Evidence ID
E04155Saint Name
Stephen, the First Martyr : S00030Saint Name in Source
ΣτέφανοςImage Caption 1
From: Figueras 1996, Photograph 2.Image Caption 2
From: Figueras 1996, 272.Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elementsEvidence not before
400Evidence not after
600Activity not before
400Activity not after
600Place of Evidence - Region
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with Sinai
Palestine with SinaiPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Elousa
Gaza
Menois
Berosaba/BeershevaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Elousa
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Gaza
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Menois
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris Stratonis
Berosaba/Beersheva
Caesarea Maritima
Καισάρεια
Kaisareia
Caesarea
Kayseri
Turris StratonisCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildingsCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Merchants and artisansSource
White marble Corinthian capital. The inscription is on its rough upper surface, and would not have been visible when the capital was in place. Letter height 0.05-0.06 m.
Found by a local in the 1960s, reused in a ruined old house located near a hill named Horvat Ma'on/Khirbet Ma'in. Now in a garden at Kibbutz Nirim (20 km to the southwest of Gaza). The object was recorded by Amir Gorzalzani (Israel Antiquities Authority) in January 1989, and first published by Pau Figueras in 1996, with a drawing and photograph.Discussion
The inscription was carved in a stonemason workshop (probably remote from the find-spot, as the editor presumes) to mark the church where the capital was to be delivered. It was never intended to be read by people visiting the church.
The church, as we learn from the text, was dedicated to 'Saint Stephen of the people of Monaeis'. The mention of churches dedicated to saints, and identified by the names of cities/villages or associations, is rare in inscriptions, but sometimes we do find this naming pattern, for example in the Near East (e.g. E01685: Beth Misona), and in Anatolia (see: E00789: Ephesos, E00868: Paonala/Paunalla, etc.). As several churches were dedicated to Stephen in our area (E03562: Birsama/Bersamon; EXXXX: Nessana, E04156, E04157: Berosaba/Beersheva), the stonecutters had to distinguish the recipient of the delivery from others.
Figueras argues plausibly that 'Monaeis' is an otherwise unattested variant of 'Menois', and that the inscription confirms the identification of Horvat Ma'on/Khirbet Ma'in with this ancient town, suggested already by Albrecht Alt and Michael Avi-Yonah. For a discussion on different forms of this toponym, as recorded in the late antique literary and legal sources, see Figueras 1996, 273. Menois was a small town with an episcopal see, a military camp/kastron, and a synagogue. And indeed, a synagogue with impressive floor-mosaics was excavated near Horvat Ma'on/Khirbet Ma'in.Bibliography
Edition:
Figueras, P., "New Greek inscriptions from the Negev", Liber Annuus 46 (1996), no. 7.
Further reading:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 798.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 46, 2027.
