History and etymology of San Giuseppe Jato

Near the town of San Giuseppe Jato are located the ruins of  Jato, destroyed by Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250), because it was considered one of the most important strongholds of the Arab resistance in Sicily.

Today it is recognized without doubt that it was the old  “Ietae” or “Ietas.” In the late '50s there was not this certainty, because, apart from B. Pace, who situated Ietae near San Giuseppe Iato,  between Salemi and  the sources of the Iati river, some scholars such as A. Holm was still very doubtful. (See, "Kokalos", 1958, p. 156). Among modern historians, T. Fazello  did not doubt, placing it "in editissimo et undique paerupto monte ' [a very high and precipitous mountain]). In the eighteenth century, among the German historians, Johann Christoph Rasche wrote: “Iaetae, vel Iaetia, alio nomine Iatus, vernaculo 'Iato', natura munitissimum Siciliae oppidum in summo vertice stetit montis illius, quem hodie vulgus et Iatum et Sanctum Cosmanum adpellat. Locus est in valle Mazariae inter Corileonem et Calatafimii” ['Iatae' or 'Iaetia', another name of 'Iatus', known in dialect as 'Iato', a fortified town in Sicily located in an inaccessible place on the summit of the mountain, which is now commonly called  ‘Iatus' and ‘San Cosmano.’ It is situated in the valley of Mazara, between Corleone and Calatafimi] ( See Johann Christoph Rasche, “Lexicon universae rei numariae veterum, et praecipue Graecorum ac Romanorum ...”, 1785, Tomi Secundi-Pars Posterior,  p. 502).

The intuition of Fazello and Rasche has been largely confirmed by studies of one of the greatest scholars of Ietae,  that is Hans Peter Isler, who over the years  activated a series of excavations on Mount Jato. Thanks to his studies,  now we know that "the city was called 'Ietas' in Latin and 'Iaitas' in Greek. The medieval form of the name was handed down by sources as 'Giato'. (See p. Isler). The first mention of Iato was in Philistus, which was passed down by Stephen of Byzantium: “Ietàn froùrion Sikelìan'=Ietae oppidum Siciliae. Urbs dicitur in Eclogis ex Diodori Lib. 23 cuius oppidani Ietini: 'Ietinoi dè ékbalontes tèn mèn ton Foinikion frouràn, tèn polin Romaiois édokan' = 'Ietini vero expellentes Phoenicum praesidium, urbem Romanis tradiderunt'. 'Ietenses' dicuntur Plinio Lib. 3. c. 8, de quo ita Fazellus decad. 1. Lib. 10: “ Ietum Plinio (cuius populos Ietenses vocat), 'Ietas celsus' Silius ... Hodie vulgo Italis dicitur 'Iato'” [Ieta, the fortified city of Sicily, whose inhabitants are called 'Ietini', about which it is said that they drove out the garrison of the Carthaginians, giving themselves to the Romans. They are called 'Ietenses' by Pliny. Fazello said that the inhabitants were called 'Ietenses' and  Silius  spoke of it as a 'lofty city' (...) Today it is known in dialect as Iato] (See“ Stephanus Byzantinus” cum annotationibus L. Holstenii, A. Berkelii et Th. De Pinedo, Lipsiae, 1825, Vol. IV, p. 563). As Isler explained, Ietas was a city of the Elimi, but which deeply suffered from the Greek culture, which "obscured" almost completely the primitive native culture. The archaic period is attested in the city, with great difficulty, only by archaeological excavations.

The Isler’s studies show that the Elimi  lived in huts of which few remains were found; they worked hand-made ceramics, without turning-wheel, with painted decoration. Around 550 BC the Elimi came into contact with the Greek culture. The Contacts with a superior civilization manifested themselves primarily in the importation of Greek ceramic artefacts. The indigenous world rapidly absorbed the Greek culture, as demonstrated by the acquisition of Greek forms in architecture (the temple to the goddess Aphrodite). Therefore, the Greek culture almost completely erased the traces of  the ancient Elimi; however, some very detailed and focused investigation drew from obscurity their ancient civilization , thanks to ...  kitchen implements. In fact the Elimi, allowed themselves to be "Graecized" almost everything, except that in the typical objects used in their kitchens (bowls and trays). We could almost say that the Elimi, gave in to the weapons and the culture of the Greeks, but in the kitchen they offered a "heroic" resistance, armed only with ladles and pans.

An excellent study in this direction was that by C. Russenberger, who wrote: "[...] The hypothesis that in the fourth century BC can not be documented  material traces of a local indigenous culture can be verified through the example of the Sikan-Elymian settlement  in the province of Mount Jato, Palermo, considered as a prime example of a process of "Hellenization" definitively concluded in the fourth century BC. In fact, in the years around 300 BC Iaitas offers the image of a fully Hellenized city (…) Later, during the third century, were built luxurious residential neighborhoods characterized by large peristyle houses (...) But we can argue that in the preparation and consumption of food the Hellenization was accomplished much more slowly than in the sphere of consumption of drinks.

This trend is already clearly outlined in the ceramic repertoire of the late-archaic period; in fact,  in the sixth century BC in the indigenous settlements were used primarily Greek forms for the consumption of beverages, while for the preparation and consumption of food almost exclusively forms of indigenous tradition. Then were also found several fragments of  baking  sheets and especially large and  hand-shaped ceramic mixing bowls used for cooking  (… ) The presence of this vascular type reinforces the theory that  around 300 BC the Hellenization in the food preparation was not yet fully completed. The shape, typically native, is well documented in archaic contexts of western Sicily. We believe that this type belongs to a tradition of forms dating back to the Bronze Age. The  large bowls (...)  are only documented in indigenous contexts, (...) probably used for a special preparation,  perhaps for dairy products, evidently common among the  indigenous [...]" (See C. Russenberger, “Monte Iato (PA): ultime testimonianze di una cultura indigena attorno al 300 BC”, in “Bollettino di archeologia”, 2008, pp. 13 sgg.).  Another interesting finding going back to the Elimi  was found by Isler  in the excavations of 1995-1997, that is a cup with the inscription ' Aloi Emi', that is , 'I belong to Alo'” (See H.P. Isler, “Monte Iato. Scavi 1995-1997”, In “Terze giornate internazionali di studio sull’area elima”, 2000, II,  p. 722).

The political history of the ancient Ietas was summarized very well already in the nineteenth century by Sir William Smith, who wrote: “  Ieta or Ietae, 'Ietaì' Steph. B.: Eth. 'Ietaì', Id.; but Diodorus has 'Ietaios', and this is confirmed by coins, the legend of which is uniformly 'Iaitinos', Eckhel, vol. i. p. 216: in Latin, Cicero has Ietini, but Pliny Ietenses), a town of the interior of Sicily, in the NW. of the island, not very far from Panormus. It was mentioned by Philistus (ap. Steph. B. ) as a fortress, and it is called by Thucydides also (if the reading 'Ietàs' be admitted, in vii. 2) a fortress of the Siculians ( Teikon ton Sikelon'), which was taken by Gylippus on his march from Himera through the interior of the island towards Syracuse.

It first appears as an independent city in the time of Pyrrhus, and was attacked by that monarch on account of its strong position and the advantages it offered for operations against Panormus; but the inhabitants readily capitulated. (Diod, XXII. 10, p. 498.) In the First Punic War it was occupied by a Carthaginian garrison, but after the fall of Panormus drove out these troops and opened its gates to the Romans. (Id. XXIII. 18, p. 505.) Under the Roman government it appears as a municipal town, but not one of much importance. The Ietini are only noticed in passing by Cicero among the towns whose lands had been utterly ruined by the exactions of Verres; and the Ietenses are enumerated by Pliny among the " populi stipendiarii" of the interior of Sicily. (Cic Verr. III. 43; Plin. III. 8. s. 14.) Many MSS. of Cicero read 'Letini', and it is probable that the 'Leton' of Ptolemy (iii. 4, 15) is only a corruption of the same name.

The position of Ieta is very obscurely intimated, but it appears from Diodorus that it was not very remote from Panormus, and that its site was one of great natural strength. Silius Italicus also alludes to its elevated situation (" celsus Ietas," XIV. 271). Fazello assures us that there was a mediaeval fortress called 'Iato' on the summit of a lofty mountain, about 15 miles from Palermo, and 12 N. of Entella, which was destroyed by Frederic II. at the same time with the latter city; and this he supposes, probably enough, to be the site of Iaeta. He says the mountain was still'called 'Monte di Iato', though more commonly known as 'Monte di S. Cosmano', from a church on its summit (Fazell. X. p. 471; Amico Lex. Top. Sic. vol. II. p. 291.) ” ( See Sir William Smith, “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography”, Boston, 1865, Vol. II, p. 2).

With regard to the late-antiquity, the  sources are scarce, in fact, as Isler wrote, from antiquity the city was marginal, and even in Arab and Norman times things do not change : "The sources for the medieval history are  rare. In the eleventh century, at the time of the Norman conquest under Count Roger (1031-1101), the site was inhabited mainly by immigrant Arab populations from the Maghreb. The  Norman domain, however, is well attested by the pottery and coins. The Kufic characters of their legends indicate that among vernacular languages in  the Norman Sicily was still the Arabic. (See H.P. Isler, “Guida archeologica”, Sellerio, 1991, p. 16 and 25). According to Godfrey Malaterra (11th century), during  Arab times Iato  was inhabited by 13,000 families, but according to F.  Maurici, "the figure seems exaggerated, and the fact that in  Norman times the settlement was frequently referred  as a 'hamlet', would indicate the presence of only 2000 inhabitants.” ( See F. Maurici, “L’insediamento medievale nel territorio della Provincia di Palermo. Inventario preliminare degli abitati attestati dalle fonti d’archivio (secoli XI-XVI)”, Palermo, 1998, p. 85 ).

With regard to the etymology, the modern and ancient authors observed that the  city took its name from the river "Jatius" ["Jatius fluvius"], which long ago was called "Bathis", which runs through the valley of Mazara with springs on the mountain by jumping into the Gulf of Castellammare (See Charles Maty,Michel-Antoine Baudrand, “Dictionnaire geographique universel ...”, 1701, p. 539). Previously, in 1671, F. Ferrari spoke about  "Bathis fluvius Siciliae" (See F. Ferrari, "“Lexicon geographicum”, 1671, p. 415). V. M. Amico, about the etymology, noted that "Bathis" derived from the Greek "Bathys," which in Latin means "profundum" [deep], "as it runs between hig and deep  banks. Cluverius nevertheless testified that its real name was 'Jatis' or 'Jathisi' flowing from the mountain where  'Jato'  was located  "(See V. M. Amico, “Dizionario Topografico della Sicilia”, 1855, p. 554).  "San Giuseppe Jato" was recently founded; in 1779, Prince Beccadelli founded “San Giuseppe dei Mortilli”,  when the Jesuits were expelled from the kingdom by King Ferdinand in 1767. According to G. Nania (“Toponomastica e topografia storica nelle valli del Belice e dello Jato”, Palermo, 1995,  p. 14), Prince Joseph Beccadelli "imposed" the new name;  in fact, the first name  was "St. Joseph of Mortilli", so named for  the devotion of the Prince to the saint whose name he bore. In 1862 St. Joseph of Mortilli changed its name to "San Giuseppe Jato," to remember the old Ietas on the Mount.

Today the town, thanks to new archaeological discoveries, opens to tourism with  an archaeological heritage which is enriched over the years more and more. St. Joseph is also known for its agricultural production, such as oil obtained from olives that are grown high-quality, or how the wine produced from vineyards that have good weather here. There are also excellent products and livestock grazing: the sausage of St. Joseph is very famous.