AMMAN — Khirbet es-Samra, an archaeological site located some 50 kilometres north of Amman, contains the world’s only Aramaic-inscribed stelae (ancient gravestones), according to a French scholar.These tombstones have been known for a while, but I just learned of them through this article. You can read more about the site of Khirbet es-Samra and the epigraphic discoveries there in this article: EPIGRAPHIC DIVERSITY IN THE CEMETERY AT KHIRBET ES-SAMRĀʾ, JORDAN (Nabulsi A. J. and Michael C A Macdonald et al; PEQ 146 [2014]: 149-61).
Two kinds of stelae were excavated in the ancient cemetery within the site, noted Pierre-Louis Gatier from the University of Lyon. One type of stela has a regular gravestone shape dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, while the other unusually shaped stela dates from the 6th century AD, Gatier said.
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By the way, these are not the only know Aramaic-inscribed gravestones. Some were recovered at the site of Zoar in southern Jordan near the Dead Sea. They are painted (mostly) or inscribed in Aramaic on sandstone. They are from about the same period as the ones from Khirbet es-Samra. I noted a BHD piece about them some years ago. And there is an unprovenanced Aramaic gravestone that looks similar to the ones from Zoar. See here and here.
Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.
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