Jewish Travel in Antiquity
By (author) Catherine Hezser
Hardback (Published)
(October 2011)
ISBN: 9783161508899
6.42 x 9.41 inches
Price: $269.00
In stock
Based on a critical analysis of Jewish, Graeco-Roman, and early Christian literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources, Catherine Hezser studies Jewish travel in Hellenistic and Roman times. She examines the development from centralization in Second Temple Judaism to decentralized post-70 rabbinic Judaism depending on travel to establish social connections and enable communication.
This book provides the first comprehensive study of Jewish travel and mobility in Hellenistic and Roman times, based on a critical analysis of Jewish, Graeco-Roman, and early Christian literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources and a social-historical evaluation of the material. Catherine Hezser shows that certain segments of ancient Jewish society were quite mobile. Mobility seems to have increased in the later Roman period, when an extensive road system facilitated travel within the province of Syria-Palestine and the neighbouring Middle Eastern regions. Second Temple Judaism was centralized, with Jerusalem as its central space and seat of priestly authority. In post-70 rabbinic Judaism, on the other hand, connections between rabbis could be established through mutual visits and second- and third-degree contacts only. Mobility formed the basis of the establishment of a decentralized rabbinic network in Palestine and Babylonia in late antiquity. Numerous narrative and halakhic traditions indicate the importance of mobility for communication and the exchange of knowledge amongst rabbis. It is argued that the rabbis who were most mobile sat at the nodal points of the rabbinic network and elicited the largest amount of influence. They would have combined business travel with scholarly exchange. Scholars’ journeys between Palestine and Babylonia are viewed within the wider context of Rome and Persia’s economic and cultural exchange in which Jews, just like Christians, may have played the role of intermediaries.
- By (author) Catherine Hezser
Other Titles in this Series
Die Magie der Anspielung
Form und Funktion der biblischen Anspielungen in den magischen Texten der Kairoer Geniza
Anklage Gottes im Midrasch zu den Klageliedern
Eine Studie zu den Transformationen der Gottesbilder im Midrasch Echa Rabbati
Similar Books
Ars Prophetica
Theology in the Poetry of Twentieth-Century Hebrew Poets Avraham Halfi, Shin Shalom, Amir Gilboa, and T. Carmi
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
Lobbying for Equality
Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Equality during the French Revolution
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
Tradition, Interpretation, and Change
Developments in the Liturgy of Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz
Jüdische Musikerziehung im Preußen des 19. Jahrhunderts
Gesangunterricht an jüdischen Reformschulen als Facette bürgerlicher Akkulturation
Volume 21
Paul and Sacrifice in Corinth
Rethinking Paul's Views on Gentile Cults in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10
Volume 623
Revelation and Conflict in John 7 and 8
Historical, Literary, and Theological Readings from the Colloquium Ioanneum 2023 in Vienna
The Co-production of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Artefacts, Rituals, Communities, Narratives, Doctrines, Concepts
Volume 1
