Aramaic epitaph discovered in the sword cave

ARAMAIC WATCH: ‘Abba of Naburya has perished’: Unique 1,900-year-old inscription found in Dead Sea cave. Four-line Aramaic text, one of the few legible inscriptions from the era, may be tied to the Bar Kochba Revolt. The words were spotted only inches away from hidden Roman swords (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

“Abba of Naburya has perished,” the first line reads. Only isolated words or letters in the additional three lines have been deciphered, including the words “on us,” “he took,” and “the.”

The inscription was discovered in a cave near the Ein Gedi National Park in the Dead Sea region. The cave was already known to archaeologists as it contains a stalactite with a fragmentary ink inscription written in ancient Hebrew script characteristic of the First Temple period.

The inscription sounds poignant. During the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the Romans sometimes besieged groups of rebels in caves until they starved. The Cave of Horror contained what appear to be similar epitaphs on ostraca and parchment associated with graves there. If the inscription dates to this revolt, it may have a like context.

For more on that Hebrew inscription in this cave and the four swords found near the two inscriptions, see here.

Cross-file under Northwest Semitic Epigraphy and Technology Watch..

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