Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud
Christian and Sasanian Contexts in Late Antiquity

This book explores sex and sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud within the context of competing cultural discourses, for students of comparative religion.

Yishai Kiel (Author)

9781107155510, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 October 2016

310 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

Within this close textual analysis of the Babylonian Talmud, Yishai Kiel explores rabbinic discussions of sex in light of cultural assumptions and dispositions that pervaded the cultures of late antiquity and particularly the Iranian world. By negotiating the Iranian context of the rabbinic discussion alongside the Christian backdrop, this groundbreaking volume presents a balanced and nuanced portrayal of the rabbinic discourse on sexuality and situates rabbinic discussions of sex more broadly at the crossroads of late antique cultures. The study is divided into two thematic sections: the first centers on the broader aspects of rabbinic discourse on sexuality while the second hones in on rabbinic discussions of sexual prohibitions and the classification of permissible and prohibited partnerships, with particular attention to rabbinic discussions of incest. Essential reading for scholars and graduate students of Judaic studies, early Christianity, and Iranian studies, as well as those interested in religious studies and comparative religion.

Acknowledgements
Part I: Introduction
1. Talmudic, Christian and Zoroastrian notions of sexual desire
2. Sex and the sages
3. Sexual etiquette and identity demarcation
4. The mythologization of sexuality
Part II: Introduction
5. The Pahlavi doctrine of Xw?d?dah
6. Noahide law and the inclusiveness of sexual ethics
7. Incestuous riddles
8. Incest between law. Narrative and myth
9. Confessing incest to a Rabbi
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Judaism: sacred texts [HRJS], Judaism [HRJ], Religion & beliefs [HR], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL]