The Theodotus Inscription


DESCRIPTION
Language: Greek
(Uncial characters)
Medium: limestone
Size: 75 centimeters long
41 centimeters high
Length: 10 lines of writing
Genre: Dedication Inscription
Approximate Date: 1st century CE
Place of Discovery: Mt. Ophel
in Jerusalem
Date of Discovery: 1913
Excavator: Raimond Weill
Current Location: Rockefeller Museum
(East Jerusalem)
Inventory Number: S 842
Inscription Number:
CIJ 2.1404
(Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum)





Theodotus Inscription
Photo from: Shanks (1979)
TEXT
(The SYMBOL font is required to view this in Greek)
GREEK


    QEODOTOS . OUETTENOU . IEREUS . KAI
    ARCISUNAGWGOS . UIOS . ARCISUN[AGW]-
    G[O]U . UIONOS . ARCISUN[A]GWGOU . WKO-
    DOMHSE . THN . SUNAGWG[H]N . EIS . AN[AG]NW-
    S[I]N . NOMOU . KAI . EIS . [D]IDACHN . ENTOLWN KAI
    TON . XENWNA . KA[I . TA] . DWMATA . KAI . TA . CRH-
    S[T]HRIA . TWN . UDATWN . EIS . KATALUMA . TOI-
    S . [C]RHZOUSIN . APO . THS . XE[N]HS . HN . EQEME-
    L[IW]SAN . OI . PATERES . [A]UTOU . KAI . OI . PRE-
    S[B]UTEROI . KAI . SIMWN[I]DHS

Note: Since HTML tends to crowd letters (as did many ancient scribes!), I have inserted periods between the words for clarity. Furthermore, the original does not include hyphens to indicate word-breaks.)
TRANSLATION
by K. C. Hanson & Douglas E. Oakman


      Theodotus, son of Vettanos, a priest and
      an archisynagogos,* son of an archisynagogos
      grandson of an archisynagogos, built
      the synagogue for the reading of
      Torah and for teaching the commandments;
      furthermore, the hostel, and the rooms, and the water
      installation for lodging
      needy strangers. Its foundation stone was laid
      by his ancestors, the
      elders, and Simonides

* a leader of the synagogue




DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

    1. Why would it have been important for Theodotus to identify not only himself but his father and grandfather as well as archisynagogoi? As priests?

    2. What was the role of an archisynagogos? Was it limited to Israelite males? What is the evidence? How did one become an archisynagogos ?
    3. What are the dating problems associated with synagogues as buildings in Jerusalem and Judea? Where was this inscription found in Jerusalem?
    4. What would it have meant to have a "hostel" associated with the synagogue? What purposes would it have served?
    5. Besides archisynagogos and priest, what social role does Theodotus ascribe to himself in this inscription? Why would that have been important in the ancient Mediterranean?
    6. Click here to visit Donald D. Binder's Website on Second Temple Synagogues.



SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Atkinson, K. "Synagogues in Judea." New Testament Studies 43 (1997) 491-502.
    Binder, Donald D. Into the Temple Courts: The Place of the Synagogues in the Second Temple Period. SBL Dissertation Series 169. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1999.
    Binder, Donald D. Second Temple Synagogues (Website).
    Brooten, Bernadette. Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue. Brown Judaic Studies 36. Chico, Calif.: Scholars, 1982.
    Deissmann, Adolf. "Appendix V: The Synagogue Inscription of Theodotus at Jerusalem." In Light from the Ancient East: The New Testament Illustrated by Recently Discovered Texts of the Graeco-Roman World, 439-41 + Fig. 80. Translated by L. R. M. Strachan. New York: Harper & Row, 1928. (Reprinted by Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.)
    Frey, Jean Baptiste. Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaicarum. Vol. 2. Rome: Poniticio Instituto di Archeologia Christiana, 1936-52.
    Grabbe, Lester. "Synagogues in Pre-70 Palestine: A Re-Assessment." Journal of Theological Studies 39 (1988) 401-10.
    Hanson, K. C., and Douglas E. Oakman. Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.
    Horsley, G. H. R. "An Archisynagogos of Corinth?" In New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 1987:213-20.
    Kee, Howard Clark. "The Transformation of the Synagogue after 70 CE: Its Import for Early Christianity." New Testament Studies 36 (1990) 1-24.
    Kee, Howard Clark. "The Changing Meaning of Synagogue: A Response to Richard Oster." New Testament Studies 40 (1994) 281-83.
    Kee, Howard Clark. "Defining the First-Century CE Synagogue." New Testament Studies 41 (1995) 481-500.
    Meyer, Eric M. "Synagogue." In Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by D. N. Freedman, 5.251-60. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
    Riesner, Rainer. "Synagogues in Jerusalem." In The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting. Vol. 4: Palestinian Setting. Edited by R. Baukham, 179-211. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
    Setzer, Claudia J. "Rulers of the Synagogue." In Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by D. N. Freeman, 5.841-42. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
    Shanks, Hershel. Judaism in Stone: The Archaeology of Ancient Synagogues. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.


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Last Modified: 15 May 2002