Evidence ID
E01839Saint Name
Gabriel, the Archangel : S00192Saint Name in Source
ΓαβριήλType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
450Evidence not after
750Activity not before
450Activity not after
470Place 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
Prayer/supplication/invocationSource
Basalt corbel. Decorated with a carving of a cross in low-relief on the under side. The upper surface has a circular socket, possibly for a small post. The inscription is on the right-hand side. Line 1: length 0.785 m; letter height 0.045-0.05 m. Line 2: length 0.64 m; letter height 0.045-0.05 m.
Found in a courtyard, in the eastern outskirts of the settlement by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria. First published with a drawing by William Prentice in 1922. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, after the edition by Prentice.Discussion
The inscription contains an invocation of Gabriel the Archangel. Howard Butler and William Prentice hypothetically suggested that the corbel, on which it was written, might have supported a pulpit, possibly in the local oratory of the Archangels (see: E01838), from where it could have been brought to the courtyard. This possibility was later considered certain by Mouterde.
Dating: The inscription is not dated, but this kind of short invocation was especially popular from the late 5th c. The oratory dedicated to Archangels was built in Fa'loūl at 526/527, so there is a good chance that our inscription also belongs to the 6th c.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. 1572.
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), 109, no. 1052.
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), 99-100 (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.
