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

563 Pages·2020·21.095 MB·English

by  Gwynn Kessler, Naomi Koltun-Fromm

A COMPANION TO LATE ANCIENT JEWS
AND JUDAISM
BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO THE ANCIENT WORLD
This series provides sophisticated and authoritative overviews of periods of ancient history, genres of classical literature, and the
most important themes in ancient culture. Each volume comprises approximately twenty‐five to forty concise essays written by
individual scholars within their area of specialization. The essays are written in a clear, provocative, and lively manner, designed
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A Companion to the Archaeology of Religion in the A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: Third
Ancient World Century bce to Seventh Century ce
Edited by Rubina Raja and Jörg Rüpke Edited by Naomi Koltun‐Fromm and Gwynn Kessler

A COMPANION TO
LATE ANCIENT
JEWS AND JUDAISM
THIRD CENTURY
bce
TO SEVENTH CENTURY
ce
Edited by
Naomi Koltun‐Fromm
and Gwynn Kessler
This edition first published 2020
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Koltun-Fromm, Naomi, 1964– editor. |Kessler, Gwynn, editor.
Title: A Companion to late ancient Jews and Judaism : Third century bce –
Seventh century ce / edited by Naomi Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler
Description: First edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2020. | Series: Blackwell
companions to the ancient world | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019048775 (print) | LCCN 2019048776 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119113621 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119113652 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119113973 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Judaism–History–Post-exilic period, 586 B.C.-210 A.D. |
Judaism–History–Talmudic period, 10-425. | Judaism–History–Medieval
and early modern period, 425-1789. | Jews–History–586 B.C.-70 A.D. |
Jews–History–70-638. | Rabbinical literature–History and criticism.
Classification: LCC BM176 .C65 2020 (print) | LCC BM176 (ebook) | DDC
296.09/014–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048775
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048776
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: © IAISI/Getty Images
Set in 10/12.5pt Galliard by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
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
viii Contents
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