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• The same artisans are mentioned in a
Greek inscription discovered on a later
mosaic pavement in side room 7 in the
Beth She"an synagogue A (fig. XII-1b):
Χιροθεσία Μαριανου καί το[ΰ] υίο[ΰ]
Άνίνα ‘this work was made by Marianos
and his son Anina’ (Zori 1967: 159, pl. 31,1;
Roth-Gerson 1987: 33; Hachlili 1988: 385;
Donderer 1989: No. A24, pl. 17, 2).
•
•
An Aramaic inscription within a panel
was discovered on the mosaic of Beth
She"an small synagogue B outside the
main pavement frame (Bahat 1981: 85;
Naveh 1978: 78-79, No. 47; Hachlili
1988: fig. X.26; pl. 106). The inscription
is rendered upside-down, facing the general
nave mosaic, placed under a scene of
a vase flanked by a pair of guinea-fowl
(fig. XII-2a); it commemorates the anonimous
artist/s who created the mosaic:
התדיבא הדח דבעד הנמוא בטל ריכד ‘Remembered
be for good the artisans who made
this work’.
These inscriptions use specifically the Aramaic
or the Greek term for artists (see
below).
Two related Aramaic inscriptions on frag-
mosaicists, workshops, and the repertory 245
Figure XII-1. Greek inscription of mosaicists Marianos and his son Aninas: a. Beth "Alpha; b. Beth She"an.
ments of mosaic pavements (dated to the
4th century) perhaps record and com-
memorate a Jewish family of artists who
also ‘made’ mosaic floors: the first, from
Kefar Kana, reads (fig. XII-2b):
ןודבעד יונבו הטוב רב םוחנת רב הסוי בטל רכיד
ןמא התכרב ןוהל יהת הלבט הדה ‘Honored be
the memory of Yoseh, son of Tanhum,
son of Butah, and his sons, who made this
pavement; may it be a blessing for them.
Amen’.
The other is a fragmentary inscription
from Sepphoris, which reads (fig. XII-2c):
[ד...] ר [ב] םוח [נת רב] ןדוי יבר [בטל] ריכד
דח בהי ‘Honored be the memory of Rabbi
Yudan the son of Tanhum the son of…’
(Avi-Yonah 1981b: nos. 167, 296; Naveh
1978: 51-53, nos. 29,30; Hachlili 1988: 384,
fig. XV, 1d,e).
Both these inscriptions mention a family
of three generations: Yoseh and Yudan,
sons of Tanhum, son of Buta, who ‘made’
mosaic pavements. Avi-Yonah (1981b: 375,
after Klein) proposes that these inscriptions
attest to a family of artists with an inherited
craft; but see Naveh, 1978: 51-52, who
suggests that these are dedicatory inscriptions.
• An Aramaic inscription in one of
the aisles
of the Gerasa synagogue reads: