Greek inscription with an invocation possibly of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) as the God-Bearer. Found at Akroinos (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably 6th/7th c.
Evidence ID
E00898
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
[τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν] σὺ προσφέρομεν, δέ[σποτα. Θ(εοτό)κε] βωήθι Νικολάῳ μοναχõͅ κ(αὶ) τῖς
χ(ριστ)οαδελφ[ότη-]
τος
αὐτοῦ.
+ νηκᾷ
1. [τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν] σὺ Ševčenko, [- - -] σὺ MAMA || δέ[σποτα. Θ(εοτό)κε] βωήθι Ševčenko, δέ[ησιν. κ(ύρι)ε] ̣βωήθι MAMA || Νικολάωυ μοναχοῦ MAMA || 2-3. χ(ριστ)οαδελφ[ότη]|τος Ševčenko, Χ(ριστ)ο(νύμου?) ἀδελφ[ότη]|τος MAMA
'We bring [you the offerings from your (property)], Lord. [O the God-Bearer,] help Nikolaos the monk and his brotherhood in Christ! (The cross) triumphs.'
Text and reconstruction: Weitzmann & Ševčenko 1963, 394, n. 15.
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - abbots
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
A white marble window (?) lintel with an encircled cross carved in the centre. Reused in a mosque. H. 0.21 m; W. 53 m. Found at Akroinos (Phrygia, central Asia Minor). Sylvain Destephen argues that, as there was no bishopric in Akroinos in Late Antiquity, the inscription could have been brought from Prymnessos. The inscription, however, does not say that a bishop is involved in the commemorated offering.Discussion
The inscription commemorates an unspecified offering made by a certain monk, Nikolaos. Originally edited in the fourth volume of Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, it was revisited by Ihor Ševčenko. He dated it to the 6th or 7th c., but did not justify this statement. This dating is, nevertheless, reasonable because of the apparent occurrence of the formula σταυρὸς νικᾷ at the end of the text.Ševčenko suggested that the invocation was addressed to *Mary as the God-Bearer, and not to God, as the Lord (which had been conjectured by the original editors). This suggestion is, of course, entirely hypothetical.
Ševčenko supposed that the monk Nikolaos was a higoumenos of a monastery and made the offering on behalf of other members of the convent, which he named the brotherhood in Christ (χριστοαδελφότης).
Bibliography
Edition:Weitzmann, K., Ševčenko, I., "The Moses cross at Sinai", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 17 (1963), 394, note 15.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua IV, no. 37.
Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1089: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1089
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), Nikolaos 12.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1967), 67.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
26/11/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Θεοτόκος | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00898 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00898