Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Προσφορὰ
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 501
-
AD 700
Language:
Greek
Monumental:
Medium:
plaque
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
offering/donation
Funds:
holy congregation
Price:
Placement:
floor
People mentioned:
Name:
Maruthas
Patronym:
Status:
religious_authority
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Name recorded
Occupation:
congregation's head
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Judaism
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Greek
Description
date: 6-7 c. CE description: Inscription of an offering of the Jewish congregation. Marble plaque with large drilled hole in the middle. Five-line Greek inscription incised around a hole. Top middle piece missing. Pieces were re-joined after stone was broken. ed. CIIP II 1141 Κ(ύριο)ς β(οηθό)[ς. Πρ]οσ- φορὰ τοῦ λα- οῦ ἐπὴ Μ- αρουθᾶ 'May the Lord be our helper. An offering/donation of the congregation under Maruthas.' App. crit.: Κ(ύριο)ς β(οηθ)ός | φορά was suggested as well. commentary: This inscription was found in the same floor as CIIP II 1142. It recorded a donation of the object whose pedestal or base was fitted in the drilled hole (candelabrum, basin or column). The opening abbreviated Κ(ύριο)ς β(οηθό)ς widely used in Christian inscriptions of that period, has led some to doubt the Jewishness of this text, but there are sufficient Jewish parallels to set aside doubt in the Beth She’an synagogue mosaic as well as in Ashkelon. The stonecutter could have been influenced by the epigraphic environment to use this formula. The iotacism in ἐπὴ is typical of this period. The name Marouthas has no exact parallel. The Aramaic term mrwt, which was compared with Greek Marouthas, in two inscriptions from Na’aran is probably not a name but an expression that should be translated as “lord” or “master”. It is important to note that Marouthas is mentioned for dating purposes, not as the main donor, for the donation was collective and anonymous. CIIP II 1141 https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/caes0080/
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2023-03-25 14:23:51
Last update:
2024-01-20 15:31:04
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Inscription of an offering of the Jewish congregation. Marble plaque with large drilled hole in the middle. Five-line Greek inscription incised around a hole. Top middle piece missing. Pieces were re-joined after stone was broken.
Text:
Date: 501 CE - 700 CE
6-7 c. CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestina Caesarea 32.507222, 34.906944 Synagogue floor
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: votive inscription
Summary:
Votive inscription in Greek script from Caesarea. 501 CE - 700 CE.
Changes history: 2023-03-25 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-01-20 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2024-01-20 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021apparatus
1: Κ(ύριο)ς β(οηθ)ός | φορά was suggested as well.
Translation
'May the Lord be our helper. An offering/donation of the congregation under Maruthas.'
Commentary
This inscription was found in the same floor as CIIP II 1142. It recorded a donation of the object whose pedestal or base was fitted in the drilled hole (candelabrum, basin or column). The opening abbreviated Κ(ύριο)ς β(οηθό)ς widely used in Christian inscriptions of that period, has led some to doubt the Jewishness of this text, but there are sufficient Jewish parallels to set aside doubt in the Beth She’an synagogue mosaic as well as in Ashkelon. The stonecutter could have been influenced by the epigraphic environment to use this formula. The iotacism in ἐπὴ is typical of this period. The name Marouthas has no exact parallel. The Aramaic term mrwt, which was compared with Greek Marouthas, in two inscriptions from Na’aran is probably not a name but an expression that should be translated as “lord” or “master”. It is important to note that Marouthas is mentioned for dating purposes, not as the main donor, for the donation was collective and anonymous.
Bibliography (edition)
- CIIP II W., Ameling, H., Cotton, W., Eck, B., Isaac, A., Kushnir-Stein, H., Misgav, J., Price, A., Yardeni, 2011, Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume II: Caesarea and the Middle Coast: 1121-2160, Berlin, Boston, 1141.