A Building Inscription from Tanais: More About the Jewish Community in Tanais
Ivantchik Askold I.
The article provides a publication of a building inscription from Tanais, fragments of which were found mainly in situ during the excavations on the agora in 1993. The inscription dates back to the end of the reign of Sauromates II (most likely the first decade of the third century AD) and records on the restoration of a portico financed by a royal presbeutes whose name is not preserved. The construction work was organized by the hellenarches Basileides, son of Theoneikos, and another official of whose name only the patronymic – “son of Samuel” – has been preserved. The inscription increases the number of known inhabitants of Tanais who bore Jewish names, and additionally confirms the existence of a Jewish community in the city. One of the buildings discovered on the agora (Bau 6) may have been a mikveh used by its members.
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