E01730: Greek inscription on a boundary stone of a church dedicated to *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found at ar-Raqqah (ancient Kallinikon; Osroene). Dated 590-602.
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
ar-Raqqah
Edessa
Edessa
Ἔδεσσα
Edessa
Cult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Seeking asylum at church/shrine
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Monarchs and their family
Source
A stone column shaft. There is no description of the object.
First published with a photograph by Jacques Jarry in 1968. We are grateful to Denis Feissel for providing us with a new reading of lines 2-3.
Discussion
The inscription marked the boundaries of the refuge zone of a church dedicated to Mary. The spelling of the text is very poor, even for a late antique inscription. Jarry supposes that the stone-cutter must have been a completely illiterate person, as he was unable to properly spell even set formulas, like the titles and names of emperors.
Dating: the date can be established by the occurrence of the names of the emperors Maurice and Theodosius. Their common reign falls in the period 590-602.
Bibliography
Edition:
Jarry, J., "Inscription gravée sur un fut de colonne", Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 18 (1968), 63-68.