A Jewish cemetery from the Middle Ages has been discovered by Hebrew University researchers in Armenia, a country in which a Jewish community had not been known to exist before modern times. The graveyard, located southeast of the capital Yerevan, contains more than 40 Jewish gravestones that are striking in their decorations and in their sometimes emotional inscriptions. Local Armenian Bishop Abraham Mkrtchtyan was the one who first notified HU Prof. Michael Stone of the possible significance of the site, and cooperated in excavating it.
Among the gravestones found were 16 with inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic and Armenian-style decorations. The stones bore dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. Among them is a particularly emotional one in which a bereaved father mourns the loss of his young son.
(From Arutz-7 Feb 13th 2001)
Rufina
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Celebrating our Portuguese - Jewish heritage