E02036: Floor-mosaic with a fragmentary Greek inscription commemorating the laying of the mosaic of 'Church 82' in Khirbet es-Samra to the southeast of Gerasa/Jerash (Jordan/the Roman province of Arabia), probably dedicated to *Theodore (soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480). Probably dated 633-634.

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posted on 2016-11-22, 00:00 authored by Bryan

+ χάρι̣τ[ι θεοῦ, ἐπὶ τοῦ ὁσ]̣ι̣ωτά̣το̣υ
Θεω[δώρου ἀρχιεπ(ισκόπου) ἐψηφώθη? το]ῦ ἁγίου ❦
Θε[ωδώρου, σπουδῇ - - - -] ἑγουμένου
(καὶ) Α[- - - - - - ο]υ ἀναγνόστο-
υ Ἰ̣ω[άννου (?) - - - -ἐ]ν [χρόνοις]
ἑβδόμ̣η̣ς [ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος), τοῦ ἔτους φκ.ʹ τῆς ἐπαρχίας]

6. probably φκ[ηʹ] or φκ[θ]ʹ

'Through the grace [of God, under the] most pious [archbishop] Theodoros [the mosaic] (of the church?) of Saint Theodore [was completed (?). By the efforts of - - -] the abbot (higoumenos) and A[- - -], the lector Ioannes (?) [- - -] In [the times] of the seventh [indiction, the year 528 (or 529) of the province].'

Text: Gatier 1998, 388-389, no. 79.

History

Evidence ID

E02036

Saint Name

Theodore Tiro, martyr of Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor), ob. 306 : S00480

Saint Name in Source

Θεώδωρος

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Theodore_soldier_and_martyr_of_Amaseia_and_Euchaita/13730413

Image Caption 1

Plan of the site with churches. From: Khirbet es-Samra 1, 47.

Image Caption 2

Reconstruction of Church 82. From: Khirbet es-Samra 1, 51.

Image Caption 3

Photograph of the mosaic panel. From: Khirbet es-Samra 1, 389.

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.) Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

633

Evidence not after

634

Activity not before

633

Activity not after

634

Place of Evidence - Region

Arabia Arabia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Gerasa/Jerash Khirbet es-Samra

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Gerasa/Jerash Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Khirbet es-Samra Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Places Named after Saint

Monastery

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Ecclesiastics - abbots

Source

Fragmentarily preserved mosaic panel in the floor of the nave of Church 82, situated in front of the steps of the choir. The panel is framed by two bands: the inner one is decorated with waves and the outer one with a braid-like pattern. The middle of the panel is lost. Original dimensions: H. 0.80 m; W. 2.70 m; letter height 0.011-0.013 m. First published by Pierre-Louis Gatier in 1998, from a photograph by Alain Desereumaux and Jean-Baptiste Humbert, taken probably in 1982 (when Church 82 was excavated). Reprinted by Annie Sartre-Fauriat in 2000, based on the earlier edition. Church 82 is one of eight shrines excavated at the site by 1998. It is a small basilica (15 x 10,20 m) located in the south-west sector of the town, to the north connected to a spacious courtyard with remnants of a possible hostel.

Discussion

The inscription almost certainly commemorated the paving of the church. The date was restored by Gatier based on the supposition that Theodoros mentioned in line 2 was Theodoros, archbishop of nearby Bostra, who appears in a dated inscription from Riḥāb (529 of the province of Arabia = AD 635, see: E02044) and on the reference to the seventh indiction in line 6. The timeframe suggested by Gatier for our text corresponds to the seventh indicitional year nearest to AD 635: AD 633-634. Gatier notes that as line 3 contained a reference to an abbot, our church could have been part of a monastic establishment. The 'Saint Th...' to whom the church was dedicated is probably Theodore the martyr of Euchaita in Pontus (northeast Asia Minor) whose cult was widespread from the sixth century onwards.

Bibliography

Edition: Gatier, P.-L., "Les inscriptions grecques et latines de Samra et Rihab", Humbert, J.-B., Desreumaux, A., Bauzou, Th. (eds.), Fouilles de Khirbet es-Samra en Jordanie, vol. 1: La voie romaine, le cimetière, les documents épigraphiques (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998), 388-389, no. 79. Further reading: Desreumaux, A., Humbert, J.-B., Thébault, G., Bauzou, Th., "Des Romains, des Araméens et des Arabes dans le Balqa' jordanien : les cas de Hadeitha - Khirbet es Samra", in: A. Borrut, M. Debié, A. Papaconstantinou, D. Pieri, J.-P. Sodini (eds.), Le Proche-Orient de Justinien aux Abassides : peuplement et dynamiques spatiales : actes du colloque "Continuités de l'occupation entre les périodes byzantine et abbasside au Proche-Orient, VIIe-IXe siècles," Paris, 18-20 octobre 2007 (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 19, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), 285-304. Gatier, P.-L., "Les inscriptions grecques et latines de Samra et Rihab", Humbert, J.-B., Desreumaux, A., Bauzou, Th. (eds.), Fouilles de Khirbet es-Samra en Jordanie, vol. 1: La voie romaine, le cimetière, les documents épigraphiques (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998), 51 (description of the find-spot). Michel, A., Les églises d'époque byzantine et umayyade de Jordanie (provinces d'Arabie et de Palestine), Ve-VIIIe siècle: typologie architecturale et aménagements liturgiques (avec catalogue des monuments; préface de Noël Duval; premessa di Michele Piccirillo) (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 2, Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 199-201, no. 65. Sartre-Fauriat, A., "Georges, Serge, Élie et quelques autres saints connus et inédits de la province d'Arabie", in: Fr. Prévot (ed.), Romanité et cité chrétienne. Permances et mutations. Intégration et exclusion du Ier au VIe siècle. Mélanges en l'honneur d'Yvette Duval (Paris: De Boccard, 2000), 307-308. Reference works: Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 864. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 48, 1936; 50, 1518.