Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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Location

JERI0005

Judaea. Jericho. 5 CE to 70 CE. Soft limestone ossuary with finely incised ornamentation. Funerary.
Transcription

יהועזר בן אלעזר גלית יהועזר בן אלעזר גלית

Translation

Yeho'ezer, son of El'azar, Goliath. Yeho'ezer, son of El'azar, Goliath

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Ossuary has low feet and flat lid. Corresponding pairs of holes are drilled through the edges of the lid and the chest's rim, two each on front and back sides and one each on left and right sides. Finely incised, short guidelines from the lid to the rim mark the location for drilling. The holes are clearly not outlets for body secretions or for the establishment of contact between body and soil (in accordance with Jerusalem Talmud), as on other ossuaries. These holes seem intended for closure, perhaps with iron rivets. No such rivets were found here; perhaps the holes were never used or rope was used for closure and has since disintegrated. Ornamentation, on the chest's front side, consists of two metopes in zigzag frames, each containing a six-petalled rosette within a zigzag circle, with zigzags overlaying petals. Ornamentation on the left and right sides is similar; a zigzag frame contains a six-petalled rosette within a zigzag circle. The name is inscribed once each on the chest's back side and on the lid; the latter יהועזר is spelled with two ligatures, of heh and vav and of ῾ayin and zayin. Two men in this family bore the name "Goliath," which has negative connotations among Jews; such derogatory nicknames, often alluding to a physical characteristic, may have originated as terms of abuse but become accepted family names. Repetition of the name of the deceased may express grief of the mourner(s) or improve upon an unsatisfactory first inscription.

Languages

Hebrew, Aramaic

Dimensions

H: 24 cm; W: 51 cm; D: 19.5 cm

Date

5 CE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • encircled six-petalled rosettes within frames on left and right and in metopes on front

  • metopes within frames on front of chest

  • zigzags overlaying petals on chest's front side

  • zigzag frames front, left and right sides of chest

  • zigzag circles encircling rosettes

Bibliography

Source of diplomatic

No bibliography available for diplomatic transcription.

Source of transcription

No bibliography available for transcription.

Source of translation

No bibliography available for translation.

Other sources

  • Rahmani, L.Y. A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel. Edited by Ayala Sussmann. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994.
    Zotero
  • Rahmani, L.Y. A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel. Edited by Ayala Sussmann. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994.
    Zotero
  • Rahmani, L.Y. A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel. Edited by Ayala Sussmann. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994.
    Zotero
  • Hachlili, Rachel. “The Goliath Family in Jericho: Funerary Inscriptions from a First-Century A.D. Jewish Monumental Tomb.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 235, no. Summer (1979): 31–66.
    Zotero
  • Rahmani, L.Y. A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel. Edited by Ayala Sussmann. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994.
    Zotero
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The project can be cited as:

Satlow, Michael L., ed. 2002 - . “Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine.” Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/PZ1D-ST89

This inscription can be cited as:

"Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine," JERI0005, 7 June 2026. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89