E03557: Floor mosaic with a Greek inscription just possibly mentioning *George (soldier and martyr, S00259). Reportedly found at Baḥan, c. 5 km to the north of modern Tulkarm (Samaria, Roman province of Palestina I). Probably late antique.
online resource
posted on 2017-08-10, 00:00authored bypnowakowski
In his list of epigraphic attestations to the cult of saints in Palestine, Yiannis Meimaris (1986) mentions an unpublished floor mosaic recorded in the files of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums under Neg. No. 11935/7. Meimaris quotes two words: ...Γεωργίου. ἀμήν/'... of George. Amen.' saying that 'although the inscription is damaged, the word "holy", ἅγιος, is suggested in the genitive singular case.'
This interpretation is doubtful, and the name may well refer to an ordinary ecclesiastic or lay donor, called Georgios. As far as we know the inscription is still unpublished.
History
Evidence ID
E03557
Saint Name
George, soldier and martyr of Diospolis/Lydda : S00259
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Baḥan
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Tulkarm
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Cult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Bibliography
Meimaris, Y., Sacred names, saints, martyrs and church officials in the Greek inscriptions and papyri pertaining to the Christian Church of Palestine (Athens: National Hellenic Research Foundation, Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity, 1986), 125, no. 677.