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E06737: Greek building inscription on a marble threshold probably referring to the church of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Found in the early Christian basilica of Paiania near Athens (Attica, central Greece). Probably 5th or first half of the 6th c.

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posted on 2018-10-06, 00:00 authored by Malgorzata
τῆς  ⳨  Θ[ε]-
οτόκου.

l. 1. ΗϹ in ligature.

'(Church?/Of the church?) of the God-Bearer (Theotokos).'

Text: IG II/III (2nd ed.) 5, no. 13628.

History

Evidence ID

E06737

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033

Saint Name in Source

θεοτόκος

Image Caption 1

Photograph. From: Mastrokostas 1959, 30, fig. 5.

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

550

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

550

Place of Evidence - Region

Balkans including Greece Balkans including Greece

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Athens Paiania

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

Athens Drizypera Δριζύπερα Drizypera Büyük Karıştıran Paiania Drizypera Δριζύπερα Drizypera Büyük Karıştıran

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

  • Church

Source

A marble threshold, broken at the top and in the upper right-hand corner. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.57 m; W. 0.48 m; Th. 0.09 m; letter height 0.032-0.058 m. In line 1. staurogram inside a circle, inverted and turned upside down. Found in the central door of the early Christian basilica of Paiania, the later Church of St Athanasius. Probably lost. First edited in 1997 by Erkki Sironen from the photo published by Euthymios I. Mastrokostas.

Discussion

This inscription is very simple; it mentions only the name of Mary to whom the church was dedicated. Dating: Sironen dates the inscription to the 5th-6th c., which is plausible on the basis of its Christian content and archaeological context. Editors of the Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database date it to the 5th or early 6th c.

Bibliography

Edition: Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 2214: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/2214 Inscriptiones Graecae II/III (2nd ed.) 5, no. 13628 with a photograph of a squeeze from Princeton. Sironen, E., The Late Roman and Early Byzantine Inscriptions of Athens and Attica: An Edition with Appendices on Scripts, Sepulchral Formulae, and Occupations (Helsinki: Hakapaino Oy, 1997), 331-332, no. 328 (editio princeps). Further Reading: Mastrokostas, E. I., "Μεσαιωνικά μνημεία Αττικής, Φωκίδος και Μαγνησίας," Archaiologikí Efimerís 1956 (1959), 29 with fig. 5 (photograph) [see also BE 1963, 88]. Sironen, E., "Life and administration of the Late Roman Attica in the light of public inscriptions," in: P. Castrén (ed.), Post-Herulian Athens: Aspects of Life and Culture in Athens, A.D. 267-529 (Papers and Monographs of the Finnish Institute at Athens 1, Helsinki: Suomen Ateenan-Instituutin Sääti, 1994), 38, footnote (from Mastrokostas’ photo). Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1963), 88 (incorrectly cited as Θ[ε]οτόκοι).

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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