Funerary stele of Anne, mother of Grisanthe the clerk

Christian funerary stele with quadrilingual inscription (Judeo-Arabic, Latin, Greek and Arabic)

• Title/name : Funerary stele of Anne, mother of Grisanthe the clerk
• Author : Unknown
• Production place : Palermo, Sicily
• Discovery place : Palermo, Sicily, Church of S. Michele Archangelo,, previously called “Church of the Andalusians” ( de Indulciis), built on part of the site of the present Biblioteca Comunale
• Date / period : 1149
• Conservation town : Palermo
• Conservation place : Museo de la Zisa
• Transcription (fr, eng, esp) :

  Greek, Arabic and Judeo-Arabic,

  1 + XIII K [a]l[endas] Sept[embris]+

  2 obiit Anna mat[er] Gr[i-]

  3 sand[i] et sepulta fuit

  4 in maiori ec[c]l[es]ia s[anc]te Ma-

  5 rie ann[o] MCXLVIII ind[ictione] XI

  6 et in XIII K[a]l[endas] Iunii tran[s]lata

  7 est in hac cappella qua[m]

  8 fil[ius] ei[us] D[omin]o et sibi edifica-

  9 vit, an[no] MCXLVIIII, ind[ictione] XII

• Translation :

  Judeo-Arabic text

  1. + Anne, mother of Grisanthe the clerk [Akrisant], clerk of the glorious king, rul-
  2. er of Italy, Lombardy, Calabria, Sicily and Africa, died in the evening of Friday
  3. 20 August in the year 4908 [1148] and was bur-
  4. ied in the great cathedral. Then, her son transported her with prayers [?] to this church of S.
  5. Michele early on Friday 20 May of the year 4909 [1149]. And he built this chapel on her grave. And he gave to the chapel the name of St. Anne in memory of the mother
  1. of Our  Lady Mary, mother of the Messiah. May God be merciful to him who reads this [inscription] and prays for mercy for Anne. Amen. Amen.

  Latin text

  1. + The XIIIth day before the calends of September [20 August] + died Anne, mother of Grisanthe, and she was buried
  2. in the great church of Saint Ma-
  3. rie in the year 1148, indiction XI,
  4. and the XIIIth day before the calends of June [20 May], she was transported
  5. to this chapel which
  6. her son built for the lord and for himself
  7. in the year 1149, indiction XII

   

  Greek text
  

  1. + Anne fell asleep in blessed
  2. peace on the 20th of the month
  3. of August in the year 6656 [1148] and she was buried
  4. in the great catholic church
  5. + and the 20th May 6657 [1149],
  6. her son Grisanthe took her up, received in legacy
  7. with Greek and Latin prayers, and remove her
  8. from this place. He laid her in a place where
  9. […] he built this chapel over her. Pray for her [?]

  Arabic text

  1   Anna, mother of Grisanthe [Akrîzant], clerk to the sovereign

            presence, the most royal, the high, the most-high, the glorious, the splendid, the most sainted

  2.      the magnificent, strengthened by God, rendered powerful by His might, upheld by His force, ruler over Italy, Longobardy, Calabria, Sicily and Africa, defender of the Pope

  3.   at Rome, protector of the Christian community – may God preserve his reign ! - , died in the evening of Friday 20 August of the year 543 [1148]

  4.   and she was buried in the great cathedral. Then her son carried her with prayers of intercession to this church of S. Michele early in the evening of Friday

  5.      20 May of the year 544 [1149]. And he built on the tomb this chapel of St. Anne to honour the name of the mother [of Our Lady Ma]ry

  6.      [mother of the Messiah. May God be merciful to him who reads this] and prays for mercy for her. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[1] Judeo-Arabic was the « common » language of Sicilian Jews until their expulsion in 1492; from a linguistic point of view, it was a variant of Magrebi Arabic.