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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Stone reliquary, reportedly inscribed with the names of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023), and a certain Saint *Abraham (probably a local martyr or holy monk). Found in the territory of Epiphaneia/Ḥamāh (central Syria). Now lost. Probably 5th-6th c.

Evidence ID

E04559

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Inscribed objects

Archaeological and architectural - Extant reliquaries and related fixtures

Marie-Christine Comte mentions a stone reliquary inscribed with the names of saints Sergios and Abraham. The reliquary was found to the east of the city of Epiphaneia/Ḥamāh, but its shape and decorations resemble reliquaries from the territory of Apamea on the Orontes. The object is now lost. There is no photograph or drawing.

The reliquary was mentioned by René Mouterde and Antoine Poidebard in 1949, in their paper on the archaeological and epigraphic evidence for the cult of Saint Sergios. They say that the object was communicated to them by Father Nicolas Karam.

According to the published description, the reliquary had the shape of a small sacrophagus, about 80 cm long. One of the longer sides was decorated with carvings of busts of two saints, erased in a period of iconoclasm. The other bore the inscription mentioned above. The exact text is not known.

Comte supposes that the reliquary was designed for the production of holy oil. She stresses the significance of the find, as no other stone reliquaries decorated with busts of saints have been found in this region, and even inscribed reliquaries are extremely rare.

Whereas the identity of Sergios is clear (this is certainly the soldier and martyr of Rusafa), there were several martyrs and holy monks who bore the name Abraham, who were venerated in Syria. Sadly, we cannot confidently identify any of them with our Abraham. The figure is unlikely to have been the Old Testament Patriarch.

Use of Images

Public display of an image

Relics

Contact relic - oil
Making contact relics
Reliquary – institutionally owned

Bibliography

Further reading:
Comte, M.-Ch., Les reliquaires du Proche-Orient et de Chypre à la période protobyzantine, IVe-VIIIe siècles: formes, emplacements, fonctions et cultes (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 20, Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2012), 101, 381.

Peña, I.,
Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 23.

Mouterde, R., Poidebard, A., "À propos de saint Serge. Aviation et épigraphie",
Analecta Bollandiana 76 (1949) [= Mélanges Paul Peeters], 112 (original description).


Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

05/01/2018

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00023Sergios, soldier and martyr of RusafaCertain
S00355Abraham, monk of Syria, 2nd half of 4th c.Uncertain
S00366Abraham of Harran, monk and bishop of Syria, ob. c. 420sUncertain
S01233Abraham of Qidun, monk in Syria, 4th c.Uncertain
S01366Abraham of Arbela, bishop and martyr in Persia, ob. c. 345Uncertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04559 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04559