The Georgian graffito of Nessana () was an Old Georgian pilgrim graffito inscription written in ancient Georgian Asomtavruli script,Aitken & Fossey, p. 188 found in ancient site of Nessana, southwest Negev,Aitken & Fossey, p. 182 on the Israeli–Egyptian border.Tchekhanovets & Jojua, p. 1 The graffito was first documented by the British archaeologist P. L. O. Guy in 1926,Tchekhanovets & Jojua, p. 2 mistakenly reporting it to be a Nabataean inscription.Tchekhanovets & Jojua, p. 4 Byzantine-period Nessana settlement was located on the route of Christian pilgrims travelling from the Holy Land to Mount Sinai.Tchekhanovets & Jojua, p. 6Aitken & Fossey, p. 189
Inscription There are six graphemes in the graffito inscription and one letter cannot be identified.Tchekhanovets & Jojua, pp. 7-8 The graffito is dated to ninth–tenth centuries.Tchekhanovets & Jojua, p. 9
ႵႤ[...]ႸႤ[...]Ⴕ
ke[...]she[...]k
Translation: Christ have mercy upon K[...]
See also Bir el Qutt inscriptions Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai Epitaph of Samuel
References
Bibliography Yana Tchekhanovets & Temo Jojua (2024) Georgian Graffito from Nessana, Dating to the 'Dark Age' of Christianity in Palestine, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, DOI.org/10.1080/00310328.2024.2394375 Ellen Bradshaw Aitken & John M. Fossey (2013) The Levant: Crossroads of late antiquity, Le Levant: Carrefour de L'Antiquité Tardive, Brill, ISBN 9789004258273, 9004258272