Evidence ID
E02730Saint Name
Unnamed martyrs (or name lost) : S00060
Saints, name wholly or largely lost : S01744Image Caption 1
Fragment A. From: CIIP 1/2, 225.Image Caption 2
Fragment B. From: CIIP 1/2, 225.Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed objects
Archaeological and architectural - Extant reliquaries and related fixturesEvidence not before
500Evidence not after
700Activity not before
500Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with SinaiPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Jerusalem
'Ein KeremPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Jerusalem
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
'Ein Kerem
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris StratonisCult Activities - Relics
Reliquary – institutionally ownedSource
Two very small and non-conjoining marble fragments found in cistern M at 'Ein Kerem, in stratum b of its filling. For a description of the village, see E02723.
Fragment A: Broken and lost on all sides. Letter height 0.02 m. Almost certainly from the upper rim of a reliquary.
Fragment B: Broken and lost on all sides. Letter height 0.02 m. Possibly from the upper rim of a reliquary.
First published by Bellarmino Bagatti in 1948. Re-published with a lightly modified restoration by Leah Di Segni in 2012, in the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae.Discussion
The fragments, certainly belonging to the same reliquary, bear remnants of its label. Although their order is not clear, it is tempting to suggest the following restoration [λείψανα τῶν] ̣ἁγίω[ν μαρτ]ύ[ρων - - -]/[relics of the] holy [martyrs - - -], based on the text of other labels incised directly onto caskets with relics (see E01829). Of course other restorations are also possible, for example with the Υ from the second fragment interpreted as the ending of the name of a saint, in the genitive form.
Dating: Di Segni notes that as the filling of the cistern consists of Byzantine pottery, lamps, fragments of mosaics, and architectural elements, the basin must have been being used up to a considerably late period. The reliquary was produced earlier, probably in the 5th or 6th c.Bibliography
Edition:
Cotton, H.M., Di Segni, L., Eck, W., Isaac, B., Kushnir-Stein, A., Misgav, H., Price, J.J., Yardeni, A. and others (eds.), Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: A Multi-Lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad, vol. 1, part 2: Jerusalem, nos. 705-1120 (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2012), no. 852.
Bagatti, B., Il Santuario della Visitazione ad 'Ain Karim (Montana Judaeae): Esplorazione archeologica e ripristino (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Collectio maior 5, Jerusalem: Tip. dei PP. Francescani, 1948), 76 and Pl. 22, figs. 46, 1-2.
