The candelabrum was found in the south chamber flanking the apse of the so-called 'Church of the Rivers', that is the northern basilica of the double church of the fort (castrum) of Umm er-Rasas. It is made of bronze and bears the following engraving around the external border of the disc:
ἅγιε Σέργι, βοήθι Θωμᾷ. ἀμίν
'Saint Sergios, help Thomas! Amen.'
Text: Rey 1992, 10.
Evidence ID
E02587Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023Saint Name in Source
ΣέργιςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Images and objects - Other portable objects (metalwork, ivory, etc.)
Images and objects - Lamps, ampullae and tokensEvidence not before
500Evidence not after
700Activity not before
500Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Arabia
ArabiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Madaba
Umm er-Rasas/Kastron MefaaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Madaba
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
Shakka
Umm er-Rasas/Kastron Mefaa
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
ShakkaCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Other lay individuals/ peopleCult Activities - Cult Related Objects
Oil lamps/candles
Precious material objectsDiscussion
The inscription invokes the help of Saint Sergios for one Thomas, probably the donor of the object.
Dating: the inscription contains no dating formula. This kind of invocation, as well as the cult of Sergios, became especially popular in the 6th and 7th centuries. The church is believed to have been constructed in the first half of the 6th c.Bibliography
Edition:
Rey, A.-L., "", in: J. Bujard, Fr. Schweizer (eds.), Entre Byzance et l'Islam: Umm er-Rasas et Umm el-Walid. Fouilles Genevoises en Jordanie (Genève: Musée d'art et d'histoire, 1992), 10 and fig. 5-6.
Further reading:
For a description of the church, see:
Michel, A., Les églises d'époque byzantine et umayyade de Jordanie (provinces d'Arabie et de Palestine), Ve-VIIIe siècle: typologie architecturale et aménagements liturgiques (avec catalogue des monuments; préface de Noël Duval; premessa di Michele Piccirillo) (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 2, Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 411-415, no. 150a (with the candelabra described on p. 415).
Piccirillo M., Alliata E., Umm al-Rasas – Mayfa’ah I: Gli scavi del complesso di Santo Stefano (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Franciscum, 1994), 462 note 13.
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1993), 646.
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 909.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 42, 1494.
