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E04469: Greek inscription commemorating the construction of a memorion, probably a martyr shrine. Found at Quneitra near Paneas/Caesarea Philippi, in the Golan Heights, to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee (Roman province of Phoenicia Paralias). Probably 5th or 6th c.

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posted on 2017-12-18, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
Διομέδη̣ς [- - -]
τος οἰκοδ[όμος - - - μητροκωμί]-
ας Ζοραο[υηνῶν τὸ με]-
μόριν ΤωΛ[- - - ἰν]-
δικτ̣ι[ῶνος - -]

3-4. με]|μόριν Feissel

'Diomedes [- - -] builder [- - - of the mother-village (metrokomia)] of the Zoraouenoi (built) the memorion [- - -] indiction [- - -].'

Text: SEG 46, 1978.

History

Evidence ID

E04469

Saint Name

Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Palestine with Sinai Syria with Phoenicia Palestine with Sinai

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Paneas Quneitra Caesarea Philippi

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Paneas Caesarea Maritima Καισάρεια Kaisareia Caesarea Kayseri Turris Stratonis Quneitra Thabbora Thabbora Caesarea Philippi Caesarea Maritima Καισάρεια Kaisareia Caesarea Kayseri Turris Stratonis

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Construction of cult buildings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Merchants and artisans

Source

Stone block. Broken and lost at the right-hand end. Dimensions not specified. Found during surveys organised by the Israel Antiquities Authority after 1967 at Quneitra. First published by Robert Gregg and Dan Urman in 1996. When recorded, the stone was reused in a modern building.

Discussion

Gregg and Urmann were unsure about the religious affiliation of Diomedes mentioned in line 1. Denis Feissel, however, argues that lines 3-4 almost certainly mention a memorion, here understood as a martyr shrine (= martyrion, cf. E02082; E02144), which would suggest that the inscription came from a Christian religious building. Line 3 apparently contains a reference to the community of Izra/Zorava, a town famous for its high quality Christian inscriptions (see, e.g.: E01754; E02065; E02116; E02117, and others). Dating: There is no way to precisely date the inscription. If it really mentions a Christian martyr shrine, the building must have been erected in the 5th or 6th c., as suggested by other, dated inscriptions from the region.

Bibliography

Edition: Gregg, R., Urman, D., Jews, Pagans, and Christians in the Golan Heights: Greek and Other Inscriptions of the Roman and Byzantine Eras (Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1996), no. 219. Further reading: For memorion, see also: Feissel, D. (ed.), Recueil des inscriptions chrétiennes de Macédoine, du IIIe au VIe siècle (Athens: Ecole française d'Athènes, Paris Dépositaire, Diffusion de Boccard, 1983), 23-24. Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1997), 648. Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 771. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 46, 1978.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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