Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow

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 zoor0019 Zoor 0019

Zoora, October 4, 359 CE. Tombstone. Epitaph.

 49.5 36.5 8

Brownish sandstone

Rectangular in shape, broken at the lower left and right corners

The smoothed inscribed surface is weathered, chipped at the upper left corner and flaked off at the edges, especially at the upper and lower right parts. Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 are painted in red. Round script with nice small symmetrical letters

angular symbols flanking the age numeral angular symbols flanking the year numeral angular symbols flanking the month and day numeral Guide lines Between some lines of text Faint traces of three red painted crosses Above the inscription October 4, 359 CE Negev Zoora An Naq cemetery

Found by local inhabitants in the northwest corner of the Bronze Age, Byzantine and Islamic cemetery in the An Naq neighborhood south of the Wadi al-Hasa, probably in secondary use in later graves.

 Department of Antiquities of Jordan

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 Creation Adding Pleiades IDs to origin/placenames Edited metadata; corrected encoding adding period attribute to date element, with Periodo value. corrected nested choices

+ + + ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον ἈγαθαφέρονἈγαθαφέροντος ΠαυλονίουΠαυλωνίου ἀποθανόντος μετὰ καλοῦ ἀνόματοςὀνόματος ἐτῶν μεʹ ἔτους σνδʹ μηνὸς ὙπερβερετέουὙπερβερεταίου ζιʹ ἡμέρα Κυρίου βʹ ΘάρσιΘάρσει Ἀγαθαφέρων οὐδὶςοὐδείς ἀθάνατος

Monument of Agathapheron, (son) of Paulonius, who died having a good name (at the age) of 45 years, in (the) year 254, on (the) 17th (day) of (the) month Hyperberetaios on (the) 2nd day of (the) Lord (Monday). Be of good cheer, Agathapheron, no one (is) immortal.

ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον ἈγαθαφέρονἈγαθαφέροντος ΠαυλονίουΠαυλωνίου ἀποθανόντος μετὰ καλοῦ ἀνόματοςὀνόματος ἐτῶν μεʹ ἔτους σνδʹ μηνὸς ὙπερβερετέουὙπερβερεταίου ζιʹ ἡμέρα Κυρίου βʹ ΘάρσιΘάρσει Ἀγαθαφέρων οὐδὶςοὐδείς ἀθάνατος

The inscription provides the date of the 17th of Hyperberetaios in the year 254 according to the Era of the Province of Arabia, that is, October 4, 359 CE. The tombstone is one of about 700 discovered in Byzantine Zoora. The majority of the Greek tombstones from this location have been identified as Christian. Three angular symbols appear before the age numeral, with four similar (though backward facing) angular symbols appearing after it. The year numeral is also flanked by angular symbols, with the three on each side facing opposite directions. The month and day numeral are inverted, something which is emphasized by the presence of two angular symbols on either side and a horizontal bar above.

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