Story of Jacob, Jacob and his sons

As part of the Jacob narrative, eight of the twelve sons of Jacob are depicted on this capital. As his direct descendents they would found the twelve tribes of Israel.

With one exception, they stand frontally, in the middle of the capital side, wrapped in a heavy mantle, all of which underlines the rigidness of the figures and the composition. This effect is further reinforced by the stylized trees or vertical ornaments that are found on the corners of both capitals.

The capital oriented towards the corridor (W7WB22bis) bears inscriptions, by which the figures can be identified:
IVDAS / JOSEPH / SIMEONE / RUBEN.

The clothing of the figure on the south side of the this capital differs from the others because it is not made from animal skins but, as described in Gen 37:3, it is a tunic of many colours-long sleeves. The figure – labelled as Joseph by the inscription – is the only one in movement and turns toward the right where his brother Ruben stands; the brother who had prevented his envious siblings from killing Joseph, the declared favoured son of Jacob (Gen 37:21).

twelve tunic tribe tree son skin SIMEONE siblings Ruben narrative rigidity mantle killing Joseph Jacob IVDAS Israel inscription heavy favorite descendant brother animal