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E01728: Greek inscription on a reused sarcophagus with an invocation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found at Kalliopi (island of Lemnos; Aegean Islands). Possibly late antique.

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posted on 2016-07-15, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
μί(τη)ρ θ(εο)ῦ

ἡ δού- λη τοῦ
θ(εο)ῦ Καλή

'Mother of God. (Here lies) the servant of God Kale.'

Text: IG 12,8, no. 42.

History

Evidence ID

E01728

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

480

Evidence not after

1300

Activity not before

480

Activity not after

1300

Place of Evidence - Region

Aegean islands and Cyprus Aegean islands and Cyprus

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Lemnos Kalliopi

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

Lemnos Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia Kalliopi Salamis Σαλαμίς Salamis Salamis Farmagusta Far Κωνσταντία Konstantia Constantia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women

Source

A tuff sarcophagus. The inscription was carved on one of the long faces, apparently in the Christian period. Letter height 0.015-0.035 m. The sarcophagus also bears poorly preserved pagan epitaphs for previous owners. Found near the modern church of St. Anna, at the village of Kalliopi. Seen and copied (drawing, squeeze) by Carl Friedrich before 1909.

Discussion

The inscription is an invocation of Mary, probably on behalf of the person buried in the sarcophagus, a certain woman named Kale. Dating: Such short invocations are usually undatable, but the presence of the 'servant-of-God' formula points to a fairly late period: possibly the late 5th/7th c., or even middle Byzantine times.

Bibliography

Edition: Friedrich, C. (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae, vol. 12, part 8: Inscriptiones insularum maris Thracici: Lemnos, Imbros, Samothrace, Thasos, Skiathos (etc.) and Skyros (Berlin: Apud G. Reimerum, 1909), no. 42. Further reading: Kiourtzian, G., "Pietas insulariorum", [in:] Eupsychia: mélanges offerts à Hélène Ahrweiler, vol. 2 (Série Byzantina Sorbonensia 16, Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1998), 376.

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    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00033History

    Licence

    CC0

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