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E01072: Label of a tomb at Korykos, with a reference to a church probably of a saint *Theodore (perhaps the soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480), venerated as a holy physician. Found at Korykos/Corycus (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Probably late 5th or 6th c.

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posted on 2016-01-11, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
+ σ̣ωματοθήκη Συμ̣εωνίου υἱοῦ
Σανβατίου κεραμέος τοῦ ἁγίου
ΘΕΟ ἰατροῦ +

3. Θεο(δώρου) Halkin

'+ The sarcophagus of Symeonios, son of Sambatios, potter (of the church) of Saint Theo(- - -) the physician.'

Text: MAMA III, no. 737.

History

Evidence ID

E01072

Saint Name

Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480

Saint Name in Source

Θεο(- - -)

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

450

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

450

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Korykos

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

Korykos Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult Activities - Miracles

Healing diseases and disabilities

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Merchants and artisans

Source

The lid of a sarcophagus found at Korykos. Letter height 0.055 m. Recorded in 1914.

Discussion

The inscription labels the tomb of a potter who probably offered his services to a church dedicated to a holy physician. The name or the by-name of the saint is given in line 3 and reads ΘΕΟΙΑΤΡΟΥ. Josef Keil and Adolf Wilhelm, the first editors of the inscription, wondered if this was an otherwise unparalleled epithet θεοιατρός, which could stand for the by-name: 'the holy physician'. However, François Halkin plausibly comments that we are dealing with the abbreviated name Θεό(δωρος), followed by the word ἰατρός. It is however uncertain, whether the expression τοῦ ἁγίου Θεο(δώρου) ἰατροῦ really specifies the affiliation of the deceased. The phrase may constitute a separate sentence, stating that the tomb was 'of (the church of) Theodore the holy physician'. If a Saint Theodore is referred to, it is not certain who this is: Theodore of Amaseia and Euchaita had extensive cult in this period, but is not specifically known as a physician.

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. Kry 240. Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua III, no. 737. 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), 106. Halkin, F., "Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'hagiographie, IX, Asie Mineure", Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 90. Samellas, A., Death in the Eastern Mediterranean (50-600 A.D.). The Christianization of the East: An Interpretation (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 12, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002), 257, note 2.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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