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D.V. Beylin (Kerch), V.P. Yaylenko (Moscow) – Jewish Epitaphs from the Pavlovsky Cape Necropolis near Panticapaeum

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Abstract

In 2020, 13 Jewish epitaphs were found in Jewish necropolis near Cape Pavlovsky, Kerch, the authors published them; in 2022, six more were found, the authors publish them here. All six are in Greek, of short content: they include the personal name of the deceased and patronymic. Names from the Old Testament: Jacob, Gedur, possibly Moses, Baruch, of particular interest is the Egyptian name of one deceased Iout and his Arabic nickname Usam. In total, 19 epitaphs contain 2-3 Greek names, 12-13 Jewish ones. For Jews of the Diaspora, this is an incredible result, because in Europe, Greek and Roman names are absolutely predominant. The gender distribution is also unusual: only two epitaphs are female, one is for a child, the remaining 15 are male. These gender characteristics confi rm the opinion of the Pavlovsky Necropolis researchers that a detachment of Jewish soldiers was stationed in Ak-Burun. And the predominance of Jewish names indicates that they came from Palestine, 2/3 of whose anthroponymy is Jewish. Most of the epitaphs (10) date back to the 2nd–3rd cc. AD, and 6 of them to the 3rd–4th cc. AD. The assemblage of 19 epitaphs shows that the Pavlovsky Necropolis is a unique archaeological site, unparalleled in the Roman-Jewish world, and systematic excavations should be carried out there. The “Additions” provide a critical review of the edition of the Hermonassa manuscript and the building inscription from Tanais.

Keywords

Cimmerian Bosporus, Pavlovskiy cemetery, Jewish soldiers, epitaphs from the 2nd–4th cc. AD, manumissions, prosopography.

Denis V. Beylin, Institute of Archaeology of Crimea, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kerch, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Valery P. Yaylenko, Independent Researcher, Moscow, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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