E06300: Fragmentary Greek graffito on a white limestone floor slab, with an invocation of a saint whose name is lost. Probably executed by a Christian prisoner. Found at Corinth (northeastern Peloponnese). Probably 5th-6th c.

online resource

posted on 2018-09-06, 00:00 authored by Malgorzata

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+ ἅγιε Γ - - - -]
EVΒA - - - -]
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'+ O Saint [- - -].'

Text: IG IV2 3, no. 1285.

History

Evidence ID

E06300

Saint Name

Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Saints_name_lost_or_very_partially_preserved/13733845

Image Caption 1

Photograph. From: IG IV2 3, Tabula VII, no. 1285.

Image Caption 2

General plan of Ancient Corinth, showing the area of 'Boudroumi' shops. From: IG IV2 3, 199.

Image Caption 3

Drawing. From: Meritt 1931, 121, no. 203.

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Inscribed objects Inscriptions - Graffiti

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Balkans including Greece

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Corinth

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

Corinth Drizypera Δριζύπερα Drizypera Büyük Karıştıran

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Prisoners

Source

Fragment of a white limestone floor slab, broken on all sides. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.32 m; W. 0.34 m; Th. 0.052 m. Letter height 0.028-0.052 m. Found in 1901 at the back of the 'Boudroumi' vaults among the shops north-west of the agora of ancient Corinth. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth (inv. no. 133).

Discussion

This inscription probably belongs to the series of graffiti carved into the floor of a prison located near the Northwest Shops in Corinth. For a further discussion see E06299. Dating: The editors of the Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database date the inscription to the 5th-6th c., which is plausible on the basis of its Christian content and archaeological context.

Bibliography

Edition: Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 2812: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/2812 Inscriptiones Graecae IV (2nd ed.) 3, no. 1285 and Tab. VII. Meritt, B.D., Corinth, vol. 8, part 1: Greek Inscriptions 1896–1927 (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1931), 121, no. 203 with drawing. Further Reading: Breytenbach, C., "Christian prisoners: fifth and sixth century inscriptions from Corinth," Acta Theologica, Supplementum 23 (2016), 302-309.