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

Gwynn Kessler (Edited by), N Koltun–Fromm (Author), Naomi Koltun-Fromm (Edited by)

9781119113621, Wiley

Hardback, published 12 June 2020

560 pages
1 x 1 x 1 cm, 0.454 kg

“…this Companion presents not only well-established voices dominating the scholarly field but also young or upcoming scholars. The result is a mix of fresh, at times compelling, and high-level scholarly essays, as well as innovative or tentative contributions.” - PLEKOS 24, 2022, pp. 527–536

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.

List of Figures xi

List of Maps xiii

Notes on Contributors xv

Acknowledgments xix

Maps xxi

1 Introduction 1
Naomi Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler

Part I Where Jews Live 13

2 Where Jews Lived in the West 15
Ross S. Kraemer

3 Jewish Towns and Neighborhoods in Roman Palestine and Persian Babylonia 33
Mika Ahuvia

Part II Languages and Literatures 53

4 Late Ancient Jewish Languages 55
Azzan Yadin-Israel

5 Literature of the Jews, Fourth Century bce to Second Century ce 69
Eva Mroczek

6 Rabbinic Literature 87
Michal Bar-Asher Siegal

7 Material Culture of the Second Temple Period (pre-70 ce) 105
Karen B. Stern

8 How Do Jews Matter? Exploring Late-Ancient Mediterranean Jews and Jewishness Through Material Culture 127
Cynthia M. Baker

9 Material Culture of the Jews of Sasanian Mesopotamia 145
Jason Sion Mokhtarian

10 Non-Jewish Sources for Late Ancient Jewish History 167
Naomi Koltun-Fromm

Part III Identities and Ethnicities 181

11 Contesting Identities: The Splitting Channels from Israelite to Jew 183
Yair Furstenberg

12 Imagining Judaism after 70 ce 201
Jonathan Klawans

13 Rabbis and the Poor in Palestinian Amoraic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud 217
Alyssa M. Gray

14 Diaspora and Center 229
Joshua Ezra Burns

15 Jews and Their Others (New Testament) 245
Sandy L. Haney

16 Rabbis and Their Others 259
Mira Beth Wasserman

17 What is Jewish Law? Jewish Legal Culture and Thought in Antiquity (Fifth Century bce to Seventh Century ce) 277
Natalie B. Dohrmann

18 Arabian Judaism at the Advent of Islam: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Judaism 291
Aaron W. Hughes

Part IV Bodies and Genders 305

19 Sexualities and Il/licit Relationships in Late Ancient Jewish Literatures 307
Federico Dal Bo

20 Embodied Scriptural Practice 323
Elizabeth Shanks Alexander

21 Bodies That Matter: Piety and Sin 339
Jane L. Kanarek

22 Rabbinic Gender: Beyond Male and Female 353
Gwynn Kessler

23 Disability Studies in Jewish Culture in Late Antiquity: Gender, Body, and Violence Amidst Empire 371
Julia Watts Belser

24 Gender, Sex, and Witchcraft in Late Ancient Judaism 391
Sara Ronis

Part V Spaces 405

25 Domestic Spaces 407
Meredith J.C. Warren

26 “Do Not Say ‘I am Poor and Cannot Seek Out Knowledge’”: The House of Study and Education in the Second Temple Period 425
Cana Werman

27 Locating Diaspora Jewish Philanthropy in the Ancient Mediterranean Public Arena 441
Shira L. Lander

28 Sacred Spaces 455
Sarit Kattan Gribetz

29 Jewish Prayer, Liturgy, and Ritual 477
Laura S. Lieber

30 Agriculture and Industry 495
John Mandsager

Index 511

Subject Areas: History [HB]
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