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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


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 Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other 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

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00023Sergios, soldier and martyr of RusafaΣέργιοςCertain


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