E02797: Greek inscription on a fragment of a bread stamp, probably referring to three saints whose name are lost, differently identified by modern editors. Found at Mount Zion in Jerusalem (Roman province of Palaestina I). Probably late antique.

Fragment from the edge of a moulded bread stamp. The inscription runs in a band around the stamp, in mirror writing (but with reversed nu). Below the inscription there is a row of small holes. The centre of the stamp was probably decorated with a depiction of the three bishops, as suggested by the remnants of folds of a mantle, still visible on the fragment.

The fragment was found in the debris of a church, on the estate of the Augustine Fathers of the Assumption (St. Peter in Gallicantu). First published by Jean Germer-Durand in 1906 with a photograph. Later re-published by a number of editors. We follow the edition by Leah Di Segni in the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (2012).

Text:

[- - -]ΤΩΝΤΡΙΟΝ (sprig) [- - -]

Di Segni's interpretation:

[εὐλογία (?)] τῶν τρι<ῶ>ν [- - -]

'The blessing of the three [- - -].'

or: [εὐλογία τοῦ Κ(υρίο)υ μεθ' ἡμῶν καὶ (?)] τῶν τρι<ῶ>ν [- - -]

'[The blessing of the Lord (is) with us and (?)] the three [- - -].'

Germer-Durand and Thomsen's interpretation:

τῶν τριῶν [ἱεράρχων]

'Of the three [hierarchs].'

Text: CIIP 1/2, no. 1076.