Greek inscription on the top of a capital, saying that it was ordered by a church of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030) 'of Monaeis'. Found at Horvat Ma'on/Khirbet Ma'in in the north-west Negev desert, near Gaza, Beersheva, and Elousa (Roman province of Palaestina III). Probably 5th-6th c.
Evidence ID
E04155
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
+ ἁγ(ίου) Στεφ-
άν(ου) Μων-
αειτῶν
'+ Of Saint Stephen of the people of Monaeis'.
Text: Figueras 1996, no. 7.
Cult PlacesConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMerchants and artisans
Source
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.
Images
)
From: Figueras 1996, Photograph 2.
)
From: Figueras 1996, 272.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
15/10/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Στέφανος | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04155 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04155