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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024
Graffiti are often seen as providing a window into the emotions of ancient peoples. However, Byzantine graffiti has been viewed as an exception, with the formulaic Greek texts written between 300 and 1500 taken as evidence of communal identity, rather than individual expressiveness. However, variations in these texts can reveal much about an individual author and their personal experiences. In particular, certain formula suggest the dangerous situation an author survived, including incarceration and sea travel. This paper focuses on Corinth, Syros, and Tinos where individuals experienced danger, and how their fears and needs were manifested in the graffiti they left behind.
This article was written as part of the project ‘Epigraphies of pious travel: pilgrims’ inscriptions, movement, and devotion between Byzantium and Rus’ in the 5th–15th Centuries CE’, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF PROJECT I 5286-G25). I am grateful to Andreas Rhoby and Grace Stafford for their comments on early drafts of this article.
1 Definition: Handley, M. A., ‘Scratching as devotion: graffiti, pilgrimage and liturgy in the late antique and early medieval west’, in K. Bolle, C. Machado, and C. Witschel (eds), The Epigraphic Cultures of Late Antiquity (Stuttgart 2017) 555–95Google Scholar (556). Scholarly approach: Peden, A. J., The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt: scope and roles of informal writings (c. 3100–332 BC) (Leiden 2001) XXICrossRefGoogle Scholar. Peden describes Pharaonic graffiti as ‘invariably free of … social restraints’. P. Keegan, Graffiti in Antiquity (London 2014) 1 describes the medium as ‘personal’ allowing ‘uninhibited reign into their [ancient peoples’] thoughts’. A summary of this view regarding Pompeiian graffiti is provided by Baird, J. A. and Taylor, C., ‘Ancient graffiti in context: introduction’, in J.A. Baird and C. Taylor (eds), Ancient Graffiti in Context (New York 2011) 1–17Google Scholar.
2 Κύριε, βοήθει, ‘Lord, help’ was the most common phrase in late antique and Byzantine informal inscriptions, however a few other terms also saw frequent usage. Ἐλέησον ‘have mercy’ and μνησθῇ or μνήσθητι ‘Let x be remembered’ and ‘remember’ were popular prayers found carved in the graffiti and in the late antique and Byzantine worlds, and these prayers appear in some form in 30% of all late antique textual graffiti.
3 A. Felle and B. Ward-Perkins (eds), ‘Introduction’, in Cultic Graffiti in the Late Antique Mediterranean and Beyond (Turnhout 2021) xvii–xx (xviii).
4 M. Whiting, ‘Contextualizing Christian pilgrim graffiti in the late antique Holy Land’, in Felle and Ward-Perkins, Cultic Graffiti, 17–31 (23–4).
5 An additional site which could have featured in this study is Wadi Hajjaj in the Sinai, a desert pilgrimage route in which the authors also felt danger and inscribed their texts accordingly. However, in order to keep a strict focus I have chosen to focus on graffiti from a limited geographic span (in this instance, the modern Greek state). I hope to address Wadi Hajjaj, and the complex history of the graffiti, in the future. Another site which may have been worthy of discussion, if more time was available, is a Byzantine era prison at Cherson, For the material from the Sinai, see Negev, A., The Inscriptions of Wadi Haggag (Jerusalem 1977)Google Scholar. For the prison at Cherson, see A. Vinogradov and I. Polinskaya, Inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea < https://iospe.kcl.ac.uk/5.91.html> [accessed 10 October 2023].
6 R. H. Banes, ‘Scratch that: a comparative approach to graffiti in the late antique eastern Mediterranean c. 300–700 CE’, diss. PhD, University of Birmingham 2023.
7 Scranton, R. L., Mediaeval Architecture in the Central Area of Corinth (Princeton 1957) 46–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Scranton places these modifications as post-classical, but prior to the twelfth century. The prison graffiti at Corinth can be found in E. Sironen (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae IV Inscriptiones Argolidis. 2nd edn. Fasc. 3 (Berlin 2016) (hereafter IG IV2 3) nos. 1270–94.
8 Brown, A., Corinth in Late Antiquity: a Greek, Roman and Christian city (London 2018) 105–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The pavement slab honouring the emperors was reused as a medieval tombstone, and is thus found out of context. For this inscription, see: IG IV² 3, 1266.
9 B.D. Merritt, Greek Inscriptions, VIII, 1 (Princeton 1931), nos. 199–220.
10 For βουκελλάριοι see McGeer, E., ‘Boukellarioi’, in A. Kazhdan (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Oxford 1991) 316Google Scholar.
11 Late antique dating: M. B. Walbank, ‘Where have all the names gone? The Christian community in Corinth in the late Roman and early Byzantine eras’, in S. J. Friesen, D. N. Schowalter, and J. C. Walters (eds), Corinth in Context: comparative studies on religion and society (Leiden 2010) 250–316 (272). Walbank offers a date of the seventh century, but does not provide his reasoning. See also Breytenbach, C., ‘Christian prisoners: fifth and sixth century inscriptions from Corinth’, Acta Theologica 36 (2016) 302–9Google Scholar (303–4) and J. Judge-Mulhall, ‘A new interpretation of a graffito from a late antique prison at Corinth (=IG IV2 3, 1271)’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 217 (2021) 89–94 (89–91). Breytenbach and Judge-Mulhall both offer late antique dates based on content; Scranton, Corinth, 46 has suggested a date in the ninth or tenth centuries on paleographic grounds, but represents a minority opinion.
12 IG IV² 3, 1272. Κ(ύρι)ε Ἰ(ησο)ῦ Χ(ριστ)έ, βοήθι τῷ δούλου σου / Κ Ο C Μ☩ ☩ ἀμήν.☩ The formula ‘Lord, help’ also appears in IG IV² 3, 1271. ΟC ☩ ἔζκουε. auris / ☩ Κ(ύρι)ε, βοήθι τοῦ δ-/ούλου σο. ‘Listen! Lord, help your servant’
13 IG IV² 3, 1281. νικᾷ ἡ]τύχη ΟΙ̣̣Υ̣ / – – – – – – – –Ρ̣ – – / – – – – – – – –Ν̣Ε / – – – – – – –Κ̣ΠΟΥ // Δ[.]Ι μ[ὴ π]αραδίκα–/σ̣ον ἀνὰ μέσο(ν) / ἐμοῦ κὲ τῶν ἐκθρoν / μου.
14 Lampe, G., A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford 1961)Google Scholar. s.v. παραδικάζω.
15 IG IV² 3, 1280. ☩ ἅγιε – – – – – – – – – – / ζωμεν– – – – – – – – – – / ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπ̣[ου τούτου] / Ἀνδρέαν, Γεώρ̣[γιον, – –]– // ☩ τ̣ο̣ν, κ̣(αὶ) ἀπόλεσο[ν – –] / – – – – – – – – – – – – – –. ‘Saint… live (?) … from this place, Andreas, Georgios… and destroy.’ The reconstruction of τόπ̣ου τούτου seems likely, as the same phrase appears in IG IV² 3, 1277 (see n. 23).
16 IG IV² 3, 1279. ☩ ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς τῆς̣ δίκης τῆς̣ δικα–/ζούσης ὀρθῶς, φλα̣[γέλ]ωσον τάχος / τοὺς Ἕληνας Τ̣– –c.5– –ΡΟΥ ποτέ κ(αὶ) ἀπώ–/λ̣εσον τοὺς ἐχθρ̣[οὺς – –c.6– –]ηρου κ(αὶ) Μαρ̣ίνου // [τῶν] υ̣ἱῶν Ϊ[ωάννου τοῦ κ]ουρέος. ☩
17 A. Kazhdan, ‘Hellenes’ in Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 911–12.
18 IG IV² 3, 1275. The complete inscription read: ☧ Κ(ύρι)ε ὁ Θεὸς ὡ τὸ σκό–/τος διαχορίσας κὲ / φõς ἀνατήλας διὰ / τῆς ὐκουμένης, ἀπό//δος, Θεοτόκε, ἀπό–/δος Μαρίνου τοῦ / βαλότος ἱμᾶς / ὁ̃δε κὲ ᾿πύσο τὸς / ἱμᾶς χ᾿ ἱμᾶ–//ς τὴν Πετρου–/νίαν. ☩
19 IG IV² 3, 1276 ii. ☩ Κ(ύρι)ε, ἀπόλεσον Λεωνιανό(ν), διὰ / τίνος ἰσήλθαμεν ὁ̃δε. ‘Lord, destroy Leonianos, through whom we came here.’
20 IG IV² 3, 1273. πόησον Κ(ύρι)ε μόρ̣ῳ κακῷ ἀποθάνε τους.
21 As in IG IV² 3, 1279 (see f.n. 12) and IG IV² 3, 1270. ☩ Κ(ύρι)ε ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς καὶ δίκ[ι] κ̣[α]θαρά, / λύτροσε τοῦ τόπου τούτου / τοὺς δύω ἀδερφοὺς / ΧΤ ΦK Βούδιν καὶ Ἰωάν–//νιν τοὺς βουκελλαρίους / τοῦ ἐπάρχου, ἀμίν. ☩ ‘Lord, God and pure justice release from this place the two brothers, Boudios and Ioannes the boukellarioi of the eparch. Amen.’.
22 IG IV² 3, 1277. νικᾷ ἱ τύχι τõν καταπ– /ονουμένον ἐν τõ /ἀνόμου τόπο τού– /το· Κ(ύρι)ε, μὶ ἐλείσις τὸν̣ // βαλότα ἡμᾶς ὁ̃δε.
23 Breytenbach, Christian Prisoners, 306.
24 See: IG IV² 3, 1274; IG IV² 3, 1276 i; IG IV² 3, 1277; IG IV² 3, 1281.
25 Constantine Porphrygenitos, Le livre des cérémonies, ed. G. Dagron, B. Flusin, and D. Feissel, II (Paris 2020) 431. νικᾷ ἡ τύχη τῶν Ῥωμαίων.
26 Constantine Porphyrogenitos, 2, 233. Ὁ Λαός· «Νικᾷ ἡ πίστις τῶν Βενέτων.» - Οἱ Πράσινοι· «τῶν Πρασίνων»
27 For inscriptions from Aphrodisias (Hereafter IAph2007), see J. Reynolds, C. Roueché, and G. Bodard (eds), Inscriptions of Aphrodisias (2007). <http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/iaph2007> [accessed 10 October 2023]. The inscription of the mime can be found at: IAph2007 8.104. νικᾷ ἡ τύχη / τῶν Πρασίνων / κ(αὶ) τον μίμον τοῦ / Πρασίν(ου). This acclamation is found carved several other times in Aphrodisias, including but not limited to: IAph2007 1.404; IAph2007 10.32; IAph2007 10.3 Vii. Variants are also attested in a fifth-century theatre from Alexandria, e.g. Borkowski, Z., Inscriptions des factions à Alexandrie (Warsaw 1981) no. 24Google Scholar. Νικᾷ ἡ τύχη / τῶν <ν>έων πρ/ασίνων ‘May the fortune of the young Greens triumph’. The phrase is also used to refer to other social groups: at Xanthos in Lycia it appears in a graffito of a social group called the marianoi, see E. Hansen and C. Le Roy, ‘Au Létôon de Xanthos: les deux temples de Léto’, Revue Archéologique (1976) 317–36 (336).
28 There are parallels to the Corinthian prison in the Byzantine period. A tenth- or eleventh-century prison has been identified at Cherson, where graffiti from the Cherson prison contains a mixture of common prayer formulae, e.g. ‘Lord, help’, and those more relevant to the specific circumstances of the imprisoned, such as a graffito invoking the support of a local official. For this material, see A. Vinogradov and I. Polinskaya, Inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea <https://iospe.kcl.ac.uk/5.91.html> [accessed 10 October 2023].
29 For a detailed discussion of the history of Syros and Tinos see P. Nowakowski, ‘Pilgrims and Seafarers: a survey of travellers’ graffiti from the Aegean Islands’, in Felle and Ward-Perkins, Cultic Graffiti, 111–36.
30 Kiourtzian, G., Recueil des Inscriptions Grecques Chrétiennes des Cyclades, de la din du IIIe au VIIIe siècle après J.-C (Paris 2000) 137Google Scholar; Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 112–13.
31 Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 112.
32 For deacons: Kiourtzian, Cyclades, nos. 105, 107, 123, 136d and 85. For the goldsmith: Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 93. and Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers,119.
33 For the optio: Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 131.
34 For these texts, see Kiourtzian, Cyclades, nos. 77, 80, 105, 108, 109, 110, 115, 117, 121, 122, 126, 128, 129, 132 and 136k.
35 See Kiourtzian, Cyclades, nos. 109, 105, 108 and 110.
36 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 80. Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθι τῷ δούλο̣ / σου Μόσχο̣ Γυαρίτου̣. ‘Lord, help your servant Moschos of Gyaros’. Gyaros is also mentioned in Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 117. Κ(ύρι)ε σõσον τὴν σύμ/πλυαν Ἰσ̣ιδό̣ρου / Ἀπικραντί̣ου Γ̣υα/ρ̣ίτου, ἀμὴν Χριστέ. ‘Lord, save Isidoros son of Apikrantios of Gyaros and his sailing companions. Amen. Christ.’ Travel between Syros and Gyaros must have been a relatively insignificant journey, with the southernmost point of Gyaros being only 15km from Grammata Bay.
37 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 93; Kiourtzian, Cyclades, 96. Δόξα τῷ / σώσαντι / ἡμᾶς / ἐν Τύρῳ. ‘Give salvation to us, in Tyre.’ Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, fig. 9.4.
38 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, 148.
39 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, 138–41; Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 121.
40 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, 138–41; Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 121.
41 Kiourtzian, Cyclades no. 133; Kiourtzian, Cyclades 197.
42 A. Vionis, ‘Island responses in the Byzantine Aegean: Naxos under the lens of current archaeological research’, in J. Crow and D. Hill (eds), Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean: insular responses to regional change (Athens 2018) 61–80 (63–5). Vionis notes how ceramics and tableware excavated at Naxos follows types found at many other locations in the Aegean.
43 Synesios of Cyrene, Epistle 4: To Eutropius. The Letters of Synesios of Cyrene Translated into English with Introduction and Notes, tr. A. Fitzgerald (London 1926) 80–91 (91). For a discussion of the sea in late antique and Byzantine literature see Mullett, M. E., ‘In peril on the sea: travel genres and the unexpected’, in R. Macrides (ed.), Travel in the Byzantine World (Aldershot 2002) 259–85Google Scholar.
44 V. A. Foskolou, ‘“Reading” the images on Pilgrim Mementoes (Eulogies): their iconography as a source for the cult of saints in the early Byzantine period’, in D. Ariantzi and I. Eichner (eds), Seelenheil und Lebensglück. Das byzantinische Pilgerwesen und seine Wurzeln (Mainz 2018) 315–27 (319).
45 Foskolou, Pilgrim Mementoes; Vikan, G., Early Byzantine Pilgrimage Art (Washington D.C. 1982) 33Google Scholar.
46 J. Beresford, The Ancient Sailing Season (Leiden 2013) 68–9.
47 25 out of 91 graffiti.
48 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 126. Κύ(ριε) σῶσων τὸ πλῦ̣[ο] / Γεωγίω<ν> κὲ Πέτρο ναυ/κλήρων μετὰ τῖς συ/πλύ(ας) αὐτοῦ Μιλισίων / (καὶ) Πιλου<μ>(σ)ιανῶ(ν), ἀμήν.
49 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 103. <ΚΙ> †Κ(ύρι)ε̣ σõσον τὼ / πλοῖον Μαρία / Ἰσ(ι)δόρου Πι̣/α[ρ]έως. ‘Lord, save the ship Maria of Isidoros from Piraeus.’ And Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 92. Ὁ χωρὸς τῶν ἁγίων̣ ἀπο̣σ̣τό̣λον / σώσα[τ]α̣ι̣ [τὸ] πλοῖο̣ν̣ Μ̣αρίαν μετὰ̣ τ(ῶν) / γωμοτῶν̣ Α̣Ṿ… CΤΙΝ (καὶ) Ἰωάν[υου] / ναυ<τ̣>κλήρου (καὶ) τον συνπλεόντω[ν] // αὐτọ̃. ‘Chorus of the holy apostles, save the ship Maria with its cargo… and Ioannes the Captain and his sailing companions.’
50 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 94. [Κ]ύ(ριε) σõσ(ον) τὸ(ν) δ̣οῦ(λόν σου) / [---] Ν̣ Λ̣. [---] / [π]αρ̣άσχου εὔ̣π̣λυαν, ἀμήν.
51 Packhard Humanities Database of Greek Inscriptions. (Hereafter PHI) https://epigraphy.packhum.org/search?patt=%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%80%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%B1. [Accessed 28 May 2024].
52 PHI Database of Greek Inscriptions. https://epigraphy.packhum.org/search?patt=%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%80%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%B1. [Accessed 28 May 2024].
53 F F. Hiller (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae XII,5 Inscriptiones Cycladum (Berlin 1903–9) no. 712,25 (hereafter IG XII,5) εὔπλοια / τῷ φιλο-/σεράπι / τῷ(;) Ἰουλι-//ανῷ / Ἀρτεμισίου / Μειλησίω. See also IG XII, 5, 712, 22.
54 35 of 920 graffiti.
55 Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 126. Κύ(ριε) σῶσων τὸ πλῦ̣[ο] / Γεωγίω<ν> κὲ Πέτρο ναυ/κλήρων μετὰ τῖς συ/πλύ(ας) αὐτοῦ Μιλισίων ‖ (καὶ) Πιλου<μ>(σ)ιανῶ(ν), ἀμήν. Similar invocations can be found in Kiourtzian, Cylades, nos. 129, 131, 132.
56 IG XII,5 712,31. Ἀσκλη/πιὲ μέγα / [σῶσον Εὐ]τύχη / ․․․․ ἁγν[ά]ς. ‘Great Asklepios, save the good fortune of…’.
57 Negev, Wadi Haggag, no. 100. † Κ(ύρι)ε σῶσον τὸν δοῦλόν σου / Θεόφιλον κ(αὶ) τοὺς διαφέροντας/ αὐτοῦ κ(αὶ) τ(ὴ)ν συνοδίαν αὐτοῦ. Ἀμήν.
58 Feissel, D., ‘Inscriptions byzantines de Ténos’, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 104 (1980) 477–518CrossRefGoogle Scholar (477)
59 For the re-edited graffiti from Feissel, see Kiourtzian, Cyclades, nos. 137, 138 and 139. Kiourtzian's editions of these texts are identical to those provided by Feissel, and therefore I have used Feissel's editions for ease of reference. For the new graffiti published, see Kiourtzian, Cyclades, nos. 140a, 140b and 140c.
60 Middle Byzantine dating: Feissel and Nowakowski agree on a middle Byzantine date, assuming the texts must have been written the end of the Arab presence in the Cylclades, although both also identify several texts which they believe may have predated the seventh century. (Feissel, Ténos, 518; Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 112–13.) As with Syros, the Arab navy would not have prevented travel within the Cyclades, nor visitors from the island of Tinos itself. Similarities to the Parthenon graffiti are discussed on page 11.
61 Feissel, Ténos, 514–15.
62 Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 113.
63 For the Saint Phokas graffito, see Kiourtzian, Cyclades, no. 71. Κ(ύρι)ε κα(ὶ) ἅγιε Φωκᾶ σοσον / τὸ πλοῖον Μαρία καὶ το/ὺς πλέοντας ἐν αὐτọ̃ / [----]πηδάλι̣ο̣ Σ [--] ‖ [--] ΣHΣ̣ [--] / [---] Ḥ [-]. ‘Lord and Saint Phokas, save the ship Maria and the sailors on it …’.
64 Feissel, Ténos, 477.
65 Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 113.
66 For graffiti written by women: Feissel, Ténos, nos. 6, 13 and 14.
67 Feissel, Ténos, no. 14. † Ἅγηε / Στέφανε / φοήθη (sic) τῆς / δούλη(ς) σου Θεω‖φυλακτοῦς τοῦ Τηνηακο̣ῦ. ‘Saint Stephen, shelter the servant of God Theophylakto (?) of Tinos.’; Feissel, Ténos, no. 4. Ἅγηε Στέ/φανε προ/τομάρυς / βοήθη τοῦ / δούλου σου Κοσ/μᾶ τοῦ Τη/νη̣α̣κοῦ. ‘Saint Stephen Protomartyr, help your servant Kosmas from Tinos.’ It should be noted that in both these graffiti, Feissel interprets Τηνη̣α̣κοῦ as a patronym, ‘son of Teniakos’. If Τηνη̣α̣κοῦ is a personal name, rather than a toponym, it is most likely still connected to the individual's origin on the island of Tinos.
68 Feissel, Ténos, no. 38. Ό Θ(εο)ς τῆς Θε/οτόκου βοήθι / Τιμόθεο ἐπισ/κ(όπω) Κνίδου. ‘God of the Theotokos, help Timotheos the Bishop of Knidos’ and Feissel, Ténos, no. 39. Θεοτόκε̣ βοήθι Τιμοθέῳ ἐπισκόπο Κνίδου /..ου ….κλι̣α̣ …… / .. ν̣ .. ν̣α …….. ‘Theotokos, help Timotheos, Bishop of Knidos…’
69 Feissel, Ténos, 500; Kiourtzian, Cyclades, 205.
70 Nowakowski, Pilgrims and Seafarers, 121–2.
71 Feissel, Ténos, no. 44. † Εὐ̣στά̣θ(ιος) ? Πεφλα̣γών … / ………… / ….. ‘Efstathios of Paphlagonia’.
72 Feissel, Ténos, no. 40. Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθυ Ύοά/νου Ἀθυνέου τοῦ / χρ(υσο)χοῦ ? ΓΑΠΡΟΣ ? ‘Lord, help Ioannes of Athens the Goldsmith’
73 38 of 53 inscriptions in the Cave Chapel of Saint Stephen feature the ‘help’ invocation.
74 For Panormon, see: A. C. Bandy, The Greek Christian Inscriptions of Crete, vol. X part I (Athens 1970) no. 73. Κ(ύρι)ε, βοήθι τοῦ / δ'ού'λ'ου' ? σο[υ] / Κοσ[μᾶ.] / Ἀμὴν γέ/νοιτ[ο]. ‘Lord, help your servant Kosmas. Amen, so be it.’ For Ephesos, see: H. Engelmann, D. Knibbe and R. Merkelbach (eds), Die Inschriften von Ephesos. Vol. IV (Bonn 1980) no. 1279. κ(ύρι)ε Ἠσοῦ Χ[ριστὲ καὶ Ἰωάννη(ς)] / ὁ θεόλογος [ῥύσατε ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ - - -] /ἀ̣π̣ὸ τε τοῦ [πονηροῦ(?) ἀμήν, γέ/ν̣υ̣το κ(ύρι)ε. ‘Lord Jesus Christ and John the Theologian, deliver me from evil. Amen, so be it. Lord.’ For the use of this phrase at Athens, see A. K. Orlandos and L. Vranoussis, Τὰ χαράγματα τοῦ Παρθενῶνος ἤτοι ἐπιγραφαὶ χαραχθεῖσαι ἐπὶ τῶν κιόνων τοῦ Παρθενῶνος κατὰ τοὺς παλαιοχριστιανικοὺς καὶ βυζαντινοὺς χρόνους (Athens 1973) nos. 6, 7, 33, 167.
75 The outlier is the appearance of this term at Panormon. It is possible that this author originated in Athens or Tinos, and travelled to Crete by boat. It is also possible this appearance was a coincidence. Outside of graffiti, the phrase ἀμήν, γένοιτο appears only twice on the Packard Humanities Institute Database of Greek Inscriptions, once in Athens and once in Nubia: <https://inscriptions.packhum.org/allregions> [accessed 10 October 2023].
76 Feissel, Ténos, no. 17. Ἄργυρος πρ(εσβύτερος) ἁμαρτολὸς / τοῦ Βουλομένου ' (?) σοῦσον αὐτ(ὸν) / Κ(ύρι)ε ἐν τῇ θαλάση̣. ‘Argyros Boulomenou, Presbyter and Sinner, save him, Lord, in the Sea or Argyros of Boulomen, Presbyter and Sinner, save him, Lord, in the Sea.’
77 Feissel, Ténos, no. 21. Κ(ύρι)ε βωήθη τοῦ δούλου σου Σηδόρρου / τῆς ΠΛΟΥΤΗΝΑ (?) · λήτροσον αὐτὸ(ν) / ἀπὸ ΘΑΛΛΟΥ θαλάσης. The meaning of the terms ΠΛΟΥΤΗΝΑ and ΘΑΛΛΟΥ in this graffito is obscure, and Feissel was not able to solve their meaning.
78 Feissel, Ténos, no. 19. † Κ(ύρι)ε βοή(θει) τοῦ δούλου σου Παπαγληγόρη κὲ δὸς / αὐτὸν ἄφεσην ἁμαρτηõν κὲ λήτροσε αὐ/τὸν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ἀσβέ̣στου.
79 Feissel 1980: no. 13. Ἅγηε Στέφανε / βοήθη τῆς δού/λη(ς) σου Ἄννας τοῦ / Στροβηληατή ‖ κὲ δὸς αὐτὴν / ἄφεσην ἁμαρ/τηõν. ‘Saint Stephen, help your servant Anna daughter of Strobeleates and give her release from sins.’ Feissel, Ténos, no. 11. † Ἅγηε Στέφανε προτομάρτυς / σκέπε φρούρη φύλατε τὸν δοῦλόν σου Γαβρήλην / κὲ τὴν δούλην σου Ἐρήνην κὲ δὸς / αὐτῦς τὰ ἐτήματα τõν καρδη‖õν αὐτõν κὲ μὴ ἐνκαταλήπῃ αὐτοὺς ὁ Θ(εό)ς· / τὰ πλούσηα τοῦ ἐλέη · ἀμὴν γένυτω. †. ‘Saint Stephen protomartyr, shelter, protect and guard your servant Gabril and your servant Eirene and give to them the requests of their heart and do not forsake us God, rich in your mercy, Amen. So be it.’
80 Feissel, Ténos, no. 36. (Ή) γῆς κλονῆτε κὲ πᾶσα κτήσης / τρέμη, μ(ήτ)ηρ δὲ <θε>θρηνῆ κέ μ̣α̣/θητὴς δακ(ρ)ύον, Χ(ριστὸν ;) <ορ>ὁρõντες έ(ν) ξήλ(ο) / τεταμένο(ν). Τ̣ήμα τὸν τόπο (ν) .. ‖ …………….. ‘The earth is shaken and all creation quakes, and the mother laments and the disciple weeps, seeing Christ lying on the tree. Honour this place… Lord…’. This graffito is paralleled in an eleventh–thirteenth-century epigram from a church in Cappadocia: A. Rhoby, Byzantinische Epigramme auf Fresken und Mosaiken (Vienna 2009) 279–81.
81 Feissel, Ténos, no. 2. Ἃγηε̣ Στέφανε σκέπε φρού[η] / φύλατε τὸν δοῦλον σου / Βασήληο̣ν ἄρχοντα ΗΚΕ ἐ/λαχ̣ήστου κὲ τ̣[ης σ]ηβήου αὐ‖[τοῦ κὲ τõν τέκνον α]ὐ̣τõν. This version of the prayer also appears in Feissel, Ténos, nos. 1, 11, 12. Nos. 5, 10, and 14 each partially utilize this phrase.
82 Orlandos and Vranoussis, Τὰ χαράγματα, no. 129. Κ(ύρι)ε] ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς ἡμῶν, / σκ]έπε φύλατ<τ>ε / τ]ὸν σὸν δοῦλον / Γ]ρίγόριον χαρ/<του>λάριον· ἀμήν. I have re-edited this graffito according to the Leiden conventions.
83 Orlandos and Vranoussis, Τὰ χαράγματα, no. 116.
84 A. Rhoby, Byzantinische Epigramme auf Stein, vol. II (Vienna 2014) no. GR95.
85 ‘Shelter, protect and guard’ is unique to graffiti at Tinos and Athens, but singular words are found in graffiti from other areas of the Byzantine world. For example, ‘guard’ is found at several different sites, including a basilica at Sergiupolis-Resafa: C. Römer, ‘Die Griechischen Graffiti’ in T. Ulbert (ed.), Die Basilika des Heiligen Kreuzes in Resafa-Sergiupolis (Mainz 1986) 171–9 (no. 23), at a cave church in Cappadocia: G. D. Jerphanion, Les églises rupestres de Cappadoce: une nouvelle Province de l'art byzantine, vol.2. (Paris 1932) no. 46, and at the Cave of the Seven Sleepers in Ephesos: Praschniker, C., Das Cömeterium der Sieben Schläfer (Vienna 1937) no. II.a.40bGoogle Scholar.
86 Dumbarton Oaks Online Collections < https://www.doaks.org/resources/seals> (accessed 10 October 2023) (hereafter DO Online Collections) Accession Number: BZS.1947.2.1398. Σταυρὲ σκέπε, φρούρει, φύλαττε τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ ἱερεῖ. A similar formula, Σκέπε, σώζε, φύλαττε ‘shelter, save and protect’ is found on an eleventh-twelfth century seal from Kyiv: A. Wassilou-Seibt, Corpus der Byzantinischen Siegel mit Metrischen Legenden, Vol.2. (Vienna 2015) no. 1954.
87 DO Online Collections. Accession Number: BZS.1955.1.4565. Θεοτόκε, σκέπε, φύλατε ἐδεσιμώτατον Σωτήριον.
88 Wassilou-Seibt, Corpus der Byzantinischen Siegel, no. 2527. Σφραγ(ϊς) Λέοντό(ς) [ε]ΐμι κουβουκλησ(ίου) / τάμού ισα φρουρ(εΐ) (και) φυλάττει πένο(ς).
89 DO Online Collections. Accession Number: BZS.1947.2.1622. Σφραγὶς λόγους φρουροῦσα Θεοφυλάκτου. This seal is also published in Wassilou-Seibt, Corpus der Byzantinischen Siegel, no. 2555,
90 Feissel, Ténos, nos 5, 11, 12, 14. It should be noted another graffito from the cave, no. 2, may have been written by the same author and features the same alpha, however the gamma lacks the additional strike.
91 Feissel, Ténos, no. 5. Ἅγηε Στέφανε προτομάρτηρε φύλατε τὸ γράψοντα. / † Κ(ύρι)ε † Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθυ τοῦ δούλου σου Ἀγάθονος / ὅπου ἄν ἔχυ περηπατῆν · ἀμ(ὴ)ν γένο̣ι̣(το). ‘Saint Stephen protomartyr, guard the writer of this, Lord, Lord, lord help your servant Agathon, no matter where he goes. Amen, so be it.’
92 Feissel, Ténos, nos. 4, 13, 15, 27.
93 It should be noted there are slight inconsistences in the spelling of βοήθει in these four inscriptions. Feissel, Ténos, nos. 4 and 13 both offer βοήθη, whilst nos. 15 and 27 both use βούθη. Eta and upsilon were homophones in this era, so the switch does not render the idea the graffiti were written by the same individual impossible, particularly if they were inscribed at different times, but it does complicate it, and we are possibly considering a case where several different authors with similar handwriting, but non-identical spelling preferences, wrote the texts.
94 Feissel, Ténos, no. 10. Κ̣(ύρι)ε̣ ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς τ̣ῆ̣ς ἁγ(ί)α(ς) Θ̣ε(οτό)κου φύλαξον Ἄμανον / μετ(ὰ) τ(ῶν) ναυτõν (αὐτοῦ καὶ) πα(ν)τὸ̣ς̣ τ(οῦ) ὔκου αὐτοῦ · ἀμὴν γένητ(ο). ‘Lord, God of the holy Theotokos, guard Amanos with his sailors and all his household. Amen, so be it.’
95 Feissel, Ténos, no. 1. † Ὁ Θ(εὸ)ς διὰ τ(ῶν) πρεσβιῶν τοῦ ἁγήου / πρ(ω)τ(ο)μ(ά)ρ(τυρ)ος Στεφάνου σκέ̣πε̣ [φρ]ού/ρη φύλατε τὸν δοῦλον [σου] / Χρ …………. ‘God, through the intercession of the Protomartyr Saint Stephen, shelter, protect, guard your servant …’