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Monday, June 15, 2026

The Museum of Jewish History adds a new tombstone with Hebrew inscriptions

The piece, of medieval origin, was discovered in an area near Girona and will become part of the museum's collection of Hebrew funerary stones

The Museum of Jewish History has added a new tombstone bearing Hebrew inscriptions. The donor discovered it years ago beside a path in an area near Girona and safeguarded it until recently donating it to the Museum so that it could be properly preserved, documented, and made part of the public heritage.

"The incorporation of new pieces into the Museum of Jewish History, such as a funerary stele found by chance and preserved for years before reaching the municipal museum, helps preserve the memory of Girona's Jewish legacy and highlights the cultural and spiritual richness that characterized the city and Catalonia for more than six centuries," said Quim Ayats i Bartrina, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture of Girona City Council.

The tombstone dates from the medieval period (13th-15th centuries) and is carved from Girona's characteristic nummulitic stone. Measuring 63 × 22 × 14 cm, it is clearly a funerary stele that would originally have been set vertically into the ground.

The piece will be displayed alongside the Museum's Hebrew lapidary collection, one of the most significant in Western Europe. The collection consists of 29 tombstones and stelae from Girona's medieval Jewish cemetery on Montjuïc (12th-15th centuries), preserving through their epitaphs the names and memories of those who once lived in the city's Jewish quarter.

The Museum requested the assistance of Hebrew epigraphy specialist José Ramón Ayaso, who studied and analysed the stone. His research confirmed that it is a fragment of a funerary stele containing two lines of text. The inscription is simple and likely included only the deceased's name, lineage and a brief concluding formula.

The right-hand side of the stele was cut away when it was reused at an unknown date after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, when many stones from the cemetery were dispersed and repurposed. The original dimensions may have allowed for a more detailed genealogy mentioning the deceased's father and grandfather.

The inscription does not appear to include the date or circumstances of death, nor the eulogies commonly found on Hebrew gravestones. The Hebrew lettering is exceptionally well executed, with precise square script demonstrating considerable expertise and knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet and epigraphic tradition.

Despite the missing portions, the most likely translation reads: "Jehoshua, son of Rabbi ... Zerahia. Blessed be his memory."

The Jewish Zerahia family is documented in Girona from the 11th century onwards, and several of its members became renowned poets and scholars whose contributions earned international recognition within Jewish culture.