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Encuentran un amuleto judío de época romana en un cementerio austriaco

 

ΣΥΜΑ ΙΣΤΡΑΗΛ ΑΔΩNΕ ΕΛΩΗ ΑΔΩN Α ("Oye, Israel. El Señor nuestro Dios es el único Señor") 

Foto: REUTERS/University of Vienna/Handout (AUSTRIA)

Arqueólogos del Instituto de Prehistoria e Historia Antigua de la Universidad de Viena (Austria) descubrieron el testimonio más antiguo de cultura judía en territorio austriaco. En un cementerio en Halbturn, en el estado federado de Burgenland, fue hallado un amuleto que data del siglo III en el que se encuentra grabada una oración. Consta de una chapa de oro de 2,2 centímetros de largo.

El grabado es una oración judía del Antiguo Testamento, que reza: "Oye, Israel. El Señor nuestro Dios es el único Señor", escrito con símbolos griegos. Para los investigadores el hallazgo de este elemento es un indicio de que ya en la época del Imperio Romano vivían judíos en Europa Central. Hasta ahora se habían considerado como primeros testimonios de cultura judaica dentro de Austria unas cartas de la Edad Media, que datan del siglo IX.

A más tardar desde el siglo III de nuestra era los judíos comienzan a asentarse en toda la orbe de la Antigüedad. Especialmente al cabo de la segunda guerra de los judíos contra el Imperio Romano es que Roma, la vencedora, vendió judíos a gran escala como esclavos a todos sus dominios. Se presume que de esta manera, así como por migraciones voluntarias es que los judíos llegaron a Austria.

Fuente: DPA, Viena. cultura@laprensa.com.sv. 14 de marzo de 2008

Photos Copyright University of Vienna, Institute of Prehistory and Early History.:

1.- Gold_Scroll.jpg

2.- Grab_147_01.jpg

3.- Landschaft_Halbturn_01.jpg

(2) Archaeological sensation in Austria. Scientists from the University of Vienna unearth the earliest evidence of Jewish inhabitants in Austria

Archaeologists from the Institute of Prehistory and Early History of the University of Vienna have found an amulet inscribed with a Jewish prayer in a Roman child's grave dating back to the 3rd century CE at a burial ground in the Austrian town of Halbturn.

The 2.2-centimeter-long gold scroll represents the earliest sign of Jewish inhabitants in present-day Austria.

This amulet shows that people of Jewish faith lived in what is today Austria since the Roman Empire. Up to now, the earliest evidence of a Jewish presence within the borders of Austria has been letters from the 9th century CE. In the areas of the Roman province of Pannonia that are now part of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia, gravestones and small finds attest to Jewish inhabitants even in antiquity. Jews have been settling in all parts of the ancient world at the latest since the 3rd century BCE. Particularly following the second Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire, the victorious Romans sold large numbers of Jews as slaves to all corners of the empire. This, coupled with voluntary migration, is how Jews also might have come to present-day Austria.

Child's grave

The one or two year old child, which presumably wore the silver amulet capsule around its neck, was buried in one of around 300 graves in a Roman cemetery which dates back to the 2nd to 5th century CE and is situated next to a Roman estate ("villa rustica"). This estate was an agricultural enterprise that provided food for the surrounding Roman towns (Carnuntum, Györ, Sopron).

The gravesite, discovered in 1986 in the region of Seewinkel, around 20 kilometres from Carnuntum, was completely excavated between 1988 and 2002 by a team led by Falko Daim, who is now General Director of the Roman-German Central Museum of Mainz, with the financial backing of the Austrian Science Fund FWF and the Austrian state of Burgenland. All in all, more than 10,000 individual finds were assessed, most notably pieces of glass, shards of ceramic and metal finds. The gold amulet, whose inscription was incomprehensible at first, was only discovered in 2006 by Nives Doneus from the Institute for Prehistory and Early History of the University of Vienna.

The inscription on the amulet is a Jewish prayer:

ΣΥΜΑ ΙΣΤΡΑΗΛ ΑΔΩNΕ ΕΛΩΗ ΑΔΩN Α

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

Greek script, Hebrew language

Greek is common with amulet inscriptions, although Latin and Hebrew and amulet inscriptions are known. In this case, the scribe's hand is definitely familiar with Greek. However, the inscription is Greek in appearance only, for the text itself is nothing other than a Greek transcription of the common Jewish prayer from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy, 6:4): "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one."

Amulet to protect against demons

Other non-Jewish amulets have been found in Carnuntum. One gold- and three silver-plated amulets with magical texts were found in a stone sarcophagus unearthed west of the camp of the Roman legion, including one beseeching Artemis to intervene against the migraine demon, Antaura. Amulets have also been found in Vindobona and the Hungarian part of Pannonia. What is different about the Halbturn gold amulet is its Jewish inscription. It uses the confession to the center of Jewish faith and not magic formulae.

The gold-plated artefact from Halbturn can be viewed from 11 April 2008 onwards as part of the "The Amber Road - Evolution of a Trade Route" exhibition in the Burgenland State Museum in Eisenstadt.

Contact

Dr. Falko Daim

(Then Head of Project at the University of Vienna)

General Director of the Roman-German Central Museum

Research Institute for Prehistory and Early History

55116 Mainz, Ernst-Ludwig-Platz 2

Germany

Tel. +49-6131-9124 116

Mob. +49-160-969 429 99

daim@rgzm.de

Alexandra Frey

Public Relations

University of Vienna

1010 Vienna, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1

Austria

Tel. +43-1-4277-175 31

alexandra.frey@univie.ac.at

Copyright: University of Vienna, Institute of Prehistory and Early History.

3 comentarios

ALEXANDER -

TREMENDO DESCUBRIMIENTO PAREN LA OREJA LOS CATOLICOS " DIOS ES NUESTRO UNICO SEÑOR" NO LOS SANTOS

benita -

Este epigrafe NO SE REFIERE a ningun adonai, pero si a un BELO ¿Sois vosotros de esos? Yo creo visto lo visto, que sois los mismos: Los que habeis traido al mundo pacífico y paradisaco que había, el apocalipsis total, la guerra y la muerte y el sufrimiento...Leed vosotros vuestra biblia!!! Ahi lo pone!

benita -

Los de Iudea, o sea judios, no eran propiamente israelitas (descendientes de Iacb), sino descendientes de su hermano Edom (Gisahu)...¿A que equivocarnos con lindas palabras endiabladas de mala fe? Yo sí leo vuestra biblia! Y por cierto ese dios vuestro tan bondadoso...¿No es "el dios de los ejrcitos" en vuestra biblia?