Images The site of Saint Simeon

Women could not enter Saint Simeon’s martyrium. The Greeks were separating genders: the women above or on one side of the nave and the men on the other. In Syria, the issue was to avoid that men looked at women. A lot of Syriac texts specify that God desired women to be placed behind men, so as not to be seen by them. Sitting side by side is therefore excluded in Syriac culture and this division is still found in the Mosques, where women sit separately. The Syriac culture has, without a doubt, influenced the religious communities of the region. If the theme of a look is a cornerstone of these religions it is certainly anterior to Christianity and Islam.