Scythopolis / Beth Shean (Tel Iẓtaba) - Church of the Martyr

Church/Monastery name: 
Scythopolis / Beth Shean (Tel Iẓtaba) - Church of the Martyr
Inscription number: 
1
Selected bibliography: 
no. 4, fig. 11 (ed. pr.)
Abbreviation for Journals and Series
Inscription type: 
building
dedicatory
Location: 

In the mosaic floor of the narthex, in front of the entrance to the nave.

Physical description : 

Fragmentary seven-line mosaic inscription within a round medallion, looking east. The frame is formed by a simple row of black tesserae, and the letters, 11–13 cm high, are also black, as is an ornamental motif — a branch carrying two bunches of grapes — at the end of the last line. Most of the left half of the medallion is lost, but the diameter, 154 cm, can be measured in the east-west direction, and its axis can be established, permitting a precise evaluation of the number of characters lost at the beginning of each line. The round letters, omicron, theta, epsilon and sigma, are round or oval with no trace of the pointed tops typical of the second half of the sixth century. Theta has a high middle bar, a trait that appears in the late sixth century. The characters are ornate, through the use of slight apices on several letters (typical those of alpha and delta that create a little ‘roof’ on top of the letters), curls in rho, upsilon and omega; especially decorative, and rare, is the use of calligraphic chiaroscuro, namely, the thickening of part of a letter, particularly noticeable in epsilon, omicron and sigma. All these characteristics point to a date in the late sixth or the early seventh century. It appears, therefore, that despite the glaring difference between this inscription and the dedication of the metropolitan Andreas in the old church, both belong to the same period, which enables us to restore the lost name of the bishop in the present inscription.

Text: 

         [☩ Ψη]φίδι τιμᾷ

         [Ἀνδρέα]ς τὸν μάρτυρα

         [τῆς πόλε]ος τὸ θρέμμα

4       [δι’ ε]ὐκοσμίας

         [ὁ καὶ] διαφανῶς

         [τρ]έφων τὸ

         [πο]ίμνιον.

Translation: 

[Andrea]s, who admirably nurtures the flock, honours with a mosaic the martyr offspring [of the city] with beauty.

Commentary: 

The inscription is an epigram of three iambic trimetes, the first two verses occupying two lines each, the third lines 5–7. As usual in late-antique poetry (and already in classical poetry,) they are mostly Archilochian iambi, in which the first foot of each unit is a spondee (two long syllables) rather than a iamb (a short syllable followed by a long one). Two other trends typical of late-antique poetry can be observed:  the caesura is often omitted, and short syllables can be treated as long when the accent falls on them — a result of the gradual transformation of the rhythm from quantitative (based on alternation of long and short syllables) to accentual (based on the number and position of the accents in the verse).

          Ψηφίδι τι|μᾷ ‖Ἀνδρέας| τὸν μάρτυρα               ˉ ˉ́ ˘ ˉ́ | ˉ ‖ ˉ́ ˘ ˉ́|ˉ ˉ́ ˘ ˘́

          τῆς πόλε‹ω›ς | τὸ  θρέμμα δι’| εὐκοσμίας        ˉ ˘́ ˘ ˉ́ | ˘ ˉ́ ˘ ˉ́ | ˉ ˉ́ ˘ ˉ́

          ὁ καὶ δια|φανῶς τρέφων | τὸ ποίμνιον.            ˘ ˉ́ ˉ́ | ˘ ˉ́ ˘ ˉ | ˘ ˉ́ ˘ ˘́

The man ‘who nurtures the flock’ is obviously the bishop, who is often called ποιμήν, shepherd, in literary and epigraphic texts. The name Ἀνδρέας, suggested by the dating of the inscription, nicely fulfils the requirements of the metre, having three syllables in the sequence long-short-long.

For the likely identification of the martyr with Basilius, who was martyred in Scythopolis together with 70 companions, see Di Segni.

Date: 
late sixth or early seventh century
Summary: 

Fragmentary epigrammatic seven-line building inscription of the bishop A(ndreas) dedicated to the martyr of the city, in the mosaic floor of the narthex.

Contents
Definitions of building/part of building: 
psephosis,psephotheteia (mosaic)
Personal names: 
(Andreas)
Epithets of saints: 
martyr