Evidence ID
E04390Saint Name
George, soldier and martyr of Diospolis/Lydda : S00259Saint Name in Source
ܓܝܘܪܓـܐType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Graffiti
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elementsEvidence not before
400Evidence not after
700Activity not before
400Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Beroia
Katura
Qal'at Sem'anPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Beroia
Thabbora
Thabbora
Katura
Thabbora
Thabbora
Qal'at Sem'an
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermitsSource
Scratched on the left-hand door-jamb of the doorway of a tower in the lower town. Dimensions: Line 1: 0.20 m; line 2: 0.25 m. Letter height 0.025 m.
First recorded by the Princeton Archaeological Expedition to Syria and published by Enno Littmann in 1934.Discussion
The editor notes that the spelling of the name George is somewhat unusual. Normally, it appears in inscriptions as ܓܝܘܪܓܝ or ܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ. The epithet following the name could be given to saints, bishops, or important monks. Littmann suggests that in our case it may indicate that the author of the graffito invoked Saint George, the soldier and martyr of Diospolis/Lydda. Another possibility considered by Littmann is that our George is the abbot of the monastery of Aṭmā, a convent located near Deir Semaan, attested in AD 571, as Katura also lies in proximity of Deir Semaan, and that he himself was the author of our graffito. This is, however, rather unconvincing.Bibliography
Edition:
Littmann, E., Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1909, division IV: Semitic Inscriptions, Section B: Syriac Inscriptions (Leiden: Brill, 1934), no. 21.
