Evidence ID
E01968Saint Name
Kosmas, martyr of the area of Sekizlar (north Syria), ob. 110/111 : S01005Saint Name in Source
ܩܙܡܐType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
300Evidence not after
750Activity not before
300Activity not after
750Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Sekizlar
Hierapolis EuphratensisPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Sekizlar
Thabbora
Thabbora
Hierapolis Euphratensis
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - unspecifiedCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsSource
A stone stele. H. 0.32 m; W. 0.66 m; Th. 0.42 m. Letter height 0.04-0.07 m. When recorded it was reused as the base of a pillar in a stable.
Seen and copied by Jacques Jarry in 1963 (while he was a member of the 1963 expedition led by Georges Tchalenko), and published in 1967.Discussion
The inscription mentions an otherwise unattested martyr Kosmas. His martyrdom is dated according to the Seleucid era. Its year, read by Jarry as 442 (for his comments on the legibility of each sign of this number, see: his p. 158), corresponds to AD 110/111, therefore the reign of the emperor Trajan. A reference to the exact date of the martyrdom of a saint is an uncommon feature in inscriptions.
Though the inscription reads literally that it was erected 'in memory' of Kosmas, it is very unlikely to be an epitaph for this martyr. Jarry notes that this Syriac formula might be used in the sense of 'for the glory' of the saint, as a Syriac inscription from Dahes (Jarry 1967, no. 19) records the construction of a church 'in memory of Christ' (i.e. 'for the glory of Christ'). Our inscription is therefore also likely to celebrate the completion of a similar undertaking.
Dating: The date given in line 4 almost certainly does not refer to the carving of the inscription. According to Jarry the letter forms suggest that the text is contemporary to the Syriac inscription from Dahes mentioned above, which means that it probably dates to the late antique period.Bibliography
Edition:
Jarry, J., “Inscriptions arabes, syriaques et grecques du massif du Bélus en Syrie du nord”, Annales islamologiques 7 (1967), 157, no. 32.
Further reading:
Peña, I., Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie (Milan: Franciscan Printing Press, 2000), 27.
