Mosaic Inscription in square frame (from Synagogue, Main Hall, Bay 4): Votive (Building/renovation?) Inscription by Samoes, priest

Mosaic Inscription in square frame (from Synagogue, Main Hall, Bay 4): Votive (Building/renovation?) Inscription by Samoes, priest

Mosaic inscription in square frame, Sardis, mosaic, 0.9 x 0.9 m

DESCRIPTION
Mosaic inscription in a square frame.

INSCRIPTION TYPE
Religious Inscription

INSCRIPTION LANGUAGE
Greek

INSCRIPTION TEXT
Εὐχὴ
[Σ]α̣μοῆ ἱε-
[ρ]έω̣ς κὲ σο-
4 φοδιδασ-
κάλου.

INSCRIPTION TRANSLATION
“Vow of Samoés, Priest and Teacher of wisdom” (Kroll, who has “of Samoé”).

COMMENTS
2 Σαμοῆ seems to be the genitive of Σαμο(υ)ῆς, a by-form of Σαμουῆλ (Ameling; see also Kroll’s commentary).
2–3 ἱε/[ρ]έω̣ς: my reading from the photograph; ἱε/ρέος, edd. The dedicant was “a descendant of the priesthood that anciently served in the Temple of Jerusalem”; they “were accorded the privileges of pronouncing certain benedictions during services and as preferred readers of the Torah” (Kroll; see Ameling, pp. 158–59).
3–5 σοφοδιδάσκαλος is a hapax legomenon: probably virtually identical with the known function of a νομοδιδάσκαλος (Ameling).
The mosaic bearing the inscription was a “late intrusion into the surrounding mosaic,” and it is generally assumed that the vow was “connected with the construction that was supported on the four stone bases that were set into the floor around the inscription” (Kroll). See Kroll’s and Ameling’s commentaries with further references.