Greek building inscription for a hostel or quarters for soldiers (metaton) named after unnamed *Archangels. Found at Androna (modern al-Andarin), to the east of Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Dated 511/512.
Evidence ID
E01632
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
+ μετᾶτων τῶν ἁγίων
[ἀ]̣ρ̣χανγέλων· ἔτους γκ̣ω´
'+ Hostel of the holy Archangels. The year 823.'
Text: Griesheimer 2001, no. 17.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Places Named after SaintHospital and other charitable institutions
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - secondary installation (fountain, pilgrims’ hostel)
Places Named after SaintHospital and other charitable institutions
Towns, villages, districts and fortresses
Other
Source
A basalt lintel. H. 0.42 m; W. 1.65 m; Th. c. 0.28 m; letter height 0.09-0.12 m. Decorated with a carving of a large cross within a circle in its central section, and carvings of birds above, and the letters Ω and Α below the horizontal arms of the cross.Found c. 300 m to the west of the citadel. First published by Marc Griesheimer in 2002.
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction (or less probably the refurbishment) of a metaton, i.e. quarters for soldiers or a hostel for pilgrims, clergy, etc. The date, year 823, is given according to the Seleucid era, which corresponds to AD 511/512. Griesheimer notes that as the citadel in Androna was built later, in AD 558/559, our metaton was probably a civil or ecclesiastical building, and not a garrison, cf. E00807; E01834.Bibliography
Edition:Griesheimer, M., "L'occupation byzantine sur les marges orientales du territoire d'Apamée de Syrie", [in:] B. Geyer (ed.), Conquête de la steppe et appropriation des terres sur les marges arides du Croissant fertile (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient Méditerranéen 36, Lyon: Maison de l'Orient Méditerranéen-Jean Pouilloux, 2001), no. 17.
Further reading:
Mundell Mango, M., "Byzantine settlement expansion in north central Syria: the case of Androna/Andarin", in: A. Borrut, M. Debié, A. Papaconstantinou, D. Pieri, J.-P. Sodini (eds.), Le Proche-Orient de Justinien aux Abassides : peuplement et dynamiques spatiales : actes du colloque "Continuités de l'occupation entre les périodes byzantine et abbasside au Proche-Orient, VIIe-IXe siècles," Paris, 18-20 octobre 2007 (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 19, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), 93-122.
Mundell Mango, M., "Androna and the late antique cities of Oriens" in: E. Rizos (ed.), New Cities in Late Antiquity. Documents and Archaeology (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité Tardive 35, Turnhout: Brepols, 2017), 189-204.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (2003), 563.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 51, 1941.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
15/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00191 | Archangels, unnamed or name lost | [ἀ]ρχάνγελοι | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01632 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01632