E00958: Four Greek monograms carved on a column, which may be understood as an invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) as the God-Bearer. Found near Chalkedon/Chalcedon (Bithynia, north-west Asia Minor). Probably 6th c. or later.
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posted on 2015-12-09, 00:00authored bypnowakowski
Hypothetical interpretation of four monograms carved on a column:
(Θεοτόκε, βοήθει τῷ δούλῳ σου Ἰωσὴφ τῷ ἀθλίῳ)
'(God-Bearer, help your servant Ioseph, the miserable)!'
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Other lay individuals/ people
Source
Four monograms inscribed on a column, found by Ioannes Miliopoulos before 1907 in the ruins to the east of Pendik (ancient Panteichion, area of Chalkedon / Chalcedon). Miliopoulos did not attempt to decipher them himself. A hypothetical interpretation was suggested to him by Henri Grégoire.
Discussion
The interpretation of the meaning of these monograms, suggested by Henri Grégoire is hypothetical, though not unjustified.
Dating: This kind of invocation with the 'servant-of-saint' formula is usually dated to the 6th/8th c. or later, and is indeed common in the middle Byzantine period.
Bibliography
Edition:
Die Inschriften von Kalchedon, no. 107.
Miliopoulos, I., "Βυζαντιακαὶ τοποθεσίαι", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 16 (1907), 557.
Further reading:
Miliopoulos, I., "Βυζαντιναὶ τοποθεσίαι", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 29 (1929-1930), 245.