Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Ἐγένετο τὸ ἔργον τοῦτω
Quotations from literary texts:
Ps 117 (118): 20
Dating:
AD 596
-
AD 596
Language:
Christian Palestinian Aramaic; Greek
Monumental:
Medium:
mosaic
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
In the nartex (Room L7)
People mentioned:
Name:
Hilarion
Patronym:
Status:
religious_authority
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Founder
Occupation:
head of the monastery
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Christianity
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Christian Palestinian Aramaic
Description
date: November / December 596 CE description: Bilingual Greek and CPA inscription founded in the nartex. The nartex had a crypt (found empty) in the centre of the room. Although neither human bones nor a rectangular stone slab that covered the grave were discovered, it can be assumed that this was a grave of an important person, perhaps one of the abbots. Text placed in the rectangular framework of 2.5 × 0.65 m. There is a sign at the beginning of the Greek inscription but it is not a cross (stauros). Most of the inscription is in Greek script, in the middle of the third line the Christian Palestinian Aramaic script is visible. The letters in the first line and the first two words in the second line are twice as thick as the letters in the rest of the Greek text. This and other suspicious elements (e.g. blank spaces separating letters in the word τοῦτω in the first line) are signs that may indicate that the inscription from 596 CE replaced an earlier one. It is most likely that the CPA text was made by two different hands. ed. Ustinova 2023: inscription 5 Ἐγένετο τὸ ἔργον τοῦτω ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοσεβ(εστάτου) Ἱλαρίωνος ἡγου(μένου) μη(νὸς) Ἀπελ(λαίου) ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) ιεʹ ἔτου(ς) τϙζʹ. ܗܕܢ ܘ ܬܪܥܗ ܕܡܪܐ ܨܕܝܩܝܐ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܒܓܘܗ (hdn w trʿh dmrʾ ṣdyqyʾ yʿwlwn bgwh) Greek: 'This work was done under the most god-fearing Hilarion the abbot, in the month of Apellaios, indiction 15, year 397.' CPA: 'This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous will enter within it.' commentary: The mont Apellaios of the year 398 (rather than 397) of the era of Eleutheropolis corresponds to November-December 596 AD, which fell on the 15th indiction, but discrepancies between year and indiction are rather common, and it is possible that whoever dictated the inscription had forgotten that a new year had just started. The CPA part is a citation from Ps 117 (118): 20. The aim of this quote was to mark the mystical meaning of entering the church and participating in the ceremonies conducted there. This verse was often used in ancient churches as the figurative explanation for the entrance as the gates of God. The location of the inscription, its orientation and content, indicate that this room L7, adjacent to the prayer hall (L8) to its west, was used as a narthex. Nevertheless, the opening between this two rooms was later blocked by a wall. Ustinova (2023: 392) claims that “the use of the Aramaic in a monastery where several officials bear Jewish names attests to a high proportion of Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts in the Christian community of the Negev”. SEG 65 1769 Ustinova, Y. Greek Inscriptions from the Byzantine-Period Monastery at Ḥura. ‘Atiqot 110 (2023): 385-393 Varga, D., Talgam, R., A Byzantine-Period Monastery at Ḥura. ‘Atiqot 110 (2023): 365 https://search.inscriptionsisraelpalestine.org/viewinscr/khur0001/
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Paweł Nowakowski
Created:
2023-09-14 10:48:59
Last update:
2025-09-02 11:31:13
Building:
Monastery
Site:
Hura (Northen Negev)
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Bilingual Greek and CPA inscription founded in the nartex. The nartex had a crypt (found empty) in the centre of the room. Although neither human bones nor a rectangular stone slab that covered the grave were discovered, it can be assumed that this was a grave of an important person, perhaps one of the abbots. Text placed in the rectangular framework of 2.5 × 0.65 m. There is a sign at the beginning of the Greek inscription but it is not a cross (stauros). Most of the inscription is in Greek script, in the middle of the third line the Christian Palestinian Aramaic script is visible. The letters in the first line and the first two words in the second line are twice as thick as the letters in the rest of the Greek text. This and other suspicious elements (e.g. blank spaces separating letters in the word τοῦτω in the first line) are signs that may indicate that the inscription from 596 CE replaced an earlier one. It is most likely that the CPA text was made by two different hands.
Text:
Date: 596 CE
November / December 596 CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestine Hura (Northen Negev) 31.298333, 34.939167 Monastery In the nartex (Room L7)
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: mosaic inscription
Summary:
Bilingual Greek and CPA inscription on mosaic from Hura (Northen Negev). 596 CE.
Changes history: 2023-09-14 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-01-29 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2024-01-29 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
Greek: 'This work was done under the most god-fearing Hilarion the abbot, in the month of Apellaios, indiction 15, year 397.' CPA: 'This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous will enter within it.'
Commentary
The mont Apellaios of the year 398 (rather than 397) of the era of Eleutheropolis corresponds to November-December 596 AD, which fell on the 15th indiction, but discrepancies between year and indiction are rather common, and it is possible that whoever dictated the inscription had forgotten that a new year had just started. The CPA part is a citation from Ps 117 (118): 20. The aim of this quote was to mark the mystical meaning of entering the church and participating in the ceremonies conducted there. This verse was often used in ancient churches as the figurative explanation for the entrance as the gates of God. The location of the inscription, its orientation and content, indicate that this room L7, adjacent to the prayer hall (L8) to its west, was used as a narthex. Nevertheless, the opening between this two rooms was later blocked by a wall. Ustinova (2023: 392) claims that “the use of the Aramaic in a monastery where several officials bear Jewish names attests to a high proportion of Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts in the Christian community of the Negev”.
Bibliography (edition)
- Y., Ustinova, 2023, Greek Inscriptions from the Byzantine-Period Monastery at Ḥura., Atiqot 110, 385-393.
Bibliography
- SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 65, 1769. D., Varga, R., Talgam, 2023, A Byzantine-Period Monastery at Ḥura, Atiqot 110, 365.