Ein judäischer Vermessungsingenieur am Werk?

Das beschriftete Lot einer groma aus der CCAA / Köln

Abstract

The plumb-bob, consisting of solid bronze, was found in an ancient Rhine arm which separated a riverine island from the city of CCAA / Cologne. The layer’s context indicates a deposition of the object around the middle or in the second half of the 2nd century. The dotted inscription displays ancient mistakes and, therefore, can be read and amended in different ways. One possible reading is: > (centuria) Iud(a)e{a}ii / Leuboni oder Leuboni(s), i. e. »from the century of Iudaeius (the Judean), (present for or property of the soldier) Leubo«. Were this to be, it remains open whether Iudaeius is a personal name or a foreign description. The name does not allow a firm inference to a Jew, since it can also be interpreted as a pure name of origin with the meaning »from Judea«. Nonetheless, in the future this inscription of ownership will have to be considered when discussing the oldest witnesses for Jews north of the Alps.