Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 301
-
AD 800
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Monumental:
Medium:
stone
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
chancel screen?
Funds:
holy congregation
Price:
unknown
Placement:
chancel screen
People mentioned:
Description
date: 4-8 c. CE description: Five fragments pieced together from a floral ornamented marble chancel screen founded among the ruins in the synagogue. The inscription seems to have been in a single line, incised on a narrow curved panel and framed by simple lines above and below. ed. CIIP IV 3880 [--בון]דהִ מן[ו--]לה קדישה דאתחזק[קה--] [-- qh]lh qdyšh dʾtḥzq[-- w]mn dh[bwn --] '… the holy congregation who supported … and who gave …' commentary: (by CIIP IV 3880) It is uncertain whether there was more than one chancel screen to which the fragments of this inscription and CIIP IV 3881 and 3882 belong. The elegant letters in this inscription have a central axis and sloping “walls,” and are adorned with serifs, revealing a professional, trained craftsman. Despite minor variations in the forms of certain letters, this inscription exhibits a similar hand as that of the other two. There are local parallels for “holy congregation” in Jericho (no. 2807) and Beth Sheʾan (Naveh, no. 46). Since both qrth and qhlh appear in these inscriptions, they probably both signify the community of the synagogue rather than different kinds of entities (i.e., exclusively Jewish vs. mixed), as Barag thought, although there may be a subtle distinction, qrth indicating the town where the members of the קהלה qhlh, congregation, resided. On synagogues being referred to as holy communities in Late Antiquity, see Levine, Ancient Synagogue 236-9. The restoration of [w]mn dh[bwn] “and who gave” is based on the mosaic inscriptions from Ḥammat Gader (Naveh, nos. 32-34), where the yod of yhb has also been omitted. CIIP IV 3880 Beyer 1984: 368 (yySU 7) Naveh 1978: 123 (no 84) Werlin 2015: 161-2
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2022-07-21 15:07:59
Last update:
2024-03-27 14:58:55
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Five fragments pieced together from a floral ornamented marble chancel screen founded among the ruins in the synagogue. The inscription seems to have been in a single line, incised on a narrow curved panel and framed by simple lines above and below.
Text:
Date: 301 CE - 800 CE
4-8 c. CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestine Susiya 31.391944, 35.112222 Synagogue chancel screen
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: fragmentary inscription
Summary:
Partially preserved inscription in JPA script from Susiya. AD 301 - AD 800.
Changes history: 2022-07-21 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-03-27 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2023-12-08 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
'… the holy congregation who supported … and who gave …'
Commentary
(by CIIP IV 3880) It is uncertain whether there was more than one chancel screen to which the fragments of this inscription and CIIP IV 3881 and 3882 belong. The elegant letters in this inscription have a central axis and sloping “walls,” and are adorned with serifs, revealing a professional, trained craftsman. Despite minor variations in the forms of certain letters, this inscription exhibits a similar hand as that of the other two. There are local parallels for “holy congregation” in Jericho (no. 2807) and Beth Sheʾan (Naveh, no. 46). Since both qrth and qhlh appear in these inscriptions, they probably both signify the community of the synagogue rather than different kinds of entities (i.e., exclusively Jewish vs. mixed), as Barag thought, although there may be a subtle distinction, qrth indicating the town where the members of the קהלה qhlh, congregation, resided. On synagogues being referred to as holy communities in Late Antiquity, see Levine, Ancient Synagogue 236-9. The restoration of [w]mn dh[bwn] “and who gave” is based on the mosaic inscriptions from Ḥammat Gader (Naveh, nos. 32-34), where the yod of yhb has also been omitted.
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, 3880.
Bibliography
- K., Beyer, 1984, Die aramäischen Texte vom Toten Meer: samt den Inschriften aus Palästina, dem Testament Levis aus der Kairoer Genisa, der Fastenrolle und den alten Talmudischen Zitaten, Gottingen, 368. J., Naveh, 1978, On Stone and Mosaic: The Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Ancient Synagogues, Tel Aviv, 123, 84. S.H., Werlin, 2015, Ancient Synagogues of Southern Palestine, 300-800 C.E.: Living on the Edge, Leiden, 161-162.