Jewish Catacomb Bibliography Notes 3: Elsa Laurenzi, La catacomba ebraica di Vigna Randanini (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2013).

Elsa Laurenzi's presentation of the Jewish catacombs of the Vigna Randanini in Rome for the Gangemi Series on "Roma Ebraica" is the first detailed archaeological monograph on the site in many generations, a fact most surprising given the catacomb's significance as one of the few monumental testimonies to Ancient Jews in Rome thus far revealed. That the book itself is jointly sponsored by Italy's Cultural Ministry and the Jewish Community of Rome (with funding provided by the Elio Toaff Foundation for Jewish Culture) is a sign of a new season of collaboration between "Synagogue and State" on the conservation of Jewish cemeteries in Italy, a legal obligation for the country's government and long an issue of concern to Jews. Laurenzi's detailed and informative overview will serve as a guide for future investigations. Many pieces of the puzzle exist, but need reassembling. It is exciting to take stock of the work in the Vigna Randanini catacomb up to this point and focus on what needs a clearer resolution. Now is the time to move beyond the manifest, and make bold and interpretive analyses of the site