Syriac graffito invoking *Symeon (the Elder, stylite of Qal‘at Sim‘ān, S00343). Found at Deir Semaan/Telanissos in north Syria, near Qal‘at Sim‘ān, c. 34 km to the northwest of Beroia/Aleppo. Probably late antique.
Evidence ID
E04388
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Graffiti
ܡܪܝ
ܫܡܥܘܢ
ܩܕܝܫܐ
'O mār Symeon, the holy one!'
Text: Littmann 1934, no. 49.
Translation: E. Littmann, lightly modified.
Non Liturgical Activity
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Source
Graffito scratched on a stone on the outside east wall of the church in the so-called 'Southwest Convent' (also termed: 'South Monastery'). Dimensions of the inscribed field: H. 0.21 m; W. c. 0.37 m. Letter height 0.02-0.04 m. Fine lettering.First recorded by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria and published by Enno Littmann in 1934.
Discussion
This is one of about a dozen Syriac graffiti recorded in the village (on different buildings) by Butler's expedition. It is very probable that they were made by pilgrims to Qalat Semaan, the famous sanctuary of Symeon the Elder (one of them, Littmann's no. 41, names the hometown of its author as Harran). The other published examples, however, do not invoke saints.Littmann suggests that the present graffito could be used to identify the church, on whose wall it was scratched, as dedicated to Symeon. This is, however, a very tentative hypothesis, and Littmann himself admits that another graffito from the same church invokes the Trinity, another possible patron of the sanctuary. In fact, both texts may be, actually, habitual invocations, which had nothing in common with the dedication of the church.
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. 49.
Images
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Drawing. From: Littmann 1934, 39.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
20/11/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00343 | Symeon the Elder, stylite of Qal‘at Sim‘ān, ob. 459 | ܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04388 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04388