Evidence ID
E01422Saint Name
Unnamed martyrs (or name lost) : S00060Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Evidence not before
380Evidence not after
450Activity not before
380Activity not after
450Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
MesopotamiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Hülümen/Tınazdere
ZeugmaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Hülümen/Tınazdere
Thabbora
Thabbora
Zeugma
Edessa
Edessa
Ἔδεσσα
EdessaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Bequests, donations, gifts and offeringsCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Women
OfficialsSource
Floor-mosaic consisting of at least nine panels. H. 33.25 m; W. 19.25 m (only partially unearthed). Made of white, grey, yellow, green, red, brown, violet, blue, and black tesserae. Decorated with geometric, floral, and animal motifs.
Panel II contains a dedicatory inscription within a tabula ansata, transcribed above. The corners of the text field are decorated by leaves. Letter height 0.12 m.
The mosaic floor was found in 1967 near the village of Hülümen/Tınazdere, among olive trees, to the south of the settlement. The shape of the floor suggests the existence of a three-aisled basilica, that can be identified as a martyr shrine (martyrion), on the basis of our inscription. The site was excavated by Süheyla Keskil, director of the Archaeological Museum of Antakya, and by Hasan Candemir, in the autumn of 1967. The excavations revealed the remnants of the foundations of the basilica.
145 m2 of the mosaic floor were taken to the Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology.Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of a martyr shrine. Unfortunately, it does not say, which martyr was venerated in the sanctuary.
Louis Robert plausibly argued that lines 3-4, containing the reference to the founders of the basilica, should be completed as πολιτευ[όμενος σὺν τῇ] συνβίῳ αὐ[τοῦ]/'member [of the] city [council with] his wife'. The construction of this martyr shrine was, however, a private act, and not one of the official duties of this man.
The excavators date the building to the late 4th-early 5th c. on the basis of one coin of Arcadius (383-405) found on the site, but in reality the dating of the building is very uncertain.Bibliography
Edition:
Candemir, H., Wagner, J., “Christliche Mosaiken in der nördlichen Euphratesia” [in:] Şahin, S., Schwertheim, E., Wagner, J. (eds.), Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens: Festschrift für Friedrich Karl Dörner zum 65. Geburtstag am 28. Februar 1976, vol. 1 (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain 66, Leiden: Brill, 1978), 221.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1979), 603 (improved reconstruction).
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 28, 1323.
