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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Two fragmentary Greek building inscriptions, both for a martyr shrine (martyrion). Found at 'Ōdjeh near Apamea on the Orontes, and Androna (central Syria). Probably 5th-6th c.

Evidence ID

E01860

Type of Evidence

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

Inscription 1:

Fragmentary stone lintel. Broken and lost at the left-hand end. The inscription is in low-relief, on three bands.

Found in the southwest sector of the ruins at 'Ōdjeh, by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria. First published by William Prentice in 1922. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, from the edition by Prentice.

[- - -] εὐξάμενος
[μετὰ τῶν ἰ]δίων ἐτέλε-
[σε τὸ ἅγιο]ν (?) μαρτύριον

2. [μετὰ τῶν ἰ]δίων Mouterde Witkowski, [ἐκ τῶν ἰ]δίων Prentice 3. perhaps [τὸ τῶν ἀποστόλω]ν Mouterde

'[- - -] having sworn a vow completed [this holy] martyr shrine (
martyrion) at his own expense (or: with his family).'

Text:
IGLS 4, no. 1656.

Inscription 2:

Stone lintel. Broken into three conjoining fragments. One of the fragments is decorated with a low-relief carving of a christogram with the letters Α and Ω. The inscription is in low-relief.

Found in the southwest sector of the ruins at 'Ōdjeh, by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria. First published by William Prentice in 1922. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, from the edition by Prentice.

̣Ολναψων- ης εὐξάμεν-
[ο]ς μετὰ τῶν εἰδίων ἐτέλε-
<σε> τὸ ἅγιον μαρτύριον

1.
̣Ολναψωνης = perhaps <Φαλ>α<δ>ώνης Mouterde, ̣Ολναψωνης = Ἀναψώνης Prentice || 2-3. ἐτέλε|<σε> Mouterde, ἐτελε|ῖτο Prentice

'Olnapsones (?) having sworn a vow completed this holy martyr shrine (
martyrion) at his own expense (or: with his family).'

Text:
IGLS 4, no. 1657.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)

Non Liturgical Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation
Vow
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Construction of cult buildings

Relics

Construction of cult building to contain relics

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Discussion

Mouterde believed that these inscriptions commemorated the construction of two different martyr shrines. It is, however, perfectly possible that the lintels came from two doorways of the same building; this is indeed probable, as they bear almost the same dedicatory formula. Mouterde hypothetically suggested that the presumed first martyr shrine was dedicated to the Apostles (see his completion of line 3 in the apparatus: [τὸ τῶν ἀποστόλω]ν μαρτύριον/'[the] martyrion [of the Apostles]'). This idea is, however, intrinsically implausible, and impossible if both texts refer to the same building, as Inscription 2 gives a different text in the parallel place.

Prentice translated the expression μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων, that appears in Inscription 2 (and which he restored in Inscription 1), as 'with his own (family)', but we think that this formula may denote the fact that the founder used his own revenues to complete the building (usually termed ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων).

The reading of the name of the founder, contained in line 1 of Inscription 2, is disputed. Based on a suggested emendation of the word, William Prentice and Frank Trombley claimed that it was the Semitic name Anapsones, while Mouterde opted for the name Phaladones.

Dating: the inscriptions lack any dating formula. Trombley supposed that that they were executed in c. 400-450, on the basis of other, dated inscriptions from the site. Of course, our texts need not follow their chronology.


Bibliography

Edition:
Inscription 1:
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. 1656.

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), 66, no. 961.

Inscription 2:
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. 1657.

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), 66, no. 962.

Further reading:
Trombley, F.R., Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529, vol. 2 (Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill, 1994), 298-299.

Witkowski, S., "Epigraphische Studien zu den griechischen Inschriften Syrien", Mélanges Maspero, vol. 2 (Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire 67, Le Caire: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1934), 195.

Images



Inscription 1. From: Prentice 1922, 66.


Inscription 2. From: Prentice 1922, 66.






















Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

15/09/2016

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00060Martyrs, unnamed or name lostCertain
S00084Apostles, unnamed or name lostUncertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01860 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01860