ar-Ruḥayya; ir-Ruḥaiyeh; er-Ruḥaiyeh Complete

Description

A village registered in TIB 15 on p. 1663 (plus Addendum, ad p. 1663) as ar-Ruḥayya. Also spelt: ir-Ruḥaiyeh; er-Ruḥaiyeh. The site has well-preserved ruins of an ancient settlement and possibly an imperial estate. Among the prominent buildings Klaus Peter Todt and Bernard Andreas Vest (TIB 15, p. 1663 and Addendum, ad p. 166) record a church, and probably a monastery with further three churches. The epigraphical finds were also rich. Dated inscriptions come from the fourth and sixth centuries. Literature: TIB 15 – Todt, K.P., Vest, B.A., Tabula Imperii Byzantini, vol. 15 (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2014), p. 1663 and Addendum, ad p. 166. Greek inscriptions: PAES III B1, 35, No. 896 (W.K. Prentice (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1905–5 and 1909. Division III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions. Section B: Northern Syria (Leiden: Brill, 1922)) = IGLS IV, 310, No. 1877 (building inscription dated 373 CE with names of founders); PAES III B1, 35-36, No. 897, 36, no. 899 = IGLS IV 310, No. 1876, 312, No. 1882 (building inscription dated 564 CE and another fragment dated 529/530 CE); IGLS IV, 311-312, No. 1878-1881bis (fragmentary inscriptions with names and invocations, a vow on behalf of a son and a mother?); PAES III B1, 35-36, No. 897, 36, no. 899 = IGLS IV, 311, No. 1878-1879; PAES III B1, 36, No. 898 = IGLS IV 309-310, No. 1875 (building inscription with a mention of a religious authority, dated 556/557 CE). Syriac inscription: E. Littmann (ed.), Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1905–5 and 1909. Division IV: Semitic Inscriptions. Section B: Syriac Inscriptions (Leiden: Brill, 1934), 2-4, No. 3 (Syriac).