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Negev. Birsama (Be'er-Shema), 450 CE - 500 CE. Mosaic Floor. Dedicatory.
Negev. Birsama (Beer-Shema). Ancient Christian Church. Eastern part of the prayer hall.
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ΑΡΧΙΠΟΙΜΗΝΕΚ
ΘΥΓΕΓΟΝΕΝ
ΜΑΚΑΙΔ
ϹΙΩΤSΕΠΙ
ΟΘΕΝΕΠ
ΝΑΟΙΑΝ
ΚΑΙΛΑΜΠΡΟΙΝΟ
ΤΑΙΚΑΙΟΙΑΓΙΟΙ
ΚΟϹΜΟΥΝΤΑΙΚΑΙ
ΟΛΑΟϹΑΓΑΛΛΕΤS
ΔΙΑΜΕΙΝΑΙΤΗ
ΑΓΕΛΗΑΥΤΟΥ
Ἀρχιποιμήν ἐκ
σιώτ
ὅθεν ἐπ
ναοὶ ἀν
κοσμοῦνται
καὶ
ὁ λαὸς
διαμεῖναι τῇ
ἀγέλῃ αὐτοῦ.
By God has become our chief-shepherd Makaid[onios] the pious bishop, so that in [his] time churches are e[rected] and are graced and the saints are adorned and the people rejoice dwelling in its flock.
Dedicatory inscription on the floor in the eastern part of the prayer hall. The text of the inscription is located in two squares of equal size which are surrounded by a rectangular framework of artistic diamonds and circles. The mosaic has black letters set into the smaller white square backgrounds. The inscription is split between two squares of 6 lines each, beginning with the first six in the square on the left and ending with the last six on the right. There is also another equally sized square in between these two which contains geometric art. There is damage to right side of the lines 2 through 6 as well as below the square on the right. The inscription found in Birs0007 was located right about this one. The editor suggests that these two inscriptions be viewed as forming a continuous text and that the word Ἀρχιποιμήν (chief-shepherd) must refer to the title of Bishop. He also indicates that the phrase "the saints are adorned" likely refers to the colored mosaic pavements and the patron saint of the church and that the name Makedonios is common at this time, particularly for members of the clergy. The inscription makes use of lunate sigmas as well as large miniscule omegas (in the place of majuscule omegas). Finally, the editor's diplomatic records the abbreviation for ὁσιώτατος on line 4 with a superscript S, while the abbreviation of ἀγάλλεται on line 10 is marked with a full sized S.