The Berenice Inscriptions

The ancient North African port city of Hesperides was renamed Berenice around the third century BCE and is now known as Benghazi. Three extant inscriptions from Berenice depict a comfortable and wealthy stratum of its Jewish community, whose leaders also served as the archons (wardens) of the politeuma, the organized Jewish community. The first of these inscriptions records the archons’ formal recognition of the private donation of Decimus Valerius Dionysios son of Gaius, which funded the decoration of the Jewish amphitheater. The second inscription records the unanimous decision of the archons and politeuma to praise and give thanks to Marcus Tittius son of Sextus for being a responsible and gentle Roman official. The reference to “citizens” in this inscription is thought to include the Jews, as Jews were considered citizens throughout Cyrenaica (modern northeastern Libya). The third inscription, dated during Nero’s reign, lists the collective decision of the community (synagōgē) to record and honor those who made donations toward the restoration of the synagogue. Although only the first two of the three inscriptions refer to the leadership of the archon and the body of the politeuma, all three provide information about the community and its organization. The Greek names of these Jews also suggest some degree of Hellenization.