
Mid-Argyll -
17
'In Nomine' disk
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Excavation Details
Not Available
Description
Among the artefacts found at Dunadd, a
stone disk bears the inscription I[n]
Nomine, in a style of lettering that suggests an
8th century origin.
Though Dunadd is a secular power-centre of the Dál Riata in the late Iron Age and Early Medieval Period, it clearly has ecclesiastical connections.
The words on the disk mean 'In the Name' - and can be assumed to reflect Christian devotion, being a shortened form of In Nomine Domini or In Nomine Dei, respectively 'In the Lord's name' or 'In God's name'. Or perhaps In Nomine Summi Dei, 'In the name of God the most high', an expression familiar from Hiberno-Latin writing.
Dunadd has other evidence of literacy: the ogham incription on the rock on the summit.
Other items were found in Dunadd that might suggest literacy, and therefore the presence of Christian clergy. There was orpiment, which was used as a golden-yellow pigment in writing and illuminating manuscripts.
Access/Ownership
Now in National Museum of Scotland
References
- RCAHMS, Argyll 6, pp 149-59
- Alan Lane and Ewen Campbell, Dunadd: an Early Dalriadic Capital.
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