Greek building inscription for an oratory (eukterion) of unnamed *Archangels. Found at Fa'loūl , near Androna, to the east of Apamea on the Orontes and Ḥamāh/Amathe (central Syria). Dated 526/527.
Evidence ID
E01838
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
θ(εο)ῦ χάρις. ὐκτήριον τ- ῶν ἀρχαγγέλων, κτισ-
θέντα παρὰ τοῦ λαμπ- (christogram) ροτάτου Διογένους
ἔτους ηλωʹ, ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) εʹ. +
'(christogram) Grace of God! (This) oratory (eukterion) of the Archangels was built by the clarissimus (lamprotatos) Diogenes. In the year 838, the 5th indiction.+'
Text: IGLS 4, no. 1570.
Cult PlacesBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAristocrats
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Construction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAristocrats
Officials
Source
Basalt lintel. H. 0.78 m; W. 3.10 m. Decorated in the middle with a low-relief carving of a cross with eight arms within a circle. Two lines of the inscription are engraved in low-relief at the top of the circle, on bands. The last line, also on a band, is below the circle. Letter height: lines 1-2: 0.09-0.10 m; line 3: 0.04-0.06 m.Found to the east of the so-called circular church at Fa'loūl by the Princeton expedition to Syria. When recorded, the stone was half-buried in the ground. First published with a drawing in 1922 by William Prentice from a copy by Enno Littmann. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, after the edition by Prentice.
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of an oratory (eukterion) dedicated to unspecified Archangels, apparently the building next to which it was found, as Prentice noted that no other significant structure was recorded at the site. It seems that one of these Archangels could be Gabriel, as he is invoked in another inscription from Fa'loūl (see: E01839).This is one of the longest lintels with dedicatory inscriptions, found in north Syria.
Dating: the date, given in line 3, is computed according to the Seleucid era. Its year 838 corresponds to AD 526/527.
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. 1570.
Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University of archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 108, no. 1050.
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), 95 (description of the find-spot).
Peña, I., Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 19, 26.
Trombley, F.R., Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529, vol. 2 (Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill, 1994), 301.
Images
)
Drawing. From: Prentice 1922, 109.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
09/09/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00181 | Michael, the Archangel | Uncertain | S00191 | Archangels, unnamed or name lost | ἀρχάγγελοι | Certain | S00192 | Gabriel, the Archangel | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01838 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01838