Theodotos inscription

The Theodotos inscription is the earliest known inscription from a synagogue. It was found in December 1913 by Raymond Weill in Wadi Hilweh (known as the City of David).^[1]

Theodotus inscription
The Theodotus inscription in its current location
Material	Limestone
Size	75 cm × 41 cm (30 in × 16 in)
Writing	Ancient Greek
Created	Before 70CE
Discovered	1913
Present location	Rockefeller Museum
Identification	IAA S 842

It is the earliest-known evidence of a synagogue building in the region of Israel.^[2]

The ten-line inscription is on an ashlar stone measuring 75 cm × 41 cm (30 in × 16 in). ^[1]

Discovery

The inscription was found during Weill's excavations, in a cistern labelled "C2". Weill described the cistern as being filled with "large discarded wall materials, sometimes deposited in a certain order, enormous rubble stones, numerous cubic blocks with well-cut sides, a few sections of columns: someone filled this hole with the debris of a demolished building".^[3]

Inscription

Raymond Weill's excavations, Jerusalem in 1913.

Greek script

1. ΘΕΟΔΟΤΟΣ ΟΥΕΤΤΗΝΟΥ ΙΕΡΕΥΣ ΚΑΙ
2. ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝΑΓΩΓΟΣ ΥΙΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝ(ΑΓΩ)
3. Γ(Ο)Υ ΥΙΩΝΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΥΝ(Α)ΓΩΓΟΥ ΩΚΟ
4. ΔΟΜΗΣΕ ΤΗΝ ΣΥΝΑΓΩΓ(Η)Ν ΕΙΣ ΑΝ(ΑΓ)ΝΩ
5. Σ(ΙΝ) ΝΟΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΣ (Δ)ΙΔAΧ(Η)Ν ΕΝΤΟΛΩΝ ΚΑ(Ι)
6. ΤΟΝ ΞΕΝΩΝΑ ΚΑ(Ι TΑ) ΔΩΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΧΡΗ
7. Σ(Τ)ΗΡΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΥΔΑΤΩΝ ΕΙΣ ΚΑΤΑΛΥΜΑ ΤΟΙ
8. Σ(Χ)ΡΗΖΟΥΣΙΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΞΕ(Ν)ΗΣ ΗΝ ΕΘΕΜΕ
9. Λ(ΙΩ)ΣΑΝ ΟΙ ΠΑΤΕΡΕΣ (Α)ΥΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΠΡΕ
10. Σ(Β)ΥΤΕΡΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΣΙΜΩΝ(Ι)ΔΗΣ

Transliteration

Th[e]ódotos Ouettḗnou, hiereùs kaì | a[r]chisynágōgos, yiòs archisyn[agṓ]|g[o]y, yionòs archisyn[a]gṓgou, ōko|dómēse tḕn synagog[ḗ]n eis an[ágn]ō||s[in] nómou kaí eis [d]idach[ḕ]n entolο̂n, kaí t[ò]n xenο̂na, ka[ì tà] dṓmata kaì tà chrē|s[t]ḗria tòn hydátōn eis katályma toî|s [ch]rḗzousin apò tês xé[n]ēs, hḕn etheme|l[íō]san hoi patéres [a]utoù kaí hoi pre||s[b]ýteroi kaì Simon[í]dēs.

Translation

Theodotos son of Vettenus, priest and head of the synagogue (archisynágōgos), son of a head of the synagogue, and grandson of a head of the synagogue, built the synagogue for the reading of the law and for the teaching of the commandments, as well as the guest room, the chambers, and the water fittings as an inn for those in need from abroad, the synagogue which his fathers founded with the elders and Simonides.