E01254: Greek inscription on a boundary stone marking estates owned by a church of Michael (the Archangel, S00181) and of an otherwise unknown saint, probably Apikrantios (local martyr of the Aegean Islands, S00760). Found in the city of Naxos on the island of Naxos (Aegean Islands). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

online resource

posted on 2016-04-08, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

τοῦ ἀρχαν-
γέλου Μιχα-
ὴλ ὅροι καὶ το-
ῦ ἁγίου Ἀπικρ(αντίου)

1-2. ἀρχαγ|γέλου Kontoleon Ridder || 4. Απικρ Kontoleon ΑΠΙΚΡ... Ridder

'Boundaries (of the church) of the Archangel Michael and of Saint Apikrantios (?).'

Text: Kiourtzian 2000, no. 29.

History

Evidence ID

E01254

Saint Name

Michael, the Archangel : S00181 Apikrantios, probably a martyr in the Aegean Islands : S00760

Saint Name in Source

Μιχαήλ Ἀπικρ(άντιος)

Related Saint Records

Image Caption 1

From: Kontoleon 1960, photograph 5.

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

450

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

450

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Aegean islands and Cyprus Aegean islands and Cyprus

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Naxos (island) Naxos (city)

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

Naxos (island) Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia Naxos (city) Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Awarding privileges to cult centres

Source

A completely preserved white marble slab. H. 0,42 m; W. 0,75 m; Th. 0.24 m; letter height 0.05-0.11 m. Found before 1897 in the city of Naxos. When recorded, it was kept in the garden of a local man, Joseph Sommaripa, next to the ruins of "a castle of the ancient dukes / château des anciens ducs". First edited by André de Ridder in 1897. Currently housed in the Archaeological Museum of Naxos.

Discussion

The inscription marked the boundaries of estates (or less probably of the area protected by the privilege of asylum, see: de Ridder 1897, 24) belonging to the church of Michael the Archangel and to the sanctuary of a saint, whose name is abbreviated as ΑΠΙΚΡ. Earlier editors did not attempt to expand it, but Georges Kiourtzian completed it as Apikr(antios), as this name occurs in an invocation on the island of Syros, mentioning a sailor Isidoros, son of Apikrantios, from the island of Gyaros (see: Kiourtzian 2000, no. 117). The name Apikrantios is rare, and the hagiographic tradition says nothing about any saint bearing it. Kiourtzian plausibly identifies the figure as a local martyr of the Cyclades, unknown in other regions. Both the sanctuary of Michael and the presumed sanctuary of Apikrantios are otherwise unattested. Though this inscription does not say so explicitly, boundary stones were usually bestowed upon sanctuaries by emperors. Dating: probably late 5th or 6th c., as other boundary stones are usually authorised by emperors of this period.

Bibliography

Edition: Kiourtzian, G., Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes des Cyclades, de la fin du IIIe au VIIIe siècle après J.-C., (Travaux et mémoires du Centre de recherche d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance. Monographies 12, Paris: De Boccard, 2000), no. 29. Kontoleon, N.M., “Είδήσεις περὶ τῶν χριστιανικῶν μνημείων τῆς Νάξου”, in: M. Myrtides (ed.), Εἰς μνήμην Κ. Ἀμάντου (1874-1960), (Athens: , 1960), 473. de Ridder, A., "Inscriptions de Paros est Naxos", Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 21 (1897), 24, no. 11. Further reading: Kiourtzian, G., "Pietas insulariorum", [in:] Eupsychia: mélanges offerts à Hélène Ahrweiler, vol. 2 (Série Byzantina Sorbonensia 16, Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1998), 369-370, 373. Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1962), 260. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 50, 771.