Archaeologists working at a location in Spain said they have found evidence that synagogues used by the Jewish community so far may be Jewish use.
While excavating the site, experts found material and architectural evidence that led them to assume that the building was actually a synagogue, according to a study published earlier this month.
Artifacts such as oil lamp fragments and meninges decorated with meninges were found during excavations at the former Roman settlement of Cástulo in southern Spain, and at this site there was no material clearly associated with the Christian faith.
By contrast, archaeologists found evidence of Christian worship at another location in the town, and the study author Bautista Ceprián, an archaeologist with the Cástulo Sefarad Primera Luz project, told CNN on Wednesday.
The building has several features that are common but not common in synagogues. -F. Arias and B. Ceprián
The building is also squarer than the shape of a Christian church, leaning towards rectangular shape, archaeologists have found a hole that can support a large menu, as well as a foundation for a central raised platform, or bimah, which is common in synagogues but not in churches.
Furthermore, no graves were found on the building, built near an abandoned Roman temple, which was feared by Christian inhabitants’ connection with paganism.
“It’s a hidden, cautious and isolated place that Christian majority visits frequently,” Ceprián said.
The study authors believe that these evidences together point to the existence of previously unknown Jewish communities in the town.
“The reinterpretation of buildings from churches to those that may be synagogues follows a logical reasoning process based on the historical and archaeological data we have,” Ceprián said.
Fragments of roof tiles, decorated with a fragment that appears to be Menorah -F. Arias and B. Ceprián
Nevertheless, as the study authors acknowledge, the lack of written records in Casturo’s Jewish community gives people doubt.
Ceprián said speculation that the daily life of the community would be “a very dangerous exercise”, but they could have lived with their Roman citizens in the town.
Then it was thought that the population had disappeared because it was not named in the anti-Semitic laws enacted by Sigigoth King Sisebut, which ruled what is now in Spain from 612 to 621, while the Jewish communities in other nearby towns were specifically named.
As for what will happen to them, “it’s hard to know,” Seprie Ian said.
One possible explanation, he said, is that Christian clergy feared that the local population would be transformed into Judaism, given the “close and friendly relationship” between the two groups in the region at that time.
Ceprián said the concern prompted Christian leaders to become increasingly influential in the Roman Empire, raising fear and opposition to the Jewish community.
He said it was the end of an episode that began around the end of the 4th century, where Jewish citizens were forced to convert to Christianity, while those who refused to “friendly invitation” to leave their hometown, adding that such events could have happened in Cástulo sometime in the late 5th and early 7th centuries.
Ceprián said the team will now work to protect the site and the excavation will continue. He added that their goal is to allow the public to visit sometime in the future.
“We cannot rule out the possibility of finding clearer evidence that allows us to update the assumptions of possible synagogues to actual synagogues,” he said.
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