Ma'ale Adumim; Kh. Murassas - MARTYRIUS

Church/Monastery name: 
Ma'ale Adumim; Kh. Murassas - MARTYRIUS
Inscription number: 
4
Selected bibliography: 
156-157, no. 4 (ph.) (ed. pr.)
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Epigraphical corpora: 

SEG 40 (1990): 1496

CIIP IV.1 (2018): 3145 (ph., dr.)

Inscription type: 
dedicatory
Location: 

Found in the vicinity of the church

On a moveable object: 
chancel screen
Physical description : 

Fragmentary inscription engraved on a fragment of a chancel screen ca. 65 cm. long, which was found in the vicinity of the church. The characters were finely chiselled with a pointed instrument and are ca. 4 cm. high. 

Text: 

[Προσφορὰ Ἀντο]νίνας καὶ Αὐξεντίου. ☩

Translation: 

[Οffering of Anto]nina(?) and Auxentius.

Commentary: 

The inscription ends with a cross. Ligature of ΟΥ. The first name was certainly a woman's, possibly Antonina or another name with a similar ending. The chancel screen may have been dedicated by a married couple, though it is interesting that the woman's name comes before the man's. They might also have been a mother and son or the children of a donor whose name preceded theirs. In any case, they were private benefactors, either pilgrims or local believers, who where neither members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy nor the monastic order.

Date: 
Probably second half of 6th cent.
Summary: 

Dedicatory inscription, inscribed on a chancel screen fragment found in the vicinity of the church.

Contents
Personal names: 
Antonina(?), Auxentius
Epigraphical formulae: 
offering (prosphorá/karpophoria)
Epigraphical Abbreviations: 
ligature of ΟΥ