E04523: Greek inscriptions from the so-called 'martyr shrine' (martyrion) at Ramsâniyye, near Quneitra and Paneas/Caesarea Philippi, in the Golan Heights, to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee (Roman province of Phoenicia Paralias). One of them labels a relief of *John (probably the Baptist, S00020), another commemorates the construction of a building (termed 'holy place', hagios topos) by a former soldier, Flavios Babion. Probably the early 6th c., once wrongly dated 377/378.

Inscription 1:
The inscription is carved on an ashlar block (H. 0.60 m; W. 0.715 m; Th. 0.195 m). Letter height 0.03-0.04 m. It labels a relief with the bust of a man with nimbus, surrounded by vines with grapes. The face of the man is lacking: it was either erased in a period of iconoclasm (but the nimbus, the side decorations, and the inscription are untouched), or as suggested by Robert Gregg, the stone had no image of the saint, but was used as 'a mount for an icon' (now lost,).

Found during surveys organised by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Ramsâniyye and nearby towns between 1978 and 1988 (the 'Byzantine Expedition' at Golan). When recorded, the block was reused in the east face of the south pier in room 40 of the building dubbed 'martyrion', in the quarter IIC (on top of the hill on which the village is sited). First published with a photograph and a drawing by Robert Gregg in 1996.

ἅγιος Ἰωάννης

'Saint John'

Text: Dauphin and others 1996, no. 27.

This is almost certainly John the Baptist, as his cult in this village is attested by another inscription, commemorating the construction of a martyr shrine (martyrion), see E04474.

Inscription 2:
Carved on a fragmentary basalt ashlar (H. 0.49 m; W. 0.72 m; Th. 0.28 m). Letter height 0.035 - 0.04 m. Lining between the lines of letters. The inscription surrounds a central carving of a palm in low-relief, within a circle.

First recorded in the 1880s by 'a colonist from a new Jewish colony' at Ramsâniyye. A drawing sketched by that man was sent to Laurence Oliphant who published it in 1886 in the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement (with no transcription). In 1888 republished with a drawing, but again with no transcription, by Gottlieb Schumacher who himself saw the stone and described it as an element of an arch. The object was rediscovered during surveys organised by the Israel Antiquities Authority between 1978 and 1988 (the 'Byzantine Expedition' at Golan). The surveyors says that the block was reused in an arch in room 41 of the building dubbed the 'martyrion', in the quarter IIC. In 1996 re-published with a drawing and a photograph by Robert Gregg.

We present the text as published by Gregg from the photograph. For earlier imperfect readings, see the comments and drawings in his editions.

Κύριε, πρόσδεξε τὴ̣ν προσ-
φο̣ραν τοῦ λαμπρο(τάτου)
Βαλβί- ωνος
τῶ ἐξ ἰ- δίων
καὶ κό- που ἔκ-
τισεν τοῦ ἁ̣γ[ίου]
τώπου καὶ, Κύρ[ι]-
ε, βωήθι Μα- ξίμου ο[ἰ]-
κοδόμου τοῦ καὶ γράψαντο[ς]

4. τῷ Dauphin, Gregg, but rather τῶ = τοῦ

'(christogram) O Lord, accept the offering of Balbion, of clarissimus rank, who at his own expense and toil founded this holy place (hagios topos)! And, O Lord, help Maximos, the builder (oikodomos), who also wrote this!'

Text: Dauphin and others 1996, no. 28. Translation: R. Gregg, adapted.

The founder, a certain Balbion of clarissimus rank, is almost certainly Flavios Balbion, son of Konon, a former soldier (likewise of clarissimus rank), who built an unnamed martyr shrine at nearby Jueîzeh, see E04470.

Inscription 3:
Basalt lintel (H. 0.295 m; W. 1.58 m; Th. 0.33 m). First recorded during surveys organised by the Israel Antiquities Authority between 1978 and 1988 (the 'Byzantine Expedition' at Golan), over the doorway in the west wall of room 41 in the building dubbed 'martyr shrine' (martyrion) in quarter IIC. According to Robert Gregg the block was inscribed with three crosses within circles, the letters Α and Ω, and six Greek letters ετςχπε, which he understood as a date ἔτ(ους) χπε΄, 'In the year 685'. Gregg suggested that the date was computed according to the Seleucid era and was convertible as AD 373/374. As the date was identical with that recorded in the building inscription for a martyr shrine of John the Baptist, found in another building at Ramsâniyye (see E04474), it has been suggested that that inscription, at some point displaced, comes from our building which was the actual site of the martyr shrine of John. Gregg, however, wrongly interpreted the date, as the Seleucid era was not used in the region. The presumed date must be, therefore, computed according to the era of nearby Caesarea Philippi/Paneas, and fall in the early 6th. More recently, however, Moshe Hartal has stated that he has re-examined this lintel, and noticed that it bore no date. He also questioned possible links of our structure with the stone recording the martyr shrine of John.