396 (dr.) (ed. pr.) | |
300 |
SEG 43 (1993): 1061
CIIP I.2 (2012): 815 (ph., dr.)
Findspot: Engraved on the side of a marble table, found in the debris of the apse of the Eudocian basilica of St. Stephen.
Pres. loc.: Reported to be at École biblique, inv. no. SE 3 (Bieberstein - Bloedhorn). Not located.
Three adjoining fragments of a marble table with a raised edge. The inscription is engraved on the vertical side of the table. The fragments were discovered together with an altar base and broken colonnettes and were undoubtedly part of a mensa. W-shaped omega.
Meas.: h (total) 6.8 (inscribed surface) 4, w 30 cm.
[--τῶν πανσέπ?]των ξ[ύ]λων φύλαξ Α[--]
… guardian of the venerable (?) wood (i.e., of the Cross) …
Τῶν ξύλων φύλαξ Germer-Durand, all edd.; [τῶν τιμ]ίων ξύλων Flusin.
Dedicatory inscription on the side of marble altar table, found in the debris of the apse.
Germer-Durand read τῶν ξύλων φύλαξ, translated as “guardian of the tables”, an allusion to the function of the protomartyr Stephen who, as deacon, was in charge of the agape tables (Acts 6:2). Vincent and Abel interpreted the phrase as an allusion to the role of the cherubs, keepers of the gates of Paradise and of the tree of life. Flusin corrected the reading and assumed a connection with a staurophylax, observing that Gabriel, first hegumen of St. Stephen, was brother of Cosmas, the Keeper of the Cross. His suggestion carries conviction, despite the fact that his reading is not supported by the drawing. Possibly a different attribute, ending in -τος, was applied to the wood, e.g. πάνσεπτος , an epithet sometimes attached to the Cross (e.g. Cyr. Scyth., Vita Euthymii 48, ed. Schwartz 69). Thomsen dated the inscription to the 5 cent. but the form of the letters is rather consistent with a date in the late 5 cent. or 6 cent.