Delos On the islands of the Cyclades [Translator’s note: south of the Greek mainland], north of Naxos, an island that played an important role in ancient times, there was a Jewish community in the second century BCE which – as…
Jews in the Mediterranean
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands (Part VI) – Sicily, Eubia, Samos, Zante
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
Sicily The excavation of archeological layers has shown that in Roman times there were Jewish communities in Syracuse, Catania, Noto, among other places. At the end of the 6th century there is mention of Jews in Messina, Palermo, and Girgenti. By…
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands (Part V) – Rhodes, Cos, Lesbos and Lemnos
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
Rhodes Rhodes is in the Aegean Sea, currently under Italian control. [Translator's note:Rhodes was awarded to Greece after WWII and today remains Greek, though it lies within eyeshot of the Turkish mainland.] As early as the second century BCE it…
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands (Part IV) – Malta
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
Malta Findings in catacombs confirm the existence of Jews on Malta from the time of the Roman Empire until late in the Middle Ages. They came from Alexandria to this important crossroads on their way to Italy. In 1240 there…
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands (Part III) – Corfu
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
Corfu While Benjamin of Tudela (1170) found scarcely a single Jew on Corfu, this state of affairs changed when rulers of Naples from the House of Anjou brought in Jewish craftsmen from the Byzantine Empire. From this foundation there developed…
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands (Part II) – Crete
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
Crete In biblical times this island was known as Kaftor. It had close relations with the Philistines, who already swelled in the Land of Canaan when the Jews migrated in, and this Kaftorland is conceivably the Philistine homeland. This cultural…
Before The Deluge: Jews Of The Mediterranean Islands – Cyprus
by Ezra James Nollet • • 0 Comments
The stories in this column are translations by Mr. Nollet fromDie Juden In Der Welt (The Jews in the World) by Mark Wischnitzer, a long out-of-print book published more than seven decades ago in Germany.The book examines Jewish communities, one country at a…