Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow

ERROR-could not find publication information which should appear in this space.

 zoor0052 zoor0052

Negev. Zoora. March 16, 386 CE. White sandstone tombstone. Epitaph.

 54 32.5 05

Cross (see note) Guide Between lines of text, continuing three lines below March 16, 386 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

ERROR: could not find taxonomies file, which should appear in this space.

 Creation Adding Pleiades IDs to origin/placenames adding period attribute to date element, with Periodo value.

+ + ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον ι + Παῦλος ΔομετίουΔομιτίου, ἀποθάναντοςἀποθανόντος + ν + ἐτῶν + λʹ, + ἔτους διακοσσιαστοῦδιακοσιοστοῦ ὀγδηκστοῦὀγδoηκοστοῦ, μηνὸς Δύστρου τριακάδι, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Ἡλίου. +

Monument of Paulus, (son) of Dometios (Domitius), who died (at the age) of 30 years, in (the) two hundred and eightieth year, on the thirtieth (day) of (the) month Dystros, on the day of (the) Sun (Sunday).

ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον ι Παῦλος ΔομετίουΔομιτίου, ἀποθάναντοςἀποθανόντος ν ἐτῶν λʹ ἔτους διακοσσιαστοῦδιακοσιοστοῦ ὀγδηκστοῦὀγδoηκοστοῦ, μηνὸς Δύστρου τριακάδι, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Ἡλίου.

The inscription provides the date as the 30th day of the month Dystros in the year 280 according to the Era of the Province of Arabia, that is, March 16, 386 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. The surface is chipped, flaked off, and worn in several places. Except for an occasional square σ, the script is round alphabet. The text, which contains both spelling and grammatical errors, is surrounded by deeply engraved guide-lines which extend downward beyond the inscription, leaving space for another three lines. Cross figures appear above, below, and within the inscription. One inscribed cross is centered above the first line of text, and another cross appears at the end of it. The author also suggests that a cross may have been engraved in the beginning of the first line. Two pairs of crosses appear within the text. The first pair flanks the seemingly superfluous letter ν in line four, while the second flanks the age numeral in line five. The last cross figure appears at the end of the final line of text. Although the script, figures, and guide-lines were originally painted over in red, traces of the paint are only visible now in the first four lines.

52