E00902: Greek votive inscription by a certain presbyter Kastor, founder of a church or martyr shrine of *Kyrikos (child martyr of Tarsus, S00007). Found at Lysias (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). 5th-6th c.

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

+ ὑπερὶ εὐ-
χῆς κὲ σω-
τηρίας Κάσ-
τωρος πρε(σβυτέρου)
ὁ κτήσας τὸν
ἅγιον Κύρικον
κὲ Νυνης δη-
ακοννύσης θυ(γατρὸς)
Κάστωρος κὲ Δη-
̣μητρίου Βουσίου

'As a vow and for the salvation of the pre(sbyter) Kastor, who built Saint Kyrikos, and of the deaconess Nyna, da(ughter) of Kastor, and of Demetrios, son of Bousios.'

Text: MAMA IV, no. 120b.

History

Evidence ID

E00902

Saint Name

Kyrikos, 3rd c. child martyr in Tarsus, son of *Julitta : S00007

Saint Name in Source

Κύρικος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Kyrikos_Cyricus_and_Ioulitta_Julitta_child_and_his_mother_martyrs_of_Tarsus/13729132

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

450

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

450

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Lysias

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

Lysias Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Vow

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy Women Children Other lay individuals/ people

Source

A block reused in a wall of a mosque in Kara Adili, ancient Lysias (Phrygia, central Asia Minor). H. 10 m; W. 0.67 m; Th. 0.41 m.

Discussion

The inscription records a vow, made for the salvation of three persons. The first of them, the presbyter Kastor, is described as the founder of an unnamed shrine (probably a church or a martyrion) of *Kyrikos. Though it is possible that the construction of the shrine was itself the object of this vow, it is more likely that Kastor had founded the sanctuary earlier. The word used to inform us about the foundation is the past participle (κτήσας) and other persons are apparently not connected with this pious undertaking. Construction of a church or a martyr shrine was certainly a remarkable event in a provincial community, and therefore could easily become a marker of an individual's identity. For a similar expression, see E00710: Ἀ̣ρμένις ὁ κτίσας τὸ μαρτύριν, E01026: Λονγῖνος Βαλιβαρδᾶς ὁ κὲ περιπυσάμενος τὸ ὐκτήριον τοῦ ἁγίου Μαμᾶ and E01239: Ἀνατολίῳ τῷ κτίσαντι τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην. The second person is the deaconess Nyne, daughter of Kastor. It is not clear why Demetrios is mentioned together with these people. Nyne could be his wife or mother. Names of wives are, however, rarely mentioned in late antique inscriptions before those of their husbands, so the latter possibility is more probable. But on the other hand, the main supplicant is, doubtless, Kastor, so perhaps he wanted to place the name of his daughter in a more distinguished position than that of his son-in-law.

Bibliography

Edition: Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua IV, no. 120b. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua I, commentary to no. 323a. Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1115: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1115 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), Kastor 2 and Nyna. 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), 93. Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 327. Reference works: Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 880.