Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek inscription with an invocation of God followed by the names of four Archangels: Michael (S00181), Gabriel (S00192), Istrael (S00690), and Raphael (S00481). Found in the territory of Hierapolis (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

Evidence ID

E00891

Type of Evidence

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

κύριε βοήθι· ααααα Μιχαὴλ ε Γαβριὴλ, Ἰστραὴλ, Ῥαφαήλ

'Lord, help! AAAAA Michael and (?) Gabriel, Istrael, Raphael.'

Text: Ramsay 1897, 541, no. 404.

Non Liturgical Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

A slab found by William Mitchell Ramsay in 1888 at Thiounta, near Hierapolis (Phrygia, central Asia Minor). Ramsay gives no description of the object.

Discussion

The inscription begins with an invocation of God, followed by five letters alpha and the names of four archangels. Ramsay supposed that the alphas stood for five abbreviated words ἅγιος and that each of them should have corresponded to an archangel, so one of the figures was missing. One can, however, interpret them as quasi-magical invocations or erroneously enumerated vowels corresponding to heavenly spheres that were often associated with archangels. For a similar case, see E00810 (Miletos, Caria / Karia, western Asia Minor).

Bibliography

Edition:
Ramsay, W.M., Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, vol. 1, part 2: West and West-Central Phrygia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1897), 541, no. 404.

Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1117: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1117

Further reading:
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 330-331.

Record Created By

Pawel Nowakowski

Date of Entry

25/11/2015

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00181	Michael, the Archangel	Μιχαήλ	Certain
S00192	Gabriel, the Archangel	Γαβριήλ	Certain
S00481	Raphael, the Archangel	Ῥαφαήλ	Certain
S00690	Istrael	Ἰστραήλ	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00891 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00891

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Greek inscription with an invocation of God followed by the names of four Archangels: Michael (S00181), Gabriel (S00192), Istrael (S00690), and Raphael (S00481). Found in the territory of Hierapolis (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

E00891

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

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

25/11/2015

Greek inscription with an invocation of God followed by the names of four Archangels: *Michael (S00181), *Gabriel (S00192), *Istrael (S00690), and *Raphael (S00481). Found in the territory of Hierapolis (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

E00891

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

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

25/11/2015

Greek inscription with an invocation of God followed by the names of four Archangels: Michael (S00181), Gabriel (S00192), Istrael (S00690), and Raphael (S00481). Found in the territory of Hierapolis (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.