Discovery by Artur Vrekaj. Translation by Petrit Latifi . Originally written by Emil Condurachi

Abstract

In this study Emil Condurachi examines the presence and religious influence of Jewish communities in Illyricum during the Roman Imperial period, with particular attention to their role within the wider Jewish diaspora and their possible contribution to the emergence and development of early Christianity in the region.

Drawing on epigraphic, archaeological, and literary evidence, he traces Jewish settlement across Dalmatia, Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia, and the neighboring regions of Noricum. Although Jewish communities appear to have remained relatively small, inscriptions, funerary monuments, lamps, synagogues, personal names, and Jewish religious symbols—most notably the seven-branched menorah—demonstrate a sustained Jewish presence from the Adriatic to the Danubian provinces.

He also considers the mobility of Jewish populations, particularly their connections with Italy, Greece, Syria, and other eastern Mediterranean regions, and suggests that many Jewish settlers were engaged in commerce or other forms of mobility characteristic of eastern communities in the Roman Empire. Particular attention is given to Jewish proselytism and to the presence of sebomenoi and phoboumenoi ton Theon, non-Jews attracted to the worship of the Jewish God while observing some Jewish practices. Evidence from Serdica, Sarmizegethusa, and other urban centers illustrates the interaction between Judaism and local religious traditions, including the cult of the Theos Hypsistos and the Thracian worship of Sabazius.

Finally, he examines the relationship between Jewish and oriental religious traditions and the emergence of Gnostic Christianity in Illyricum. Jewish and syncretic motifs appear in magical gems and amulets bearing names such as Iao, Sabaoth, and Adonai, as well as in representations of Abraxas. These objects point to a complex religious environment in which Jewish, eastern, pagan, and early Christian traditions interacted.

Introduction

Among the many Eastern groups that settled in Illyricum during the later centuries of the Roman Empire, the Jews were certainly among the least numerous. Their presence, attested by inscriptions and archaeological monuments, is nevertheless of considerable interest from two perspectives: first, in relation to the history of the Jewish diaspora; and second, in relation to the origins of the earliest Christian communities. 

The first propagandists of the new faith primarily addressed their compatriots, who were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Their proselytism, like the mysticism of many Eastern religions, had contributed to making the idea of a single God increasingly familiar. The work of Christian propaganda was consequently facilitated. It is also true that, far from their ancestral homeland, some Jews appear to have lost part of the original rigidity of their religious practices.[1]

In Illyricum, Jews could have immigrated from Italy, where numerous communities were present from the first century onward, from Greece, or from the neighboring regions of the East. There were, for example, substantial Jewish communities in Apamea. We know that many Easterners who settled in Illyricum originated from this region, and the Jews found there may likewise have come from the same territories.[2]

The Jews encountered north of the Black Sea appear to have been emigrants. Like many Syrians, from whom they can sometimes be difficult to distinguish, these Jews were, in all likelihood, primarily merchants.[3]

In Dalmatia, Jews are attested at Salona, where three gems decorated with the seven-branched candelabrum, the characteristic Jewish symbol, were found.[4]

Outside the city walls, the front part of a sarcophagus made of local stone was discovered, decorated with the same symbol.[5] There was therefore a Jewish cemetery in the vicinity. This may perhaps support G.-B. de Rossi’s hypothesis that the name of the largest Christian cemetery at Salona, coemeterium sanctae legis christianae, was intended to distinguish it from another, non-Christian cemetery.[6] It should not be forgotten, however, that there was also the ancient cemetery in horto Metrodori.

A terracotta lamp decorated in the same manner was found at Benkovac in Dalmatia.[7] An interesting inscription from Senia, a port in northern Dalmatia, mentions a certain Aurelius Dionysius Tibe[r]iensis, an(norum) XXXX, filiorum trium pater. Written in Latin, the inscription is rendered in Greek characters.[8]

We also find evidence of a Jewish presence in Pannonia, among the numerous Syrians, who were merchants or soldiers. Near Gran, on the site of ancient Solva, an inscription commemorates Judati patris. It bears the same symbolic decoration of the seven-branched candelabrum as the fragment of a funerary monument found at Alberti-Irsa, near the ancient Roman city of Intercissa (Dunapentele).[9]

The latter monument contains a dedication which, apparently indicating an Eastern or Hellenic origin, reads: Memoria(e) Anestasio et Dekousani et Beneimi et Feileto nostro. Below it appears another candelabrum, accompanied by the characteristic exclamation εἷς θεός. The monument had originally served a Roman family, whose inscription, together with the portraits of the husband, wife, and child, remains legible beneath the later inscription.[10]

We also possess a very interesting votive inscription from ancient Aquincum. Written in Greek characters, it appears to read: pro salute d(omini) n(ostri) Sev(erii) A[lexandri] p(ii) f(elicis) Augusti et [Iul(iae) Mame]ae Augustae, mat(ris) Aug(usti), vot(um) red(dit) l(ibens) Cosmus praepositus st(ationis) Spondilla synag….[11]

The Jewish community of Intercissa must have been relatively numerous, since it possessed a house of worship. We do not know precisely the place of origin of another inscription found in Pannonia, dedicated to the memory of a young girl: D(is) M(anibus) Septimae Mariae Jud(a)eae quae vixit annis XVIII. Actia Sabinilla mater.[12]

At Viminacium, in Upper Moesia, an altar was dedicated by M. Aurelius Celsus to the Diis Angelis.[13] The term ἄγγελος, angelus, occurs very rarely in Greek and Latin epigraphy and appears in such contexts to reveal a Semitic influence.[14] A similar inscription was found in Trajanic Dacia at Sarmizegethusa.[15]

A larger Jewish community apparently had its seat at Serdica, the capital of Lower Moesia. From there comes the following inscription: Ioses arcisina(go)y os et principal(i)s, filius Maximini Pannoni, sibi et Qyrie coniugi su(ae) vivo s(e) memoria[m] dedicavit.[16]

These traces become rarer in the northern part of Illyricum. A fragment of an inscription from Schwarzenbach in Noricum reads χθὲς ἐμοί σήμερον σοί and recalls the passage of Ecclesiasticus 35:23, ἐμοὶ χθὲς καὶ σοὶ σήμερον.[17] The Jewish character of this inscription, however, has been questioned.[18]

The Jews also engaged in proselytism, particularly among the Thracians. In this context, Yahweh and Sabazius came to be associated or even confused, their names facilitating such an association (Σαβάξος and Σαβαώθ).[19] If the number of Jews themselves was not particularly great, more numerous were those known as sebomenoi and phoboumenoi ton Theon, that is, proselytes or God-fearers who observed some Jewish precepts while according an exclusive cult to Theos Hypsistos, the name given to Yahweh from the Alexandrian period onward.[20]

The Gospel texts, as well as inscriptions, attest to the presence of such worshippers throughout the Roman world.[21] At Serdica, an inscription dedicated to Θεῷ ἐπηκόῳ ὑψίστῳ by a θίασος Σεβαζιανός was found.[22] We have already seen another inscription that proves the existence of a Jewish community at Serdica and, at the same time, helps explain the presence there of these Thracian worshippers of Θεὸς ὕψιστος. A similar inscription was subsequently found at Sarmizegethusa.[23]

The personal names Σαββάτιος and Sabbatius, derived from σάββατον, sabbatum, are also of particular interest. Christians bore these names as well, and their occurrence may therefore reflect either direct or indirect Jewish influence. In Dalmatia, two individuals bearing this name are attested.[24]

Still in connection with these Jewish and Oriental elements, we encounter in Illyricum the first traces of a heretical Christianity, particularly Gnosticism. These heresies, which were of distinctly Oriental origin, must have found a favorable environment in the region.[25]

Some gems from Salona display the characteristic decoration of Gnostic amulets: Abraxas with a rooster’s head and serpent’s feet,[26] sometimes accompanied by a Kabbalistic inscription such as ΑΒΑΩ, ΑΔΩΝΑ, ΕΖΕΦ, ΛΑΙΑΩ.[27] Similar amulets found in Bosnia, including a ring now in the Sarajevo Museum, as well as two others from Dalmatia, demonstrate the popularity of such apotropaic objects.

The inscription on a silver ring found at Celeia in Noricum has a distinctly Jewish character: i.a.o. f.a.c. a.o.i., corresponding to the prayer formula Yahweh Ase.[28] It was once believed that traces of Gnostic heresy were limited to the localities mentioned above. Today, however, additional evidence is known.

A lead coin found at Starigrad (Obrovac) depicts Abraxas with a rooster’s head and serpent’s feet.[29] Two other Abraxian amulets were found at Aenona. The first represents a winged serpent; the second, a rarer type, combines an elephant’s head with two human heads. Ancient Burnum has preserved a third similar example.[30]

Beyond the northern border of Illyricum, at Castra-Regina, an amulet of the same type was found, bearing a Greek inscription with the names Ιαώ, Σαβαώθ, Ἀδώνεαι.[31]

These constitute the reliable traces of Jews and their proselytes that have so far been identified in Illyricum. The relative scarcity of such evidence is understandable. From the end of the second century onward, the region became increasingly insecure. For a population consisting largely of merchants, Illyricum consequently became less attractive. At approximately the same time, Christianity began to achieve increasing success, particularly after receiving the support of the Roman state. Jews nevertheless continued to exist in the region, especially along the Adriatic coast and in Greece proper, where their communities will again be encountered during the Byzantine period.

Footnotes 

[1] A. von Harnack, The Mission and Spread of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, 4th ed. (Leipzig, 1924), vol. I, p. 5; E. Schürer, The Oldest Christian Communities in the Roman Empire (Kiel, 1894), p. 7.

[2] G. La Piana, “Foreign Groups in Rome during the First Centuries of the Empire,” Harvard Theological Review (October 1927); G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, vol. I (1927).

[3] V. Pârvan, The Nationality of Merchants in the Roman Empire (Breslau, 1909).

[4] Fr. Bulić, “Jewish Monuments in Roman Dalmatia and the Jewish Cemetery in Solin,” Bulletin of Archaeology and History of Dalmatia XLIX (1926–27), p. 118; see also Bulić, ibid., XXI (1898), p. 151, no. 482.

[5] Fr. Bulić, ibid., XLIX (1926–27), pp. 120–121, fig. 4.

[6] G. B. de Rossi, Bulletino di archeologia e storia dalmatica III (1880), pp. 36 ff., 50 ff., 67 ff.

[7] Fr. Bulić, “Jewish Monuments in Roman Dalmatia and the Jewish Cemetery in Solin,” p. 118.

[8] Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) III 10055; P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum: Recueil des inscriptions juives qui vont du IIe siècle avant Jésus-Christ au VIIe siècle de notre ère, vol. I (Rome–Paris, 1936), p. 491, no. 680.

[9] CIL III 10599; P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 488, no. 676.

[10] CIL III 10611; P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 487, no. 675; see also S. Krausz, “Jelvényes ókori zsidó sírkövek,” Archaeologiai Értesítő, n.s. XXIV (1904), pp. 172 ff.

[11] CIL III 10301 (= 3327); P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 489, no. 677; see also Fr. Cumont, Revue archéologique (1888), I, pp. 184 ff.; S. Krausz, Izraelita Magyar Irodalmi Társulat Évkönyve (1902), pp. 298 ff.

[12] CIL III 3688; P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 490, no. 678. The abbreviation D. M. (Dis Manibus) is extremely rare in Jewish inscriptions.

[13] N. Vulić, “Monuments in Serbia,” Annual Reports of the Austrian Archaeological Institute VIII (1905), supplement, p. 5.

[14] Fr. Cumont, “Les mystères de Sabazius et le Judaïsme,” Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (1906), p. 73.

[15] J. Béla, “Roman Relics in Hunyad County,” Archaeologiai Értesítő XXXII (1912), p. 401.

[16] P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 492, no. 681; G. Kazarow, Izvestija: Bulletin de l’Institut archéologique bulgare I (1912–13), p. 195.

[17] CIL III 11,641; see also Th. Gomperz, in A. von Domaszewski, “Bericht über eine Reise in Kärnten,” Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn IV (1880), p. 213.

[18] P. J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, p. 590. Frey does not consider the inscription Jewish because of its quotation from Ecclesiasticus, an apocryphal book. Two other inscriptions, one from Pannonia (Archaeologiai Értesítő XX [1890], p. 231) and one from Dacia (Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn VI [1882], pp. 120–121), are likewise uncertain and are not included by Frey.

[19] Fr. Cumont, “Les mystères de Sabazius et le Judaïsme,” p. 68.

[20] Ibid., pp. 64–65; see also E. Schürer, “Die Juden im Bosporanischen Reiche und die Gesellschaft der Σεβόμενοι Θεὸν ὕψιστον,” Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1897), pp. 200 ff.

[21] E. Schürer, The Jews in the Bosporan Empire and the Society of the Σεβόμενοι Θεὸν ὕψιστον, pp. 200 ff.

[22] A. von Domaszewski, “Griechische Inschriften aus Moesia und Thracia,” Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn X (1886), p. 238.

[23] C. Daicoviciu, “Contributions to Religious Syncretism in Sarmizegethusa,” Anuarul Institutului de Studii Clasice, Cluj, 1928–32, I, pp. 85–86, no. 3.

[24] W. Schulze, “Samstag,” Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung XXXIII, n.s. XI (1895), p. 383; E. Schwyzer, “Altes und Neues zu (hebr.-)griech. σάββατα, (griech.-)lat. sabbata,” Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung LXII, nos. 1–2 (1934), pp. 1–16; CIL III 9588, 9612.

[25] J. Zeiller, “Oriental Paganism and Christian Heresy in the Danubian Country,” Le Correspondant (Paris, 1923), pp. 1009–1018.

[26] Fr. Bulić, Bulletin of Archaeology and History of Dalmatia XXVII (1905), p. 162; XXX (1907), p. 130; XXIII (1909), p. 76.

[27] Fr. Bulić, “Inscriptions and Representations on Metal Objects,” Bulletin of Archaeology and History of Dalmatia XXIV (1901), p. 140.

[28] CIL III 14,339.

[29] CIL III 10,188.

[30] S. Frankfurter, Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn IX (1885), p. 267, no. 394; XI (1887), p. 84; V. Pârvan, Epigraphic Contributions to the Knowledge of Daco-Roman Christianity (Bucharest, 1911), p. 25; Fr. Bulić, Bulletin of Archaeology and History of Dalmatia XXIV (1901), supplement, p. 17, nos. 249, 275–276. A similar Gnostic amulet has also been found in Dacia; see D. Tudor, Arhivele Olteniei XV (1936), p. 388, no. 80.

[31] Ad. Bauer, “Amulet from Regensburg,” Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn I (1887), p. 69.