Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek inscription just possibly for a church dedicated to a saint John (if so, probably either the Baptist, S00020, or the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042). Found at Tell eḍ-Ḍahab near Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Probably 5th-7th c.

Evidence ID

E01965

Type of Evidence

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

The inscription is on a fragment of a lintel (H. 0.33 m; W. 0.92 m) that was found near a ruined building situated about 300 yards northwest of the village, probably a church (later converted to a mosque), close to another inscription dated AD 469/470 (see: IGLS 4, no. 1922). The text of our inscription reads: Ἰωάνο(υ) ΧΜ[Γ - - -] | ἔτου[ς - - -ʹ], which William Prentice translated as '(The church?) of Ioannes (John). ΧΜΓ. In the year [- - -]'. As the fragment was very poorly preserved, René Mouterde was rightly sceptical about this interpretation.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings

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. 1923.

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), 21, no. 853.

Images

From: Prentice 1922, 21.

Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

28/10/2016

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00020	John the Baptist		Uncertain
S00042	John, the Apostle and Evangelist		Uncertain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01965 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01965

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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