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E01616: Theodoret's Religious History includes a mention of a shrine of *Dionysios, martyr of Cyrrhus/Kyrrhos (S00850), sited near the city of Kyrrhos. Written c. 440 in Greek in Kyrrhos (Syria).

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posted on 2016-06-08, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
II.21

∆ιὰ δὲ τῆς Κύρρου τὴν πορείαν ποιούμενος - πόλις δὲ αὕτη δύο σταθμοὺς Ἀντιοχείας ἀπέχουσα -, κατήχθη μὲν εἰς τὸν τοῦ νικηφόρου μάρτυρος ∆ιονυσίου σηκόν.

'Making his journey through Cyrrhus - this city is two stages from Antioch -, he lodged at the shrine (sekos) of the victorious martyr Dionysios.'

Text: Canivet & Leroy-Molinghen 1977-1979, vol. 1, 240. Translation: Price 1985, 33.

History

Evidence ID

E01616

Saint Name

Dionysios, martyr of Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus : S00850

Saint Name in Source

Διονύσιος

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Monastic collections (apophthegmata, etc.)

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

430

Evidence not after

450

Activity not before

430

Activity not after

450

Place of Evidence - Region

Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus/Hagioupolis

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

Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus/Hagioupolis Thabbora Thabbora

Major author/Major anonymous work

Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Religious History

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

In this work Theodoret presents an account of the lives and accomplishments of Christian holy men and women, who lived during the fourth and fifth centuries. Most of the ascetics described by Theodoret were active in Syria, with the region of Cyrrhestica as the most prominent setting. For a full discussion, see E00418.

Discussion

A boundary stone, probably related to this shrine, was found in 1907 by Franz Cumont, see: E01615. In 2018 Wojciech Nadobnik suggested that this passage and the church of Dionysios attested by the boundary stone refer to one and the same building which 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.

Bibliography

Edition: Canivet, P., and Leroy-Molinghen, A. (eds.), Théodoret de Cyr. Histoire des moines de Syrie. 2 vols (Sources chrétiennes 234, 257; Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1977, 1979). English translation: Price, R.M. (trans.), A History of the Monks of Syria by Theodoret of Cyrrhus (Cistercian Studies Series 88; Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1985). Further reading: 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.

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00850History

    Licence

    CC0

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