Those of us at the Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine have been hard at work lately and we’re exciting that everyone will get to see the fruit of our labor in the coming weeks. You may have already noticed the redesigned website, which we encourage you to explore. This also means we are at a new URL (inscriptionsisraelpalestine.org), though any links to old web addresses should forward to the current one (let us know if they don’t!). We have also been posting weekly on our Instagram account, if you want bite-sized bits of ancient epigraphy as part of your weekly schedule along with notifications about special updates.
We have added 87 inscriptions in in the past two months, which are all linked below. Perusing our these new inscriptions, you will encounter a number of highlights. What was important to the people of Israel/Palestine in antiquity? One inscription from Odoba celebrates the construction of a dam under the Nabataean king Rabbel II. An amulet from Tyre involves a Christian prayer and a magical formula that seeks to relieve its holder of ophthalmia. Also interesting is an unusual Christian church mosaic from Khirbet el-Shubeika that, rather than dating according to the year of the current emperor or a local calendar, instead refers to the creation of the world! This is quite unusual for Christian inscriptions.
We’ve also added images for many existing inscriptions. Beth0186, einf0001, jeru0583, jeru0592, and reho0014 now all have images for your perusal. We’re also excited to work with colleagues from different institutions to make other ancient discoveries more accessible to the public. Michael Eisenberg has provided us with many photographs from Susita/Hippos (susi0001, susi0003, susi0008, susi0010, susi0011, susi0012, susi0013, susi0016), colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania have let us use a gorgeous photograph of bshe0020, and our own Dr. Chris Zeichmann took a photograph of mare0205.
Finally, we have been hard at work, especially under the leadership of Dr. Christine Roughan, creating word lists and rich indexing. Stay tuned for implementation. In the meantime, you can see our work (beta version) here.
Enjoy!
Entirely new inscriptions (in alphabetical order of location):
Horvat Arbel
ARBL0001: 5th-6th c. Amulet. Magic.
Archelais
ARCH0006: Hellenistic or Roman. Sundial. Label.
Ashkelon
ASHK0016: 4th-7th century CE. Marble block. Dedicatory.
Ben Shemen
SHM0001: 1 c. BCE-1c. CE. Ossuary. Epitaph.
Horvat ‘Eleq
ELEQ0001: 1st century BCE. Amphora handle.
Haditha
HADT0001: 6th century CE. Inscription. Mosaic.
Horvat Hermeshit
HERM0001: Unknown. Inscription. Mosaic.
Jerusalem
JERU0027: Jerusalem. 20 BCE to 70 CE. Ossuary. Funerary.
JERU0638: 30-70 CE. Burial Chamber Wall. Funerary, Graffito.
JERU0639: 460 C.E. Slab. Dedicatory.
JERU0640: 7th c. Mosaic. Building.
JERU0641: Mid 8th C. Mosaic. Dedicatory.
JERU0642: Late 4th – Early 5th c. Tombstone. Epitaph.
JERU0643: 400-549 CE. Monument. Epitaph.
JERU0644: Late 5th-6th c. Table. Dedicatory.
JERU0645: 614-634 CE. Plaque. Building.
JERU0646: Byzantine. Wall. Graffiti.
JERU0647: 7th C. Wall. Graffiti.
JERU0648: late 6th c. Mosaic. Building.
JERU0649: 592 CE. Slab. Epitaph.
JERU0650: Byzantine. Mosaic. Invocation.
JERU0651: 6th c. Wall. Verse.
JERU0652: 616-626 CE. Wall. Verse.
JERU0653: 4th to 6th century CE. Clay stamps. Signatures of workers.
JERU0654: 586-602 CE. Column Capitals. Imperial Dedication.
JERU0655: 4th c. CE. Wall. Graffiti.
JERU0656: 21 October, 614-629 CE. Mosaic. Epitaph.
JERU0657: 549/50 or 564/65 CE. Wall. Dedicatory.
JERU0658: 400-599 CE. Mosaic Pavement Panel. Commemorative.
JERU0659: Second Temple Period. Stone ossuary lid fragment. Funerary, Financial.
JERU0660: 500-650 CE. Round plaster medallion. Psalms Verse.
JERU0680: 219–210 BCE. Stamped amphora handle. Label.
JERU0681: 203–199 BCE. Stamped amphora handle. Label.
JERU0683: 200–145 BCE. Stamped amphora handle. Label.
JERU0688: 196–190 BCE. Stamped amphora handle. Label.
Kafr Nfah
KAFR0012: c. 300 CE. Boundary Stone. Place Marker.
Khan el-Ahmar
KAHM0001: Byzantine. Unidentifiable Object. Funerary (Epitaph).
KAHM0001: Byzantine. Unidentifiable Object. Funerary (Epitaph).
Khirbet Aristobulias
KHAR0001: 701 CE. Mosaic. Building.
Khirbet el-Beiyudat
KHBE0001: 450-500 CE. Mosaic. Invocation.
Khirbet Damun
KHDA0001: 6th c. Mosaic. Building.
Khirbet ed Deir
KHDE0001: 450-550 CE. Mosaic. Prayer.
Khirbet Ein Dab
KHED0001: Byzantine. Mosaic. Invocation.
Khirbet esh-Shubeika
KHES0001: 785-802 CE. Mosaic Pavement. Building.
KHES0002: 5th Century CE. Bronze Oil Lamp. Dedicatory.
Khirbet Kafr Jul
KHKJ0001: Byzantine. Lintel. Acclamation.
KHKJ0001: Byzantine. Lintel. Acclamation.
Hura
Khirbat el-Mird
KMIR0001: Byzantine. Wall. Graffiti.
KMIR0002: Byzantine. Wall. Prayer.
Lydda
LYDD0002: Fourth-seventh centuries CE. Inscription. Column.
LYDD0003: Late Roman or Byzantine. Plaque. Burial inscription.
LYDD0004: Roman. Unknown. Funerary.
Horvat Ma’on
MAON0002: Byzantine. Capital. Label.
Tell Mas’ud
MASU0001: 400-350 BCE. Copper tube shape. Dedicatory, offering.
Nestorian Hermitage
NEST0001: Byzantine. Mosaic. Building.
Odoba
ODOB0028: 106 C.E. Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0029: 25 B.C.E-100 C.E. Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0030: Early Roman, Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0032: 8 BCE, Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0033: Early Roman. Slab. Unknown.
ODOB0034: 300 BCE – 106 CE. Slab. Funerary.
ODOB0035: 300 BCE – 106 CE. Lintel. Acclamation.
ODOB0036: Byzantine. Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0037: Byzantine. Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0039: Byzantine. Slab. Dedicatory.
ODOB0040: 88-89 C.E. Unidentifiable Object. Acclamation.
ODOB0042: 98-99 C.E. Slab. Acclamation.
Horvat Qasra
QASR0008: Byzantine. Arch. Graffiti.
QASR0009: Byzantine. Arch. Graffiti.
QASR0010: Byzantine. Wall. Prayer.
QASR0011: Byzantine. Column. Acclamation.
Ramleh
RAML0001: Byzantine. Signaculum. Acclamation.
Sirin
SIRI0001: mid 6th c. Lintel. Building.
Suhmata
SUHM0001: Aug 555 CE. Mosaic Floor. Dedicatory.
Tamra
TAMR0001: June 725. Mosaic. Building.
Tel Dor
TDOR0006: second century CE. Amulet. Magical label.
Tyre
TYRE0001: Late Roman/Early Byzantine. Amulet. Apotropaic.
Wadi Haggag
SINA0263: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0264: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0265: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0266: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0267: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0268: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
SINA0269: First-fourth centuries CE. Road Inscriptions. Graffiti.
Khirbet Yattir
YATT0001: 5th Century CE. Mosaic Pavement. Building.