Rock-cut Greek building inscription for a road named after a female saint whose name is lost, constructed probably as a vow for the salvation of the donor's children. Found on Karacaören Island near Ölüdeniz (Lycia, south-west Asia Minor). Probably late antique (5th-6th c.).
Evidence ID
E00848
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
[traces of letters]
ἐποίησεν τὴν ὁδὸ-
ν τῆς ἁγίας Εὐ[...-]
είας [...]π[.]ντο[...]
τõν τέκνον αὐτοῦ
Παύλου καὶ Θεοδόρ(ου)
5-6. [ὑπὲρ] | τõν τέκνον αὐτοῦ Pleket
'[traces of letters] built the road of Saint Eu[- - -]eia [- - - as a vow for the salvation (?)] of his children, Paulos and Theodoros.'
Text: Masuda 1995, 124-126 with comments in SEG 48, 1735.
Cult PlacesVow
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesChildren
Cult building - independent (church)
Places Named after SaintGates, bridges and roads
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesChildren
Other lay individuals/ people
Source
Inscribed rock near a road that runs from the northern shore of Karacaören Island (near Ölüdeniz, Lycia, south Asia Minor) to a local basilica.Discussion
The identity of the saint mentioned in lines 4-5 is disputable. Tomoyuki Masuda suggests that she was the patron of the basilica and that the road was called after the sanctuary. He opts for Saint Eutychia, as bishop Eutychianos is mentioned in a painted inscription in Church II on nearby Gemiler Island (see: SEG 48, 1723 and E00848), but this is pure speculation.Another similar rock-cut inscription was preserved near the road leading from the port on the eastern side of the island to the basilica, but it does not mention any saints. It reads: + Στέφανος μα[. . .]θουλα ἐποίησεν τὴ͜ν | [ὁδὸν? εἰς ἀ]νάπαυσιν Τατια|νῆ(ς) τ͜ῆ͜ς μακαρίας +: '+ Stephanos MA[- - -]THOULA built the [road(?) for] the repose of the blessed (= deceased) Tatiane +' (see SEG 48, 1733).
For a similar inscription from Rhodes (the Aegean Islands), probably with an invocation by an artisan constructing a road, see: E01227.
Bibliography
Edition:Masuda, T., "Greek inscriptions in the Ölüdeniz-Gemiler Ada Bay area", in: S. Tsuji, The Survey of Early Byzantine Sites in Ölüdeniz Area (Lycia, Turkey). The First Preliminary Report (Memoirs of the Faculty of Letters, Osaka University 35, Osaka: Osaka University, 1995), 124-126 with comments in SEG 48, 1735.
Further Reading:
Masuda, T., "Three Byzantine inscriptions recently found in Lycia" [in Japanese], Orient 36/2 (1993), 170.
Reference works:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 337.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 48, 1735.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
09/11/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00848 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00848