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E02020: Fragmentary Greek inscription naming a church (naos), reportedly monastic, dedicated probably to *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023). Found at Jizeh, midway between Bostra and Adraha (north Arabia). Probably 6th c.

online resource

posted on 2016-11-19, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

+ ναοῦ ἁγίου Σ[εργίου - - -]

'+ Of the church (naos) of Sergios (?) [- - -]'

Text: IGLS 13/2, no. 9716.

History

Evidence ID

E02020

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.) Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Arabia Arabia Arabia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Jizeh Bosra Adraha

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

Jizeh Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Bosra Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Adraha Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

Monastery

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Construction of cult buildings

Source

A stone lintel, fully preserved, but with an inscription only partially preserved. W. 2.00 m. There is no other published description. Seen over a doorway in the ruined monastery at Jizeh by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1894. The stone has never been recorded since. Schumacher published only a drawing without transcription or commentary on the contents. Republished by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat in 2011, based on the earlier edition.

Discussion

Maurice Sartre notes that the inscription resembles the beginning of E02014, but the size of the stone block suggests that the now lost right-hand part must have differed from that long commemorative text with its detailed dating formula. The name of the saint is largely lost, but as E02014 proves that Sergios was venerated in Jizeh, one can plausibly restore his name also on our lintel. Dating: the inscription must have been more or less contemporary to other dated lintels from Jizeh: E02009 (AD 538/539) and E02014 (AD 590). Therefore, a date in the 6th c. is plausible.

Bibliography

Edition: Sartre, M., Sartre-Fauriat, A. (eds.), Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 13/2: Bostra (Supplément) et la plaine de la Nuqrah (BAH 194, Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2011), no. 9716. Schumacher, G., "Das südliche Basan", Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästina-Vereins 20 (1897), 136. Further reading: Clermont-Ganneau, Ch., "Inscriptions grecques de Syrie", Recueil d'archéologie orientale 4 (1901), 161. Sartre-Fauriat, A., "Georges, Serge, Élie et quelques autres saints connus et inédits de la province d'Arabie", in: Fr. Prévot (ed.), Romanité et cité chrétienne. Permances et mutations. Intégration et exclusion du Ier au VIe siècle. Mélanges en l'honneur d'Yvette Duval (Paris: De Boccard, 2000), 300.