154, no. 45 (dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
263, no. 385 | |
780-781, no. 300, fig. 350 |
On a chalk fragment found in Room 8.
Room 8, adiacent to the martyrium, was entered through a courtyard opening immediately to the west of the Entrance Hall. The inscription is written in rectangular changing to oval script, with letters an average 3 cm high, on a fragment of chalk (30x27 cm) broken in two and much worn. The monogram ȣ is consistently used for the diphthong ΟΥ. Crosses mark the beginning and the end of the text.
☩ Ἅγιε Σέργι(ε) βοήθι-
σον τοῦ [δού]λου σοῦ
Θεοδώρου ΠΑΤ
4 Ε . Θ . . Ν̣Α̣Υ̣Τ̣ȣ
ἔτ(ους) υπα´. ☩
Holy Sergius, help thy servant Theodore ... Year 481.
Ll.3-4: Παν|έμ(ου) θκ´ ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) δ´ του ? Kirk–Welles.
Dated invocation of Saint Sergius on behalf of Theodore, on a chalk fragment found in Room 8, 18 July (?) 586.
Year 481 corresponds to 586/7 AD. If Welles' suggested reading is accepted, the date would correspond to 18 July 586, in the 4th indiction.
Two more invocations found on chalk fragments in Room 8 are of Saints Sergius and Stephen (Kirk–Welles, no. 46) and of Christ and Saint Sergius (no. 47).