What would it be like to live in Byzantium ?
What about the rooms inside a house, the furniture and the utensils?

Unfortunately, hardly any objects have come down to us from then; many years have passed, and everyday objects were made of cheap materials. All the same, we do have information about them from descriptions in written texts, and we can see them in manuscript illustrations and church frescoes .As is true today, the type and quality of equipment in a Byzantine house depended on what the owners could afford and the position they had in society. The commonest materials used by the poor were wood, clay and glass. Richer people used clay and metal, while kings and high officials had things made of precious metals (gold, silver), ivory or even jewels.

The most important piece of furniture in the house was the bed, usually made simply of single mattresses stuffed with straw, cotton, rags or down. These were placed directly on the floor or on built-in benches along the walls of the triclinum , or main room. There were also beds of boards on a frame, supported on two tripods or four legs and occasionally covered in gold or silver leaf. They were made up with various types of bedding such as blankets, pillows and sheets of dyed linen, wool, or even silk, embroidered or woven with gold threads along the upper edge. Tables were usually wooden, though there were others made of silver and gold or inlaid with ivory tiles. Low tables were not only used for serving food, but also as workbenches or desks. Chairs and stools, low seats with two or four legs, were used for sitting. Longer benches called macroskamnia could fit more people. The throne was the official seat of the emperor, the patriarch, bishops and abbots, and was usually accompanied by a footstool. Furniture was covered in fabrics (skamnalia) to prevent wear.

Byzantine house furnishings also included storage boxes or chests, and built-in cupboards (cabinets). Boxes locked for security, and were used for storing bread and other foods, fabric and clothes, money, gold and silverware, jewellery or books. Clothes were kept in fabric or leather bags called. There were even special boxes for storing drugs and medical supplies.

Floors were covered with carpets of varying size and thickness, while heavy curtains hung from the ceiling to divide off different living areas. These were of plain or multicoloured linen or silk, decorated with embroidered or woven patterns. Some curtains in the palaces were even woven from gold thread. The walls were often hung with pictures, though in mansions one might also see bows, swords or other arms, as well as mirrors.

House lighting came from candles and oil lamps. Candles were made entirely of beeswax; lamps were of clay or metal filled with oil or grease, with a burning wick at one end. They were usually either portable or rested on fixed wall stands. Large areas in churches and palaces mainly used round metal chandeliers suspended from the ceiling by chains. Lanterns were used as night lighting devices outside the house.

Household equipment also included tableware. Dishes, trays, bowls, goblets, cups, jugs and salt shakers were made of clay or wood, or less often of metal. Mention is also made of bronze utensils, and even of silver or gold plated ones, decorated with precious stones or agate, sardonyx, alabaster or rock crystal. Some of these are now in the safe-deposits of churches in the West, where they ended up after the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204.

Just like today, there were all sorts of kitchen utensils. These included trivets and iron tripods (bases) for clay cooking pots and pans. Metal pots called koukoumia were in most cases made of bronze, and were used for heating water, hand washing and so on. One permanent fixture of the hearth was the grill rack. Food was fried in pans of all sizes, and stirred with spoons and ladles kept in a special box. There were stone mortars for grinding spices, cereals and legumes, and even pepper mills. Finally, clay bowls or basins were used for washing dishes and hands.

The cellars below houses had clay jars of various sizes for storing oil, wine, cereals and legumes. To provide better insulation from the outside environment (so as to maintain a constant temperature) these jars were stuck into the ground. Smaller ones were used to store butter, cheese and foods preserved in salt. There were also clay pitchers to store and transport water, and smaller versions for serving water, wine or oil at table. Finally, water was kept cool in special jugs made of lead alloys.