Fragment of a limestone bread mould with a fragmentary Greek inscription, probably labelling bread as eulogia of *John the Baptist (S00020). Found at Karpasia (Cyprus). Probably 6th-7th c.
Evidence ID
E01328
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Images and objects - Lamps, ampullae and tokens
Fragment of a round, limestone bread mould. Max. L. 0.085 m; max. H. 0.078 m; Th. at the rim 0.023 m; letter height c. 0.008-0.01 m. Presumed dimensions of the whole object: circumference: c. 0.62 m; diameter: 0.166 m. The fragmentarily preserved inscription runs around its edge, the letters are deeply carved, in mirror writing. Found in 1961 in the ruins of Karpasia/Ayios Philon (northern Cyprus). Seen and copied by Ino Michaelidou-Nicolaou in the Cyprus Archaeological Museum in Nikosia before 1963.
Inscription:
[+ εὐλογία τ]οῦ ἁγήου καὶ τ̣ι[μίου Προδρόμου καὶ Βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου]
'[+ Blessing] of the holy and venerable [Forerunner and Baptist John]'
Text: Michaelidou-Nicolaou 1963, 130-132, no. 4.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Activities accompanying CultVisiting graves and shrines
RelicsContact relic - other
Cult Related ObjectsOther
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Activities accompanying CultProduction and selling of eulogiai, tokens
Non Liturgical ActivityVisiting graves and shrines
Pilgrimage
RelicsContact relic - other
Ampullae, eulogiai, tokens
Making contact relics
Cult Related ObjectsOther
Ampullae, flasks, etc.
Discussion
The inscription is the blessing formula, stamped on bread baked from the mould. These loaves were probably distributed to pilgrims to a sanctuary dedicated to John the Baptist, as the editor notes that the epithets from the preserved part of the inscription, ἅγιος καὶ τίμιος/'holy and venerable', were characteristic of this saint.Michaelidou-Nicolaou adds that in 1963 the museums of Nikosia and Paphos housed 4 more unedited bread moulds.
Dating: Based on the form of letters, Michaelidou-Nicolaou dated the object to the 6th or 7th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Michaelidou-Nicolaou, I., "Inscriptiones Cypriae Alphabeticae 1960-1961", Berytus 14 (1963), 130-132, no. 4.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1965), 456.
Images
)
Drawing with reconstruction of the whole mould; from: Michaelidou-Nicolaou 1963, 131.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
05/02/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01328 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01328