Evidence ID
E00927Saint Name
Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480
Zechariah, father of John the Baptist : S00597
Zechariah, Old Testament prophet : S00283Saint Name in Source
Θεόδωρος
ΖαχαρίαςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Literary - Magical texts and amuletsEvidence not before
600Evidence not after
700Activity not before
600Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
IkonionPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Ikonion
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Miracles
Healing diseases and disabilitiesCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Other lay individuals/ people
Soldiers
Aristocrats
Officials
AnimalsCult Activities - Cult Related Objects
OtherSource
Α circular horse brass found in Ikonion (Lykaonia, central Asia Minor) and currently in a private collection. The inscriptions run around the object, clockwise. The longer text is written on the outer ring, the shorter on the inner one. Both rings are connected by six spokes. At the top and at the bottom there are two loops. Outer diameter: 0.077 m. Inner diameter: 0.055 m. Weight 74.60 gm.Discussion
The invocations inscribed on the brass were meant to protect a horse of a certain Georgios. Christian charms / phylakteria of this kind must have been common in Late Antiquity, superseding similar pagan charms. For similar fittings attached, for example, to cattle, see Feissel 1992, 396-404; Bendall & Morrisson 2003, 38-41; Feissel 1994, 284-288; Robert 1936, 61; Stiegemann 2001, 314. But, though some of the fittings listed in these works refer to names of saints, they usually mention the patron saint of the institution owning the labelled animals and do not contain invocations. If they do, these are usually invocations of God, like the one engraved on a little bronze bell of Anatolian origin, kept in the Collection Froehner: κύριε, βοήθι Στρατονίκου κὲ τõν ἀλόγον αὐτοῦ / 'Lord, help Stratonikos and his animals', and the one on a small bronze lid, kept in the British Museum, and found probably in Antarados (Phoenicia): κύριε, βοήθι Νισίου διακ<όν>ου κὲ τῦς ἀλόγυς αὐτοῦ / 'Lord, help Nesios, the deacon, and his animals' (for comments on these two objects, see: Feissel 1994, 286, see also Martiniani-Reber 2011, no. 48 and the Bulletin épigraphique (2014), 552 for a similar formula: Κ(ύρι)ε, βόθι τοῦ ἀλόγου). It is significant that these invocations, made on behalf of animals, are not different from invocations on behalf of humans.
The invoked saints are Theodore and Zechariah. Simon Bendall and Cécile Morrisson suppose that Theodore was invoked here a horseman himself and a warrior saint, and that the owner of the horse could have been a military man (a nobleman, soldier, etc.). This is, of course, a hypothesis which can be questioned, as *Theodore appears often in Anatolian inscriptions and was generally perceived as a powerful protector. Nevertheless, it does seem likely that the protected animal was indeed a warhorse rather than a horse trained to race. The reason for invoking Zechariah is less clear. The saint in question, Zechariah, probably father of John the Baptist, identified by an early Christian tradition with an innocent priest murdered at the Temple in Jerusalem (see Matthew 23,35), does not appear in monumental inscriptions from the Diocese of Asia and the Diocese of Pontus. Bendall and Morrisson suggest that he was invoked because of some particular devotion to Zechariah by the owner of the horse, or that the saints were paired because of a local Lycaonian story, unknown to modern scholars.
Dating: 7th c. (based on palaeography: alpha is engraved with the oblique horizontal bar, most of the letters have horizontal serifs).
See also: E01139; E01695.Bibliography
Edition:
Bendall, S., Morrisson, C., "Protecting horses in Byzantium. A bronze plaque from the Armamenton, a branding iron and a horse brass", ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΟ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ. ΜΝΗΜΗ ΝΙΚΟΥ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΔΗ (Vyzantio kratos kai koinōnia: mnēmē Nikou Oikonomidē / Byzantium, State and Society. In memory of Nikos Oikonomides), eds. A. Abramea, A. Laïou, E. Chrysos (Athens: Institouto Vyzantinōn Ereunōn, Ethniko Hidryma Ereunōn, 2003), 31-49.
Reference works:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 1126.
For similar fittings, see:
Feissel, D., "Notes d'épigraphie chretienne (IX)", Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 118/1 (1994), 284-288.
Feissel, D., "Notes d'épigraphie chretienne (VIII)", Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 116/1 (1992), 396-404.
Martiniani-Reber, M. (ed.) Antiquités paléochrétiennes et byzantines. Collections du Musée d'art et d'histoire - Genève (Geneva: Musée d'art et d'histoire, 2011), no. 48, cf. Bulletin épigraphique (2014), 552.
Robert, L., Collection Froehner, vol. 1: Inscriptions grecques (Paris: Editions des Bibliothèques nationales, 1936), p. 61.
Stiegemann, Ch. (ed.), Byzanz. Das Licht aus dem Osten. Kunst und Alltag im byzantinischen Reich vom 4. bis 15. Jahrhundert. Eine Ausstellung des Erzbistums Paderborn (Mainz: P. von Zabern, 2001), 314.
