MAMA XI 346 (Savatra) 
Funerary inscription of Sozomenos and Tabitha
- Type of monument:
- Funerary inscription.
- Location:
- Yağlıbayat (Savatra): by the school.
- Description:
- Grey marble column, complete. Below the inscription, a stele depicted in relief, with vaulted pediment and three acroteria; in the pediment, a crescent moon; on the face of the stele, two defaced figures in relief.
- Dimensions:
- Ht. 1.33; Diameter 0.30 (top), 0.34 (bottom); letters 0.023-0.040.
- Record:
- Squeeze; line drawing; MB notebook copy; photograph (1956/203).
- Publication:
- None.
- Date:
- Roman imperial period.
Σιλουανὸς
Σωζομένῳ
καὶ Ταβιτῇ γλυ-
κυτάτοις γον-
5εῦσιν μνήμης
ἕνεκεν.
Silvanus for Sozomenos and Tabitha, his sweetest parents, in memoriam.
Illustrations:
MAMA XI 346 (Savatra 4: 1956-203)
Squeeze of MAMA XI 346 (Savatra 4: 1956-203)
Line drawing of MAMA XI 346 (Savatra 4: 1956-203)
For the form of the monument, compare MAMA XI 328 (1956/141: Mernek [Karakaya]); for the stele with crescent moon in the pediment (presumably an allusion to the cult of Men), compare MAMA XI 344 (1956/200: Savatra). The name Silvanus is found on several monuments from this region: see MAMA I 110 (Laodikeia); Sterrett 1888a: 217, no. 238 (Akçeşme, near Konya: Σιλο[υα]νός); French 2007: 88, no. 27 (Setik Yayla; perhaps originally from Ortakuyu/Komitanassos); I.Konya 26 (supposedly Meydanlı, near Laodikeia, but perhaps from Ortakuyu/Komitanassos: see the commentary to MAMA XI 365 [1956/191]).
It is very surprising to find the Semitic name Tabitha in this context. The name appears in the form Ταβειθά, with its Greek translation Δορκάς, in Acts 9: 36-42. There is no particular reason to think that Silvanus, Sozomenos and Tabitha were Jews or Christians; the depiction of the stele with crescent moon on their funerary monument ought to imply that they were pagans.