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E01037: Greek epitaph probably for a monk, a nun, and yet another person from a monastery dedicated to *Thekla, (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092). Found near Seleukeia/Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Isauria, southern Asia Minor). Probably late antique.

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posted on 2015-12-31, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
μνῆμ<α> Πα̣υ̣λ̣ε̣ί-
̣νας (?) καὶ Θέκλας ̣μο-
̣νηστ[ρι]õν Θέκλ[α]ς +

1-2. Πα[υλεί]|[ν]ας? Hagel & Tomaschitz Halkin, Πα̣ύ̣λ̣ο̣υ (?) [- - -] | ΜΑΣ (?) MAMA

'Tomb of Pauleina (?) and Thekla, nuns (monastriai) of Thekl[a] +'

Text: MAMA III, no. 45 with later emendations.

History

Evidence ID

E01037

Saint Name

Thekla, follower of Apostle Paul : S00092

Saint Name in Source

Θέκλ[α]

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

400

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

400

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Seleucia ad Calycadnum Meriamlik

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

Seleucia ad Calycadnum Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia Meriamlik Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - monastic

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

  • Monastery

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits Women

Source

The lid of a limestone sarcophagus (chamosorium), found at the northern cemetery near Meriamlik (area of Seleucia ad Calycadnum, Isauria, south-eastern Asia Minor). The inscription is framed by a carved tabula ansata. Letter height 0.04 m. Recorded in 1925.

Discussion

The first edition (editio princeps) suggests that this is the epitaph of probably a monk (Paulos), a nun (Thekla), and perhaps yet another person from a monastery dedicated to *Thekla, follower of the Apostle Paul. However, François Halkin, based on the drawing of the inscription, suggested that lines 1 and 2 could actually contain a female name, Pauleina. The idea was accepted by Stefan Hagel and Kurt Tomaschitz, editors of a catalogue of inscriptions from Isauria and Cilicia. This completion is attractive, as two nuns were more likely to be buried in one grave than a monk and a nun. The monastery was almost certainly connected to the famous sanctuary of Thekla at Seleucia. The same convent was perhaps also mentioned in the inscriptions E01035; E01045.

Bibliography

Edition: Hagel, St., Tomaschitz, K., (eds.), Repertorium der westkilikischen Inschriften (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 265, Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris 22, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1998), no. Mer 32. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 45. Further reading: Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.P. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 109. Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 87. Hagel, St., Tomaschitz, K., (eds.), Repertorium der westkilikischen Inschriften (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 265, Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris 22, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1998), 321. Reference works: Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 489, 504.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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