E01154: Greek inscription, commemorating a vow, just possibly mentioning a pair of local martyrs. Found at Eumeneia/Fulvia (Phrygia, west central Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

online resource

posted on 2016-02-26, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

+ ὑπὲρ ἀν[έ]- σεως (?) μαρ<τυ>- ρηõν Λυκ- άστου κὲ Πω- λητήας, ἀ- μήν 1-2. ὑπὲρ Ἄ|σεως Huttner, ὑπὲρ ἀν[έ]|σεως Buckler Calder Cox || 2-3. μαρ<τυ>|ρηõν Buckler Calder Cox, <ἁ>μαρ|<τ>ηõν or μαρ<τυ>ρήον = μαρ<τυ>ρίον SEG '+ A vow for the repose (?) of the martyrs (?) Lykastos and Politeia. Amen.' Text: Buckler, Calder & Cox 1927, no. 191.

History

Evidence ID

E01154

Saint Name

Lykastos and Politeia, possibly martyrs of Eumeneia in Phrygia (central Asia Minor) : S01536

Saint Name in Source

Λύκαστος, Πωλητήα

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Lykastos_and_Politeia_possibly_martyrs_of_Eumeneia_in_Phrygia_central_Asia_Minor_/13733284

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

350

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

350

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Eumeneia

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

Eumeneia Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Vow

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women Other lay individuals/ people

Source

A slab. H. 0.64 m; W. 0.37 m; letter height c. 0.04 m. Broken on the left-hand side. The inscription is framed, and preceded by a carved cross. Seen and copied in July 1924 at Çivril (ancient Eumeneia) by William Buckler, William Calder, and C.W.M. Cox. When recorded, it was reused in a wall of a house.

Discussion

The inscription is known only from the poor copy made by Buckler, Calder, and Cox, which renders any interpretation of it difficult and uncertain. They argued that it commemorated a vow for the repose of local martyrs, which is very unlikely, since martyrs would not require the help of the faithful in order to be guaranteed eternal life. Joseph Zingerle and Jacobus Hondius in Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum suggested other possible interpretations of the text. They hypothesised that the inscription could have commemorated a vow for the remission of sins of Lykastos and Politeia (apparently ordinary mortals): ὑπὲρ ἀν[έ]σεως (?) <ἁ>μαρ<τ>ηõν Λυκάστου κὲ Πωλητήας (which is a very plausible reading) or that it commemorated the construction of a martyr shrine as an ex-voto offering, as the word μαρ<τυ>ρηον can be also understood as μαρ<τυ>ρίον (martyrion). Ulrich Huttner prefers to read the name Asis (ὑπὲρ Ἄ|σεως) instead of the word ἀν[έ]σεως in lines 1-2.

Bibliography

Edition: Buckler, W.H., Calder, W.M., Cox, C.W.M., "Asia Minor, 1924. III – Monuments from central Phrygia", The Journal of Roman Studies 17 (1927), no. 191. Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1047: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1047 Reference works: Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 6, 218.