Tel Lavnin - Hermitage

Church/Monastery name: 
Tel Lavnin - Hermitage
Inscription number: 
1
Selected bibliography: 
565-568, fig. 1, pl. II.a (ph., dr.) (ed. pr.)
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Epigraphical corpora: 

SEG 49 (1999): 2088

CIIP IV.2 (2018): 3401 (ph., dr.)

Inscription type: 
grafitto
label/sign
Location: 

Findspot: Engraved on the centre of the exposed part of the western wall of the northern cave.

Physical description : 

Grafitto on rock; to the right of ll.1-2 is a lioness, the drawing of her face seems to imply that she was added after l.1 was engraved. The first word, "Daniel", and the deeply engraved cross above it are bigger, deeper, and more stressed than the rest of the inscription and the lioness. A small cross is engraved before the name "John". The word "presbyter" is abbreviated with two diagonal lines. “To the left of the inscription another lion seems to have been carved, but very few lines and circles – probably the eyes or the ears – remain” (Zissu). On paleographic grounds the inscription should be dated to the second half of the fifth cent., or perhaps even the sixth cent.

Text: 

☩ Δανιήλ.

☩ Ἰωάννης

πρεσβ(ύτερος).

Translation: 

Daniel. John, the priest.

Commentary: 

It appears that the artists intended to depict the biblical story of Daniel in the lion's den (Daniel 6: 16-24), but as a combination of a cross (identified as Daniel) and the figure of a lioness. Apparently the priest John did the inscription and the engravings on the cave wall. (Zissu)

Date: 
second half of the 5th cent. or 6th cent.
Summary: 

Grafitto on rock of Daniel in the lions' den, on the western wall of the northern cave.

Contents
Ecclesiastical titles: 
presbyter
Personal names: 
Ioannes
Saints names: 
Daniel
Epigraphical Abbreviations: 
two diagonal strokes over pi and beta for πρεσβ(ύτερος)