187-188 (ph., dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
560-561, no. 533 (Feissel) | |
48, no. 55 |
SEG 53 (2003): 1855
CIIP I.2 (2012): App. 11* (ph.)
Findspot: In the upper pavement of one of the outer rooms southwest of the octagonal church, in the western part of the room, Locus 292.
Pres. loc.: In situ, covered with sand.
Fragmentary inscription framed in a round medallion set in a white mosaic pavement. The circular frame is decorated with a zigzag pattern in red, black and yellow, imitating a garland. The left side and the lower part of the medallion are lost and only three lines of script remain, separated by rows of red tesserae; ll.2 and 3 lack a few letters at the beginning. The characters are traced in black tesserae on the white background. They are well-spaced and squat, with notable serifs; round letters have a flattened base and a pointed top. Lunate sigma in l.2. The diphthong ΟΥ is in ligature and a small stigma marks an abbreviation in l.2. The letters in the first line form a monogram flanked by two sprigs and surmounted by a cross. The central element of the monogram is a large mu with broken middle bar, topped by a ligature of omicron-upsilon on the left, with an alpha hanging from the angle of the middle bar, a beta attached to its left leg, and a square sigma and a kappa to its right leg. The right segment of the mu and the bottom leg of the kappa can be seen as forming a lambda, and iota can be supplied by the upright legs of mu.
Meas.: Ø ca 1 m (max.).
Ἀμβᾶ Βασιλισκοῦ.
[Π]ρονοίᾳ κ(αὶ) σπουδῇ
[Ἰω]άννου ἐν[κλειστοῦ -- ]
Of Abba Basiliscus(?). By the provision and effort of John the recluse (?) ...
Βασιλίου ed pr.; Feissel adds mu, and probably kappa and rho, the last being due to a mistake in the drawing.
Mosaic building inscription mentioning Abba Basiliscus and John the recluse, in the upper pavement of one of the outer rooms.
The Kathisma Church has three building phases, which are known from the literary sources as well as attested archaeologically. Its foundation is firmly dated to the mid-5 c. Far-reaching modifications were carried out in the 6 c. and new mosaic floors were laid over the original mosaic floors of the church. New alterations were carried out in the third phase, and new mosaic floors were laid: a terminus post quem for this phase is provided by coins and pottery of the first half of the 8 c. found under the third-stage pavements. The room in which the medallion is found is part of a set of rooms built to the southwest of the octagonal church, which probably belonged to its monastery. The inscription was set in the upper of two mosaic pavements. This pavement is at the same level and associated with the same pottery as the third-phase pavements in the adjacent rooms. The inscription can therefore be tentatively dated to the mid-8 c.
In the ed. pr. the monogram was read Βασιλίου, and an identification was suggested with Basilius, patriarch of Jerusalem between 821-839, at the time of caliph al-Ma’mun who, unlike his predecessor, showed benevolence to the Christians (Eutychius, Annales, tr. B. Pirone, 1987, 401-4). However, that solution overlooked the central element of the monogram. Therefore we suggest reading Ἀμβᾶ Βασιλισκοῦ, probably the name of the abbot of the monastery attached to the Kathisma Church when the inscription was written. The Aramaic title Abba, “father”, in Greek
Ἀββᾶς, Ἀββᾶ, often accompanied the names of Palestinian monks, especially if they were elders of the monastery, priests or abbots (e.g., SEG 8, 37, 317; 30, 1689; 31, 1400, 1430; 44, 1409, all from Palestinian monasteries). Sometimes the term is spelled Ἀμβᾶ, according to the local way of rendering a strong beth (e.g., σάμβατον for σάββατον): see SEG 40, 1453; Bagatti, Judaea 140 note**. For a recluse and a stylite (also a recluse of a kind) as curators of building projects, in the 6 and 8 c., see SEG 8, 39-40; 44, 1409-1410.