E00827: Greek building inscription of an oratory (eukterion) of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023) and *Bakchos (soldier and martyr of Barbalissos, Syria, S00079), founded by Basilios, a bishop presumably of Mylasa (Caria, western Asia Minor). Found near Mylasa, tentatively dated to the 6th c.
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildings
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Source
Slab reused in a wall of a house near the site of ancient Mylasa (Caria, west Asia Minor). H. 0.28 m; W. 0.83 m. Found by A.E. Kontoleon, later seen by Eduard Hula and Louis Robert.
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the foundation of a church of saints *Sergios and *Bakchos by Basilios, presumably a bishop of nearby Mylasa (see PCBE 3, Basilios 7). Basilios is most probably the founder of another sanctuary dedicated to a saint near Mylasa (a church of *Stephen, the First Martyr, see E00826), which is a very rare case, as provincial founders are rarely documented as involved in multiple undertakings.
Dating: the inscription was tentatively dated to the 6th c. by Henri Grégoire, the editor of IGC and then Wolfgang Blümel, the editor of Die Inschriften von Mylasa. A date in the 5th or 6th c. is probable.
Bibliography
Edition:
Die Inschriften von Mylasa, no. 622.
Grégoire, H. (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1922), no. 239bis.
Kontoleon, A.E., Ἀνέκδοτοι μικρασιαναὶ ἐπιγραφαί (Athens , 1890), no. 41.
Further reading:
Destephen, S., Prosopographie du Diocese d'Asie (325-641) (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3, Paris: Association des amis du centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2008), Basilios 7.
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 87.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 84.