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E02858: Floor-mosaic with a fragmentary Greek inscription once thought to have referred to a church of *Anna (the prophetess living at the Temple, S01359), but in reality probably mentioning the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Anastasis). Found on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem. Probably late 7th c.
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posted on 2017-05-28, 00:00 authored by pnowakowskiIn November 1954 Bellarmino Bagatti, on behalf of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, excavated a 'chapel', an adjacent 'oratory', and ruins of a small monastery at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, at the so-called 'compound of Dominus flevit'.
The 'chapel' was a one-aisled basilica with an apse, measuring 5.40 m x 12.50 m (apse: 2.60 m x 2.15 m). On the floor of the nave, in front of the chancel screen he discovered a fragmentary inscription, which he restored as referring to a church dedicated to Saint Anne:
[- - - τοῦ] εὐαγοῦς μοναστηρίου ἀνήγειρεν ἐκ θεμελ[ίων - - -]
[- - -] τῆς ἁγίας Ἄν[νας] καὶ προήνεγκεν τ[ὸ - - -]
[- - - ἀδελφ]ῶν αὐτο[ῦ - - τῶν προσφ]ερόντ[ων - - -]
'[- - - of the] reverend monastery built from the foundations [- - -] of Saint An[na] and offered the [- - -] his [brothers - - -] those who make offerings [- - -]'
This restoration was initially accepted by Louis Robert in the Bulletin épigraphique (1960), and is reprinted as such in the corpus of mosaic pavements from Israel by Ruth and Asher Ovadiah (1987). However, already in 1960 Józef Tadeusz Milik suggested a different, very plausible, interpretation of the text as referring to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Anastasis). This altered restoration was accepted by Robert in 1961, and was the basis for a new edition of the mosaic in the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (2012) by Leah Di Segni:
[τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ε]ὐαγοῦς μοναστηρίου ἀνήγειρεν ἐκ θεμελ[ίων]
[Γεώργιος ἡγούμενος καὶ πρεσβύτερος τ]ῆς ἁγίας Ἀν[αστ(άσεως)] καὶ προσήνεγκεν τ[ῷ Κ(υρί)ῳ ἡμ(ῶν)]
[Ἰ(ησο)ῦ Χ(ριστ)ῷ ὑπὲρ σωτηρ(ίας) αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφ]ῶν αὐτο[ῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν προσφ]ερόντ[ων. ἀμήν (?)]
'[This holy church of the] reverend monastery [Georgios, abbot (higoumenos) and priest] of the Holy An[astasis] erected from the foundations, and he offered (it) [to our Lord Christ for the salvation of himself and of] his [brothers], and of all the benefactors. [Amen (?).]'
Text: CIIP 1/2, no. 824. Translation: L. Di Segni, lightly adapted.
The 'chapel' was a one-aisled basilica with an apse, measuring 5.40 m x 12.50 m (apse: 2.60 m x 2.15 m). On the floor of the nave, in front of the chancel screen he discovered a fragmentary inscription, which he restored as referring to a church dedicated to Saint Anne:
[- - - τοῦ] εὐαγοῦς μοναστηρίου ἀνήγειρεν ἐκ θεμελ[ίων - - -]
[- - -] τῆς ἁγίας Ἄν[νας] καὶ προήνεγκεν τ[ὸ - - -]
[- - - ἀδελφ]ῶν αὐτο[ῦ - - τῶν προσφ]ερόντ[ων - - -]
'[- - - of the] reverend monastery built from the foundations [- - -] of Saint An[na] and offered the [- - -] his [brothers - - -] those who make offerings [- - -]'
This restoration was initially accepted by Louis Robert in the Bulletin épigraphique (1960), and is reprinted as such in the corpus of mosaic pavements from Israel by Ruth and Asher Ovadiah (1987). However, already in 1960 Józef Tadeusz Milik suggested a different, very plausible, interpretation of the text as referring to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Anastasis). This altered restoration was accepted by Robert in 1961, and was the basis for a new edition of the mosaic in the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (2012) by Leah Di Segni:
[τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ε]ὐαγοῦς μοναστηρίου ἀνήγειρεν ἐκ θεμελ[ίων]
[Γεώργιος ἡγούμενος καὶ πρεσβύτερος τ]ῆς ἁγίας Ἀν[αστ(άσεως)] καὶ προσήνεγκεν τ[ῷ Κ(υρί)ῳ ἡμ(ῶν)]
[Ἰ(ησο)ῦ Χ(ριστ)ῷ ὑπὲρ σωτηρ(ίας) αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφ]ῶν αὐτο[ῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν προσφ]ερόντ[ων. ἀμήν (?)]
'[This holy church of the] reverend monastery [Georgios, abbot (higoumenos) and priest] of the Holy An[astasis] erected from the foundations, and he offered (it) [to our Lord Christ for the salvation of himself and of] his [brothers], and of all the benefactors. [Amen (?).]'
Text: CIIP 1/2, no. 824. Translation: L. Di Segni, lightly adapted.