Greek inscription recording a vow made to *Kosmas and Damianos (brothers, physician martyrs of Syria, S00385). Now in the Museum of Adana (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor), provenance unknown. Probably 6th c.
Evidence ID
E01083
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
+ Πλουτ-
ιανὸς εὐ-
ξάμενος τῶ-
ν ἁγίων Κοσ-
μᾶ κὲ Δ-
αμιανοῦ
'+ Ploutianos, having made a vow to Saints Kosmas and Damianos [- - -].'
Text: I. Cilicia, no. 53.
Cult PlacesVow
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
Construction of cult buildings
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Source
A sandstone plaque of unknown provenance. Now in the Museum of Adana (ancient Antiochia ad Sarum). H. 0.19 m; W. 0.46 m; Th. 0.045 m; letter height 0.02 m. The plaque was presumably once mounted on a wall. The inscription is framed by a tabula ansata and accompanied by a carving of a cross pattée in a wreath.Discussion
The inscription commemorates a vow made to Saints Kosmas and Damianos, the holy physicians, by a certain Ploutianos.Gilbert Dagron and Denis Feissel supposed that the inscription continued in another, now lost, tabula ansata, where the object of the vow was specified. They proposed a wholly hypothetical reconstruction of the lost passage: τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον ἐποίησεν ('constructed this church') or τὴν εἰκόνα ἀνέθηκεν / ἀνέστησεν ('offered a painting/mosaic/statue'). However, the formula εὐξάμενος is often followed by the phrase τὴν εὐχὴ ἀπέδωκε (see the comments in record E01082), so we should also consider a possible completion: + Πλουτ|ιανὸς εὐ|ξάμενος τῶ|ν ἁγίων Κοσ|μᾶ κὲ Δ|αμιανοῦ [τὴν εὐχὴν ἀπέδωκε] ('+ Ploutianos, having made a vow to Saints Cosmas and Damian, [fulfilled it]').
Dating: 6th c. (based on the contents and style of lettering).
Bibliography
Edition:I. Cilicia - Dagron, G., Feissel, D. (eds.), Inscriptions de Cilicie (Paris: De Boccard, 1987), no. 53.
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.
Perraymond, M., "Linee di diffusione del culto dei Santi Anargiri attraverso le testimonianze monumentali ed epigrafiche del VI secolo", in: N. Cambi, E. Marin (eds.), Radovi XIII međunarodnog kongresa za starokršćansku arheoligiju, Split-Poreč, 25.9.-1.10.1994 [= Acta XIII Congressus internationalis archaeologiae christianae, Studi di antichità cristiana 54], Split - Rome 1998, 680.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 37, 1356.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
16/01/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00385 | Kosmas and Damianos, brothers, physician martyrs of Syria | Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01083 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01083