Archaeologists in Spain have theorised that ancient ruins, believed to have been a church, may actually be the remains of a Jewish synagogue.
A dig near Linares centring on what was once the Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo, has yielded a number of Jewish artefacts dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Among the findings were a roof tile and oil lamp fragments decorated with menorahs, the Guardian reports.
A stone lid with an inscription reading “Song to David” or possibly “light of forgiveness” - scholars are divided on the issue - has also been found.
The discoveries not only point to the existence of a previously unknown Jewish community in the region but cast doubt on the nature of a ruined church excavated in the late 1980s.
Archaeologists Bautista Ceprían, David Expósito Mangas and José Carlos Ortega Díez, who have all been involved in the dig, argue that, based on the new findings and other evidence the church may in fact have been a synagogue.
One notable thing about the church is the lack of Christian artefacts found at the site and the absence of burials. While the ceremonial burial of the dead at a Christian church was common practice, Jewish law forbids the burial of the dead within 50 metres of a residential area.
The archaeologists also argued that some of the architectural features of the church and its overall design bore similarities to synagogues in the Holy Land.
Ceprián said, “When we looked at the interior of the building a little more closely, there were some strange things for a church; there was something that could have been the hole for a big menorah … It’s also strange that this building doesn’t have any tombs.”
He also noted, “Synagogues of that time could be more square in shape than Christian basilicas because in Jewish worship, there’s usually a central bimah [raised platform], which people sit around … In a church, the priest performs the rituals in the apse, which means things are more rectangular.”
Ceprián conceded that there is currently no written historical evidence to support his theory, but stated that he and his colleagues had found enough material evidence to assert the possibility that the church was in fact a synagogue.
If it was indeed a synagogue, it would be the oldest specimen to be found in Spain.
