XXXV. H. Gerarit

2539. Greek building inscription for a church, 599 AD

Mosaic pavement with a seven-line inscription inside a medallion. The letters are formed by red tesserae, the frame by red, white and black tesserae. The eta of () in l.6 is set over the mu. The abbreviation mark for occurs several times. Lunate sigma and w-shaped omega, in ligature.Meas.: Outer 138, inner 102 cm; frame of the medallion 18 cm; letters 9-11 cm.Findspot: The Byzantine church was found in 1917, but excavated only in 1976 by J.Porath. The inscription was found in the northern aisle of the church on the bank of Naal Ha Besor (Wadi Ghazzeh), some hundred of metres from the ruins of the ancient village at Horvat Gerarit (ed. pr.) = Umm Jarrar, ca. 6 km west of Kibbutz Beeri.Pres. loc.: Archaeological collection of Kibbutz Beeri, IAA inv. no. 2006-1955.

fig. 2539

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538 XXXV. H. Gerarit

() | () () () | () () () () | () () () |() | () () () | ()

Under our most holy bishop Misael and Zacharias, priest and chorepiskopos, and Alpheius, deacon and financial administrator, the mosaic was laid in the month of Panemos of the year 639 (= 598/99 AD), second indiction.

Comm.: l.1: ed. pr.; but cf. SEG 30, 1688: .; l.7: ed. pr., but epsilon is not visible on the photos. For instead of () cf. nos. 2483 and 2495.

The moasic is dated by the year 639 of the era of Gaza to 598/599 AD; however, the month Panemos, which falls between the 25th of June and the 24th of July, nar-rows it down to June/July 599 AD. The mosaic was laid under the bishop Misael from Gaza, known from another mosiac inscription from a church near Kissufim (no. 2542); the village where the mosaic was found, belonged to the bishopric of Gaza, not to the neighboring saltus Gerariticus (see the arguments of Di Segni). The presbyter Zacharias was at the same time the chorepiskopos, that is ecclesi-astical superintendent of the country district (for literature on the chorepiskopos, see comm. to no. 2314), since the territory of Gaza was quite large. The deacon Alpheius was probably responsible for the execution of the mosaic since he was the financial administrator of the church of Gaza.

Bibl.: L. Di Segni, in: B. Bitton-Ashkelony - A. Kofsky eds., Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity, 2004, 56ff. (ed. pr.). J. Porath, HA 61/62, 1977, 37f. (Hebr.) (only mentioned); AE 2006, 1620; BE 2007, 522; L. Di Segni, JRA 20, 2007, 645f.; SEG 54, 1656. Cf. also http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?site_id=17&subject_id=9&id=37 (viewed: 2 March 2014).

Photo: IAA.

WE

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H. Gerarit 539

2540. Stamp with Greek inscription

Ceramic stamp with two surfaces: an inscription on one side and a palm branch on the other. As in no. 2535, the letters are in the correct order and as a result the imprint would be reversed.Meas.: h 6.5, 5 cm (according to IAA).Findspot: H. Gerarit.Pres. loc.: IAA inv. no. 1995-7720. (?)

fig. 2540.2

Comm.: The object is taken to be a bread stamp; consequently the letters are likely to contain a name in the genitive case; if this is correct, then one should take the iota following the to be the beginning of that name. Whether there are ab-breviations remains unclear.

Bibl.: Cradle of Christianity 96, 218 (ed. pr.).

Photo: IAA.

WE

fig. 2540.1

fig. 2540.3

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Brought to you by | New York University Elmer Holmes Bobst LibraryAuthenticated

Download Date | 10/6/14 11:32 AM