Updating the debate on the Jewish populations in North Africa

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the debate on North African Jews and seeks to articulate the discussions and critiques with the model of cultural assimilation and ancient Roman historiographical understanding, reproduced by classical and post-classical humanist thought. It claims that focus on regional context reveals ambiguities and uncertainties inherent to the processes of domination and enables a variety of associations for cultural identities formation. After the Phoenician and Roman colonization periods, hypogea and catacombs became equally conventional methods for burial of the dead in specific areas of North Africa. Knowledge on funerary practices and ideas of death rituals allow us to address cultural dynamics in the Roman world and to interpret artefacts within a structure through which individuals relate to each other, acquire their understandings, establish their associations and their differences as well. Roman religion was based in correct practice and execution of rites, orthopraxy, and North African Jews have marked their own tombs in a way that would simultaneously index resemblances with neighbour social groups as well as onomastic or symbolic differences.

摘要 本文针对北非犹太人相关议题的学术论辩展开分析，旨在依托古典与后古典人文主义思想所复刻的文化同化模型与古罗马史学认知范式，系统梳理相关讨论与批判观点。研究表明，聚焦区域语境能够揭示权力支配进程中固有的模糊性与不确定性，同时为文化身份的建构提供多元关联路径。在腓尼基与罗马殖民时期之后，地下墓室（hypogea）与地下墓穴（catacombs）成为北非特定区域内安葬逝者的通用丧葬方式。通过对丧葬习俗与死亡仪式观念的研究，我们得以探析罗马世界的文化动态，并在个体相互联结、形成认知、构建群体关联与差异的结构框架中解读各类文物遗存。罗马宗教以仪式的正确践行与实施——即正统实践（orthopraxy）——为核心基础，而北非犹太人以兼具双重指向的方式标记自身墓葬：既彰显与邻近社会群体的相似性，又凸显命名或象征层面的差异。