Martyrion of St. John Complete
ID: 44
Building type: church
Context:
rural; monastic
Inscriptions:
Description:
Only one aisle of the whole building was unearthed, therefore the exact plan is unknown. The contents of the inscription and the shape of the hall allow to identify it as a church or chapel used for the veneration of a saint, a martyrion. It was dedicated to a certain St. John, probably John the Baptist, whose cult was popular in the East and who was considered a (pre-Christian) martyr, as well as a precursors of monasticism, beloved by hermits. The church probably belonged to a monastery, as two monastic superiors are mentioned in column 1 of the inscription. The Syriac inscription is situated on both sides of a step, probably leading to a raised bema or a pastophorium with a martyr shrine. It is dated by the year 718 of the Seleucid era = 406/407 CE which allows for the assumption that the church was constructed in the second half of the fourth century. Photograph from: Briquel Chatonnet, Fr., Desreumaux, A., "Oldest Syriac Christian inscription discovered in North-Syria", Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 14/1 (2011), 45-61.