E01834: Greek building inscriptions for metata (transit camps) named after military saints: *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023), *Theodore (soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, 00480), *Longinos (centurion at the Crucifixion, S00926), *George (soldier and martyr, S00259), and *Michael (the Archangel, S00181). Found in various locations in north and central Syria. Dated: 468-477, 524/525, and 526.

Inscription 1:
Limestone lintel, broken and lost at the right-hand end. H. 0.70 m; W. 1.25 m; Th. 0.46 m. The inscription is below a moulded band. Letter height 0.66 m. There is no published image.

Found in Raphaneai, between Apamea on the Orontes and Emesa (central Syria), amongst ruins with remnants of arches, near a spring (described by René Mouterde as a nymphaeum). First seen and copied by captain Vuilloud, a French military man, serving in Syria. A drawing and photograph were taken by René Mouterde when he revisited the site in April 1938. First referred to by Mouterde in 1949. The proper edition followed in 1955.

+ μητᾶτον τοῦ ἁγίου Σεργίου [μ]άρτυρο[ς - - -]

1. μητᾶτον Mouterde, ιμτατον Vuilloud

'+ Metaton of Saint Sergios, martyr [- - -]'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1397.

Dating: Mouterde dated the inscription to the 6th or 7th c., based on the forms of the letters.

Inscription 2:
A large lintel. Decorated with a carving of a square in the middle. Badly weathered. There is no detailed description or published image.

Found over the doorway of a tower in Al-Burj, between Amathe/Ḥamāh and Chalkis (north Syria). First recorded by the Princeton Expedition to Syria and published by William Prentice in 1922 (this editor, however, did not understand the first word). Republished with corrected readings by René Mouterde partially in 1949/1950 and completely in 1955, based on the edition by Prentice, without a new examination of the stone or photographs.

μητᾶτον τοῦ ἀρχανγέλο[υ] Μηχαὴλ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου
Λονγίνου τοῦ ἑκατοντάρχου· ἐκτήσθη ὁ πύργος οὗτος, ἔτους ζλωʹ, μ(ηνὸς) Παν(ήμου)

1. μητᾶτον Mouterde, μ(ε)τὰ τõν Prentice || 1-2. τοῦ ἁγίου Λονγίνου, τοῦ ἑκατοντάρχου, ἐκτήσθη ὁ πύργος Prentice

'Metaton of the Archangel Michael and of Saint Longinos the Centurion. This tower (pyrgos) was built in the year 837, in the month of Panemos.'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1610.

Dating: the date given according to the Seleucid era (the year 837, the month of Panemos), corresponds to July, AD 526.

Inscription 3:
Stone lintel, broken and lost at both ends. H. 0.38 m; W. 1.49 m. The inscription is engraved in two columns, flanking a carving of a cross within a circle. Another cross is to the right of the right-hand column. Letter height 0.05-0.09 m.

Found on the ground, in the courtyard of the church in Nawa, to the south of Apamea on the Orontes. First published, with a drawing by William Prentice, from a copy by Enno Littmann. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955.

[ἔ]τους μη(νὸς) Δίου λʹ,
[.]πψʹ, ἐπὶ Δανι-
ήλου φρ(οντιστοῦ)
τοῦ μ(ητάτου) (?) Σεργίου

3. φρ(οντιστοῦ) Feissel and Kaygusuz, φρ(ουράρχου) rather than φρ(ουμενταρίου) Mouterde, φρ = πρ(εσβυτέρου) Prentice || 4. ΤΟΥΜ ΣΕΡΓΙΟΥ copy, μ(ητάτου) or μ(άρτυρος) (?) Mouterde, τοῦ μ(άρτυρος) Σεργίου Prentice

'In the year 78[.], on 30th of the month of Dios, under Daniel, steward (phrontistes) of the metaton (?) of Sergios.'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1952 with completions by Feissel and Kaygusuz.

The inscription records the completion of an unspecified construction, certainly the building or its part, where the lintel was originally displayed. There have been several suggestions on expanding the abbreviations in lines 3 and 4 of the second column. William Prentice, the first editor, believed that the construction was supervised by a presbyter, but Mouterde, Feissel, and Kaygusuz pointed out that it was much more likely that the title of this figure was either phrourarches ('commander of the garrison') or simply phrontistes ('steward'). As for line 4, it is not clear, whether the name of Saint Sergios is preceded by a designation of the building, named after the saint ('metaton') or by the title of the saint ('martyr'). Of these two, the first option is preferred by Elizabeth Key-Fowden, who points to parallel inscriptions, naming metata in the region.

Dating: The partially preserved date, given in line 2, and computed according to the Seleucid era, must range from 780 to 789, which corresponds to AD 468-477.

Inscription 4:
A basalt lintel. H. 0.38 m; W. 1.92 m. The inscription is written in two columns, to the right and to the left of a carving of a cross within a circle, in low-relief.

Found at Ghour, in the territory of Emesa/Ḥimṣ. First recorded before 1900 by Henri Lammens. This scholar made a squeeze and took an imperfect copy of the text, as the lintel was partially covered by a wall. The stone was revisited by René Mouterde, apparently unaware of Lammens' find, and published by him together with a drawing in 1928. Republished by Louis Jalabert, René Mouterde, and Claude Mondésert in 1959.

μητ(ᾶτον) τ(οῦ) ἁγ(ίου) Λ- ονγίν(ου) κ(αὶ) τ(οῦ) ἁγ(ίου)
Θεοδώρ(ου) κ(αὶ) τ(οῦ) ἁ- γ(ίου) Γεοργ(ίου) τ(οῦ) ϛλωʹ

'Metaton of Saint Longinos, and of Saint Theodore, and of Saint George. In the (year) 836.'

Text: IGLS 5, no. 2155.

Dating: the year, here computed according to the Seleucid era as 836, corresponds to AD 524/525.