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E00977: Greek inscription, probably on a boundary stone of a sanctuary of *Kyrikos (child martyr of Tarsus, S00007). Found near Amisos (Helenopontus, northern Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

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posted on 2015-12-12, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

προσ(φύγιον) τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίκο[υ]

1. προσ(φύγιον) Feissel (in a letter dated 17.09.2016), <ὅ>ρος or πρὸς or προσ(ευχὴ) (?) Grégoire, ΠΡΟC copy

'The refuge (of the church) of Saint Kyriko[s].'

Text: Studia Pontica III/1, no. 19

History

Evidence ID

E00977

Saint Name

Kyrikos, 3rd c. child martyr in Tarsus, son of *Julitta : S00007

Saint Name in Source

Κύρικο[ς]

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Kyrikos_Cyricus_and_Ioulitta_Julitta_child_and_his_mother_martyrs_of_Tarsus/13729132

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

490

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

490

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Amisos

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

Amisos Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Seeking asylum at church/shrine

Source

A rectangular limestone block, found at Karaköy (area of Amisos, Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor). H. 0.62 m; W. 1.02 m; letter height 0.04-0.05 m. One of its faces is decorated with a carving of a cross in a circle. The inscription was engraved on the side facing the village of Belek.

Discussion

Henri Grégoire was unsure how to classify this inscription. The copy he made reads clearly ΠΡΟCΤ(ΟΥ)ΑΓΙΟΥΚΥΡΙΚΟ. His first idea was to identify it as a boundary stone indicating the property belonging to a church or a monastery of Saint Kyrikos. Therefore, he corrected Π to Ο and read <ὅ>ρος τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίκο[υ] / 'Boundary (of the church) of Saint Kyrikos'. However, Grégoire also considered other possibilities: that the inscription was a road sign showing the way to a church of Saint Kyrikos: πρὸς τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίκο[υ] / 'To (the church) of Saint Kyrikos' or that it was a kind of prayer: προσ(ευχὴ) τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίκο[υ] / 'The prayer of Saint Kyrikos' (which is less probable). Denis Feissel suggests that the enigmatic first word is actually προσ(φύγιον) and that the inscription marked the refuge site (asylum) of that church. Dating: probably late 5th or 6th c. (as boundary stones are common, authorised by emperors of this period).

Bibliography

Edition: Anderson, J.G.C., Cumont, F., Grégoire, H., Studia Pontica, vol. 3, part 1: Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines du Ponte et de l'Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1910), no. 19. Further reading: 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), 103. Grégoire, H., "Rapport sur un voyage d'exploration dans le Pont et en Cappdoce", Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 33 (1909), 8. Reference works: Delehaye, H., "Bulletin des publications hagiographiques", Analecta Bollandiana 30 (1911), 335.

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Keywords

S00007 History

Licence

CC0

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