DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4377#0144
474 ANCIENT ROAD.
The stone being of small dimensions, .2' 2\" by
11" by 10-|", may easily have been transported to
some distance from the place where I found it; but,
from the general condition of its surfaces, I should
infer that it had not been used a second time in
some later building, as was frequently the case.
Prom the character of the writing, and general
style of the inscription, I should consider that it
was not later than the Macedonian period.
A few yards to the north-east of the spot where
I found this stone, I noticed a row of short thick
columns in a dense mass of brushwood; on clearing
away which, I laid bare the foundations of an early
Christian church, of which the east end terminates
in an apse.
Commencing at this point, I found, about 2'
below the surface, the pavement of the church still
in position. This was in a great measure composed
of slabs bearing Greek sepulchral inscriptions,
which had evidently been taken from the numerous
plundered tombs in the midst of which the church
is situated.
These slabs were of various dimensions. The
largest were sides of sepulchral sori, on which the
name of the person interred was inscribed. The
smaller slabs Avere generally stela, in which the
inscription is commonly surmounted by a pediment
raised in very slight relief.
This pediment stands as the symbol of the heroon,
which was usually a small distyle temple.
These slabs are from 2' to 4/ long.
Other inscriptions were on square bases on which
The stone being of small dimensions, .2' 2\" by
11" by 10-|", may easily have been transported to
some distance from the place where I found it; but,
from the general condition of its surfaces, I should
infer that it had not been used a second time in
some later building, as was frequently the case.
Prom the character of the writing, and general
style of the inscription, I should consider that it
was not later than the Macedonian period.
A few yards to the north-east of the spot where
I found this stone, I noticed a row of short thick
columns in a dense mass of brushwood; on clearing
away which, I laid bare the foundations of an early
Christian church, of which the east end terminates
in an apse.
Commencing at this point, I found, about 2'
below the surface, the pavement of the church still
in position. This was in a great measure composed
of slabs bearing Greek sepulchral inscriptions,
which had evidently been taken from the numerous
plundered tombs in the midst of which the church
is situated.
These slabs were of various dimensions. The
largest were sides of sepulchral sori, on which the
name of the person interred was inscribed. The
smaller slabs Avere generally stela, in which the
inscription is commonly surmounted by a pediment
raised in very slight relief.
This pediment stands as the symbol of the heroon,
which was usually a small distyle temple.
These slabs are from 2' to 4/ long.
Other inscriptions were on square bases on which