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4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1300
TM IDTM 97442
Findspot (DEChriM ID)68   (al-Filusiyya)
ClassFunerary element, Textual
MaterialStone
Writing mediumInscription
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek
Description

SEG XXVIII 1468; SEG XLVII 2126 descr.: Epitaph of Ouersenouphis (Orsenouphis).

Anthropomorphic stela of beach-rock, of which the head is lost. Above the inscription, three crosses 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 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

Tel Aviv, Private collection Dayan.

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. 7, p. 401-402.

Editio princeps

• Lifshitz, B. 1971b. "Inscriptions de Sinaï et de Palestine." Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 7, 151-163 (no. 14, p. 158-159).

• Lifshitz, B. 1971a. "מצבות-קבר קדומות מצפון סיני (Ancient Tombstones in Northern Sinai)." Qadmoniot: A Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible Lands 1 (13), 24-26 (with pl.).

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 28-1465-1468. Bardawil (lake = Lake Serbonis; area of). Tombstones.” 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. 110).  

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 1300", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1300
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