Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek building inscriptions mentioning a saint Theodore (presumably the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480) and Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Kefr Antīn in north Syria, near Qalat Semaan, to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Dated 523.

Evidence ID

E01797

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

For the layout of the inscriptions, see the attached image.

Inscription 1:

ΧΜΓ. ὁ ἅγιος Θεόδορος καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Σέργειος.

'ΧΜΓ. Saint Theodore and Saint Sergios!'

Inscription 2:

Κύριε, βωήθι τὸν δοῦλόν σου {Δαμι} Δαμιανὸν τὸν κτίσωντα τὸ κτίσμα τοῦτο, μη(νὸς) Λώου, ἰνδι(κτιῶνος) πρότης +

τοῦ αοφʹ (ἔτους) +

'Lord, help Thy servant, Damianos, who built this building (ktisma), in the month of Loös, the first indiction ! +'

'The 571st year.'

Text: IGLS 2, no. 392. Translation: W. Prentice; lightly adapted.

Non Liturgical Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Two Greek inscriptions carved on the lintel of the doorway of a small building. Dimensions of the lintel: H. 0.59 m; W. c. 2 m. The stone is decorated in the middle with a carving of a square, c. 0.72 m broad. Inscription 1 is written to the left of the square. Inscription 2 runs around the square and along the bottom of the lintel. Letter height 0.035-0.05 m. Fine lettering.

Found in situ, in the central area of the ruins of Kefr Antīn by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria. First published with a drawing by William Prentice in 1922. Republished by René Mouterde and Louis Jalabert in 1939.

Discussion

The inscriptions commemorate the construction of the building on which they were displayed. The character of the building is not specified (ktisma), but almost certainly it was not a religious one. The identification of the saint Sergios, as the martyr of Rusafa, is certain, since he was omnipresent in Syria; Theodore is almost certainly the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita in Pontus, whose cult was widespread in Late Antiquity. Theodore and Sergios, both soldier martyrs, could readily share a dedication.

The inscriptions have a very unusual layout. Inscription 1 begins with the ΧΜΓ symbol, which is usually expanded as Χριστὸς ὁ ἐκ Μαρίας γεννηθείς / 'Christ born of May' or Χριστός, Μιχαήλ, Γαβριήλ / 'Christ, Michael, Gabriel' or, cryptographically, ἅγειος ὁ θεός / 'God is holy' or θεὸς βοηθός / 'God is the helper', etc. The symbol is followed by an invocation of two popular saints: Theodore and Sergios, probably asked to protect the house and its owner.

Inscription 2 is the proper building inscription, consisting of an invocation of God as the Lord, the name of the owner (Damianos), and the date, computed according to the era of Antioch (i.e. the Caesarian era). It corresponds to AD 523.

Mouterde and Jalabert note that a certain Mar Damianos/Lord Damianos is attested in a Syriac inscription from the same village, published in Littmann 1934, 52-53, no. 61 (= E04394). If that Damianos was not the saint, he might have been the owner of our building.

Bibliography

Edition:
Mouterde, R., Jalabert, L., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 2: Chalcidique et Antiochène: nos 257-698 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1939), no. 392.

Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 203, no. 1202.

Further reading:
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, II, Les deux Phénicies et et les deux Syries", Analecta Bollandiana 67 (1949), 99, note 9.

Key Fowden, E., The Barbarian Plain: St. Sergius between Rome and Iran (Berkeley, Calif.; London: University of California Press, 1999), 118.

Littman, E. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division IV: Syriac Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1934), 52-53, no. 61.

Tabula Imperii Byzantini 15, p. 1332.

Trombley, F.R., Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529, vol. 2 (Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill, 1994), 262.

Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 1, 517.

Images

Drawing. From: Prentice 1922, 204.

Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

09/08/2016

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00023	Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa	Σέργειος	Certain
S00480	Theodore, soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita	Θεοδόρος	Uncertain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01797 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01797

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Greek building inscriptions mentioning a saint Theodore (presumably the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480) and Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Kefr Antīn in north Syria, near Qalat Semaan, to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Dated 523.

E01797

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Images

Paweł Nowakowski

09/08/2016

Greek building inscriptions mentioning a saint *Theodore (presumably the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480) and *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Kefr Antīn in north Syria, near Qalat Semaan, to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Dated 523.

E01797

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Images

Paweł Nowakowski

09/08/2016

Greek building inscriptions mentioning a saint Theodore (presumably the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480) and Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Kefr Antīn in north Syria, near Qalat Semaan, to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Dated 523.