When the PEACE project was launched, in 2017, it brought together three epigraphic databases:

1. Utrecht University: Funerary Inscriptions of Jews from Italy. Over 800 Jewish epitaphs, dating to the 2nd – 11th century CE, from Rome and Southern Italy.

2. The Steinheim Institute, Germany: Epidat. Over 46,000  Jewish epitaphs (as of May 2022), dating to the 11th – 20th century, primarily from Germany.

3. Brown University, USA: Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine. About 3,000 inscriptions, dating to the 6th century BCE – 7th century CE, from the area of present-day Israel and Palestine. Most inscriptions are funerary, but they are not restricted to the Jewish community.

4. Jewish medieval inscriptions from Toledo, Spain. In November 2020 a fourth database joined PEACE, covering medieval epitaphs from the city of Toledo . The directing researcher, Dr. Elíshabá Mata Lopez, is based at the University of Salamanca and the database is currently a part of Epidat.

5. Funerary inscriptions from Safed, Israel . In early 2023 a fifth database joined PEACE, consisting of epitaphs from the old city of Safed (Tzefat)  in Israel. The database includes 895 inscriptions, ranging in date from the 15th to the 20th century. The inscriptions and related data are the results of a carefully recorded work, conducted over many decades by Mr. Haim Sidor from Safed (Tzefat), who generously allowed them to be included in the PEACE portal.

New partners (updated May 2024)

In 2024 a sixth database will be added to PEACE: Jewish Roman Epitaphs from North Africa. This database contains 78 funerary inscriptions pertaining to the Jewish population in North Africa (present-day Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Morocco) during the Roman period (ca. 146 BCE – 439 CE). The database has been compiled by RMA student Koen van der Horst, and is based on an article by Yann Le Bohec from 1981.

In the coming months two new databases will join the PEACE portal, both directed by Dr. Sonia Fellous (CNRS/Sorbonne). The first among these is a database of Jewish medieval inscriptions from France, containing 332 epitaphs. The second is a database of ca. 60 Jewish epitaphs from Tunisia, primarily from the cities of Borgel, Nabeul, Sousse and Sfax, dating to the 19th century.

We plan to establish new collaborations in future years, so that the PEACE portal will provide an encompassing picture of Jewish funerary culture.