Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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Images

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Location

JERU0151

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

אלעזר בר זכריה

Translation

El'azar, son of Zekharya

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Unfinished ossuary has inner ledge on two sides and a cornice bearing leaf-pattern under rim on all sides. Dimensions in parentheses include cornice; height describes that of chest plus that of lid with very narrow gable. Ornamentation on all four sides of the chest consists of an ashlar-wall pattern inside a line frame. On the front side, two circles are incised as preparation for rosettes. Ornamentation on the lid consists of an ashlar-wall pattern within a line frame and superimposed twenty-four-petalled rosettes on the front and back sides, and line frames on left and right gables. Right gable contains the inscription. Cross reads the first line as לאית לאנש למעלה, "no man can go up (from the grave)," in the sense of "lift himself up"; Puech interprets it as forbidding burial in this ossuary to anyone but El'azar and Shappira. Naveh refutes both, regarding this ossuary as unique among Jewish ossuaries in bearing an d epigram. He reads למעלה with the sense of "his entering" (into the grave). Such an epigram would parallel the formula common in Classical epitaphs, οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος, "nobody is immortal."

Languages

Aramaic, Hebrew

Dimensions

H: 41.5+12.5 cm; W: 89(93) cm; D: 31(34) cm

Date

20 BCE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • line frame all sides of chest and lid

  • ashlar-wall pattern within frames on all sides of chest, front and back of lid

  • superimposed twenty-four-petalled rosettes front and back of lid

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
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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," JERU0151, 19 November 2025. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89