Roman-era ‘church’ in Spain may have been a synagogue

Archaeologists working at a site in Spain say they have uncovered evidence of what may have been a synagogue used by a hitherto unknown Jewish community.

While excavating the site, previously believed to be a church dating from the 4th century, experts found materials and architectural evidence that led them to hypothesize that the building was, in fact, a synagogue, according to a study published earlier this month.

Artifacts such as fragments of oil lamps and a piece of roof tile decorated with menorahs were found during excavations in Cástulo, a former Roman settlement in southern Spain, whereas no materials that have a clear association with the Christian faith have been found at the site.

In contrast, archaeologists have found evidence of Christian worship at another site in the town, study author Bautista Ceprián, an archaeologist with the Cástulo Sefarad Primera Luz project, told CNN on Wednesday.

The building also has a squarer shape than Christian churches, which tend to be more rectangular, and archaeologists found what could have been a hole for supporting a large menorah, as well as the foundations of a central raised platform, or bimah, which is common in synagogues but not in churches, he added.

In addition, no tombs were discovered at the building, which was built near an abandoned Roman temple — something that would have been feared by Christian residents because of its association with paganism, he added.

“It’s a hidden, discreet and isolated spot that would not have been visited often by the Christian majority,” Ceprián said.

Taken together, this evidence points to the existence of a previously unknown Jewish community in the town, the study authors argue.

“The reinterpretation of the building from a church to possibly a synagogue followed a process of logical reasoning based on the historical and archaeological data in our possession,” Ceprián said.

Nonetheless, the lack of written records of a Jewish community in Cástulo leaves room for some doubt, as the study authors acknowledged.

Speculating about the daily life of the community would be “a very dangerous exercise,” Ceprián said, but they would have lived alongside their fellow Roman citizens in the town.

The population is then thought to have disappeared, as it is not named in the anti-Jewish law enacted by Visigoth King Sisebut, who ruled what is now Spain from 612 to 621, whereas the Jewish communities in other nearby towns are specifically named.

As for what would have happened to them, “it is difficult to know,” Ceprián said.

One possible explanation is that the Christian clergy feared the local population would convert to Judaism, given the “close and friendly relations” between the two groups in the region at the time, he said.

This concern drove Christian leaders, who were becoming increasingly influential in the Roman Empire, to foment fear of and opposition to Jewish communities, said Ceprián.

This culminated in episodes starting around the end of the 4th century in which Jewish citizens were pressured to convert to Christianity, with those who refused “amicably invited” to leave their hometowns, he said, adding that this kind of incident could have plausibly occurred in Cástulo sometime between the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 7th century.

Now the team will work to protect the site and excavations will continue, Ceprián said. They aim to allow the public to visit at some point in the future, he added.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of finding more definitive evidence that allows us to update our hypothesis of a possible synagogue to an actual synagogue,” he said.

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