141, no. 17 (dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
276, no. 434 | |
782-783, no. 302, fig. 352 |
Engraved on fragment of a limestone abacus, found in the baptistry of the church.
At some time towards the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th cent. alterations were carried out in the North Church: rooms and a chapel were added, and the atrium was converted into a baptistry. This inscription commemorates an offering, possibly given to finance these works, and chances are that it preserves the date of the erection of the column and of the baptistry itself. Seemingly, a burst of building activity occurred in the ecclesiastical fabrics in Nessana at that time, since no less than four building inscriptions (Kirk–Welles, nos. 17, 72, 92 and 94, the last two respectively from the South Church and the Monastery Church) bear dates from 601 to 605. The fragment of abacus is 9 cm high and 29 cm long in its present condition. It bears the right end of a two-line dedication in a rectangular script with drop-shaped omicron and v-shaped upsilon. The letters are carefully cut and 4 cm high.
[ ☩ Ὑπὲρ σωτ]ηρίας [ - - ]
[ - - Οὐάλεν]τος ἔτ(ους) υϙϛ´.
For the salvation of [so-and-so (son) of Valen]s, year 496.
Dated dedicatory building (?) inscription on a fragment of limestone abacus, found in the baptistry of the church, 601/602.
Year 496 of the provincia Arabia corresponds to 601/2 AD. "The date may well be that of the erection of the column and of the baptistery itself, which was built later than the nave" (Kirk–Welles). The restoration of the patronymic, as proposed by the editors, is by way of example.