ISic001537: Funerary inscription of Makaria Euangelis

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ID
ISic001537
Status
draft
Language
Ancient Greek
Object type
plaque
Text type
funerary

Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text of Agnello checked against inventory transcription;
  • lines.6-7: νυνφευ|[θεῖσα ἐν γα]μῷ Agnello
  • line.8: [ἐτελεύτη]σεν Orsi, Agnello
  • lines.9-10: ἡ κοί|[μησίς σου Agnello

Physical description

Support

Description
Marble plaque, broken in three pieces, missing the lower left corner.
Object type
plaque
Object condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 21.5 cm, width: 18 cm, depth: cm

Material

Description
marble
Type > subtype
stone.unspecified > unverified

Inscription

Layout
No data
Text condition
No data
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering
No data
Letter heights
Line 1: mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Found in 1893 in Necropolis on the viale della Barriera, Catania

Current location

Place
Siracusa, Sicilia
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi
16275
Autopsy
None
Map

Date

Site is dated by Orsi to between mid-4th century and later 5th century CE (CE 351 - CE 500)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The funerary inscription opens with a reference to the tomb as the οἶκος αἰῶνος ἐν (Χριστ)ῷ (cf. Orsi 1893, 390) and the name the deceased, Makaria Euangelis: Μακαρία in this case is a personal name and not an epithet (for the attestations of Μακαρία in Sicily, see LGPN IIIA 286; Εὐαγγέλις is not attested in the feminine form). The deceased, who died at a young age, had been given in marriage, according to Agnello's restoration of ll. 6–7, ἁγνοτάτη νυνφευ|[θεῖσα ἐν γα]μῷ νομίμῳ, in contrast to Orsi, who interpreted the passage as a reference to the Virgin Mary, restoring Νυμφυ|[τόκος. Following the formula recording the day of death, the inscription concludes with the consolatory expression εἰς εἰρήνην ἡ κοί|[μησίς σου in ll. 9–10. This formula is frequently attested in Jewish inscriptions from Magna Graecia, including examples with the second-person singular possessive pronoun (cf. e.g., JIWE I 16, 46; II 39, 205), and is comparable to other expressions found in Sicilian inscriptions, such as εἰς αἰῶνα μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων (IG XIV 139, Syracuse) and εἰς μνημόσυνον αἰώνων (IG XIV 179, Syracuse). This expression, together with the reference to the Law at l. 7 (νομίμῳ), identifies the inscription as Jewish rather than Christian, despite its repeated Christian professions (cf. Ferrua 1938, 73–74; Agnello 1953, 82).

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions
Discussion

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
8/3/2026