E01061: Labels of tombs owned by a church dedicated probably to *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288, or Andreas 'Stratelates', soldier and martyr of Cilicia, S00763), in Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.
online resource
posted on 2016-01-08, 00:00authored bydlambert
Inscription 1:
The lid of a sarcophagus. There is no published detailed description of the monument. Recorded in 1891 by Edward Hicks.
+ σωματω- θίκι τοῦ ἁ- γίου Ἀνδρέα
'+ Sarcophagus (of the church) of Saint Andrew.'
Text: MAMA III, no. 781.
Inscription 2:
The lid of a sarcophagus. Letter height 0.08 m. Recorded in 1925. The sarcophagus bears a further inscription, engraved to the right of our text. It says that a certain Maria of Lycaonia is buried in the tomb. Her name is followed by a Christian imprecation, threatening potential desecrators of the grave.
+ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀνδρέ- α +
'+ (Sarcophagus of the church) of Saint Andrew. +'
Text: MAMA III, no. 577b.
History
Evidence ID
E01061
Saint Name
Andrew, the Apostle : S00288
Andreas Stratelates, martyr under Maximian : S00763
The inscriptions label tombs as the property of a certain 'holy Andrew'. This is presumably a reference to a church dedicated to *Andrew the Apostle or Andreas 'Stratelates', a soldier and martyr in Cilicia under the emperor Maximianus, venerated on the 19 August (BHG 118). Another, less plausible, possibility is that the term ἅγιος / 'holy' was used in the sense 'of blessed memory', and referred to an ordinary deceased Christian named Andreas (see Laminger-Pascher 1973).
Dating: probably late 5th or 6th c. (based on the style of the sarcophagi and the lettering).
Bibliography
Edition:
Inscription 1:
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. Kry 113.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 781.
Inscription 2:
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. Kry 459b.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 577b.
Further reading:
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 89-90.
Laminger-Pascher, G., "Die Bedeutung von ἅγιος in einigen korykischen Inschriften", Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 110 (1973), 344-346.
Mietke, G., "Monumentalisierung christilcher Heiliger in Kilikien in frühbyzantinischer Zeit", Olba 17 (2009), 121.
Samellas, A., Death in the Eastern Mediterranean (50-600 A.D.). The Christianization of the East: An Interpretation (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 12, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002), 257, note 2.