[βοήθ]̣ι, ἅγιε Σέργι. ἀ[μήν]
'Saint Sergios, [help! Amen].'
Text: Di Segni in SEG 57, 1809.
Evidence ID
E01769Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023Saint Name in Source
ΣέργιςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
450Evidence not after
600Activity not before
450Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Tyre
Et-Tuweiri
Qibbuz KabriPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Tyre
Thabbora
Thabbora
Et-Tuweiri
Thabbora
Thabbora
Qibbuz Kabri
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationSource
Fragmentary inscription in regular letters on a high quality moulded marble slab, broken and lost on both sides, probably an architectural element.
Found in October of 2004, in the ruins of a 'Byzantine' church at Et-Tuweiri near Qibbuz Kabri (area of Tyre), during the excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. A photograph and description were published by Howard Smithline in 2007. A transcription was prepared by Leah Di Segni and sent for publication to Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.Discussion
The inscription is very fragmentarily preserved and Leah Di Segni prudently notes that her reconstruction is just a hypothesis. What we have is the name 'Saint Sergios' in the vocative form, preceded by a faint trace of a letter, probably iota, and followed by the letter alpha. The interpretation of this sequence as an invocation, ending with the word amen is a very plausible solution: βοήθι, ἅγιε Σέργι. ἀμήν/'Saint Sergios, help! Amen.'
Dating: based on the contents and the forms of letters, Di Segni dates the text to the 6th c. or less probably the late 5th c.Bibliography
Edition:
Smithline, H., "Et-Tuweiri", Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel 119 (2007) (on-line report, available at: http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=515&mag_id=112): photograph and translation.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 57, 1809 (Greek text by Leah Di Segni).
