Fragmentary Greek inscription with remnants of what could have been a governor's letter, possibly dealing with the status of the church of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) and the church of *John the Apostle and Evangelist (S00042) in Ephesos. Found in Ephesos (western Asia Minor), at the site of the church of Mary. Probably 6th c.
Evidence ID
E00765
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Canonical and legal texts
Fragment A:
] . ̣ιτρα[
] ἔστω [
τῆ]ς μεγάλης [ἐκκλησί]-
[ας καὶ τοῦ σ]εβασμίο[υ οἴκου]
[τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάνν]ου τ[οῦ θεολόγου
Fragment B:
]̣προ[
]̣γονα[
τ]οῦ ἀπο[στόλου
Κ]̣αισα̣ρ (?)[
'[- - -] may it happen [- - -] of the Great [Church and of the re]verend [house of Saint Joh]n th[e Theologian - - -] of the Apo[stle - - - C]aesar (?) [- - -].'
Text: I. Ephesos, no. 1373.
Cult PlacesEcclesiastics - bishops
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityAwarding privileges to cult centres
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Monarchs and their family
Source
Two fragments of a blue marble plaque found at the site of the church of Mary in Ephesos. Fragment A: H. 0.165 m; W. 0.27 m; Th. 0.035-0.04 m. Fragment B: H. 0.11 m; W. 0.13 m; Th. 0.025 m.Having revisited and examined the fragments, Denis Feissel suggests that, although published separately, they almost certainly form missing parts of another monumental inscription with a governor's letter, found in Ephesos (our E00778), see Feissel 1999, 127-128 and no. 27. In a letter dated 17.05.2018 Feissel informed us about his forthcoming new edition and restoration of this text.
Discussion
The first editors hypothesised that the inscription may have preserved fragments of an imperial letter from Justinian or one of his sixth-century successors that dealt with the status of two major churches in Ephesos: the episcopal church of *Mary (the Great Church, μεγάλη ἐκκλησία of our text, if that is the correct reading) and the newly constructed church of *John the Evangelist, locally called the Theologian (reconstructed as the Reverend House, σεβάσμιος οἶκος, of the inscription). They pointed out that the wording resembles other imperial letters published in Ephesos as inscriptions (see E00745; E00766).Denis Feissel, however, very plausibly identifies the fragments as elements of a letter of a governor (proconsul) of the province of Asia that was preserved in another Ephesian inscription, and probably accompanied an imperial resolution concerning the church of Mary and the church of John the Evangelist. See E00778.
Bibliography
Edition:Die Inschriften von Ephesos, no. 1373.
Further reading:
Feissel, D., "Épigrahie administrative et topographie urbaine: l'emplacement des actes inscrits dans l'Éphèse protobyzantine (IVe – VIe s.)", in: R. Pillinger, O. Kersten, F. Krinzinger, O. Russo (eds.), Efeso paleocristiana e bizantina (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999), 121-132.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
13/10/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Certain | S00042 | John, the Apostle and Evangelist | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00765 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00765