Evidence ID
E02652Saint Name
Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480
Unnamed martyrs (or name lost) : S00060Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptionsEvidence not before
400Evidence not after
700Activity not before
400Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Amasea
Euchaita
ÇorumPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Amasea
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
Nicomedia
Euchaita
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
Nicomedia
Çorum
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Saint as patron - of an individualCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Women
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Foreigners (including Barbarians)Source
A large stone stele topped by a gable with small acroteria. The inscription is framed by a tabula ansata. Dimensions not specified. First published by Christian Marek and Mustafa Adak in 2015 (with a photograph).Discussion
The epitaph commemorates a woman who held the function of a deaconess in Sebastopolis (modern Sulusaray), sited c. 100 km to the southeast of the find-spot of the inscription. It says that Theodora sought refuge (προσέφυγεν) at a great martyr of Christ. Marek and Adak rightly point out that this must be Theodore whose magnificent sanctuary was located to the east of Çorum, in Euchaita. As a parallel they quote a boundary stone of a shrine of Michael the Archangel from Çiftlik near Ancyra in Galatia (see: E00996) and two inscriptions from the Near East with regulations on the zone protected by the privilege of asylum (E04405: El Bassah/Betzet in Palestine and E01764: from the territory of Tyre), where derivatives of that verb are used to denote people seeking the protection of asylum. However, we suggest that as the inscription is an epitaph, and not a legal text, it is more likely to refer to the spiritual protection expected from the saint, and may actually commemorate a burial ad sanctos. For similar phrasing, see: nos. E00979; E01009; E01017.
In line 1 the saint is described by a peculiar epithet, ξενοδόχος. Normally the word means 'the receiver of strangers', and this makes sense also in our case, as the shrine of Theodore in Euchaita was a major pilgrimage destination. It is possible that Theodora, a native of Sebastopolis, died during her pilgrimage to Euchaita, and that is the reason why the hospitality of Theodore is stressed here (he offered her an 'eternal' stay at his shrine and in Heaven). On the other hand, Hesychios notes that the term ξενοδόχος was actually a synonym of the word 'martyr': ξεινοδόκος· ὑποδεχόμενος ξένους καὶ μάρτυς/'xeinodokos: the one who receives strangers, and martyr'. A request for help for strangers (ξένοι), addressed to Saint John the Baptist, is recorded on a pilgrim ampulla found at Sardis (see SEG 55, 1301: ἅγηιε Ἰοάννη Βα(πτιστᾶ) | βοείθε τ(ο)ὺς ξέν(ο)υς).Bibliography
Edition:
Marek, Ch., Adak, M., Epigraphische Forschungen in Bithynien, Paphlagonien, Galatien und Pontos (Philia Supplements 2, Istanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi, 2016), no. 99.
