Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 301
-
AD 500
Language:
Hebrew
Monumental:
Medium:
plaque
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
wall(?)
People mentioned:
Description
date: 4-5 c. CE description: List of the 24 priestly courses. Three gray marble fragments inscribed in formal Jewish script. Dimensions: (b) 1.5x1.2 cm; (c) 1.4x1.4 cm. ed. CIIP II 1145 [משמרת[ ארב] ע עשרה--] [משמר[ ת חמש ע] שרה--] [מש[ מרת שש עשר] ה--] [מש[ מרת שבע ]עשרה חזיר מ[ מליח [משמרת שמונה עשרה הפיצץ[ נצרת [משמרת תשע עשרה פתחיה[ אכלה] ערב] [משמרת עשרים יחזקאל מ[ גדל] נוניא] [-- מ] שמרת מש] מרת --] מש] מרת --] [mšmrt] ʾrb [ʿ ʿśrh-- mšmr] t ḥmš ʿ [śrh-- mš] mrt šš ʿśr [h-- mš--] mrt šbʿ [ ʿśrh ḥzyrm] mlyḥ [mšmrt šmwnh ʿśrh hpyṣṣ]nṣrt [mšmrt tšʿ ʿśrh ptḥyh] ʾklh [ʿrb mšmrt ʿśrym yḥzqʾl m] gdl [ nwnyʾ] m[šmrt--] mš[mrt--] mš[mrt--] '… The Fourteenth mishmeret (priestly course) … | The Fifteenth mishmeret … | The Sixteenth mishmeret … | The Seventeenth mishmeret, Ḥezir, Mamliaḥ, | The Eighteenth mishmeret, Haphiṣiṣ, Nazareth, | The Nineteenth mishmeret, Petaḥiya Akhla, ʿArab, | The Twentieth mishmeret, Yeḥezkel, Migdal Nunaiya … mishmeret … | mishmeret … | mishmeret …' commentary: These are three small pieces of an iscription recording the 24 priestly courses as mentioned in 1 Chron. 24,7-18. The plaque was most likely put up in a synagogue; it could have been little more than a meter high. Since the beginning, middle and end of different lines are preserved, and assuming that the lines all followed the same formulaic pattern, the entire inscription could be restored with a reasonable degree of certainty. Each line records the number of the mishmeret, or priestly course, the name of the family and the Galilean town in which the family lived at the time. The 24 priestly courses had rotating functions when the Temple in Jerusalem was still in function. After the destruction of the Temple and the relocation of the priestly families to the Galilee, the inscribed lists of courses put up in synagogues had perhaps only a nostalgic purpose, although some scholars suggested they were used as a way of marking times of the year. Similar plaques have been found in Ashkelon, Kissufim, possibly Nazareth and Reḥov, the longest example of such text is known from Yemen. CIIP II 1145 https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/caes0684/
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2023-03-25 15:29:08
Last update:
2024-01-20 18:32:46
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: List of the 24 priestly courses. Three gray marble fragments inscribed in formal Jewish script. Dimensions: (b) 1.5x1.2 cm; (c) 1.4x1.4 cm.
Text:
Date: 301 CE - 500 CE
4-5 c. CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestina Caesarea 32.507222, 34.906944 Synagogue wall(?)
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: list
Summary:
List of the 24 priestly courses in Hebrew script from Caesarea. 301 CE - 500 CE.
Changes history: 2023-03-25 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-01-20 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2024-01-20 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
… The Fourteenth mishmeret (priestly course) … | The Fifteenth mishmeret … | The Sixteenth mishmeret … | The Seventeenth mishmeret, Ḥezir, Mamliaḥ, | The Eighteenth mishmeret, Haphiṣiṣ, Nazareth, | The Nineteenth mishmeret, Petaḥiya Akhla, ʿArab, | The Twentieth mishmeret, Yeḥezkel, Migdal Nunaiya … mishmeret … | mishmeret … | mishmeret …
Commentary
These are three small pieces of an iscription recording the 24 priestly courses as mentioned in 1 Chron. 24,7-18. The plaque was most likely put up in a synagogue; it could have been little more than a meter high. Since the beginning, middle and end of different lines are preserved, and assuming that the lines all followed the same formulaic pattern, the entire inscription could be restored with a reasonable degree of certainty. Each line records the number of the mishmeret, or priestly course, the name of the family and the Galilean town in which the family lived at the time. The 24 priestly courses had rotating functions when the Temple in Jerusalem was still in function. After the destruction of the Temple and the relocation of the priestly families to the Galilee, the inscribed lists of courses put up in synagogues had perhaps only a nostalgic purpose, although some scholars suggested they were used as a way of marking times of the year. Similar plaques have been found in Ashkelon, Kissufim, possibly Nazareth and Reḥov, the longest example of such text is known from Yemen.
Bibliography (edition)
- CIIP II W., Ameling, H., Cotton, W., Eck, B., Isaac, A., Kushnir-Stein, H., Misgav, J., Price, A., Yardeni, 2011, Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume II: Caesarea and the Middle Coast: 1121-2160, Berlin, Boston, 1145.