Endnote 15 – Behold the Temple

The decoration on one ossuary, No. 1509 in the Hebrew University collection, which comes from the Kidron Valley, combines features of the two ossuaries discussed here: In the two external panels are geometric rosettes identical to those on ossuary No. 1523 (“Yehosah”); and the facade of the structure resembles the one on ossuary No. 1522 (“Elisheba”). Only the columns flanking the doors under the protruding ends of the lintel are lacking. A representation similar to that on the ossuary of Tarfon’s wife Elisheba appears on an ossuary from Giv’at HaMivtar in Jerusalem (see Dan Bahat, “Four Burial Caves in Giv’at HaMivtar,” ‘Atiqot 8 [1982, in Hebrew], plate 9:4–5). On another ossuary, a single gateway with an arched lintel is depicted (see Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, ill. 216). A double gateway with an arch between two pillars is depicted on two ossuaries. One of these was found in Romema (see Rahamani, “Jewish Tombs in the Romema Quarter of Jerusalem,” Eretz Israel 8 [1967, in Hebrew], pp. 186–192). The other, No. 1520, was purchased from the Dormition Monastery and is displayed in the Israel Museum. Nahman Avigad also reported an ossuary with a schematic representation of a double-door gateway, featuring square panels between two pillars (see Avigad, “Jewish Rock-Cut Tombs in Jerusalem and the Judean Hill Country,” Eretz Israel 8 [1967, in Hebrew], p. 131, plate 2:5).