The Alexandrian Riots of 38 C.E. and the Persecution of the Jews

The Alexandrian Riots of 38 C.E. and the Persecution of the Jews
Author: Sandra Gambetti
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004138463

Scholars have read the Alexandrian riots of 38 CE according to intertwined dichotomies. The Alexandrian Jews fought to keep their citizenship - or to acquire it; they evaded the payment of the poll-tax - or prevented any attempts to impose it on them; they safeguarded their identity against the Greeks - or against the Egyptians. Avoiding that pattern and building on the historical reconstruction of the experience of the Alexandrian Jewish community under the Ptolemies, this work submits that the riots were the legal and political consequence of an imperial adjudication against the Jews. Most of the Jews lost their residence never to recover it again. The Roman emperor, the Roman prefect of Egypt and the Alexandrian citizenry - all shared responsibilities according to their respective and expected roles.

The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity

The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity
Author: Isaac Kalimi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2023-06-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009266128

Explores different traditions and usage of Esther in Judaism and Christianity, without neglecting the fundamental questions in scholarship.

A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 4

A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 4
Author: Lester L. Grabbe
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 663
Release: 2021-07-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567700712

This is the fourth and fi nal volume of Lester L. Grabbe's four-volume history of the Second Temple period, collecting all that is known about the Jews during the period in which they were ruled by the Roman Empire. Based directly on primary sources such as archaeology, inscriptions, Jewish literary sources and Greek, Roman and Christian sources, this study includes analysis of the Jewish diaspora, mystical and Gnosticism trends, and the developments in the Temple, the law, and contemporary attitudes towards Judaism. Spanning from the reign of Herod Archelaus to the war with Rome and Roman control up to 150 CE, this volume concludes with Grabbe's holistic perspective on the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period.

Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 2007-2016

Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 2007-2016
Author: David T. Runia
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2021-11-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004499113

This volume, prepared in collaboration with the International Philo Bibliography Project, is the fourth in a series of annotated bibliographies on the Jewish exegete and philosopher Philo of Alexandria. It contains an annotated listing of all scholarly writings on Philo for the period 2007 to 2016.

Common Property, the Golden Age, and Empire in Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-35

Common Property, the Golden Age, and Empire in Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-35
Author: Joshua Noble
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2020-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567695840

Joshua Noble focuses on the rapid appearance and disappearance in Acts 2 and 4 of the motif that early believers hold all their property in common, and argues that these descriptions function as allusions to the Golden Age myth. Noble suggests Luke's claims that the believers “had all things in common” and that “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions”-a motif that does not appear in any biblical source- rather calls to mind Greek and Roman traditions that the earliest humans lived in utopian conditions, when “no one ... possessed any private property, but all things were common.” By analyzing sources from Greek, Latin, Jewish, and Christian traditions, and reading Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-35 as Golden Age allusions, Noble illustrates how Luke's use of the motif of common property is significant for understanding his attitude toward the Roman Empire. Noble suggests that Luke's appeal to this myth accomplishes two things: it characterizes the coming of the Spirit as marking the beginning of a new age, the start of a “universal restoration” that will find its completion at the Second Coming of Christ; and it creates a contrast between Christ, who has actually brought about this restoration, and the emperors of Rome, who were serially credited with inaugurating a new Golden Age.

Early Christianity in Alexandria

Early Christianity in Alexandria
Author: M. David Litwa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2023-12-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009449559

Utilizing the Nag Hammadi codices and early Christian writings, this book explores the earliest development of Christianity in Alexandria.

In the Court of the Gentiles: Narrative, Exemplarity, and Scriptural Adaptation in the Court-Tales of Flavius Josephus

In the Court of the Gentiles: Narrative, Exemplarity, and Scriptural Adaptation in the Court-Tales of Flavius Josephus
Author: David Edwards
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2023-06-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004549064

Edwards explores how Josephus in Antiquities adapts the scriptural stories of Joseph and Esther in unexpected ways as models for accounts of more recent Jewish figures. Terming this practice “subversive adaptation,” Edwards contextualizes it within Greco-Roman literary culture and employs the concept of “discourses of exemplarity” to show how Josephus used narratives about past figures to engage Roman elites in moral reflection and pragmatic decision-making. This book supplies analysis of frequently overlooked accounts as well as Josephus’ broader literary strategies, and shows how ancient Jews appropriated imperial historiographical conventions and forms of discourse while countering Greco-Roman claims of cultural superiority.

Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Author: Mladen Popović
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-08-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3110593661

Few studies focus on the modes of knowledge transmission (or concealment), or the trends of continuity or change from the Ancient to the Late Antique worlds. In Antiquity, knowledge was cherished as a scarce good, cultivated through the close teacher-student relationship and often preserved in the closed circle of the initated. From Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform texts to a Shi'ite Islamic tradition, this volume explores how and why knowledge was shared or concealed by diverse communities in a range of Ancient and Late Antique cultural contexts. From caves by the Dead Sea to Alexandria, both normative and heterodox approaches to knowledge in Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities are explored. Biblical and qur'anic passages, as well as gnostic, rabbinic and esoteric Islamic approaches are discussed. In this volume, a range of scholars from Assyrian studies to Jewish, Christian and Islamic studies examine diverse approaches to, and modes of, knowledge transmission and concealment, shedding new light on both the interconnectedness, as well as the unique aspects, of the monotheistic faiths, and their relationship to the ancient civilisations of the Fertile Crescent.

The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad

The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad
Author: Seth Schwartz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2014-04-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139952552

This is an accessible and up-to-date account of the Jews during the millennium following Alexander the Great's conquest of the East. Unusually, it acknowledges the problems involved in constructing a narrative from fragmentary yet complex evidence and is, implicitly, an exploration of how this might be accomplished. Moreover, unlike most other introductions to the subject, it concentrates primarily on the people rather than issues of theology and adopts a resolutely unsentimental approach to the subject. Professor Schwartz particularly demonstrates the importance of studying Jewish history, texts and artefacts to the broader community of ancient historians because of what they can contribute to wider themes such as Roman imperialism. The book serves as an excellent introduction for students and scholars of Jewish history and of ancient history.