Greek inscription commemorating the construction of an unnamed martyr shrine (martyrion). Found at Jubata El-Hashab in the Golan Heights (north Bashan), to the north of Quneitra (Roman province of Phoenicia). Probably 5th-6th c.
Evidence ID
E04564
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Text in majuscules, as published by Asher Ovadiah:
[.]ΕΚΤΙCΘΗΤΟ (ΜΡ) Α (ΧΡ) ΧΟΒΟΗΘΗΤΙ ΤΟΥ[- - -]
[. .]CΑΛΟ ΒΟΗΘΕΟ ΤΕΚΝΑ ΜΑΡΚΕΛ[- - -]
Ovadiah's interpretation:
[+] ἐκτίσθη τὸ μαρ(τύριον). Χρ(ιστὲ) Χ(ριστ)ό(νυμε) βοήθητι τοῦ [δούλου σου]
[Ἀβ]σάλο(μ) βοήθεο τέκνα Μαρκέλ[λου +]
'[+] The martyr shrine (martyrion) was built. Jesus Christonymos, help [Thy servant] Absalom! Help the children of Markellos!'
Text and translation (lightly adapted): Ovadiah 1976, no. 11.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Cult building - independent (church)
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Construction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Children
Source
Basalt lintel. There is no published description. When recorded, it was reused in a house in the north sector of the village of Jubata El-Hashab.Found during a survey conducted by the Society of Archaeological Survey in Israel in November and December 1973. First published by Asher Ovadiah in 1976, from a 'blurred photograph'.
Discussion
The editor had access to a photograph of very poor quality. Therefore, his readings need not be correct, and, indeed, his interpretation of line 1 seems strange. The beginning of the line, commemorating the construction of a martyr shrine (with the term martyrion written as a popular monogram ΜΡ) is plausible, but the invocation of Jesus as the 'Christonymos'/'Bearer of the name Christ', is at least doubtful.Ovadiah supposes that line 2 records the name of the founder, a certain Absalom, and a request for help for the children of one Markellos, interpreted as co-founders by Ovadiah. The name Absalom is, however, very rare among Christians.
Dating: The inscription contains no dating formula, but this kind of dedicatory lintel is characteristic of the 5th and 6th c. (Ovadiah places it in the 6th c.).
Bibliography
Edition:Ovadiah, A., "Greek inscriptions from the northern Bashan", Liber Annuus 26 (1976), no. 11.
Reference works:
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 28, 1347.
Images
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From: Ovadiah 1976, Plate 20, fig. 11.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
09/01/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04564 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04564