Hellenized and Latinized Epitaphs of Jewish Women named “Esther” found in Rome and Naples
After the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (70 CE) Jews connected with God through the study of sacred texts, in particular the Torah. “It was a major transformation from a temple-based to a text-based culture,”says poet and literary critic Adam Kirsch in his book “The People and the Books.” Therefore, the epitaphs of Jewish females (Jewesses) of ancient Rome provide evidence that they too were a people of the Book, says Micaela Pavoncello, Founder of Jewish Roma.
We have archaeological proof of Hellenized and Latinized epitaphs inscribed with the name Esther, says Pavoncello with great enthusiasm! For example, one of the earliest epigraphic evidence suggesting the date of Jewish presence in Italy can be told from an inscription on a Jewish female stone that reads:
“Claudia Aster, prisoner from Jerusalem. Tiberius Claudius Proculus, imperial freedman, took care (of the epitaph). I ask you, make sure through the law that you take care that no-one casts down my inscription. She lived 25 years.”
This travertine stone epitaph of “Claudia Aster” was found in 1996 in the National Naples Archaeological Museum’s storage by Dr. Giancarlo Lacerenza of the Oriental Institute in Naples, says Pavoncello.
This Roman Jewish stone epitaph illustrates the first archaeological corroboration proving the capture of Jewish women who were sold during the siege of Jerusalem, where as stated by Flavius Josephus, the market was “flooded.”
Professor Lacerenza tells us that Emperor Titus brought 5000 captives to Italy after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70. However, recent scholarship argues that the Jews came long before the destruction of the Temple because southern Italy was a prosperous crossroads of maritime trade. And it is known that Jews played an important role in Mediterranean commerce because relations between early imperial Rome and the region of Campania, where the epitaph to Claudia Aster was found, were positive and the Jewish population increased due to the harbor facilities that were convenient to Rome; such as the Roman naval base at Misenum and the commercial port of Puteoli (Pozzuoli).
Clearly, the name Esther was important to the Jews of ancient Rome. Here is archaeological proof, says Pavoncello.
Another Esther inscription is in the Museum of the Campo Santo Tuetonico in Vatican City.
“Here lies Aster/Asther, virgin, pious, aged twenty-two.”
And two more in the Jewish Lapidary in the Vatican Museums:
“ACPTH” Hellenized spelling for Esther
Latinized Esther
“Julius (?) Sabinus (had this) made for his spouse Petricia (?) Aster, who lived 48 years.”
According to the Babylonian Talmud (abbreviated as BT), Queen Esther has the status of prophets, says Pavoncello.
In the Midrash, a form of storytelling of rabbinical literature that explores ethics and values in the Torah; the rabbis make reference that Esther was a “Leader and the Deliverer of Israel” based on Midrash Tehilim Ps 22:1:25.”
The spelling ASTER is the Latinized and Hellenized form of Esther in the ancient world.
The name spelled ASTER is a Latin word for a flower, but more than likely represents a Latinization of the Hebrew Esther, and was a common name among the Jews of ancient Rome.
Evidently, Esther was an important role model for Jewish women (Jewesses) in ancient Rome, says Pavoncello.
To sum up this article it should be noted that there are no extant scrolls of Esther from Antiquity, however Scrolls of Esther have survived until present day. This video showcases a remarkable 16th Century Esther scroll that is on display at the renewed Tel Aviv, Israel based ANU — Museum of the Jewish People, now, the world’s largest Jewish museum. The scroll wandered with a Community of Jews expelled from Spain to Western Europe during the early part of the sixteenth century and eventually settled in Fez Morocco.
Brenda Lee Bohen
