Forgotten in a coconut field, an 800-year-old tombstone expands India’s Jewish history
Top Stories Tamfitronics (RNS) — When coconut farmers in India’s Tamil Nadu state stumbled across a stone covered in strange inscriptions, it’s unlikely they expected it to be a groundbreaking find in Indian Jewish history.However, the stone — a tombstone with Hebrew writing — has been identified as one of the oldest Jewish artifacts in India and has opened a window into a previously unknown community.“This discovery might be leading to a new chapter,” Thoufeek Zakriya, a Hebrew calligrapher and scholar of Indian Jewish history who translated the stone, told RNS.When it comes to Jewish history in India, there are several communities usually discussed.The oldest are the Cochin Jews of Kerala on southwest India’s Malabar coast. To the north is the Bene Israel community, which was centered around Mumbai and other cities of the subcontinent’s...
