University of Oxford
Browse

E01038: Greek epitaph for a presbyter of a church of *John (probably either the Baptist, S00020, or the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042). Found near Diokaisareia/Diocaesarea (Isauria, southern Asia Minor). Probably 6th c.

online resource
posted on 2015-12-31, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
+ σοματοθήκι Λουκᾶ πρε[σ-]
βυ(τέρου) τοῦ ἁγ(ίου) Ἰουάνου

'+ Sarcophagus of Loukas, presbyter (of the church) of Saint John.'

Text: MAMA III, no. 88.

History

Evidence ID

E01038

Saint Name

John the Evangelist : S00042 John the Baptist : S00020

Saint Name in Source

Ἰουάνης Ἰουάνης

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Diokaisareia in Isauria

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

Diokaisareia in Isauria Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

The lid of a sarcophagus in an arcosolium grave. Found on the eastern slope of the so-called Tomb Valley (Nord E71) near Uzuncaburç (ancient Diokaisareia). Letter height 0.06-0.08 m. Recorded in 1925; revisited by an international expedition led by Detlev Wannagat and Kai Trampedach between 2004 and 2006.

Discussion

The inscription is the epitaph for a presbyter of a church dedicated to a Saint John. Though the identity of the patron saint is not specified, he is likely to have been John the Baptist, as his cult was a much more popular in eastern Asia Minor than that of John the Evangelist. Dating: probably 6th c., based on the form of the letters.

Bibliography

Edition: Linnemann, J.C., Die Nekropolen von Diokaisareia (Diokaisareia in Kilikien 3, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013), 132. Hagel, St., Tomaschitz, K., (eds.), Repertorium der westkilikischen Inschriften (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 265, Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris 22, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1998), no. OlD 66. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 88. Further reading: Mietke, G., "Monumentalisierung christilcher Heiliger in Kilikien in frühbyzantinischer Zeit", Olba 17 (2009), 121.

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00042S00020History

    Licence

    CC0

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC