Corpo Pagina
Our virtual tour continues through the windows of the Archaeological Museum of Cagliari! Last time we showed you the inscriptions of the Roman Karales (Cagliari) and today we continue showing you one of these epigraphs up close.
It is an inscription dated to the 6th century AD. coming from the area around the church of San Saturnino, the early Christian basilica erected to honor the sepulcher of the martyr from Cagliari, patron saint of the city. The area of the church and the streets around it make up what was the eastern necropolis of Karales throughout the Roman age and much beyond.
The text of the inscription reads:
“I(n) N(omine) D(omi)ni D(e)I
N(ostr)I IH(es)U ΧΡI(sti) L(ocu)M
SALINARUM
PERTINENT(es)”
(————)
That is:
“NAME OF THE LORD GOD / OUR JESUS CHRIST. THE WORKERS / OF THE SALINE / (BUILT) THE BUILDING” (?)
The clearly Christian inscription can be dated to the 6th century AD. Due to the characteristics of the writing and it is unfortunately difficult to integrate since one part of the epigraph is missing.
It probably had to indicate, within the cemetery area of San Saturnino, the funerary building of the corporation of workers of the salt pans of Karales.
We know of the salt pans that were active since the 2nd century BC. and which were managed by private entrepreneurs who also exported the product outside Sardinia. The workers, at least in Roman times, were slaves like the miners in Sulcis.
In the text of the epigraph, the use of the Greek letters “Χ” and “Ρ” (instead of the corresponding Latin ones, “CH” and “R”) in the notation of the name CHRISTUS is particular.
For the next appointment we will introduce you to the museum’s finds related to the construction of Roman Cagliari.
