Ancient Sicilian Judaism

EXHIBITION: Little-known Jewish history of Sicily on display centuries after expulsion. “After 1492, Jews had to leave the island and their possessions were sold, destroyed or reused for other purposes, as it happened to many of the Jewish sites" (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Though little survives, the Jewish presence in Sicily dates back to the Roman era and represents an important page of the island’s history, as explained in the temporary exhibit “Documenti di storia ebraica dalle collezioni del Museo Salinas,” (Documents of Jewish history from the collections of Salinas Museum) at Palermo’s Regional Archaeological Museum Antonio Salinas.

Some of what survives from antiquity:

Among the artifacts on display are several coins from the series of the so-called Iudae Capta coins minted by Titus and his father Vespasian after they conquered and destroyed Jerusalem to celebrate their victory. One of them features a woman crying and kneeling under a palm tree as a personification of the Jewish nation and the Emperor Vespasian in a triumphant attitude.
Another artifact on display is a burial inscription in Greek dating back to the 4th or 5th century CE remembering a man named Zosimiano and carrying a stylized menorah.

The article has a nice photo of the burial inscription.

For a photo of this style of Judaea Capta coin, follow the link to the BHD essay here.

For more on Jewish Palermo, see here.

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