52-53, no. 52, ph. 46, fig. 4 (ed. pr.) | |
297, no. 505 | |
147 | |
835-837, no. 334, figs. 384 A-B (ph., dr.) |
SEG 31 (1981): 1430
Findspot: On tombstone in the atrium.
Pres. loc.: IAA, Inv. no. 31.1266, neg. no. 19.749.
Two epitaphs are engraved on a rectangular tombstone, which was found broken. The upper left corner is missing, with the beginning of the first three lines. Cursive delta at the beginning of l.6. Both texts end with palm branches.
[Ἀνεπάη] ὁ ἐν μα-
[καρίᾳ] μνήμῃ
[ - - ? υἱὸ]ς τοῦ ἀβ(β)ᾶ
4 Θέμου μενὸς Δί-
ου ιθʹ ἰνδικτιόνος
δευτέρας τοῦ ἔ-
τους φληʹ.
8 κ(αὶ) Ἰωάνν(η)ς μηνὶ Ξ-
ανθικ(οῦ) ιʹ.
Came to rest [so-and-so] of blessed memory, son of Abba Themos, on the 19th of the month of Dios of the 2nd indiction, year 548. Also Joh (came to rest) in the month of Xanthikos, the 10th.
Ll.1-3 Di Segni, ΟΕΝ ΜΑ| - - - μνήμη| - - - Σ all edd.; l.8 Ἰωάνν(η)ς all edd., but the fifth letter does not seem to be Ν, but Η with a sloping bar.
Dated Epitaphs of [...] son of Themos and John, on a broken rectangular tombstone found in the atrium, 5 November 643.
Year 548 of the era of Arabia correpsonds to 643/4. In the Arabian calendar Dios began on 18 October, which brings us to 5 November 643, in the second indiction. The following Xanathikos began on 22 March 644, still in the 2nd indiction, but as a matter of fact, the 1st day of a new year. It is not certain, however, that the same indiction was meant, and the second epitaph may have been inscribed some years later.
The surviving letters in the first two lines suggest a phrase similar to ὁ τῆς μακρίας (or ὁσίας) μνήμς. I can find no parallel to the formula ὁ ἐν μακαρίᾳ μνήμῃ; however, such a wording may have been influenced by the formula ὁ ἐν ἁγίοις, often used as a pious attribute for the dead, or by the phrase μνησθῇ εἰς ἀγαθόν, sometimes ἐν ἀγαθοῖς or ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ, originally an Aramaic or Hebrew formula often used in synagogue inscriptions, which also occurs in a Christian context.