Roman Palestine (Archaeology)

Over the past fifty years, archaeological excavations in Israel have unearthed about half a dozen ancient synagogues that were in use at different points in time between the first century BCE through the outbreak of the Bar-Kochba rebellion early in the second century of the Common Era.  In close proximity to each of these synagogues, a mikveh (ritual bath) has been discovered.  In contrast, no mikvaot have been discovered adjacent to any of the dozens of later synagogues that have been excavated and studied, with only one or two possible exceptions. 
At this point it is impossible to determine exactly when mikvaot ceased to be built in connection with synagogues, as the archaeological record reports very little about synagogues of the late second - early third century CE.  From an archaeological perspective, it is clear that at least from the second half of the third century, synagogues began to be built without regard for proximity to mikvaot.
Talmudic sources make no mention of a requirement to build mikvaot adjacent to synagogues. To date, no satisfactory explanation has been given for the evident connection between the synagogue and the mikveh in the early period, and the disappearance of such a connection in later periods of synagogue history. The objective of this paper is to present and explore a possible interpretation of this puzzling phenomenon.
  During the Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, a rabbinical enactment was in effect requiring mikveh ablutions prior to engagement in Torah study and prayer for individuals who had experienced seminal emission. Careful study of the Talmudic sources reveals that this enactment was nullified early in the Amoraic Period, sometime during the second quarter of the third century CE.
It would appear that the mikvaot built adjacent to the earlier synagogues were intended for this precise function, serving visitors to the synagogue who required ritual ablutions prior to Torah study and prayer.  Once the rabbinical enactment regarding these ablutions was nullified, there was no longer need for such mikvaot, and hence the absence of mikvaot in proximity to the later synagogues.

In a special thematic issue of Journal of Ancient Judaism edited by Jonathan Kaplan and Kelley Coblentz Bautch.

Modern commentators on the Vitae Prophetarum have tended to assume that every prophet’s burial in this text was considered monumental in scale. A close examination of the language used to describe each burial yields a different picture. The monumentality of tombs is scarcely emphasized. Instead, the prophets are buried in one of three ways: in a more-or-less monumental rock-cut tomb just outside Jerusalem, in a rock-cut tomb on the prophet’s own property, or in an indistinct field grave. This typology agrees with the emerging archaeological record of socioeconomic distinctions in burial practices. Whereas Jewish elites were buried in rock-cut tombs around Jerusalem or, more modestly, on their own estates, non-elites were interred in simple trench graves. This study demonstrates that the Vitae Prophetarum corroborates this relationship between burial types and socioeconomic distinctions, placing priestly elites and landowners in rock-cut tombs but the humbler prophets in trench graves.

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).

"This paper proposes three new (and tentatively, another two) identifications of sundials in Middle Eastern mosaics of the 5th – 8th century. The author discusses a vignette from the Holy Martyrs’ Church at Tayibat al-Imâm, central Syria, a mosaic panel from the tomb of Georgia and Theodosia in Jerusalem, two
vignettes of Sebastis and Kastron Mefaa from the St. Stephan’s Church at Umm al-Rasas, and a vignette of Jerusalem from the St. George’s Church at Madaba. These mosaics date, respectively, to 442, to the reign of Justinian (527 –565), and to the Byzantine Umayyad era (718). According to the author, these are probably the latest representations of sundials known to date from the Late Antiquity. Until this study, only six representations of sundials on mosaics from the Roman period were known. This paper adds three new items and two hypothetical ones from Byzantine times. It also offers an interpretation of the function of the famous column in Jerusalem, shown on the map of Madaba and the mega-vignette of the Holy City.
Key words: Sundials, Sonnenhuhren, Meridiane, Cadrans solaires, Relojes de sol."

A rereading of an oft-quoted passage of Epiphanius reveals that this author miscalculated the date of the destruction of Jerusalem, assigning it wrongly to 81/82. Therefore, when placing Hadrian’s journey to the East 47 years after the destruction, he was referring to Hadrian’s well-documented long journey to the East in 128–132 and not to a putative journey in 117. This receives further confirmation in other statements Epiphanius makes on the Crucifixion, the destruction of Jerusalem, the appearance of Aquila and the geographic scope of Hadrian’s journey, and combines well with the available epigraphic evidence.

Sundials in Roman and Byzantine Mosaics (1st – 9th Century AD). A scientific monograph. The sundials on ancient mosaics have not been the subject of scientific studies so far. The author has gathered together  in this  publication  the sundials  already known (Torre Anunzaiata, Sarsina, Trier, Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Antiochia and Brading; Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) and those which have  not  previously  been  identified.  Thanks  to  the author’s  new  identifcations,  the  catalogue  has  been enlarged  by  six  new  sundials (Grand,Tarsus, Antioch – interpreted by H. Pamir; Figs.  3, 6,  8, and 10. Tayibat al-Imam, Jerusalem and Umm al-Rasas (Sebastis); Figs. 10, 11, 12) and three monumental gnomes-columns with multiple functions that were used as monumental sundials [Madaba (Jerusalem), Umm al-Rasas (Kastron Mefaa) and Rome (Jerusalem); Figs. 13–15]. In addition, recognizing fully John H. Humphrey’s  interpretations,  the  author  enriches  the catalogue  by  eight  ancient  mosaic  representations  of obelisks in  circuses (Lyon, Barcelona, Volubilis, Piazza Armerina - two mosaics, Girona, Carthage and Gafsa; Figs.  16–23).  They  performed the roles of monumental sundials. In this way, the catalogue includes  twenty-three  mosaics with  the representations of sundials. They come from the Western and Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire. The first mosaic is dated to the beginning of the 1st century AD and the last dates to the 9th century AD. The author, after  a  short  description  of each monument,  summarizes the issue discussing the role of sundials in Roman and Byzantine society, their complex signifcance and symbolic difficult linked with the progress of time on which nature and human life are dependent.

The first installation to be identified as an ancient Jewish ritual bath (miqweh) was discovered by Yigael Yadin at Masada in 1963–4, and consisted of a stepped pool connected to an adjacent pool via a hole in the wall shared by the two installations. Yadin identified one installation as the immersion pool of the miqweh, and the second as an ’ôṣār (lit., ‘reservoir’), used to ritually purify the water in the immersion pool. Yadin’s explanation regarding the functioning of this double-pool ritual bath has gone unchallenged since it was first suggested almost half a century ago, and set the stage for future identifications of ’ôṣār installations found adjacent to other Second Temple period ritual baths. The present paper argues that the ’ôṣār is an innovation of the modern period, and that the commonly accepted view that an ’ôṣār was employed in ritual baths dating to as early as the Second Temple period is no more than an unqualified anachronism.

In honor of eminent archaeologist and historian of ancient Jewish art, Rachel Hachlili, friends and colleagues offer contributions in this festschrift which span the world of ancient Judaism both in Palestine and the Diaspora. Hachlili's distinctive research interests: synagogues, burial sites, and Jewish iconography receive particular attention in the volume. Archaeologists and historians present new material evidence from Galilee, Jerusalem, and Transjordan, contributing to the honoree's fields of scholarly study. Fresh analyses of ancient Jewish art, essays on architecture, historical geography, and research history complete the volume and make it an enticing kaleidoscope of the vibrant field of scholarship that owes so much to Rachel.

This article describes the findings from a recent excavation in a rock-cut tomb at Naḥal Aviv, where scholars previously suggested a border line between Jewish and pagan (Tyrian) populations. The finds from the tomb
indicate two distinct burial phases, dated to the late first–early second centuries CE and to the fourth–sixth centuries CE. While the second burial phase can be easily ascribed to a Christian community living near the tomb, its original phase demonstrates a more complex case for ethnic identification of deceased. The article is followed by two appendices, presenting significant finds: a ‘holy rider’ amulet by Nancy Benovitz and an MB scarab by Baruch Brandl.

This monograph is the final report of a series of salvage excavations which were conducted in the Jericho area from 1975 to 1979. The rescue work was concentrated along the lower slopes of the Judean hills west of the modem city of Jericho, where tombs from the Hellenistic and Roman periods were being systematically robbed. In spite of the modest scale of these excavations, this proves to be one of the most significant cemeteries excavated from this period. Due to the excellent state of preservation of many of the organic remains, the tombs have greatly enriched our acquaintance with Jewish burial customs of the period and many aspects of late Second Temple period material culture.

This study presents the results of an analysis of 487 soft limestone vessel fragments found in excavations at Late Second Temple-period Gamla in the Golan. A typology of hand-carved and lathe-turned vessels is provided, taking into consideration the probability that manufacturing processes in the north of the land of Israel were distinctly different from those known previously from Jerusalem and Judea. The large barrel-shaped “qalal” type jars are noticeably absent at Gamla, whereas the “mugs” are popular. The technology by which stone vessels were manufactured is also given in this paper with drawn reconstructions of the lathes. Chronologically, the finds at Gamla confirm that while the emergence of the stone vessel industry in the land of Israel began towards the end of the first century BCE, its floruit took place more specifically between 50 and 70 CE.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

This article examines the iconography of a type of Caracalla tetradrachm that has been newly attributed to Neapolis in Roman Palestine and whose reverse depicts a monumental altar decorated with statues of Tyche, Ephesian Artemis, and Kore Persephone. The study contextualizes these deities in the religious life of Neapolis and identifies the monument as an altar often depicted as a miniscule element in panoramic views of Mount Gerizim on the bronze coins of Neapolis. The tetradrachms provide, for the first time, a close-up view of this long-lost civic monument.

The paper discusses a group of gold lamellae, originating from graves in Roman Palestine, which bear the ancient Greek formula
θάρσει NN· οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος  (Take courage, NN! No one is immortal) or its variations. It also contains a publication of two new lamellae, and several lamellae that have not been associated with this group in the past are added to the list. The new evidence is considered in the context of the ongoing debate on cultural and ritual connotations of the Palestinian lamellae.

In 1959, Antonio Frova, field director of the Italian archaeological expedition, started the excavation of the Roman Theater in Caesarea
Maritima. Sixty years later, the current paper aims to reconsider its data related to the Herodian building phase, on the base of some
unpublished archival documents and in loco architectural members as well. Thus, the Theater’s both architectural and decorative
features will be outlined, with a view to their connection with the contemporary Roman architecture