Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 501
-
AD 600
Language:
Christian Palestinian Aramaic; Greek
Monumental:
Medium:
mosaic
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
presbyterium mosaic floor
People mentioned:
Name:
Abbas Oulpianos
Patronym:
none
Status:
religious_authority
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Benefactor
Occupation:
monk_or_clergyman
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Christianity
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Greek
Description
date: 6th C. AD description: Bilingual Greek and CPA inscription on a bema. [fig. A, no. 10.] The upper part once covering the floor in the apse is destroyed, the lower part towards the nave consists of three panels. The inscription is at the bottom of the central panel. (a) Greek letters in black tesserae, a horizontal row of red tesserae divides the text. The second line starts with a small flower in red and black. The Christian Palestinian Aramaic inscription (b) is below the panel with the figurative representation and the Greek inscription in a smaller frame attached to it. Meas.: (a) w 1.80 m (frame); letters 6-10 cm. (b) h 27-28, w 102-103 cm (frame); letters 5-8 cm. The mosaic panel shows an amphora in the middle, flanked by two – intentionally destroyed – animals (lions?). The base of the amphora reaches into the first line of the two-line Greek text. There are crosses at the beginning of both Greek lines and one in the end of the first line of the CPA inscription. Source of the image: CIIP IV fig. 3864.1-2. ed. CIIP IV 3864: a) 1. ἀββᾶς Οὐλπιανός 2. ἀββᾶς Ὀλπιανός b) 1. ܫܡܘܐܥ ܫܝ[ܠܬ] ܩܫ šmwʿ šy[lt] qš 2.ܗܢܝܢܗ ܩܫ [--] ܓܝܪܓܘܢ hnynh qš [--] gyrgwn a) 1. "Father Ulpianus." 2. "Father Olpianus." b) 1. "Hear the request of the priest" 2. "Haninah and the priest … Girgun." commentary: ἀββᾶς: was used as a title of respect for all members of the clergy and as a title of dignity for monks and superiors of monasteries who were the oldest, most respected among the monk. Di Segni suggested that this purely Latin name was in fact a Semitic name that was transcribed in Greek. In another inscription at the foot of the bema, the same man is called Oulefos (CIIP IV 3862). It seems probable that the priest Oulefus was one and the same as Abba Olpianus or Ulpianus”, according to Di Segni. One may therefore assume that the name Ulpianus has somehow a relation to an indigenous Arabian name. The Christian Palestinian Aramaic text is separated from the Greek text and the main panel, and enclosed in its own frame. It is neatly and clearly written and presents no problems except for a small damaged area at the centre, which makes it difficult to read šy[lt] in the first line, and possibly a cross in the second line. The word for priest is given in an abbreviated form: qš for qšyšʾ. The name Haninah is written with a he rather than a ḥet, probably influenced by the Greek form Ananius. Girgun, significantly different from the Syriac Girgis, probably reflects a local spelling of the name Georgius. Both these names (priests Anianus and Georgius) are attested in a Greek inscription from the narthex of this church (CIIP IV 3866). The construction of the church was dated to the 6 century AD by the excavators and the editors of the Greek inscriptions. The paleography of the Christian Palestinian Aramaic text is consistent with that date. CIIP IV 3864 Bar-Asher M. 2003. The Syro-Palestinian Inscription from ‘Anab al-Kabīr. Tarbiz 72: 615–620 [In Hebrew].
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Paweł Nowakowski
Created:
2021-11-18 13:02:57
Last update:
2025-09-01 07:57:12
Building:
Church
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Bilingual Greek and CPA inscription on a bema. [fig. A, no. 10.] The upper part once covering the floor in the apse is destroyed, the lower part towards the nave consists of three panels. The inscription is at the bottom of the central panel. (a) Greek letters in black tesserae, a horizontal row of red tesserae divides the text. The second line starts with a small flower in red and black. The Christian Palestinian Aramaic inscription (b) is below the panel with the figurative representation and the Greek inscription in a smaller frame attached to it. Meas.: (a) w 1.80 m (frame); letters 6-10 cm. (b) h 27-28, w 102-103 cm (frame); letters 5-8 cm. The mosaic panel shows an amphora in the middle, flanked by two – intentionally destroyed – animals (lions?). The base of the amphora reaches into the first line of the two-line Greek text. There are crosses at the beginning of both Greek lines and one in the end of the first line of the CPA inscription.
Text:
Date: 501 CE - 600 CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestina ʿAnab al-Kabir (Khirbat ʿAnab) 31.929722, 35.298889 Church presbyterium mosaic floor
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: dedicatory inscription
Summary:
Biligual inscription in Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Greek scripts from Anab al-Kabir (Khirbat ʿAnab). 501 CE - 600 CE.
Changes history: 2021-11-18 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-03-27 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2024-03-27 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
a)
"Father Ulpianus.
Father Ulpianus."
b)
"Hear the request of the priest
Haninah and the priest … Girgun.
Commentary
ἀββᾶς: was used as a title of respect for all members of the clergy and as a title of dignity for monks and superiors of monasteries who were the oldest, most respected among the monk. Di Segni suggested that this purely Latin name was in fact a Semitic name that was transcribed in Greek. In another inscription at the foot of the bema, the same man is called Oulefos (CIIP IV 3862). It seems probable that the priest Oulefus was one and the same as Abba Olpianus or Ulpianus”, according to Di Segni. One may therefore assume that the name Ulpianus has somehow a relation to an indigenous Arabian name. The Christian Palestinian Aramaic text is separated from the Greek text and the main panel, and enclosed in its own frame. It is neatly and clearly written and presents no problems except for a small damaged area at the centre, which makes it difficult to read šy[lt] in the first line, and possibly a cross in the second line. The word for priest is given in an abbreviated form: qš for qšyšʾ. The name Haninah is written with a he rather than a ḥet, probably influenced by the Greek form Ananius. Girgun, significantly different from the Syriac Girgis, probably reflects a local spelling of the name Georgius. Both these names (priests Anianus and Georgius) are attested in a Greek inscription from the narthex of this church (CIIP IV 3866). The construction of the church was dated to the 6 century AD by the excavators and the editors of the Greek inscriptions. The paleography of the Christian Palestinian Aramaic text is consistent with that date.
Bibliography (edition)
- CIIP IV W., Ameling, H., Cotton, W., Eck, A., Ecker, B., Isaac, A., Kushnir-Stein, H., Misgav, J., Price, P., Weiß, A., Yardeni, 2023, Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume IV: Iudaea/Idumaea, Berlin, Boston, 3864.
Bibliography
- M., Bar-Asher, 2003, The Syro-Palestinian Inscription from ‘Anab al-Kabīr, Tarbiz 72, 615–620.