Elephantine in Context

Studies on the History, Religion and Literature of the Judeans in Persian Period Egypt

edited by Reinhard Gregor Kratz and Bernd U. Schipper

Book cover: Elephantine in Context

Extent: 385 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Ancient Egypt, Biblical Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Forschungen zum Alten Testament

Series volume number: 155

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(February 2022)

ISBN: 9783161609961

9.09 x 6.06 inches

Price: $180.00

In stock

The Persian period has long been considered a “dark era” in Israel’s history. For this reason, research has mainly focused on how it is depicted in the Hebrew Bible. A spectacular discovery of archaeological relics and epigraphic sources was hence hardly noticed: the military colony located on the island of Elephantine in the Nile, on the border between Egypt and present-day Sudan. The basic approach of this volume, which documents a three-year Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft project, is to break with a research tradition focusing on the Judeans (Jews) mentioned in the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine and instead investigate the military colony in a broader historical context also documented by Demotic and Egyptian-hieratic evidence found at Elephantine. The studies presented focus on three main subject areas: society and administration, religion, and literature. They show that historically the island of Elephantine hosted a multicultural society with several interactions between the Egyptians and the other inhabitants, and that it was also an important administrative centre for the Persian authorities.

  • Edited by Reinhard Gregor Kratz
  • Edited by Bernd U Schipper