File(s) not publicly available

E00898: Greek inscription with an invocation possibly of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) as the God-Bearer. Found at Akroinos (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably 6th/7th c.

online resource

posted on 2015-11-26, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν] σὺ προσφέρομεν, δέ[σποτα. Θ(εοτό)κε] βωήθι Νικολάῳ μοναχõͅ κ(αὶ) τῖς
χ(ριστ)οαδελφ[ότη-]
τος
αὐτοῦ.
+ νηκᾷ

1. [τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν] σὺ Ševčenko, [- - -] σὺ MAMA || δέ[σποτα. Θ(εοτό)κε] βωήθι Ševčenko, δέ[ησιν. κ(ύρι)ε] ̣βωήθι MAMA || Νικολάωυ μοναχοῦ MAMA || 2-3. χ(ριστ)οαδελφ[ότη]|τος Ševčenko, Χ(ριστ)ο(νύμου?) ἀδελφ[ότη]|τος MAMA

'We bring [you the offerings from your (property)], Lord. [O the God-Bearer,] help Nikolaos the monk and his brotherhood in Christ! (The cross) triumphs.'

Text and reconstruction: Weitzmann & Ševčenko 1963, 394, n. 15.

History

Evidence ID

E00898

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

Θεοτόκος

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

500

Evidence not after

650

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

650

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Akroinos

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

Akroinos Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - abbots Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Source

A white marble window (?) lintel with an encircled cross carved in the centre. Reused in a mosque. H. 0.21 m; W. 53 m. Found at Akroinos (Phrygia, central Asia Minor). Sylvain Destephen argues that, as there was no bishopric in Akroinos in Late Antiquity, the inscription could have been brought from Prymnessos. The inscription, however, does not say that a bishop is involved in the commemorated offering.

Discussion

The inscription commemorates an unspecified offering made by a certain monk, Nikolaos. Originally edited in the fourth volume of Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, it was revisited by Ihor Ševčenko. He dated it to the 6th or 7th c., but did not justify this statement. This dating is, nevertheless, reasonable because of the apparent occurrence of the formula σταυρὸς νικᾷ at the end of the text. Ševčenko suggested that the invocation was addressed to *Mary as the God-Bearer, and not to God, as the Lord (which had been conjectured by the original editors). This suggestion is, of course, entirely hypothetical. Ševčenko supposed that the monk Nikolaos was a higoumenos of a monastery and made the offering on behalf of other members of the convent, which he named the brotherhood in Christ (χριστοαδελφότης).

Bibliography

Edition: Weitzmann, K., Ševčenko, I., "The Moses cross at Sinai", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 17 (1963), 394, note 15. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua IV, no. 37. Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1089: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1089 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), Nikolaos 12. Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1967), 67.

Usage metrics

Keywords

S00033 History

Licence

CC0

Exports

RefWorks

BibTeX

Ref. manager

Endnote

DataCite

NLM