Skip to content

Funerary relief of Zabdibol and his family, Palmyra 2nd-3rd C [d/b]

Funerary relief of Zabdibol and his family, from Palmyra 2nd-3rd century, the Met inv. no. 02.29.1 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322375

“Inscription:

(On left of reclining male figure)
1 Zabdibol,
2 son of Mokimu,
3 son of Nurbel,
4 son of Zabda,
5 [so]n of ‘Abday,
6 (son of) [Zabdi]bol.

(By girl on right)
1 Tadmur,
2 his daughter.

(By head of boy)
1 Mokimu,
2 his son.

(By girl on left)
1 ‘Alayyat,
2 his daughter.

Transliteration:
1 zbdbwl
2 br mqymw
3 br nwrbl
4 br zbdʾ
5 [b]r ʿbdy
6 [zbd]bwl

1 tdmwr
2 brth

1 mqymw
2 brh

1 ʿlyt
2 brth

This sculpture in high relief shows full-length figures of a man, his son, and two daughters. It is a gravestone depicting a banquet scene that probably sealed the opening of a family burial niche in Palmyra. The man is reclining on a richly decorated couch, holding a palm spray or cluster of dates in his right hand and a cup in his left. The two daughters wear veils, necklaces, and earrings. The son wears a necklace and holds grapes in his right hand and a bird in his left. It bears a Palmyrene Aramaic inscription giving the names of each of the deceased and five generations of their paternal ancestors.”