For them, see Meinardus, O., ‘Medieval navigation according to akidographemata in Byzantine churches and monasteries’, Δελτίον τής Χριστιανικής Άρχαιολογικής Έταιρείας 6 (1970-72) 39 Google Scholar; Bash, L., ‘Graffiti navals grecs’, Le petit perroquet 22 (1978) 54-5Google Scholar.

15 The marble also bears witness, in the form of a runic inscription (on balustrades and under a blind window on the eastern bay of the north gallery) and drawing of axes (situated on the wall-slab of the west pillar in the north gallery), to a Viking visit. For runic inscriptions, see Svfärdström, E., ‘Runorna i Hagia Sophia’, Fornvännen 3 (1970) 247 Google Scholar.

16 A number of finds have revealed that the upper woodwork of vessels might have been decorated. Perhaps the clearest example of this is the carving to be seen on both of the stems of the early ninth-century Oseberg ship from Norway. The upper strakes of the later ninth-century Norwegian Gokstad ship have zigzag lines carved into them which may have been painted; and the Ladby vessel from Denmark also appears to have had mouldings incised along the edges of some of her planking which were very similar, it is thought, to those on the Gokstad ship. For this, see Sørensen, A. N., ‘Ladby: A ship grave from the Viking age’, in Crumlin-Pedersen, O. and Olsen, O. (eds.), Ships and Boats of the North, III (Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum 2001) 239-40Google Scholar; Crumlin-Pedersen, O. and Olsen, O., ‘The Skuldelev ships: Topography, archaeology, history, conservation and display’, in Crumlin-Pedersen, O. and Olsen, O. (eds.), Ships and Boats of the North, IV (Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum 2001) 274-5Google Scholar.

17 The Oseberg ship, the best preserved Viking ship, has carved spirals at the bow and stern. See Brögger, A., The Oseberg Ship (New York 1921)Google Scholar; Hagen, A., Les Bateaux Vikings (Oslo 1961) 6–18 Google Scholar; Kulturhistorisk museum: http://www.khm.uio.no/utstilling/faste/vikingskipene/oseberg_eng.html

18 Both coins and picture stones from the Viking Age depict shields arrayed along the gunwale of a Viking ship. Additionally, the sagas state that shields were displayed. In Brennu-Njáls saga (The Story of Burnt Njal, English, transl. George W. Dasent, http://www.njala.is/en/burnt-njal/burnt-njal-in-english/ ch. 83), for example, Kári and his ten ships rowed hard to join a sea battle, with row after row of shields on display along the sides of the ships. Icelandic law(‘Landnámabók’ ) ( Pálsson, H., Edwards, P., The Book of Settlements: Landnamabok(Winnipeg 1972) 156, 74) tells of Hella-Björn Herfinnsson who sailed into Bjamarfjörour with his ship lined with shields. Afterwards, he was called ‘Skjalda-Björn’ (Shield-Björn)Google Scholar.

19 The rudder on a ship of the Viking Age was a side rudder. We may also refer to the examples from Bergen, Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway, and Osrra Aros in Sweden. Two rudders found at Vorsa and Lungshoved in Denmark are described by O. Crumlin-Pedersen, , ‘Two Danish side rudders’, Mariner’s Mirror 52 (1966) 251-61CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The ships in Duke William’s invasion fleet are shown in the Bayeux Tapestry as having side rudders. The rudder of the Scandinavian ships remained side-mounted until approximately 1250-1300, when they started to rear-mount the rudder instead.

20 Graham-Campbell, J., The Viking World, 3rd edn (London 2001) 46 Google Scholar.

21 Wolf, K., Daily Life of the Vikings (Toronto 2004) 85 Google Scholar.

22 We know a great deal about Viking ships from the memorial stones (particularly from Gotland in Sweden), coins, tapestries (such as the Bayeux Tapestry), and graffiti from Dublin, Shetland, and Norway. Poems and law codes also provide important information. Modern reconstructions of Viking Age ships offer insights into the construction and sailing characteristics of the originals.

23 Logan, F., The Viking in History, 2nd edn (London 1991) 29 Google Scholar.

24 Crumlin-Pedersen, O., ‘Ship types and sizes AD 800-1200’, in Crumlin-Pedersen, O. (ed.), Aspects of Maritime Scandinavia AD 200-1200 (Roskilde 1991) 69–82 Google Scholar; Crumlin-Pedersen, O., The Skuldelev Ships I: Topography, Archaeology, History, Conservation and Display (Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum 2002) 303-8Google Scholar.

25 Attention has already been drawn to this fact by J. Jesch. For details, see Jesch, J., Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age (Woodbridge 2001) 122 Google Scholar.

26 Jesch, Ships and Men, 120, 130, 136.

27 Ibid., 122.

28 Ibid., 123.

29 Ibid., 126.

30 Ibid., 127.

31 O.|Crumlin-Pedersen, ‘Schiffe und Schiffahrtswege im Ostseeraum während des 9-12. Jahrhunderts’, Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission, 69 (1988) 530-63Google Scholar.

32 Sprague, M., Norse Warfare: The Unconventional Battle Strategies of the Ancient Vikings (New York 2007) 90 Google Scholar.

33 They are known from picture stones in Gotland, from the Bayeux Tapestry and from a carved piece of wood found in Bergen. See Gräslund, A. S., ‘Drakar i Uppåkra’, in В. Hårdh (Hrg¡), Fier fynd i centrum. Materialstudier i och kring Uppåkra (Stockholm 2003) 179-88 with referenceGoogle Scholar.

34 Chaillu, P. du, The Viking Age, II (Paris 1890) 132 Google Scholar; Jesch, Ships and Men 145. Five animal heads were found in the Oseberg grave, but none of them belonged to the ship. The figures were probably used in religious processions. The carving found in the Gokstad ship burial decorated a chieftain’s bed post. However, these beautiful animal heads can giveus an indication of how the dragon heads that adorned the Viking ships might have appeared.

35 Chaillu, The Viking Age, 152; See also Jones, G., The Norse Atlantic Saga (London 1964) 191–201 Google Scholar; Jesch, Ships and Men, 150 (it could easily be cut down to make access to the warriors on the enemy ship easier).

36 Chaillu, The Viking Age, 153; Forte, A., Oram, R., Pedersen, Fr., Viking Empire (Cambridge 2005) 149 Google Scholar.

37 Chaillu, The Viking Age 148.

38 The evidence comes from the redaction known as ‘Hauksbók’, which was written c. 1306-8, a translation that is in Page, R., Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials, and Myths (Toronto 1995) 174 Google Scholar.

39 Old Norse Religion in Longterm Perspectives. Origins, Changes and Interactions, ed. Andren, A., Jennlert, K., Randvere, C. (Lund 2006) 125 Google Scholar.

40 Sprague, Norse Warfare, 331.

41 Ibid., 90.

42 Davidson, H., The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe (London 1993) 19 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 Ciggaar, K. N., Western Travellers to Constantinople: the West and Byzantium, 962-1204: Cultural and Political Relations (Leiden 1996) 106 Google Scholar; Kulturistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder, XIX (Copenhagen/ Malmö 1975)Google Scholar s.v. ‘Varjagar’. For the early period it is difficult to distinguish between Russians and Scandinavians.

44 Swedish Vikings, who established themselves in Kiev as rulers over the native Slavic population, who called them Rus hence ‘Russia’. In AD 860 they launched a daring — albeit unsuccessful — attack on Constantinople (Miklagaard or ‘The Great Town’, as they called it) by sailing their ships down the Dnieper and across the Black Sea. Further major campaigns against the Byzantine Empire were to follow in 907, 941 and 944, by which time the Rus had already begun to be assimilated by their Slavic subjects and could no longer truly be regarded as Vikings. The Byzantines, expressing their contempt, called the open craft of the Russians mono-xyla or mere dug-out canoes but the sagas and the rune-stones assert that the Swedish and the Danish vessels were the equals of those of the Norse. Franklin, S., Shepard, J., The Emergence of Rus 750-1200 (New York 1996) 29–50, 91-100,113-51Google Scholar.

45 Sizable groups of them were hired as mercenaries by successive Kievan and Novgorodian princes — a practice that continued well into the eleventh century, the last reference to Viking mercenaries in Russia dating to 1043.

46 Vasil’evskij, V.G., ‘Varjago-russkaja i varjago-anglijskaja družina v Konstantinopole’, in Trudy, I (St. Petersburg 1908)Google Scholar; R’dzevskaja, E.A., Drevnjaja Rus’ I Skandinavija IX-XIV vv. (Moscow 1978)Google Scholar; Mel’nikova, E.A., ‘Varjagi, varangi, veringi: skandinavts’ na Rusi I v Vizantii’, VV 55 (1998) 159-64Google Scholar; Schramm, G., ‘Die Waräger: Osteuropäsche Schiksale einer nordgermanischen Gruppenbezeichnung’, Die Welt der Slawen 28 (1983) 38–67 Google Scholar; Blöndal, S., The Varangians of Byzantium: an Aspect of Byzantine Military History, transi., rev. edn. by Benedikz, B. (New York 1978) 194-5Google Scholar; H., Davidson, R. E., The Viking Road to Byzantium (London 1976) 159, 162Google Scholar. Cf. also Ciggaar, Western Travellers, 107. The latest evidence of their visit to the church is a Cyrillic inscription from the eleventh century, which is the following: ‘Игорь Оулминге TyTÎ S’ (Igor Ulminge wrote this).

47 He was the half-brother of King Olaf of Norway (who was to be canonized shortly afterwards) and one of the most illustrious Varangians. See Ciggaar, Western Travellers, 108.

48 The church was erected in the first half of the twelfth century on a ridge overlooking me inner waters of Roskilde Fjord in Denmark. See Kastolm, O., ‘Six ship graffiti from Himmelev Church’, Maritime Archaeology Newsletter of Denmark 26 (2011) 30 Google Scholar.

49 Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, § 95 (http://omacl.org/Heimskxingla/trygvason3.html): ‘The ship was a dragon ... but this ship was far larger, and more carefully put together in all her parts. The king called this ship the Long Serpent... The Long Serpent had thirty-four benches for rowers. The head and the arched tail were both gilt, and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going ships. This ship was the best and most costly ship ever made in Norway.’

50 J. Bill, ‘Ship graffiti’, in http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/the-sea-stallion-past-and-present/ longships-magnified/picture-sources/ship-graffiti/

51 J.|Bill, ‘Ship graffiti’, in http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/the-sea-stallion-past-and-present/ longships-magnified/picture-sources/ship-graffiti/

52 Forte, Oram, Pedersen, Viking Empire, 148.

53 Bill, J., ‘Viking ships and the sea’, in Brink, S. (ed.), The Viking World (London/ New York 2008) 179 Google Scholar.

54 Melnikova, E., ‘Skandinavskie palomniki v Konstantinopole’, in lstoriceskaya rol’ Konstantinopolya (Moscow 2003) 76 Google Scholar.

55 Goudas, M., ‘Μεσααωνικά χαράγματα πλοίων έπί τοϋ Θησείου’, Βυζαντίς 2(1911) 329-57Google Scholar.

56 Maritime graffitti as prayers for divine protection are a well-established custom since Antiquity. See, for example, Meinardus, ‘Medieval navigation’ 31.

57 Ovčarov, N., Ships and Shipping in the Black Sea XiV-XlX Centuries (Sofia 1993) 9, 104-10 (in Bulgarian)Google Scholar.

58 They are mainly runic inscriptions that have been found on a marble lion from Piraeus, now in Venice, and on a balustrade in the south gallery in Hagia Sophia.