Josie Sharp
FRAGMENTS from oil lamps reveal a possibly unknown ancient Jewish community in Ibero-Roman town of Castulo.
Seventeen centuries-old oil lamps were uncovered during excavations at the archaeological site of Castulo, located near the Andalucian town of Linares, shedding light on a possible Jewish community living in the region.
The community is believed to have lived during the late Roman period, in the late fourth or early fifth century AD, a time when Spain’s beliefs in the old gods were fading and being replaced by Christianity.
This has lead archaeologists on the site to wonder if the ruins of a nearby building excavated in the 1980s, assumed to be an early Christian church from the fourth century AD, could have been a synagogue.
The fragments are decorated with menorahs, and the lid of a cone-shaped jar is believed to contain Hebrew scripture. Experts remain divided on whether the engraving says, ‘light of forgiveness’ or ‘Song to David.’
Despite these ongoing debates, the existence of the pieces indicate the presence of a previously unknown Jewish community, which eventually declined and was abandoned a thousand years later.
Bautista Ceprian, one of the archaeologists working on the Andalucian regional government project, Primera Luz, aiming to uncover Jewish history, believes the building is where the community came to worship.
Mr Ceprian said: “When we looked at the interior of the building a little more closely, there were some strange things for a church; there was something that could have been the hole for a big menorah.”
They argue that the lack of typical Christian materials such as burial sites or religious relics, suggest the building was not a church but a temple, with architectural features resembling synagogues found in Palestine.
“Synagogues of that time could be more square in shape than Christian basilicas because in Jewish worship, there’s usually a central bimah [raised platform], which people sit around,” says Ceprian.
Researchers believe the Castulo synagogue may be among the oldest temples ever discovered on the Iberian Peninsula, with most surviving synagogues in Spain dating to the medieval period.
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