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Early modern inscribed altar slabs from churches on Evros

• Μπρίκας, Αθανάσιος
• Τσουρής, Κωνσταντίνος Ε.

This article is devoted to the publication of inscribed altar slabs, mainly from the northern part ofEvros’ valley, most of which date from the 19th century. The earliest slab dated by an inscription is from 1834, and the latest is in a church dating from 1871. Two or three may be early 20th c. works. Only one (Lavara, Hagios Athanasios) bears a short text and a few names, and another (Petrota, Taxiarches) preserves just a few names. All the rest are inscribed with a large number of capital letters, which are incomprehensible and do not form words.The names recorded on the two slabs are those of the people who dedicated the altar and - presumably - who made some contribution to the erection, decoration and furnishing of the church. In the letters that do not form words, the authors recognise the initials of the dedicators of the slab, those who contributed in a variety of ways to the erection and functioning of the church, and possibly of the entire congregation of the parish. The possibility is precluded that they had a magic content or were a code (sacred or magic). The names and initials were inscribed on the slabs “for eternal memory”, and because the dedicators believed that in this way the sacrament of the Divine Liturgy would be celebrated eternally in their names, which would never be effaced from the slab. This practice reflects the custom of placing in the enkainion of the altar pieces of paper with the names of the deceased, and also of the living, at the inauguration of a church.No precise parallels from the Post-Byzantine period are recorded in the bibliography. However, examples of altar slabs inscribed with inscriptions by the dedicators are recorded in Constantinople in the 18th and 19th c. There are, similarly, no precise parallels from the Byzantine and Early Christian periods, though some examples are known (a few from the Byzantine and a greater number from the Early Christian period) of altar slabs bearing a variety of inscriptions, the best-known being those from the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.The authors concluded that the custom of inscribing names or initials on altar slabs in 19th c. churches in the northern part of Evros’ valley was inspired by the similar, or analogous custom of carving inscriptions with the names of dedicators on altars in churches in Constantinople and the surrounding area during the 18th and 19th c.

• History and Archaeology
• Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

• Αρχαιολογία
• Θρησκεία
• Church history

Ευχαριστούμε ιδιαιτέρως τον Σεβασμιώτατο Μητροπολίτη Διδυμοτείχου και Ορεστιάδος κ.κ. Νικηφόρο για τη βοήθεια του κατά τη διάρκεια της ε'ρευνάς μας. Ευχαριστίες οφείλονται στον αρχαιολόγο Δ. Κουντουράκη για την ποικιλότροπη βοήθειά του, στον προϊστάμενο της ΙΘ' Εφορείας Προϊστορικών και Κλασικών Αρχαιοτήτων Δ. Τριαντάφυλλο, ο οποίος μας υπέδειξε ενεπίγραφες τράπεζες του Έβρου, τις οποίες εμείς δεν γνωρίζαμε, στο Διευθυντή του Επιγραφικού Μουσείου X. Κριτζά, στον αρχαιολόγο Η. Σπονδύλη και τον ιστορικό Κρ. Χρυσοχοΐδη, που διάβασαν ο κείμενό μας και έκαναν χρήσιμες υποδείξεις, παρατηρήσεις και διορθώσεις. Προπάντων όμως θερμότατες ευχαριστίες χρωστούμε στον κ. Ακύλα Μήλλα, ο οποίος έθεσε υπ’ όψη μας όλες τις επιγραφές των τραπεζών των ναών της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως και της ευρύτερης περιοχής της, πληροφορίες χωρίς τις οποίες η εργασία μας θα έμενε στην πραγματικότητα μισή., Περιέχει σχέδια, Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες