Evidence ID
E03552Saint Name
Anastasius (unspecified) : S00658Saint Name in Source
ἈναστάσιοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)Evidence not before
450Evidence not after
700Activity not before
450Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with SinaiPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Jericho
'Ein AujaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Jericho
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
'Ein Auja
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris StratonisCult activities - Places
Holy spring/well/riverCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationSource
Mosaic panel. Set in the floor at the west end of the nave of a church excavated in 1997 by Hananya Hizmi, Staff Officer for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria. The rest of the carpet mosaic is decorated with images of crosses and birds. First published in a photograph in 2010 by Izchak Magen. A transcription was offered by Leah Di Segni in the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Now in the Good Samaritan Museum (sited by the highway connecting Jerusalem to the Dead Sea).Discussion
The first part of the inscription invokes the blessing of a certain saint Anastasios for a source/πηγή. This may sound strange, but the editor notes that the church was build close to an actual spring. Alternatively, it is possible that the term 'source' is used here as a metaphor for a church or altar, as they were sometimes named 'the source of life' by early Christians.
In the second part the saint is asked to give 'endurance' or 'patience' to one Ἠλι, which, according to Di Segni, is probably an abbreviated form of the name Elias. Yet another explanation is that the inscription was carelessly executed by the mosaicist and that ΗΛΙ is actually ΗΝ, the presumably abbreviated ending of the noun ὑπομονή in Di Segni's reading: ΥΠΟΜΟΝΗΝ instead of ΥΠΟΜΟΝ ΗΛΙ. If so, the inscription would read: + ἅγιέ μου Ἀναστάσι(ε) εὐλόγησον τὴν πηγὴν ταύτην κὲ δὸς ὑπομονήν/'My Saint Anastasios, bless this spring and give (it) endurance!'Bibliography
Edition:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 60, 1719.
Magen, Y., The Good Samaritan Museum (Judea and Samaria Publications 23, Jerusalem: Staff Officer of Archaeology - Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2010), 218-219.
Further reading:
Madden A.M., Corpus of Byzantine Church Mosaic Pavements in Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Leuven - Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2014), 23, no. 20.
