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.
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
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.
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)