Burial Plaque

Jews settled in Rome in the second or first century B.C.E. Their ranks swelled with the coming of diplomats, merchants, and captives taken after the Roman invasion of Judaea in 63 B.C.E. Some Latin authors who mention the Jews living in their midst confused them with early Christians, since the groups shared many practices. One of these practices was the burial of the dead, a sharp contrast to the earlier pagan custom of cremation. Jews and Christians both owned cemeteries outside Rome, which were a series of subterranean chambers that were extended as needed. Christian examples of these burial grounds, called catacombs, are widely known. There are also six Jewish sites in Rome and another in Venosa, near Naples.
In Jewish catacombs, as in Christian, the dead were buried in niches dug into the walls of underground chambers that were sealed with plaster. A tombstone, inserted in the plaster, identified the deceased. Tombstones were generally written in Greek or Latin, with an occasional Hebrew word added, which was sometimes misspelled, as in the example to the left made for Flaes the Jew. Like the majority of Christian tombstones of the period, most ancient Jewish grave markers from Italy were decorated only with rudely executed symbols. However, while the Christian symbols represent faith in personal salvation, the symbols used on Jewish tombstones express belief in national redemption. Implements of the destroyed Temple-- the menorah, the shofar, incense shovel, and amphora-signify the hope that the Temple will be rebuilt, as do the palm frond and citron (lulav and etrog), which are used on Tabernacles, once a major Temple festival. This tombstone, was made for Aelia Septima, features symbols that probably represent offerings brought to the Temple: the pomegranate for first fruits and the ram for animal sacrifice. The same symbols appear on other works made for Jews during the Roman period: gold glasses, stone reliefs, mosaics, and the frescoes that decorated the catacomb walls. The inscription reads: Alexandria set up [this stone] to Ael[ia] Septima, her dearest mother, in grateful memory.