A kathisma, literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins, a seat used in monastic churches, or a type of monastic establishment.
Page from the Tomić Psalter, Bulgarian, 1360.
Wooden kathismata at the old Orthodox church in Sarajevo. The taller kathisma with gilded baldachin is for the bishop.
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons. They were commonly used for learning to read. Many Psalters were richly illuminated, and they include some of the most spectacular surviving examples of medieval book art.
Carolingian Psalter (facsimile)
Folio 15b of the Utrecht Psalter illustrates Psalm 27
The Mudil Psalter, the oldest complete psalter in the Coptic language (Coptic Museum, Egypt, Coptic Cairo).
Initials from the beginning of psalms in the St. Albans Psalter.