Tombstone Inscriptions (Venosa, Italy)

This monument was established over [the grave of] Abigail bat Hetsron, who died at the age of six, in the year 740 from the destruction of the holy Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days.

This monument was established over the grave of Tovah bat Jeremiah, who died at the age of five, in the year 746 from the destruction of the holy Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days and in the days of all Israel. Amen.

Here lies Joseph ben Benjamin, who died at the age of thirty-five, in the year 4582 [according] to the creation of the world [822 CE], 753 years from the destruction of the holy Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days and in the days of all Israel. Amen. May the Holy One have his soul bound in the bundle of life [see 1 Samuel 25:29], and may he wake when those who sleep in the dust awaken [see Daniel 12:2], and may his memory be for a blessing together with the righteous and the good. Amen.

Let it not come to you, all who pass by. Behold and see (Lamentations 1:12) the death of a world. Here rests Caleb ben Nathan. Pray for mercy on his behalf before his Creator, so that you will receive mercy from before your Creator, for he died at the age of twenty-three, in the presence of his children, in the year 4,587 to the creation of the world [827], 759 years to the destruction of the Temple.

This pillar was established over the grave of Rebecca bat Buono, who died at the age of sixty-three, [in the year 7]61 [from the destruction] of the Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days and in the days of all Israel.

[This monument was established over the grave] of Dina bat Juliano, who died at the age of thirty, [in] the year 762 from the destruction of the [holy Temple], may it be rebuilt in the days of all [Israel], Amen. May her soul be bound in the bundle of life, among those written [for life in] Jerusalem [see Isaiah 4:3]. Amen.

This monument rests over the grave of Azriel ben Levi, who died at the age of forty; may his soul be bound in the bundle of life together with the righteous, 770 years from the destruction of the Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days and in the days [of all Israel. Amen.]

Translated by Avi Steinhart.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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The Jewish cemetery in Venosa, in southern Italy, was located near what would later be a church, though it is unclear what the surroundings might have been in the ninth century. The deceased ranged in age, and it appears that those who died when they were older merited lengthier inscriptions. The Jews of Venosa usually counted dates from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, which was cited by medieval Jews variously from 66 to 70 CE. Those dates thus cannot be pinned down precisely, but they fall in the early ninth century.

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