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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1297
TM IDTM 97437
Findspot (DEChriM ID)68   (al-Filusiyya)
ClassFunerary element, Textual
MaterialStone
Writing mediumInscription
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek
Description

SEG XXVIII 1464; SEG XLVII 2126 descr.: Epitaph of Epimachos

Anthropomorphic stela of beach-rock – only the lower part of the head is preserved. Above the inscription three monogrammatic crosses [staurograms] and some other symbols are engraved.

Same consolatory formula as in the other steles sharing the same provenance – a combination restricted to the northern coast of Sinai (el-Huweinat and el-‘Arish) according to Dahari & Di Segni 2009: εὐμοίρει, εὐψύχει, οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος, “fare thee well, be of good courage, nobody is immortal”, accompanied by the name of the deceased in vocative.

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts, Christian symbols/gestures/isopsephy
Date from350
Date to499
Dating criteria

Dated 5th c. in Verreth 2006 but phrasing and palaeography of the whole group of stelae point to late 4th-5th c. according to Dahari & Di Segni 2009.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Bought on the antiquities market after the cemetery of al-Filusiyya was looted in the early 70s. According to Dahari & Di Segni 2009: 125*, an antiquities dealer from Rafiah who acted as middleman sold twenty-two tombstones to Hassan Aqilan, a Jerusalem antiquities dealer. The latter sold fifteen tombstones to Danny Pinkus, an antiquities dealer from Jaffa, who then sold eight of his tombstones to Moshe Dayan, three of which were later purchased by the Israel Museum (reg. nos. 82.2.960, 82.2.961, 82.2.962); it is unclear what became of the others. 

Accession number

Jaffa, Private collection Pinkus D 3676.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference edition

• Verreth, Herbert. 2006. Northern Sinai from the 7th century BC till the 7th century AD. A Guide to the sources. 2 vol. Leuven, I: 5-Ostrakine, no. 2, p. 400.

Editio princeps

• Ovadiah, Asher. 1978. "Early Christian inscribed tombstones in the D. Pinkus Collection, Israel." Liber Annuus 28, 127-141 (137-139, no. 6 with pl. 23, 6.

Additional bibliography

• Chaniotis, A., Pleket, H.W., Stroud, R.S. and Strubbe, J.H.M. 1997. “SEG 47-2126. Ostrakine (area of el-Khuinat). Christian epitaphs, 5th cent. A.D.” In Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Current editors: A. T. E. N. Chaniotis Corsten Stavrianopolou Papazarkadas. Consulted online on 14 July 2021.

• Dahari, Uzi & Di Segni, Leah. 2009. "More Early Christian Inscribed Tombstones from el-Huweinat in Northern Sinai." In Man near a Roman arch. Studies Yoram Tsafrir, ed. L. Di Segni, Y. Hirshfeld, J. Patrich and R. Talgam. Jerusalem, 125-141.

• Pleket, H.W. and Stroud, R.S. 1978. “SEG 28-1459-1464. Bardawil (lake = Lake Serbonis; area of). Epitaphs, 5th cent. A.D.” In Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Current editors: A. T. E. N. Chaniotis Corsten Stavrianopolou Papazarkadas. Consulted online on 14 July 2021.

• Verreth, Herbert. 1997. "Epigraphic Notes on the Sabkhat Bardawil and el-Arisch Region in the Northern Sinai." Ancient Society 28, 107-119 (esp. 108-109).

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 1297", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1297
External links
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