Evidence ID
E02376Saint Name
George, martyr in Nicomedia or Diospolis, ob. c. 303 : S00259
Kosmas and Damianos, brothers, physician martyrs in Syria, ob. 285/287 : S00385
John the Baptist : S00020Saint Name in Source
Γεώργιος
Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός
ΠρόδρομοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Graffiti
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Language
GreekEvidence not before
531Evidence not after
800Activity not before
531Activity not after
800Place of Evidence - Region
ArabiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Gerasa/JerashPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Gerasa/Jerash
Sakkaia / Maximianopolis
Σακκαια
Sakkaia
Saccaea
Eaccaea
Maximianopolis
Shaqqa
Schaqqa
ShakkaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsSource
Scarcely legible inscription painted in black on the outer face of the lintel over the middle doorway in the west wall of the church of John the Baptist (for a description of the complex, see E02367). Letter height 0.07 m. The text was spread over five blocks. There is no published photograph.
First published by Charles Welles in 1938. The text was established by A.H.M. Jones who saw the inscription during the excavations of the site in 1929.Discussion
The inscription was poorly preserved and thus its content is not clear. Jones read in the inscription the names of the saints to whom the three churches of the complex were dedicated: John the Baptist (addressed as the Forerunner), Kosmas and Damianos, and George, all written in the genitive case. No reliable conclusions can be drawn from the published text, but it is likely that the inscription referred to the construction of the complex, rather than being an invocation of the saints or of the God of these saints (cf. E02367, Inscription 4: Invocation of the God of Saints Kosmas and Damianos).
It is tempting to read the first two lines as, for example: [- - - ἐ]κ[τίσθη] (or: ἀνε]κ[οσμήθη) καὶ ἐ[ψηφώθη] | [τῶν ἁγίων] Κοσμ[ᾶ κ(αὶ) Δαμ]ιανοῦ [κ(αὶ) τοῦ ἁγίου] Γεωργίου τὸ μ[αρτύριον]/'The martyr shrine (martyrion) of [Saints] Kosmas and Damianos [and of Saint] George was built (or: decorated) and paved.'
Dating: the inscription must postdate the completion of the church of John (AD 531), on which it was painted, or perhaps of the church of Kosmas and Damianos (AD 533) who are also mentioned in the text.Bibliography
Edition:
Welles, C.B., 'The inscriptions', in: Kraeling, C.H. (ed.), Gerasa, city of the Decapolis (New Haven: American School of Oriental Research, 1938), no. 305.