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E02245: Greek inscription commemorating the construction of a martyr shrine (martyrion) of *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023) from communal funds. Found at Rakham, to the northwest of Bostra (Roman province of Arabia). Dated 517.

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posted on 2017-01-12, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

κτίσθη τὸ ἅγιον μαρ-
τύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Σερ-
γίου τῶν τοῦ κοινοῦ,
ἐν μηνὶ Γορπιαίῳ,
χρόνων ια΄ ἰνδικ(τιῶνος)
ἔτους υιβ΄ τῆς ἐπαρ(χείας)

'This holy martyr shrine (martyrion) of Saint Sergios was built from the communal (fund?), in the month of Gorpiaios, 11th indiction, the year 412 of the province.'

Text: IGLS 13/2, no. 9837. Translation: P. Nowakowski.

History

Evidence ID

E02245

Saint Name

Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023

Saint Name in Source

Σέργιος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Sergios_soldier_and_martyr_of_Rusafa/13729165

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

517

Evidence not after

517

Activity not before

517

Activity not after

517

Place of Evidence - Region

Arabia Arabia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Bosra Rakham

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

Bosra Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Rakham Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka

Cult activities - Places

Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Construction of cult buildings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Peasants

Source

Probably a complete stone block. Dimensions unknown. Now lost. The inscription was probably within a frame. Seen and copied by Maurice Dunand and published by him with a drawing in 1939. In 2011 republished by Maurice Sartre and Annie Sartre-Fauriat, based on the earlier edition.

Discussion

The inscription commemorates the construction of a martyr shrine of Sergios, a popular soldier martyr originally venerated in Rusafa. It is not clear whether this shrine was an independent structure or a chapel. Interestingly, the construction was funded by a community and not by a single donor (or a number of donors enumerated by name). Dating: the inscription is dated according to the era of the province of Arabia. Its year 412, together with the 11th indictional year and the month of Gorpiaios correspond to a very narrow period: 1st - 17th September AD 517.

Bibliography

Edition: Sartre, M., Sartre-Fauriat, A. (eds.), Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 13/2: Bostra (Supplément) et la plaine de la Nuqrah (BAH 194, Beirut: Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2011), no. 9837. Dunand, M., "Nouvelles inscriptions du Djebel Druze et du Hauran", Mélanges syriens offerts à monsieur René Dussaud: secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, par ses amis et ses élèves (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1939), 571, no. 290. Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (1940), 189.

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Keywords

S00023 History

Licence

CC0

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