126-127, fig. 6, pl. 23.B (ph.; dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
755-756, no. 283 |
SEG 38 (1988): 1597
Incised on two broken slabs of grey marble found in L. 415.
Two broken slabs of grey marble contain the central portion of a dedication in three lines. The preserved width of the two fragments is 38 cm., their height is 38 cm., and their thickness 2.6 cm. The inscription, incised with a sharp tool, uses a square alphabet except for o and , with ligatures for and e and an abbreviation for a . The extended central stroke of A and M is common in the sixth century Negev, as is the interchangeable use of and o. Letter heights average 2.5-3.0 cm., but in line 2 they are only 1.5 cm. high. The restoration of the inscription is based on three parallels found in the Negev, two of them dedications. (Tsafrir - Holum)
[☩ Ἐπὶ τοῦ] ἁγιωτάτου κ(αὶ) ὡσιω[τάτου - - ἐπ(ισκόπου)]
[- - -] κ(αὶ) ἐπὶ Στεφάνου Σολ[- - ἐγένετο]
[τοῦτο τὸ] ἔργον ἔτους υμεʹ or υμθʹ [- - -]
(In the time of) the most holy and most pious (bishop) ...and of Stephanos, (son) of Sol... this work was done in the year 441 (or 445).
Dated dedicatory inscriprtion on two broken slabs of grey marble, 550/1 or 554/5.
The slabs were found just in front of the bema steps. Although not found in situ, they had no doubt formed part of the original pavement of the nave. Fragments of similar slabs did appear in situ near the bema steps, and the imprint of the flooring slabs survives in the mortar bedding. Hence the inscription dates the second-phase flooring, and probably the second phase of the church itself. According to the era of the Provincia Arabia used in Rehovot, the inscription was written in September 550-September 551 or September 554-September 555. (Tsafrir - Holum)
The reading of the year ΥΜΕ is preferable over ΥΜΘ, since inscriptions from the Negev that present a drop-shaped omicron ofter show a drop-shaped theta too, even if the other letters are square. (Di Segni).