In Euergetes’ later years, indeed, the Jewish community of Cyrene grew stronger, and probably when Judaea gained access to the sea an influential commercial element began to develop amongst its members. This is perhaps reflected in the coins of Cyrene between the years 140-96 B.C., since Robinson noted[854] that in that period mutual influence between the Cyrenean coins and those of Judaea is discernible, which affects particularly the coins of the later Hasmonaeans and Herod.[855] This influence is chiefly detectable in technical characteristics, — roughness of execution and the clipping of the edges; on the other hand the only figured type common to both countries is that of the double cornucopia struck on contemporary Cyrenean coins[856] and also on Hasmonaean issues from John Hyrcanus to Matthias Antigonus, then on those of Herod.[857] However, the double cornucopia is also to be seen on coins of Ptolemy III at Cyrene.
The drawing closer of ties between Cyrenean Jewry and Judaea is nevertheless not in doubt, particularly in the first century B.C. The “Tyrians of Akko”, alone among the Levantine coastal towns, had received a consignment of grain from Cyrene, during the dearth of Alexander’s time, albeit the smallest on the list (1000 medimni);[858] later, apparently in the 2nd century A.D., Cyrenean Jews and even Libyan proselytes were resident at Jaffa.[859]
3. The Jews of Teucheira
The increased immigration of the 2nd and especially of the 1st century B.C., is shown most strikingly by the cemetery of Teucheira to which allusion has already been made. Of some 440 tomb inscriptions published in learned periodicals,[860] and located in the quarries to east and west of the city, 109 can be identified as Jewish by reason of the Jewish, Aramaic or theophoric names among them, but there are some 144 identifiable as Jewish because of their location in tombs in which other identifiable Jews were buried. With two exceptions, all these are in the eastern cemetery, since only a few of those to west of the town have been read or published.[861] The proportion of Jewish names is roughly 30 percent, of the total known, but other Jews are certainly unidentifiable because of their Greek or Latin names, since such are known in tombs in which undoubted Jews were interred. If therefore we cannot know the percentage of Jews in the total population, and not all the known burials have been published, there is nevertheless proof that the Jews composed a considerable section of it. As stated, most of the recorded epitaphs are in the quarries to the east of the city, those inscriptions published to the west of it being graffiti cut on the stones of the city-wall or the wall of the gymnasium.[862]
The period of the interments is not easy to determine. Some tombs are of the 1st century A.D., but the regnal and other dates figuring in the associated epitaphs make it more likely that they began twenty to thirty years earlier. (See below). Most of the epitaphs to east of the town open with a record of the year, but it is not always clear which era is used. In some cases it is difficult to decide if the figures indicate the era of Actium, the era of the province or the regnal years of a ruler. Some with high figures may be assumed to reckon by the era of Actium and their figures generally coincide with the regnal years of Augustus.[863] One inscription demonstrates explicitly the use of the regnal year, as it mentions Domitian.[864] The use of the era of Actium is proven for certain inscriptions in Cyrene, eg. SEG IX, 128,[865] while the use of the era of the province has not been proved with certainty, to the best of my knowledge, though it may be conjectured in one or two cases.[866]
In the discussion of this problem, it were well to utilize the archaeological evidence of the finds made in excavations carried.
In the discussion of this problem, it were well to utilize the archaeological evidence of the finds made in excavations carried out by Webster in the east cemetery.[867] The following epitaphs associated with the group of tombs dug by him and published by Gray and Wright,[868] may be noted:
| SEG XVI | No. (Gray) | Year in Inscription | Date acc. to Provincial Era (74 B-C.) | Date acc. to Era of Actium (31 B.C.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 880 | 5 | 105 | A.D. 31 | A.D. 73 |
| 887 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 901 | 18 | 13 | ||
| 905 | 21 | II | ||
| 908 | 24 | 8 | ||
| 921 | 33 | 95 | A.D. 21 | A.D. 64 |
855
857
Israel Numismatic Society Publications: A. Kindler, apud
860
861
For these, Wright,
862
In his previous study of the Teucheira Jewish epitaphs, the writer was under the impression that part of the inscriptions published by Oliverio in
863
Eg.
864
865
Lovδ΄ τοῦ κὰι γ’ αὐτοκρατόρος Μ Αὐρηλίου Σεβήρου Ἀλεξάνδρου... Cf.
866
It should be remarked that there is no certainty if the year of the constitution of the province was regarded as 74 or as 67 B.C. when Cyrene was administratively merged with Crete. See Appian,