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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Labels of tombs owned by a church dedicated probably to *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288, or Andreas 'Stratelates', soldier and martyr of Cilicia, S00763), in Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

Evidence ID

E01061

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Inscription 1:

The lid of a sarcophagus. There is no published detailed description of the monument. Recorded in 1891 by Edward Hicks.

+ σωματω-
θίκι τοῦ ἁ-
γίου Ἀνδρέα

'+ Sarcophagus (of the church) of Saint Andrew.'

Text:
MAMA III, no. 781.

Inscription 2:

The lid of a sarcophagus. Letter height 0.08 m. Recorded in 1925. The sarcophagus bears a further inscription, engraved to the right of our text. It says that a certain Maria of Lycaonia is buried in the tomb. Her name is followed by a Christian imprecation, threatening potential desecrators of the grave.

+ τοῦ
ἁγίου
Ἀνδρέ-
α +

'+ (Sarcophagus of the church) of Saint Andrew. +'

Text:
MAMA III, no. 577b.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Discussion

The inscriptions label tombs as the property of a certain 'holy Andrew'. This is presumably a reference to a church dedicated to *Andrew the Apostle or Andreas 'Stratelates', a soldier and martyr in Cilicia under the emperor Maximianus, venerated on the 19 August (BHG 118). Another, less plausible, possibility is that the term ἅγιος / 'holy' was used in the sense 'of blessed memory', and referred to an ordinary deceased Christian named Andreas (see Laminger-Pascher 1973).

Dating: probably late 5th or 6th c. (based on the style of the sarcophagi and the lettering).


Bibliography

Edition:
Inscription 1:

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. Kry 113.

Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua
III, no. 781.

Inscription 2:
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. Kry 459b.

Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 577b.

Further reading:
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 89-90.

Laminger-Pascher, G., "Die Bedeutung von ἅγιος in einigen korykischen Inschriften",
Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 110 (1973), 344-346.

Mietke, G., "Monumentalisierung christilcher Heiliger in Kilikien in frühbyzantinischer Zeit",
Olba 17 (2009), 121.

Samellas, A.,
Death in the Eastern Mediterranean (50-600 A.D.). The Christianization of the East: An Interpretation (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 12, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002), 257, note 2.


Record Created By

Pawel Nowakowski

Date of Entry

08/01/2016

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00288Andrew, the ApostleἈνδρέαςUncertain
S00763Andreas Stratelates, martyr under MaximianἈνδρέαςUncertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01061 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01061