211-215, no. 2 (ed. pr.) | |
130, no. 127 | |
849-850, no. 345, fig. 395 (dr.) |
Findspot: Near the church.
A fragment of marble slab, 64 cm long, 34 cm high and 6.5 cm thick, was found south of the Central Church, out of all archaeological context. It is the left half of a wider tombstone that contained two epitaphs. The inscription on the left side is complete, while the other is almost totally lost. The surviving epitaph is carefully engraved, with letters 3.5 to 5 cm high. The text begins and ends with crosses.
Ἀνεπάη ὁ μακάριος
Γεόργις αὐτῆς ὑειὸς
μηνὶ Ἀρτεμισίου ζι´
4 ϛχ´ ἔτους ☩
ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) θ´.
Came to rest the blessed George her son in the month of Artemisios, the 17th, year 606, indiction 9.
Dated epitaph of George, on a fragment of marble slab found near the church, 7 (12?) May 546 (or 711, unlikely).
Dated by the usual era of Arabia, the epitaph would fall on 7 May 711, correctly placed in the 9th year of the indiction. This date is surprisingly late, as the latest inscription is Shivta (and in the whole Negev) was written in 679. Moreover, although as a rule the quality of script and spelling gradually deteriorates in the Negev with the weakening influence of Greek culture in the 7th century, the quality of this text is much better than in most inscriptions of the first half of the 7th century. Finally, the date is arranged in ascending order from units to hundreds, while dates given by the era of Arabia follow the descending order. Kirk therefore proposed to reckon the date of this epitaph by the era of Gaza, though retaining the Arabian calendar. Year 606 of this era corresponds to 545/6, which fell in the 9th indiction. 17 Artemisios corresponds to 7 May according to the Arabian calendar, in which Artemisios began on 21 April, or to 12 May according to calendar of Gaza, in which Artemisios began on 26 April. Meimaris preferred the latter fate, because of the inverted month day which is not unusual in the Gazaean calendar.
The second epitaph must have commemorated George's mother, but only a few letters survived.