| The thesis of this dissertation is that women served as leaders in a number of synagogues during the Roman and Byzantine periods; the evidence consists of nineteen Greek and Latin inscriptions in which women bear the titles "president of the synagogue," "leader," "elder," "mother of the synagogue" and "priestess." These inscriptions range in date from 27 B.C.E. to perhaps the sixth century C.E. and in provenance from Italy to Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, and Palestine. While new discoveries make this a growing corpus of material, a number of the inscriptions have been known to scholars for some time. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is not to present a hitherto unknown body of evidence, but rather to suggest a new interpretation of known material.;Several points of background shed light on these inscriptions. Women's attendance at synagogue worship services is taken for granted in the ancient sources, and women were active donors in the synagogue, as numerous inscriptions attest. Further, ancient literary sources do not mention a women's gallery or separate women's section in the ancient synagogue, and most synagogues probably did not even have a gallery of any sort. Finally, the relative frequency of women converting to Judaism in antiquity raises the question whether some Jewish communities were less restrictive regarding women than others.;The traditional interpretation of Krauss, Schurer, Juster, Saloman Reinach, Theodore Reinach, and others, that these titles, when borne by women, were merely honorific, does not stand up to scrutiny. Rather, one should view the titles as indicating actual functions in the synagogue. Since the organization of the ancient synagogue must have differed according to both region and historical period and since one cannot always sharply distinguish the functions implied by the various titles, it is impossible to know precisely the functions of each woman title bearer. These functions probably included administration, overseeing finances, teaching, and liturgical functions. Several individuals, as opposed to single individual, constituted the leadership of the ancient synagogue. These women may well have served together with male colleagues on governing boards and in other collegially-structured leadership roles, which comprised that ruling structure. |
