Christian funerary inscription

Description

Idno filename 22/01/0046
Type of inscription: Sepulcralis Christ.
Support: Tablet
Material: Limestone
Conservation status: Broken into six fragments which fit together. Almost all the right side and part of the bottom have been lost.
Dimensions height/width/depth (cm): 56.7/59.4/4
Epigraphic field:
- Layout: The text fits between guidelines, which sometimes diverge. In l. 2 X^R. Line six included in the space between the letters, possibly to avoid interfering with the verse. A hedera closes the prose part. Text in scriptio continua. Hederae to mark the carmen, and two large hederae to close the inscription. Abbreviations characteristic of the period. In l. 8 a line above <DNE>.
- Decoration: The text opens with a cross.
Preserved

Lyrics

Font:Visigoda
Letter size:2,8 - 1,5 cm
Description of the letters:Variable letter height.

Location

Place of discovery: Exact origin not known, but definitely from Baetica VIVES.
Geolocation

Conservation location: Conserved in the MAN in Madrid, in storage.
Location with Modern Nomenclature España
Location with Old Nomenclature Hispania / Baetica

Chronology

Inscription's dating: Between year 664 and year 665
Dating explanation: 1st November 665, of the Hispanic era.

Type of verse

Type of verse: Dactílico (hexámetro)
Verse/line correspondence: No
Prose/verse distinction: Si

Epigraphic edition

⊂crux⊃ Ianuaris [famu]-

lus ⁽Xr⁾(ist)i vixit [ann]-

os plus min[us ‑ ‑ ‑]

recessit in pa[ce]

5 sub die K(a)l(endis) Novemb[(ris) er(a)]

DCCIII ❦

E˹li˺sias petet (!) Manib[us]

umbras ❦ in te D(omi)ne con-

[m]endo ispiritum (!) meum ❦❦

Translation

“Januaris, servant of Christ, lived (?) years approximately. He lay in peace on the first of November of 703. Under the protection of the Manes he makes for the Elysian shades. To you, oh Lord, I commend my spirit.”

Bibliography

Vázquez de Parga 1955–57, 67–68, fig. 53 (inde HAE 12–16, 2054; Vives, ICERV 543). – Cf. Gil 1976, 562–565; Escolà – Martínez Gázquez 2002, 238; Martín Camacho, CLEB ES, CO4, 110–112, qui in linguam Hispanicam vertit.

Apparatus

1 Ianuarius Vázquez de Parga et inde Gil. – 5 KK Vázquez de Parga, K(a)l(endas) Vives. – 7 eclesias in lapide, manie Vázquez de Parga. – 7–8 Gil primus recte interpretatus est.

Comentary

Epitaph dedicated to the Christian Ianuaris, whose age has not been preserved. The carmen occupies line 7 and part of 8, and is a badly constructed adaptation of a complete hexameter from another epigraph. Thus, Elysias petet Manib[us] umbras is an almost literal copy of a hexameter from a now-lost epigraph from Hornachuelos (CLE 723), Elysiasque petit securus Manibus umbras, dated only two years before (663), but omitting –que and securus, thus spoiling the metre of the hexameter. They might both have followed the same model. Gil unravelled the interpretation of a text that was somewhat obscure, as on the stone there appears Eclesias petet Manib[us] umbras, which makes no sense. He suggested Elysias, which at the time must have sounded the same as elesias, with the cutter writing eclesias, a word more familiar to Christians, even if it made no sense. The phrase Elysias umbras should be understood as the shades who wander through the Elysian fields (cf. Ov., am. 3,9,60-61; and Stat., Theb. 11,79).

For the date it is preferable to read the ablative K(a)l(endis) rather than the accusative since it refers to the first of the month. The subscriptum in prose, in te, D(omi)ne, con[m]endo ispiritum meum, is an ending inspired by the Bible referring to the words of Christ on the cross, based on Vulg. psalm 30,6: in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum; and even more Vulg. Luke 23,46: Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. L. 9: ispiritum with prosthetic vowel.

Images

Photo author: M. A. N.

Link to DB

Author

Author:J. Del Hoyo Calleja
Last Update2024-02-25 17:28:12
Autopsy date:2012

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