Antimins
Altar covering in Eastern Christianity
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The antimins (from the Greek Ἀντιμήνσιον, Antimension: "instead of the table"), is a special corporal required to be on the altar in many Eastern Christian liturgical traditions.[1] It was originally used as a portable version of an altar.[2]
It is a rectangular piece of cloth of either linen or silk, typically decorated with representations of the Descent of Christ from the Cross, the Four Evangelists, and inscriptions related to the Passion. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into it. In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, an altar stone serves a similar function[1]. In the Coptic Church and Syriac Church, it has been replaced by a wooden altar-board or altar-slab.[2]
Syriac practice
A wooden tablet, the ţablîtho, is the liturgical equivalent of the antimins in the churches of Syriac tradition.