Jewish archaeology

This article is a response to W. Meacham's comment on the coin-on--eye/coin-in-skull burial custom as published in R. Hachlili and A.E. Killebrew 1983 "Was the Coin-on-Eye Custom a Jewish Burial Practice in the Second Temple Period?" that appeared in Biblical Archaeologist 46 (1983).

The article focuses on the author's research on the chronographical background of the Zodiac Mosaic Calendar in Synagogue at Hammath-Tiberias. He researched to find the origin of mosaic decoration, the twelve zodiac sign, the four seasons, and Helios, which was found in synagogues in two parts of Palestine, Galilee and Judah. The chronograph of the mosaic art was extensively debated. The author further studied the history of Palestine Jews in the 4th century. Most of the work was done during the period of Hillel II.
The author concludes that the mosaic from the Stratum IIa synagogue with the Zodiac Calendar was executed in the time of Hillel II, who said to have died around 365 CE. He proposes the new date of the execution of the Zodiac Mosaic from Hammat-Tiberia (Stratum IIa) after the earthquake in 363, that is, in 364 or 365.

This article is a response to controversies that have arisen from the discovery of four coins inside two Jewish tombs of the Second Temple period at Jericho and their relation to Jewish burial customs of the period. The Jericho coins have been cited as evidence that the placement of coins over the deceased's eyes was a prevalent Jewish burial custom of the first century A.D. This unfounded belief has been used by some to support their claims that the images of objects appearing over the eyes on the Shroud of Turin are coins. We do not wish to enter into a discussion regarding the shroud and its authenticity – this will be left to believers and scientists now examining the shroud. Instead it is our intention to present for the first time a detailed description of the coins found in the Jericho cemetery, followed by a discussion of the important literature  on the coin-on-eye  custom. Finally, we will summarize the archaeological evi­dence for and against  the  existence of  such a burial custom during the first century A.D.

Titus, however, declared that, even were the Jews to mount it and ght there from, he would not wreak vengeance on inanimate objects instead of men, nor under any circumstances burn down so magni cent a work [the Jerusalem temple]; for the loss would a fect the Romans, inasmuch as it would be an ornament to the empire if it stood. , War, 6.241 ∵ In 1966 the great Israeli archaeologist and historian, Michael Avi-Yonah unveiled his model of Jerusalem during the years leading up to the destruction of the city by the armies of Vespasian and Titus in 70. . (Figs. 3.1, 4.1). It is a spectacular model, representing a city that the Roman geographer Pliny the Elder (d. 79) described as "the most famous city in the East," largely on account of its Temple. A century or so later rabbis taught wistfully that "whoever has never seen Jerusalem in her glory has never seen a beautiful city" and that that "whoever has never seen the temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful

This article summarizes the results of the excavation of a monumental Roman period (1st century CE) tomb in the Second Temple period Jewish cemetery in Jericho. The multiple inscriptions in Greek and Hebrew on stone ossuaries allowed the excavators to reconstruct a three-generation genealogy of a prominent priestly family founded by a very tall male nick-named Goliath.

This article shows how archaeology contributes to our understanding of life in the nineteenth-century Jewish diaspora. I compare several family-specific, archaeological artifact collections from San Francisco, California, to show how diaspora Jews adapted their traditional practices to modern life while retaining their ethnic identity on their own terms. Themes include the development of diverse religious practices, consumerism and social mobility, urban geography, and materiality.

La reconnaissance de l’identité des populations anciennes constitue l’un des enjeux principaux de l’archéologie en
général et de l’archéologie de la mort en particulier. Les pratiques funéraires adoptées par différents groupes humains peuvent en effet refléter certaines facettes de l’identité des défunts, telle que leur position sociale, leur héritage culturel ou, pour les périodes récentes, leur croyance religieuse. Définir l’identité d’une communauté disparue il y a plusieurs siècles n’est toutefois pas chose aisée et nécessite le recours à une démarche rigoureuse, que se propose d’illustrer ce troisième volume de la collection Thanat’Os. Au travers de diverses contributions d’archéologues, d’anthropologues et d’historiens, cet ouvrage aborde différents aspects de l’identité des populations d’époque historique, en s’intéressant plus particulièrement à l’Occident et aux anciennes colonies françaises. Il préconise une approche méthodologique interdisciplinaire ouvrant la réflexion sur l’identité des défunts dans le cas d’ensembles sépulcraux dont le statut est inconnu.

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Recognition of the identity of past populations is one of the major issues of archaeology, and more particularly of funerary archaeology. Burial practices adopted by various human groups
may refl ect some aspects of their identity, such as social status, cultural heritage, or religious belief for recent periods. Characterising the identity of communities which disappeared several centuries ago is however challenging, and it requires a rigorous approach which is illustrated in this third volume of the Thanat’Os collection. Through several contributions from archaeologists, anthropologists and historians, this book addresses various aspects of the identity of the populations from historical periods, both for the Occident and the former French colonies. It encourages an interdisciplinary methodological approach, which can contribute to recognise
the identity of individuals derived from burial grounds of unknown status.

On August 14, 1990, during the final hour of the last day of nearly a decade of excavations at ancient Qasrin, a hoard of over 8,500 bronze coins was discovered. At the time of its discovery, this hoard was the third largest ever discovered within the boundaries of the state of Israel. We are especially pleased to present the preliminary report on this hoard in honor of Rachel Hachlili, who co-directed excavations with Zvi Ma'oz and Ann E. Killebrew in the Qasrin synagogue from 1982–1984.

In 2004 we manage to complete the archaeological excavation in the square of the Jewish quarter of Teruel (Aragon, Spain), started in 2002. This was a preventive action associated with urban renewal project promoted by the city of Teruel. The stratigraphic documentation obtained has identified an extraordinary ceramic assemblage and urban evolution of this neighborhood of Teruel during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, occupied by a part of the Jewish community in the city.

Texte et slides de la communication présentée le 4 septembre 2018 au MAHJ 71 rue du Temple 75003 PARIS lors du colloque international « Le judaïsme médiéval entre Normandie et Angleterre » L'architecture du « monument juif » du palais de justice de Rouen et sa restitution Éric Follain, docteur Lyon II, restitution des architectures anciennes

In 1415, Girona’s Jewish community was confined to an enclosure physically separated from the rest of the city by a wall. It was in that scaled-down Jewish quarter that the aljama established  Girona’s  third  and  last  synagogue.  Archive  documents  show that it stood on part of what is now the site of the Bonastruc ça Porta Centre. In the interests of having a more comprehensive and accurate record of the Jewish community’s physical spaces and heritage, Girona City Council has organised various archaeological excavations at the spot in question. The most recent digs, which took place in 2014 and 2015, unearthed several structures associated with a mikveh. Drawing on all the surviving documentary evidence, we describe how those structures must have been and trace their history over the 15th century.

Tarihsel süreçte Yahudiler, ünlü Babil sürgününden itibaren çeşitli savaşlar nedeniyle ludaea dışında da yaşamaya başlar ve Yahudi diasporası böylelikle oluşur. Bu nedenle Musevî dini metinlerinde Yahudilerin yayılım gösterdikleri ya da ticari ilişki kurdukları alanlara örneğin Cilicia'ya ait ipuçları izlenebilmektedir. Eski Çağ'da Yahudiler için Cilicia'nin ziraate uygun arazileri, iklim açısından ludaea'ya benzeyen ılıman yapısı,deniz ticaretine elverişli limanları, yaşamak için cezbedici olmalıdır. Çalışmamız, yer yer vahşi doğa görüntüleri sunan Cilicia ve tarihte özel bir yere sahip olduğu kuşku götürmez kadim bir cemaatin eski dönemlerdeki buluşmasını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Böylelikle Yahudilerin Cilicia'daki varlıkları, somut verilerle okurlara sunulmaya çalışılmaktadır.

Synagogue architecture during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century was seeking novel modes of expression, and therefore the remains of ancient synagogues that were being discovered by western archeologists within the borders of the Biblical Land of Israel became a new source of inspiration. As far away as the New World, the design of contemporary synagogues was influenced by discoveries such as by the American Jewish architect, Arnold W. Brunner, who referenced the Baram Synagogue in the Galilee in his Henry S. Frank Memorial Synagogue at the Jewish Hospital in Philadelphia (1901). Less known is the fact that the archaeological discoveries in the Middle East also influenced the design of synagogues in the interwar period, in the newly-independent Baltic state of Latvia. Local architects picked up information about these archaeological finds from professional and popular editions published in German and Russian. Good examples are two s...

English Summary: The development of preventive archaeology in Europe since the 1990s has made it possible to take better account of the archaeological heritage and has contributed to a renewal of knowledge, particularly for medieval urban society. Among these remains, our present city centres sometimes deliver the remains in connection with ancient Jewish communities, especially cemeteries. The discovery of these structures is relatively rare in Europe and should be considered as an exceptional opportunity to acquire new data other than those from textual, iconographic or museographic sources. However, the uncovering of historic Jewish tombs entails significant constraints, including the reaction of some of the most extremist Jewish groups and authorities. In fact, under the pretext of Jewish laws, they oppose all forms of archaeological intervention on their ancestors, contravening the current cultural heritage laws of each country. We might also discuss the management of these human remains; focus on research, heritage and tourist possibilities among others. This session is therefore intended to analyze known and recent archaeological works on Jewish medieval cemeteries in Europe. The objective is to present the site (location, excavated area, number of tombs, funerary and chronological features, anthropological studies, etc.), the constraints encountered with local Jewish communities and the different ways of disseminating data and promoting this urban religious heritage (exhibitions, conferences, publications, museum space, etc.).

The development of preventive archaeology in Europe since the 1990s has made it possible to take better account of the archaeological heritage and has contributed to a renewal of knowledge, particularly for medieval urban society. Among these remains, our present city centres sometimes deliver the remains in connection with ancient Jewish communities, especially cemeteries. The discovery of these structures is relatively rare in Europe and should be considered as an exceptional opportunity to acquire new data other than those from textual, iconographic or museographic sources. However, the uncovering of historic Jewish tombs entails significant constraints, including the reaction of some of the most extremist Jewish groups and authorities. In fact, under the pretext of Jewish laws, they oppose all forms of archaeological intervention on their ancestors, contravening the current cultural heritage laws of each country. We might also discuss the management of these human remains; focus on research, heritage and tourist possibilities among others. This session is therefore intended to analyze known and recent archaeological works on Jewish medieval cemeteries in Europe. The objective is to present the site (location, excavated area, number of tombs, funerary and chronological features, anthropological studies, etc.), the constraints encountered with local Jewish communities and the different ways of disseminating data and promoting this urban religious heritage (exhibitions, conferences, publications, museum space, etc.).

Bien es cierto que primero tendría que definir que es lo que considero una arqueología judía, en este caso hago referencia a una arqueología que estudie los vestigios materiales de la comunidad judía en la Península Ibérica y además aprovecho para reclamar el poco estudio que se hace sobre lo "marginal", en arqueología se tiende a estudiar lo monumental, las grandes viviendas de los ricos o los centros de poder, marginando así a las minorías culturales o las mayorías sin poder, pero que en el fondo eran quien sostenía esas sociedades del pasado que tanto queremos reconstruir, pero si no las reconstruimos en su totalidad sería una estafa a la ciencia, al pasado, al presente y al futuro.

Archaeology and Text: Toward Establishing a Meaningful Dialogue between Written Sources and Material Finds.
National Library in Jerusalem and Ariel University, May 10-11 2015

Title: “Traditions of the Rock: Discerning and Defining Ancient Jewish Burial Grounds in Rome”

Speaker: Jessica Dello Russo, Executive Director, International Catacomb Society and Doctoral Candidate, Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology

Abstract: The modern discovery and exploration of the burial sites in Rome that have taken on the universal denomination of “catacombs” because of their structural similarities to each other and to an additional number of underground cemeteries in Italy associated with the early Christian martyrs’ cults reads like a heroic epic spanning generations of humanistic conquest and plunder of ancient Rome.  From the convivial countryside outings of erudite gentlemen in a still-decadent post-Reformation age to the sensational disclosures of the Vatican archaeologists at a time when only a miracle could save the Papacy’s temporal authority over Rome, the power and the glory of Roman Catholicism was made to emanate from the discovery of specific groupings of long-forgotten Roman dead.  Special regulations governing the access to and study of these burial sites were put into place by the Papal Curia at a very early period of the catacombs' detection and study, and the manner in which their artifacts were extracted and displayed also made “catacomb archaeology” a very distinct activity in the field, some would say even into our present time. 
A question that archaeologists have had to contend with time and time again is that of the catacombs’ “Christian” nature, that is, how the structural and material evidence of the tombs relates to the textual sources for early Christianity and maintain a degree of continuity of Roman Catholic devotional practices from antiquity to the present.  This is the point when the story reads more like a detective novel than a romance, for the evidence is not at all clear as to which aspects of Christian life and devotion are actually represented, especially in the earliest phases of the excavation and use of these sites for burial in late Imperial times. 
A key factor used both in support and in denial of the catacombs' special relationship to the early Church is the undeniable presence of Jewish tombs in collective underground settings in Rome – the “Jewish catacombs” that in form and function are virtually identical to their so-called “Christian” counterparts at the time the catacombs were simply places for burial, rather than the evocative settings for Medieval martyrs’ shrines.  How these non-Christian tombs were pushed to the margins of research into the catacombs until quite recently brings a uncertain note to the tale, and one that needs elaboration in order to clarify the presence of both Jews and Christians in the cemeteries of Late Ancient Rome. This paper to present at the "Archaeology and Text" conference identifies the critical periods of Roman catacomb history – from the time they were burial sites in antiquity to the point when they became a source of apologetic evidence for the Counter-Reformation Church and its later resistance to secularization – and examines how the sites long conveyed a universal statement of Christianity at the expense of an equitable documentation of their habitat and distribution that comprised as well of the tombs of many Jews.

Results of the recent archaeological intervention in the Jewish quarter of Lorca castle, in the 27th EAA Annual Meeting (Kiel Virtual, 2021).

Author: Jorge A. Eiroa Rodríguez. Co-author: Andrés Martínez Rodríguez, José Ángel González Ballesteros, Mireia Celma Martínez y María Isabel Molina Campuzano

The development of preventive archaeology in Europe since the 1990s has made it possible to take better account of the archaeological heritage and has contributed to a renewal of knowledge, particularly for medieval urban society. Among these remains, our present city centres sometimes deliver the remains in connection with ancient Jewish communities, especially cemeteries. The discovery of these structures is relatively rare in Europe and should be considered as an exceptional opportunity to acquire new data other than those from textual, iconographic or museographic sources. However, the uncovering of historic Jewish tombs entails significant constraints, including the reaction of some of the most extremist Jewish groups and authorities. In fact, under the pretext of Jewish laws, they oppose all forms of archaeological intervention on their ancestors, contravening the current cultural heritage laws of each country. We might also discuss the management of these human remains; focus on research, heritage and tourist possibilities among others. This session is therefore intended to analyze known and recent archaeological works on Jewish medieval cemeteries in Europe. The objective is to present the site (location, excavated area, number of tombs, funerary and chronological features, anthropological studies, etc.), the constraints encountered with local Jewish communities and the different ways of disseminating data and promoting this urban religious heritage (exhibitions, conferences, publications, museum space, etc.).

Understood as a part of social identity of past societies, religion shall be contextualized in a historic and social frame that can explain this phenomenon in terms of complexity. Religion can be seen as part of macro-ideological discourses, such as the Crusades or Jihad, or as part of the relation between States and religious institutions, but also a form to shape social relationships within local communities and a form of political and ideological control among those who profess a different faith of the rulers. The main aim will be to explore the possibilities and limits of archaeology to study religion as a social phenomenon in past societies and to shape its importance in different case studies within a long-term view. The session will discuss religion both in its importance as a state institution and as a social form of identification within local communities and minority religions, and also the conflicts derived from the contact of those spheres, as for example when internal transformations from radicalization of some groups within major religions are produced. The first groups were targeted by stigma and discrimination, especially when religious differences are correlated with other instances of social identity, such as ethnicity. The seconds have been agents of change at different times, causing not only cultural reforms, but above all economic, political and social transformation. Both are needed to understand the role of religion as a part of social identity, and serve to understand the cultural complexity of the Middle Ages and beyond. Which kind of material record is available for the study of these groups? What are the main differences of minorities and radical versus majorities beyond the cults? How does religion reinforce their identities in relation to others? These are some of the questions we intend to address in this session. Presentation Preference-Regular session (half day)

"Composante importante de la société médiévale, la communauté juive a longtemps été abordée par les historiens sous les seuls aspects du domaine économique, légal ou événementiel (pogrom notamment). De la même façon, l’enseignement dans le système scolaire (au collège notamment) n’aborde le judaïsme médiéval que par l’étude d’une religion ou la discrimination de ces populations.
Le développement depuis une vingtaine d’années de l’archéologie préventive en France mais aussi en Europe a permis la mise au jour de vestiges du judaïsme (synagogues, bains rituels, espaces funéraires …) que les archéologues ont parfois du mal a reconnaître et interpréter en raison notamment du peu d’études en ce domaine. Ces nouvelles données ont toutefois été exploitées par de nombreuses publications ou présentation envers la communauté scientifiques et le grand public. La conjonction des travaux de recherche des historiens et des archéologues sur une thématique commune permet la confrontation des données et livre ainsi un regard nouveau sur les communautés juives médiévales.
L’étude des cimetières de ces populations se heurte au peu de sources textuelles mais surtout à  l’extrême rareté des espaces funéraires juifs encore conservés sur le territoire français. Pour cette raison, la reconnaissance des vestiges archéologiques de ces cimetières sont primordiales. A ce jour, seuls trois sites (Ennezat, Châlons-en-Champagne et Châteauroux) ont fait l’objet de diagnostics ou de fouilles partielles entre 1992 et 2003 pour la France. Les données recueillies, associées aux sources textuelles, à l’iconographie ainsi qu’aux autres exemples archéologiques européens (Angleterre, Espagne, Tchéquie, Suisse) permettent d’élaborer une première synthèse notamment sur la localisation de ces cimetières et des pratiques funéraires spécifiques à ces communautés juives. Ces premiers travaux permettent de proposer aux archéologues des éléments pour une meilleure identification de ces vestiges et permettront, à termes, de compléter et d’affiner une synthèse à l’échelle européenne.
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