Complete

Dimensions: surface: cm

Condition: Mosaic made out of white and red tesserae which are 1,1 x 1,2 cm on average. Borders and letters are white, the background is red. It is partly destroyed by the erection of a pillar in a later period. A small fragment of the mosaic was detached but found nearby in the backfill of the foundation cut (of the pillar?). The red frame of the inscription in 75 cm wide and at least 60 cm as it is preserved on the right side.

Text: Syriac vocalization of Greek names.

Date: 451 CE - 530 CE

Fifth or sixth cenury.

Findspot: Unknown

Original location: Arabia ʿAyoun Mousa (ʿUyun Musa) 31.767778, 35.725278 Church of Kaianus south pastophorion

Current repository: Unknown

Text type: mosaic inscription

Summary:

Inscription on mosaic from Church of Kaianus in ʿAyoun Mousa (ʿUyun Musa). 451 CE - 530 CE.

Changes history: 2022-10-27 Pawel Nowakowski Creation; 2022-11-12 Pawel Nowakowski Last modification; 2023-11-06 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file

Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;

Available under licence CC-BY 4.0

Translation

'May the Lord remember the good deeds of our master Gayyān priest and the heirs who made…' (tr. R. Hoyland)

Other translations (depending on a different reading of l. 1): 'La lecteur fera mémoire des bienfaits de notre maître Gayyân (le prêtre /fils de Qašiša), et des héritiers qui ont fait (ou restauré?) (le mobilier /des parties) de …' (tr. E. Puech)
'The lector will remember the good works of our lord, Gayyân the priest (or son of) Kasiseus), and the heirs who made (or restored) the furnishings (or parts) of …' (tr. Judd et al. 2019, 462, based on Piccirilo and Alliata 1998)

Commentary

In l. 3, gyʾn seems to be the transcription of a Greek name Geanos / Gaianos or Latin Gaianus, most possibly deriving from Gaius, the latter is transcribed into Arabic as ġayyān. It should be compared with the name of Kaianos which is preserved in the Greek inscription (gr. hyper mnemes Kaiano[u]) that was found in ‘Ayoun Mousa at the same pavement, approx. 1.5 m next to the CPA inscription. The Greek inscription was arranged on the top of the tomb that was a burial of this person apparently. (Puech 1984: 322-32) qššʾ can be translated as “the priest”, see. for example the CPA inscription in ‘Ain Suweinit (Epi 0008) but it can be also identified with the Greek name – Kasiseos. Then it should be a patronym as there is no waw connecting both names. Moreover, it is also attested in the aforementioned Greek inscription that mentions Kaianos in the form of Kasisèos (gr. [ὑπ]ὲρ σωτηρίας Κασισέο[υ]). Furthermore, the name Kasiseos is attested at the neighbouring site of Kh. el-Mekhayyat / Mount Nebo which is suspected by Puech to be identified with the archdeacon Saôala (?), (Puech 1984: 323-324). However, Hoyland translated qššʾ as “the priest” (Hoyland 2010: 33, fig. 3f)

Bibliography (edition)

E., Puech, 1984, L’inscription christo-palestinienne d’Ayoun Mousa (Mount Nebo), Liber Annuus 34, 319–328. M., Piccirillo, E., Alliata, 1998, Mount Nebo. New Archaeological Excavations 1967–1997, Jerusalem, 455, 63.

Bibliography

M., Judd, L., Gregoricka, D., Foran, 2019, The monastic mosaic at Mount Nebo, Jordan: biogeochemical and epigraphical evidence for diverse origins, Antiquity 93, 93: 29-46. R., Hoyland, 2010, Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia, [in:]M.C.A. Macdonald, The development of Arabic as written language, Oxford, 450–467. Hoyland, R. Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia, [in:] M.C.A. Macdonald (ed.), The development of Arabic as written language, Oxford, 2010, pp. 29-4

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