Chronological systems in Roman-Byzantine Palestine and Arabia: The evidence of the dated Greek inscriptions PDF
Preview Chronological systems in Roman-Byzantine Palestine and Arabia: The evidence of the dated Greek inscriptions
ΚΕΝΤΡΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΙ ΚΡΩΜΑΪΚΗΣ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ ΩΝ ΝΜΑ ΟΝ ΥΚΥΕΙΡΝΡΔΘΕΕΙ RESEARCH CENTRE FOR GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITY NATIONAL HELLENIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION ΜΕΛΕΤΗΜΑΤΑ YIANNIS E. MEIMARIS IN COLLABORATION WITH K. KRITÎKAKOU and P. BOUGIA CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS IN ROMAN-BYZANTINE PALESTINE AND ARABIA THE EVIDENCE OF THE DATED GREEK INSCRIPTIONS ATHENS 1992 DIFFUSION DE BOCCARD - 11, RUE DE MEDICIS, 75006 PARIS ISBN 960-7094-81-6 © The National Hellenic Research Foundation Research Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity 48 Vassileos Constantinou Ave., GR - 116 35 Athens, Greece Printed in Greece by Eptalophos S.A., 12-16 Ardittou St., GR -116 36 Athens YIANNIS E. MEIMARIS IN COLLABORATION WITH K. KRITIKAKOU and P. BOUGIA CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS IN ROMAN-BYZANTINE PALESTINE AND ARABIA THE EVIDENCE OF THE DATED GREEK INSCRIPTIONS KENTPON ΗΣ ΚΙΝΗΛΛΕKAI ΗΣ ΚΟΣ ΤΪΗΑΤΜΟΩΙΡΑΧΡΑ ΩΝ ΝΜΑ ΥΕΥΟΝ ΡΡΕΚΔΙΙΝΘΕ RESEARCH CENTRE FOR GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITY NATIONAL HELLENIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION ΤΑ ΑΜΗΤΕΛΕΜ 17 DIFFUSION DE BOCCARD -11, RUE DE MEDICIS, 75006 PARIS YIANNIS E. MEIMARIS IN COLLABORATION WITH K. KRITIKAKOU and P. BOUGIA CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS IN ROMAN-BYZANTINE PALESTINE AND ARABIA THE EVIDENCE OF THE DATED GREEK INSCRIPTIONS ATHENS 1992 To all students of Byzantine Archaeology this book is affectionately dedicated PREFACE The numerous ruins of the once prosperous Greek towns of Palestine and Arabia, as well as of the villages in their surrounding countryside, have produced to the present day, among other things, many Greek inscriptions rich in historic and literary content. These inscriptions confirm the expansion of the Greek lan guage and culture beyond the government offices of the cities into the country side, even among the indigenous population. Although most of these inscriptions have been studied and published, the knowl edge to be gained from them has not been exhausted and much remains for the re searcher to accomplish. My continual involvement with the Greek epigraphic ma terial found in the Holy Land directed me to the rich resource available in the in scriptions, especially the dated ones which exhibit great diversity in eras and calen dars and widespread occurrence of Macedonian month names, for a study of the chronological systems used in Roman-Byzantine Palestine and Arabia. Following the rule that it is the duty of every educated man to endeavour to add something to the inherited aggregate of knowledge, I decided in the early 1980's to begin an examination of the peculiarities in these various chronological systems. Within the framework of the "Palestine" project undertaken by the Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, my goal was to produce a manual for use by all interested scholars but, in particular, by archaeologists and colleagues in related disciplines. A work of reference that would help them to avoid misdating, misreading and misunderstanding the numerous Greek inscriptions which they must consult on an almost daily basis. In 1987 the study received great impetus from the full-time assistance of Miss K. Kritikakou and Miss P. Bougia, only to be thwarted mid-way when, due to se vere economic conditions, it was deprived not only of the important work of Miss Bougia but also of financial resources for publication. My search for alternate publication support was rewarded by the generosity of the Patriarchate of Jerusa lem and the Archbishopric of Mount Sinai. At the culmination of these long years of dedicated effort, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the following: the Eretz Israel Committee on the "dition of a Corpus of Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Palestine for permitting me to work on the Greek inscriptions from AD 1 to the Arab conquest of Palestine; to the An tiquities Authority of Israel for granting me access to their files and for permitting me to refer to the unpublished inscriptions; to His Beatitude Diodoros, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and to His Eminence Damianos, Archbishop of Mount Sinai, for covering the cost of publication, an act which I consider a gesture of recognition of my scientific work in the areas under their spiritual jurisdiction. My most sin cere thanks to my collaborators Miss K. Kritikakou and Miss P. Bougia for their excellent and careful scientific work; to the Centre for Greek and Roman An tiquity of the National Hellenic Research Foundation for including this book among its publications and to its Acting Director, Professor M. Hatzopoulos, who was kind enough to read through the completed manuscript. Y.E.M.
The list of books you might like
