Mussolini home Jewish graves opened

[Rebekkah]

Mussolini home Jewish graves opened
Catacombs under dictator's residence being restored
 (ANSA) - Rome, July 26 - The Jewish catacombs under Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's Rome villa are being restored and readied for visitors. "It's going to take several months to prepare the site and make it safe," said the head of Italy's Jewish Cultural Heritage Foundation, Bruno Orvieto.

"We have to be very careful because there are delicate wall paintings down there that date back some 1,800 years," he stressed.

"We must also take care to respect Jewish rituals regarding all of the 1,500 tombs," Orvieto added.

However, a sneak preview of the 3rd and 4th century AD catacombs will be possible on September 2, when the European Day of Jewish Culture will be celebrated in 30 countries, including 55 sites around Italy.

The six-mile-long network of catacombs - in which Mussolini had a bomb shelter built during the Second World War - are a little-known feature of Rome.

However, some scholars believe they may actually predate the famous Christian catacombs that are dotted around the Eternal City.

Villa Torlonia, the grand neoclassical residence where Mussolini and his family lived between 1925 and 1943, was recently restored after decades of neglect.

There are plans to build a Shoah museum in the villa's famous landscaped park.
 
http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2007-07-26_126100932.html

[Bianca]

Aereal View of Villa Torlonia

[Bianca]

Some of Villa Torlonia's gardens

[Bianca]

                   
Vault painting in a decorated cubiculum in the Torlonia catacomb in which are depicted various Jewish symbols and cult objects including the Menorah, the ethrog, shofar and the lulav.

[Bianca]

                 
Painted rear wall of an arcosolium depicting rosette-studded curtains, which are drawn back to reveal a torah shrine flanked by blazing menorahs and the traditional cult symbols. A star shines above, while clouds partially obscure the sun on the left and the moon on the right.
 
 
 

[Bianca]

             
Historian Leonard Rutgers explores the Villa Torlonia, an ancient Jewish catacomb in Rome. Rutgers led a research team that found that the city's Jewish underground cemeteries predate its Christian ones. The discovery contradicts the long-held belief that Christians pioneered the building of catacombs.

Photograph courtesy Utrecht University

[Bianca]

                    CATACOMB FIND BOOSTS EARLY CHRISTIAN-JEWISH TIES, STUDY SAYS




James Owen
for National Geographic News

July 20, 2005
For millions of pilgrims and tourists, the ancient catacombs of Rome represent the rise of Christianity. Yet a new study suggests that these vast underground burial complexes may owe their origins to Jews—and that Judaism may have influenced Christianity for longer than previously thought.

Carved over several centuries from soft rock on the outskirts of the imperial capital, the catacombs are the resting places of hundreds of thousands of Christians. 

But along with the 60 early-Christian complexes, two Jewish catacombs survive in Rome. They are distinguished by Judaic motifs, such as the seven-branched candelabras, or menorahs, that appear on many grave stones.

Dutch-based researchers now report that at least one of the Jewish catacombs, Villa Torlonia, predates its Christian counterparts.

Using radiocarbon dating techniques, the team found that charcoal fragments embedded in lime powder used in the construction of Villa Torlonia dated from 50 B.C. to A.D. 400. The discovery suggests that the Jewish catacomb came into use a century before the earliest Christian sites.

The researcers describe their findings in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.

The discovery also suggests that the Jewish roots of early Christianity run far deeper than previously thought, according to the study's lead author, Leonard V. Rutgers, professor of late antiquity at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

"Scholars have frequently argued that Christianity came into its own fairly early on in the first century, and from then on there was no Jewish influence," he said. "The period of separation probably took a lot longer and was much more gradual than we thought."

The catacombs were built just outside Rome's boundaries because, at the time, Roman law forbade burial places in the city itself. It's thought that early Christians also used the sites for worship and to celebrate the anniversaries of their martyrs.

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Rutgers says that, because the underground constructions are so vast and were continuously expanded for centuries, they provide a unique insight into the religion's evolution.

For instance, over time a shift is seen toward recognizably Christian iconography, such as the Crucifixion and Bible scenes from the New Testament.
 
Christian and Jewish catacombs share features that link their development, according to Rutgers. "They are quite similar in terms of architecture," he said. "If you're in a site where there are no inscriptions and no wall paintings, then it's hard to say whether it's Jewish or Christian."

There are no known writings that suggest that Christians adopted the practice of catacomb burials from Roman Jews. But the new dating evidence helps establish a chronology that supports this argument, Rutgers says.

"It's not unlikely that the Christians said to themselves, Well this is a great idea, let's copy it," he said.

Some scholars argue that the Christian catacombs have even earlier origins that tie in with pagan funerary customs.

Amanda Claridge, a classical archaeologist at the University of London, says it's unlikely the practice began with the Jews. "I think it evolved from the cremation burials [of pagan Romans], which were all rock-cut, underground depositories that date from the very early first century B.C.," she said.

Claridge adds that Roman pagans later switched from cremation burials to corpse burials, which necessitated bigger chambers like those found in the catacombs.

[Bianca]

ROMAN MOTIFS


The Christians adopted traditional Roman motifs for their tombs, including garlands, flowers, birds, and other animals, according to Claridge.

"They get taken over into the Christian world and acquire ever more exclusively Christian associations," she said. "For instance, sheep are considered very Christian, but they are already there in the existing [ancient Roman] repertoire for the decoration of tombs."

The archaeologist says the catacombs were a cheap option for Rome's poorer people, who couldn't afford to buy a burial plot. "The Christians often belonged to that social-economic group," she added.

Given that Christianity grew out of Judaism, it might seem a fair assumption that Jewish customs also influenced early Christian burials. Yet ever since catacomb studies began in the 16th and 17th centuries, Christian scholars appear to have overlooked the Jewish connection.

The reason for this is theological, according to Rutgers, the lead study author.

"These scholars weren't interested in Judaism," he said. "It may sound very silly today, but they didn't like the idea that Christianity had Jewish roots. Therefore, they thought it wise not to investigate.

Even in the 20th century catacomb archaeology has clung to very old methods. It's a very traditional field, and this strong theological influence is still felt."

Claridge, of the University of London, added, "The early history of the exploration of the catacombs was done by members of [17th-century] society in Catholic Rome, where Jews were marginalized and often treated extremely badly."

"Since the 17th century it's been traditional that catacomb archaeology is done by members of the Catholic Church and nobody else," she said. "After all, the Church owns most of the catacombs of Rome."


 www. National Geographic.com

[Bianca]

           
             LAYOUT OF THE JEWISH CATACOMBS AT VILLA TORLONIA

[Rebekkah]

Nice work on this, Bianca!  You always come up with the best material. 

[Bianca]

Thanks, Rebekkah.  This one was really easy, I was on my own turf!

Love and Peace,
b