Greek inscription with an invocation perhaps of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), as the God-Bearer. Found near Lartos (Rhodes, the Aegean Islands). Probably 6th c. or later.
Evidence ID
E01227
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Graffiti
[(christogram)] Θ(εοτό)κε (?) βοήθε(ι) τὸ(ν) δο[ῦ]-
λό(ν) σου Καλλι
νε[.] τὸ(ν) παρα[γει(?)-]
νάμενο(ν)
(εἰ)ς τὸ ἔργον
τοῦτο (τὸ)
μυκρό(ν)
1. Θ(εοτό)κε or Κ(ύ)ριε Grégoire, ΡΚ ΙΕ = Κ(ύ)ριε Hiller von Gaertringen || 2-3. Καλλι|νε Grégoire, ΚΑ(?)ΛΛΙ|ΝΕ/// = Καλλι - - Hiller von Gaertringen || 3-4. τõ παρα[γε]|νάμενο Grégoire, τὸ(ν) παρα[γει(?)]|νάμενο(ν) Hiller von Gaertringen
'[(christogram)] O God-Bearer (Theotokos) (?), help your servant Kalline[- - -] who attended to this humble work.'
Text: IGC, no. 138.
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Visiting graves and shrines
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Merchants and artisans
Source
Graffito cut on a rock near the seashore in a place called Στὰ γράμματα (area of Lartos, Rhodes). When recorded, the face was weathered and the letters hardly legible. Seen and copied by Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen before 1895.Discussion
This scarcely legible inscription is apparently an invocation by a man whose name began: Kalline[- - -]. Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen, the first editor, supposed that the supplicant was an artisan, responsible for the construction and maintenance of the road, next to which the rock with the inscription had been found ('Fabri est titulus qui viam munivit'). For a similar inscription from Lycia (southern Asia Minor) referring to the dedication of a road as a votive offering, see: E00848.The holy addressee of the invocation is mentioned in line 1, but his or her name is abbreviated and partially damaged. Hiller von Gaertringen expanded the abbreviation as 'Lord' (Κ(ύ)ριε). Henri Grégoire preferred to interpret it as the name of the God-Bearer (Θ(εοτό)κε).
Dating: The grammar of the inscription points to a 6th c. or later date.
Bibliography
Edition:IGC - Grégoire, H (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1922), no. 138.
Hiller von Gaertringen, F. (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae, XII: Inscriptiones insularum maris Aegaei praeter Delum, vol. 1: Inscriptiones Rhodi, Chalces, Carpathi cum Saro, Casi (Berlin: Apud G. Reimerum, 1895), no. 916 (after his own copy and the examination of the stone).
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
24/03/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Θ(εοτό)κος | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01227 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01227