Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
About Stories Resources Contact

Images

No images available

Location

JERU0137

Judaea. Jerusalem. 20 BCE to 70 CE. Soft limestone ossuary with finely incised ornamentation. Funerary.
Transcription

אחא ויעקוב ברה

Translation

Aha and Ya'aqov, his son

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Broken and reconstructed ossuary has red wash and low feet. Height describes that of chest plus that of gabled lid with fingergrips. Ornamentation, on the chest's front side, consists of four metopes in a zigzag frame, a frieze at top and base of interlaced semi-circles with zigzag border, and vestiges of a palm-tree motif replacing triglyphs. Zigzag semi-circles indicate ascending branches, mirrored by roots. Each metope contains a six-petalled rosette within a zigzag circle, with zigzags overlaying petals and zigzag quarter-circles in outer corners. אחא is a contraction of אחיהו or אחאב, common in Talmudic literature only from the late-second century CE, but occuring also on an ostracon from Samaria and on seventh century BCE seal-impressions on Judaean jar-handles.

Languages

Aramaic, Hebrew

Dimensions

H: 31.5+5 cm; W: 68 cm; D: 29.5 cm

Date

20 BCE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • zigzags overlaying petals

  • palm-tree motif replacing triglyphs

  • zigzag semi-circles indicating branches and roots tree

  • zigzag frame front of chest

  • metopes within frames

  • frieze of semi-circles top and bottom edges of front of chest

  • encircled six-petalled rosettes in metopes

  • zigzag quarter-circles outer corners of metopes

  • 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
View XML

Cite This Inscription

IIP is committed to the idea that the public good is best served by keeping our data free for use and reuse. You can cite and use this inscription under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Note also that all images are either in the public domain or used with permission, and unless noted we do not hold copyright to them. For permission to reuse the images, please contact the copyright holder, noted in the illustration credit.

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," JERU0137, 12 September 2026. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89