Note on Mariamne [stroke] Mara
I am getting lots of e-mail on the Mariamne/Mara discussion, and not all from epigraphers. I thought this comment that came in this morning from Bob Brewer was interesting. Bob is married to a women from a small town in Crete and this comment is based on her input:
In modern Greek, many times when two adjectives are used to describe someone (as in ‘the learned and famous Dr. X’) the adjectives are split, one preceding and one following the subject. Thus, if the Mariamene ossuary were to mean, ‘our beloved (woman) and leader, Mary’, one would say (literally), ‘our beloved Mary and (fem. article) leader’. That is, she is beloved AND she is their ‘leader’ or ‘master’. This is what I believe the correct reading of the ossuary should be (in phonetic Greek): Mariamene (our beloved Mary) kai y Mara (and leader [assuming that Mara means ‘leader’ or ‘master’]). The ‘y’ (ipsillon) is represented by a stroke and is the feminine article.
The word ‘kai’ is commonly used in Greek not only as a conjunction by also to add ‘emphasis’. Thus, someone might introduce you to a Greek audience by saying: ‘O Professor X, KAI o gnostos’ (meaning ‘the FAMOUS Professor X’).
I look forward to hearing from qualified epigraphers who work in ancient Greek graffiti texts on this matter. My sense of things, as I outlined in the previous post, which notes other examples, and particularly Rahmani #108, is that we have a genitive ending rather than a “kai.”