The skeletal human remains found when archaeologists discovered part of the long-lost medieval Jewish cemetery in Rome have been reinterred in the Jewish section of the Prima Porta cemetery in northern Rome..
“We had the merit of fulfilling an important precept which teaches the great respect for life and the human body until it is returned to the dust from which it was taken,” Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said in a statement. He said a team of experts from Israel had worked in close cooperation with the Rome Jewish community to ensure that the reburial — Tuesday — took place within the quickest time possible and “under strict observance of Jewish law.”
Archaeologists announced two weeks ago that they had uncovered 38 graves, with skeletal remains intact, from the Campus Iudeorum, the cemetery used by Rome’s Jewish community from medieval times to the 17th century. The discovery was made during excavations that took part during the reconstruction of a building to become the news headquarters of an insurance company.
The orthodox Jewish news site Hamodia reports that
In anticipation of the release of the remains, Rabbi Di Segni consulted with other Rabbanim and experts to prepare graves appropriate for the interment of skeletal remains. On Tuesday morning, Roman officials turned the bones over to the Jewish community; by afternoon, the reburial had taken place.
“There was no time to arrange for any ceremony because we wanted to bury them as fast as possible. A lot of arrangements had to be made at the last minute and we ran to get it done,” Rabbi Di Segni told Hamodia.
A procedure that has been used for the reburial of bones in other countries was followed. The remains were placed in 38 separate compartments in the same area. The process was overseen by Rabbi Di Segni along with three experts who traveled from Eretz Yisrael to assist, and a member of the chevrah kaddisha of Rome.
Read the full article on Hamodia