A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: 3rd Century BCE - 7th Century CE

Description

An innovative approach to the study of ten centuries of Jewish culture and history A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism explores the Jewish people, their communities, and various manifestations of their religious and cultural expressions from the third century BCE to the seventh century CE. Presenting a collection of 30 original essays written by noted scholars in the field, this companion provides an expansive examination of ancient Jewish life, identity, gender, sacred and domestic spaces, literature, language, and theological questions throughout late ancient Jewish history and historiography. Editors Gwynn Kessler and Naomi Koltun-Fromm situate the volume within Late Antiquity, enabling readers to rethink traditional chronological, geographic, and political boundaries. The Companion incorporates a broad methodology, drawing from social history, material history and culture, and literary studies to consider the diverse forms and facets of Jews and Judaism within multiple contexts of place, culture, and history. Divided into five parts, thematically-organized essays discuss topics including the spaces where Jews lived, worked, and worshiped, Jewish languages and literatures, ethnicities and identities, and questions about gender and the body central to Jewish culture and Judaism. Offering original scholarship and fresh insights on late ancient Jewish history and culture, this unique volume:  Offers a one-volume exploration of “second temple,” “Greco-Roman,” and “rabbinic” periods and sources Explores Jewish life across most of the geographic places where Jews or Judaeans were known to have lived Features original maps of areas cited in every essay, including maps of Jewish settlement throughout Late Antiquity Includes an outline of major historical events, further readings, and full references A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: 3rd Century BCE - 7th Century CE is a valuable resource for students, instructors, and scholars of Jewish studies, religion, literature, and ethnic identity, as well as general readers with interest in Jewish history, world religions, Classics, and Late Antiquity. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Figures List of Maps Notes on Contributors Acknowledgments Maps Chapter one Introduction Opening Section Where Jews Live Literatures, Languages, and Materialities Identities and Ethnicities Bodies and Genders Spaces Appendix I: An Historical Outline Appendix 2: Further Reading PART I WHERE JEWS LIVE Chapter Two Where Jews Lived in the West Introduction The Sources for Jewish Habitation—An Overview The Quality of These Sources What These Sources Suggest About Where Jews Lived: Some Granularity Antioch on the Orontes and Coastal Syria Why Jews Lived Where They Did During This Particular Thousand Years Abbreviations Notes References Chapter Three Jewish Towns and Neighborhoods in Roman Palestine and Persian Babylonia Introduction Summary of Scholarly Debate and Methodological Issues Roman and Byzantine Palestine Persian Babylonia Suggestions for Future Developments References PART II LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES Chapter Four Late Ancient Jewish Languages The Literary Landscape in Judaea The Non-Literary Landscape in Judaea The Diaspora Language Ideology Note References Chapter Five Literature of the Jews, Fourth Century bce to Second Century ce Introduction Chronologies and Categories The Challenges Key Features Spotlight on Key Genres and Texts Conclusion References Chapter Six Rabbinic Literature Introduction Mishnah Tosefta Midrash Talmuds Conclusion Notes References Chapter Seven Material Culture of the Second Temple Period (pre-70 ce) Introduction Terminology and Methodology Devotional Activities Household/Daily Life Death, Commemoration, and the Afterlife Places in Society Assessment References Chapter Eight How Do Jews Matter? Exploring Late-Ancient Mediterranean Jews and Jewishness Through Material Culture Introduction Everyday Life Synagogues and Burials How Does the Matter of Late-Ancient Jews Matter? References Chapter Nine Material Culture of the Jews of Sasanian Mesopotamia Introduction Materiality of the Sasanian Environment Incantation Bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia Jewish-Sasanian Seals Conclusion Note References Chapter Ten Non-Jewish Sources for Late Ancient Jewish History Introduction Types of Sources Methodologies References PART III IDENTITIES AND ETHNICITIES Chapter Eleven Contesting Identities: The Splitting Channels from Israelite to Jew Introduction The Heritage of Ezra Hellenism and the Birth of “Judaism” Sectarianism and the True Israel Jewish Identity under Roman Imperialism The “ekklesia” of the Torah References Chapter Twelve Imagining Judaism after 70 ce Interpreting an Event Facing a Chasm Projecting a Catastrophe Countering a Projection Unanswered Questions? Clarifying Survival The Sects and 70 ce Looking Ahead: Imagining Catastrophe Without Crisis References Chapter Thirteen Rabbis and the Poor in Palestinian Amoraic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud Introduction The Quotidian Lives of the Poor Portrayals of Rabbinic Interpersonal Interactions with the Poor Theological Constructions of the Poor Rabbis, Tzedakah (Charity), and the Poor Conclusion References Chapter Fourteen Diaspora and Center Introduction Home and Away The Temple Trade Life During Wartime A New Center Emerges Exile at Home and Home in Exile Conclusions References Chapter Fifteen Jews and Their Others (New Testament) Scholarship, Paul, and Jewish Identity Paul’s Identit(ies) in Philippians 3 Paul’s Identit(ies) in Acts Political Implications Concerning Identity Concluding Remarks Notes References Chapter Sixteen Rabbis and Their Others Introduction Non-Jews Women Non-rabbinic Jews (amey ha-aretz) Notes References Chapter Seventeen What is Jewish Law? Jewish Legal Culture and Thought in Antiquity (Fifth Century bce to Seventh Century ce) Introduction: What Is (and Is Not) Jewish Law? Laws and Jewish Law Law as Extra-Juridical Discourse Conclusion Note References Chapter Eighteen Arabian Judaism at the Advent of Islam: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Judaism Introduction Arabian Jews in the Historiographical Tradition Ḥijāzı Jews Ḥimyarite Jews Arabian Jews and the Question of Jewish Identity Conclusions Notes References PART IV BODIES AND GENDERS Chapter Nineteen Sexualities and Il/licit Relationships in Late Ancient Jewish Literatures Introduction The Hebrew Bible Pseudepigrapha and Other Early Jewish Texts Qumran Early Tannaitic Texts Conclusion Notes References Chapter Twenty Embodied Scriptural Practice Introduction The Shema and Ritual Enacting the Instruction Verses as Embodied Ritual Ritualizing “These Words” Philo: “These Words” as “The Rules of Justice” Josephus: Words Publicize God’s Beneficence Material Evidence for “These Words” Limiting the Scope of “These Words” The Emergence of the Rabbinic Shema Shema and Tefillin as an Embodied Internalization of Scripture Halakhic Repercussions Notes References Chapter Twenty-One Bodies That Matter: Piety and Sin Introduction Rabbinic Concepts of Valuation Bodies That Sin One or Two Bodies? Between Arakhin and Sanhedrin Conclusion Notes References Chapter Twenty-Two Rabbinic Gender: Beyond Male and Female Introduction Expanding the Field of Gender: Tannaitic Midrashim Expanding the Field: Mishnah and Tosefta Figuring (Away) the Tumtum and Androginos Person Conclusion Notes References Chapter Twenty-Three Disability Studies in Jewish Culture in Late Antiquity: Gender, Body, and Violence Amidst Empire Introduction Conceptualizing Disability in Rabbinic Literature Idolatry, Disability, and the Divine Body Is God a Clever Crip? Divine Disability and the Limits of Justice Beyond the Diagnosable Body: Disability and Roman Imperium State Violence and the Brutalized Body: Race, Disability Studies, and Rabbinic Flesh “Women are Lightminded”: Gender and the Production of Impairment “Alas That I See You So”: Contesting the Narrative of the Tragic Disabled Body Notes References Chapter Twenty-Four Gender, Sex, and Witchcraft in Late Ancient Judaism Introduction Changing Definitions of Magic and Witchcraft Rabbis, Women, and Witches You Can Do Magic: Women, Witchcraft, and the Reality of Everyday Life in Babylonia Strange Magic Notes References PART V SPACES Chapter Twenty-Five Domestic Spaces Introduction Evidence for Domestic Space Geography Interior Decorating Literary Representations of the Home Religion and Domestic Space Summary Note References Chapter Twenty-Six “Do Not Say ‘I am Poor and Cannot Seek Out Knowledge’”: The House of Study and Education in the Second Temple Period Introduction Background to the Chapter The Persian Period (538–332 bce) The Hellenistic Period (332 bce–63 bce) The Roman Period References Chapter Twenty-Seven Locating Diaspora Jewish Philanthropy in the Ancient Mediterranean Public Arena Introduction Civic Allegiance Philanthropy as Apologia Conclusion References Chapter Twenty-Eight Sacred Spaces Introduction Jerusalem and its Temple Synagogues and Shrines Ritual Spaces as Sacred Spaces Off-Limits: Forbidden Sacred Spaces Creating Sacred Spaces in Transit Conclusions Note References Chapter Twenty-Nine Jewish Prayer, Liturgy, and Ritual Introduction Terms and Nomenclature Boundaries of Time and Space Texts and Contexts Large Scale Space Public and Communal Space Domestic Space Conceptual Space Embodied Space Conclusions References Chapter Thirty Agriculture and Industry Introduction Agriculture An Example of Rabbinic Difference: Pe’ah Grain Olives Grapes Vegetables Interlude: Teach Your Son a Trade Industry Olive Oil Wine Trades and Crafts Final Thoughts References Index EULA