A RECENTLY DISCOVERED HEBREW INSCRIPTION IN A STRUCTURE IDENTIFIED AS A JEWISH RITUAL BATH IN SYRACUSE, SICILY

Beneath the Church of St. Philip the Apostle in Syracuse, Sicily, a Hebrew inscription has recently been found carved into the wall of a stairwell which leads down to a small chamber containing a pool of groundwater. Although the structure has been identified in the past as a Jewish ritual bath (miqweh), some scholars have recently contested this identification, arguing that the site was never in Jewish possession. The importance of the Hebrew inscription lies chiefly in the fact that it provides the first concrete evidence for the Jewish character of the installation. The inscription is published here for the first time, together with the first comprehensive description of the subterranean structure wherein it was found, and a survey of comparable structures found elsewhere in Europe. Historical evidence relating to ownership of the site prior to the expulsion of the Jews from Sicily in 1492 will also be examined. A paleographic analysis of the inscription by Edna Engel is provided as an addendum.