Fragmentary Greek inscription on a lintel with an invocation of *Theodore (probably the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480). Found at Androna (modern al-Andarin), to the east of Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Probably 5th-7th c.
Evidence ID
E01635
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
[+ Κ(ύριο)ς ὁ] θεὸς μεθ' ἡ<μ>[ῶν]·
[ἅγι]ε Θεόδωρε, β[οήθι]
1. ἡμ[ῶν] Prentice
'[+ The Lord], God is with us!
[Saint] Theodore, [help]!
Text: IGLS IV, no. 1705.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Source
The inscription is on the stone lintel of a gate in the boundary wall of Church 7, sited c. 300 m to the southeast of the citadel. Broken and lost on both sides. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.40 m; W. 1.76 m; letter height 0.13 m. The middle section is decorated with a carving of a circle.First published by William Prentice in 1922. For a description of the church, see: Butler 1920, 61.
Discussion
The inscription contains a slightly altered quotation of verse 11 of Psalm 46: Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν/'The Lord of hosts is with us'.Although the identity of the saint invoked is not specified in the inscription, he was almost certainly the soldier and martyr *Theodore venerated in Euchaita in Helenopontus (northeast Asia Minor).
Bibliography
Edition:Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Mondésert, Cl., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 4: Laodicée, Apamène (BAH 61, Paris: Librairie orientalise Paul Geuthner, 1955), no. 1705.
Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University of archaeological Expedictions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 53, no. 926.
Further reading:
Butler, H.C. (ed.), Syria, Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, division II: Ancient Architecture in Syria, part B: North Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1920), 61.
Mundell Mango, M., “A new stylite at Androna in Syria” [in:] Mélanges Jean-Pierre Sodini. Special issue of Travaux et mémoires 15 (2005) (Paris: Association des Amis du Centre d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, 2005), 335.
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.
Peña, I., Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 26.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 55, 1621.
Images
)
Majuscule transcription. From: Prentice 1922, 53.
)
Reconstruction of Church 7. From: Butler 1920, 61.
)
Plan of Church 7 and its precinct. From: Butler 1920, 61.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
16/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00480 | Theodore, soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01635 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01635