Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Name and function
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 100
-
AD 300
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Monumental:
Medium:
stone
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
Funds:
Price:
Placement:
ossuary lid
People mentioned:
Name:
Cunorus/qnrws
Patronym:
Diodotus/ dwtws
Status:
person of importance
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Name recorded
Occupation:
protopoleites/ head of the citizens
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Judaism
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Description
date: 2nd or 3rd c. CE description: Bilingual ossuary lid inscription. On one long side there is the Greek inscription, on the other the Aramaic inscription. The missing fragment from the lower part seems not to have contained any writing. Each inscription is flanked by two wreaths. The decorations and text of inscriptions are carefully executed in low relief. Dimensions: 112 cm in length, 55 cm in width, and maximally 33 cm high. ed. CIIP IV 3847 Κύνωρος Διο|δό[τ]ου πρω|τοπολείτη|ς קנרוס בר דוטוס רש [מ?]רו/ים qnrws br dwṭws rš [m?]rw/ym 'Cunorus (son) of Diodotus, protopoleites. Cunorus son of Dotus, head of (the citizens) of Marom(?).' commentary: Rahmani dates the inscription to the 2-3 c. CE on the basis of the letter-forms. It seems beyond any doubts that the deceased Cunorus was Jewish. The name Κύνορος has no exact parallel in Greek, although there are similar names (Κυνάριον, Κύνορτος, Κύνων, Κόναρος, etc.). The Aramaic qnrws is attested in two other ossuaries from Jerusalem see. CIIP I 84 and CIIP I 560. Yadin suggested reading the patronymic in Aramaic as dyṭws, which he rendered in Greek, which is partly missing, as Diotos but it seems improbable. The patronymic should be rather read as dwṭws in Aramaic and restored in Greek as more common Diodotus. The Greek title πρωτοπολίτης is rare, also in non-Jewish context. There is one Jewish προτοπολίτες who simultaneously is titled as πατὴρ τῆς συναγωγῆς τῶν Ἰουδέων in Volubilis. This term can be probably compared with πρῶτος τῆς πόλεως known, in Jewish context, from Mishmar Ha-Emek, (SEG 38 1586) and Gerasa (SEG 56 1921). Naturally, the Aramaic title seems to be a translation of the Greek one but remains unattested elsewhere. A similar, however not identical, unique term ryš ṣbwrh is attested in a stone inscription coming from an unknown place in the Jordan Valley (Yardeni, Price 2005). The reading of either mrwm or mrym meaning “leaders” is plausible but not fully satisfactory regarding the Greek term. Yadin proposed ʿmrym as “residents”, which is closer in meaning to the Greek part. If the reading of the Aramaic title is not of the same literal meaning as the Greek one, we may suppose it preserved a place name. Then, Cunorus was possibly commemorated as a “head of [the citizens of] Marom”. During the debate of the title in question and its origin, the Constitutia Antoniniana (212 CE) was mentioned frequently. It created in the cities of the East the status of the honestiores, which is the wealthy people, who were forced to serve in the communal offices and bear public expenses. Following that idea, Millar (1993: 376) perceived Cunorus as “a local landowner who was a member of the leading group (sometimes described as proteuontes) in the boule of Eleutheropolis”. CIIP IV 3847 Yardeni A., Price, J.J., “A New Aramaic Dedicatory Inscription from Israel.” Scripta Classica Israelica 24 (2005): 125-33. F. Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 BC - AD 337, Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1993. Rahmani, L. Y. “A Bilingual Ossuary-Inscription from Khirbet Zif.” Israel Exploration Journal 22, no. 2/3 (1972): 113–16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27925335. Yadin, Y., and L.Y. Rahmani. “A Note on the Bilingual Ossuary-Inscription from Khirbet Zif.” Israel Exploration Journal 22, no. 4 (1972): 235–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27925361
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2023-09-04 15:50:10
Last update:
2024-01-28 19:18:26
Building:
Ossuary
Site:
Khirbet Zif; Ziph
Dimensions: surface: w 55 x h 33 cm
Condition: Bilingual ossuary lid inscription. On one long side there is the Greek inscription, on the other the Aramaic inscription. The missing fragment from the lower part seems not to have contained any writing. Each inscription is flanked by two wreaths. The decorations and text of inscriptions are carefully executed in low relief.
Text:
Date: 100 CE - 300 CE
2nd or 3rd c. CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestina Khirbet Zif (Ziph) 31.478252, 35.140514 Ossuary ossuary lid
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: funerary inscription
Summary:
Bilingual inscription in Samaritan Aramaic and Greek scripts on ossuary lid from Khirbet Zif (Ziph). 100 CE - 300 CE.
Changes history: 2023-09-04 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-01-28 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2024-01-28 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
'Cunorus (son) of Diodotus, protopoleites. Cunorus son of Dotus, head of (the citizens) of Marom(?)'
Commentary
Rahmani dates the inscription to the 2-3 c. CE on the basis of the letter-forms. It seems beyond any doubts that the deceased Cunorus was Jewish. The name Κύνορος has no exact parallel in Greek, although there are similar names (Κυνάριον, Κύνορτος, Κύνων, Κόναρος, etc.). The Aramaic qnrws is attested in two other ossuaries from Jerusalem see. CIIP I 84 and CIIP I 560. Yadin suggested reading the patronymic in Aramaic as dyṭws, which he rendered in Greek, which is partly missing, as Diotos but it seems improbable. The patronymic should be rather read as dwṭws in Aramaic and restored in Greek as more common Diodotus. The Greek title πρωτοπολίτης is rare, also in non-Jewish context. There is one Jewish προτοπολίτες who simultaneously is titled as πατὴρ τῆς συναγωγῆς τῶν Ἰουδέων in Volubilis. This term can be probably compared with πρῶτος τῆς πόλεως known, in Jewish context, from Mishmar Ha-Emek, (SEG 38 1586) and Gerasa (SEG 56 1921). Naturally, the Aramaic title seems to be a translation of the Greek one but remains unattested elsewhere. A similar, however not identical, unique term ryš ṣbwrh is attested in a stone inscription coming from an unknown place in the Jordan Valley (Yardeni, Price 2005). The reading of either mrwm or mrym meaning “leaders” is plausible but not fully satisfactory regarding the Greek term. Yadin proposed ʿmrym as “residents”, which is closer in meaning to the Greek part. If the reading of the Aramaic title is not of the same literal meaning as the Greek one, we may suppose it preserved a place name. Then, Cunorus was possibly commemorated as a “head of [the citizens of] Marom”. During the debate of the title in question and its origin, the Constitutia Antoniniana (212 CE) was mentioned frequently. It created in the cities of the East the status of the honestiores, which is the wealthy people, who were forced to serve in the communal offices and bear public expenses. Following that idea, Millar (1993: 376) perceived Cunorus as “a local landowner who was a member of the leading group (sometimes described as proteuontes) in the boule of Eleutheropolis”.
Bibliography (edition)
- CIIP IV W., Ameling, H., Cotton, W., Eck, A., Ecker, B., Isaac, A., Kushnir-Stein, H., Misgav, J., Price, P., Weiß, A., Yardeni, 2023, Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume IV: Iudaea/Idumaea, Berlin, Boston, 3847.
Bibliography
- A., Yardeni, J.J., Price, 2005, A New Aramaic Dedicatory Inscription from Israel, Scripta Classica Israelica 24, 125-133. L.Y., Rahmani, 1972, A Bilingual Ossuary-Inscription from Khirbet Zif, Israel Exploration Journal 22 no. 2/3, 113-116. Y., Yadin, L.Y., Rahmani, 1972, A Note on the Bilingual Ossuary-Inscription from Khirbet Zif, Israel Exploration Journal 22 no. 4, 235-236.