Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow

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 zoor0160 zoor0160

Negev. Zoora. September 16, 439 CE. Grey sandstone tombstone. Epitaph.

 57 30.5 07.5

Frame Surrounding the text and symbols Cross (see note) Bird Flanking the cross below the text Guide-lines Set within the text from lines one through eight with an extra line above the text September 16, 439 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 adding period attribute to date element, with Periodo value.

+ ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον Θεο+δούλουΘεοδούλου Ἀλέσου, ἀποθανόντος μετὰ καλοῦ ὀνόματος ἐτῶν ξαʹ, τοῦ ἐν ἔτιἔτει τλδʹ,μηνὶ ΓορπιέουΓορπιαίῳ θκʹ, ἡμέρᾳ Κυρίου ζʹ. +

Monument of Theodoulos, (son) of Alesos, who died having a good name (at the age) of 61 years, in the year 334, on (the) 29th (day) of the month Gorpiaios, on (the) 7th day of (the) Lord (Saturday).

ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον Θεο+δούλουΘεοδούλου Ἀλέσου, ἀποθανόντος μετὰ καλοῦ ὀνόματος ἐτῶν ξαʹ τοῦ ἐν ἔτιἔτει τλδʹ ΓορπιέουΓορπιαίῳ θκʹ ἡμέρᾳ Κυρίου ζʹ

The inscription provides the date as the 7th day of the Lord (Saturday), the 29th day of the month Gorpiaios in the year 334 according to the Era of the Province of Arabia, that is, September 16, 439 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 rectangular tombstone is broken on the left side. Written in square script, the text is engraved upon a smoothed surface, which is flaked off in several places and has concentrations of salt crystals in its lower section. Below the text, painted traces of a cross flanked by two birds are barely discernible. Lines one through eight of the text are set within incised, red-painted guide-lines, which also extend one line above the inscription. A frame surrounds the text and decorative figures. The upper section of the frame, from the top to line eight, is both incised and painted red. The bottom section, from line nine to the bottom, is only painted. Faint traces of a red-painted cross are discernible to the right of the blank line above the text. The entire text is painted red. An engraved cross appears at the end of line one. A horizontal bar appears above the abbreviation of Κυρίου in line nine. The text contains both spelling and grammatical errors.

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