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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 with an invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found at Ta'leh, to the north of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Probably late antique.

Evidence ID

E02244

Type of Evidence

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

ἁγία Μαρ[ία μ]νήσ-
θηθι Ομανου τοῦ
ἀπ[ὸ δ]ομεστίκων

[1-2. μ]νήσ|θηθι Bankes' copy, μ]νήσ|θητι Sartre]

'O Holy Mary, remember Omanos, former
domestikos!'


Text:
IGLS 13/2, no. 9826.

Non Liturgical Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Officials
Soldiers

Source

Probably a lintel, apparently complete at both ends but possibly broken on top and bottom. Dimensions unknown. Now lost.

The inscription was seen and copied by William John Bankes, during his journeys in the Mediterranean between 1815 and 1820 (for his work in the Near East, see the comments in E02194). The copy remained unpublished until 2011, when it was edited by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat.


Discussion

The inscription is a simple invocation of Mary, Mother of Christ (here named the Holy Mary and not Theotokos/the God-Bearer).

The supplicant is called 'domestikos'. The Sartres note that this epithet was characteristic of high-ranking officials, e.g. prefects,
magistri militum, magistri officiorum, but also of provincial governors and members of the imperial guard. Consequently, they suggest that our supplicant could have been a governor of the province of Arabia, possibly of Arab origin as he bears a quite distinctive name, or a soldier in a military unit of domestici.

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. 9826.

Images



Bankes' copy. From: IGLS 13/2, 248.
























Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

12/01/2017

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00033Mary, Mother of ChristΜαρίαCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E02244 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02244