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E01769: Fragmentary Greek inscription with an invocation of *Sergios, (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Et-Tuweiri near Tyre (southwest Phoenicia/northwest Galilee). Probably 6th c.

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posted on 2016-07-25, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
[βοήθ]̣ι, ἅγιε Σέργι. ἀ[μήν]

'Saint Sergios, [help! Amen].'

Text: Di Segni in SEG 57, 1809.

History

Evidence ID

E01769

Saint Name

Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023

Saint Name in Source

Σέργις

Type of Evidence

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

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

450

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

450

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Tyre Et-Tuweiri Qibbuz Kabri

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

Tyre Thabbora Thabbora Et-Tuweiri Thabbora Thabbora Qibbuz Kabri Thabbora Thabbora

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Source

Fragmentary inscription in regular letters on a high quality moulded marble slab, broken and lost on both sides, probably an architectural element. Found in October of 2004, in the ruins of a 'Byzantine' church at Et-Tuweiri near Qibbuz Kabri (area of Tyre), during the excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. A photograph and description were published by Howard Smithline in 2007. A transcription was prepared by Leah Di Segni and sent for publication to Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.

Discussion

The inscription is very fragmentarily preserved and Leah Di Segni prudently notes that her reconstruction is just a hypothesis. What we have is the name 'Saint Sergios' in the vocative form, preceded by a faint trace of a letter, probably iota, and followed by the letter alpha. The interpretation of this sequence as an invocation, ending with the word amen is a very plausible solution: βοήθι, ἅγιε Σέργι. ἀμήν/'Saint Sergios, help! Amen.' Dating: based on the contents and the forms of letters, Di Segni dates the text to the 6th c. or less probably the late 5th c.

Bibliography

Edition: Smithline, H., "Et-Tuweiri", Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel 119 (2007) (on-line report, available at: http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=515&mag_id=112): photograph and translation. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 57, 1809 (Greek text by Leah Di Segni).

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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