During the excavation, a significant discovery was made near the entrance of a burial chamber. A tabula ansata, a handled, inscribed tablet characteristic of the Roman Imperial era, bearing inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic, was unearthed. (The parenthetical phrase "May he rest in peace," likely referring to Jesus Christ based on the mention of a monogram, is grammatically misplaced and thematically unconnected, thus removed.) The ancient texts offer valuable insights into the cultural history of the region.Follow the link for a photo of the tombstone.[...]
I've been sitting on this one until I could dig up more information, since some of it didn't sound right.
For a detailed technical analysis, see this open-access article by in Anatolia Antiqua XXVIII (2020): New Inscriptions in Aramaic/Early Syriac and Greek from the Cemeteries of Edessa by Bekir Çetin, Müslüm Demir, Alain Desreumaux, John Healey et Peter Liddel., https://doi.org/10.4000/anatoliaantiqua.1384. Scroll down to the section "A Greek/Aramaic bilingual inscription on a broken stone stretcher (probably a lintel) from the doorway of Kızılkoyun Tomb M 54 (Figs. 3, 6)."
Back to the Greek City Times article.
First, for obvious reasons, a phrase "May he rest in peace" would scarcely refer to Jesus. In fact the Aramaic text should arguable (based on the Greek parallel) be restored as "This is the house of [eternity of]" (the occupants of the tomb). In other words, it is their resting place. There is a Christogram (chi-rho symbol) carved in the front lintel of the tomb and some crosses in the inscriptions, which indicate it is a Christian tomb. The texts of the inscriptions have no specific religious elements.
For translations of the Aramaic and Greek inscriptions, see the Anatolia Antiqua article linked to above.
As for the Aramaic text, it is actually in early Syriac script. The AA article dates it to the fourth or early fifth centuries.
If you're into it, the same article covers some other Aramaic and Greek epitaphs in this and another necropolis.
The Aramaic dialect of Edessa (modern Urfa; in antiquity a.k.a. Antioch on the Callirhoe) spread and developed into its own dialects and, as Syriac, became the most important language of Eastern Christianity. For more on Edessa/Urfa and the origins of Syriac, see here and links.
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