MAMA XI 288 (Northern Lykaonia) 
Funerary inscription of a priest
- Type of monument:
- Funerary inscription.
- Location:
- Zengicek (Koçyaka) (Northern Lykaonia): in the steps of a house.
- Description:
- Coarse grey marble block, broken above, buried behind.
- Dimensions:
- Ht. 0.25+; W. 0.62; Th. --; letters 0.015-0.030.
- Record:
- Squeeze (1956/135).
- Publication:
- None.
- Date:
- Fourth to sixth century AD.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ς̣αιϙ̣ (?) μηνὸς ἀνιαρίου ἱερεὺς ἐνθά̣[δ]-
ε κῖτε πο̣λι⟨τ⟩είαν τὴν ἐ⟨ν⟩θάδε κομ[ί]-
σ̣ας̣ (?) πολιτεύετε μετὰ ἁγίων ΑΘΩ[-]
ΟΝ̣ (?) ἁγούμενος (?) παρὰ ἀγγέλων ΑΓ̣[-]
5μετὰ ΠΟΔΗΣ χέρων ἀκολουθῖ κομ[ί]-
ζων τὰ ἐπινίκια ὡς καλὸς ἀθλητ-
ὴς ὀφίλων κομίσασθε τὸν ἀμα[ρ]-
άντινον στ[έφανον - - - - - - - -]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Year (?) ...] in the month of January. A priest lies here: having received ecclesiastical office here (on earth), he now has citizenship among the saints... from the angels... he follows rejoicing, having received the prize of victory like an excellent athlete, worthy of receiving the crown of glory...
Illustrations:
Squeeze of MAMA XI 288 (Northern Lykaonia 14: 1956-135)
I have been unable to explain several passages in the text of this inscription. The apparent absence of the priest’s name in line 1 is odd; perhaps it was inscribed in a missing line above. For the use of the verb πολιτεύεσθαι in the sense of ‘hold ecclesiastical office’ (line 2), cf. the commentary to MAMA XI 271 (1957/116), citing MAMA I 172 (Kadınhanı), Λεύκιος ἀνέσθησα τῷ γλυκυτάτῳ μου πατρὶ Ἀβρα τῷ εὐλαβεστάτῳ πρεσβιθέρῳ θῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἁγίας ἐκλησίας τῶν Ναυατῶν, ἐν ᾗ κὲ ἐπολιθεύσατο; MAMA VII 79 (Kındıras), Αὐρη. Πῶλα κανον<ι>κὴ καλῶς πολιτευσαμένη ἐν τῇ ἁγ̣ιωτάτῃ ἐκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεο[ῦ]. For the metaphor of the Christian athlete (one who fights for his faith), cf. the commentary to MAMA XI 292 (1956/151). The priest’s aspiration for ‘the crown of glory’ (lines 7-8) is a near-quotation from 1 Peter 5:4, φανερωθέντος τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος κομιεῖσθε τὸν ἀμαράντινον τῆς δόξης στέφανον.