Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
About Stories Resources Contact

Images

No images available

Location

SENA0002

Hermon Mons (Har Senaim). Mid-second century CE to early third century CE. Altar. Dedicatory.
Transcription

Ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας τῶν κυριακῶν αὐτοκρατόρων κέ νείκας κης μνησθῇ Νέτιρας Σαχούου τεταγμένος ἐπὶ τὰ ἂκτα

Translation

For (the) safety and victories/ry of the Lor[d]s Emperors […] may Netiras son of Sachou[os] be remembered (by the diety), [placed?] in charge of the (military?) recor[ds].

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
These two fragments of one inscription on an altar make up one of a number of Greek inscriptions from Senaim on Mount Hermon. Senaim seems to have functioned as the main cult place for local settlements in the region, an area which was from the Hellenistic period on inhabited by Ituraeans. The inscription was found outside of the entrance to a small temple at the site. The temple itself contained three other altars, one of which bore the figure of Helios. The dimensions of fragments A and B are 22 cm high by 33 cm wide and 24 cm high by 50 cm wide, respectively. A, the left half of the inscription, was discovered in 1988, while B was discovered in 1983. The phrase "For the safety and victory of the lords emperors' is found in other examples from the Syrian/Jordinian region with names specified. The author indicates that the most likely possibilities drawn from these other inscriptions would be either M. Aurelius and L. Verus, M. Aurelius and L. Commodous, or Caracalla, Getta and Julia Domna. Though Julia Domna is mentioned in inscription 9, the author suggests it is more likely that it refers to M. Aurelius and L. Verus, on the eve of the Mesopotamian expedition. These two were mentioned in inscriptions at Phaena and Amman in 163-164 CE and 165-166 CE. The name Netiras is indicated by the author to be well-known and of Semitic origin while the unusual name Sachouos is reported as being attested at least twice from Umm il-Jimal and is equivalent to the Arabic name Shakûḥ. Based on the inscription it seems possible that Netiras was in charge of the records of a Roman auxilary army, though it also is possible these records had to do with civilian matters. The author also indicates that "ακτα" represents acta, a Latin loan word. He suggests that this may indicate "acta militaria" instead of "collegii", but cautions that this cannot be taken for granted. Note that "κης" is probably intended as a correction of "νείκας", and is found in the interlinear space. It can be restored as "νείκης". The author suggests that κὲ ν{ε}ίκα[ς] should instead read καὶ νίκης.

Languages

Greek

Dimensions

H: 22 to 24 cm; W: 83 cm; D: —

Date

163 CE to 209 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • ornamentation above the text

Bibliography

Source of diplomatic

No bibliography available for diplomatic transcription.

Source of transcription

No bibliography available for transcription.

Source of translation

No bibliography available for translation.

Other sources

  • Dar, Shimon, and Nikkos Kokkinos. “The Greek Inscriptions From Senaim on Mount Hermon.” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 124 (1992): 9–25.
    Zotero
View XML

Cite This Inscription

IIP is committed to the idea that the public good is best served by keeping our data free for use and reuse. You can cite and use this inscription under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Note also that all images are either in the public domain or used with permission, and unless noted we do not hold copyright to them. For permission to reuse the images, please contact the copyright holder, noted in the illustration credit.

The project can be cited as:

Satlow, Michael L., ed. 2002 - . “Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine.” Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/PZ1D-ST89

This inscription can be cited as:

"Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine," SENA0002, 13 August 2026. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89