Fragmentary Greek inscription mentioning the intercession of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), as the God-Bearer. Found at Argala near Mytilene (island of Lesbos; Aegean Islands). Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E01724
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
[ὑπὲρ εὐχῆς (?) Δή]μητρας παρθένου, Χ(ριστ)ὲ, δ[ιὰ τῆ]ς πρεσβίας τῆς Θεοτό[κου - - -]
1. [- - - Δή]μητρας παρθένου Kiourtzian, [- - -] μήτρας Παρθένου Evangelides
'[As a vow] of the virgin Demetra, Christ, through the intercessions of the God-Bearer (Theotokos) [- - -]'
Text: Kiourtzian 1998, 376, lightly altered.
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Vow
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
Fragment of a marble cornice. L. 1.04 m. Found in the ruins of the church beneath the modern chapel of Saint Euprepeia at Argala. First published by Demetrios Evangelides in 1930.The ruined basilica is a three-aisled structure (W. 17 m; L. 16.80 m) with a narthex (ending with an apse at its south end), a baptistery, and possibly a guesthouse. Next to the southwest corner of the church there is a small building, tentatively identified as a martyr shrine or a mausoleum. The basilica is presumed to have been constructed in the 5th c.
Discussion
The first editor supposed that the inscription commemorated a dedication, or the fulfillment of a vow, through the intercessions of Mary, here addressed as the God-Bearer. Georges Kiourtzian adds that the name of the dedicant might have been mentioned at the beginning of the preserved fragment and he reconstructs it as Demetra. He also notes that the word παρθένος/'virgin', which occurs after the presumed name of the dedicant, does not refer to Mary (as suggested by Evanglides), but to Demetra herself, who might have been a consecrated virgin.Dating: Inscriptions addressing Mary as the God-Bearer are unlikely to occur before the council of Ephesus 431, which greatly contributed to the development of her cult and the spread of this epithet.
Bibliography
Edition:Evangelides, D., “Πρωτοβυζαντινὴ βασιλικὴ Μυτιλήνης”, Arachaiologikon Deltion 13 (1930-1931), 17.
Further reading:
Kiourtzian, G., "Pietas insulariorum", [in:] Eupsychia: mélanges offerts à Hélène Ahrweiler, vol. 2 (Série Byzantina Sorbonensia 16, Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1998), 376.
Images
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Inscription; from: Evangelides 1930-1931, 17.
)
Plan of the church; from: Evangelides 1930-1931, 5.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
13/07/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01724 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01724