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E00836: Fragmentarily preserved Greek inscription on a chancel screen, that may include an invocation of an unnamed *Archangel. Found at the Temple/Church site in Aphrodisias (Caria, western Asia Minor). Probably 5th-6th c.

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posted on 2015-11-03, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

On six fragments of the crowning feature of a marble balustrade:

A: vacat + Ἀναστάσιος Λ[- - -]
B: [- - - ὑ]πὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ καὶ τοῦ οἴκου μου + vacat
C: [- - - τ]ῷ οἴκῳ Ἀ̣ν[αστασίου (?) - - -]
D: [- - - ἀ]ρχ(αγγελ- ?) vacat εὐ̣χ̣ὴ̣ν [- - -]
E: vacat (leaf) Κύριε β[οήθησον (?) - - -]

C. ἁγί]ῳ or σεβασμί]ῳ or εὐκτηρί]ῳ οἴκῳ ἀν[έθηκε (?)

A: '+ Anastasios L[- - -]'
B: '[- - -] on behalf of myself and my household +'
C: '[- - - to] the household of An[astasios (?) - - -]'
D: '[- - - a]rch(angel ?). Prayer [- - -]'
E: 'Lord, [help ? - - -]'

Text: IAph2007 1.14. Translation: Ch. Roueché.

History

Evidence ID

E00836

Saint Name

Archangels (unspecified) : S00191

Saint Name in Source

ἀ]ρχ(αγγελ- ?)

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Archangels_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729642

Image Caption 1

Fragment D with the abbreviated word 'archangel'; from: I.Aph2007 1.14.

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

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Aphrodisias

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

Aphrodisias Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Six fragments of a blue-grey crowning feature of a marble balustrade (probably a chancel screen), found in Aphrodisias (Caria, west Asia Minor), at the Temple/Church site (the cathedral church). All fragments are of equal height (0.135 m) and thickness 0.21 m. Width varies from 0.25 m to 0.65 m. Charlotte Roueché says that "several similar fragments, uninscribed, are to be found, re-used as coursing in the wall and reinforced with re-used statue bases, along the north side of the chancel. That wall appears to be part of the middle Byzantine remodelling of the area. It is likely that the rim fragments re-used in it, and those bearing these texts originally crowned a chancel barrier of the type normal in the early Byzantine period — probably coming to waist-height — which was dismantled to permit creation of the later screen." (see ala2004, ch. VII.10)

Discussion

The recorded fragments of the inscription indicate that the chancel screen could have been funded by a certain Anastasios, making a vow on behalf of himself and his household. One of the fragments (D) bears a passage that can be understood as an invocation of an *archangel: [- - - ἀ]ρχ(αγγελ- ?) vacat εὐ̣χ̣ὴ̣ν [- - -]. One must, however, remember that only two letters of the word 'archangel' are extant and other interpretations are also possible. The reading of Anastasios' name in the passage preserved on fragment C is disputable. The letters AN may stand for a dedicatory formula ἀν[έθηκε. Anastasios' household need not be mentioned in this line either, but a church or a chapel (for instance, εὐκτηρί]ῳ οἴκῳ is possible).

Bibliography

Edition: IAph2007 1.14. http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/iaph2007/iAph010014.html Roueché, Ch. (ed.), Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity. The Late Roman and Byzantine Inscriptions including Texts from the Excavations at Aphrodisias conducted by Kenan T. Erim (Journal of Roman Studies Monograph 5, London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1989), no. 94. Further Reading: Roueché, Ch., Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity,electronic second edition (London, 2004), ch. VII.10. http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/narrative/sec-VII.html

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Keywords

S00191 History

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CC0

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