Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine

This ossuary has an inner ledge on three sides; cornice on all sides; cavetto above the base on front, left and right sides, which is unusual in this collection; and low feet. Lid is missing. Ornamentation, on the front side, consists of three metopes and bead-and-reel patterned triglyphs. A six-petalled rosette inside a zigzag circle, with petal-tips linked by segments, makes up the central metope. In the two outer metopes, we find twelve-petalled rosettes, with rounded petal-tips, inside zigzag circles. The incised name appears twice (represented here as one continuous inscription): once centered at the top of the front side, in small letters, and once in larger letters on the right side. The name is probably a term of endearment, rather than the word meaning "grandfather." It derives from πἁππας, "papa," for "father." The similar Παπἱας/פפיס, פפיס and Παππἱων, as well as the name "Imma" from Hebrew אמא, "mother," are all attested in other Jerusalem ossuaries. Repetition of the name might have expressed mourners' grief over the deceased, or it might have been rewritten when a first inscription was deemed unsatisfactory. Dimensions in parentheses refer to length and width including cornice.