Greek inscription with an invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) as the Mother of God. Found near Chalcedon (Bithynia, north-west Asia Minor, near Constantinople). Probably 6th c. or later.
Evidence ID
E00956
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
μ(ῆτε)ρ θ(εοῦ), βοήθη τὴν δούλην σ(ου) Μαρία(ν)
'Mother of God, help your servant Maria!'
Text: I. Kalchedon, no. 106.
Cult PlacesPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Altar
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Source
A column supporting an altar, found before 1884 by Ioannes Miliopoulos in the then church of St. George at Pendik (ancient Panteichium near Chalcedon, Bithynia, northern Asia Minor). The inscription runs around the upper part of the column.Discussion
The inscription is an invocation of *Mary as the Mother of God, by a certain Maria. Perhaps she offered the column bearing the inscription to the church (cf. E00926) and requested protection from her personal patron (instead of St. George, the patron of the church), or the church was originally dedicated to Mary.Dating: This kind of invocation with the 'servant-of-saint' formula is usually dated to the 6th-8th c. or later, and is indeed common in the middle Byzantine period.
Bibliography
Edition:Die Inschriften von Kalchedon, no. 106.
Miliopoulos, I., "Περὶ Παντειχίου", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 22 (1913), 455.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
09/12/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Μήτηρ Θεοῦ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00956 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00956