Complete
Linguistic features:
Writing upside down; The name of a saint in Greek with an epithet in Syriac
Formulae:
Name and function
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 450
-
AD 700
Language:
Greek; Syriac
Monumental:
Medium:
architrave
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
architrave of a colonnade
People mentioned:
Name:
Maria
Patronym:
Status:
saint
Ethnic allegance:
unspecified
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Name recorded
Occupation:
unspecified
Age:
Gender:
female
Religion:
Christianity
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Greek
Description
For this record, see also Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01894 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01894 date: Unknown (broadly dated between the fifth and the seventh centuries). description: On a fragmenty architrave. Only the left-hand part is preserved. Dimensions when recorded: H. 0.18 m; W. 1 m. René Mouterde supposed that the Greek inscription published in IGLS IV under no. 1898 may be inscribed on a lost fragment of the same architrave. But as a matter of fact it does not seem to be a missing element of this text. Moreover, its reading is highly conjectural: + ἰδία τῆς τ(οῦ) θ(εο)ῦ εἰς τ[ὴ]ν κώμιν ἠφιμίς δσς/‘+ A singular sign (?) of God’s benevolence for the village.’ It is difficult to infer to which building the inscription may have originally belonged. It was found by Butler’s Princeton Archeological Expedition to Syria reused in a room, in a house occupied by a family. ed.: Greek: PAES IIIB1 880 (IGLS IV 1899; Aggoula 1992, p. 409, no. 3; CSLA.E01894); Syriac: PAES IVB 1 (CSLA.E01894); Aggoula 1992, p. 409, no. 3, . Cf. Peña 2000, 13. ܘܕܝܪܐ) ܗܕܝܪܐ :or) αίραΜ + the Greek letters are written upside down ‘And the monastery’ (or: ‘the glorious one’) (?). ‘Mary. +’ (tr. E. Littmann) commentary: To Butler, the inscription seemed an unquestionable evidence for the presence of monastery near the village. He supposed that the slab was not a lintel but rather served as an architrave at a colonnade of this monastery’s courtyard. However, it is difficult to assess if he is right in his reasoning. Aggoula opts for an alternative reading proposed already by Littman: ܗܕܝܪܐ (‘the glorious one’). He establishes that grammatical form of this word as absolute of ܗܕܝܪܬܐ, and points to an inscription published in Jarry 1967, 156, no. 29 (CSLA.E01971) where this epithet is given to the virgin Mary. It would, therefore, be an interesting case of describing the name of Mary written in Greek with a Syriac epithet. A third explanation is that the Syriac and Greek inscriptions are not connected. Littmann considered this possibility as they were written upside down regarding each other.
Author:
Paweł Nowakowski
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2022-07-31 22:01:52
Last update:
2023-11-13 17:57:36
Building:
unknown
Site:
Ḥalbān; kōmē Olbanōn
Dimensions: surface: w 1 x h 0.18 meter
Condition: On a fragmenty architrave. Only the left-hand part is preserved. René Mouterde supposed that the Greek inscription published in IGLS IV under no. 1898 may be inscribed on a lost fragment of the same architrave. But as a matter of fact it does not seem to be a missing element of this text. Moreover, its reading is highly conjectural: + ἰδία τῆς τ(οῦ) θ(εο)ῦ εἰς τ[ὴ]ν κώμιν ἠφιμίς δσς/‘+ A singular sign (?) of God’s benevolence for the village.’
Text: Writing upside down. The name of a saint in Greek with an epithet in Syriac.
Date: 450 CE - 700 CE
Unknown (broadly dated between the fifth and the seventh centuries).
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Syria Ḥalbān; kōmē Olbanōn 35.307503, 37.10677 unknown architrave of a colonnade
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: Christian inscription
Summary:
Inscription with Greek and Syriac scripts from Ḥalbān; kōmē Olbanōn. 450 CE - 700 CE.
Changes history: 2022-07-31 Pawel Nowakowski Creation; 2023-08-24 Pawel Nowakowski Last modification; 2023-10-26 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
‘And the monastery’ (or: ‘the glorious one’) (?). ‘Mary. +’
(tr. E. Littmann)
Commentary
To Butler, the inscription seemed an unquestionable evidence for the presence of monastery near the village. He supposed that the slab was not a lintel but rather served as an architrave at a colonnade of this monastery’s courtyard. However, it is difficult to assess if he is right in his reasoning. Aggoula opts for an alternative reading proposed already by Littman: ܗܕܝܪܐ (‘the glorious one’). He establishes that grammatical form of this word as absolute of ܗܕܝܪܬܐ, and points to an inscription published in Jarry 1967, 156, no. 29 (CSLA.E01971) where this epithet is given to the virgin Mary. It would, therefore, be an interesting case of describing the name of Mary written in Greek with a Syriac epithet.
A third explanation is that the Syriac and Greek inscriptions are not connected. Littmann considered this possibility as they were written upside down regarding each other.
For this record, see also Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01894 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01894
Bibliography (edition)
-
Greek text: PAES IIIB W. K., Prentice, 1934, 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, Leiden, 880. IGLS IV Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, IV. Laodicée. Apamène, 1955, L., Jalabert, R., Mouterde, 1889. B., Aggoula, 1992, Studia Aramaica III: II. Deux inscriptions syriaques de la Syrie du Nord; III - Inscriptions syriaques de Syrie-Mésopotamie, Syria 69, 409, 3.
Syriac text: PAES IVB E., Littmann,1934, Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1905–5 and 1909. Division IV: Semitic Inscriptions. Section B: Syriac Inscriptions, Paris, 1. B., Aggoula, 1992, Studia Aramaica III: II. Deux inscriptions syriaques de la Syrie du Nord; III - Inscriptions syriaques de Syrie-Mésopotamie, Syria 69, 409, 3.
Bibliography
- I., Peña, 2000, Lieux de pèlerinage en Syrie, Milan, 13.