Greek epitaph for the master-builder or founder of a church dedicated to *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Diokaisareia/Diocaesarea (Isauria, southern Asia Minor). Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E01039
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
+ Αδ[- - - ἀρχι-] [ - - - ]
τέ̣κτονος (cross in a circle) [βοήθ]̣ε̣ι [-]
[το]ῦ ἁγίου Σερ- μου
γ̣ί[ο]υ +
col. I, 1. possibly just τέκτονος Feissel (in a letter dated 17.09.2016) || 4-5. Σερ|γ[ίο]υ Hagel & Tomaschitz || col. II, 2-3. [- - -] | μου ΜΑΜΑ
'+ Ad[- - - of the master(?)]-builder (of the church) of Saint Sergios + [- - - help (?)] me!'
Text: MAMA III, no. 99.
Cult PlacesConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMerchants and artisans
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMerchants and artisans
Other lay individuals/ people
Source
Fragment of the lid of a sarcophagus. Broken and lost at top and on the right-hand side. Found on the eastern slope of the so-called Tomb Valley near Uzuncaburç (ancient Diokaisareia). Letter height 0.04-0.05 m. The text was apparently written in two columns. Between the columns there is a carving of a cross in a circle. Recorded in 1925; now lost (see: Wannagat & Trampedach 2013, 136, 238).Discussion
The inscription is apparently the epitaph for an ἀρχιτέκτων of a church of Sergios. The term (ἀρχι)τέκτων can mean master-builder, i.e. the chief of the artisans building the church, or patron of works, i.e. the founder of the sanctuary. But as the first part of the term is restored, it is also possible that simply a τέκτων / builder was recorded in the inscription.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. OlD 75.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 99.
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), 108.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 88.
Mietke, G., "Monumentalisierung christilcher Heiliger in Kilikien in frühbyzantinischer Zeit", Olba 17 (2009), 121.
Linnemann, J.C., Die Nekropolen von Diokaisareia (Diokaisareia in Kilikien 3, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013), 136, 238.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
31/12/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00023 | Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa | Σέργι[ο]ς | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01039 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01039