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E01873: Greek inscription on a lintel, with the names of the Apostles *Paul (S00008) and *Peter (S00036). Found at Ḥarāke, near Apamea on the Orontes (central Syria). Probably late antique.

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posted on 2016-09-30, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
Παῦλος Πέτρος

'Paul. Peter.'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1581.

History

Evidence ID

E01873

Saint Name

Paul, the Apostle : S00008 Peter the Apostle : S00036

Saint Name in Source

Παῦλος Πέτρος

Type of Evidence

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

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

750

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

750

Place of Evidence - Region

Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Apamea on the Orontes Ḥarāke

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

Apamea on the Orontes Thabbora Thabbora Ḥarāke Thabbora Thabbora

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Source

Large basalt lintel. Inscription with carved letters. Letter height 0.05 m. Length of the line 0.43 m. Recorded by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria, in a field, to the south of the village. First published by William Prentice in 1922. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, based on the edition by Prentice. Possibly seen also by Richard Pococke, an English prelate and anthropologist, while on his tour across the Near East (1737-1741) and published by him as a drawing in the reports of his journeys in 1745 (see the comments in IGLS 4, no. 1581).

Discussion

The inscription contains only the names 'Paul' and 'Peter', probably referring to the two Apostles. For a similar text, but with the names given in inverted order, see the inscription from Rouweiha: E01816. Probably on the basis of the size and shape of the lintel (which is, however, not described in their editions) Prentice, and after him Mouterde, suggested that the lintel came from a church or chapel dedicated to Paul and Peter. The inscription could however have been engraved over a doorway of another structure, for apotropaic/protective reasons. For a church dedicated to unspecified Apostles in a nearby village, see E01872.

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. 1581. 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), 101, nos. 1032. Possibly also: Pococke, R., A description of the East, and some other countries, vol. 2, part 1: Observations on Palaestine or the Holy Land, Syria, Mesopotamia, Cyprus, and Candia (London: W. Bowyer, 1745), 148.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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