Introduction
It may be more logical to assume that the first Jewish settlements in the Iberian Peninsula took place after Tito's destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. The war against Rome and the disappearance of the Temple opened up the great Jewish diaspora throughout the Mediterranean; this diaspora could have reached Hispania in the first century. In 135 C.E., the Romans put down the last Jewish uprising, crushing Bar-Kochba's uprising. Epitaphs and coins have been found from this early period. Another important piece of information is St. Peter's epistle to the Romans about his visit to Spain, which could indicate the presence of Jewish communities in the Peninsula. Also at this time Jonathan ben Uziel identified Spain with the Biblical Sepharad, which resulted in the Spanish Jews referring to themselves as "Sephardic". This page has been translated from Spanish by Judith Cohen.www.fusionmill.com/core/judith_cohen |
According
to the oldest traditions, the first Jews in Spain seem to have arrived
in one of King Solomon's fleets, which, together with Hiram's Phoenicians,
did business with Tarsus; these same boats of Tarsus which the prophet
Jonah boarded and which must have arrived at the Tartessos of the Guadalquivir.
Another tradition suggests they arrived as refugees after the destruction
of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezar in 587 B.C.E., and found their compatriots,
who had come during the Phoenician trading era. Though all this is possible,
there is no documentation to prove it.