Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek inscription on a capital found at Doğu Çamlik on the island of Prokonnesos (Sea of Marmara) with a dedication to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Tentatively dated stylistically to the Theodosian period (late 4th - earlier 5th c.).

Evidence ID

E00730

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Θ(εο)τ(όκ)ῳ τοῦ [- - -]

'For (? the church of) the Theotokos of the [- - -]'

Text: Asgari, Drew-Bear 2002, no. 40.

Cult Places

Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Inscription cut on the abacus of an Ionic capital found at Doğu Çamlik on the island of Prokonnesos (the Sea of Marmara). Letters are painted red.

H. 0.2 m
W. 0.46 m

Discussion

The capital comes from the quarry island of Prokonnesos, which was very active in the late-antique period. It has been supposed, rightly in our opinion, that the inscription is one of ownership - referring to the church for which the capital was carved. Proconnesian marble was exported in the fifth and sixth centuries all over the Mediterranean.

The style of decorations of the capital has been tentatively dated to the Theodosian period.

Bibliography

Edition:
Asgari, N., Drew-Bear, Th., "The quarry inscriptions of Prokonnesos", in: J. Herrmann, N. Herz and R. Newman (eds.), ASMOSIA V. Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of the Association for the Study of Marble and Other Stones in Antiquity, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, June 1998 (London: Archetype Publications, 2002), 1-18.

Reference works:
L'Année épigraphique (2002), 1378.

Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 247.

Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 53, 1396.

Record Created By

Pawel Nowakowski

Date of Entry

15/09/2015

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00033	Mary, Mother of Christ	Θεοτόκος	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00730 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00730

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world

Greek inscription on a capital found at Doğu Çamlik on the island of Prokonnesos (Sea of Marmara) with a dedication to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Tentatively dated stylistically to the Theodosian period (late 4th - earlier 5th c.).

E00730

Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

15/09/2015

Greek inscription on a capital found at Doğu Çamlik on the island of Prokonnesos (Sea of Marmara) with a dedication to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Tentatively dated stylistically to the Theodosian period (late 4th - earlier 5th c.).

E00730

Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Cult building - unspecified Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

15/09/2015

Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)