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Roman Ruins Reveal
Unique Jewish Culture

New York — A third-
century Greek inscription
found in the ancient Roman
city of Aphrodisias in
southwest Turkey has reveal-
ed a host of striking, new data
pertaining to Jewish social
and economic life in the
Diaspora, according to a
Yeshiva University scholar in
New York.
"The blank that we had
about the social and economic
status of the Jews of the third
century has now begun to be
filled in," said Prof. Louis H.
Feldman.
Engraved on a massive,
square marble pillar that was
excavated in 1976 from a site
in Aphrodisias, the inscrip-
tion is dated to approximate-
ly 210 C.E. It is believed to be
the longest Jewish inscription
ever recovered from the
classical world.
"We now have a very dif-
ferent picture of the Jewish
community and its relations
to those outside the Jewish
community in the Diaspora
from what we formerly had,"
Prof. Feldman said.
"We used to think that the
Jewish community in this
period in the Diaspora was on
the defensive, that it was los-
ing out heavily to the Chris-
tian community, espcially in
Asia Minor, where the Chris-
tians had made their most
significant inroads," he
continued.
"Now it turns out that
Judaism was not only not
finished, but was counter-
attacking."
The Jews, Prof. Feldman in-
ferred from the inscription,
were successful businessmen
who played key roles in com-
mercial trade and food pro-
duction — perhaps significant
enough to have attracted
many prominent non-Jews to
the synagogue.
"Jews were successful
economically and socially," he
said. "They were large in
number and won numerous
friends and admirers in the
general and political com-
munity?'
Much like the plaques of
recognition that hang in to-
day's synagogues, the Greek
inscription cites the names of
prominent Jews who con-
tributed to the erection of a
community building, pro-
bably a synagogue, he
explained.
The inscription, consisting
of eight lines of text followed
by a list of some 130 donors
and their occupations, has

been interpreted by scholars
as having been installed by
the Jewish community at
Aphrodisias.
"Now we have some ideas
as to the occupations of Jews
at that time," Prof. Feldman
said. "A number of them were
in the food and cloth in-
dustries. These Jews were
businessmen, not intellec-
tuals."
The finding, according to
the professor, "shows us a pic-
ture of Jewish life that is
quite different from what
Jews today may have ex-
pected of their ancestors."
During the third century,
he said, there apparently
were no Jewish doctors,
lawyers, professors or
engineers to be found in
Aphrodisias.
Because the inscription was
written in Greek, with no
Hebrew lettering, Prof.
Feldman concluded that the
Jews of Aphrodisias were
assimilated, at least in
language.
In another assertion, which
is disputed by other scholars,
Prof. Feldman suggested that
the Jews were far removed
from the culture and tradi-
tions of the Jewish rabbinic
period in Palestine during
that time.
The inscription's reference
to a second group of con-
tributors — with names not
ientifiably Jewish — describ-
ed as theosebeis, or "God-
fearers," has rekindled the
scholarly debate as to the
origins and numbers of this
group throughout Asia Minor.
According to one group of
scholars, these "God-fearers"
were gentile sympathizers of
Judaism who, although they
did not convert formally, took
part in the religious life of the
Jewish community and
observed a number of Jewish
religious customs.
"We see now that Jews were
winning these sympathizers,
these half-way Jews who,
while not converting to
Judaism, were certainly
observing certain Jewish
practices and coming to the
synagogue," said Prof.
Feldman.
The 54 of "God-fearers"
listed on the stone is an in-
dication that there was much
interaction among Jews and
gentiles in the community.
But just who these "God-
fearers" were — either pagans
or Christians — is a question
at the center of the early
history of Christianity.

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 35