Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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JERU0133

Judaea. Jerusalem. French Hill. 20 BCE to 70 CE. Soft limestone ossuary with chip-carved ornamentation. Funerary.
Transcription

של אמו של ידן יהודה יהודה

Translation

Of (his) mother of Yudan. Yehuda. Yehuda

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Ossuary has inner ledge on two sides; chest and lid share similar irregularities in shape. Height describes that of chest plus that of gabled lid with fingergrips. Ornamentation, on the chest's front side, consists of two metopes, in doubled zigzag frames at sides and top and a fluted frame at base, and a triglyph with doubled horizontal fluting. Each metope contains a six-petalled rosette within concentric line circles. ידן is a contraction of יודן, a common local name in the second and particularly third through fifth centuries CE; such reference to a deceased woman as "X, mother of Y" occurs occasionally. That phrase appears on the chest's lid, while the name Yehuda appears twice on the chest's right side, written in two different Jewish scripts. It may refer to the later interment of an infant son to the ossuary -- in which case the repetition of his name may express grief of the mourner(s), or improve upon an unsatisfactory first inscription -- or it may be the name of the son who collected his mother's remains. If he is the ידן of the lid, then the name occurs in both contracted and plene forms, as on other ossuaries from the area. Parentheses in the translation reflect the literal meaning of אמו, "his mother."

Languages

Hebrew, Aramaic

Dimensions

H: 29+11 cm; W: 54 cm; D: 24 cm

Date

20 BCE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • concentric line circles encircling rosettes

  • metopes within frames

  • doubled horizontal fluting triglyph

  • encircled six-petalled rosettes in metopes

  • doubled zigzag frames at top and sides of front of chest

  • fluted frame at base of front of chest

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. page 161.
    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. page plate 52, fig. 370:Lid (detail).
    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. page plate 52, fig. 370.
    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," JERU0133, 30 July 2025. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89