Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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Location

JERI0014

Judaea. Jericho. 5 CE to 70 CE. Soft limestone ossuary with chip-carved ornamentation. Funerary.
Transcription

Σαλώμη γυνὴ Ἰωέζρου Γολιάθουκαὶ Ἰσμάηλος υἱὸς καὶἸωέζρος υἱός

Translation

Salome, wife of Joezer, of Goliath's, and Ismael (her) son and Joezer (her) son

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Damaged, badly worn and disintegrating, partially reconstructed ossuary has low feet and fragment of a flat lid. Ornamentation, on the chest's front side, consists of a zigzag frame, containing two whirl rosettes within line circles with discs at their centers. Inscription is between the two circles. Σαλώμη is one of many forms of the female name שלומציון. The spelling Ἰωέζρος is consistent throughout the tomb group, with the exception of two instances of Ἰοέζρος; both differ considerably from spellings Ἰωζάαρ and Ἰωζάρα in the Septuagint and Ἰώζαρος, Ἰόζαρος and Ἰωάζαρος in Josephus, but all represent יועזר, a contraction of יהועזר. The plene form is not recorded at all in Talmudic literature and the contraction appears only once. Hachlili discusses some parallels for Ἰσμάηλος (see bibliography); additionally, the name occurs in second to first century BCE Egypt, in the Dead Sea documents, in priestly and rabbinic families of Jerusalem, commonly, as the name of two first century BCE high priests, and elsewhere, including on two ossuaries. Γολιάθ is the form in the Septuagint, inflected in Josephus as Γολίαθος. Two men in this family bore the name, 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.

Languages

Greek

Dimensions

H: 35 cm; W: 68.5 cm; D: 28 cm

Date

5 CE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • encircled whirl rosettes within frame

  • discs centers of rosettes

  • zigzag frame front of chest

  • line 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
  • 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," JERI0014, 7 June 2026. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89