Matzevah OCR
The stone still speaks — in Hebrew, and we translate it.
A matzevah carries names, dates, and a lineage — but it’s written in Hebrew, in calendar years you can’t Google, and in acronyms even fluent readers pause over. We read the stone, decode the abbreviations, and turn it into a cited line in your family story.
From photo to family fact
Read, decode, connect
Reads the Hebrew
OCR tuned for Hebrew script lifts the inscription off a weathered stone — names, dates, and the Hebrew calendar year.
Decodes the acronyms
The abbreviations carved into every matzevah are expanded and explained, so the stone reads as a sentence, not a puzzle.
Feeds your narrative
A decoded “son of Yosef” becomes a cited link in your family tree — the gravestone itself is the source.
Raw photo → decoded inscription
Toggle the stone open
This example is illustrative and clearly marked. Switch between the raw photo and the OCR + translation to see what we lift off the stone.
Illustrative matzevah — synthetic sample, not a real grave marker.
The abbreviations, explained
A small key to a closed language
- פ״נPo Nikbar / Po Nitman“Here lies” — the opening line of most Jewish gravestones.
- תנצב״הT.N.Tz.B.H.“May their soul be bound up in the bond of life” — the closing blessing.
- ז״לZichrono Li'vracha“Of blessed memory” — placed after the deceased’s name.
- בן / בתben / bat“son of” / “daughter of” — the link that rebuilds a lineage.
Why this is different
Find a Grave transcriptions are typed in by hand, one volunteer at a time, and BillionGraves photographs the stone but never decodes the Hebrew acronyms. We read the Hebrew, expand the abbreviations, and turn the stone into a cited fact in your family story.