+ ἔτους ϙωʹ (or: ϛωʹ), μηνὸς [- - -].
Σερ(γίου) π-
ύλι
'In the year 890 (or: 806), month [- - -]. The gateway (pyle) of Sergios.'
Text: IGLS 4, no. 1970.
Evidence ID
E01899Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023Saint Name in Source
ΣέργιοςImage Caption 1
Drawing. From: Prentice 1922, 9.Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
494Evidence not after
579Activity not before
494Activity not after
579Place of Evidence - Region
Syria with Phoenicia
Syria with PhoeniciaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Apamea on the Orontes
Sbā'/Sabbā'Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Apamea on the Orontes
Thabbora
Thabbora
Sbā'/Sabbā'
Thabbora
ThabboraCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Places Named after Saint
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsSource
Fragment, presumably of a lintel. Reused in the doorway of a modern house near a ruined mosque in the south sector of Sbā'/Sabbā'. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.23 m; W. 1.05 m. Letters in low-relief. Letter height 0.05-0.07 m. The stone was decorated with low-relief carving, remnants of which were still visible on its face. To the right of the inscription there was a depiction of birds, probably under a wreath. A row of three crosses appears to the left of the inscription.
Recorded by the Princeton Expedition to Syria and copied by Enno Littmann. First published in 1922 with a drawing by William Prentice. Republished in 1955 by René Mouterde, based on the earlier edition.Discussion
The first editor, William Prentice, identified this inscription as 'doubtless the lintel of a doorway in a church of St. Sergius'. Mouterde was more careful in his judgment, saying that the meaning of the inscription was ambiguous.
Both editors were unsure how to read the dating formula. The year, apparently computed according to the Seleucid era, was probably either ϙωʹ (890) or ϛωʹ (806). These dates correspond respectively to AD 578/579 and 494/495. Prentice stated that the late 6th c. date is more probable. If his supposition that the inscription comes from a church of Sergios is correct, this would be another argument for the later dating, as dedications to Sergios appear in dated Syriac inscriptions almost exclusively in the 6th c.Bibliography
Edition:
Jalabert, L., Mouterde, R., Mondésert, Cl., Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 4: Laodicée, Apamène (BAH 61, Paris: Librairie orientalise Paul Geuthner, 1955), no. 1970.
Prentice, W.K. (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University of archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904-1905 and 1909, Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions, Section B: Northern Syria (Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1922), 9, no. 823.
