Table Of ContentPALESTINE IN LATE ANTIQUITY
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Palestine
in
Late Antiquity
HAGITH SIVAN
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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Acknowledgements
In 2003–4 I had the privilege of holding a Senior Fulbright Hays
Fellowship. My gratitude goes in the Wrst place to the Fulbright
Hays committee which selected my application. I spent that year
in Israel, fortunate to beneWt from the hospitality of the Hebrew
University’s Institute for Advanced Study and its director, Professor
BenjaminKedarandstaV.MytimeattheInstitutecoincidedwiththe
presence of two research groups, one focusing on the studyof Arab
dialects,theotheronSanskritpoetry.Iowetomembersofboththe
pleasure of unplanned broadening of my research horizons. It was
also a privilege while in Jerusalem to have been associated with the
Albright Institute of Archaeology and its director, Dr Sy Gitin and
staV.TheexcursionsorganizedbyDrBenjaminSeidelattheAlbright
for fellows provided valuable insights into a host of archaeological
excavationsthroughoutIsrael.ANewberryLibrary–BritishAcademy
fellowship enabled me to spend a few weeks in London in summer
2005 at the Palestine Exploration Fund where I greatly enjoyed the
cheerful hospitality of its chief librarian, Dr Rupert Chapman. Iam
always grateful for the professional assistance of Pam Lerow at the
UniversityofKansas’WordProcessingCenter.MythankstoBrandon
Minster who helped with the maps. Thanks are also due to the
UniversityofKansas’GraduateResearchFundforsummerassistance.
AmonthattheRockfellerCenteratBellagiogavemeanopportunity
forreXectioninincomparablesurroundings.
While in Israel I beneWted from conversations with many col-
leagues including Gideon Avni, Doron Bar, Shimon Dar, Lea Di
Segni, Esti and Hanan Eshel, Pau Figueras, Yochanan Friedman,
Tali Gini, Moti Hayman, Oded Irshai, Menahem Kister, Ian Retso,
BenSaidel,DavidStern,YoramTsafrir,andYossiYahalom,aswellas
a host of archaeological enthusiasts who are capable of enlivening
eventhemutedstonesoftheGolanandtheNegev.Ialsooweagreat
dealtoKenHolumfortwodelightfulseasonsofdigginginCaesarea.
My friends in Jerusalem, Ada and Amitai Spitzer, and Sonia Grober
andAlizaRodnitzky inTelAvivmadethisyearoneofthehappiest.
viii Acknowledgements
No study of Palestine in Late Antiquity can ignore the major
contributionsofMichaelAviYonah,YaronDan,andClaudineDau-
phin.Istandindebted.
Thisisa bookforanyoneinterested intheMiddle East,thenand
now, and for anyone willing to plunge into the complexities and
diversities of one corner of this region in an age of transition. It is
emphatically not intended either solely for Judaica experts or for
those interested only in Christian Palestine or just in Samaritans.
Rather, it brings to bear the best in the Welds of scholarship which
Ideemedrelevanttomystudyandwhicharenowtaughtinseparate
academic departments, namely history, archaeology, Jewish studies,
religiousstudies,classicalliteratureandart.Irefertoonlyaselected
numberofpublicationssubsequenttowhenthebulkoftheresearch
for this book was done in 2003–4. If, amidst embracing so many
disciplines I neglected a reference to an important study, I hereby
tendermyapologies.
Contents
ListofMaps xi
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1
1. Prologue:FromConstantinetoAbdal-Malik 16
2. ThePeripheryofDreamsandDeserts 51
3. Recalcitrance,Riots,andRebellion:TheSamaritans
andtheEmergenceofIntolerance 107
4. ContestingtheSacred:FormsofRitualizedViolence 143
5. Jerusalem:TheContrastingEyesofBeholders 187
6. ContestingScriptureandSoil:LiturgicalDates
andSeasonalDieting 230
7. FleshandBlood?WomeninPalestinianSocieties 275
8. UrbanStories:Caesarea,Sepphoris,Gaza 302
9. Epilogue 348
Appendix:ANoteonJewishSources 362
Bibliography 366
Index 421
Description:Hagith Sivan offers an unconventional study of one corner of the Roman Empire in late antiquity, weaving around the theme of conflict strands of distinct histories, and of peoples and places, highlighting Palestine's polyethnicity, and cultural, topographical, architectural, and religious diversity.
