PARIUM

PARIUM (or Parion; Turk. Kemer), ancient city on the Asian side of the Dardanelles. It was the first settlement point for the Jews in the region of canakkale during the Roman era. The earliest literary evidence about the Parium Jews, from 48 B.C.E., contains a decree by Julius Gaius, Roman consul, which indicates that Jewish rights and privileges were granted to enable them to maintain their customs in the face of local hostility, including the right of assembly, feasts in accordance with their tradition, and monetary contributions for common meals and holy festivals. From the decree, it can be surmised that there was a synagogue in Parium. There is no further information about the Parium Jews. Nonetheless, the fact that Teucer of Cyzius, author of Historia Judaica, lived in a city close to Parium in the middle of the first century B.C.E., points to a Jewish presence in this region. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Flavius, Ant., 213–16; Strabo, Geography, 13:1, 1; Handbook for Travelers in Constantinople, Brusa, and the Troad (1893), 135; P.R. Trebilco, Jewish Communities in Asia Minor (1994), 13; A. Galanté, Histoire des Juifs d'Anatolie, 4 (1987), 224. (M. Mustafa Kulu (2nd ed.)