Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow

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 zoor0278 zoor0278

Negev. Zoora. Last quarter of fourth century CE. Greenish sandstone tombstone. Epitaph.

 51.5 32 04.5

Ivy plant Above inscription Horizontal line Below inscription Angular motif Flanking age numeral Last quarter of fourth century 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 Ἄλφιος, ΑἰνίουΑἰνείου, ἈγουστοπολίτηςΑὐγουστοπολίτης, ἀποθονόντοςἀποθανόντος ἐτῶν πεʹ.

Monument of Alfios, (son) of Aeneas, from Augustopolis, who died (at the age) of 85 years.

ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον Ἄλφιος, ΑἰνίουΑἰνείου, ἈγουστοπολίτηςΑὐγουστοπολίτης, ἀποθονόντοςἀποθανόντος ἐτῶν πεʹ

Though no date is provided in the text, the inscription has been dated to the last quarter of the fourth century CE on the strength of other factors. 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 tombstone the inscription, which is nearly rectangular, is broken on all but its top right corner. A wavy stalk with ivy leaves is engraved above the text, while a horizontal line is engraved below it. The text is also engraved. All three preserve some red paint. The author notes that both names found in the inscription are also attested elsewhere at Ghor es-Safi, and that the undiscovered city of Augustopolis which the deceased is said to hail from is thought to have been located between Petra and et-Tafile. She also observes that the angular motifs which flank the age numeral in line 6 recall those found in Zoor0040.

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