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:
own property
Price:
unknown
Placement:
chancel screen
People mentioned:
Name:
Yudan
Patronym:
Shimʿon
Status:
priest
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
Levite
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Benefactor
Occupation:
rabbi
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Judaism
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Description
date: 4-8 c. CE description: Marble chancel screen with Aramaic inscription of Rabbi Yudan the Levite founded among the ruins in the synagogue. Partial single line of square Hebrew letters on four fragments assembled and joined from a broken marble floral ornamented chancel screen. The text is incised on a narrow curved panel and is framed by simple lines above and below. Size of letters: 2 cm. ed. CIIP IV 3881 [ברכתה בעמלה ן]ית עלמה ך[מל--] +יי+ [-- ון]שמע ליויא בר יודן י[רב--] [-- rb]y ywdn lywyʾ br šmʿ[wn --]+yy+[-- ml]k ʿlmh yt[n brkth bʿmlh] 'Rabbi Yudan the Levite son of Shimʿon … may the king of the universe give his blessing for his deeds …' commentary: (by CIIP IV 3881) The inscription is reconstructed from fragments in the logical manner suggested by Naveh. The Hebrew inscription CIIP IV 3878 (rendered apparently by the same hand) mentions this donor but not his title of rabbi (if the restoration is correct). lywyʾ “the Levite”: note the final alef representing the definite article in Aramaic; the spelling of the word with yod after lamed is attested in Jewish literary sources (Naveh 122). The suggested restoration [ml]k ʿlmh yt[n brkth bʿmlh] is modeled on the formula used three times at Ḥammat Gader (Naveh, nos. 32-34). Jewish inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic almost always use circumlocutions to refer to God. CIIP IV 3881 Beyer 1984: 368 (yySU 5) Naveh 1978: 121-2 (no 82) Werlin 2015: 160 https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0006/
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2022-07-21 15:14:49
Last update:
2024-03-27 15:00:08
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Marble chancel screen with Aramaic inscription of Rabbi Yudan the Levite founded among the ruins in the synagogue. Partial single line of square Hebrew letters on four fragments assembled and joined from a broken marble floral ornamented chancel screen. The text is incised on a narrow curved panel and is framed by simple lines above and below.
Text: Letter height 2 cm
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: dedicatory inscription
Summary:
Aramaic inscription of Rabbi Yudan the Levite 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
'Rabbi Yudan the Levite son of Shimʿon … may the king of the universe give his blessing for his deeds …'
Commentary
(by CIIP IV 3881) The inscription is reconstructed from fragments in the logical manner suggested by Naveh. The Hebrew inscription CIIP IV 3878 (rendered apparently by the same hand) mentions this donor but not his title of rabbi (if the restoration is correct). lywyʾ “the Levite”: note the final alef representing the definite article in Aramaic; the spelling of the word with yod after lamed is attested in Jewish literary sources (Naveh 122). The suggested restoration [ml]k ʿlmh yt[n brkth bʿmlh] is modeled on the formula used three times at Ḥammat Gader (Naveh, nos. 32-34). Jewish inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic almost always use circumlocutions to refer to God.
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, 3881.
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, 121-122, 82. S.H., Werlin, 2015, Ancient Synagogues of Southern Palestine, 300-800 C.E.: Living on the Edge, Leiden, 160.