987. Fragmentary Christian funerary inscription.
- Description:
- Fragment of a re-used marble panel (maximum w: 0.253 x h: 0.335) very roughyl rounded at the top to form a funerary stele; the right-hand lower corner has been broken off and rejoined to the rest in the museum, the upper edges are chipped away;. The great part of the inscribed face is occupied by an elaborate but crudely painted Latin cross (α, ω) with forked terminals, each fork ending in a small circle; on the lower vertical arm the forks are continued beyond the circles and end in spirals; there may have been similar ornament on theupper vertical arm, but if so it has been broken or worn away; at the centre of the cross is an open circle containing a small plain cross; between each pair of arms are two painted lines radiating from the centre, forming apparently a χ; along the bottom edge of the panel is a spiral design.
- Text:
- Inscribed on one face in red paint, badly faded. The inscription is written above, below, and on either side of the cross.
- Letters:
- Rough Greek lettering, capitals and cursive forms mixed; 0.01. In some cases ου is written with the upsilon placed above the omicron.
- Date:
- Sixth or seventh century A.D. (style of cross)
- Findspot:
- The Western Djebel:Asàbaa (map ref. Q 143782)
- Original Location:
- Unknown
- Last recorded location:
- Tripoli Castle.
- Bibliography:
- Not previously published. This edition taken from J. M. Reynolds, 'Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania: A Supplement', Proceedings of the British School at Rome 23 (1955), 124-147, no. S.15.
- Text constituted from:
- Transcription (Reynolds)
[·· c. 4··Κ(ύρι)ε]
[βοή]θ̣η τ-
οῦ δού-
5λου σου-
[·· c. 5··]ο̣υ̣
[···] Π̣λ̣ου-
[τή]ν̣ου
[·· ? ··]ν[ - - - ]
10[·· ? ··]κ̣[ - - - ]
[---]
[·· c. 6··]
Κ(ύρι)ε β̣ο̣-
ήθη τ-
5οῦ δούλου-
σου Πλουτή-
νου πη[ - - - ]
τηκ[·· ? ··]
ου σὺν
10τοῦ [·· ? ··]
αυτ-
ου [·· ? ··]λ̣ω
[·· ? ··]γη[ - - - ]
π[·· ? ··]
[·· c. 4····]
[····]·ΗΤ
ΟΥΔΟΥ
5ΛΟΥΣΟΥ
[·· c. 5··]··
[···]··ΟΥ
[···]·ΟΥ
[·· ? ··]Ν[ - - - ]
10[·· ? ··]·[ - - - ]
[---]
[·· c. 6··]
ΚΕ··
ΗΘΗΤ
5ΟΥΔΟΥΛΟΥ
ΣΟΥΠΛΟΥΤΗ
ΝΟΥΠΗ[ - - - ]
ΤΗΚ[·· ? ··]
ΟΥΣΥΝ
10ΤΟΥ[·· ? ··]
ΑΥΤ
ΟΥ[·· ? ··]·Ω
[·· ? ··]ΓΗ[ - - - ]
Π[·· ? ··]
c.9, Perhaps another name.
c.12, At this point the arrangement of letters in straight lines fails; in the present state of preservation of the letters it is difficult, if not impossible, to decide which are to be taken together.
Translation:
(a) Jesus Christ [·· ? ··] (Cross)
(b) [·· ? ··Lord] help your servant [·· ? ··] of Ploutenos [·· ? ··]
(c) [·· ? ··] Lord help your servant Ploutenos [·· ? ··] with his [·· ? ··] (Line five might include a reference to generations).
(d) Not usefully translatable.
Commentary:
The type of cross with forked terminals ending in a small circle is certainly not earlier than the sixth century.
b.2, c.3: The formula Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη is found also at Lepcis, see 829 and 984.
See also 861, and for a description of the church on this site, J.B. Ward Perkins and R.G. Goodchild, 'The Christian Antiquities of Tripolitania', Archaeologia, xcv (1953) 35 ff. and 58. The church seems to have been built before the Byzantine reconquest of Africa; but a baptistery of Byzantine type was added later. The inscription, which is certainly later than the Byzantine reconquest, affords valuable evidence of contact between the coast and the interior in this period. It is the only Greek inscription so far found in the interior of Tripolitania.
- Photographs:
- none.
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