Syriac inscription commemorating the construction, probably of a monastic church dedicated to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found at Kefr Derian in Jabal Barisha, to the west of Beroia/Aleppo (central Syria). Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E01972
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
[ܐܢܐ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܡܢ ܬܘܫܐ [ܒܢܝܬ] ܥܕܬܐ ܗܕܐ ܠܡܪܝܬ ܡܪ[ܝܡ
'I, Symeon from the desert, [built] this church for Lady Mary.'
Text: Jarry 1967, no. 12.
Translation: Sergey Minov.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Places Named after Saint
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Places Named after SaintMonastery
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Source
Stone lintel from a doorway of a church, consisting of two blocks. Found in situ. Decorated with a carving of a rosette in the middle, dividing the inscription into two parts. H. reportedly '0.07 m' (presumably an error for 0.70 m); W. 1.70 m. Letter height 0.02-0.03 m. The editor notes that the inscription must have been carved when the blocks were still on the ground, so the text is not correctly aligned.Seen and copied by Jacques Jarry in 1963 (while he was a member of the 1963 expedition led by Georges Tchalenko), and published in 1967.
TIB 15 records this place first of all as the site of the monastery of the archimandrite Jonas, a Miaphysite stylite. He appears in AD 567 on the subscription list against the Tritheists (Chabot, Documenta, 164 (ed.) and 114 (tr.).
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of a church of Mary. The editor, Jacques Jarry, points out that Kefr Derian is known as the site of a monastery dedicated to the stylite Jonas (whose column was found in the north courtyard) and that our church belonged to this convent. Furthermore, he notes that it seems strange that this holy man was not the dedicatee of our church. To explain this fact, Jarry suggests that the stylite could have arrived at the site only after the construction of the building. Although possible, this explanation is not necessary, as churches were rarely dedicated to holy men, even stylites.The editor does not comment on the name (Symeon 'of the desert') of the founder of the church. It is possible that he was a hermit, or a member of a nomadic group.
Bibliography
Edition:Jarry, J., “Inscriptions arabes, syriaques et grecques du massif du Bélus en Syrie du nord”, Annales islamologiques 7 (1967), 147, no. 12.
Further reading:
Peña, I., Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 13, 158-159.
Tabula Imperii Byzantini, vol. 15, p. 1335–1336.
For a Syriac manuscript, kept in the British Museum and referring to the monastery, see: Wright, W., Catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the British museum acquired since the year 1838, vol. 1 (London: British Museum. Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts, s.n.), 11, col. 2.
For a description of the site and photographs, see: http://www.syriaphotoguide.com/home/kafr-darian-%d9%83%d9%81%d8%b1-%d8%af%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%86/
Images
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Photograph of squeeze 1. From Jarry 1967, plate XXXVI.
)
Photograph of squeeze 2. From Jarry 1967, plate XXXVI.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski, Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
29/10/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Sergey Minov, Cult of Saints, E01972 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01972