Discover Top Posts Tagged with #chi rho

Idk what's going on with my head at the moment because I've been rewatching Joel's Hermitcraft Season 10 and he built his XP tower (which I forgot how cool it was damn) and my brain immediately went: huh, that looks like the chi rho from the Book of Kells.

#Joel #joel smallishbeans #smallishbeans #joel beans #hermitcraft #hermitblr #hermitcraft 10 #hermitcraft season 10 #xp #chi rho #book of kells

Paleo-Christian Epitaphs of Mértola (Early Iberian Christians)

At the end of the 19th century, archaeological excavations, particularly in the Rossio do Carmo area, uncovered traces of a Paleochristian basilica in Mértola, whose structure—featuring columns, capitals, mosaics, and funerary stones—dates from approximately the 5th to the 8th century. In the Basilica’s necropolis, several funerary graves were found with epitaphic inscriptions predominantly in Latin, sometimes adorned with early Christian iconography, such as the cross pattée (✠), the Chi-Rho (☧), the dove 🕊️, the palm leaf 🌴, and other geometric motifs.

Latin transcriptions with the English translations of the paleo-Christian epitaphs (left to right): i – Andreas famvlvs Dei princeps cantorvm sacrosancte aeclisiae Mertilliane vixit annos XXXVI reqvievet in pace svb die terteo kalendas Aprilies era DLX trisis 𝛂☧ω Eng: “Andreas, servant of God, prince of singers* of the sacrosanct Mertiliana Church, lived 36 years, rested in peace on the 3rd day before the Kalends of April, in the year of 563 ERA** [which in our calendar corresponds to the 30th of March, 525 AD]” *literally, “chief singer”, i.e., leader or main singer of the choir. **ERA is abbreviation of the Hispanic Era. In addition to the Julian calendar, the Iberian Peninsula also used this calendar, introduced 38 BC, and fell into disuse with the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar (late middle ages). ii) Festellus famulus dei vixit annos VI sex requiev[i]t in pace d[i]e VII Kalendas Martias [a]era DLXV hora pro me Eng: “Festellus, [male] servant of God, lived 66 years, rested in peace on the 7th Kal. Mar. 565 ERA [23 February 527 AD]. Pray for me!” iii – Fistellvs ❧ v[ir] ❧ hon[es]t[v]s ❧ vixit ❧ an[nos] ❧ LXX ❧ req[v]ievit ❧ in pace ❧ d[ie] ❧ VIII ❧ kal[endas] ❧ decem[bres] ❧ era DXLVIII ✠ Eng: “Fistellus (or, Eistellus), an honest man, lived 70 years, rested in peace on the 8th Kal. Dec. 548 ERA [24 November 510 AD]” iv) For[t]vnata famvla dei vixit annos XXII, reqvievit in pace d[ei] V Kal[endas] Ianvarias [a]er[a] DLXV ☧ Eng: “Fortunata, [female] servant of God, lived for 22 years, rested in the peace of the Lord on the 5th Kal. Jan. 565 ERA [28 December 527 AD]” v) Cyprianus famulus dei vixit annos XXX requievit in pace die VIII Kal[endas] Septemb[res] [a]era DLXX quinq[ue] Eng: “Cyprianus, [male] servant of God, lived 30 years, rested in peace on the 8th Kal. Sep. 575 ERA [25 August 537 AD]” vi – Orania p[ha]mvl[a] D[e]i vixit ann[os] t[r]es reqvievit in pace d[ie] Idvs Novemb[res] era DXL AS Eng: “Orania, servant of God, lived 3 years, rested in peace on the 12th ides of Nov. 540 ERA [2 November 502] anno suo [in her own year]” vii) ✠ Rufina relegiosa famvla XPi vixit an[nos] p[lus] m[inus] XXXXV reqvievit in pace D[omi]n[i] d[ie] V kal[endas] octob[res] era DCXXV Eng: “Rufina, a religious servant of Christ [i.e., a nun], lived for more or less 45 years, rested in the peace of the Lord on the 5th Kal. Oct. 625 ERA [27 September 587 AD). viii) ☧ Amanda fam[vl]a XPi vixit annos plvs min[v]s XXXII menses V reqvievit in pace D[omi]ni svb d[ie] VII Kal[endas] Mart[ias] era DLXXXII Eng: “Amanda, [female] servant of Christ, lived for more or less 32 years and 5 months, rested in the peace of the Lord, in the 7th Kal. Mar. 582 ERA [23 February 544 AD]” ix) Aianes hon[esta] fem[ina] fam[vla] d[e]i vixit annos pl[v]s m[inv]s XXVIII reqvievit in pace d[omi]ni d[ie] V Non[as] Ivlias [a]era DLXI AS ❦ Eng: “Aianes, honest woman, servant of God, lived for more or less 28 years, rested in the peace of the Lord on the 5th Nones of Jul. 561 ERA [3 July 523 AD] anno suo [in her own year]” Latin text marks: Fleuron/Hedera (punctuation) – ❧ ❦ Christian symbols – ✠ ☧ 𝛂 ω

Due to its strategic location on the banks of the Guadiana river, this former Phoenician trading port was named Myrtilis Iulia, under Roman rule. This municipium (town) became a dynamic entrepôt for the extraction and trade of minerals and agricultural products, while the land and river routes allowed connections with other regions of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the town became under Visigothic rule, a period during which Christianity was consolidated in the region. Built next to the old Roman road that connected the town to the city of Beja, the Church of Mertill or Mertilliana, was revered as a major ecclesiastical institution with special status (see the Andreas epitaph).

During the Islamic rule of the Iberian Peninsula, the city became known as Mārtulah, and was eventually reconquered by the Christians in 1238 – and thus, finally becoming its current name post-Reconquista, that is, Mértola. The mosque was reconverted and renamed into the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation, which was subsequently granted to the Order of Santiago.