EPIGRAPHIC DIVERSITY IN THE CEMETERY AT KHIRBET ES-SAMRĀʾ, JORDAN

Abstract

Khirbet es-Samrāʾ lies some 50 km north of Amman in Jordan. It was excavated by a French team under J.-B. Humbert and A. Desreumaux between 1981 and 1992 and a large volume on the epigraphy was published in 1998. Excavations in the cemetery area by the Hamburg University Khirbet es-Samrāʾ Ancient Cemetery Project, under Abdalla Nabulsi, began in 1995 and are still continuing. During these excavations, five inscribed tombstones were discovered as well as a reused stone bearing a Hismaic inscription. Three of the texts, one of which is dated, are in Greek, one in Melkite Aramaic, and one in Nabataean. These inscriptions are presented here.