Su alcuni epitaffi ebraici in Terra di Lavoro e un’attestazione di ebrei da Piazza Armerina

Abstract

Jewish Epitaphs in Terra di Lavoro with an Occurrence of Jews from Piazza Armerina

In 1892, the historian and archaeologist Gabriele Iannelli published a note concerning two Hebrew epitaphs allegedly of the late 15^th or early 16^th century that were found in Terra di Lavoro (Northern Campania) and which have been since forgotten. The first epitaph is known only through an trascription made in the 18^th century by the Christian Hebraist Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi. The second is a funerary inscription found at Castel Volturno, belonging to a certain Ester from Piazza, which is to be identified with Piazza Armerina in Sicily. This text is the first known evidence of a Sicilian Jewish presence in Campania besides the documentary sources. The whereabouts of both inscriptions is presently unknown, but some old copies and a paper squeeze of the second inscription have been detected in the archive of Graziadio Isaia Ascoli.