ʻAnab el-Kabir (Khirbet ʻAnab) - Church

Church/Monastery name: 
ʻAnab el-Kabir (Khirbet ʻAnab) - Church
Inscription number: 
8
Selected bibliography: 
53 (L. Di Segni and M. Meerson) (in Hebrew)
339, fig. 9 (ph., dr.)
390-391, no. 8 (dr.) (ed. pr.)
17, no. 12
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Epigraphical corpora: 

CIIP IV.2 (2018): 3865 (ph., dr.)

Inscription type: 
building
Location: 

In the mosaic pavement of the artrium, in front of the narthex entrance.

Physical description : 

Six-line inscription, beginning with a cross, in a rectangular frame, 168 cm long, 93 cm high. The frame is composed of lines of white, gray and red tesserae. The letters, 8-9 cm high, are traced in red tesserae and belong the the square Byzantine alphabet, with oval, pointed omicrons and thetas, similar to Inscription 7. Cursive delta in line 5.

Text: 

☩ Ἐπὶ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Ἰωάννου

τοῦ ἡμῶν ἐπισκόπου καὶ το̑ν

θεοφιλ(εστάτων) Βαραχέου πρεσβυτέρ(ου)

καὶ Σαβίνου διακ(όνου) (καὶ) ἡγουμέν(ου) ἐγέ-

νετο τὸ ἔργ(ον) τοῦτο μη(νὶ) Ἰουνίoͅ ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) δʹ προνύ(ᾳ)

Σιλουανοῦ ὑπερ σοτερ(ίας) τ(ῶν) καρποφορ(ησάντων).

Translation: 

Under our most holy bishop John, and the most God-loving Barachios, priest, and Sabinus, deacon and hegumen, this work was done in the month of June of the fourth indiction, under the care of Silvanus, for the salvation of the benefactors.

Apparatus: 

L. 1 τ⟨ῶ⟩ν; l. 5 Ἰουνί⟨ῳ⟩, προν⟨οί⟩(ᾳ); l. 6 σ⟨ω⟩τ⟨η⟩ρ(ίας).

Commentary: 

Abbreviations include a stigma, diagonal strokes, a horizontal stroke, and a raised eta on mu. Ligature of ΟΥ. Two lamdas in θεοφιλ(εστάτων) indicate plural.  John was a hitherto unattested bishop of the See of Eleutheropolis in the second half of the sixth century. Mention of the hegumen (abbot) Sabinus indicates that by this time the church had acquired an attached monastic community. Barachios may have been a parish priest, who came to the church only to perform the eucharist liturgy which Sabinus, as deacon, could not. It is impossible to say whether or not Silvanus, who supervised the work, is the same Silvanus of Inscription 7, as it was a common name. The name Barachios is a Hellenized form of a Aramaic or Hebrew name; Sabinus is a Hellenized form of the Semitic name Saba. The date is either June 556, 571, or 586.

Given date: 
month
indiction
Date: 
June 556, 571, or 586
Summary: 

Dated six-line mosaic building inscription of John the Bishop, in the atrium, 556/571/586.

Contents
Actions: 
the work was done
Ecclesiastical titles: 
bishop
deacon
presbyter
Monastical titles: 
abbot/hegumen
Epithets of clergy/monks: 
God-loving (theophiles)
most holy (hagiotatos)
Personal names: 
Barachius, Ioannes, Sabinus, Silvanus
Epigraphical formulae: 
salvation/preservation (sôtêria)
under the care of (προνοίᾳ)
Epigraphical Abbreviations: 
stigma, diagonal and horizontal strokes, raised eta on mu