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Sator arepo tenet opera rotas
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Nick1986 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11-Sep-2011 at 20:56
SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS

This word game was discovered on a tile in the ruins of a Roman villa. Translated literally it means "The sower Arepo skilfully guides the wheels." However, if you rearrange the words you get the following:

_______A________
________________
_______P________
_______A________
_______T________
_______E________
_______R________
A_PATERNOSTER_O
_______O________
_______S________
_______T________
_______E________
_______R________
________________
_______O________

This is, of course, the opening to the Lord's Prayer. The leftover As and Os symbolise Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Could this tile have been an indication that this was a safe-house for fugitive Christians? Or is this simply a harmless word-game?

Edited by Nick1986 - 11-Sep-2011 at 20:58
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Centrix Vigilis View Drop Down
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Posts: 7392 		  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Sep-2011 at 21:18
Can ya give me a time era or dating of the structure it was located in? Location might also prove useful.
Ntl...it's an interesting and delightful bit of history.
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Posts: 7940 		  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Sep-2011 at 19:15
Tiles of this type have been found in Pompeii, meaning they must predate the eruption in 79AD. They have also been found in Britain, France and Portugal
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Posts: 7392 		  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Sep-2011 at 19:42
Well one can surmise that it is then entirely possible it was used as you describe. If we use Nero's executions of the faithful ca. 64AD...no reason to assume that they did not also have a 'church' in Pompeii on or about 79.
 
Tho one is reminded of the particular use of the catacombs as the favored structure for worship and or sanctuary... it nonetheless is reported by the early founders that places of worship were indeed also often found in villas as well. Apparently then as now... widow's and their homes became central meeting places.
 
(Now I  better understand why my Grannie's parlour was off limits on Sunday's from 0900-1300Big smile)
 
 
I know of no scripture that attests to the founding of a church in Pompeii insofar as a leaders name...for that we would need a church historical scholar..alas I do not even remotely qualify.
 
But in doing a little perusal I also found another interesting tidbit that is similar in nature...this one involving a lamp. Perhaps we will find illumination for both Nick's mystery and the following one if we only look for it long enough.Wink
 
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Posts: 7940 		  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Sep-2011 at 19:19

Interesting link. The decoration on the lamp resembles Constantine's Labarum depicted above. Perhaps the early Christians fleeing persecution in Rome set up a new community in Pompeii?
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Posts: 7392 		  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Sep-2011 at 21:23
Possibly for as we know there was a church in nearby Puteoli.
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Posts: 17 		  Quote Aphrodite Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18-Mar-2012 at 20:22
I haven't read much on Pompeii but I find this truly fascinating and will definitely look into it. Good find!!
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Posts: 7940 		  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Mar-2012 at 19:11
Another theory links the sator tile with alchemists or practitioners of ancient Gnosticism:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nh8VAAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA28&dq=sator%20arepo%20tenet%20opera%20rotas&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Posts: 7940 		  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Mar-2012 at 19:30
The Sator puzzle remained popular during the Middle Ages. Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas can be rearranged to spell Oro Te, Oro te pater Sanas: a prayer asking God to heal the individual. Coincidentally, it can also be used to invoke the Devil to help recover stolen goods: O Satan, Oro a te, rapta reportes!

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U963746Q_ZYC&lpg=PA200&dq=sator%20arepo%20tenet%20opera%20rotas&pg=PA200#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Posts: 64 		  Quote Leroy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-Mar-2012 at 13:57
I had an old book about Pompeii that devoted two pages to the Sator Square, but I can't find it anymore. According to that book it should be read boustrophedon with a reverse. It claims that arepo and rotas are not part of the square and arepo is not a word in any language. Translation: the sower holds all works, all works are held by the sower.

If you include rotas then it could be translated to: the sower holds the wheel (plough) with care.

This could be a reference to Jesus' warning: No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. And a reference to the parable of the sower: Behold the sower went forth to sow.

If you do want to make sense of arepo in a Christian context, it could mean Alpha Rex et Pater Omega.

Translation of all the words including arepo with the above meaning: the God who sows the seed holds the universe (wheel/plough) with care.

Edited by Leroy - 28-Mar-2012 at 14:00
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Posts: 7940 		  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-Mar-2012 at 18:32
It also got me thinking of the parable of the sower. Only a few of the seeds will thrive
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