The Jewish Communities in Eastern Rough Cilicia Mark R. Fairchild (Huntington University) This article discusses Jewish communities and their material remains in Eastern Rough Cili- cia mainly during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. After mentioning some written sources about the Jewish presence in western Anatolia, the general paucity of testimonies about Jewish communities in central and eastern Anatolia is emphasized. This lack of evidence might be due to the fact, that both areas are not as well explored and researched as Western Anatolia. The fo- cus of the paper lies on the eastern most region of Rough Cilicia. It discusses rock inscriptions, rock carvings, and (decorated) architectural remains which bear witness to a strong Jewish pres- ence in many cities of this region. The full extent of the Jewish diaspora will never be known. In the years follow- ing the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Israel, the Jewish people were dispersed throughout the Middle East. In the centuries that followed leading up to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, this dispersal of the Jewish people and their culture continued its expanse into Africa, Europe, and the Far East. It is difficult to determine the times and places where Jews settled in these regions. By examining ancient texts, researching ancient inscriptions, and ex- cavating ruins, we are able to pin down a few times and places where Jews settled during these periods. However, this process is imperfect since these resources provide us with random finds. Evidence of a Jewish presence at a site does not always survive for thousands of years and some of the evidence that has survived can be disputed. I have concentrated my research upon ancient Anatolia and I have par- ticularly focused upon the Hellenistic and Roman periods. This territory is vast and has not been well explored. Comparatively speaking, most ancient sites in Turkey are relatively untouched when compared to sites in Israel, Greece, southern France, Italy, Egypt, and Jordan. Outside of several sites in western Turkey, the ancient sites in Turkey are scarcely excavated or not excavated at all. I have travelled to many of these sites for the past seven- teen years and have visited more than 270 ancient sites in Turkey that date back to the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. Some of these sites are unknown by their ancient city names and most of these are seldom visited. I have a collection of more than 250,000 photographs from these places, including many unpublished inscriptions still in situ. The point to be made is that there is an abundance of information that can still be gathered from ancient Anatolia. With more scholars now turning their attention to Turkey, evidence of a Jewish presence in ancient Anatolia is increasingly being exposed. Paul Tre- bilco’s Jewish Communities in Asia Minor (1991) was published twenty three Journal of Ancient Judaism, 5. Jg., 204–216, ISSN: 1869-3296 (print), 2196-7954 (online) © 2014 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen The Jewish Communities in Eastern Rough Cilicia 205 years ago and is already out of date.1 Rachel Hachlili’s Ancient Synagogues – Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research (2013), published within the past year, is excellent, but says almost nothing about Jews and syna- gogues in Asia Minor.2 Josephus claimed that Jews could be found in most cities: “This people has already made its way into every city; and it is not easy to find any place in the habitable world which has not received this nation and in which it has not made its power felt.”3 Nevertheless literary, epigraphic and archaeological evi- dence of a Jewish presence in the cities of Anatolia is fairly scant. Josephus claimed that in the 3rd cent. B. C. E. Antiochus II relocated sev- eral Jewish families to Ionia and that Antiochus III transplanted 2,000 Jewish families from Mesopotamia to Phrygia.4 1 Macc 15:16–23 cites a letter writ- ten by the Roman senate in 139–138 B. C. E. to several locations where Jews resided in Anatolia, including the Pergamene kingdom, Cappadocia, Caria, Lycia, and Pamphylia. Additionally, specific cities are mentioned: Myndos, Halicarnassus, Knidos, Phaselis, and Side. Later in 62 B. C. E. Lucius Valerius Flaccus impounded the temple tax of Jewish families from Phrygia (Laodicea and Apamea) and Mysia (Adramyttium and Pergamum) amounting to more than 220 Roman pounds.5 This money was destined for Jerusalem, but Flac- cus objected to the export of such wealth. If this monetary figure is accurate, it would indicate that there were more than 90,000 male Jews over the age of 20 in Phrygia and Mysia at that time.6 In the 1st cent. C. E., Philo claimed that there were numerous Jews living in Pamphylia, Cilicia, Bithynia, and Pontus.7 There is ample evidence to indicate a sizeable Jewish presence in western Anatolia, but what about central and eastern Anatolia? Here, we are vaguely aware of the Jewish communities in these areas due to the paucity of our infor- mation. Our literary sources offer few references to Jews in these regions and there are relatively few inscriptions from the eastern parts of Anatolia. Why? Perhaps the reason is because Anatolia has not been well explored. While it can be said that archaeologists have been slow to dig in Anatolia, this is par- ticularly true in eastern Anatolia. Many of the inscriptions in the eastern half of Anatolia are unpublished and are still in the field. Thus, the current lack of evidence for a Jewish presence in these areas is not proof that Jews scarcely populated these regions. In fact, the proximity of these regions to Palestine would suggest that the Jewish population in eastern Anatolia would be great. 1 P. Trebilco, Jewish Communities in Asia Minor (SNTS 69; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). 2 R. Hachlili, Ancient Synagogues – Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Re- search (Handbook of Oriental Studies 105; Leiden: Brill, 2013). 3 Josephus, Ant. 14.115. 4 Josephus, Ant. 12.125, 149. 5 Cicero, Flac. 28.67–69. 6 It has been argued that Cicero has inflated the amount of the payment. 7 Philo, Legat. 281–82. Journal of Ancient Judaism, 5. Jg., 204–216, ISSN: 1869-3296 (print), 2196-7954 (online) © 2014 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen 206 Mark R. Fairchild For the purposes of this essay, I want to focus attention upon the west- ern most region of Rough Cilicia from the Calycadnus River to the Lamas River. This region was known as a pirate enclave throughout the Hellenistic and early Roman period. In spite of Roman propaganda to the contrary, De Souza persuasively argues that the Romans never drove the pirates out of the region.8 Due to the rough mountainous interior the river routes were the only way to penetrate the interior. Here however, the sheer canyon walls made it easy for the pirates to hide and defend their territory.9 There is no evidence to indicate that Pompey or any of the earlier Roman military leaders did any fighting east of Anemurium. Those pirates who withdrew further east to Rough Cilicia could flee a short distance into the perilous interior where the Roman troops would have found it impossible to eradicate their presence. Due to the dangers and difficulty of travel in this region, I would suggest that few outsiders visited the region and those that did seldom penetrated the interior. Perhaps this is why we have few references to this area in the literary sources. Pliny’s catalog of cities in Rough Cilicia only lists a few cities from the interior.10 In spite of the paucity of literary sources that referred to this area, there are enough clues to indicate that there was clearly a strong Jewish presence in Rough Cilicia. Josephus reports that Herod visited Elaiousa Sebaste with his sons. When he returned to Judea he came to the temple and boasted of the things he had done to gain favor with the Jews.11 Although this passage mentions nothing of Jews in Cilicia, Herod’s speech at the temple implies that he offered benefac- tions to Jews in Cilicia. Elsewhere Josephus noted that Herod offered tax relief to several cities in Cilicia, perhaps for the benefit of Jews in the region.12 Acts 6:9 re- corded the presence of a synagogue of freedmen in Jerusalem comprised of Jews from Cilicia as well as Cyrene, Alexandria, and Asia.13 Additionally, Acts 9:11, 30; 11:25; 21:39; 22:3 and Galatians 1:21 refer to the Jew Saul (Paul) as having come from Tarsus in Cilicia. Later in the 1st cent. C. E., Josephus referred to Alexander (the son of Tigranes, a Jewish king of Armenia) who was appointed king of Ketis in Cilicia by Vespasian.14 The appointment of a Jew to this position is probably an indication of a large Jewish presence in the region. In a peculiar move, Ber- enice married Polemo, king of Cilicia, and induced him to be circumcised only 8 P. de Souza, Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). 9 It has been fashionable in recent years to limit piracy during the Hellenistic period to the Bay of Pamphylia from Olympus and Phaselis in the west to Anemurium in the east. M. Durukan, “The Connection of Eastern and Central Cilicia with Piracy,” Adalya 12 (2009): 77–102 persuasively argues that the pirates retreated further to the east, i. e. to the region east of the Calycadnus River. 10 Pliny, Nat. 5.27. 11 Josephus, Ant. 16.131–33.