Image Details

The ossuary of Shlomsion. Chiseled into the soft limestone of this ossuary are Greek letters reading, “Shlomsion mother of Yehoezer Goliath.” At the bottom of this ossuary, unseen in the photo, are the same words, written in Hebrew script. The inscription tells us much more than the name of the woman buried in the ossuary. It tells us that Shlomsion’s son bore the same nickname as his father—Goliath. Since it does not mention her husband, as was customary in women’s funerary inscriptions, it suggests Shlomsion’s important status. After her husband died at about age 35, Shlomsion raised her children alone and was head of the family until her own death at age 60.