329-333, no. B, figs. 5B, 6B (drs.) (ed. pr.) |
SEG 48 (1998): 1889
CIIP III (2014): 2318 (dr.)
Eastern end of the mosaic pavement of the nave, in front of the apse.
Seven lines written inside a round medallion. Part of a longer inscription that was probably inscribed on at least one more medallion adjacent to it on the north. Inscription complete apart from some broken letters in lines 3 and 7. Original inscription lost; reading based on a drawing by an anonymous Australian WWI soldier stationed in Palestine, who discovered the mosaic on 23 January 1918. Apart from the peculiar ligature of eta and sigma in line 5, accurate details of the script cannot be provided.
Ἐκ τῶν ἰδί-
ων καμάτων
ἐψ[ή]φωσαν τὴν
4 προσθήκην τῆς
ἐκηλσίας ὥλης
κ(αὶ) τοῦ ἡερα-
[τ]ήου.
(They) paved with mosaic the annex of the whole church and of the presbytery by their own efforts.
Building inscription commemorating the the laying of mosaic pavements in the nave and presbytery.
Unusual ligature of eta and sigma (l.5). Misspellings: ἐκλησίας (l.5) with a single kappa, as usual in Palestinian inscriptions; ὥλης (l.5) for ὅλης. Iotacism: eta for iota (l.6) and eta for epsilon iota (l.7) in the word ἡερατήου, for ἱερατείου. Special terms: Ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων καμάτων refers to expenses, not the benefactors' own labour. προσθήκην, literally, "addition," but it appears to have referred to the nave, as exemplified in other inscriptions from the region.