Images

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Location

ZOOR0055

Negev. Zoora. March 22, 387 CE - March 21, 388 CE. Brownish sandstone tombstone. Epitaph.

Transcription

+ ΜνημῖονΜνημεῖον Ῥούφου ἀρχιπρεσβυτέρου, παυσαμένου ἐτῶν οʹ, ἐν ἔτει σπβʹ

Translation

Monument of Rufus, the archpresbyter, who died (at the age) of 70 years, in the year 282.

Diplomatic

[no diplomatic]

Terminus post quem:
Terminus ante quem:
Notes
The inscription provides the date as the year 282 according to the Era of the Province of Arabia, that is, sometime between March 22, 387 CE and March 21, 388 CE. The tombstone is one of about 700 discovered in Byzantine Zoora. The majority of the Greek tombstones from this location have been identified as Christian. The tombstone, which is rectangular and slightly broken at the uppermost left corner, is chipped all around and flaked off in the lower right and bottom. The round, carefully carved, and serifed script of the text and the figures that appear around it are engraved and painted over in red. Traces of an incised frame and guide-lines are discernible. An engraved and red painted cross-rho figure with an inverted letter ρ is centered above the first line of the text. A cross appears at the beginning of the first line of text. Traces of of guide lines and an engraved frame are visible. A horizontal bar tops the age numeral in line five. In line six, the abbreviation of the word ἔτει is denoted by an oblique sign to the upper right of the letter τ. The year numeral in line six is topped with a horizontal stroke. Zoor0029 also mentions a Ῥοῦφος, this time with the title πρεσβύτερος. The author notes that this Ghor es-Safi contains the first securaly dated attestation of the title archpresbyter.

Languages

Greek

Dimensions

H: 53 cm; W: 37 cm; D: 08 cm

Date

387 CE to 388 CE

Current location

Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Figures

  • Cross beginning of the first line of text

  • Cross-rho centered above the first line of text

  • Guide lines between lines of text

  • Framw around the text

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

  • Meimaris, Yiannis, and Kalliope Kritikakou-Nikolaropoulou. Inscriptions from Palaestina Tertia Vol. Ia: The Greek Inscriptions from Ghor Es-Safi (Byzantine Zoora). Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2005.
    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," ZOOR0055, 12 February 2025. https:doi.org/10.26300/pz1d-st89