Greek epitaph probably for a monk, a nun, and yet another person from a monastery dedicated to *Thekla, (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092). Found near Seleukeia/Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Isauria, southern Asia Minor). Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E01037
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
μνῆμ<α> Πα̣υ̣λ̣ε̣ί-
̣νας (?) καὶ Θέκλας ̣μο-
̣νηστ[ρι]õν Θέκλ[α]ς +
1-2. Πα[υλεί]|[ν]ας? Hagel & Tomaschitz Halkin, Πα̣ύ̣λ̣ο̣υ (?) [- - -] | ΜΑΣ (?) MAMA
'Tomb of Pauleina (?) and Thekla, nuns (monastriai) of Thekl[a] +'
Text: MAMA III, no. 45 with later emendations.
Cult PlacesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Cult building - monastic
Places Named after SaintMonastery
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Women
Source
The lid of a limestone sarcophagus (chamosorium), found at the northern cemetery near Meriamlik (area of Seleucia ad Calycadnum, Isauria, south-eastern Asia Minor). The inscription is framed by a carved tabula ansata. Letter height 0.04 m. Recorded in 1925.Discussion
The first edition (editio princeps) suggests that this is the epitaph of probably a monk (Paulos), a nun (Thekla), and perhaps yet another person from a monastery dedicated to *Thekla, follower of the Apostle Paul. However, François Halkin, based on the drawing of the inscription, suggested that lines 1 and 2 could actually contain a female name, Pauleina. The idea was accepted by Stefan Hagel and Kurt Tomaschitz, editors of a catalogue of inscriptions from Isauria and Cilicia. This completion is attractive, as two nuns were more likely to be buried in one grave than a monk and a nun.The monastery was almost certainly connected to the famous sanctuary of Thekla at Seleucia. The same convent was perhaps also mentioned in the inscriptions E01035; E01045.
Bibliography
Edition:Hagel, St., Tomaschitz, K., (eds.), Repertorium der westkilikischen Inschriften (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 265, Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris 22, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1998), no. Mer 32.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 45.
Further reading:
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.P. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 109.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 87.
Hagel, St., Tomaschitz, K., (eds.), Repertorium der westkilikischen Inschriften (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 265, Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris 22, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1998), 321.
Reference works:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 489, 504.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
31/12/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00092 | Thekla, follower of the Apostle Paul | Θέκλ[α] | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01037 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01037