Elaiussa Sebaste: note su un'iscrizione funeraria dalla basilica bizantina delle Grandi Terme

The funerary inscription taken into account in this paper has been found in 2012 inside a tomb in the north aisle of the Byzantine basilica built inside the Great Baths at Elaiussa Sebaste. The text, even if fragmentary in the first lines, offers new insights on funerary rituals within this church in the 6th century AD. It states in fact that the multiple grave (called somatotheke) was reserved to the nephews (anepsioi) of the metropolites of Tarsos. Such a privilege suggests that the bishop of Tarsos, whose name is not men‑ tioned in the inscription, may have had some particular links with Sebaste and with this church, perhaps being one of the euergetes involved in the (re)construction of the building. This large basilica was much probably part of a wider complex – including also the nearby church built in the agora – situated along the pilgrim route connecting Tarsos with Aghia Thekla.