Evidence ID
E01423Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023Saint Name in Source
Σέργ[ιος]Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Evidence not before
431Evidence not after
431Activity not before
431Activity not after
431Place of Evidence - Region
Mesopotamia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Zeugma
Yukarı SöğütlüPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Zeugma
Edessa
Edessa
Ἔδεσσα
Edessa
Yukarı Söğütlü
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsSource
A fragmentary mosaic floor, made of white, grey, red, and black pebbles. Size of the uncovered section: H. 3,08 m; W. 2,8 m; letter height 0.1 m. A geometric pattern runs around the panel with the inscription. The ornaments have the form of octagons and lozenges.
The mosaic was found by Jörg Wagner in the lobby of the city hall in Yukarı Söğütlü, under the modern floor. Only a part of the mosaic was uncovered, as it probably stretches also under two nearby houses (the lost, right-hand part of the inscription is under the present wall of the building). Remarkably, the walls of houses at the site contain five column bases and a capital. Hasan Candemir suggested that these were all remains of the martyr shrine of Sergios, mentioned by our inscription.Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of a martyr shrine of Sergios at the site where the mosaic was found. Its most important feature is the date, the year 743, occurring in line 1. If the era is correctly identified as the Seleucid era, which is the usual chronological system of this region, this corresponds to AD 431.
Candemir rightly stresses that such an early sanctuary of Sergios deserves special attention, as most of the near Eastern martyr shrines of Sergios date to the 6th c. It might be that our shrine was built soon after the completion of the most famous martyrion of Sergios, in nearby Rusafa by Alexander, bishop of Hierapolis in Syria, before 433 (for the cult of Sergios in Rusafa, see: E01440; E01460). Alexander opened the tomb of Sergios located outside the city walls of Rusafa and moved the body to the new sanctuary. It is possible that some relics of Sergios were then harvested and distributed in the region. Some of the could have been housed in our martyr shrine.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), 231.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1979), 603.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 28, 1325.
