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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Greek inscription naming an oratory of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036). Found at Kapraklar near ancient Hyllarima (Caria, western Asia Minor). Probably 5th or 6th c.

Evidence ID

E07547

Type of Evidence

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

εὐκτήριον
τοῦ ἁγίου
ἀπ(οστόλου) Πέτρου

'Oratory of the holy Apostle Peter.'

Text:
I. Nordkarien 503.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Oratory

Places Named after Saint

Church

Source

On a stone block. H. 0.42 m; W. 0.635 m; Th. 0.38 m. Letter height 0.03-0.035 m. There is no published detailed description.

First recorded in 1999 by Ender Varinlioğlu and Pierre Debord. First published by them in 2018. The same year it was re-edited by Wolfgang Blümel.


Discussion

Dating: Solely based on the shape of letters, Varinlioğlu and Debord tentatively dated the inscription to the 4th c. In his edition, Blümel is sceptical, but eventually retains the date as a hypothesis. We would like to point out that a rural oratory dedicated to the Apostle Peter is rather unlikely at such an early date. A date in the fifth or sixth centuries is a much safer supposition.

For the cult of Peter in Caria, see E00720, E00825, E00843. Debord and Varinlioğlu suggested that the cult of Peter developed in Christian communities deriving from Jewish background, as a result of them being skeptical of the liberal teaching of the Apostle Paul. There is, however, no direct evidence to support this supposition.


Bibliography

Edition:
Blümel, W., Inschriften aus Nordkarien (IK 71, Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 2018), no. 503.

Debord, P., Varinlioğlu, E. (eds.),
Hyllarima de Carie. État de la question (Bordeaux: Ausonius éditions, 2018), 75, no. 48.


Record Created By

Paweł Nowakowski

Date of Entry

02/05/2019

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00036Peter, the ApostleΠέτροςCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E07547 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07547