187 (ph.) | |
172-173, figs. 13-15 (phs., drs.) | |
210-211, no. 2 (dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
127, no. 183 |
SEG 62 (2012): 1687
In the mosaic pavement in the northern aisle, directly in front of Inscription no. 1.
The inscription is enclosed in a round medallion encircled by two concentric frames of black tesserae enclosed in a square of white and black tesserae. The space between the round medallion and the square frame is filled with pink tesserae and encloses four white and black triangles pointing towards the corners of the square. The square frame measures 68.5 × 68.5 cm; the outer circular frame is 68.5 cm in diameter; the inner one, 55 cm. The letters, 8-9.5 cm high, belong to the oval alphabet. The abbreviated nomina sacra are marked with separate horizontal strokes.
Κ(ύρι)ε Ἰ(ησο)ῦ
Χ(ριστ)έ, βοήθι
τῷ δού-
λῳ σοῦ.
Lord Jesus Christ, help your servant.
Invocation of the Lord within a medallion, in the mosaic pavement in the northern aisle.
This is a typical invocation dictated by a donor who, having contributed to the construction or the decoration of a church, wished to be remembered. Visitors entering the church through the northern doorway, marked by Inscription 1, would immediately come across Inscription 2; however, if this came unaccompanied by an additional text, the visitors would have been unable to identify the benefactor. We surmise, therefore, that there was another inscription, perhaps engraved on the lintel, embedded in the wall beside the entrance, or even painted on the door wings, which identified the man who had paid for this part of the building or for the mosaic floor.