Matzevah

A masseba, matzeva or mazzebah (Biblical Hebrew: מַצֵּבָה, romanized: maṣṣēḇā, lit.'pillar, stele, baetyl', plural maṣṣēḇoṯ) is a term used in the Hebrew Bible for a baetyl, a type of sacred column or standing stone. In the Septuagint, it is translated as Koine Greek: στήλη, romanized: stēlē (stele).

Archaeologists have adopted the term for these stones in Canaan and the pre-Islamic ArabNabataean Kingdom. In the context of Jewish funerary practices, the term matzevah, pl. matzevot, is used for grave markers or tombstones.