Shiloh - The Basilica Church

Church/Monastery name: 
Shiloh - The Basilica Church
Inscription number: 
1
Selected bibliography: 
26-27 (ph.) (ed. pr.)
53, fig. 15 (dr.)
169-170, fig. 6 (ph., dr.)
53
226-227
126, no. 182
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Epigraphical corpora: 

SEG 8 (1937): 149; 47 (1997): 2055; 62 (2012): 1635

Inscription type: 
invocation/prayer
Location: 

in the narthex, at the threshold to the nave, in front of a row of flagstones.

Physical description : 

Two-line mosaic inscription, 175 cm long, letters 7-8 cm high. The inscription begins and ends with a cross.

Text: 

☩ Κ(ύρι)ε, μνήσθητι τοῦ δούλου Ζαχαρία

καὶ τοῦ γράψαντος ⟨ε⟩
ἰς ἀγαθά. ☩

Translation: 

Lord, remember your servant Zachariah and the writer for good. (Andersen)

Commentary: 

"...εἰς ἀγαθά is reminiscent of the stereotyped Aramaic phrase dekir leṭab, the regular dedicatory formula of the contemporary Palestinian synagogues" (Starr).

Summary: 

Invocation of the Lord on behalf of Zachariah, in the mosaic pavement of the narthex.

Contents
Titles/epithets of patrons/dedicators: 
servant of God
Personal names: 
Zacharias
Epigraphical formulae: 
Lord/Christ, remember...
Epigraphical Abbreviations: 
horizontal stroke over nomen sacrum