DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45607#0097
Salkhad — Medjdel (Medjdel ish-Shor)
99
168. Lintel. 325 (?) a.d. On a fragment of a lintel built into the front wall of
the house of Milhim Efendi. The stone is high up in the wall and is upside down.
Measurements could not be taken and the accuracy of the copy cannot be vouched
for. The letters are in relief, and are inclosed by a raised dovetailed frame. The
rows are separated by raised bands. The letters below the dovetail are incised.
We believe that this fragment and Waddington 1994 belonged originally to the
same inscription. Waddington’s fragment is the lower right corner of the lintel. The
letters are also in relief and the rows are separated by bands. The two fragments
combined read somewhat as follows:
Inscr. 168. Scale I : io.
ρ.ν<ρ.(α) (ε)ν[&)κοίόα·/;σεν θύα]λεν("ί~)νος
Μαξίμου (έ)τους [της επ(αρχίίζς)] σκζ, ανά-
(λ)ώ(σ)α(ς) ((ϊραχμάς) μυρ(ιας) ο(ι)σχίλίίζς Συρας.
Μεως(?) επ(ό)εσεν έ> [έτι . . .
(and) (the) tomb was built in it by
Valentinus, (son) of Maximus, in the
year 220 of the province at an expenditure of 12000 Syrian drachmae,
made it in the year
Meos (?)
At the end of the first line in our fragment we have apparently part of uj. The
two characters preceding are most plausibly interpreted as the remains of EN. The
hiatus requires 11-12 letters. The lost lines in the upper half of the plate may well
have contained mention of an αυλ’< surrounding the tomb; cf. Wad. 2122; 2415; 2452.
If our hypothesis as to the original connection of the fragments is correct, Wad-
dington’s conjecture — founded on the reference to ΰραχμάς Συρας — that the stone ante-
dates Roman rule, must be rejected. On the other hand, his restoration [ό'ραχμάς]
Συρο[υ]ς in no. 2037, belonging to the year 350 a.d. and hence chronologically not far
removed from our inscription, gains considerable plausibility. Evidently, in these regions
during the first half of the fourth century, the expression “so many drachmae Syrian”
was in current use as a special standard of valuation. The adjectival forms Συρας
and Συρους are perhaps due to the influence of the Latin Syrus. In an inscription of
the year 254 a.d. (Wad. 2601) Attic drachmae are specified in a similar fashion.
The name Ούαλεντί'νος occurs also in an inscription from DerA, Wad. 2070 m\ the
feminine is found in I.G.R. in 1208. The letters under the dovetail are mere orraffiti,
probably scrawled by the stone-cutter, who wished to indicate the date at which the
work was completed. The reading Μεως is doubtful but occurs in no. 120.
MEDJDEL (MEDJDEL ISH-SHOR).
169. Voussoirs. 430 a.d. On the soffits of two voussoirs found in the second story
of the house situated at the corner formed by the intersection of two streets; see
Div. II. a. 2, p. 120 ff. Fragment a lies over the spring of the transverse arch of
99
168. Lintel. 325 (?) a.d. On a fragment of a lintel built into the front wall of
the house of Milhim Efendi. The stone is high up in the wall and is upside down.
Measurements could not be taken and the accuracy of the copy cannot be vouched
for. The letters are in relief, and are inclosed by a raised dovetailed frame. The
rows are separated by raised bands. The letters below the dovetail are incised.
We believe that this fragment and Waddington 1994 belonged originally to the
same inscription. Waddington’s fragment is the lower right corner of the lintel. The
letters are also in relief and the rows are separated by bands. The two fragments
combined read somewhat as follows:
Inscr. 168. Scale I : io.
ρ.ν<ρ.(α) (ε)ν[&)κοίόα·/;σεν θύα]λεν("ί~)νος
Μαξίμου (έ)τους [της επ(αρχίίζς)] σκζ, ανά-
(λ)ώ(σ)α(ς) ((ϊραχμάς) μυρ(ιας) ο(ι)σχίλίίζς Συρας.
Μεως(?) επ(ό)εσεν έ> [έτι . . .
(and) (the) tomb was built in it by
Valentinus, (son) of Maximus, in the
year 220 of the province at an expenditure of 12000 Syrian drachmae,
made it in the year
Meos (?)
At the end of the first line in our fragment we have apparently part of uj. The
two characters preceding are most plausibly interpreted as the remains of EN. The
hiatus requires 11-12 letters. The lost lines in the upper half of the plate may well
have contained mention of an αυλ’< surrounding the tomb; cf. Wad. 2122; 2415; 2452.
If our hypothesis as to the original connection of the fragments is correct, Wad-
dington’s conjecture — founded on the reference to ΰραχμάς Συρας — that the stone ante-
dates Roman rule, must be rejected. On the other hand, his restoration [ό'ραχμάς]
Συρο[υ]ς in no. 2037, belonging to the year 350 a.d. and hence chronologically not far
removed from our inscription, gains considerable plausibility. Evidently, in these regions
during the first half of the fourth century, the expression “so many drachmae Syrian”
was in current use as a special standard of valuation. The adjectival forms Συρας
and Συρους are perhaps due to the influence of the Latin Syrus. In an inscription of
the year 254 a.d. (Wad. 2601) Attic drachmae are specified in a similar fashion.
The name Ούαλεντί'νος occurs also in an inscription from DerA, Wad. 2070 m\ the
feminine is found in I.G.R. in 1208. The letters under the dovetail are mere orraffiti,
probably scrawled by the stone-cutter, who wished to indicate the date at which the
work was completed. The reading Μεως is doubtful but occurs in no. 120.
MEDJDEL (MEDJDEL ISH-SHOR).
169. Voussoirs. 430 a.d. On the soffits of two voussoirs found in the second story
of the house situated at the corner formed by the intersection of two streets; see
Div. II. a. 2, p. 120 ff. Fragment a lies over the spring of the transverse arch of