Vatican Museums

This is the most ancient known Christian inscription (late second / early third century); according to tradition it relates to Abercius, bishop of Hieropolis. Already known by legend and from a partial citation in a more recent monument (inscription of Aléxandros, 216), it was recovered in two fragments by James Ramsay in 1883. First, reused in a wall at the public baths of Hieropolis in Phrygia (present-day Turkey); the two fragments were then donated to Pope Leo XIII by Ramsay and by Sultan Abdul Hamid. In the epitaph, which uses cryptic language reserved to the "initiated" faithful, the bishop defines himself as a disciple of Christ ("of the holy Shepherd"), who had sent him to Rome ("a queen golden-robed"), to get to know the local community of baptised believers ("a people bearing a shining mark"). During his travels, Abercius "had Paul" as his companion and always ate "pure fish" with wine and bread, quintessential Eucharistic symbols.