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234
(Naveh 1978: nos.26, 38, 46, 68, 70, 75; Roth-
Gerson 1987: no. 17).
Two long and unusual literary inscriptions in
Hebrew and Aramaic decorate the narthex of two
synagogue pavements at ‘En Gedi and Rehov.
The ‘En Gedi inscription discovered on the
pavement in the narthex of the synagogue consists
of four panels and 18 lines (fig. XI-4) (Mazar
1970; Urbach 1970; Naveh 1978: no. 70; Levine
1981: 140-145). The first two panels of the inscription
(lines 1-8) in Hebrew contain the names of
chapter eleven
Figure XI-4. The ‘En Gedi synagogue inscription.
thirteen ancestors of the world in lines 1-2, copied
from I Chron. I: 1-4; next is a list of the twelve
zodiac signs in lines 3-4 and the twelve months
of the year in lines 5-7a. Names of biblical figures
of three ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and the ending ‘peace’ are in line 7b, while the
names Hananiah, Mishael, and ‘Azariah, and the
blessing ‘peace unto Israel’, appear on line 8. The
second part of the inscription, a dedicatory caption
in Aramaic, is entirely different in language
and content. The beginning and the end of this