Floor mosaic with a Greek inscription commemorating the construction of a church of unnamed martyrs. Found at Khirbat Majed near Shajarah, Irbid, and Kapitolias/Beit Ras, to the south-east of the Sea of Galilee (Roman province of Palaestina II or Roman province of Arabia). Probably 6th-7th c.
E02701
Archaeological and architectural - Cult buildings (churches, mausolea)
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
In 1992 Michele Piccirillo published a short note on a small church excavated at the village of Khirbat Majed to the north of Wadi Shalleh in 1987, which he believed was attached to a monastery. The excavators found there floor mosaics with inscriptions reportedly mentioning Sobbeon, son of Domintios, of Silona, and his brother Domentis as founders. A mosaic panel, published by Piccirillo as a photograph together with the note, contains a reference to 'Holy Martyrs', which became the basis for the identification of the church as dedicated to unnamed martyrs.
In 2001 Anne Michel offered an imperfect transcription of the panel, read from the published photograph: τῶν κ(αὶ) τις | οντα τῶν | ἁγίον μαρτύρον/'(? ... des saints martyrs)'. We suggest that the inscription reads τὼν κτίσ|οντα τῶν | ἁγίον μαρ|τύρων/'(e.g. Protect) the founder (of the shrine) of the Holy Martyrs!' or, alternatively, τὼν κτίσ|οντα τὼν | ἅγιον μαρ|τύρ<ι>ων/'(e.g. Protect) the founder of the holy martyrion!', and that it is the end of an invocation which began in another, adjacent medallion.
Michel points out that the church must have belonged to the bishopric of Adraha or Kapitolias (that is to the metropolitan see of Bostra in the province of Arabia) or to the bishopric of Skythopolis, the metropolitan see of the province of Palaestina II.
As far as we know the mosaics from this church are still unpublished.
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Places Named after SaintMonastery
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Bibliography
Edition:Piccirillo, M., The Mosaics of Jordan (Amman, Jordan: American Center of Oriental Research, 1992 [2008, 3rd ed.]), 341, no. 751.
Michel, A., Les églises d'époque byzantine et umayyade de Jordanie (provinces d'Arabie et de Palestine), Ve-VIIIe siècle: typologie architecturale et aménagements liturgiques (avec catalogue des monuments; préface de Noël Duval; premessa di Michele Piccirillo) (Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité tardive 2, Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 419.
Images
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Inscribed medallion. From: Piccirillo 1992 [2008, 3rd ed.]), 341.
Paweł Nowakowski
13/04/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | ἅγιοι μάρτυρες | 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, E02701 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02701