Evidence ID
E04468Saint Name
Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033Saint Name in Source
ΘεωτώκοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
668Evidence not after
685Activity not before
668Activity not after
685Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Prusa ad OlympumPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Prusa ad Olympum
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Monarchs and their family
Aristocrats
OfficialsSource
The inscription is on a stone lintel, reused in the gateway of Hisar Kapısı at Bursa/ancient Prusa ad Olympum. No dimensions given.
Recorded by John Covel, an English clergyman travelling in western Turkey between 1670 and 1677. A journal of his travel, now in the British Museum, was published in 1998 by Jean-Pierre Grélois. Our inscription is one of 80 epigraphic monuments copied by Covel.Discussion
The inscription is incomplete, and Grélois notes that the missing part could be restored based on another fragmentary text found in the same area, which reads βασιλ]έως καὶ Θεοδώρου κ|όμιτος καὶ ̣Σ̣τεφάνου (I. Prousa ad Olympum, no. 222).
Grélois identifies the emperor mentioned as Constantine IV (AD 668-685), as he uses the epithet μέγας in the Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople (680-681). The same Acts also mention a patrician Theodoros, comes of the Opsikion theme and hypostrategos of Thrace, probably identical with the Thedoros mentioned above. Given this timeframe, it is possible that our inscription refers to the fortification of Prusa after the Arab capture of Kyzikos in 670 and the siege of Constantinople in 674-678.Bibliography
Edition:
Grélois, J.-P. (ed.) with a preface by Cyril Mango, Dr. John Covel Voyages en Turquie, 1675-1677 (Réalités Byzantines 6, Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1998), 373-374, no. 32.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 49, 1799.