DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0048
i8
POMPEII
The names Maria and Martha appear in wall inscriptions.
The assertion that Maria here is not the Hebrew name, but the
feminine form of the Roman name Marius, is far astray. It
appears in a list of female slaves who were working in a
weaver’s establishment, Vitalis, Fiorentina, Amaryllis, Januaria,
Heracla, Maria, Lalage, Damalis, Doris. The Marian family
was represented at Pompeii, but the Roman name Maria could
not have been given to a slave. That we have here a Jewish
name seems certain since the discovery of the name Martha.
In inscriptions upon wine jars we find mention of a certain
M. Valerius Abinnerichus, a name which is certainly Jewish or
Syrian; but whether Abinnerich was a dealer, or the owner of the
estate on which the wine was produced, cannot be determined.
In this connection it is worth while to note that vessels have
been found with the inscribed labels, garum castum ( for casti-
monialc?\ and muria casta. These fish sauces, prepared for
fast days, were used especially by the Jews.
Some have thought that the word Christianos can be read in
an inscription written with charcoal, and have fancied that they
found a reference to the persecution of the Christians under
Nero. But charcoal inscriptions, which will last for centuries
when covered with earth, soon become illegible if exposed to
the air; such an inscription, traced on a wall at the time of the
persecutions under Nero, must have disappeared long before the
destruction of the city. The inscription in question was indis-
tinct when discovered, and has since entirely faded; the reading
is quite uncertain. If it were proved that the word “ Chris-
tians ” appeared in it, we should be warranted only in the infer-
ence that Christians were known at Pompeii, not that they lived
and worshipped there. According to Tertullian (Apol. 40) there
were no Christians in Campania before 79.
POMPEII
The names Maria and Martha appear in wall inscriptions.
The assertion that Maria here is not the Hebrew name, but the
feminine form of the Roman name Marius, is far astray. It
appears in a list of female slaves who were working in a
weaver’s establishment, Vitalis, Fiorentina, Amaryllis, Januaria,
Heracla, Maria, Lalage, Damalis, Doris. The Marian family
was represented at Pompeii, but the Roman name Maria could
not have been given to a slave. That we have here a Jewish
name seems certain since the discovery of the name Martha.
In inscriptions upon wine jars we find mention of a certain
M. Valerius Abinnerichus, a name which is certainly Jewish or
Syrian; but whether Abinnerich was a dealer, or the owner of the
estate on which the wine was produced, cannot be determined.
In this connection it is worth while to note that vessels have
been found with the inscribed labels, garum castum ( for casti-
monialc?\ and muria casta. These fish sauces, prepared for
fast days, were used especially by the Jews.
Some have thought that the word Christianos can be read in
an inscription written with charcoal, and have fancied that they
found a reference to the persecution of the Christians under
Nero. But charcoal inscriptions, which will last for centuries
when covered with earth, soon become illegible if exposed to
the air; such an inscription, traced on a wall at the time of the
persecutions under Nero, must have disappeared long before the
destruction of the city. The inscription in question was indis-
tinct when discovered, and has since entirely faded; the reading
is quite uncertain. If it were proved that the word “ Chris-
tians ” appeared in it, we should be warranted only in the infer-
ence that Christians were known at Pompeii, not that they lived
and worshipped there. According to Tertullian (Apol. 40) there
were no Christians in Campania before 79.