θ(εο)ῦ χάρις. ὐκτήριον τ- ῶν ἀρχαγγέλων, κτισ-
θέντα παρὰ τοῦ λαμπ- (christogram) ροτάτου Διογένους
ἔτους ηλωʹ, ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) εʹ. +
'(christogram) Grace of God! (This) oratory (eukterion) of the Archangels was built by the clarissimus (lamprotatos) Diogenes. In the year 838, the 5th indiction.+'
Text: IGLS 4, no. 1570.
Evidence ID
E01838Saint Name
Archangels (unspecified) : S00191
Gabriel, the Archangel : S00192
Michael, the Archangel : S00181Saint Name in Source
ἀρχάγγελοιType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Evidence not before
526Evidence not after
527Activity not before
526Activity not after
527Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Fa‘loūl
Androna
Apamea on the Orontes
ḤamāhPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Fa‘loūl
Thabbora
Thabbora
Androna
Thabbora
Thabbora
Apamea on the Orontes
Thabbora
Thabbora
Ḥamāh
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Bequests, donations, gifts and offeringsCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Aristocrats
OfficialsSource
Basalt lintel. H. 0.78 m; W. 3.10 m. Decorated in the middle with a low-relief carving of a cross with eight arms within a circle. Two lines of the inscription are engraved in low-relief at the top of the circle, on bands. The last line, also on a band, is below the circle. Letter height: lines 1-2: 0.09-0.10 m; line 3: 0.04-0.06 m.
Found to the east of the so-called circular church at Fa'loūl by the Princeton expedition to Syria. When recorded, the stone was half-buried in the ground. First published with a drawing in 1922 by William Prentice from a copy by Enno Littmann. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, after the edition by Prentice.Discussion
The inscription commemorates the construction of an oratory (eukterion) dedicated to unspecified Archangels, apparently the building next to which it was found, as Prentice noted that no other significant structure was recorded at the site. It seems that one of these Archangels could be Gabriel, as he is invoked in another inscription from Fa'loūl (see: E01839).
This is one of the longest lintels with dedicatory inscriptions, found in north Syria.
Dating: the date, given in line 3, is computed according to the Seleucid era. Its year 838 corresponds to AD 526/527.Bibliography
Edition:
Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Mondésert, Cl., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 4: Laodicée, Apamène (BAH 61, Paris: Librairie orientalise Paul Geuthner, 1955), no. 1570.
Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University of archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 108, no. 1050.
Further reading:
Butler, H.C. (ed.), Syria, Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, division II: Ancient Architecture in Syria, part B: North Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1920), 95 (description of the find-spot).
Peña, I., Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 19, 26.
Trombley, F.R., Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529, vol. 2 (Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill, 1994), 301.
