Evidence ID
E01615Saint Name
Dionysios, martyr of Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus : S00850Saint Name in Source
ΔιονύσιοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
491Evidence not after
518Activity not before
491Activity not after
518Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus/HagioupolisPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus/Hagioupolis
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Seeking asylum at church/shrineCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Monarchs and their familySource
A fragmentary limestone altar (bomos), broken and lost on top. Preserved dimensions: H. 1.19 m; W. of the base 0.4 m; W. of the shaft 0.75 m; letter height 0.05 m. The first two lines are on a moulding, the rest is on the shaft.
Found in 1907, in a field, to the west of the ruins of Kyrrhos, by Franz Cumont. First published by Cumont in 1907.Discussion
The inscription marked the boundaries of the safe zone/asylum of a sanctuary dedicated to Saint Dionysios. The limits of this refuge were established by a privilege of asylum, awarded by the emperor Anastasius (491-518). For a similar marker, see: E00996 with two boundary stone inscriptions from the area of Ankyra in Galatia, central Asia Minor.
Franz Cumont, the first editor of the inscription, supposed that the mentioned Dionysios was Dionysius the Areopagite, a figure converted in Athens by the Apostle Paul, as reported by the Acts of the Apostles (17,34). Hippolyte Delehaye and the editors of Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, Louis Jalabert and René Mouterde, rightly note that this Dionysios had no cult in 6th c. Syria, and it is much more probable that here a local martyr, whose sanctuary is mentioned by Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his Religious History (E01616), is meant.
In 2018 Wojciech Nadobnik suggested that the church of Dionysios could be identified with the northwestern church of Cyrrhus, situated next to the city wall. His argument is based on the fact that, so-far, this is the only church in the city which has an enclosure, whereas one could expect such a structure in a church bestowed with the privilege of asylum. As a parallel, he cites the church of Saint Thalelaios (E02005), likewise within an enclosure, and with boundary stones granted by Anastasius.
The date is established by the reign of the emperor, referred to in line 5.Bibliography
Edition:
The Packard Humanities Institute database: PH242232.
Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 1: Commagène et Cyrrhestique (BAH 12, Paris: Librairie orientaliste P. Geuthner, 1929), no. 160.
Cumont, F., "Monuments syriens", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 51/7 (1907), 451-455.
Cumont, F., Études syriennes (Paris: Auguste Picard, 1917), 330-331, no. 38.
Further reading:
Anderson, J.G.C., Cumont, F., Grégoire, H., Studia Pontica, vol. 3, part 1: Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines du Ponte et de l'Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1910), comments to no. 254.
Delehaye, H., “Bulletin des publications hagiographiques”, Analecta Bollandiana 27 (1908), 88-89.
Nadobnik, W., "Kościół męczennika Dionizego w Cyrze (Nebi Houri, Syria) - próba identyfikacji [= The church of the martyr Dionysius in Cyrrhus (Nebi Houri, Syria), an attempt of identification]", Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae 28 (2018), 57-64.
