MAMA XI 356 (Kana) 
Altar base with Apotactite or Encratite prayer
- Type of monument:
- Altar base with Apotactite or Encratite prayer.
- Location:
- Gene Yaylası (Beşağıl) (Kana): not recorded.
- Description:
- Red marble slab with a narrow rim around the edge of the upper surface (W. 0.030, depth 0.030); inscription on one of the long side faces.
- Dimensions:
- Ht. 0.16; W. 0.76; Th. 0.61; letters 0.012-0.025.
- Record:
- Squeeze; WMC notebook copy (1954/50).
- Publication:
- Thonemann 2011b: 200-3, no. 3.
- Date:
- Fourth century AD, probably before AD 381.
[παντο]κράτωρ μόνος θεὸς καὶ̣ [ὁ] ἠγ̣απ̣ημένος αὐτοῦ υἱὸς Ἰησοῦς Χρ̣ειστὸς καὶ̣ τ̣ὸ ἅγ̣ιον̣
[π]νεῦμα σὺν αὐτοῖς, ἐπικαλοῦμε ἐγὼ Ὀνόμαστος τὸ τριπλοκὲς ὄνομα ἐπὶ τῇ κ[ε]-
φ̣αλῇ μου σὺν ὅλῃ τῇ ἐκλησίᾳ ὅπως ἀξιώσεις ἡμᾶς, καθὼς τέτακται ἐν τῷ εὐανγε̣[λ]-
[ί]ῳ τὸ διά σου στόματος λεχθέν· οἱ δὲ καταξιωθέντες τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκείνου τυ-
5χεῖν οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίσκοντε, ἀλλὰ ὡσεὶ οἱ ἄνγελοι τῶν οὐρανῶν. οὕτως ἡ-
μ̣ᾶς ἐκκτάξον παραστῆνε κατέναντι τῆς δόξης σου ἀθόους καὶ ἀμέμπτους καὶ
[ἀ]νενκλήτους δοξάζειν τὸ τριπλοκὲς ὄνομα ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανούς, ἀμήν.
The all-powerful one God and his beloved son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit along with them. I, Onomastos, call the threefold name upon my head along with the whole church, that you may consider us worthy, just as it is laid down in the Gospel, that which was spoken through your own mouth: ‘And those who are considered worthy of receiving that world do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, but (are) just like the angels of the heavens’. Thus draw us up in ranks to stand before your glory, guiltless and blameless and without reproach, to glorify the threefold name from earth to the heavens, Amen.
Illustrations:
Squeeze of MAMA XI 356 (Kana 2: 1954-50)
The form and dimensions of this monument are almost identical to those of a late antique altar-base from Pazarcık, on the territory of Aizanoi in Phrygia: Niewöhner 2007: 233, Cat. 227 (Ht. 0.12, W. 0.63+, Th. 0.77; rim, W. 0.070, depth 0.025). The gospel citation in lines 4-5 is a slightly abbreviated quotation from Luke 20:34-6, ‘the sons of this world marry and are given in marriage, but those who have been considered worthy of receiving that world and resurrection from the dead do not marry, nor are they given in marriage; for they can no longer die, since they are like the angels’ (οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου γαμοῦσιν καὶ γαμίσκονται, οἱ δὲ καταξιωθέντες τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκείνου τυχεῖν καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίσκονται· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀποθανεῖν ἔτι δύνανται, ἰσάγγελοι γάρ εἰσιν). The monument is almost certain to derive from an Encratite or Apotactite ascetic community: for full commentary, see Thonemann 2011b. The phrase τὸ τριπλοκὲς ὄνομα does not appear elsewhere; indeed, the adjective τριπλοκής seems to be unique. As a consequence, it is hard to judge whether this group subscribed to orthodox Trinitarian theology.