Notes & Queries Archive
REPLY1851

Rab. Surdam

By G. F. G. (Edinburgh)

EDINENSIS. gives the above as the inscription on a tomb-stone, and requests an explanation. It is very probable that the stone-cutter made a mistake, and cut "Rab. Surdam" instead of "Rap. Surum," which would be a contraction for "Rapax Suorum," alluding to Death or the Grave. It seems impossible to extract a meaning, from "Rab. Surdam" by any stretch of Latinity.

Topics: Tombstone Inscriptions, Latin Language, Death Symbolism