Greek lintel inscription with an invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), asked to help an architect. Found at the larger church at Šeiḥ Sleimān/Shekh Slēmân between Beroia/Aleppo and Antioch on the Orontes (north Syria). Probably late 5th-early 7th c.
Evidence ID
E01799
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
+ ἁγί̣α Μαρία Θεωτόκη, βοήθι Σεργίῳ τήκτονει· ̣ἀ̣μ̣ή̣ν
'+ Holy Mary, the God-Bearer (Theotokos), help the architect Sergios! Amen.'
Text: IGLS 2, no. 402.
Cult PlacesPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Construction of cult buildings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMerchants and artisans
Source
A stone lintel. Broken into three conjoining fragments. Fragment A: H. 0.595 m; W. 0.89 m. Fragment B: H. 0.595 m; W. 1.38 m. Fragment C: H. 0.595 m; W. 0.97 m. The inscription is on a carved band. Letter height c. 0.07 m. It is possible that the middle section of the lintel was decorated with a monogram, engraved on a disk in low-relief, but it was scarcely legible when recorded.Found at the north door of the larger church at Šeiḥ Sleimān/Shekh Slēmân, at a portico with two columns. The church is sited on a hill, to the southwest of the town. For a description of the site, see: Butler 1920, 340 and fig. 389.
Discussion
The inscription is a simple invocation of Mary as the God-Bearer, asked to help Sergios, probably the architect, who constructed or renovated the church. Based on this inscription the sanctuary was identified by the surveyors as dedicated to Mary.Dating: Prentice did not comment on the possible date of this inscription, but as the cult of Mary became popular only after the council of Ephesos 431, it is unlikely to predate the later 5th c. The smaller of the churches at Šeiḥ Sleimān was built or restored in AD 602, as attested by the lintel inscription of its south doorway (see: Prentice 1922, 208, no. 1211 = IGLS 2, no. 401). A date for our inscription between the later 5th and early 7th c is probable.
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. 402.
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), 209, no. 1212.
Further reading:
For a description of the site, see:
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), 340, fig. 389.
For photographs from the site, see:
Emma Loosley, “Sheikh Sulaiman C5th church,” Architecture and Asceticism, accessed August 12, 2016, http://architectureandasceticism.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/168
Emma Loosley, “Sheikh Sulaiman C6th church,” Architecture and Asceticism, accessed August 12, 2016, http://architectureandasceticism.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/167
Emma Loosley, “Sheikh Sulaiman church dated 602,” Architecture and Asceticism, accessed August 12, 2016, http://architectureandasceticism.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/166
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 1, 527.
Images
)
From: Prentice 1922, 209.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
09/08/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Μαρία | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01799 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01799