Menorah Lamps from Cástulo (Linares, Spain)

Abstract

In the last years several archaeological campaigns took place in the Ibero-Roman city of Cástulo (Linares, Spain). The excavation works have been developed under the framework of Project Forvm MMX. The woks executed in Area 1 between 2011 and 2014 have enabled the documentation and reinterpretation of an interesting structure dated at the Imperial Roman period. The building was plundered and partially reused in the following centuries. Because of this the original complex was deeply transformed and its immediate surroundings were redeveloped as well. Some of the most significant materials associated with that late period have a close connection with Jewish symbols. The aim of this paper is to analyze these materials and to explain their presence in Castulo.