Series »Epigraphik in der Hollandstraße«

»Rückkehr in die väterliche Erde – Zu den Bestattungswünschen eines jüdischen Ehepaares im kaiserzeitlichen Hierapolis«

Karin Wiedergut | Austrian Archaeological Institute

The ancient city of Hierapolis (modern-day Pamukkale) in the Phrygian hinterland of Asia Minor is surrounded by well-preserved necropolis areas, comprising a wide variety of funerary monuments and several hundred epitaphs from Roman Imperial times. These texts mostly were not memorial in nature, but rather delivered detailed information on the tombs’ owners and their arrangements for the future use of their respective burial facility. Unsurprisingly, those that lived in Hierapolis also chose to be buried there.

A (potentially) contrasting case is delivered by the epitaph of Tatianus and Apphia, who were both part of the local Jewish community. Their text contains several highly unusual clauses, one of which makes reference to the couple’s „transfer into ancestral soil“: Whoever carries out such a transfer shall then have their sarcophagus with all rights. The talk will discuss the text’s unique features and focus on the couple’s specific burial provisions: Does this epitaph deliver a lithic manifestation of the wish of diaspora Jews to return to Israel in death?