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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Syriac inscription commemorating the construction and completion of a church dedicated to *Phokas (probably the martyr of Antioch, S00413). Found at Basufan in north Syria, near Qalat Semaan, c. 30 km to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Dated 491/492 (beginning of the construction) and 495/496 (completion).

Evidence ID

E04386

Type of Evidence

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

Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)

ܫܘܒܚܐ ܠܡܪܢ+
ܢܗܘܐ ܕܘܟܪܢـܐ
ܛܒـܐ ܠܡܪܝ
ܦܝܪܝܕܘܛـܐ
ܕܡܝܢـܐ ܕܐܬܩܢ
ܗܢـܐ ܐܬܪܐ
ܠܡܪܝ ܦܘܩـܐ
ܫܪܝܢܢ ܒܒܢܝܢـܐ
ܒܫܢܬ ܚܡܫܡـܐܐ
ܘܐܪܒܥܝܢ ܘܫܟܠܠܢ
ܒܫܢܬ ܚܡـܫܡـܐܐ
ܘܐܪܒܥܝܢ ܘܐܪܒܥ
ܫܡـܫـܐ ܕܢܝܐܠ
ܡܪܐ ܘܣܝܥܬܗܘܢ
ܕܘܟܪܢܗܘܢ ܠܒܘܪܟܬܐ

'+ Praise be to our Lord! Pious remembrance be to
mār periodeutes (itinerant presbyter) Damianos, who founded this place for mār Phokas! We began the building in the year five hundred and forty, and we completed (it) in the year five hundred and forty four: the deacons Daniel, Mara, and their fellows. Their memory be blessed!'


Text: Littmann 1934, no. 50.
Translation: E. Littmann, lightly modified.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Source

Carved on a raised stone plaque, shaped as a tabula ansata (H. 0.38 m; W. 0.81 m), built into the outer south wall of the church at Basufan, between two arched windows and two doorways. The moulding at the left-hand end of the block forms part of the adjacent window, so it is clearly in situ, although, curiously, the text is set out at a right-angle to the block. Letter height: line 1-13: 0.03-0.05 m; lines 14-15: 0.025-0.04 m.

The church is a three-aisled basilica (24 m x 15.4 m) with an apse flanked by two chambers. The shrine is of considerable importance, as it is believed to have been built on the plan of Qalaat Semaan, the sanctuary after which other churches in Jabal Semaan were modelled. Therefore, the date offered by our inscription is considered a terminus
ante quem for Qalaat Semaan.

The inscription was first published by Henri Pognon in 1907. Re-visited by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria and re-published by Enno Littmann in 1934. We reprint the text as published by Littmann, for the slightly different readings of Pognon, see his edition and the comments by Littmann.


Discussion

The inscription commemorates two phases of the construction of the church, and says that it was dedicated to Saint Phokas, probably the martyr of Antioch. The church is termed here ܐܬܪܐ/'place' which is a counterpart of Greek τόπος, a frequently used denotation of Christian sanctuaries.

Based on a reference to the 'fellows' in line 14, Littmann suggests that the church belonged to a monastery, and points out that a monastery of Phokas is attested in AD 567 at Dārōsjāpā, probably identical with modern el-Buwētāt in Jabal Semaan, by the subscription of an abbot in a Syriac manuscript (see Littmann 1922, 182 and
$EXXXX).

Dating: The inscription gives two dates computed according to the era of Antioch. The first date, the beginning of the construction, is the year 540 (= AD 491/492). The other, the completion of the church, is the year 544 (= AD 495/496).


Bibliography

Edition:
Littmann, E., Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1909, division IV: Semitic Inscriptions, Section B: Syriac Inscriptions (Leiden: Brill, 1934), no. 50.

Pognon, H.,
Inscriptions sémitiques de la Syrie, de la Mésopotamie et de la région de Mossoul (Paris: Imprimerie nationale; Librairie V. Lecoffre, J. Gabalda, 1907), 60-61.

Further reading:
Littmann, E., "Zur Topographie der Antiochene und Apamene", Zeitschrift für Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete 1 (1922), 182.

Images



Photograph by Gertrude Bell. From: http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/photo_details.php?photo_id=854


Photograph by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria. From: http://vrc.princeton.edu/archives/items/show/10986


Drawing. From: Littmann 1934, 39.


Drawing. From: Pognon 1907, Pl. XVIII.


















Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

20/11/2017

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00413Phokas, martyr of Antiochܡܪܝ ܦܘܩـܐCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04386 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04386