Beit Surik - Church

Inscription number: 
1
Selected bibliography: 
445-446 (dr.) (ed. pr.)
149, no. 27
646-648, no. 223*, fig. 273 (dr.)
113
30-31, no. 28
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Epigraphical corpora: 

SEG 8 (1937): 239; 46 (1996): 1814

CIIP IV.1 (2018): 3122 (dr.)

Inscription type: 
building
Location: 

Findspot: “À mi-côte entre la bourgade et la fontaine” (Vincent); the completely recovered mosaic was destroyed a few days after its discovery; the entire middle part is missing. The orientation of the mosaic is said to have conformed to the orientation of a church. Three or four drums or small columns and some other rather rudely executed architectural ornaments (“moulures” Vincent) were found there as well. Bagatti saw, in 1943, a Corinthian capital (see his pl. 31,2) and the “bottom part of a bronze chandelier coming from this church (20 cm diameter at base, 13 cm high up to the shaft, thickness of the metal: 2 mm), that was brought to the Flagellation Museum” (Bagatti).

Physical description : 

The inscription was set in a tabula ansata 120 cm long and 100 cm high, containing seven lines of script traced in black and separated by rows of red tesserae. Each line eas 13 cm high. The writing was calligraphic, with oval letters, decorative apices, a stylized ligature for the diphthong ΟΥ. A cursive delta occurs in l.1; a red diacritic (?) sign, perhaps intended to mark a numeral, appears in l.6. The text opens with a cross. The text below is a highly doubtful restoration proposed by Clermont-Ganneau and accepted by Avi-Yonah and SEG.

Text: 

       ☩ Ἐπὶ τοῦ [ - - Στε]φάν(ου) δ-

       ιακό[νου (καὶ) - - ]κου ἀν-

       α[γνώστου (καὶ) - - - - - - - 

4     (καὶ) Ἐ[- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

       Ζωσ̣
[ίμου - - - - - - - ἐν ἔ-]

       τ(ε)ι κεʹ κ(υρί)ου Ἀ[ναστασίου τὸ π-]

       ᾶν ἔργον ἐ[τελιώθη].

Translation: 

In the time of the [pious?] Stephen the deacon, and of ...cos (the) reader, and ..., and E..., and Zo[simus?] ..., in the year 25 of Lord A[nastasius] the whole work [was completed].

Apparatus: 

Ἐπὶ τοῦ - - -ΨΑΝΟΥΣΙ| Ἰακώ[βου] - - ΑΝ|Α - - - |(καὶ) Ε- - - ||ΖΩΟ - - - |ΠΚΕΤΛ - - ? τὸ π|ᾶν ἔργον - - - Vincent.

Commentary: 

The date 516, proposed by Vincent, is almost certainly mistaken. Due to the incomplete state of the copy, and considering that the text can no longer be checked, the inscription is left undated. See Di Segni for discussion.

Summary: 

Damaged seven-line mosaic building inscription set in a tabula ansata.

Contents
Actions: 
the work was done
Ecclesiastical titles: 
deacon
lector
Titles/epithets of patrons/dedicators: 
lord (kyrios)
Personal names: 
Anastasius, Stephanus
Epigraphical Abbreviations: 
ligature of ΟΥ