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E01227: Greek inscription with an invocation perhaps of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), as the God-Bearer. Found near Lartos (Rhodes, the Aegean Islands). Probably 6th c. or later.

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posted on 2016-03-24, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[(christogram)] Θ(εοτό)κε (?) βοήθε(ι) τὸ(ν) δο[ῦ]-
λό(ν) σου Καλλι
νε[.] τὸ(ν) παρα[γει(?)-]
νάμενο(ν)
(εἰ)ς τὸ ἔργον
τοῦτο (τὸ)
μυκρό(ν)

1. Θ(εοτό)κε or Κ(ύ)ριε Grégoire, ΡΚ ΙΕ = Κ(ύ)ριε Hiller von Gaertringen || 2-3. Καλλι|νε Grégoire, ΚΑ(?)ΛΛΙ|ΝΕ/// = Καλλι - - Hiller von Gaertringen || 3-4. τõ παρα[γε]|νάμενο Grégoire, τὸ(ν) παρα[γει(?)]|νάμενο(ν) Hiller von Gaertringen

'[(christogram)] O God-Bearer (Theotokos) (?), help your servant Kalline[- - -] who attended to this humble work.'

Text: IGC, no. 138.

History

Evidence ID

E01227

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

Θ(εοτό)κος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Mary_Mother_of_Christ/13729186

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Graffiti

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

1300

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

1300

Place of Evidence - Region

Aegean islands and Cyprus Aegean islands and Cyprus

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rhodes (island) Lartos

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

Rhodes (island) Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia Lartos Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people Merchants and artisans

Source

Graffito cut on a rock near the seashore in a place called Στὰ γράμματα (area of Lartos, Rhodes). When recorded, the face was weathered and the letters hardly legible. Seen and copied by Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen before 1895.

Discussion

This scarcely legible inscription is apparently an invocation by a man whose name began: Kalline[- - -]. Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen, the first editor, supposed that the supplicant was an artisan, responsible for the construction and maintenance of the road, next to which the rock with the inscription had been found ('Fabri est titulus qui viam munivit'). For a similar inscription from Lycia (southern Asia Minor) referring to the dedication of a road as a votive offering, see: E00848. The holy addressee of the invocation is mentioned in line 1, but his or her name is abbreviated and partially damaged. Hiller von Gaertringen expanded the abbreviation as 'Lord' (Κ(ύ)ριε). Henri Grégoire preferred to interpret it as the name of the God-Bearer (Θ(εοτό)κε). Dating: The grammar of the inscription points to a 6th c. or later date.

Bibliography

Edition: IGC - Grégoire, H (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure, vol. 1 (Paris: Leroux, 1922), no. 138. Hiller von Gaertringen, F. (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae, XII: Inscriptiones insularum maris Aegaei praeter Delum, vol. 1: Inscriptiones Rhodi, Chalces, Carpathi cum Saro, Casi (Berlin: Apud G. Reimerum, 1895), no. 916 (after his own copy and the examination of the stone).