Image: Greek Muawiya inscription of Hammat Gader, 663 AD

Description: A Greek inscription on a marble slab (50 x 80 cm) from the Roman-era baths at the site of Hammat Gader in northern Israel. The inscription is the only known epigraphic attestation of Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya I in the region of Syria, the province which he governed from 639 until 661 and which served as the metropolis of his caliphate from 661 until his death in 680. The inscription, which begins with the symbol of a cross, translates in English as: In the days of Abd Allah ("Servant of God") Mu'awiya, the commander of the faithful, the hot baths of the people there were saved and rebuilt by Abd Allah son of Abuasemos (Abu Hashem?) the Counsellor, on the fifth of the month of December, the second day of the 6th year of the indiction, in the year 726 of the colony, according to the Arabs the 42nd year, for the healing of the sick, under the care of Joannes, the official of Gadara The years quoted correspond to the year ca. 663 AD
Title: Greek Muawiya inscription of Hammat Gader, 663 AD
Credit: Hirschfeld, Yizhar and Solar, Giora (1981). "The Roman Thermae at Ḥammat Gader: Preliminary Report of Three Seasons of Excavations". Israel Exploration Journal, 31: 3/4. pp. 197-219.
Author: Author of inscription not credited. Authorities mentioned in inscription include Caliph Mu'awiya I (d. 680), Abd Allah ibn Abi Hashim, Joannes of Gadara. Photographer of inscription: Zeev Radovan working under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities and Museums (Israel), the Institute of Archaeology in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Exploration Society. Field work and photography done between May 1979 and April 1980.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No