Evidence ID
E01630Saint Name
Michael, the Archangel : S00181Saint Name in Source
ΜιχαήλType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
500Evidence not after
600Activity not before
500Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
AndronaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Androna
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Source
Broken into three pieces.
Fragments A and B: Two non-conjoining fragments of a stone lintel. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.525 m; W. respectively 0.43 m and 0.505 m. Found at Androna (modern Al-Andarin), c. 100 m to the south of the citadel and to the east of the cathedral. First published by Abednego Seller in 1696.
Fragment C: The third, central part of the lintel was found by the German archaeological mission, excavating the citadel in the period 1997-2001, and published by Christine Strube in 2003. The fragment was found to the southeast of Church 1. H. 0.525 m; W. 2.60 m; Th. 0.51 m.Discussion
The inscription contains the 20th verse of Psalm 118, followed by the name of Michael the Archangel. The shape of the stone suggests that it was originally displayed over a doorway.
Strube suggests that the name of the Archangel indicates that the inscription comes from a church dedicated to Michael, possibly the church mentioned in the inscription on a boundary stone found at Androna, and published by Marc Griesheimer in 2001 (see: E01631). She notes, however, that the two inscriptions might also refer to two different buildings.Bibliography
Edition:
Strube, Chr., "Androna/al Andarin. Vorbericht über die Grabungskampagnen in den Jahren 1997-2001", Archäologischer Anzeiger (2003), 31.
Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Mondésert, Cl., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 4: Laodicée, Apamène (BAH 61, Paris: Librairie orientalise Paul Geuthner, 1955), no. 1688.
Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 54, no. 929 and errata.
Waddington, W.H., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie (Paris: Firmin Didot Frères, Libraires-Éditeurs, 1870), no. 2637b.
Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, nos. 8843 and 8931.
Seller, A., The antiquities of Palmyra, containing the history of the city, and its emperors, from its foundation to the present time. With an appendix of critical observations on the names, religion, and government of the country, and a commentary on the inscriptions lately found there, Appendix (London, 1696), 171, no. III and probably no. IV.
Further reading:
DACL, s.v. Citat. bibl. col. 1735
Mundell Mango, M., "Byzantine settlement expansion in north central Syria: the case of Androna/Andarin", in: A. Borrut, M. Debié, A. Papaconstantinou, D. Pieri, J.-P. Sodini (eds.), Le Proche-Orient de Justinien aux Abassides : peuplement et dynamiques spatiales : actes du colloque "Continuités de l'occupation entre les périodes byzantine et abbasside au Proche-Orient, VIIe-IXe siècles," Paris, 18-20 octobre 2007 (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 19, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), 93-122.
Mundell Mango, M., "Androna and the late antique cities of Oriens" in: E. Rizos (ed.), New Cities in Late Antiquity. Documents and Archaeology (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité Tardive 35, Turnhout: Brepols, 2017), 189-204.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (2005), 514.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 53, 1787.
