Greek inscription invoking the help of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023), for lodgers of a house. Found at Rabde near Apamea on the Orontes and Ḥamāh/Amathe (central Syria). Probably the late 5th-7th c.
Evidence ID
E01889
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
+ ἅ<γ>ιε Σ<έργι>, βωή<θ>ησο<ν>
<τ>ο<ὺ>ς μένο- ντας ὧ<δε>· ἀμ<ή>ν, ϙ<θ>ʹ
'+Saint Sergios, help those who stay here. Amen, 99.'
Text: IGLS 4, no. 1831.
Places Named after Saint
Hospital and other charitable institutions
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Source
The inscription is over the doorway of a house, near the entrance to the village. The lintel was decorated with a carving of a cross within a square. When recorded, the face was badly weathered, and so the text needed numerous completions.Recorded by Max von Oppenheim and published from his copy by Hans Lucas in 1905. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, based on Lucas' edition.
Discussion
Though not easy to read, the inscription seems to be an invocation of Sergios on behalf of people staying in the house (or a hostel?), where it was displayed. The invocation ends with the word Amen, followed by its numerical equivalent (99).Dating: this kind of short invocation of Sergios is unlikely to predate the late 5th c. when his cult became popular.
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. 1831.
Lucas, H., "Griechische und lateinische Inschriften aus Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kleinasien", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 14 (1905), 39, no. 46 (from a copy by von Oppenheim).
Images
)
Drawing. From: Lucas 1905, 39.
)
Majuscule edition. From: IGLS 4, 293.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
03/10/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00023 | Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa | Σέργιος | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01889 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01889