Greek inscription with a request for help for a village, addressed to an unnamed *Archangel. Found near Ikonion (Lycaonia, central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E01157
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
+ ἀ ρ χ ά ν γ- ε λ ε, β ο η [θ ι]
τ ο ῦ χ ω ρ ί- ο υ Κα πο υμ αις
ἀργάνγελε (sic!) βοή[θι το]ῦ χωρίου Καπουμαῆς Ramsay
'+ O Archangel, help the village of Kapoumais!'
Text: Ramsay 1931, 21.
Cult PlacesPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Saint as patron - of a community
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesPeasants
Source
Lintel of a church door. Decorated with a carving of a cross pattée in a circle and of an arcade to the right and to the left of the cross. The inscription is carved in two lines, with each letter under an arch (except for the name of the village, which is written in denser script, to fit it on the stone). There is no published detailed description. Found at Sadettinhanı (to the north-east of Ikonion). First mentioned by William Ramsay in 1931; a record of the object is also included in the William Calder Archives (MS 3286), housed in the Special Collections of the University of Aberdeen.Discussion
The inscription contains a request for help for a village, addressed to an archangel. Perhaps the villagers worked on the construction of the church, in which the inscription was originally displayed, or contributed to raising funds for the construction (as in the case of E01080: ἐπληρώθη τὸ ἔργον τῆς Θεοτόκου ἐπὶ Στεφάνου ἐργολάβου ὑπουργήσι τῆς κώμης Σιφῶν / 'The building of the God-Bearer was completed under contractor Stephanos with the assistance of the village of Siphoi').For a similar request for help for a village, see E00844: ὁ θεὸς τõν ἀρχαγέλον σύνπ[ρ]αξον τοὺς τῆ[ς] κούμης μου πᾶσην / 'O God of the Archangels, help all the inhabitants of my village!' (trans. Al. Cameron), and for a request for help probably for workers building a church, see E00915: κύριος φυλάξι τοὺς ἐργαζομένους ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ ἀρχανγέλου Μιχαήλ/'May the Lord keep those who work (or: minister) at the house of Michael the Archangel!'
Bibliography
Edition:Ramsay, W., "Phrygian orthodox and heretics 400-800 AD", Byzantion 6 (1931), 21.
Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 489: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/489
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00191 | Archangels, unnamed or name lost | ἀρχάνγελος | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01157 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01157