'Tessera' with a labelled depiction of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) and the Christ Child. Found near Beroia/Aleppo (central Syria). Possibly late antique.
Evidence ID
E01781
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Lamps, ampullae and tokens
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Images and objects - Representative images
Literary - Magical texts and amulets
A black stone 'tessera'. Diameter: 0.022 m (which seems implausibly small). There is no published image. First published by René Mouterde and Louis Jalabert in 1929, from a copy by Sébastien Ronzevalle.
Decorated with a depiction of Mary with nimbus, covered with a veil. She is seated in a large throne with its top decorated with crosses. The Christ Child is shown in the middle.
The image is labelled with a scarcely legible inscription on the right-hand side of the object:
μήτ[ηρ θεοῦ]/'Mother [of God]'
Text: IGLS 1, no. 217.
Use of ImagesSaint as patron - of an individual
Cult Related Objects
Private ownership of an image
Non Liturgical ActivitySaint as patron - of an individual
Magic
Cult Related ObjectsAmpullae, flasks, etc.
Discussion
The editors suggest that another label could have been placed on the left-hand side.Dating: The editors say nothing about the possible date of the object. Given the lack of any image, we cannot say whether it is of a late antique or middle Byzantine date.
Bibliography
Edition:Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 1: Commagène et Cyrrhestique (BAH 12, Paris: P. Geuthner, 1929), no. 217.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
03/08/2016
| 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, E01781 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01781