Floor-mosaic with a fragmentary Greek inscription commemorating the paving of a church (naos) probably dedicated to a saint whose name is lost. Found at Riḥāb, between Bostra and Gerasa/Jerash (Roman province of Arabia). Probably 7th c.
Evidence ID
E02654
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
[- - - ἐψ]ηφόθη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ [- - -]
[- - -]λου ἐκ σπουδῆς καὶ [καμάτου]
[- - -]του πιστοῦ καὶ Αὐξονί[ου - - - ]
[- - -] πρεσβ(υτέρου) τῆς ἐκλησ[ίας - - -]
[καὶ ἐκ προσφ]ορᾶς τῆς κώμη[ς - - -]
[3. ]του Πίστου SEG || 4. πρεσβ(υτέρων) SEG || 5. ]ΟΡΑC τῆς κώμ̣η[ς SEG]
'[- - -] was paved the church (naos) of the [- - -]los by the zeal and [toil] of [- - -] the faithful and Auxonios [- - -] the presbyter of the church (ekklesia) [- - - and from the] offering of the village [- - -].'
Text: SEG 51, 2044 with corrected readings in BE (2005), 544 by D. Feissel and P.-L. Gatier.
Translation: P. Nowakowski.
Cult PlacesBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Other lay individuals/ people
Peasants
Source
Fragmentary framed mosaic panel from an unspecified church in Riḥāb. There is no published description. Lost at both ends.The panel was published as a photograph, together with a number of other new epigraphic finds from Riḥāb, with little or no descriptions, by Abdel-kader Al-Hissan in the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan in 2001, and again in 2002 as a drawing. Based on the photograph, preliminary comments were offered by Denis Feissel in the Bulletin épigraphique and tentative transcription by the editors of the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. In 2005 Pierre-Louis Gatier and Denis Feissel published a corrected transcription which was accepted in the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 53, 1885.
Discussion
The inscription commemorates the paving of a church termed naos. We are told that the undertaking was financed by a certain person whose name is lost, and by the offerings of a whole village (probably Riḥāb itself). The role of one Auxonios, mentioned in line 3, is not clear. Was he a supervisor of the paving or one of contributors? One also cannot say whether the title 'presbyter' in line 4 refers to Auxonios, and whether the church (ekklesia) mentioned there is our sanctuary.It is very probable that our church was identified by the name of its patron saint, now lost, but originally appearing at the break of lines 1 and 2. If the first letters of line 2 are the remnants of that name, the Apostle *Paul is possible, who was venerated in Riḥāb (see: E02053; AD 596), or an *Archangel.
The phrasing of the inscription resembles that of the commemorative mosaic from the nearby church of the martyr *Philemon, dated 663 (E02653), so a date in the mid-7th c. is plausible.
Bibliography
Edition:Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 51, 2044, corrected in BE (2005), 544 and accepted in SEG 53, 1885.
Al-Hissan, A., "The new archaeological discoveries of the al-Fudayn and Rahāb - al-Mafraq excavation projects", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 46 (2002), 90 (Arabic Section).
Al-Hissan, A., "", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 45 (2001), 12 (Arabic Section).
Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (2002), 481.
Images
)
Photograph. From: Al-Hissan 2001, 12.
)
Drawing. From: Al-Hissan 2002, 90.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
03/04/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Uncertain | S00191 | Archangels, unnamed or name lost | Uncertain | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E02654 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02654