Men Only: Hebrew-script Inscriptions from Jām, Afghanistan

Abstract

In 2005, the Minaret of Jām Archaeological Project team documented five tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew script at Jām in central Afghanistan. Three of these inscriptions have never been recorded before, and they bring the total number of tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew script found at the site to seventy-four. The tombstones indicate that there was a sizable Jewish population present at the summer capital of the Ghūrid dynasty, but curiously they only relate to males. The analysis of the inscriptions supports earlier suggestions that the Jewish community in Afghanistan originated from Persia.