ʿAyoun Mousa; ʿUyun Musa Complete

Description

ʿAyoun Mousa, a village at the foot of Mount Nebo, situated to the north of the Siyagha peak. The site is famous for a mention in the Itinerary by Egeria, who in the 380s recorded the existence of a small church (Bianchi (2021), 165). Modern archaeological research at the site produced one CPA inscription and fifteen Greek inscriptions from the so-called Church of Kaianus (?) which is a monastic church, part of the Monastery of Kaianus comprising of the upper building (the "basilica church") and the lower building beneath it (the "funerary church"). The site also houses the so-called Monastery of Deacon Thomas with a church which houses three Greek inscriptions on floor mosaics. Newer studies of ceramics point to the abandonment of the Church of Kaianus at the end of the first half of the seventh century. The other church was in use till the early ninth century (Bianchi (2021), 210). Based on the contents of depictions shown in the mosaics, it has been suggested that the site may have had links with Christianized Arab soldiers in Roman service. Literature: Saller S.J. & Bagatti B. The Town of Nebo (Khirbet el-Mekhayyat): with a brief survey of other Christian monuments in Transjordan. (Publications of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 7), Jerusalem 1949. Milik, J.T. Notes d’épigraphie et de topographie jordaniennes. Liber Annuus 10 (1959–1960), pp. 145–184. M. Piccirillo, E. Alliata (eds.), Mount Nebo. New Archaeological Excavations 1967–1997 (Jerusalem : Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 1998), pp. 356–358. D. Bianchi, A Shrine to Moses. A Reappraisal of the Mount Nebo Monastic Complex between Byzantium and Islam (Vienna: ÖAW, 2021), pp. 19, 29, 85, 165, 166, 172, 173, 177, 178, 191, 199, 204, 210 (under the name ʿUyun Musa). Inscriptions: Church of Kaianus (lower and upper levels): Greek inscriptions (M. Piccirillo, E. Alliata (eds.), Mount Nebo. New Archaeological Excavations 1967–1997 (Jerusalem : Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 1998), pp. 451–457 [checklist and edition of fifteen Greek inscriptions from both churches]): IGLS XXI/2, nos. 96a-c = SEG 34 1510–1512 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, 451, no. 58, 456, no. 67–68 (three vows for the salvation of donors [including one self-acting woman, Matrona], and the repose of their parents) SEG 38 1658, 40 1533 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 452, no. 60 (prayer asking the Lord to accept the offering of an archdeacon and a certain Salamanos; signature of unnamed mosaicists in poor Greek). SEG 38 1659, 40 1533 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 453, no. 61 (names the deacon and oikonomos who supervised the paving of the church). SEG 40 1534 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 454, no. 62 (the offering of a father, fragmentary). SEG 40 1529 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 455, no. 64 (vow for the repose of the presbyter Theodoros). SEG 40 1530 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 455, no. 65 (names of Phidos and Ioannes). SEG 40 1531 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 455, no. 66 (name of Anastasia Sabina). SEG 40 1532 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 456, no. 69 (vow for the protection of three deacons and a monk). SEG 40 1535 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 456, no. 70 (name Stephanos). IGLS XXI/2, no. 96d = SEG 43 1513 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, p. 451, no. 59 (inscriptions from a mosaic floor commemorating the paving of the church under bishop Kyros) One CPA inscription (lower Church of Kaianus): Puech E. L’inscription christo-palestinienne d’Ayoun Mousa (Mount Nebo), Liber Annuus 34 (1984), pp. 319–328. M. Piccirillo, E. Alliata (eds.), Mount Nebo. New Archaeological Excavations 1967–1997 (Jerusalem : Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 1998), p. 455, no. 63. Hoyland, R. Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia, [in:] M.C.A. Macdonald (ed.), The development of Arabic as written language, Oxford, 2010, pp. 29-46 (checklist of Aramaic inscriptions). Church of Deacon Thomas: Greek inscriptions (M. Piccirillo, E. Alliata (eds.), Mount Nebo. New Archaeological Excavations 1967–1997 (Jerusalem : Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 1998), 456–457 [checklist and editions of three Greek inscriptions]). SEG 40 1535 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, 456, no. 70 (name Stephanos). SEG 40 1535bis = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, 456, no. 71 (deacon Thomas and depiction of an eagle). SEG 40 1536 = Piccirillo & Alliata 1998, 457, no. 72 (vow for the repose of two men).