Record | The Cult of Saints

Label of a tomb apparently owned by a church of Mamas (probably the martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea in Cappadocia, S00436) and a certain saint Makedonios. Found at Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

Evidence ID

E01070

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

σωματοθίκι δια-
φέροτα τοῦ ἁγίου Μα-
μᾶ (καὶ) Μακεδονίου

'Sarcophagus belonging to (the church) of Saint Mamas (and) Makedonios.'

Text: MAMA III, no. 786.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

The lid of a sarcophagus, found at Korykos. Letter height 0.085 m. Recorded in 1925.

Discussion

The inscription labels a tomb as the property of a certain 'holy Mamas and Makedonios'. This is presumably a reference to a church dedicated to a pair of saints: probably Mamas, martyr of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and Makedonios, presumably another Anatolian or Syrian saint, or to two churches that shared the tomb. Another, less plausible, possibility is that the term ἅγιος / 'holy' was used in the meaning 'of blessed memory' and referred to ordinary deceased Christians (see Laminger-Pascher 1973).

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

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. Kry 468.

Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 786.

Further reading:
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 106.

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

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

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00436	Mamas, martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia	Μαμᾶς	Uncertain
S00669	Makedonios (unpsecified)	Μακεδόνιος	Uncertain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01070 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01070

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Label of a tomb apparently owned by a church of Mamas (probably the martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea in Cappadocia, S00436) and a certain saint Makedonios. Found at Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

E01070

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

08/01/2016

Label of a tomb apparently owned by a church of *Mamas (probably the martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea in Cappadocia, S00436) and a certain saint *Makedonios. Found at Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

E01070

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

08/01/2016

Label of a tomb apparently owned by a church of Mamas (probably the martyr of Kaisareia/Caesarea in Cappadocia, S00436) and a certain saint Makedonios. Found at Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.