Evidence ID
E03578Saint Name
Varos, soldier and martyr in Egypt under Galerius (ob. c. 307) : S01212
Varos and Kleopatra, martyrs of Palestine : S02514Saint Name in Source
Οὐάρος
ΟὐάροςImage Caption 1
Inscribed face of the cornice. From: Milik 1960, Pl. XXXII c.Image Caption 2
Back face of the cornice. From: Milik 1960, Pl. XXXII d.Type of Evidence
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
500Evidence not after
700Activity not before
500Activity not after
700Place of Evidence - Region
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with SinaiPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Jerusalem
Ramallah
Tell en-Naṣbeh
Khirbet SuweikehPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Jerusalem
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Ramallah
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Tell en-Naṣbeh
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Khirbet Suweikeh
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris StratonisCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Source
Fragment of a moulded marble cornice. H. 0.135 m; W. 0.23 m. Letter height 0.025 m. High quality lettering. Based on the photograph it is difficult to judge if the right-hand margin is preserved.
First mentioned in 1960 by Józef Tadeusz Milik, as a parallel evidence for the cult of Saints Varus, following his description of a church at the village of Khirbet Suweikeh (sited in the Judean Hills, near Ramallah, to the west of Tell en-Naṣbeh, in Wadi Duweit). By mistake first ascribed to this village by Asher Ovadiah. Milik, however, says that the he had bought the fragment, originating probably from the region of Hebron.
A transcription was also offered by Yiannis Meimaris in 1986, and this was partially reprinted by Andrew Madden in 2014. The most recent and accurate edition is now by Walter Ameling in CIIP IV/2.Discussion
The inscription may refer to a shrine (martyrion?) or a church dedicated to Saint Varus. Milik and Meimaris identify him as Ouaros/Varus, a martyr of Egypt under the emperor Galerius, reputedly buried at Sire/Sirim near Mount Tabor in Palestine (see Meimaris 1986, 136).
In the 1990s, another church, probably dedicated to the same Varus, was found at Khilda in the western suburbs of Amman/Philadelphia (province of Arabia, see E02382). That building was dated AD 687. There is, however, no reliable way to date our inscription. Meimaris places it in the 7th c., giving no arguments.Bibliography
Edition:
CIIP IV/2 3975.
Madden A.M., Corpus of Byzantine Church Mosaic Pavements in Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Leuven - Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2014), 129, no. 187.
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), 136, no. 719 (with puzzling references to SEG 8, 7-8, not mentioning the inscription).
Milik, J.T., "Notes d'épigraphie et de topographie palestiniennes", Revue biblique 67 (1960), 579 note 2, and Pl. XXXII c-d.
Further reading:
Avi-Yonah, M., "Mosaic pavements in Palestine", Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine 3 (1933), no. 244.
Schick, R., The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: A Historical and Archaeological Study (Studies in late antiquity and early Islam 2, Princeton, N.J: Darwin Press, 1995), 384.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 44, 1418 (mentioned).
