Partially preserved Latin inscription commemorating martyrs of uncertain identity, found at Maktar (Byzacena, central North Africa), 4th/7th c.
Evidence ID
E07532
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions
In six lines (broken off at the right), with a large gap between lines 3 and 4:
Hic nomina s[anctorum?]
martirum Da [...
dasi Abdasi [...
Iacob[i Ioh]an[nis?...
et Puer[orum...
rum die (?)
'Here are the names of the holy martyrs: Da(...?), (...?)dasus, Abdasius,
James, John (?), and the Children (?), on the day ...'
Text: Y. Duval 1982, no. 22
Translation: Stanisław Adamiak
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Children
Cult Related ObjectsInscription
Source
A limestone slab, partly preserved, of current maximum length 133 cm, and maximum height 52 cm, apparently part of a chancel screen. Found in 1954-5 in the basilica of the Baths in Maktar, near the counter-apse. Recorded by Duval as still in situ.No indication of its date can be given.
Discussion
The purpose of this inscription is not entirely clear. It appears to be either a simple commemoration of the saints mentioned in it, or a local martyrology, listing the feast days of the saints invoked in this particular church (the dates of their feasts being in the part of the inscription that is lost. (See below for reasons that perhaps support this being a listing of saints commemorated at the end of December).Due to the state of preservation of the inscription, the identification of the saints is problematic:
'Abdasius' is otherwise wholly unknown, and was presumably a local martyr.
'Iacobus' could be a local African saint, but he is likely to be James the Apostle (S00108), because of the probable mention immediately afterwards of a 'Iohannes', who could well be John the Apostle (S00042), James' brother, with whom in some early traditions he shared a feast at the end of December (see the discussions by Efthymios Rizos in E01808, E01831 and E04391).
The 'Pueri' could well be the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem (S00268), whose feast day is also at the very end of December (28 December). They could otherwise be the Three Hebrew Youths (S01198), although in all other African inscription there is a 'Trium' before 'Puerum', when they are mentioned.
Bibliography
Duval, Y., Loca sanctorum Africae: Le culte des martyrs en Afrique du IVe au VIIe siècle (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1982), vol. 1, 48–83, no. 22.Images
From Y. Duval 1982, no. 22
Record Created By
Stanisław Adamiak
Date of Entry
21/05/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00042 | John, the Apostle and Evangelist | Johannes | Uncertain | S00108 | James, the Apostle, son of Zebedee | Jacobus | Uncertain | S00268 | Innocents, children killed on the orders of Herod | pueri | Uncertain | S01198 | Three Hebrew Youths of the Old Testament Book of Daniel | pueri | Uncertain | S02815 | Abdasius, martyr probably of Africa | Abdasius | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Stanisław Adamiak, Cult of Saints, E07532 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07532