Anyone here able to read the Jewish language that would have been used on an 1863 headstone?

[Up2Late]

I just photographed a very old family headstone of one of my Great-grand-father's brothers who died just short of 6 months old back in 1863 in Columbus, Georgia, and the English inscription is illegible, but I think the Jewish language inscription might still be legible if you are able to read the language.

I'll post a link to it online if anyone here wants to give it a look.

Also, is there a central database for Jewish cemetery vandalism? I don't know when it happened, but this cemetery was clearly vandalized at some point and our loved one's grave was not excluded from that destructive act.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. You can post it here.

I can ask various friends what they can read.

As for the vandalism, contact your local ADL chapter. You can go to the main page: www.adl.org and you will see a tab at the top for "regional" offices. If you find out there is a national database of vandalized cemeteries, please relay that information back here. Thanks!

[Up2Late]

2. O.K., thanks, here's the link to my Webshots album

There are 6 shots of it from few different angles and two levels of brightness.

The first of the six photos is at the link below, but just click the thumbnail picture in the upper right to see the others. Click the "Full Size" link next to the thumbnails to see it a lot bigger:

<http://family.webshots.com/photo/2345703730102607306moKMfp>

The darker ones start at this link:

<http://family.webshots.com/photo/2847029070102607306AvOtBP?vhost=family>

The full album is at this link:

<http://family.webshots.com/album/562811003HuclJT?vhost=family>

According to cemetery records, recorded a few years ago, the English inscription reads, "In Loving Memory of Elias Rothschild, Born in Columbus, Ga. January 25 and Died July 21, 1863"

I'm sure some of the Hebrew inscription won't be legible, because it has a giant crack running right through the inscription, and it's really old, so just do the best you can.

Also, feel free to check out my other pictures. I shot them last weekend with my first good digital camera during a trip to Columbus Georgia with my Dad to do a little family research and see if this grave was actually there. It's a Canon 570is, it's pretty good.

Let me know if you have any technical problems, if so, I'll try something else.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. This is from DU'er "eyl"

"I can't really make out most of the letters. That said:

The two letters on the top are pei and nun, an aconym for po nitman - "Here lies", basically.

First row - the first word might be "Hiller", and I think the rest of the line reads "Elia bar" - which would mean "Hiller Elia son of"

Second line - first word looks like "Yehoshua" - the Hebrew form of Joshua. I can't make out the first half of the next wor (or possibly it's two words) but the second half appears to be "yev" (as in part of a family namy, e.g. "Lebayev"). I can't make out the rest

Third line - this line is almost illegible due to the crack. The word over the place where the crack "dips" down seems to be "ksherim", as in Kosher or good.

Sorry I couldn't be more help."

I was asked by eyl to post this for him.

[Up2Late]

4. Thanks for trying, I was afraid of that...

...that most of the important info would be hidden by the crack and the less than ideal lighting.

I might be going back to Columbus in November and might see if I can't get a little better lighting or even a stone rubbing then.

If anyone else wants to take another look, I welcome it, but it sounds like eyl got most of what can be read.

In other good news/bad news, I think I just found the missing record at Yad Vashem for when my Grand-father's brother was deported from France to Auschwitz, Transport 26 from Drancy, 31 Aug 1942.

[Lithos]

5. Take a large piece of paper with you

And some graphite. Cover the monument, then very lightly shade the paper. Should help make the lettering stand out better.

Note: Only do this if you think the stone can withstand even the light pressure of the rubbing. If the stone is soft, then do NOT do what I just described as it could damage the headstone. You can experiment on a corner or something.