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E01686: Fragmentary Greek inscription on a lintel, probably invoking *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found at Kafr Aqid, to the south of Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Probably late antique.

online resource

posted on 2016-07-01, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[Χριστὸ]ν (?) Μαρία γ(εννᾷ). + Γε[ώργις (?)]

'Mary bears Christ (?). + Georgios (?)'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1387.

History

Evidence ID

E01686

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

Μαρία

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Mary_Mother_of_Christ/13729186

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

700

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

700

Place of Evidence - Region

Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Apamea on the Orontes Kafr Aqid

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

Apamea on the Orontes Thabbora Thabbora Kafr Aqid Thabbora Thabbora

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Fragment of a stone lintel, broken and lost at both ends. Decorated with a carving of a cross within a circle in the centre; remnants of an inscription to the right and left of it. H. 0.38 m; W. 0.80 m; letter height 0.18 m. Numerous ligatures. Seen and copied by René Mouterde between 1935 and 1938. First published in 1950.

Discussion

René Mouterde supposed that the complete text contained one of the presumed expansions of the symbol ΧΜΓ, very frequent in eastern Greek inscriptions. Mouterde believed that here it was used as an apotropaic formula, displayed over the door of a house in order to protect it. The name of the owner of this building, possibly Georgios, might have followed the religious phrase.

Bibliography

Edition: Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Mondésert, C., Les inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 4: Laodicée, Apamène (BAH 61, Paris: P. Guethner, 1955), no. 1387. Mouterde, R., "A travers l'Apamène", Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph (Beyrouth, Lebanon) 28 (1949-1950), 32-33. Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1952), 160.