Inscription on a Eulogia Stamp Leah Di Segni

James S. Snyder 2 Preface
Silvia Rozenberg 3 Foreword

4 In Memoriam: Ornit Ilan

Debby Hershman 7 The Lady, the Rainbow, and the
Horse: Earliest Symbolic Images
from the Middle East
Reclining Hercules Attended by

L . Y . Rahmani 13
Erotes upon a Lead Coffin Fragment
from Jerusalem

Joseph Patrich 21 Four Christian Objects from
Caesarea Maritima

Leah Di Segni 33 Inscription on a Eulogia Stamp
ShaharBatz 39 The Church of St. Theodore at
Khirbet Beit Si la

55 Information for Contributors
56 Abbreviations

Inscription on a Eulog;a Stamp The bread tamp di covered at Caesarea
Maritima (see article by J. Patrich,
Leah Di Segni
pp. 21-32) bears a Greek in cription, which
The Hebrew Univer ity of Jeru alem apparently went all around the di k, since
the first word is almo t exactly centered
Eulogia stamp above the arch repre enting the shrine, on
from Caesarea Maritima top of the cro within it. The extant part
/,\/SA I • 2002: 33-38 of the script i 19 cm long; about 13.5 cm
of in cribed text i mi ing. The letter are
0.5-0.7 cm high.

The text read :

- - AYAO/EY OrIAKYEn<t>HMA - -
The entire text can be restored as

follows: EuA.oyia K(upio)u Eln}q/ hµii[c; Kal -rou

ayiou nauA.o(ul. "Ble ing of the Lord upon
us, [and of aint P]aul."

The la t letter of nauA.o(ul is replaced
by a diagonal stroke, which serves as an
abbreviation mark or a word divider. The
restored text ha 13 character , giving an
average of one character for each centimeter
of available pace, exactly a in the extant
fragment.

The formula EuA.oyia Kup[ou i
common on eulogia object (token or
ampullae) from the Holy Land: it i usually
followed by the general phra e "of the holy
places" (,rov ay[rov ,61trov), which does not
permit a preci e identification of the hrine
of origin.1 Eulogia lamp originating in
Pale tinian anctuarie of Mary Mother of
God often bear the in cription "Bies ing of
the Mother of God with us" (EuA.oyia ,11c;
0eot6Kou µe0' hµrov);2 but the variant "upon
u " (Eq/ hµwv) is al o known, though not on
eulogiae of the Holy Land.3 The di simila­
tion ofphi into pi-phi, however, is worthy of
note. As for the addition of a aint' name to
this formula, it i atte ted, for instance, on a
eulogia tamp from The aloniki, decorated
with a cro s surmounted by a bust of Christ
and flanked by the figures of t. Andrew
and t. Peter; the tamp bear the in crip­
tion "Bles ing of the Lord upon u , and of

33

Saints A n d r e w and Peter" (EuXoyia K(\jpio)D 310 and is commemorated in the Jerusalem
ecp' fi|ia[(; K a i TWV a y i w v 'AvSpeou [ K O I neTpou]) C a l e n d a r on February 6 and 16, as w e l l
and has been tentatively dated to the s i x t h - as on November 28.* A n o t h e r P a u l was
seventh century.'* martyred along w i t h two virgins, one called
Valentina, the other Ennatha or Manatha,
U n l i k e eulogia t o k e n s o r a m p u l l a e , on July 16, 308.'' It is possible that one or
w h i c h are naturally found far away from the other is meant i n an invocation to Paul
t h e p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y w e r e o b t a i n e d , eulogia a n d G e r m a n u s ("Ayie flau^E K O I fEpnave)
stamps are likely to be unearthed i n the on a roof tile of a sixth-century church
vicinity of the shrines where they had been at U m m er-Rasas, w h i c h may have been
in use. T h e function o f such objects was to dedicated to the Caesarean martyrs and
impress a sacred name or symbol on loaves possibly contained some of their relics under
of bread baked for a church. T h e loaves its altar.'" However, it is not likely that either
would then be consecrated and distributed of these Pauls, each of w h o m was commem-
to t h e f a i t h f u l at t h e E u c h a r i s t (Ttpoocpopd), orated as one o f a group o f m a r t y r s , had a
or blessed and given out after the liturgy as shrine or a festival of his o w n at Caesarea, for
alms, or as tokens of g o o d w i l l and C h r i s t i a n w h i c h eulogiae w e r e s t a m p e d w i t h h i s n a m e .
love (euXoyia).' Not only bread, but other O n the other hand, apostles, evangelists, and
eatables as well were given out i n the same figures of the N e w Testament often appear
spirit, and pilgrims would get them from o n eulogiae." S t . P a u l t h e A p o s t l e c e r t a i n l y
priests or monks at the holy places they had a very good c l a i m to a pilgrimage site
visited.' T h e addition of a saint's name to at Caesarea, the place o f his imprisonment,
the simple "Blessing of the L o r d upon us" though no reference to a memorial to Paul
m a y m e a n that the bread w a s given out at is preserved i n pilgrims' itineraries. Based
a shrine dedicated to that particular saint, on the literary sources, the only figures of
or that it was distributed in any church on the N e w Testament w h o had holy sites of
the saint's feast day." T h e likelihood that our their o w n at Caesarea were the centurion
eulogia s t a m p w a s u s e d i n a s h r i n e c o m - Cornelius and the deacon Philip (with
memorating St. Paul located somewhere in his daughters). T h e anonymous pilgrim of
the vicinity of the place where the stamp Piacenza also mentions two other memorials
was found is increased by the discovery, in Caesarea, those of the martyrs Pamphilus
at the very same site, of a fragment of and Procopius (the latter had a church),'^
a platter incised on the bottom w i t h the b u t w h i l e he r e p o r t s h a v i n g t a k e n a eulogia
letters FIAYAO. T h i s m a y have been part o f a {benedictio) f r o m C o r n e l i u s ' b e d , h e says n o
longer inscription mentioning St. Paul and such thing of the other holy sites."
possibly indicates that the platter belonged
to a church named after h i m . T h e cult of St. Paul the Apostle was
well k n o w n in the provinces of Palestine
T h e question remains, is the Paul and Arabia. Its center was in Damascus,
mentioned in our inscription Paul the Apostle the place of Paul's conversion." A church
or some other saint of the same name? of Peter and Paul was founded in Gerasa
Besides Paul the Apostle, two martyrs by around 540;" another existed in Jerusalem,
the name of Paul are k n o w n , both from possibly in the Monastery of the Byzantines
C a e s a r e a . T h e first w a s m a r t y r e d t o g e t h e r founded ca. 550 by a certain Abraham."" A
with the famous teacher Pamphilus and church of St. Paul was inaugurated in Rihab
other Christians on February 16, 309 or

34 L . Di Segni; Inscription on a Eulogia Stamp

(Jordan) in 595: this was most probably a stone stamp with a Greek invocation to G o d
church of St. Paul the Apostle, as another from Mount Nebo;'" and a fragment of a
church was dedicated in Rihab to the apostle eulogia s t a m p f r o m D h i b a n . " M o s t i f n o t a l l
Peter, Paul's partner in the leadership o f the of the aforementioned stamps belong to the
Twelve, in 623.'' A ring with a portrait of Early Byzantine period, up to the seventh
the apostle and his name w a s discovered century, but the use of such stamps continued
in the complex of St. Stephen at U m m into the Middle Ages and modern period,
er-Rasas.'* Paul is usually associated w i t h and much later examples can be found in
Peter in the cult: the two appear together
in the Jerusalem Calendar on several feast museums and collections.
days in different c h u r c h e s . " St. P a u l alone
was commemorated on June 30 i n a suburb D r a w i n g of the eulogia stamp © T h e Israel
of Jerusalem, possibly near the Kathisma M u s e u m , Jerusalem/ by P. A r a d .
Church.^"
See, for instance, T h o m s e n 1921, 1 2 5 - 2 9 ,
Summing up, the relative importance nos. 215-19.
of Paul the Apostle and Paul the m a r t y r (one
of the two of this name) seems to tip the Loffreda 1989, 124-28, types 2 C . 4 , 2 C . 5 , 2 C.5a,
scale t o w a r d the p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t t h e eulogia 2C.5b,2C.6,2C.7,2C.8.
stamp under discussion belonged to a shrine
dedicated to Paul the Apostle, or was made See, for instance, some ampullae from Pessinus
for s t a m p i n g eulogia b r e a d t h a t w a s d i s t r i b - in Galatia (Asia Minor): Devreker 1995, 77-81,
uted in a festival commemorating h i m . I f so, nos. 12, 2 2 , 26, 27 (= S £ G X L V , no. 1707).
this is the first hint o f the veneration o f this
saint in Caesarea. G a l a v a r i s 1970, 1 4 0 - 4 3 , fig. 79.

Eulogia s t a m p s are n o t u n c o m m o n See, for instance, C y r i l of Scythopolis, Vita Cyriaci,
finds in our region. A partial list includes: 16 (ed. S c h w a r t z , 232); Joannes M o s c h u s , Pratum,
a stone bread stamp f r o m K a f r S u m e i ' ^ ' 42 (PG 87, col. 2 8 9 6 ) . I n this story, M o s c h u s uses
and another from Horvat G o v i n the Upper both terms: itpoocpopa for the eucharistic bread and
Galilee;^^ a metal stamp w i t h a scene of the fuXayia for the bread given in charity. A c c o r d i n g
T r a n s f i g u r a t i o n a n d t h e i n s c r i p t i o n ""Eulogia to Galavaris (1970, 141), the phrase E i i X o y i a
of M o u n t T a b o r " (+Ei)A,o)yia TOU 9aP(op{ov K u p i o u iff' fmag, w h i c h echoes the dismissal of the
opovi;);^-' t w o f r a g m e n t s o f stone b r e a d Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, means that loaves
stamps, one inscribed, the other w i t h o u t with this stamp were distributed at the end of the
an inscription, from Samaria-Sebaste;^'' one liturgy.
inscribed fragment from B e t h Shean;^' three
stone examples f r o m J e r u s a l e m ; ^ ' a c l a y ' See, for instance, Itinerarium Egeriae, I I I , 6, X I , 1,
stamp depicting the V i r g i n and C h i l d and X V , 6, X X I , 3 (CCSL 175, 40, 5 1 , 56, 65); Antonini
bearing the i n s c r i p t i o n "Eulogia o f O u r PlacentiniItinerarium, 27, 46 (CCSL 175, 143, 152);
L a d y M a r y M o t h e r o f G o d " (EuA-coyia •:\\<; C y r i l of Scythopolis, Vita Sabae, 39, (ed. S c h w a r t z ,
6eo)toiv[ri5 finuv ©eoTojKou M a p { a ^ , f o u n d at 130). O n eulogiae of water and oil in ampullae,
Khirbet Deir Dusawi (Tel Mefalsim), about see Antonini Placentini Itinerarium, 11, 20, 39, 42
7 k m east of G a z a ; ^ ' t w o more bread stamps (CCSL 1 7 5 , 1 3 5 , 1 3 9 , 149, 151). O n all kinds of
with monograms from Gaza;^" an u n i n - eulogiae - eatables and objects - obtained in the
scribed example from K h i r b e t es-Samra;^' a holy places of Palestine, see Bagatti 1949, 1 2 6 - 6 6 ;
Maraval 1985, 237-41.

Galavaris 1970, 141-53.

' Eusebius, DeMartyribus Palestinae, X I , 1-28 (GCS
9, 931-45); Garitte 1958, 152, 160, 397. T h e
Georgian Calendar of Jerusalem was compiled in
the tenth century, but reflects the liturgical use
in the H o l y C i t y in earlier centuries as well. O n
the year of Pamphilus and Paul's martyrdom -
310 rather than the traditional 309 - see Sauget
1968, col. 98, s.v. "Panfilo, Valente, Paolo, Porfirio,
Seleuco, Teodulo, Giuliano."

/ M M 1 • 2002:33-381 35

' Eusebius, DeMartyribus PaUstinae, V I I I , 5-12 ^'Fitzgerald 1939, 32-33, 43, pi. 24:1. A new bread
(GCS 9, 926-27); Martyrologium Hieronyianum, July stamp, still unpublished, was discovered in the
16 (.PL 30, cols. 466-67); see also the Greek recent excavations of the Hebrew University at Beth
synaxaries on the same date. Shean.

'"Piccirillo 1997, 389-90: Here Paul is taken for ^'Germer-Durand 1907, 28, fig. 52; Vincent and Abel
the apostle, but it is much more likely that 1926, 780, pi. 79:91; Bagatti 1955/6, 256-57, fig. 9.
he was a Caesarean martyr, for Germanus was
another martyr of Caesarea. Germanus was killed "Rahmani 1970, 105-8, pi. 28. Rahmani connected
on November 13, 308, together with three or four this stamp with the church of St. Sergius at
other martyrs, among whom Ennatha or Manatha Gaza, where Mary was venerated as the Mother of
is mentioned once again: Eusebius, De Martyribus God, and suggested that the image on the stamp
PaUstinae, I X , 4-8 (GCS 9, 929); Garitte 1958, 382. may have reproduced the mosaic in the central
The two groups, martyred in the same year, may apse of this church, described by Choricius of
have been mixed together in the cult. Gaza, Laudatio Marciani, I , 29 (edd. Foerster and
Richtsteig, 10).
" Lambert and Pedemonte Demeglio 1994, 214,
n. 25. For apostles' names on eucharistic(?) spoons, Bagatti 1983, 155, 163, fig. 26:1-2.
see 5£GXLII, no. 1839 I I , nos. 1-16. A look
at the list of the holy places of Palestine shows ^'Canoval954, 209, fig. 231.
the vast predominance of sites related to Old and
New Testament figures in comparison to those of ^"Bagatti 1978,145-46 (= S£GXXVIII, no. 1441):
martyrs and ascetics: Maraval 1985, 251-310. for a new reading, see Di Segni 1998, 450-51, no.
57.
'^Joannes Malalas, Chronographia, X V (ed. Dindorf,
382-83). The church was burnt in the Samaritan Hubner 1990, 177-79 (= 5£GXL, no. 1443).
riots of 484 and rebuilt by Emperor Zeno.
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38 L. Di cgni: Inscription on a Eulog,a ramp