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E00970: Greek invocation of a saint *Constantine (possibly the emperor Constantine I, ob. 337, S00186), inscribed on a water basin. Found at Amaseia (Helenopontus, northernt Asia Minor). Perhaps 7th-9th c.

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posted on 2015-12-11, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
On a white marble rectangular water basin:

̣ἅ̣γ[ιε (?)] κῦρι Κωσσταντῖν̣ε

'O holy lord Constantine, (help)!'

Text: Studia Pontica III/1, no. 133.

History

Evidence ID

E00970

Saint Name

Constantine the Great, emperor, ob. 337 : S00186 Konstantinos (unspecified) : S01746

Saint Name in Source

Κωσσταντῖνος Κωσσταντῖνος

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.) Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

600

Evidence not after

900

Activity not before

600

Activity not after

900

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Amasea

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

Amasea Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs and their family

Cult Activities - Cult Related Objects

Water basins

Source

A white marble rectangular water basin, reused in a private garden at Amasya (ancient Amaseia, Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor). Found by Franz Cumont in 1900, revisited by Henri Grégoire in 1907. Dimensions: W. 1.02 m x 0.9 m; diameter of the cavity 0.6 m; depth 0.5 m. Cumont was able to examine only one side of the basin. The other was fixed to a wall, perhaps it was also inscribed.

Discussion

The inscription is an invocation of the 'holy lord Constantine', possibly the emperor Constantine, as a saint. Unfortunately, there is no way to securely date this inscription. Late antique dating would make it an important attestation to the cult of Constantine, just as in the case of E00867 and E01150. However, such an early date is dubious as comparable evidence for the cult of Constantine from this period is scarce. It is more reasonable to suppose that the invocation was engraved somewhat later, for example in the late 7th-9th c.

Bibliography

Edition: Anderson, J.G.C., Cumont, F., Grégoire, H., Studia Pontica, vol. 3, part 1: Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines du Ponte et de l'Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1910), no. 133 Further reading: Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 95 note 10.

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00186S01746History

    Licence

    CC0

    Exports

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