Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
About Stories Resources Contact

Images

No images available

Location

JERU0188

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

Ἰθαρου

Translation

of Itharos (or: "of Jethro")

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
Ossuary has inner ledge on two sides, low feet, slightly protruding cornice, and two holes bored in base. On another ossuary, Avigad explains similar holes as outlets for body secretions or for the establishment of contact between body and soil (in accordance with Jerusalem Talmud, Kil'ayim 32b), though the latter would be purely symbolic here. Height describes that of chest plus that of gabled lid with fingergrips. Ornamentation on the chest's front side consists of a porch with three rectangular columns, each with a vertically superimposed multi-leaved branch. Each intercolumnar space contains a twelve-petalled rosette with ivy-shaped petals within a line circle. Ivy leaves point toward circles from each corner of intercolumnar spaces. Above the porch an entablature, containing a broad frieze of lotuses sprouting from a running scroll, sits between the inverted leaf-and-dart pattern of the cornice and a zigzag border at its base. Ornamentation on the front side of the lid consists of a line frame at top and base and zigzag frame at sides, containing three metopes and triglyphs transformed into palm trees. Tips of their upright branches are linked by scalloped incisions. Each metope contains a six-petalled rosette within a line circle. Name is written in charcoal on the chest's right side. Ἰθαρου is the genitive of Ἰθαρος (Latin Itharus). Reich and Geva considered this name to derive from יתרא, but that name appears in Greek as Ἰοθόρ, Ἰεθόρ, and Ἰεθέρ in the Septuagint and as Ἰέθρας in Josephus, whereas here the second vowel appears between the theta and rho.

Languages

Greek

Dimensions

H: 40+19 cm; W: 75 cm; D: 35 cm

Date

20 BCE to 70 CE

Current location

No provenance provided.

Figures

  • frieze of lotuses sprouting from running scroll in entablature

  • encircled twelve-petalled rosettes intercolumnar spaces

  • inverted leaf-and-dart pattern cornice

  • line frame at top and bottom of front of lid

  • scalloped incisions linking branches of tree

  • three-columned porch front of chest

  • encircled six-petalled rosettes in metopes

  • multi-leaved branches on columns

  • ivy leaves corners of intercolumnar spaces

  • line circles encircling rosettes

  • zigzag frame at sides of front of lid

  • metopes within frames on lid's front

  • palm trees triglyph

  • entablature above porch

  • zigzag border base of frieze

  • ivy-shaped petals 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," JERU0188, 18 November 2025. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89