Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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Location

JERU0180

Judaea. Jerusalem. 20 BCE to 135 CE. Soft limestone ossuary with finely incised ornamentation. Funerary.
Transcription

פינחס בר יוסף פינחס בר יוסף קבר אמה כבלין

Translation

Pinhas, son of Yosef. Pinhas, son of Yosef qbr ῾mh. Kblyn

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Ossuary has low feet and a broken and reconstructed flat lid. Ornamentation on the chest's front side consists of two metopes in zigzag frames and a triglyph transformed into a rooted palm tree, with zigzag semi-circles indicating ascending branches, mirrored by roots. Each metope contains a six-petalled rosette within concentric zigzag circles, with zigzags overlaying petals, and zigzag quarter-circles in outer corners. The chest's right side, similar, has a frame enclosing an encircled rosette. The first line of the inscription appears in the right-hand metope, the second above the rosette on the chest's right side, and the third is inscribed vertically at the right edge of the front side. קבר אמה can be read as "tomb [here, ossuary] of his mother" or as "buried [his] mother," with the meaning being the same. Pinchas' name attests that he had fulfilled his filial duty. Reference to a deceased woman as "X, mother of Y" occurs occasionally; this is similar. The third line is difficult to decipher; the first three letters might be כבל, which suggests the name כבלולה recorded at Murraba'at.

Languages

Aramaic, Hebrew

Dimensions

H: 30 cm; W: 59 cm; D: 26 cm

Date

20 BCE to 135 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • encircled rosettes in metopes and on chest's right side

  • palm tree triglyph

  • metopes within frames on front side

  • zigzags overlaying front rosettes' petals

  • concentric zigzag circles encircling rosettes

  • zigzag quarter-circles in outer corners of metopes

  • zigzag frames front and right sides of chest

  • zigzag semi-circles indicating branches and roots tree

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
  • 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," JERU0180, 14 November 2025. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89