AN INSCRIBED EARLY BYZANTINE FIBULA FROM SERBIA: SOME REMARKS ON THE CULT OF SAINT MENAS IN THE BALKANS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/jaha.13.2.2026.1584Keywords:
fibulae, inscription, St. Menas, Christianity, Early Byzantine period, SerbiaAbstract
A fragmentary bronze fibula with the inscription MINNA was uncovered at the archaeological site of Kladenčište near Bela Palanka, Serbia. Based on its archaeological context and comparisons with similar finds—characterized by a backward-bent foot resembling the Latin letter U and featuring inscriptions on the foot, known exclusively from the Balkans—the Kladenčište fibula is dated to the 6th century CE. The inscription most likely refers to Saint Menas (also known as Minas, Mina, or Mena), an Egyptian martyr who was persecuted under Diocletian. Together with at least five other fibulae bearing Menas’ name and the evidence of so-called Menas flasks, the Kladenčište fibula strengthens the case for the widespread veneration of St. Menas in the central and eastern Balkans during the Early Byzantine period.
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