Evidence ID
E01973Saint Name
Anonymous martyrs : S00060Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - GraffitiEvidence not before
400Evidence not after
750Activity not before
400Activity not after
750Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Beroia
BurdaqliPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Beroia
Thabbora
Thabbora
Burdaqli
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsSource
A graffito on the north wall of a church (the editor does not specify which of two possible churches is in question). Dimensions of the inscribed field: H. 0.46 m; W. 0.70 m. Letter height 0.05-0.10 m.
Seen and copied (transcription, photograph, squeeze) by Jacques Jarry in 1963 (while he was a member of the 1963 expedition led by Georges Tchalenko), and published in 1967.Discussion
As reported by the editor, the inscription is not a proper building inscription, but rather a graffito. Its poor state of preservation allows for only conjectural interpretation, but it is plausible that the text referred to a martyr who enjoyed in Heaven the reward for his suffering. It is also possible that the church on which the text was written was dedicated to this saint.Bibliography
Edition:
Jarry, J., “Inscriptions arabes, syriaques et grecques du massif du Bélus en Syrie du nord”, Annales islamologiques 7 (1967), 145, no. 9.
Further reading:
For a description of the site and the two late antique churches, see:
Butler, H.C., Smith E.B., Early churches in Syria: fourth to seventh centuries (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1969), 129.
Milson, W.D., Art and architecture of the synagogue in late antique Palestine: in the shadow of the church (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007), 254-256.
