153-155, no. 2 (dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
108, no. 152 |
SEG 40 (1990): 1494
CIIP IV.1 (2018): 3141 (phs.)
In the mosaic pavement of the church, in front of the bema.
Pres. loc.: In situ, but disintegrated and badly damaged.
Fragmentary three-line inscription set within a frame (a tabula insata or a simple rectangle) consisting of two rows of black tesserae. Only the central part of the inscription is preserved for a length of about 120 cm. Average height of letters ca. 9 cm. Total height of the frame ca. 40 cm; original length estimated to be ca. 320 cm. Calligraphic script. Stigma.
[Ἐπι τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶ]ν Γενεσίου πρεσβ(υτέρου) κ(αὶ) ἀρχιμ(ανδρίτου) [ἐγένετο]
[καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ὑπερ μ]ν̣ήμης καὶ ἀναπαύσεω[ς - - - ]
[τῶν ὁσιωτ(άτων)/μακαρίων πατέρων ἡμ]ῶν Ἰωάννου Ἰωά̣[ννου - - - ]
[In the days of ou]r [saintly father] Genesius, priest and archimandrite, [also this work was done, for the re]membrance and repose ... [of o]ur [most saintly/blessed fathers] John, Jo[hn ... ]
Fragmentary building inscription, in the mosaic pavement in front of the bema.
Reconstruction based on comparison with Inscription 6 (from the refectory). Νο καί links the names of the deceased commemorated, but it is likely that the two Johns referred to two different individuals, and that the second is not a patronym, as the same name for a father and son was uncommon in Byzantine Palestine. The absence of καί suggests that at least three names originally appeared. Since they were commememorated in such an important place - the main church of the monastery - they were probably former abbots. A "John the Eunuch" is indeed attested as an abbot of the monastery prior to Genesius, from ca. 536-543.