106, fig. 108 (ed. pr.) | |
43, no. 139 | |
140-141, no. 14 | |
292, no. 489 | |
789-790, no. 386, fig. 356 (ph.) |
Findspot: Incised on a limestone slab, discovered over a grave at the eastern end of the southern aisle.
Pres. location: Lost.
An epitaph is incised on a limestone slab, 77 cm long, 27 cm high, covering a grave at the end of the southern aisle. The script is square, with round theta;· the monogram ȣ is consistently used. Stigma marks the abbreviations; the numerals are not marked. The text opens with a cross and ends with a palm branch. At the upper right corner of the slab is the siglum ΑΣΓΟΥ or perhaps ΑΣΣΟΥ, on the meaning of which, see Inscription no. 2.
ΑΣΓΟΥ
☩ Κατετήθη ἡ μακαρία
Μαρία Σεργίου Πατρικίου
ἐν μηνὶ Ὑπερβερετ(αίου) κ´ ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος)
γ´ ἔτου(ς) φκε´. (palm branch)
Was laid to rest the blessed Maria, (daughter) of Sergius (son) of Patricius, in the month of Hyperberetaios, the 20th, in the 3rd indiction, year 525.
Dated epitaph of Maria daughter of Sergius on a limestone slab, found in the floor over a grave in the southern aisle, 7 Oct. 630.
Year 525 of the Arabian era corresponds to 630/1 AD, and 20th of Hyperberetaios to 7 October; the third indiction had come to an end five weeks before. Similar inaccuracies occur in Kirk–Welles, nos. 24 and 72. The deceased was daughter of Sergius and sister of Patricius, priests and hegumens, who were buried in the northern aisle in 592 and 628 (Kirk–Welles, no. 12). Possibly it is to her family connexion that Maria owed the place of honour given to her tomb, but if the palm branch had a symbolic significance, she was a virgin and may have been a nun.