Blessings upon an Emperor?

An Aramaic graffito from Khirbet Arak Hala (1.5 km north of Beth Guvrin) was uncovered on the wall of an oil press complex. Its text is surprising: “May the memory of Lord Trajan be blessed.” (Arak0002) A number of questions spring to mind: Why on earth would the emperor Trajan (reigning 98-117 CE) be so highly regarded? Why, moreover, is he acclaimed in Aramaic – didn’t he violently quash the Jewish revolts known as the Kitos War? Why would this a graffito about a very public figure be found in the rural Judaean foothills, let alone inside an olive oil complex? What on earth does “May [his] memory be blessed” mean?

Blessings upon an Emperor?

An Aramaic graffito from Khirbet Arak Hala (1.5 km north of Beth Guvrin) was uncovered on the wall of an oil press complex. Its text is surprising: “May the memory of Lord Trajan be blessed.” (Arak0002) A number of questions spring to mind: Why on earth would the emperor Trajan (reigning 98-117 CE) be so highly regarded? Why, moreover, is he acclaimed in Aramaic – didn’t he violently quash the Jewish revolts known as the Kitos War? Why would this a graffito about a very public figure be found in the rural Judaean foothills, let alone inside an olive oil complex? What on earth does “May [his] memory be blessed” mean?

There is virtually no epigraphic evidence of non-elite Jews acclaiming any emperor in Israel/Palestine. To be sure, the Herodian dynasts cozied up to the imperator and made a big show of their loyalty (see, e.g., Jeru0320), but their seat upon the throne depended directly upon this relationship. Instead, inscriptions praising a given emperor around this time tended to be produced by military units (e.g., Jeru0491, Jeru0554) or were “public” in some capacity (e.g., Ashk0003a, Caes0027). This shouldn’t surprise us: Rome had killed many Jews in the Jewish War (66-73/74 CE) and the Kitos War (115-117 CE), and would go on to kill even more in the Bar Kokhba War shortly after Trajan’s reign (132-135 CE).

There are some hints that may help us suss out what is going on with this inscription. Just a few meters away from where the Aramaic graffito was found, a Latin graffito was uncovered too. A crude Latin inscription reads “Olive oil for Faustus” (Arak0001), which was almost certainly written by a soldier. Boaz Zissu and Avner Ecker observe that nearby Beth Guvrin garrisoned two Roman auxiliary units at the time: cohors I Thracum milliaria and ala Antiana Gallorum et Thracum (cf. Unkn0130) – not to mention that military men were nearly the only ones who spoke Latin in the Judaean foothills at that time. The complex has a number of other graffiti that seem to depict the layout of fortresses, though most have been defaced to the point where they are unintelligible. The complex was not a military building, but a civilian operation, where locals pressed olives and built a local economy around the sale of oil to nearby military units.

But this leaves the central phrase of the graffito (“may [his] memory be blessed”; דכיר … לברכה) unexplained. Boaz Zissu, Boaz Langford, Avner Ecker, and Esther Eschel provide a helpful summary of how the phrase was used in Aramaic and parallel Hebrew texts of antiquity. The parallel Hebrew phrase (זכור … לברכה) is found in Proverbs 10:7 and Ben Sira 46:11-12, not to mention the much-later m.Yoma 3:10-11, which expands upon the Proverbs quotation. A few Hebrew inscriptions from Israel/Palestine use it (e.g., Beth0247, Beth0248), as do other from the Diaspora. Aramaic inscriptions more specifically use the formula for patrons and synagogue donors in particular (e.g., Hkan0001, Esht0001). “Thank goodness Trajan placed the garrison at Beth Guvrin!” the inscription implies – as it provided an economic motor for the surrounding area, ensuring the livelihood of those living nearby.

References 

Zissu, Boaz and Avner Ecker. “A Roman Military Fort North of Bet Guvrin/Eleutheropolis.” ZPE 188 (2014): 293-312.

Zissu, Boaz, Boaz Langford, Avner Ecker, and Esther Eschel. “A Graffito Bearing the Name of Trajan in a Cave at Kh. ʾArâk Hâla North of Bet Guvrin.” New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and Its Region 6 (2012): 110-21.

Zissu, Boaz, Boaz Langford, Avner Ecker, and Esther Eschel. “Aramaic and Latin Graffiti in an Underground Complex at Khirbet ʾArâk Hâla – North of Bet Guvrin.” Pages 123-42 in “See, I Will Bring a Scroll Recount What Befell Me” (Ps 40:8): Epigraphy and Daily Life from the Bible to the Talmud. Edited by Esther Eschel and Yigal Levin. JAJSup 12. Tübingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014.

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