Inscriptions from Israel and Palestine
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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

  • zigzag frame at sides of front of lid

  • ivy-shaped petals rosettes

  • three-columned porch front of chest

  • ivy leaves corners of intercolumnar spaces

  • entablature above porch

  • multi-leaved branches on columns

  • line frame at top and bottom of front of lid

  • zigzag border base of frieze

  • metopes within frames on lid's front

  • encircled twelve-petalled rosettes intercolumnar spaces

  • frieze of lotuses sprouting from running scroll in entablature

  • inverted leaf-and-dart pattern cornice

  • palm trees triglyph

  • line circles encircling rosettes

  • scalloped incisions linking branches of tree

  • encircled six-petalled rosettes in metopes

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
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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," JERU0188, 7 August 2026. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89