Sarcophagus with Aramaic inscription for Queen Sadan (Queen Helena?) from Jerusalem (JLM0128)
Dublin Core
Title
Sarcophagus with Aramaic inscription for Queen Sadan (Queen Helena?) from Jerusalem (JLM0128)
Description
Limestone sarcophagus with a two-line Aramaic inscription for Queen Sadan (or Tsadan), possibly to be identified with Queen Helena of Adiabene (in Mesopotamia) from the Tomb of the Kings in the upper Kidron Valley, dated to the 1st c. CE.
Source
Publisher
CIIP1: 123
Date
Rights
Image rights
Image A: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Hanay, WikiMedia Commons
Image B: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Coyau, WikiMediaCommons
Images C & D: Drawing in de Saulcy, 1865, pp. 377, 385
Image A: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Hanay, WikiMedia Commons
Image B: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Coyau, WikiMediaCommons
Images C & D: Drawing in de Saulcy, 1865, pp. 377, 385
Format
Limestone
Language
Identifier
JLM0128
Sarcophagus or Ossuary Item Type Metadata
Physical Dimensions
H 57cm
W 205cm
W 205cm
Decoration
Two stone disks on each long side, and one on each short side, all within a frame. The two line Aramaic inscription is located between the two stone disks on the facade. Vaulted lid.
Summary of contents
de Saulcy (1865, 375-410) recorded the skeletal remains of a woman wrapped in a decorated shroud, which largely disintegrated after the sarcophagus was opened.
Language
Diplomatic
צדן מלכתא
צדה מלכתה
צדה מלכתה
Edition
ṣdn mlktʾ | ṣdh mlkth
Translation
Sadan the queen. Sada the queen.
Findspot
Tomb of the Kings, Wadi Joz
Current Location (if known)
Museum of the Louvre, Paris, inv. no. AO 5029
Name 1
Role 1
Name 2
Role 2
Selected Bibliography
CIIP1=Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae, volume I: Jerusalem: a multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad, Ameling et. al. Berlin: De Gruyter. 2014. pp.165-167, no.123.
de Saulcy, F. 1865. Voyae en Terre Sainte. Paris. (pp.375-410)
de Saulcy, F. 1865. Voyae en Terre Sainte. Paris. (pp.375-410)
Citation
“Sarcophagus with Aramaic inscription for Queen Sadan (Queen Helena?) from Jerusalem (JLM0128),” WIRE: Women in the Roman East Project, accessed April 23, 2024, https://www.wireproject.org/items/show/294.