E01889: Greek inscription invoking the help of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023), for lodgers of a house. Found at Rabde near Apamea on the Orontes and Ḥamāh/Amathe (central Syria). Probably the late 5th-7th c.

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posted on 2016-10-03, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

+ ἅ<γ>ιε Σ<έργι>, βωή<θ>ησο<ν>
<τ>ο<ὺ>ς μένο- ντας ὧ<δε>· ἀμ<ή>ν, ϙ<θ>ʹ

'+Saint Sergios, help those who stay here. Amen, 99.'

Text: IGLS 4, no. 1831.

History

Evidence ID

E01889

Saint Name

Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023

Saint Name in Source

Σέργιος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Sergios_soldier_and_martyr_of_Rusafa/13729165

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

480

Evidence not after

750

Activity not before

480

Activity not after

750

Place of Evidence - Region

Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia Syria with Phoenicia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Apamea on the Orontes Ḥamāh Rabde

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

Apamea on the Orontes Thabbora Thabbora Ḥamāh Thabbora Thabbora Rabde Thabbora Thabbora

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

Hospital and other charitable institutions

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

The inscription is over the doorway of a house, near the entrance to the village. The lintel was decorated with a carving of a cross within a square. When recorded, the face was badly weathered, and so the text needed numerous completions. Recorded by Max von Oppenheim and published from his copy by Hans Lucas in 1905. Republished by René Mouterde in 1955, based on Lucas' edition.

Discussion

Though not easy to read, the inscription seems to be an invocation of Sergios on behalf of people staying in the house (or a hostel?), where it was displayed. The invocation ends with the word Amen, followed by its numerical equivalent (99). Dating: this kind of short invocation of Sergios is unlikely to predate the late 5th c. when his cult became popular.

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. 1831. Lucas, H., "Griechische und lateinische Inschriften aus Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kleinasien", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 14 (1905), 39, no. 46 (from a copy by von Oppenheim).