Third Century Inscription to Christ’s Deity

The Akeptous Inscription

The inscription is set within a rectangle (67 x 80 cm) in the western side of the southern mosaic panel. Its frame and letters are traced in black tesserae; the characters are 7.5–9.0 cm high. The letters eta and nu of proseniken—a vulgar spelling of the verbal form prosenenken—are in ligature. A dot marks the end of the second line and two additional dots separate the three elements of the nomen sacrum in the fourth line. The text reads:

Proseniken

‘Akeptous

he philptheos

ten trapezan th(e)o ‘I(eso)u Ch(ris)o

mnemosynon.

The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.

While the centurion’s dedication in the Gaianus Inscription was the first intimation of the cultic function of this hall, the Akeptous Inscription bears specific evidence that Christians practiced their cult there. The principal indication, of course, is the mention of “God Jesus Christ”. In this form of the sacred name each element is abbreviated by contraction to its first and last letters and is surmounted by a horizontal line. This form later becomes typical of Christian inscriptions in the Byzantine period, and is evident in papyri dated as early as the third–fourth centuries CE; however, its appearance in the Akeptous Inscription is, to our knowledge, the earliest epigraphic occurrence.

The use of the verb prosferein (to offer) is also common in Christian inscriptions of the Byzantine period and derives directly from the language of the Gospels (for instance, Matthew 2:11, in which the Magi, following the star from the east, found baby Jesus in the manger and worshiped him, “and they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh”).

The use of the term mnemosynon is particularly striking, considering it was not normally used in inscriptions of the Byzantine period, in spite of their frequent mention of the concept of remembrance, with phrases like “Remember o Lord…” or “For the remembrance of…”.

The term mnemosynon occurs three times in the New Testament: once in Acts (10:4), where an angel appears to Cornelius the centurion in Caesarea and says to him: “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial (mnemosynon) before God”, following which the god-fearing soldier sends for Peter and becomes the first gentile to receive baptism, and twice in the story of the anointing of Jesus by a woman, traditionally identified with Mary Magdalene, as he sat at a table in Bethany on the eve of his crucifixion. To his disciples, who reproached the woman for wasting the costly ointment, Jesus replied: “Let her alone… for she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her (eis mnemosynon autês)” (Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9). It hardly seems a mere chance that this very word is used in the Akeptous Inscription for the offering of a woman, in the context of a community almost certainly of gentile stock and connected with the Roman army. The offering of the woman Akeptous is also directly linked with the memory of Jesus’ preparation for death; for the ‘table’ that she donated to the community is an altar on which the Eucharist was celebrated, i.e., the rite commemorating the ‘Last Supper’ in which bread and wine are consumed, signifying the Savior’s body and his blood.

In Early Christianity the altar was not called bomos, like the altars on which the pagans used to sacrifice, nor thysiasterion, (as it was later named because of its identification with the altar of the Temple), but trapeza, ‘dining table’, for here did the faithful celebrate the first rite (except for baptism) of the new religion—the breaking of bread and drinking of wine—as Jesus had instructed the apostles (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:19–20). The first commemorative breaking of bread was done by Jesus himself after the resurrection, when he sat down at supper with Cleopas in Emmaus (Luke 24:30). In the First Epistle to the Corinthians (10:16–21), in exhorting the brethren to shun the worship of idols, Paul writes: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? …What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table (trapeza) of the Lord and the table of demons”.

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians (10:16–21), in exhorting the brethren to shun the worship of idols, Paul writes: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? …What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table (trapeza) of the Lord and the table of demons”.

In apostolic times the sacred ceremony was part of a fraternity meal called agape, in which the community partook of food, and victuals were given out from the tables to those in need. However, from the very beginning the practice caused disorder and controversies, partly because of the religious scruples of the Jews to eat with gentiles who did not keep the dietary laws, partly because the well-to-do would consume their own provisions and shame the poor who had none. Therefore Paul himself, though he did not forbid the communal meal, advised the faithful to keep to the basic rite and dine at home (Acts 4:35; 6:1–2; 11:2–3; First Epistle to the Corinthians 11:20–34). Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia (c. 112 CE), described the rites of the Christians in Asia Minor as two separate meetings: one before dawn, apparently to partake of the Eucharist, and the other—a communal meal at the end of the day (Pliny the Younger, Ep. X, 96). The Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch, writing at about the same time, also speaks of the Eucharist and the agape as two separated ceremonies, both conducted by the bishop (Ignatius, Ep. to the Smyrnaeans 8; Holmes ed. 1999:188–191).

By the second century CE, the Christians had also developed another kind of communal meals: funeral banquets in memory of the martyrs and other saintly dead, in the tradition of the banquets held by the funeral associations so common in the Roman Empire. These meetings had the advantage of being legal, because funeral collegia (clubs on a cultic or professional basis that ensured ceremonial burial to their members) were recognized and permitted by Roman law, which, as a rule, mistrusted and opposed associations. Memorial banquets in commemoration of the dead were held in rooms adjoining cemeteries or in chapels that preserved tombs or relics of martyrs. This custom continued in Africa until the late fourth century CE, while in other regions it was abolished earlier. St. Augustin, a native of Thagaste in Numidia (modern Algeria), reports that when his mother arrived at Milan around 386 CE, she came to church with a basket holding bread, wine and other victuals, to celebrate the memory of the dead according to the custom of her homeland in Africa. Yet, her entrance to the church was denied because the consumption of food in the feasts of the martyrs had been forbidden by the bishop (Augustinus, Confessiones VI, 2). This episode demonstrates that liturgical customs were still varied from region to region, as late as the fourth century CE.

Eucharistic meals, agape meals and funeral meals—not always distinguishable one from the other—are described in written sources and visual documentation. Stone tables engraved with depictions of plates, cups and other table utensils were discovered in Africa; on one of them the central dish contains a fish in relief. Fish on plates are also displayed on the tables in a scene representing a Eucharist meal or a funeral banquet depicted in the catacombs of St. Callistus and in the ‘Breaking of Bread’ fresco in the cemetery of Priscilla in Rome, both from the first half of the third century CE.

It is certainly not accidental that two fish were depicted in the center of the medallion in the northern panel of the mosaic, near the structure which probably served as a base for the altar/table.

The table donated by Akeptous most likely served for the celebration of the Eucharist, in the manner described in a nearly contemporary text, a letter written by Dionysius the bishop of Alexandria to Pope Xystus in the year 247 CE, and reported by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History.

In this letter Dionysius asked the Pope’s advice about an old member of his congregation, who had confessed to having been baptized by heretics and had asked to be cleansed with a second baptism. Dionysius goes on: “This I for my part did not dare to do, saying that his long-standing communion with us had been sufficient for that purpose. For since he has heard the Thanksgiving and joined in saying the Amen, and stood beside the table and stretched forth his hand to receive the holy food, and had received it, and had partaken of the body and blood of our Lord for a long time, I should not dare to build him up again from the beginning. … But he never ceases his lament and shudders to approach the table, and scarcely, though invited, does he dare to take his stand with the penitents at the prayers.” (Eusebius, HE VII, 9, 1–5).

The table offered by Akeptous may have also served for ceremonial meals. As the building is a dwelling house, funeral banquets in the presence of tombs are improbable. However, it is reasonable to presume that memorial celebrations may have been held in the presence of relics, or perhaps without them; likewise, agape meals could have taken place around this table on special occasions.

In spite of the Christian character of the Akeptous Inscription, its language is notably different from that of later Christian dedications. Like mnemosynon, philotheos (god-loving) also does not usually appear—at least in our region—in Byzantine inscriptions, which prefer the term philochristos. However, philotheos is used by the Early Christian writers, like Justinus Martyr, Clemens of Alexandria, Origen, as well as in Paul’s writings (Second Epistle to Timothy 3:4). Furthermore, the formula “God Jesus Christ” is as a rule absent from Byzantine inscriptions, which always refer to the Savior as “Lord Jesus Christ” or “Christ our God”. The formula “our God Jesus Christ” does appear in the theological writings of Early Christian authors (Ignatius of Antioch, Justinus Martyr, Irenaeus, Clemens of Alexandria, Hippolytus), but the dedicatory form of this inscription is rather reminiscent of pagan formulas of the types “(so-and-so dedicated) to the Holy God” (as in third-century-CE dedications to an anonymous sky-god from Kadesh and Petra), or “to the God ‘Azizos” (or any other god or goddess of the pantheon).

The name Akeptous has no parallel in the region. It seems to be a feminine form of the Latin name Acceptus, common in the West. Its standard feminine form was Accepta, but in this inscription it bears the Greek ending –oûs, which characterizes a small group of female names, like Philous and Pallous. (Pp. 36-41; emphasis mine)

A description of the Eucharist in the Didache, a text of instructions of the second century CE.

“And concerning the Eucharist (giving of thanks) give thanks as follows: First over the cup—We give you thanks, our Father, for the holy vine of David your servant, which you have made known to us through Jesus, your servant; to you be the glory for ever. Over the broken bread—We give you thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you have made known to us through Jesus, your servant; to you be the glory for ever. …. And after you are satiated with food give thanks as follows: We give you thanks, Holy Father, for your holy name which you have caused to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you have made known to us through Jesus, your servant; to you be the glory for ever… ” (Didache 9; Holmes ed. 1999: 260–261).

This text suggests that the Eucharist was followed by a meal. On the other hand, Justinus Martyr, while giving a similar description of the Eucharist in the middle of the second century CE, speaks only of partaking of the bread and the wine and makes no mention of a meal, only of offerings, apparently of food, which the faithful brought and the priest collected and later distributed to the needy: widows and orphans, sick people, prisoners and strangers. (P. 38)

The Symbol of Fish in Early Christianity

Fish served as an early symbol of Christianity because its Greek name ichthys contained the initials of the phrase Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter (Jesus Christ, son of God, Savior). Fish also featured in several scenes of Jesus’ life: the twice repeated multiplication of the loaves and the fish (Matthew 14:16–21; 15:34–38; Mark 6:38–44; Luke 9:13–17), the prodigious catch of Simon-Peter in the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:4–7), the miraculous capture of a fish in whose belly Peter found a coin to pay the half-shekel tax for Jesus and for himself in Capernaum (Matthew 17:24–27); another miraculous fishing and the subsequent meal of bread and fish which Jesus shared with the disciples after the resurrection (John 21:4–13); the fish Jesus ate when he appeared to the apostles in Jerusalem to convince them that he was resurrected in the flesh (Luke 24:41–43), as well as the example illustrating Jesus’ saying “Ask, and it will be given you”: “For what man of you, if his son asks him for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:7, 9–10; Luke 11:11). (P. 40)