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E00871: Greek votive inscription erected by a father, giving thanks to God and an unnamed *Archangel for healing his child. Found near Aizanoi (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

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posted on 2015-11-22, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[- - -]
νι εὐχαριστῶν
τῷ θ(ε)ῷ κὲ τῷ
ἀρχανγέλῳ
ἀνέστησεν ὑπὲρ
εὐχῆς κὲ σωτη-
ρίας τῶν τέκνων
αὐτοῦ
μοχθήσαν-
τος Μαγα[λ]ᾶ
τοῦ πεδὸς
αὐτοῦ

'[- - -] giving thanks to God and the archangel (he) set up (this stele) as a vow and for the salvation of his children, when his child, Magalas, was ill.'

Text: MAMA IX, no. 551.

History

Evidence ID

E00871

Saint Name

Archangels (unspecified) : S00191

Saint Name in Source

ἀρχάνγελος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Archangels_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729642

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

450

Evidence not after

650

Activity not before

450

Activity not after

650

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Aizanoi

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

Aizanoi Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Miracles

Healing diseases and disabilities

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people Children

Source

A grey marble pillar found in a small cemetery at Hacı Mahmut (area of Aizanoi, Phrygia, central Asia Minor). H. 2.20 m, circumference 1.13 m; letter height 0.030-0.035 m. It is partially buried. Its visible part is decorated with a groove, traces of a large cross above the groove are also preserved. The text was cut at the bottom of the pillar.

Discussion

The inscription records a vow made by a father of several children. His name was certainly mentioned in one of the missing lines at the beginning of the text. The father gives thanks to God and an unnamed *Archangel (probably Michael, whose sanctuary in Germia was very influential in central Asia Minor) for delivering his children, especially his son Magalas, who was seriously ill. This is a rare case in which miraculous healing is explicitly referred to in an inscribed text. The editors of Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua notice that formulas used in this dedication resemble those characteristic of pagan dedications in Anatolia, which is a possible indication of an early date.

Bibliography

Edition: Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua IX, no. 551. Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1302: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1302