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E00862: Greek invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) by Modestos, perhaps archbishop of Myra (Lycia, south-west Asia Minor). Found in Myra. Probably 6th c.

online resource

posted on 2015-11-19, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

+ Θεοτόκε, μῆ(τε)ρ Χριστοῦ,
χάρισε Μόδεστον
[ἀ]ρ[χιποίμ]̣ε̣να κ(αὶ) ἱερέα

Χρισι+ Ötüken || [τὸν ἀ]ρ[χιποίμ]̣ε̣να Ötüken (tὸν considered superfluous by Feissel)

'O God-Bearer (Theotokos), Mother of Christ, forgive Modestos, archshepherd and priest!'

Text: Ötüken 1997, 545.

History

Evidence ID

E00862

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

Θεοτόκος, μῆτηρ Χριστοῦ

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Mary_Mother_of_Christ/13729186

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

520

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

520

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Myra

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Myra Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy Ecclesiastics - abbots

Source

Upper part of a limestone block with a carved cross. Lines 1 and 2 are on the left and right side of the upper branch of the cross. Line 3 is on the left and right of the lower branch. Found in the church of *Nicholas of Myra in Myra (Lycia, southern Asia Minor).

Discussion

The inscription must postdate the reconstruction of the church of *Nicholas of Myra in 520. Modestos is otherwise unknown; he was certainly a priest, that he was archbishop or abbot is much less certain, given the poor state of preservation of the inscription.

Bibliography

Edition: Ötüken, Y., "1996 Yılı demre – Aziz Nikolas Kiisesi Kazısı [Excavations in the church of Saint Nicolas in Myra in 1996 – published in Turkish]", Kazi Sonuçlari Toplantısı 19/2 (1997), 545. 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), Modestos 4. Reference works: Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 343, 733. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 47, 1817.