This second of two volumes on Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods focuses on the site excavations of towns and villages and what these excavations may tell us about the history of settlement in this important period. The important site at Sepphoris is treated with four short articles, while the rest of the articles focus on a single site and include site plans, diagrams, maps, photographs of artifacts and structures, and extensive bibliographic listings. The articles in the volume have been written by an international group of experts on Galilee in this period: Christians, Jews, and secular scholars, many of whom are also regular participants in the twenty site excavations featured in the volume. The volume also features detailed maps of Galilee, a gallery of color images, timelines related to the period, and helpful indices. Together with Volume 1: Life, Culture, and Society, this volume provides the latest word of these topics for the expert and nonexpert alike.
Drawing on the expertise of archaeologists, historians, biblical scholars, and social-science interpreters who have devoted a significant amount of time and energy in the research of ancient Galilee, this accessible volume includes modern general studies of Galilee and of Galilean history, as well as specialized studies on taxation, ethnicity, religious practices, road systems, trade and markets, education, health, village life, houses, and the urban-rural divide. This resource includes a rich selection of images, figures, charts, and maps.
The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at scholars and students interested in Judaism of the Second Temple Period. The two-volume work is split into four parts. Part One offers a prolegomenon for the contemporary study and appreciation of Second Temple Judaism, locating the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (such as Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins). Beginning with a discussion of terminology, the discussion suggests ways the Second Temple period may be described, and concludes by noting areas of study that challenge our perception of ancient Judaism. Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology corresponding to a set of full-colour, custom-designed maps. With distinct attention to primary sources, the author traces the development of historical, social, political, and religious developments from the time period following the exile in the late 6th century B.C.E. through to the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 C.E.). Part Three focuses specifically on a wide selection of primary-source literature of Second Temple Judaism, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. Essays here include a brief introduction to the work and a summary of its contents, as well as examination of critical issues such as date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative matters. The early reception history of texts is also considered, and followed by a bibliography specific to that essay. Numerous high-resolution manuscript images are utilized to illustrate distinct features of the texts. Part Four addresses topics relevant to the Second Temple Period such as places, practices, historical figures, concepts, and subjects of scholarly discussion. These are often supplemented by images, maps, drawings, or diagrams, some of which appear here for the first time. Copiously illustrated, carefully researched and meticulously referenced, this resource provides a reliable, up-to-date and complete guide for those studying early Judaism in its literary and historical settings.
The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at scholars and students interested in Judaism of the Second Temple Period. The two-volume work is split into four parts. Part One offers a prolegomenon for the contemporary study and appreciation of Second Temple Judaism, locating the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (such as Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins). Beginning with a discussion of terminology, the discussion suggests ways the Second Temple period may be described, and concludes by noting areas of study that challenge our perception of ancient Judaism. Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology corresponding to a set of full-colour, custom-designed maps. With distinct attention to primary sources, the author traces the development of historical, social, political, and religious developments from the time period following the exile in the late 6th century B.C.E. through to the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 C.E.). Part Three focuses specifically on a wide selection of primary-source literature of Second Temple Judaism, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. Essays here include a brief introduction to the work and a summary of its contents, as well as examination of critical issues such as date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative matters. The early reception history of texts is also considered, and followed by a bibliography specific to that essay. Numerous high-resolution manuscript images are utilized to illustrate distinct features of the texts. Part Four addresses topics relevant to the Second Temple Period such as places, practices, historical figures, concepts, and subjects of scholarly discussion. These are often supplemented by images, maps, drawings, or diagrams, some of which appear here for the first time. Copiously illustrated, carefully researched and meticulously referenced, this resource provides a reliable, up-to-date and complete guide for those studying early Judaism in its literary and historical settings.
The study of Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles was never truly confined to their place in fraught ecclesiastical disputes. Recent decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in these writings. The present volume seeks to assess the relevance of these works to various questions that are often posed to other parts of the New Testament canon, to report on the current state of scholarship devoted to the interpretive issues they raise, and to survey their rich and often-overlooked afterlives.
Economic realities have been increasingly at the center of discussion of the New Testament and early church. Studies have tended to be either apologetic in tone, or haphazard with regard to economic theory, or both‒‒either imagining the ancients as involved in “primitive” economic relationships, or else projecting the modern capitalist preoccupation with markets and the enterprising individual back onto first-century realities. Roland Boer and Christina Petterson blaze a new trail, relying on the expansive work on the Roman economy of G. E. M. de Ste. Croix (who was relatively uninterested in the New Testament, however) and on the theoretical framework of the Regulation school. Theoretically flexible and responsive to historical data, Regulation theory gives appropriate regard to the centrality of agriculture in the ancient world and finds economic instability to be the norm, except for brief episodes of imposed stability. Boer and Petterson find the Roman world in crisis as slavery expands, transforming the agricultural economy so that slave estates could supply the needs of the polis. Successive chapters describe aspects of the economic crisis in the first century and turn at last to understand the ideological role played by nascent Christianity.
How do archaeologists unearth the daily life of people from Jesus’s time? Contrary to popular belief, archaeology of first-century Roman Galilee is not about illustrating or proving the Gospels, drawing timelines, or hunting treasure. Rather, it is about understanding the lives of people, just like us, who lived in the time of Jesus. How do we understand Jesus and his mission as part of a larger world? How do we interpret material culture alongside textual evidence from the Gospels? How do we know where and how to dig? James Riley Strange teaches students how to address these problems in this essential textbook. Drawing on professional experience as a scientific archaeologist in Israel, Strange explains current methodology for ground surveying, excavating evidence, and interpreting data. Excavating the Land of Jesus is the ideal guide for students seeking answers in the dirt of the Holy Land.
This is the third volume of the projected four-volume history of the Second Temple period, collecting all that is known about the Jews from the period of the Maccabaean revolt to Hasmonean rule and Herod the Great. Based directly on primary sources, the study addresses aspects such as Jewish literary sources, economy, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Diaspora, causes of the Maccabaen revolt, and the beginning and end of the Hasmonean kingdom and the reign of Herod the Great. Discussed in the context of the wider Hellenistic world and its history, and with an extensive up-to-date secondary bibliography, this volume is an invaluable addition to Lester Grabbe's in-depth study of the history of Judaism.
‘‘‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who are we?’ are the existential, foundational questions in our lives. In our modern world, there is no construct more influential than ‘identity’ – whether as individuals or as groups. The concept of group identity is the focal point of a research group named “A Question of Identity” at the Mandel Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The papers collected in this volume represent the proceedings of a January 2017 conference organized by the research group which dealt with identity formation in six contextual settings: Ethno-religious identities in light of the archaeological record; Second Temple period textual records on Diaspora Judaism; Jews and Christians in Sasanian Persia; minorities in the Persian achaemenid period; Inter-ethnic dialogue in pre-1948 Palestine; and redefinitions of Christian Identity in the Early Modern period.
Since its publication in 2000, The Early Christian World has come to be regarded by scholars, students and the general reader as one of the most informative and accessible works in English on the origins, development, character and major figures of early Christianity. In this new edition, the strengths of the first edition are retained. These include the book’s attractive architecture that initially takes a reader through the context and historical development of early Christianity; the essays in critical areas such as community formation, everyday experience, the intellectual and artistic heritage, and external and internal challenges; and the profiles on the most influential early Christian figures. The book also preserves its strong stress on the social reality of early Christianity and continues its distinctive use of hundreds of illustrations and maps to bring that world to life. Yet the years that have passed since the first edition was published have seen great advances made in our understanding of early Christianity in its world. This new edition fully reflects these developments and provides the reader with authoritative, lively and up-to-date access to the early Christian world. A quarter of the text is entirely new and the remaining essays have all been carefully revised and updated by their authors. Some of the new material relates to Christian culture (including book culture, canonical and non-canonical scriptures, saints and hagiography, and translation across cultures). But there are also new essays on: Jewish and Christian interaction in the early centuries; ritual; the New Testament in Roman Britain; Manichaeism; Pachomius the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. This new edition will serve its readers for many years to come.
