ARCHAEOLOGY:
Spanish discovery suggests Roman era ‘church’ may have been a synagogue. Oil lamp fragments point to presence of previously unknown Jewish population in Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo (Sam Jones, The Guardian).
Archaeologists excavating the Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo, whose ruins lie near the present-day Andalucían town of Linares, have uncovered evidence of an apparent Jewish presence there in the late fourth or early fifth century AD.
As well as three fragments of oil lamps decorated with menorahs and a roof tile bearing a five-branched menorah, they have also come across a piece of the lid of a cone-shaped jar bearing a Hebrew graffito. While experts are split over whether the engraving reads “light of forgiveness” or “Song to David”, its very existence points to a previously unknown Jewish population in the town, which eventually fell into decay and abandonment 1,000 years later.
The underlying article, in Spanish and open access, has just been published:
Vegueta. Anuario de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia
25 (2), 2025, 941-973
eISSN: 2341-1112
https://doi.org/10.51349/veg.2025.2.17
Una posible sinagoga tardoantigua en Cástulo. Estudio del Edicio S de la ciudad
A possible late ancient synagogue in Cástulo. Study of Building S of the city
Bautista Ceprián del Castillo*
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8989-9330
[email protected]
David Expósito Mangas
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0692-9991
[email protected]
José Carlos Ortega Díez
Universidad de Granada
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8580-2904
[email protected]
Recibido: 06/06/2024; Revisado: 11/11/2025; Aceptado: 19/02/2025
Resumen
En el centro geográphico de la ciudad iberorromana de Cástulo (Área 1), se encuentra un edificio absidal, Edificio S, tradicionalmente definido como una iglesia de la segunda mitad del siglo iv d.C. Sin embargo, las nuevas campañas de excavación realizadas entre 2011 y 2021, han documentado en dicha área una notable serie de materiales que pueden relacionarse con el establecimiento de una comunidad judía entre los siglos iv y v d.C. Esto, unido a ciertas diferencias del Edificio S en relación con las características que definen las iglesias hispanas de la antigüedad tardía, ha llevado a analizar este edificio con la posibilidad de que hubiera podido ser una sinagoga. Los resultados obtenidos se vinculan con mayor verosimilitud con edificios de culto judíos que con los cristianos.Palabras clave: sinagoga, judío, iglesia, Cástulo, antigüedad tardía.
Abstract
In the geographical center of the Ibero-Roman city of Cástulo (Area 1), there is an apsidal building, Building S, traditionally defined as a church from the second half of the 4th century AD. However, new excavation campaigns carried out between 2011 and 2021 have documented in this area a notable series of materials that can be related to the establishment of a Jewish community between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. This, together with certain differences in Building S in relation to the characteristics that define Hispanic churches of late antiquity, has led to the analysis of this building with the possibility that it could have been a synagogue. The results obtained are more likely to be linked to Jewish religious buildings than to Christian ones.
*Autor de correspondencia / Corresponding author.
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