The inscription is not easy to read. The copy by Jean Lassus says: ΠΑΠΙΙΩΑΜΕ which was interpreted as ὁ ἅγιος .αμε by Lassus himself and as <ὁ> ἅγι(ος) Ἰωά<ν>ε[ς]/'Saint John' by René Mouterde. Perhaps one should read here <ἀ>πα Ἰωά<ν>ε[ς]/'Saint (Apa) John', given the presence of a depiction of a hermit/stylite just below the inscription.
Evidence ID
E01880Saint Name
John (unspecified) : S00043Saint Name in Source
ἸωάνηςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Images and objects - Representative images
Images and objects - Sculpture/reliefs
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elementsEvidence not before
459Evidence not after
750Activity not before
459Activity not after
750Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Apamea on the Orontes
ḤawaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Apamea on the Orontes
Thabbora
Thabbora
Ḥawa
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Use of Images
- Public display of an image
Source
Plaque from the chancel screen probably of Church B at Ḥawa. H. 1.05 m; W. 0.31 m. Its face is decorated with a carving of a hooded stylite on a platform. The platform is set on top of two columns, and is accessible by a ladder. The inscription is above the head of the stylite. The figure itself has been defaced.
For the church and another figured relief, probably from the same chancel screen, see E01876.
Found in the 1930s by Jean Lassus, reused in a village well, to the north of Church B.Discussion
Jean Lassus, the first editor of this relief, noted that structures similar to that depicted on this relief were found by Howard Butler during his survey of Syrian villages, who identified them as platform of hermits, more comfortable than the columns used by 'real' stylites.
Mouterde notes that a number of stylites, named Ioannes/John, are known, and that we cannot therefore identify this figure. He need not be a very local saint as, for example, depictions of both Symeon Stylites the Older and Symeon Stylites the Younger were widely diffused and commonly venerated in the East.
For a similar depiction of a stylite (probably Symeon the Elder) on a pillar, also probably from a chancel screen, see: E01785.
Dating: the depiction must postdate the death of Symeon Stylites the Elder in 459 who was the founder of the stylite movement. A date in the 6th or 7th c., when this kind of ascetic practice became popular, is probable.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. 1774.
Lassus, J., Inventaire archéologique de la région au nord-est de Hama (Documents d'Études Orientales 4, Damascus: Institut français de Damas, [1935-1936?]), vol. 1: Text, 100, no. 56, fig. 109 and vol. 2: Planches, X, plate XVIII 1.
Further reading:
Peña, I., Castellana, P., Fernandez, R., Les Stylites syriens (Milan: Centro propaganda e stampa, 1975), 175.
