E00841: Greek building inscription with an invocation of the God of saints *Akylinos/Aquilinus (perhaps a martyr of Isauria, S00549) and *Maximos (perhaps the martyr of Ephesos, S00550). Found near ancient Tabai (Caria, western Asia Minor). Probably late antique (6th c. or later).
'+ O God of saints Aquilinus and Maximus, remember Kyriakos the elder (or the presbyter?) and Kyriakos and Georgios and Maria, the founders!'
Text: MAMA VI, no. 171.
History
Evidence ID
E00841
Saint Name
Aquilinus and Victorianus, matyrs of Isauria, ob. ? : S00549
Maximus, merchant and voluntary martyr in Ephesus (west Asia Minor), ob. c. 249-251. : S00550
Maximus, Dadas and Quintilianus, martyrs in Durostorum (Mysia, west Asia Minor), ob. c. 284-3
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Other lay individuals/ people
Women
Source
White marble slab, reused in the wall of a house: H. 0.43 m; W. 0.50 m; Th. 0.12 m. Found in Davas in the area of ancient Tabai.
Discussion
The inscription records an invocation of the God of saints Akylinos and Maximos, by founders of an unspecified structure, perhaps a church or a chapel of the two saints.
The identity of these saints is uncertain. A certain Aquilinus is mentioned as a martyr of Isauria together with Victorianus in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (16 May: E04816). Maximos may be the merchant and voluntary martyr of Ephesos (see Simonetti 1955, 85-87) or a martyr in Durostorion in Moesia (north-western Asia Minor), mentioned together with Dadas and Quintilianus (see BHG 1238).
A painting labelled ὁ ἅγιος Ἀκυλ[- - -] is preserved on an arch at the entrance to the so-called sacello-mausoleo of the harbor quarter's church at Alakişla near Ceramus. The editors, Vincenzo Ruggieri and Franco Giordano, restore the name as Ἀκύλ[ας] or Ἀκυλῖνα, whilst Thomas Corsten in the comments in the SEG suggests the completion Ἀκυλῖνος. It is possible that this is the martyr mentioned in our inscription. See Ruggieri & Giordano 2003, 215 and the SEG 53, 1187.
Dating: Probably 6th-7th c., based on similar invocations of the God of saints.
Bibliography
Edition:
Robert, J., Robert, L., La Carie. Histoire et géographie historique, avec le recueil des inscriptions antiques, vol. 2: Le plateau de Tabai et ses environs (Paris: Librairie d'Amerique et d'Orient, Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1954), no. 36.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua VI, no. 171.
Further Reading:
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), 88.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 85-86.
BE (1939), 359.
Ruggieri, V., Giordano, F. (eds.), Il golfo di Keramos: dal tardo antico al medioevo bizantino (Soveria Mannelli (Catanzaro): Rubbettino), 215.
Simonetti, M., Studi Agiografici (Rome: Signorelli, 1955), 85-87.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 53, 1187.