Greek invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) as 'Mother of God', found in a rock-cut church in Ayazini (area of Ipsos, Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Late antique or possibly later.
Evidence ID
E00901
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
μ(ήτ)ηρ θ(εο)ῦ, β(οήθει)
'M(oth)er of G(o)d, h(elp)!'
Text: Haspels 1971, no. 58.
Non Liturgical Activity
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMerchants and artisans
Source
The inscription was found in a rock-cut church in Ayazini (Phrygia, central Asia Minor), in a corridor which leads to the nave. It was written on the upper part of a wall, between two arches.Discussion
It has been suggested that the inscription was made by craftsmen, soon after the construction of the church had been completed, as it is located in a place difficult of access.Dating: the inscription certainly postdates the construction of the church, but it is disputed, whether the Phrygian rock-cut churches come from the late antique or middle Byzantine period.
Bibliography
Edition:Haspels, E.C., The Highlands of Phrygia (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1971), no. 58.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua I, no. 387.
Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1697: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1697
Further reading:
Haspels, E.C., The Highlands of Phrygia (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1971), 245.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1972), 473.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
26/11/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00901 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00901