Floor-mosaic with a fragmentary Greek inscription, probably referring to *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found in İkizkuyu, near ancient Doliche and Zeugma (Commagene). Probably 6th-7th c.
Evidence ID
E01424
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
[Κ]ύρι-
ε, βοήθε-
σον
<Κ>οσμᾶ καὶ Βαρ- Σέρ-
αψάβα. γις
'Lord, help Kosmas and Barapsabas! Sergios!'
The name Sergios is enclosed within a square border.
Text: Candemir 1978, 226-227.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Construction of cult buildings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Source
A fragmentary mosaic floor, one of the mosaics found at the village of İkizkuyu (Mosaic 1). Made of white, grey, yellow, red, and black tesserae. H. 5.30 m; W. 7.40 m; letter height 0.05-0.08 m. Framed by octagons and lozenges. The text is sited within two octagons of the frame.The mosaics were accidentally discovered by local inhabitants in 1965, at the western end of the village. Some sections of the mosaics were then sold or destroyed. The site was later surveyed and excavated by Hasan Candemir, and the rescued remains were taken to the Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology.
Discussion
Candemir identified the mosaic as the floor of a chapel or a church, and the reference to Sergios as the mention of its patron saint ("Sergios-Patrozinium"). This is plausible, though Sergios is not invoked here directly and the two people mentioned in the first part of the inscription also seek God's help.The mosaic was stylistically dated to the 6th-7th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Candemir, H., Wagner, J., “Christliche Mosaiken in der nördlichen Euphratesia” [in:] Şahin, S., Schwertheim, E., Wagner, J. (eds.), Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens: Festschrift für Friedrich Karl Dörner zum 65. Geburtstag am 28. Februar 1976, vol. 1 (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain 66, Leiden: Brill, 1978), 226-227.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1979), 603.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 28, 1321.
Images
)
From: Candemir & Wagner 1978, plate XCVIII.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
31/05/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00023 | Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa | Σέργις | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01424 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01424