+ ἀρχάγ[γελε c. 4-6 letters]
φύλατε τὸ̣ν ̣δοῦλ[ον - - -]
ΘΙΝ [ c. 2-3 letters]
1. + ἀρχάγ[γελε Μιχαηλ (?)] Metcalfe || 2-3. Ἀ]θιν[ίον (?) Metcalfe
'+ O, Archan[gel - - -], guard [your (?)] servant [- - -]!'
Text and translation (lightly modified): M. Metcalfe in: Matthews, Metcalfe & Cottica 2009, 202, no. PPI3.
Evidence ID
E01167Saint Name
Archangels (unspecified) : S00191Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elementsEvidence not before
450Evidence not after
1300Activity not before
450Activity not after
1300Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Sakaeli KöyüPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Sakaeli Köyü
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Other lay individuals/ peopleSource
A capital with carved crosses pattée in circles and scroll-work. Broken on top. H. 0.485 m; W. 0.505 m; Th. 0.475 m; diameter 0.3 m. The inscription is written on one face. Letter height 0.045-0.05 m. Found in the front yard of a house, during a survey conducted by members of the Project Paphlagonia: archaeological and historical survey in north-central Turkey (University College London) in the modern provinces of Çankırı and (partially) Karabük, between 1997 and 2001, directed by Roger Matthews. A squeeze is kept in the British Institute at Ankara. A photograph is published in the edition of the text.Discussion
The inscription is an invocation of an archangel. Michael Metcalfe supposes that the lacuna in line 1 is long enough to accommodate the name of the archangel, most probably Michael.
The lacuna at the end of line 2 is very short. Metcalfe supposes that the beginning of the name of the dedicant was present there, but if so, there is no room for the pronoun σου/'your', referring to the noun 'servant', which is common in this kind of invocation. Metcalfe argues that the pronoun could be understood in this case or the noun 'servant' was abbreviated.
Line 3 contains remnants of the name of the dedicant. The sequence of letters ΘΙΝ was not frequent in Greek names, and, therefore, the completion Ἀθινίος is plausible.
Dating: 'Byzantine', claimed by the surveyors; the term may refer to both the late antique and middle Byzantine periods.Bibliography
Edition:
Matthews, R., Metcalfe, M., Cottica, D., "Landscapes with Figures: Paphlagonia through the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods, 330BC - AD 1453", in: Glatz, C., Matthews, R., At empire's edge: Project Paphlagonia: regional survey in North-Central Turkey (London: British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, 2009), 202, no. PPI3.
Further reading:
Izdebski, A., Rural Economy in Transition: Asia Minor from Late Antiquity into the Early Middle Ages (Journal of Juristic Papyrology. Supplement 18, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Admistration, Chair of Roman Law and the Law of Antiquity; University of Warsaw, Institute of Archaeology, Department of Papyrology; The Raphael Taubenschlag Foundation: 2011), 90-91.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 59, 1461.
