Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow

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 Zoor 0363

Zoora, most likely 514 CE, maybe 518 CE. Tombstone. Epitaph.

Made of local sandstone

36 21 5.8

The epitaph painted in red. The script of the epitaph is professional, but there are two corrections to the date. The circumstances of these corrections are unknown.

Painted in red. A menorah on the left. The top of a vegetal element on the right just above the fracture line. It may belong to a lulav, which appears in some other tombstones. Below the bottom line of the decorative frame. Most likely 514 CE, maybe 518 CE. Negev Zoora A large cemetery

The year of death is most likely 514 CE, but it may be 518 CE. In either case this is the lastest Jewish tombstone from Zoora known to us today. The tombstone is numbered XXXI.

 Israel Museum Collection

Taxonomies for IIP controlled values

 Initial Entry Normalized objectDesc/@ana changed region to Negev, added Pleiades ID Edited adding period attribute to date element, with Periodo value. Chris Zeichmann

תתניח נפשהדחסידה כהנהבר דמטין דמיתבחמשה באב ביום חמשי בהבשתה רביעיתהדשבועה דהיא שנתארבע מא וארבעין ותמשע שנין לחרבן בית מקדשה שלום על ישראל ל

Rested be the soulof Hassidah the priestson of Domitian, who diedon the fifth day of Av in the fifth day of itin the fourth yearof the sabbatical cycle, which is the yearfour hundred and fortynine/five years after the destructionof the Temple. Peaceon Israel.

The words "in the fifth day of it" seem to be have been added after the main 10-line text was inscribed. It seems more likely that these additional words refer to the day of the month and not of the week.At the beginning of line 8, one word is superimposed on another word (it is unclear which was written on top of which): "nine" and probably "five." This yields two possible readings of the year of death. The year 445 after the destruction of the temple (= 514 CE) was the fourth year of the sabbatical cycle, matching the information given elsewhere in the text, whereas the year 449 after the destruction of the temple (= 518 CE) was the first year of the sabbatical cycle.

תתניח נפשה דחסידה כהנה בר דמטין דמית בחמשה באב ביום חמשי בה בשתה רביעיתה דשבועה דהיא שנת ארבע מא וארבעין ותמשע שנין לחרבן בית מקדשה שלום על ישראל ל

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