Kourion Complex Palace (Mosaics) Fales, c. 1955 (1 of 2)De C. Fales (probably)

Continued from scan 73

… that of the xxx prayer in the xx rites of baptism and the celebration of the blessing of the waters [handwritten: ὕπερ τοῦ ςαγίου] [handwritten: 503]. Because the Church is as a living being, it can prosper and feel the happiness of xxxxxxx success. Each catechumen who enters this building both increases the prosperity of the Church and his own. The xx first word [handwritten: εἰσα[γε]] is in accord with the rest of the inscription, for while it meant simply enter, it, also, connoted baptism. [handwritten: ἐἰσάγειν] [handwritten: 15 th] meant enter for the first time or introduce. [handwritten: 504] Catechumens were sometimes referred to as [handwritten: εἰσαγόμενοι] and the action of formally introducing them into the xxxx Church, i.e. baptism, as [handwritten: εἰσάγειν] [handwritten: 505].

Thus the wreath, the inscription, the xxx octagonal design, and the location of the room (19) all fit together to this room xxx (19) as the entrance room of a baptistery and of a bath. The wreath suggests an entrance but as the placing of the wreath on those who had been baptized was one of the last acts of the rite of baptism, it, also, suggests leaving. As the building was considered in part a human being, to leave it signified to die, but as a symbol of everlasting life, one left wearing a crown. This room is the alpha and omega of the buildng. Indeed on the lintels of at least two Christian buildings of this period, there were carved a wreath, an alpha and an omega, and/or the line from the 120th Psalm, [handwritten: Κυρίος φυλάσσει τὴν εἴσοδόν σου καὶ τὴν ἔξοδόν σου ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος] [handwritten: 506]