Greek epitaph for a priest of 'the new foundation (ktisma) of the Appeared Angel', probably a church dedicated to an angel or Archangel. Found reportedly on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem (Roman province of Palaestina I). Probably 8th c. or later.
Evidence ID
E02827
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
ἐτάφυ τη
εστι ὁ δύκε-
ος Ἰοσήπιο-
ς κὲ ἱερεὺς
κενοῦ κτί<σ>-
ματος φ̣α-
νένδος
ἀνγέλου
[1-2. ΕΤΑΦΥΗ | ΕΣΤΙ = ἐτάφη τῇ | <πεντηκο>στῇ Di Segni after Clermont-Ganneau]
'The righteous Iosepios, (who was) also a priest of the new foundation (ktisma) of the "Appeared Angel", was buried on the day of Pentecost.'
Text: CIIP 1/2, no. App. 18*, lightly modified.
Translation: L. Di Segni.
Cult PlacesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Angels
Source
Rough stone slab. H. 1.03 m; W. 0.55 m; Th. 0.13 m. Letter height 0.03-0.04 m. Decorated with a cross within a circle, carved above the inscription.Found by workers reportedly in an unspecified location on the Mount of Olives. First published by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in 1905. The reading of the inscription is clear and no significant amendments have been suggested by later editors. Now in the museum of the Franciscan Biblical Institute (SBF) in Jerusalem. A photograph was recently taken by Nili and Abraham Graicer.
Discussion
The inscription is the epitaph for a priest (presbyter, here named ἱερεύς). He is said to have been associated with a new church dedicated to an 'Appeared Angel' (καινὸν κτίσμα φανέντος ἀγγέλου). Given the find-spot of the inscription, Clermont-Ganneau suggested that this was a reference to the legend about the apparition of an angel to *Mary, Mother of Christ, at the Mount of Olives, announcing her imminent death. The origins of the legend are not clear – it is recounted by pilgrims visiting Jerusalem after the crusades, but could be of an earlier date. Clermont-Ganneau believed that the church mentioned in our inscription could also be a pre-medieval foundation, possibly completed after the Arab conquest. As a basis for dating he uses the poor spelling of the inscription and phonetic phenomena observable in its text.The content of lines 1-2 is especially puzzling. Di Segni's translation is based on Clermont-Ganneuau's idea that the epsilon in line 2 stands for the number 5 (Greek: pente) and the sequence of letters ΤΗΕΣΤΙ should be understood as a reference to the feast of Pentecost: τῇ <πεντηκο>στῇ.
As for lines 3-4, one can wonder whether they really read Ἰοσήπιος κὲ ἱερεὺς/'Iosepios, (who was) also a priest', as the conjunction καί suggests two different functions. Therefore, the name of the deceased could be Iosep and the sequence ΙΟΣ may denote an abbreviated post: Ἰοσὴπ ἰος κὲ ἱερεύς, possibly οἰ(κονόμ)ος/steward of a church or monastery.
Bibliography
Edition:Cotton, H.M., Di Segni, L., Eck, W., Isaac, B., Kushnir-Stein, A., Misgav, H., Price, J.J., Yardeni, A. and others (eds.), Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: A Multi-Lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad, vol. 1, part 2: Jerusalem, nos. 705-1120 (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2012), no. App. 18*.
Bagatti, B., Il Museo della Flagellazione in Gerusalemme (Jerusalem: Tip. PP. francescani), 19-20, no. 17.
Thomsen, P., Die lateinischen und griechischen Inschriften der Stadt Jerusalem und ihrer nächsten Umgebung (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1922), no. 158.
Clermont-Ganneau, Ch., “Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques du Mont des Oliviers”, Recueil d'archéologie orientale 5 (1902), 164-169 and 389.
Further reading:
Leclrecq, H., "", DACL 14/1 (1939), 272-273.
Images
)
Photograph by N. and A. Graicer. From: CIIP 1/2, 539.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
19/05/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00191 | Archangels, unnamed or name lost | ἄνγελος | Certain | S00723 | Angels, unnamed or name lost | ἄνγελος | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E02827 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02827