Evidence ID
E00789
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
+ ποίημα Κοσμᾶ αχοῦ ἱερέος + τῆς Θ(εοτό)κου
τῶν Ἀντωνιαν(ῶν?)
1. αχου = ἀ(ρ)χ(ιδιακόν)ου or α΄ Χ(ριστ)οῦ? I. Ephesos or (μονα)χοῦ Destephen (more convincing)
'The work of Kosmas, the monk and priest + of the Theotokos of the Antonianae.'
Text: I. Ephesos, no. 1291.
Cult PlacesBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Cult Related ObjectsOther
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Cultic confraternities
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Cult Related ObjectsOther
Water basins
Source
Dedicatory inscription on a small stone basin found in the church of *John the Evangelist in Ephesos (western Asia Minor). Dimensions of basin: H. 0.22 m; upper diameter 0.48 m.Discussion
The inscription indicates that this basin in the church of *John the Evangelist was offered to the sanctuary by a certain Kosmas - a monk and priest of the church of *Mary, called 'the one of the Antonianae'. Its purpose is not stated; but it was presumably liturgical.Kosmas is called αχος which was understood by the editors of I. Ephesos as an abbreviation for 'archdeacon' or 'of Christ' but in fact alpha can often stand for the word μόνος. Therefore solving the abbreviation as μοναχός is much more convincing (see PCBE 3, Kosmas 2).
The name Antonianae is otherwise unattested. It may denote an urban district in late antique Ephesos or a guild, or, which is the most probable option, an estate similar to that of Rufinianae situated near Chalcedon (as suggested by Denis Feissel in a letter dated 17.09.2016).
The inscription can be dated to the 6th/7th or a later period, based on the occurrence of the peculiar abbreviation of the term μοναχός.
Bibliography
Edition:Die Inschriften von Ephesos, no. 1291.
Further reading:
Destephen, S., Prosopographie du Diocese d'Asie (325-641) (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3, Paris: Association des amis du centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2008), Kosmas 2.
Destephen, S., 'Quatre études sur le monachisme asianique (IVe-VIIe siècle)', Journal des savants (2010), 202.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
16/10/2015
| 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, E00789 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00789