Was discovered in the middle of the mosaic pavement of Room A, of the second or third construction phase of the structure. It comprises ten lines within a square frame, measuring 1 m on each side. The letters are in a legible, rounded script executed in black tesserae on a white ground. The writer was proficient in Greek, and there are no errors of orthography or syntax. The words are rendered in full, with no abbreviations – except for the Holy Name (nomina sacra) in the first line that is marked by a horizontal line over the abbreviated word (Avi-Yonah 1940: 25-29).

 

 

The first five lines of the inscription were found obliterated, and only a few letters remain at the beginning and end of each line. These lines were reconstructed – except for one of the names of which only three letters remain. A line of twelve small crosses made up of four black tesserae is at

the bottom of the inscription; additional crosses are integrated in spaces

at the end of each line. An equal-armed cross terminates the third line, as well as the entire inscription, at the end of the tenth line.