Christian Epigraphy

La christianisation du monde antique est un thème central d'un point de vue historique (c'est un des grands sujets d'étude de la fin de l'Antiquité gréco-romaine avec la disparition de l'Empire d'Occident et la fin du système civique classique), mais aussi d'un point de vue méthodologique. En effet, on croit couramment que la christianisation du monde antique fut une réalité qu'il suffirait de décrire, alors qu'il s'agit en fait de la penser, car elle est d'abord une représentation des historiens héritée de modèles antiques (Eusèbe de Césarée, Augustin d'Hippone) ou modernes (Voltaire, Marx, Freud). Pour pouvoir traiter "la christianisation du monde antique" comme sujet historique, il faut donc d'abord réfléchir sur une question d'historiens : "le problème de la christianisation du monde antique". Pour cela, il faut faire un peu d'histoire moderne et contemporaine, analyser l'apparition et le sens du terme de christianisation, et faire le bilan de l'historiographie de la question. Ensuite, on peut tenter de penser "la christianisation du monde antique" de quatre manières : par l'analyse philologique des termes désignant la conversion en grec, latin et syriaque ; par l'étude des sources littéraires chrétiennes à propos des chrétiens, afin de mettre en évidence les représentations antiques du problème de la définition du chrétien ; par le recours aux sources non littéraires (épigraphie, papyrologie, archéologie funéraire, archéologie monumentale, iconographie) afin de contourner la question des représentations liées aux textes antiques ; par l'enquête sur les sources littéraires chrétiennes à propos de la conversion des païens, qui permet de déconstruire des textes qui créaient une réalité autant qu'ils la décrivaient. Ainsi, en questionnant les évidences qui structurent nos pensées sur le passé, on peut espérer les distancier afin de mieux comprendre comment le monde antique est devenu chrétien.

During the Late Antiquity, monumental inscriptions played an important role in the sacralization and allegorization of ecclesiastical architecture and its liturgical space and furniture. This article assembles and discusses (in greater or lesser extent and from an interdisciplinary perspective) about thirty Christian inscriptions of the Roman and Visigothic Spain directly or indirectly related with architecture.

En el mes de noviembre de 1975 apareció a pocos kilómetros de la ciudad de Cabra, provincia de Córdoba, una lápida sepulcral de mármol blanco, de extraordinaria monumentalidad. El lugar exacto del hallazgo es un pequeño cerro, situado en el cortijo de Villanueva la Baja, propiedad de don Francisco Ruiz Rosales, emplazado en la carretera de Cabra a Doña Mencía, kilómetro 96, a una distancia de 8 kilómetros de Cabra. Según noticias que pudimos recoger en el lugar del hallazgo, directamente del obrero que encontró dicha lápida, al realizar unas faenas agrícolas con un tractor, fueron levantadas con las rejas del arado gran cantidad de piedras, enterradas a una profundidad aproximada de medio metro, entre las que se encontraba la inscripción de referencia. Al responder a nuestras preguntas sobre el número y forma de las mismas, nos indicó que había dos o tres que tenían las mismas dimensiones de la lápida, pero que no tenían inscripción alguna, y junto a ellas se encontraron otras dos o tres piezas, sin que pudiera precisar el número exacto por haber sido rotas por la máquina que el tractor arrastraba, que eran de mayor tamaño que aquellas, y que fueron descritas como trozos de piedra, sin duda labradas, de caliza de * Queremos manifestar nuestro más profundo agradecimiento a don Mariano Cruz, que nos dio toda clase de facilidades para estudiar la lápida, proporcionándonos fotografías de la misma y cuanta información obraba en su poder.

El autor presenta diversas inscripciones cristianas encontradas en la localidad de Bonares (Huelva), entre ellas el epígrafe funerario de Vincomalos, obispo de una diócesis desconocida, pero que por la proximidad del lugar del hallazgo con la vecina Niebla, pudiera tratarse de un obispo de Ilipla, fechable en el siglo V, con lo que no sólo se trataría del obispo más antiguo de esta diócesis, sino también el único atestiguado en dicho siglo en toda la Bética.

The issue at hand is a Greek epitaph inscribed on an early Christian sarcophagus found in St. Elijah’s Church on the island of Lopud off the coast of Dalmatia in the southern Adriatic. We present a description of the monument, a reading, and dating of the epitaph, as well as epigraphic, anthroponomic, and historical analysis and provide archaeological-topographic context of the find. We identify the name of the deceased (Isaac) and origin (northern Syria or Asia Minor) and determine the date (17 October 452). In particular, we analyze the mention of the western Roman consul in the dating formula, establishing it as the first reliable epigraphic corroboration of the fact that Dalmatia was a part of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century.

I – Nouvelle étude du septizonium
II – Un complexe chrétien inédit. « L'église double » ?

Les deux dossiers rassemblés sur des monuments de Cincari près de Tébourba en Tunisie résultent des fouilles entreprises dans les années 1950 par les propriétaires du lieu-dit Hr Toungar ou Singaris pour des mises en culture. Un troisième dossier a été publié dans les MEFRA de 1976. L'ensemble de ces documents a été transmis aux auteurs par J. Cintas († 1977), qui était ingénieur des travaux publics, et J. Peyras, professeur émérite à l'Université de Nantes.
Le premier dossier est celui du septizonium publié en 1962 par G. Picard, dernier exemple subsistant de septizonium puisque les autres attestations concernent des monuments détruits (à Rome et à Lambèse) ou des documents épigraphiques. Le monument de Cincari a été décrit comme des thermes datant du IIe siècle, transformés par l'adjonction de sept absides dans la principale salle. La nouvelle publication montre que cette interprétation est douteuse et que le monument pourrait avoir été construit comme septizonium ex nihilo, mais la limitation des fouilles à une partie de l'édifice ne permet pas d'être totalement affirmatif. Le septizonium a été transformé en église à l'époque chrétienne.
Le deuxième dossier concerne un ensemble chrétien très endommagé. Il montre l'importance des monuments chrétiens dans cette petite ville. Deux églises parallèles sont signalées probablement par les découvertes d'un reliquaire inviolé avant la fouille et de quelques tombes couvertes de mosaïques funéraires de type disparate.

••• Both studies combined on monuments of Cincari, near Tebourba, Tunisia, result of excavations lead for cultivation in the 1950's by the owners of the locality Hr Toungar or Singaris. A third study was published in the MEFRA in 1976. All of these documents were transmitted to the authors by J. Cintas († 1977), who was a civil engineer, and by J. Peyras, Professor Emeritus at the Université de Nantes.
The first study is about the septizonium published in 1962 by G. Picard, last remaining example of a septizonium, since other testimonies concern destroyed monuments (in Rome and in Lambaesis) or epigraphic documents. The monument in Cincari was identified as thermae dating from the 2nd c. AD, transformed by the adjunction of seven apses in the main hall. The new publication demonstrates that this interpretation is dubious and that the monument could have been built as a septizonium ex nihilo, even if limiting excavation to a portion of the building does not allow to be totally affirmative. The septizonium was converted into a church in Christian time.
The second study concerns a very damaged Christian structure. It shows the importance of Christian monuments in this little city. Two parallel churches are signaled probably by the discoveries of a reliquary, unviolated before the excavation, and of a few tombs covered with funerary mosaics, disparate in their style.

Inscriptions from the Byzantine period in southern Jordan include a corpus of mainly funerary Christian-Greek and Jewish-Aramaic texts discovered in recent years in the Ghor as-Safi area. Containing more than 456 epitaphs from the An-Naq' cemetery of Zoara (Early Byzantine Zoora), this extraordinary collection dating from the fourth to the seventh century AD continues to expand. Many more texts are being currently studied and forthcoming in separate publications. As part of that effort, two additional Christian-Greek inscriptions recognized as having originated from Zoara are presented here. The first - significant in filling gaps in the early Byzantine social mosaic - commemorates Faustina, a name appearing for the first time, joining eight other Latin female names, and dating last to 16 February AD 503. This date falling within Year 397 of the Era of the Province of Arabia is known only from one inscription in the corpus, but the Indiction of Year 11 mentioned is unique. Equally unique is the name of Theodotos as an ecclesiastical authority, a deacon, a presbyter, or even the city-bishop. The decoration of a large sun disk with a cross in the middle could represent the Constantinian sun god Sol Invictus converted to Christianity. The second inscription is also rare in commemorating one Bargonnas, a name probably deriving from the epithet given to Simon/Peter in Matthew's Gospel (16:17): Βαριωνᾶς.

The Christian population in Medieval Nubia created numerous manifestations of their faith in various forms from monumental cathedrals to minuscule inscriptions. Among the latter are monograms, cryptograms, and cross-shaped symbols. Researchers of Medieval Nubia have only seldom studied closely these epigraphic categories. Moreover, the study of the cult of the archangels, especially of the archangel Michael, who held a primal position in the belief system of Christians in Nubia, has only recently attracted the attention of Nubiologists. This article employs theory about the interface between the written and the visual in order to discuss grapho-linguistic evidence for this type of epigraphic devices and the use of such devices as multivocal symbols in the cults of the archangels in Medieval Nubia. A careful analysis of cryptograms of the archangels Michael and Raphael offers a key to the decipherment of an eight-pointed cross as a multivocal symbol connected with the cult of the archangels. The study pivots around observations made during fieldwork on Sai Island in northern Sudan.

The contribution aims to give a general overview of the early-Christian epigraphic evidence of the island of Cyprus and of its main categories. After a brief introduction to earlier studies and to the Christian tradition on the island, the study focusses on some significant or newly discovered documents of importance, for highlighting characteristics, peculiarities and difficulties of the Christian epigraphic habits in Cyprus.

RESUMEN El autor del artículo, tras la revisión de las piedras, reedita-con aparato crítico, traducción española y un extenso comentario-ocho inscripciones cristianas de Císamo en Creta. ABSTRACT «Paleochristian Epigraphy from Ancient Kissamos». The author of the paper, after revision of the stones, republishes-along with a critical apparatus, a Spanish translation and an extensive commentary-eight Christian inscriptions from Kissamos in Crete. KEY WORDS: Greek Christian Epigraphy, Kissamos, Crete. 1. El emplazamiento de la antigua ciudad de Císamo 1 , situada en la costa norte de Creta Occidental, se extiende en una superficie que coincide aproximadamente con la de la ciudad actual del mismo nombre. Los textos epigráficos cristianos más anti-guos conservados de esta ciudad, datados entre el s. IV y el s. VI d.C. 2 , muestran clara-mente el dominio de la nueva religión cristiana en Císamo. Cabe destacar que una de estas inscripciones 3 , de principios del s. V d.C., nos ha dado a conocer la existen-cia en esta época de una iglesia cristiana ya organizada en esta ciudad. 2. En las inscripciones griegas objeto de estudio en el presente trabajo se analizarán los elementos epigráficos característicos de la epigrafía cristiana que aparecen en ellas. Conviene señalar que nuestro trabajo se basa en la autopsia de las inscripciones y sus soportes y en un trabajo de campo sobre el terreno, todo lo cual ha sido previo al estudio propiamente dicho de los textos. Veamos, pues, cada una de estas inscripciones. INSCRIPCIÓN NÚMERO 1 (FIGURA 1) Placa sepulcral de mármol, encontrada en el obispado de Císamo y Selino y donada al Servicio Arqueológico de Císamo por el obispo Áncimos Leledakis. Actual

Universidad de La Laguna [email protected] RESUMEN El autor del artículo, tras la revisión de la piedra, reedita-con aparato crítico, traducción española y un extenso comentario-un epigrama funerario cristiano de Creta. ABSTRACT «A Greek Christian epigram from Crete». The author of the paper, after revision of the stone, republishes-with apparatus criticus, a Spanish translation and extensive commentary-a Christian funerary epigram from Crete. KEY WORDS: Greek Christian epigraphy. Kissamos. Crete. 1. La antigua ciudad de Císamo 1 estaba situada en la costa norte de Creta Occidental. El emplazamiento de esta ciudad fue localizado ya por los viajeros del pasado siglo en el lugar denominado Mavros Molos. Esta antigua ciudad se extiende gradual-mente en una superficie que coincide aproximadamente con la de la ciudad actual del mismo nombre. Tras la época helenística en la que Císamo era el puerto de la potente ciudad del interior Polirrenia, Císamo se convirtió durante el período imperial en una flore-ciente ciudad provincial debido fundamentalmente a su posición geográfica, la paz romana y las posibilidades de desarrollo de la actividad comercial de su puerto. De los hallazgos arqueológicos y epigráficos de la Císamo de época cristiana cabe destacar la necrópolis. Ésta estaba situada en la parte norte y central de la ciudad, las cuales estaban orientadas hacia la playa. En la época paleocristiana algunas partes de la necrópolis de época romana (s. I d.C.-IV d.C.) se siguen utilizando, pero se produce una extensión no desdeñable de la necrópolis sobre las ruinas de época anterior. En una reciente excavación arqueológica los datos conservados prueban la existencia de un cementerio organizado del periodo paleocristiano 2. En una inscripción recientemente publicada (Diamantis, 1998: 318-319, N.º 4) que procede de una tumba de un presbítero, se hace una expresa referencia a la existencia de una iglesia cristiana ya organizada en la ciudad de Císamo en el s. V d.C.

This article consists of a series of comments, revisions, and new readings of five Latin epigraphic documents dating approximately from the third to the sixth century CE. Four inscriptions come from various areas of Italy (Rome, Ascoli Piceno, and Folloni di Montella, near Avellino), while the fifth inscription comes from Spain (Villadecanes, region of Léon). The common denominator between these assorted inscriptions (one votive inscription and four epitaphs) is the presence of a more or less articulated dating formula within their texts, on which my comments, revisions, and new readings primarily –although not exclusively– focus.

This article consists of a series of comments, revisions, and new readings of three Greek inscriptions coming from different areas of the Roman Empire (Asia Minor, Thessaly, Gaul), and dating approximately from the third to the fifth century CE. I offer a restoration proposal and a new interpretation of inscription no. 1 – a votive dedication inscribed on an altar from Ankyra in Galatia – while my comments, revisions, and new readings of nos. 2 and 3 – two epitaphs, from Nea Anchialos in Thessaly and Augusta Treverorum in Gallia Belgica, respectively – concern primarily, though not exclusively, questions related to their date formulae.

In this paper are discussed some expressions and formulas that are unique or specific in the Christian epigraphy in provincia Baetica (Hispania), especially in its western part are discussed in this contribution. Some of them are absolutely original expressions within the Latin epigraphic panorama of Late Antiquity.

In these last years the amount of digital images of inscriptions increased very quickly: we do not need accurate textual descriptions of the so-called anaglypha, because we can directly see them. But we have to build a search-by-image, using photos and drawings but also tagging them with standardized - and shared - labels.
The issue of the "illustrated inscriptions" brings us to consider more broadly all the visual features of inscriptions, that were conceived as objects to see, not only to read.

celestial omens within imperial contexts, the role of divination in warfare among kingdoms, the openness and secrecy of ritual and prophecy, subversive and propagandistic depictions of empires and Chaoskampf in Isaiah and Ezekiel, and the connections among prophecy, power, and politics in the Persian period and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The volume utilizes several interdisciplinary perspectives such as postcolonial theory, social memory, and ancient Roman history, and the focus on imperial contexts, as well as the breadth of texts and topics, will make it a vital part of collections related to both biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies.

Christians inherited the tradition of verse inscriptions, which kept their forms and topics alive. However, they created their own model, easily identifiable, combining tradition and innovation, replacing some elements with others, so that this novel epigraphic tradition acquired an indisputable uniqueness. This paper shows some illustrative examples.

The authors offer a recently found carmen epigraphicum from Corduba (provincia Baetica). We present this new verse inscription, particularly interesting for the quality of the poetic text, the unusual onomastics and its singular content, which has raised the possibility of being considered one of the first examples of Christian epigraphy throughout the peninsula.

In 1878 the front panel of a Roman sarcophagus was found in the basilica of SS. Maria and Donato in Murano. The artefact, which dates to the 3rd century AD, had first been reused as a grave marker in the early Middle Ages and was later turned upside down and employed in the floor of the church, which dates to 1141. The author of the discovery was the abbot Vincenzo Zanetti, director of the Murano City Museum, who first proposed an interpretation for the text that is inscribed in the tabula ansata in the centre of the sarcophagus. Several other exegetical attempts have followed, none of which seems fully convincing. This article offers a different transcription of the epigraphic document, based on a careful autopsy of the text and, especially, on the observation of the relevant role played by the cross that occupies the centre of the artefact. This new reading is confirmed by the contents of the so far unpublished correspondence exchanged between Zanetti and Giovanni Battista de Rossi immediately following the discovery of the sarcophagus, whose full transcription and analysis are given for the first time.

Facendo seguito ai primi due corsi estivi di epigrafia svoltisi nel 2014 e nel 2015, la Società Friulana di Archeologia, in accordo con il Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici e del Patrimonio Culturale dell'Università degli Studi di Udine e con l'Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altertumskunde dell'Università di Graz organizza dal 22 al 27 agosto 2016, ad Aquileia, il terzo corso estivo di epigrafia rivolto agli appassionati del mondo antico di ogni età.
Aquileia, 22-27 agosto 2016

Sesión IV: Obispo y arquitectura (Occidente) -Comunicaciones L'inquadramento cronologico del nutrito numero di chiese, oratori e monasteri, che popolano città, suburbio e territorio della Sicilia orientale, in particolare della cuspide sud-orientale, continua a essere una questione di estrema attualità, una questione forse oggi più urgente di ieri, a fronte del quadro relativo alla fondazione di chiese, legate ad una committenza laica o ecclesiastica, sempre più nitido che storici e archeologi stanno restituendo per altre regioni italiane 1 . Lo studio della fine delle villae romane e della creazione di nuove realtà insediative, all'interno delle quali si innestano gli edifici di culto cristiano, è anche il miglior banco di prova per comparare l'evidenza letteraria e l'evidenza archeologica e per considerare le diverse interpretazioni offerte dagli storici e dagli archeologi dello stesso fenomeno 2 . Certo, per la Sicilia pesano ancora i giudizi, che dagli Settanta hanno accompagnato gli studi 3 , sul carattere approssimativo delle datazioni dell'architettura religiosa nell'isola e sull'assenza di dati certi per collocare molte chiese siciliane prima del V sec.