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Diaspora Jews, Romans, Others in The Greek Style Cities of the First Century Crimea Robert S. MacLennan - page 1   Glasnost and the resulting dissolution of the former Soviet Union have given a window of opportunity for western scholars to continue their conversations with their Russian and Ukrainian colleagues and to investigate, first-hand, the rich evidence of the presence of first through fourth century diaspora Jewish communities along the north shore of the Black Sea. Trade map 3 - 2 century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) in Chersonesus Museum. Our team of scholars from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN and the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA had an opportunity to explore this newly opened region in the fall of 1993 and the summer of 1994. At the invitation of Zaporozhye State University in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences we began to follow the leads found in the emerging body of evidence from the so called New Testament world or the world of second temple Judaism in the generally unknown north eastern corner of the Roman Empire. The region, which lies in part along the north shore of the Black Sea, was the site of several diaspora Jewish communities, whose members lived as full participants in the economic, cultural, juristic, and social life of Greek style ancient cities, and yet maintain their identity as Jews. The remains of the cities provide some intriguing evidence that points to the involvement of Jews as early as the first century. For example, first century inscriptions found in Kerch near ancient Panticapaeum on the eastern shore of the Crimea mention Jews in the Crimea and south Russia (in ancient Panticapaeum, Gorgippia and Phanagoria) actively participating in sponsorship of freed slaves. One of the most interesting inscriptions, which was to lead to our joint venture between American and Ukrainian scholars to the Crimea in 1993, was one of several dated first century manumission inscriptions in Greek found in the Crimea in 1832 [CIRB 70]. It reads as follows: [QUOTE CIRB 70: During the reign of Tiberius Julius Rescuporis dutiful friend of Caesar and of the Romans, in the 377th year the 12th of Peretiou, I Chreste, formerly wife of Drusus, release in the proseuche my slave Heraclan, as a free person once and for all according to my vow. He shall remain untouched and undisturbed by all my heirs. He may go where he wants and without undue pressure he has accepted the obligation to be a dedicated member of the proseuche. That this agreement is made by my heirs Heraclede and Helikoniad and with the joint guarantee held by the Jewish community (sunagoge ton Ioudaion) This inscription is one of several that mentions Jews involved in the process of manumission of a slave during the Roman period in south Russia. It also describes the process of manumission as taking place within the proseuche (the house of prayer, later called a synagogue). The slave in inscription CIRB 70 was to be freed with no further obligation or paramone indicated. The community of the Jews (sunagoge ton Ioudaion) acted as a joint custodian of the freed person, who participated regularly in the life of the community of Jews. It is not clear from the inscription if these slaves were converts to a form of Judaism unique to the Crimea of the first century, or if they were slaves who were given their freedom in the proseuche and then guaranteed their freedom by the Jewish community. However, the inscriptions do demonstrate that Jews seemed to be "at home" in ancient Panticapaeum and other cities of the north coast of the Black Sea as early as the first century C.E. just as are many Jews in some major cities in the United States today. The inscription found CIRB 70, and mentioned above, and the other inscriptions (nos. 69-72) found in CIRB and CIJ, provide ample evidence of Jewish participation in the life of these ancient cities during the early Roman period. This portrait of Jews in ancient Crimean and Russian cities defies the view that Jews were not in this area until many centuries later, or, if they were here at all that they were somehow insignificant and at the margins of society. In the fall of 1993, Professors J. Andrew Overman and Robert S. MacLennan from Macalester College, and Professor Douglas Edwards from The University of Puget Sound, visited the Crimea in anticipation of exploring the possible context of these inscriptions, and perhaps to see if there were more inscriptions or material evidence of Jewish communities in the early Roman period. In planning our itinerary, we relied heavily on the writings and insights of such well known historians as Elias Minns, Michael Rostovtzeff, and Emil Schuerer, among others. Our tour of the Crimea led us first to the site of ancient Olbia and then across the Crimean peninsula to the eastern port city of Kerch, near the ancient city of Panticapaeum. In Kerch we visited the local museum and were amazed to discover on the floor of one of the rooms numerous menorot that apparently had been randomly placed to await the setting up of a new exhibit. Most of the menorot were believed to be from the fourth or fifth century C.E., but there is no certainty with regard to their date or the location in which they were found. There was one roughly hewn menorot carved on stone and found in a field 3 km west of Kerch that seemed to be a marker for a grave, but much work remains to be done in establishing the context of the other clearly articulated menorot in the Kerch Museum. In addition to the menorot, we also saw in the museum a small fragment of CIRB 72 That this is a picture of a fragment from one of the inscriptions that mentions the "sunagoge ton Ioudaion"], that mentions ton sunagoges ton Ioudaion. Following the short visit to Kerch, we traveled westward to Chersonesus near the Russian naval facility of Sevastopol. During our visit at the Chersonesus Museum Preserve, we found two more menorot, again, on the floor of the museum in the basement, that had been discovered in sites that were supposedly dated to the early or middle Roman period. At that point in our journey, we became convinced that there was more information to be found about Jewish communities in the Crimea. Chersonesus was mentioned by many writers in antiquity. Strabo [Geography Books 1, 2, 7 etc.], Pliny,[Natural History, Book IV.xii.78, 85] and Josephus [Antiquity], among others, mentioned it as a significant port city along the north shore of the Black Sea. The silence of Herodotus about Chersonesus in Book IV, dedicated to the Black Sea, suggests the city did not exit until after his time. 3rd century menorah, one of two found in 1950's in Chersonesus. Pictured found in secondary use in apse of 5 - 9th century basilica. In the Chersonesus Museum Preserve, we examined the two menorot that recently have been studied by E. Solomonik, who suggested that these stone carvings could not be dated accurately, but suggests the very broad time of the Roman or early Byzantine periods. One of the menorot Solomonik discussed in her article was finely carved in the local limestone, with a lulov and a shofar at its base, and was found in secondary use in the foundation of the apse of the fifth century basilica which was excavated earlier this century by G.D. Belov (1933-1938). The other menorah was mentioned in a 1956 report by V.V. Borisova from the Chersonesus Museum Preserve archives.. The menorah from V.V. Borisova, Report on the Excavations of the Necropolis Near the Pottery Shop in Chersonesus, 2. Album, 1956, page 11, Photo 59 was found, upright, at the foot of a grave, which, Borisova observed, was filled with Hellenistic materials. This menorah, which was also in secondary use, suggests the possibility of a Hellenistic period Jewish presence in Chersonesus.