Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek building inscription for a church of the Archangels Michael (S00181) and Gabriel (S00192). Found at al-Ghāriyyeh al-Gharbiyyeh, to the northwest of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 598/599.

Evidence ID

E02243

Type of Evidence

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

+ ὁ ἅγιος Μι- + ἐκτίσθη
χαὴλ (καὶ) Γαβ- ἐν ἔτους υϙγ΄
ριήλ

[1-2. Μι|χαὴλ Sartre, Μι|[κ]αὴλ Dussaud || 2. υϙγ΄ Sartre, ΥϘC stone, corrected to υϙ[ε]΄by Dussaud]

'+ Saint Michael and Gabriel. + (It) was built in the year 493.'

Text: IGLS 13/2, no. 9740.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings

Source

Stone lintel. H. 0.32 m; W. 1.65 m; Th. 0.50 m. Letter height 0.085 m. Broken and lost in the lower left-hand corner. Decorated with a carving of a large circle containing a cross in the middle of the inscribed face.

Seen and copied by René Dussaud and Frédéric Macler during their survey in south Syria, and published by them in 1901 with a drawing. The surveyors probably saw the stone still in situ, over a doorway. The stone was revisited and photographed by Maurice Sartre in 1982, and republished by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat in 2011. By the time of Sartre's visit the stone was reused in a wall, to the west of the village. The building (probably a church) where it was originally displayed, was destroyed only recently, during the construction of a road.

Discussion

The inscription commemorates the construction of a church dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The Sartres stress the fact that attestations of the cult of archangels are not frequent in the Hauran (see E02614).

Dating: the inscription is dated according to the era of the province of Arabia. Its year 493 corresponds to AD 598/599. Dussaud read the date incorrectly (as the year 495), and hence dated the inscription to AD 600.

Bibliography

Edition:
Sartre, M., Sartre-Fauriat, A. (eds.), Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 13/2: Bostra (Supplément) et la plaine de la Nuqrah (BAH 194, Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2011), no. 9740.

Dussaud, R., Macler, F., Voyage archéologique au Safâ et dans le Djebel-ed-Drûz (Paris: , 1901), 206, no. 99.

Images

Drawing. From: Dussaud & Macler 1901, 206.

Photograph. From: IGLS 13/2, 198.

Majuscule edition. From: IGLS 13/2, 198.

Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

11/01/2017

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00181	Michael, the Archangel	Γαβριήλ	Certain
S00192	Gabriel, the Archangel	Μιχαήλ	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E02243 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02243

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Greek building inscription for a church of the Archangels Michael (S00181) and Gabriel (S00192). Found at al-Ghāriyyeh al-Gharbiyyeh, to the northwest of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 598/599.

E02243

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

Cult building - independent (church)

Construction of cult buildings

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Images

Paweł Nowakowski

11/01/2017

Greek building inscription for a church of the Archangels *Michael (S00181) and *Gabriel (S00192). Found at al-Ghāriyyeh al-Gharbiyyeh, to the northwest of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 598/599.

E02243

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

Cult building - independent (church)

Construction of cult buildings

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Images

Paweł Nowakowski

11/01/2017

Greek building inscription for a church of the Archangels Michael (S00181) and Gabriel (S00192). Found at al-Ghāriyyeh al-Gharbiyyeh, to the northwest of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 598/599.