Dodgy Greek at Hippos-Sussita

GREEK EPIGRAPHY: 6th-century inscriptions near Galilee may show Christians’ fading Greek literacy. So far, ‘Burnt Church’ site at ongoing Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project has revealed three texts — all of which were misspelled and had grammar errors, say archaeologists (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This summer, the settlement’s South-West or Burnt Church was revisited by archaeologists in search of firm dating for the conflagration that both destroyed and preserved the church. They revealed a plethora of interesting artifacts and mosaics — and a nearly illiterate artisan, who had been tasked with inscribing the names of donors and abbots for posterity. Instead, his grammar and spelling mistakes are preserved in a trio of ancient Greek mosaics. (Where is autocorrect when you need it?)

The inscriptions are still being deciphered and I can find nothing more about their content.

The site of Hippos-Sussita has produced many exciting artifacts and architectural finds. Most recently, there was media attention about ancient stonemasons' marks found there. For additional past posts, start here and follow the links.

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