Greek inscription commemorating the construction of a martyr shrine (martyrion) of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023) from communal funds. Found at Rakham, to the north-west of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 517.
Evidence ID
E02245
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
κτίσθη τὸ ἅγιον μαρ-
τύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Σερ-
γίου τῶν τοῦ κοινοῦ,
ἐν μηνὶ Γορπιαίῳ,
χρόνων ια΄ ἰνδικ(τιῶνος)
ἔτους υιβ΄ τῆς ἐπαρ(χείας)
'This holy martyr shrine (martyrion) of Saint Sergios was built from the communal (fund?), in the month of Gorpiaios, 11th indiction, the year 412 of the province.'
Text: IGLS 13/2, no. 9837.
Translation: P. Nowakowski.
Cult PlacesMartyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical Activity
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesPeasants
Source
Probably a complete stone block. Dimensions unknown. Now lost. The inscription was probably within a frame.Seen and copied by Maurice Dunand and published by him with a drawing in 1939. In 2011 republished by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat, based on the earlier edition.
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of a martyr shrine of Sergios, a popular soldier martyr originally venerated in Rusafa. It is not clear whether this shrine was an independent structure or a chapel. Interestingly, the construction was funded by a community and not by a single donor (or a number of donors enumerated by name).Dating: the inscription is dated according to the era of the province of Arabia. Its year 412, together with the 11th indictional year and the month of Gorpiaios correspond to a very narrow period: 1st - 17th September AD 517.
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. 9837.
Dunand, M., "Nouvelles inscriptions du Djebel Druze et du Hauran", Mélanges syriens offerts à monsieur René Dussaud: secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, par ses amis et ses élèves (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1939), 571, no. 290.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1940), 189.
Images
)
Drawing by Dunand. From: IGLS 13/2, 254.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
12/01/2017
| 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, E02245 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02245