Evidence ID
E01072Saint Name
Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480Saint Name in Source
Θεο(- - -)Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptionsEvidence not before
450Evidence not after
600Activity not before
450Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
KorykosPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Korykos
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult Activities - Miracles
Healing diseases and disabilitiesCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Merchants and artisansSource
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.