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E02655: Floor-mosaic with a fragmentary Greek inscription commemorating the restoration of the pavement of an oratory (eukterion) of a martyr whose name is lost. Found at Riḥāb, between Bostra and Gerasa/Jerash (Jordan/the Roman province of Arabia). Probably 6th or 7th c.

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posted on 2017-04-03, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

branch + branch
ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς
ἁγ(ίας) κ(αὶ) ὁμο(ουσίου) Τριάδος ἀνη-
νεώθη ἡ ψηφωθε̣σ̣ί[α τοῦ]
παρόντ(ος) ἁγ(ίου) εὐκτ̣η[ρίου τοῦ ἁγ(ίου)]
(καὶ) ἐνδόξου μάρ[τυρος - - -]
ἐκ σπουδ(ῆς) ̣Κ[- - -]
τοῦ ΘΕΟ[- - -]
μη(νὶ) Π[- - -]

5. εὐκτ̣η[ρίου - - -] SEG

'+ In the name of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity was resorted the mosaic pavement of [the] present holy oratory (eukterion) [of the holy] and glorious martyr [- - -] by the zeal of K[- - -] of the [- - -] in the month of P[- - -].'

Text: SEG 51, 2046, lightly modified.

History

Evidence ID

E02655

Saint Name

Unnamed martyrs (or name lost) : S00060

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Martyrs_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729267

Type of Evidence

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

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

500

Evidence not after

700

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

700

Place of Evidence - Region

Arabia Arabia Arabia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Gerasa/Jerash Riḥāb Bosra

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

Gerasa/Jerash Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Riḥāb Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka Bosra Sakkaia / Maximianopolis Σακκαια Sakkaia Saccaea Eaccaea Maximianopolis Shaqqa Schaqqa Shakka

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Source

Fragmentary medallion from an unspecified church in Riḥāb. There is no published description. The lower right quarter is lost. The medallion was published as a photograph, together with a number of other new epigraphic finds from Riḥāb, with little or no descriptions, by Abdel-kader Al-Hissan in the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan in 2002. A preliminary transcription was offered by the editors of the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 51, 2046.

Discussion

The inscription commemorates the paving of a church or chapel dedicated to a martyr whose name is lost. The month mentioned in the last line is either Panemos or Peritios. The panel is probably contemporary to other dated mosaic inscriptions from Riḥāb, which come from the 6th and 7th centuries.

Bibliography

Edition: Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 51, 2046. Al-Hissan, A., "The new archaeological discoveries of the al-Fudayn and Rahāb - al-Mafraq excavation projects", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 46 (2002), 85 (Arabic Section). Reference works: Bulletin épigraphique (2005), 544.