Record | The Cult of Saints

Fragmentary Greek inscription on the wall of a tower in Miletos (Caria, western Asia Minor), mentioning Onesipos (an otherwise unattested local martyr of Miletos, S00516) or Onesimos (a disciple of the Apostle Paul, S00517). Probably late antique.

Evidence ID

E00816

Type of Evidence

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

ΚΛΙ (?) τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Ὀνησί<μ>ου +

'[- - -] of the holy martyr Onēsimos. +'

Text: Milet VI/3, no. 1578.

Cult Places

Cult building - unspecified

Places Named after Saint

Towns, villages, districts and fortresses

Source

The inscription was recorded in the early modern period on a wall of a tower, on the left-hand side of a gate. It is not clear, whether the stone was reused in that structure. If so, the inscription refers to a different building. Now lost.

Discussion

The inscription was known to 17th c. travellers and scholars of Antiquity: John Covel and Jacob Spon. Covel copied the text: ΚΑΙΤΟΥΑΠΙΟΥΜΑΡΤΥΡΟ | ΝΗΣΙΠΟΥ +, while Spon offered a very similar reading: ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΙΟΥ | ΜΑΡΤΥΡΟΣ ΟΝΗΣΙΠΟΥ. The inscription is currently lost, so their readings cannot be verified. If a martyr called Onesipos is really mentioned in the text, he must be an otherwise unattested victim of persecutions, who was venerated in Miletos.

On the other hand, Peter Herrmann argues that the name of the martyr should be corrected to *Onesimos which allows us to identify the mentioned person with a disciple of *Paul the Apostle. Onesimos was a fugitive slave, converted to Christianity by Paul and mentioned by him in two of his letters (Epistle to Philemon and Epistle to the Colossians 4:9).

The inscription cannot be dated since there are many phases of fortification at Miletos, and no information on which one our inscription was carved.

Note added 18/12/24: For a Christian shrine excavated at Miletos, that might have been that of Onesipos, see Niewöhner 2016, and Niewöhner 2018.

Bibliography

Edition:
Milet VI/3, no. 1578.

Grégoire, H. (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1922), no. 223.

Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, no. 8847.

Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1787: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1787

Further Reading:
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 87.

Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 82, 346.

Niewöhner, P., "Milet in frühbyzantinischer Zeit", in: O. Dally, M. Maischberger, P.I. Schneider, A. Scholl (ed.), Milet in Kaiserzeit und Spätantike (Regensburg : Schnell & Steiner, 2009), 65.

Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (2006), 549.

Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 58, 1342.

Possible shrine of Onesipos: (added 18/12/2024)
Niewöhner, Ph., Die byzantinischen Basiliken von Milet, Milet 1, 11 (Berlin 2016), 97-99.

For a short English summary, see Niewöhner, Ph., "The Late Antique 'Area' of Miletus and Other Christian Cemeteries in the Aegean", in: M. Korres, S. Mamaloukos, K. Zampas, and Ph. Mallouchou-Tufano (ed.), Ηρως κτίστης. Μνήμη Χαράλαμπου Μπούρα (Athens 2018) vol. 2, 263-272, at 267.

Record Created By

Pawel Nowakowski

Date of Entry

15/10/2015

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00516	Onesippos, martyr of Miletus, Caria, western Asia Minor	Ὀμήσιπος	Uncertain
S00517	Onesimos, disciple of the Apostle Paul	Ὀμήσι<μ>ος	Uncertain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00816 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00816

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Fragmentary Greek inscription on the wall of a tower in Miletos (Caria, western Asia Minor), mentioning Onesipos (an otherwise unattested local martyr of Miletos, S00516) or Onesimos (a disciple of the Apostle Paul, S00517). Probably late antique.

E00816

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

Cult building - unspecified

Towns, villages, districts and fortresses

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

15/10/2015

Fragmentary Greek inscription on the wall of a tower in Miletos (Caria, western Asia Minor), mentioning *Onesipos (an otherwise unattested local martyr of Miletos, S00516) or *Onesimos (a disciple of the Apostle Paul, S00517). Probably late antique.

E00816

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

Cult building - unspecified

Towns, villages, districts and fortresses

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

15/10/2015

Fragmentary Greek inscription on the wall of a tower in Miletos (Caria, western Asia Minor), mentioning Onesipos (an otherwise unattested local martyr of Miletos, S00516) or Onesimos (a disciple of the Apostle Paul, S00517). Probably late antique.