Vatican Museums

This sector of the Lapidarium, splendidly positioned overlooking the Vatican Gardens and the "mosaic of the Athletes" from the Baths of Caracalla, brings together a number of fundamental epigraphical documents of early Christianity, both originals and casts, from various regions throughout the Empire. The most important work is without doubt the "Inscription of Abercius", bearing the epitaph of Bishop Abercius of Hierapolis (in Phrygia, present day Turkey), one of the most ancient Christian inscriptions currently known. Among other exhibits, of note are a fragmented inscription possibly recounting the "career" of P. Sulpicius Quirinius, governor of Syria at the time of the birth of Jesus, and an inscription in Nabataean from Madaba, Israel, which mentions the Syrian king Aretas, under whose reign Paul preached in Damascus (cf. Cor 11, 32-33).