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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Painted inscription (dipinto) in Greek from the church of *John the Baptist (S00020) in the 'complex of John the Baptist' in Gerasa/Jerash (Roman province of Arabia), mentioning the saints venerated there: John, *George (soldier and martyr, S00259), and *Kosmas and Damianos (brothers, physicians martyrs of Syria, S00385). After 531.

Evidence ID

E02376

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Graffiti

Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)

[- - - - - - - - - - - -]Κ[- - - - - - ] καὶ Ε[- - -]
[- - -] Κοσμ[ᾶ κ(αὶ) Δαμ]ιανοῦ [- - -] Γεωργίου τὸ Μ[- - -]
[- - -] Προδ[ρό]μου [- - -]ΟΝ[- - -]CΩΝ τὸν Ε[- - -]
[- - -]Κ.ΙC[- - -]Ν[- - - -]Κ[- -]ΚΟ[- - -]ΟΝ[- - -]

'[- - -] of Kosmas and Damianos [- - -] of George [- - -] of the Forerunner [- - -].'


Text:
I. Gerasa, no. 305.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings
Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

Scarcely legible inscription painted in black on the outer face of the lintel over the middle doorway in the west wall of the church of John the Baptist (for a description of the complex, see E02367). Letter height 0.07 m. The text was spread over five blocks. There is no published photograph.

First published by Charles Welles in 1938. The text was established by A.H.M. Jones who saw the inscription during the excavations of the site in 1929.


Discussion

The inscription was poorly preserved and thus its content is not clear. Jones read in the inscription the names of the saints to whom the three churches of the complex were dedicated: John the Baptist (addressed as the Forerunner), Kosmas and Damianos, and George, all written in the genitive case. No reliable conclusions can be drawn from the published text, but it is likely that the inscription referred to the construction of the complex, rather than being an invocation of the saints or of the God of these saints (cf. E02367, Inscription 4: Invocation of the God of Saints Kosmas and Damianos).

It is tempting to read the first two lines as, for example: [- - - ἐ]κ[τίσθη] (or: ἀνε]κ[οσμήθη) καὶ ἐ[ψηφώθη] | [τῶν ἁγίων] Κοσμ[ᾶ κ(αὶ) Δαμ]ιανοῦ [κ(αὶ) τοῦ ἁγίου] Γεωργίου τὸ μ[αρτύριον]/'The martyr shrine (
martyrion) of [Saints] Kosmas and Damianos [and of Saint] George was built (or: decorated) and paved.'

Dating: the inscription must postdate the completion of the church of John (AD 531), on which it was painted, or perhaps of the church of Kosmas and Damianos (AD 533) who are also mentioned in the text.


Bibliography

Edition:
Welles, C.B., 'The inscriptions', in: Kraeling, C.H. (ed.), Gerasa, city of the Decapolis (New Haven: American School of Oriental Research, 1938), no. 305.


Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

14/02/2017

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00020John the BaptistΠρόδρομοςCertain
S00259George, soldier and martyr, and CompanionsΓεώργιοςCertain
S00385Kosmas and Damianos, brothers, physician martyrs of SyriaΚοσμᾶς καὶ ΔαμιανόςCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E02376 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02376