DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45616#0019
Babiska
129
3 cubits long and 1 cubit high. Probably also this block was 2 feet, ancient measure,
or 55 cm., broad at the bottom, and the difference between this and the 76 or 77 cm.
of breadth at the top of the block represents twice the depth of the overhanging
mouldings: if so, then this overhang, on each side, was W of a cubit = 10.31 cm., or
3/5 of a foot = 11 cm., in depth.
In my earlier publication I was of the opinion that these two blocks fitted together
and that little or nothing was lost between them: that they might have formed the
cap of a pier or of the pedestal of a statue. But for that purpose they are too long
in proportion to their breadth. Mr. Butler and I are now agreed that, as he has
suggested, these are the caps of the cheek-pieces of the steps leading to some ancient
building, probably a temple, whose foundations, and perhaps even wall, were used in
the construction of the East Church. If so, then b must have been originally as long
as a, i.e. 1.24 m., and about a quarter of its inscription has been lost at its left end.
When in place, a must have been on the left of the steps, b on the right, and the
inscriptions on the inner faces.
SCALE:
ycM’in·
BLOCK
B
Inscr. 1092. From a Drawing. Scale I : 20.
BLOCK
A / λα '/"■ J.·';
A. [*Ε]τους ρικνός Παν^μου, ’Αντώνιος, Ηρώί'/,ς, >Αλεξανό'ρ[ος],
Β. [ ] Δ [ ], Συβαβας, Βαρεχ(3ηλο[ς], [ ]ος, Βερνικιανος Αλεξάνδρου.
In [the) year igi, in {the'} month Panemos, Antonios, Her odes, Alexandras,
, Sy babas, Barechbelos, {and} Bernikianos son of Alexandras.
Doubtless the meaning is that these persons united in the erection of this building
or of these steps. The name Sybabas perhaps reflects the Syriac noun shebaba —
neighbor·, the name Barechbelos is doubtless the Syriac Bar(r)ekhbel = Bel-has-blessed.
It is also worthy of remark that the handsome bi-columnar monument at Sermeda,
A.A.E.S. hi, 87 = Waddington 2687, was constructed between the years 132 and
141 a.d. for persons whose names, though somewhat uncertain, appear to have been
'Αλέξανδρος and Βερνιχιανος 'Αλεξάνδρου. These persons undoubtedly lived at Sermeda: if
they are identical with the persons of the same names in the present inscription, then,
as on the Djebel Shfekh Berekat, residents of neighboring towns must have united to
erect this building at Babiska, and, if so, this building was doubtless devoted to
some common god.
1093. House, 352 a.d. On the lintel of a doorway in the northern part of the
town, and facing north. Only the frame of the doorway is standing: it appears to
have belonged to a dwelling house. Published in A.A.E.S. 111, 65. (See photograph,
Ill. 175, Div. II). The lintel is 2.521/3m. long and 49 cm. high. At each end is
an ornamental disk, that on the left containing a plain cross. Between the disks is a
trapezoidal door-cap. The lowest band of the door-cap contains the first line of the
inscription. The first six letters of this line are considerably larger than the others:
129
3 cubits long and 1 cubit high. Probably also this block was 2 feet, ancient measure,
or 55 cm., broad at the bottom, and the difference between this and the 76 or 77 cm.
of breadth at the top of the block represents twice the depth of the overhanging
mouldings: if so, then this overhang, on each side, was W of a cubit = 10.31 cm., or
3/5 of a foot = 11 cm., in depth.
In my earlier publication I was of the opinion that these two blocks fitted together
and that little or nothing was lost between them: that they might have formed the
cap of a pier or of the pedestal of a statue. But for that purpose they are too long
in proportion to their breadth. Mr. Butler and I are now agreed that, as he has
suggested, these are the caps of the cheek-pieces of the steps leading to some ancient
building, probably a temple, whose foundations, and perhaps even wall, were used in
the construction of the East Church. If so, then b must have been originally as long
as a, i.e. 1.24 m., and about a quarter of its inscription has been lost at its left end.
When in place, a must have been on the left of the steps, b on the right, and the
inscriptions on the inner faces.
SCALE:
ycM’in·
BLOCK
B
Inscr. 1092. From a Drawing. Scale I : 20.
BLOCK
A / λα '/"■ J.·';
A. [*Ε]τους ρικνός Παν^μου, ’Αντώνιος, Ηρώί'/,ς, >Αλεξανό'ρ[ος],
Β. [ ] Δ [ ], Συβαβας, Βαρεχ(3ηλο[ς], [ ]ος, Βερνικιανος Αλεξάνδρου.
In [the) year igi, in {the'} month Panemos, Antonios, Her odes, Alexandras,
, Sy babas, Barechbelos, {and} Bernikianos son of Alexandras.
Doubtless the meaning is that these persons united in the erection of this building
or of these steps. The name Sybabas perhaps reflects the Syriac noun shebaba —
neighbor·, the name Barechbelos is doubtless the Syriac Bar(r)ekhbel = Bel-has-blessed.
It is also worthy of remark that the handsome bi-columnar monument at Sermeda,
A.A.E.S. hi, 87 = Waddington 2687, was constructed between the years 132 and
141 a.d. for persons whose names, though somewhat uncertain, appear to have been
'Αλέξανδρος and Βερνιχιανος 'Αλεξάνδρου. These persons undoubtedly lived at Sermeda: if
they are identical with the persons of the same names in the present inscription, then,
as on the Djebel Shfekh Berekat, residents of neighboring towns must have united to
erect this building at Babiska, and, if so, this building was doubtless devoted to
some common god.
1093. House, 352 a.d. On the lintel of a doorway in the northern part of the
town, and facing north. Only the frame of the doorway is standing: it appears to
have belonged to a dwelling house. Published in A.A.E.S. 111, 65. (See photograph,
Ill. 175, Div. II). The lintel is 2.521/3m. long and 49 cm. high. At each end is
an ornamental disk, that on the left containing a plain cross. Between the disks is a
trapezoidal door-cap. The lowest band of the door-cap contains the first line of the
inscription. The first six letters of this line are considerably larger than the others: