Evidence ID
E02244Saint Name
Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033Saint Name in Source
ΜαρίαType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
450Evidence not after
800Activity not before
450Activity not after
800Place of Evidence - Region
Arabia
ArabiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Bosra
Ta'lehPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Bosra
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
Shakka
Ta'leh
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
ShakkaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Officials
SoldiersSource
Probably a lintel, apparently complete at both ends but possibly broken on top and bottom. Dimensions unknown. Now lost.
The inscription was seen and copied by William John Bankes, during his journeys in the Mediterranean between 1815 and 1820 (for his work in the Near East, see the comments in E02194). The copy remained unpublished until 2011, when it was edited by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat.Discussion
The inscription is a simple invocation of Mary, Mother of Christ (here named the Holy Mary and not Theotokos/the God-Bearer).
The supplicant is called 'domestikos'. The Sartres note that this epithet was characteristic of high-ranking officials, e.g. prefects, magistri militum, magistri officiorum, but also of provincial governors and members of the imperial guard. Consequently, they suggest that our supplicant could have been a governor of the province of Arabia, possibly of Arab origin as he bears a quite distinctive name, or a soldier in a military unit of domestici.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. 9826.