Fragmentary Greek inscription invoking mercy, probably of the God of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Umm es-Surab, to the south-east of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Probably late 5th or 6th c.
Evidence ID
E02083
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
[- - - ὁ θεὸς τοῦ ἁγίου] Σεργίου, ἐλέ(ησον)
[- - -]ΕΞΕΛΕΚΤΑΣ +
'[- - - O God of Saint] Sergios, have mercy! [- - -]'
Text: I. Jordanie 5/1, no. 62.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Source
Stone block. Broken and lost at the top and left-hand end. H. 0.22 m; W. 0.955 m. Letter height 0.08-0.09 m.Found above a doorway in the west sector of the courtyard in front of the main church of the village (presumed to be dedicated to Saints Sergios and Bakchos and discussed in E02079). A preliminary transcription was published in 2000 by Annie Sartre-Fauriat. The proper first edition, by Nabil Bader, followed in 2009, based on an examination of the stone and a photograph.
Discussion
The inscription certainly contains an invocation of mercy. As the name Sergios is in the genitive case, we can assume that the saint was not invoked directly, but that the request was addressed to 'the God of Saint Sergios'.The editor, probably rightly, supposes that the church where the inscription was found was dedicated to Saints Sergios and Bakchos, as a lintel with a relevant dedicatory inscription was found over the main doorway of the building (see E02079). It seems, however, that in our inscription Sergios was mentioned without his companion.
The contents of the preserved line 2 are not clear. As for the date, we can suggest the late 5th or 6th c., as the lintel inscription mentioned above commemorates the construction of the church in AD 489. This was also the time when the cult of Sergios was rapidly spreading in the East, as evidenced by other building inscriptions.
Bibliography
Edition:Bader, N. (ed.), Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 21: Inscriptions de la Jordanie, part 5: La Jordanie du Nord-Est, fasc. 1 (Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2009), no. 62.
Further reading:
Sartre-Fauriat, A., "Georges, Serge, Élie et quelques autres saints connus et inédits de la province d'Arabie", in: Fr. Prévot (ed.), Romanité et cité chrétienne. Permances et mutations. Intégration et exclusion du Ier au VIe siècle. Mélanges en l'honneur d'Yvette Duval (Paris: De Boccard, 2000), 303-304, note 60.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 50, 1518; 50, 1545.
Images
)
Photograph. From: I. Jordanie 5/1, 63.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
07/12/2016
| 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, E02083 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02083