Get Social With Us

4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1315
TM IDTM 88334
Findspot (DEChriM ID)23   (al-Šayḫ ʿIbāda)
ClassTextual
MaterialStone
Writing mediumInscription
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek
Description

I.Métriques 123; IGChrEg 227; SEG LI 2127 descr.; SEG XXXIV 1553 descr.: Honorary epigram for Fl. Ulpius Erythrius, governor of Thebais.

Tall limestone base with mouldings at top and bottom: H. 125, W 60, D 60 cm. The text contains three elegiac distichs, set over nine lines. This verse celebrates the golden (gilded) statue which the governor (praeses Thebaidos) Erythrius received as an imperial reward for his good governorship. The last distich mentions, in a reference to the noble family of Erythrius, his father-in-law Theodorus who held office as urban prefect of Constantinople.

Below the inscription is a cross, within a wreath, from which emanate two sinuous bands, and which is flanked by two palm branches.

Selection criteriaChristian symbols/gestures/isopsephy
Date from385
Date to387
Dating criteria

Prosopography (SEG LI 2127).

Absolute/relative dateAbsolute date
Archaeological context

The base was recorded in the village of Mellaoui el-Arich on the west bank of the Nile in 1885 by A.H. Sayce, who was told that it came from Antinoopolis. However, it was recorded to come from the village of Reiramoun, likewise on the west bank (6 km south of Antinoopolis), by the Museum-journals (Bernand 1969, 489 with n. 1).

Accession number

Cairo, Egyptian Museum CG 9290 / JdE 29876.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference edition

• Bernand, Étienne. 1969. Inscriptions métriques de l'Égypte gréco-romaine. Paris, no. 123 with pl. 88.

Editio princeps

• Lefebvre, Gustave. 1907. Recueil des inscriptions grecques chrétiennes d'Egypte. Paris, no. 227.

Additional bibliography

• Chaniotis, A., Corsten, T., Stroud, R.S. and Tybout, R.A. 2001. “SEG 51-2127. Antinooupolis? Honorary epigram for Erythrios, governor of the The-aid, 385-387 A.D.” In Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Current editors: A. T. E. N. Chaniotis Corsten Stavrianopolou Papazarkadas. Consulted online on 16 July 2021.

• De Martino, M. 2001. Rivista di archeologia cristiana 77, 407-417.

• Feissel, Denis. 1984. "Notes d' Épigraphie chrétienne VII", Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 108, 545-579 (esp. 547-548).

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 1315", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1315
Gallery