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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


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 Activity

Prayer/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

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00480Theodore, soldier and martyr of Amaseia and EuchaitaUncertain


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