‘Diocletian oppressed the inhabitants of Paneas’ (ySheb. 9:2): A New Tetrarchic boundary stone from Abel Beth Maacah

Abstract

Excavators of tell Abel Beth Maacah in northern Israel uncovered a Tetrarchic boundary stone reused as a cover for a Mamluk-period grave. The inscription mentions a hitherto unknown imperial surveyor (censitor). It is suggested that this individual may have been a colleague of Aelius Statutus, the censitor recorded on the boundary stones of the province of Syria Phoenice. Additionally, the inscription reveals two new toponyms: ‘Tirthas’ and ‘Golgol’, which may correspond to preserved toponyms Kh. Turritha and Tell ʿAjul, respectively. These locations were last recorded by the Survey of Western Palestine (SWP). The paper places this discovery in the context of other boundary stones in the Paneas/Caesarea-Phillipi territory and attempts to explain their extraordinary concentration in light of Diocletianic tax reforms and rabbinic sources. The authors suggest that the territory was probably filled with fields and farms owned by small landholders who paid their taxes independently of the city, providing insight into the complex relationship between taxation, land ownership, and settlement history.