Jews and Others
precise date of this step is currently under debate, and it is a matter of choice
whether one describes the resultant building as a synagogue or, more loosely,
as a hall with forecourt, now adapted for Jewish communal use.^24 Equally, as
above, we cannot prove whether these observers of Judaism were biologically
Jewish or not. Doubts must still remain on the archaeological context, since
much depends on the dating of the mosaic floor, on which the final report is
yet to appear. So, given the uncertainties as to the date, it is not claimed here
that the relevant evidence dates to the Theodosian period, though it belongs
without question to the late Empire. But the very important step which has
very recently been taken is the publication, as two complete groups, of all
of the seventy Greek inscriptions and five Hebrew ones from the site, plus
one Hebrew one from elsewhere in Sardis. The Greek inscriptions offer an
illuminating contrast and comparison to the two from Aphrodisias.^25 Firstly,
while much more numerous, they are individually much shorter than the
Aphrodisias ones. Secondly, they are all internal to the hall and its forecourt;
some are mosaic inscriptions from the main floor, and some come from deco-
rative wall panels. Thirdly, our conception of the community has to be built
up from a large number of small texts, some very fragmentary; there is no
continuous list, as at Aphrodisias. The overall picture revealed, however, is
very much in accordance with that from Aphrodisias. Firstly, individuals
with the status designation ofboul(eutēs), ‘‘city councillor,’’ appear quite fre-
quently (nos. , , , ?, , , , , , ). Secondly, several persons are
identified by the termtheosebēs, ‘‘God-fearer’’ (nos. , , , , )—surely a
conclusive demonstration that we cannot characterise thewholecommunity
here (or, of course, at Aphrodisias) as ‘‘God-fearers.’’ Thirdly, we do encounter
some Hebrew names written in Greek, though far fewer than at Aphrodisias
(e.g., no. : Samō[ēl], someone from the nearby city of Hypaipa; also no. :
Samō[ēl]).
More important, there are also a few inscriptions which give at least some
explicit hints as to the nature of the Judaism practised there: for example,
no. , a dedicatory inscription ending ‘‘Lord, help this house,’’ inscribed
in a circle enclosing also a representation of a menorah and an ethrog; also
no. —‘‘Aurelius Hermogenes, a ‘God-fearer,’ having taken a vow, made,
. For the most systematic accounts so far available, see A. R. Seager, ‘‘The Building
History of the Sardis Synagogue,’’Am. Journ. Arch. (): ; A. R. Seager and A. T.
Kraabel, ‘‘The Synagogue and the Jewish Community,’’ in G. M. A. Hanfmann, ed.,Sardis
from Prehistoric to Roman Times: Results of the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, –
(), .
. See J. H. Kroll, ‘‘The Greek Inscriptions of the Sardis Synagogue,’’Harv.Th. Rev.
(): . See nowIJudOII, ff., nos. –.