Evidence ID
E02083Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023Saint Name in Source
ΣέργιοςImage Caption 1
Photograph. From: I. Jordanie 5/1, 63.Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Evidence not before
489Evidence not after
600Activity not before
489Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Arabia
ArabiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Bosra
Umm es-SurabPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Bosra
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
Shakka
Umm es-Surab
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
ShakkaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationSource
Stone block. Broken and lost at the top and left-hand end. H. 0.22 m; W. 0.955 m. Letter height 0.08-0.09 m.
Found above a doorway in the west sector of the courtyard in front of the main church of the village (presumed to be dedicated to Saints Sergios and Bakchos and discussed in E02079). A preliminary transcription was published in 2000 by Annie Sartre-Fauriat. The proper first edition, by Nabil Bader, followed in 2009, based on an examination of the stone and a photograph.Discussion
The inscription certainly contains an invocation of mercy. As the name Sergios is in the genitive case, we can assume that the saint was not invoked directly, but that the request was addressed to 'the God of Saint Sergios'.
The editor, probably rightly, supposes that the church where the inscription was found was dedicated to Saints Sergios and Bakchos, as a lintel with a relevant dedicatory inscription was found over the main doorway of the building (see E02079). It seems, however, that in our inscription Sergios was mentioned without his companion.
The contents of the preserved line 2 are not clear. As for the date, we can suggest the late 5th or 6th c., as the lintel inscription mentioned above commemorates the construction of the church in AD 489. This was also the time when the cult of Sergios was rapidly spreading in the East, as evidenced by other building inscriptions.Bibliography
Edition:
Bader, N. (ed.), Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 21: Inscriptions de la Jordanie, part 5: La Jordanie du Nord-Est, fasc. 1 (Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2009), no. 62.
Further reading:
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), 303-304, note 60.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 50, 1518; 50, 1545.
