Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
ܒܢ built by
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 301
-
AD 500
Language:
Syriac
Monumental:
Medium:
capital
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Foundation of a building
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
capital
People mentioned:
Name:
BR KMR/Bar KMR
Patronym:
Status:
unspecified
Ethnic allegance:
unspecified
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Founder
Occupation:
unspecified
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
unknown
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Syriac
Description
date: Arthur Segal tentatively suggested that the inscription might be of a fourth- or fifth-century date. As an argument, he proposed the shape of some letters (there is no dot distinguishing ܕ and ܪ in the script). Donald Strong who worked on the ornamentation of the capital dated its style to the first half of the third century. Inscriptions were, however, often made much on reused capital, decades and centuries after their creation, so this inscription may also be later. description: A Corinthian capital, one of its faces has a carving of a bust of a male figure. Segal and Strong claimed that this type of decoration was unusual for Syria. The Syriac inscription is placed on the abacus. The left-hand margin is unproportionaly large, but the lettering is well executed. Recorded at Ḥarrān by D. S. Rice in 1951, at a shop where it was still being used as a seat. Passed by Segal to the “local authorities”. A photo, copy, and a squeeze were made. ed. Segal 1957, 518–522, no. 2. ܒܢ ܒܪ ܟܡܪܐ “Built by (?) Bar KMRʾ” (tr. J.-B. Segal) commentary: Segal offers a number of interpretations for this inscription, while the reading is a bit tentative. Eventually, he argues that the first word is an abbreviation of ܒܢܝܬ or ܒܢܐ, i.e. "I built" or "he built" respectively. After the verb follows a personal name. Segal produces parallels for the name KMRʾ in Palmyrene and Nabataean Aramaic, and in Safaitic. He also points to the occurrence of the name Bar KMRʾ in the Edesssene parchments from Dura Europos (243 CE – Torrey, Zeitschrift für Semitistik, 10 (1935), 36, 39), and in later onomastics (Bar Kammar in Bar Hebraeus’s Chronicle, ed. Abbeloos & Lamy, 459 - where we have a description of a clan of Amida whose patriarch called his sons of Kammara/Bnai Kammara). Segal is convinced that the inscription is not by a Christian. But his arguments are rather inferred from general knowledge than based on the study of this inscription. First of all, he trusts Julian’s and Egeria’s accounts that Ḥarrān was still a polytheistic city in the fourth century, and cites the story of the persecution members of the city council allegedly practising "paganism" under Maurice (Chronicle 1234, LXXIX, ed. Chabot, CSCO 81, Scr. Syr. 36, 214). But this is not really convincing, as it says nothing on the individual mentioned in the inscription.
Author:
Paweł Nowakowski
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2022-08-01 11:39:19
Last update:
2023-11-13 18:05:47
Building:
unknown
Site:
Ḥarrān; Karrai; Carrhae
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: A Corinthian capital, one of its faces has a carving of a bust of a male figure. Segal and Strong claimed that this type of decoration was unusual for Syria. The Syriac inscription is placed on the abacus. The left-hand margin is unproportionaly large, but the lettering is well executed.
Text:
Date: 301 CE - 500 CE
Arthur Segal tentatively suggested that the inscription might be of a fourth- or fifth-century date. As an argument, he proposed the shape of some letters (there is no dot distinguishing ܕ and ܪ in the script). Donald Strong who worked on the ornamentation of the capital dated its style to the first half of the third century. Inscriptions were, however, often made much on reused capital, decades and centuries after their creation, so this inscription may also be later.
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Mesopotamia Ḥarrān; Karrai; Carrhae 36.871006, 39.025136 unknown capital
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: tituli operum
Summary:
Syriac inscription from Ḥarrān (Karrai; Carrhae). 301 CE - 500 CE.
Changes history: 2022-08-01 Pawel Nowakowski Creation; 2023-08-25 Pawel Nowakowski Last modification; 2023-10-26 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
'Built by (?) Bar KMRʾ'
(tr. J.-B. Segal)
Commentary
Segal offers a number of interpretations for this inscription, while the reading is a bit tentative. Eventually, he argues that the first word is an abbreviation of ܒܢܝܬ or ܒܢܐ, i.e. "I built" or "he built" respectively.
After the verb follows a personal name. Segal produces parallels for the name KMRʾ in Palmyrene and Nabataean Aramaic, and in Safaitic. He also points to the occurrence of the name Bar KMRʾ in the Edesssene parchments from Dura Europos (243 CE – Torrey, Zeitschrift für Semitistik, 10 (1935), 36, 39), and in later onomastics (Bar Kammar in Bar Hebraeus’s Chronicle, ed. Abbeloos and Lamy, 459 - where we have a description of a clan of Amida whose patriarch called his sons of Kammara/Bnai Kammara).
Segal is convinced that the inscription is not by a Christian. But his arguments are rather inferred from general knowledge than based on the study of this inscription. First of all, he trusts Julian’s and Egeria’s accounts that Ḥarrān was still a polytheistic city in the fourth century, and cites the story of the persecution members of the city council allegedly practising "paganism" under Maurice (Chronicle 1234, LXXIX, ed. Chabot, CSCO 81, Scr. Syr. 36, 214). But this is not really convincing, as it says nothing on the individual mentioned in the inscription.
Bibliography (edition)
- J.-B., Segal,1958, Two Syriac inscriptions from Harran (with an appendix by Donald Strong), Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 20, 518-522, 2.