Evidence ID
E00902Saint Name
Kyrikos, 3rd c. child martyr in Tarsus, son of *Julitta : S00007Saint Name in Source
ΚύρικοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
450Evidence not after
600Activity not before
450Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
LysiasPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Lysias
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Places
Cult building - unspecifiedCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
VowCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Women
Children
Other lay individuals/ peopleSource
A block reused in a wall of a mosque in Kara Adili, ancient Lysias (Phrygia, central Asia Minor). H. 10 m; W. 0.67 m; Th. 0.41 m.Discussion
The inscription records a vow, made for the salvation of three persons. The first of them, the presbyter Kastor, is described as the founder of an unnamed shrine (probably a church or a martyrion) of *Kyrikos. Though it is possible that the construction of the shrine was itself the object of this vow, it is more likely that Kastor had founded the sanctuary earlier. The word used to inform us about the foundation is the past participle (κτήσας) and other persons are apparently not connected with this pious undertaking. Construction of a church or a martyr shrine was certainly a remarkable event in a provincial community, and therefore could easily become a marker of an individual's identity. For a similar expression, see E00710: Ἀ̣ρμένις ὁ κτίσας τὸ μαρτύριν, E01026: Λονγῖνος Βαλιβαρδᾶς ὁ κὲ περιπυσάμενος τὸ ὐκτήριον τοῦ ἁγίου Μαμᾶ and E01239: Ἀνατολίῳ τῷ κτίσαντι τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην.
The second person is the deaconess Nyne, daughter of Kastor. It is not clear why Demetrios is mentioned together with these people. Nyne could be his wife or mother. Names of wives are, however, rarely mentioned in late antique inscriptions before those of their husbands, so the latter possibility is more probable. But on the other hand, the main supplicant is, doubtless, Kastor, so perhaps he wanted to place the name of his daughter in a more distinguished position than that of his son-in-law.Bibliography
Edition:
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua IV, no. 120b.
Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua I, commentary to no. 323a.
Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae database, no. 1115: http://www.epigraph.topoi.org/ica/icamainapp/inscription/show/1115
Further reading:
Destephen, S., Prosopographie du Diocese d'Asie (325-641) (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3, Paris: Association des amis du centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2008), Kastor 2 and Nyna.
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 93.
Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 327.
Reference works:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 880.
