The following inscription comes from William Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism (North American Patristic Society Patristic Monograph Series 16; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997), 478:
The wrath of the archangel Michael
Fragment of limestone block,
broken at top. Discovered by W.H. Buckler, W.K.C. Guthrie, and W.M. Calder in
1930. Height: 0.33m.; width: 0.53m.; thickness not provided. Two prominent
Greek crosses (see ad 14), the right one of which appears to have had eight
points like a Maltese cross (cf. 87, 88), are carved beneath inscription.
Remnants of two other symbols also are visible beneath inscription. One,
between the crosses, is described by Calder (MAMA 4 [1933]: p. 121) as
resembling a K carved horizontally but was probably a small Christogram. The
other, to the left of the crosses, Calder (ibid.) considered a delta, but may
have been the petal of a flower (part of a rosette? [cf. 71]). Quadratic epsilons
and sigmas. The left hasta of the alphas slope diagonally left, whereas the
right hasta is vertical. Letter height: 0.025m.-0.037m. Figure 85. Plate 33.
. . .
Montanist?
Calder (424) placed Pepouza at
Bekilli and argued convincingly that another inscription found there (77) with
the name Montanos inscribed on it must be Montanist. His other discoveries at
Bekilli included a dedication to the goddess Leto, mother of Apollo (ibid. =
MAMA 4,314), an orthodox bishop named Michael (ibid. = MAMA 4.323 = CB 2.405, dated
556), and the inscription under discussion here. Obviously, not all
inscriptions found at Bekilli can be considered Montanist. In fact, Calder was
uncommitted about the possible Montanist nature of this inscription in his ed.
pr., but in MAMA he suggested that the funerary curse formula was “perhaps
Montanist” (121). However, there is no literary or other epigraphic evidence to
suggest that Montanists particularly favored appeals to the archangel. As it
appears that later Montanists, or at least Quintillians (on whom, see pp.
346-347 above), tended to interpret the Book of Revelation extremely literally
(see W. Tabbernee [1989b: 58- 59]), they may have become enamored with passages
such as Rev 12 where Michael and his angels are portrayed as defeating the
devil and his angels. Such a “commander-in-chief” would be a fearsome adversary
for any grave robber. Christians other than Montanists, of course, could have
come to the same conclusion. The location of Pepouza has not yet been
identified, but even if it were situated at or near modern Bekilli, this would
merely increase the likelihood of this inscription’s Montanist nature; it could
not guarantee it. (William Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia:
Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism [North American
Patristic Society Patristic Monograph Series 16; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University
Press, 1997], 477-78, 479-80)
