The Use and Dissemination of Religious Knowledge in Antiquity
edited by Diana V. Edelman and Catherine Hezser
Ancient Mesopotamian, biblical, rabbinic, and Christian literature was created and transmitted by the intellectual elite and therefore presents their world views and perspectives. This volume investigates for the first time whether and to what extent religious knowledge – e.g., “sacred” narratives, customary practices, legal rules, family traditions, festival observances — was accessible to and known by ordinary people beyond religious functionaries. Which contexts (e.g., family, synagogue and church, private and public study, communal rituals) enabled the dissemination and acquisition of religious knowledge beyond scholarly circles? In which forms other than written texts was such knowledge available and who (e.g., parents, teachers, scribes, rabbis, priests, monks) mediated it to a public that was largely illiterate? Can we assume that the majority of those who identified themselves as Jewish or Christian would have possessed a “working knowledge” of the respective religious traditions and customary practices? Would that knowledge have differed from one person to another, depending on gender, socio-economic status, religious commitment, and the general circumstances in which one lived? This book is the first collaborative interdisciplinary study of this important subject area with chapters written by international experts on ancient Mesopotamia, the Hebrew Bible, Qumran literature, rabbinic literature, and early Christianity including apocrypha and monastic traditions.
Introduction: The Use and Dissemination of Religious Knowledge in Antiquity Catherine Hezser Part 1: Ancient Mesopotamia 1. Access to Religious Knowledge in Ancient Babylonia Andrew George, SOAS, University of London 2. Public Lamentation in Ancient Mesopotamia Sam Mirelman, SOAS, University of London Part 2: Ancient and Medieval Judaism 3. Textual Strategies for Disseminating Torah Knowledge among Ordinary Jews ca. 350200 BCE Diana Edelman 4. The Production and Dissemination of Knowledge within the Qumran Community David Hamidovic, University of Lausanne 5. 'If They Are Not Prophets, They Are Sons of Prophets': Folk Religion (Minhag) as a Source of Rabbinic Law Philip Alexander, University of Manchester 6. Interaction between Rabbis and Non-Rabbinic Jews in Palestinian Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity Catherine Hezser 7. Medieval Jewish Liturgy as Religious Education Stefan C. Reif, University of Cambridge Part 3: Early and Byzantine Christianity 8. Reading Thecla: Holy Women as Transmitters of Knowledge Christine Amadou, University of Oslo 9. The Dissemination of Religious Knowledge through Apocrypha in Egyptian Monasteries Hugo Lundhaug, University of Oslo 10. Religious Knowledge and Models of Authority in Sixth-Century Gaza Jan R. Stenger, University of Glasgow
Catherine Hezser is Professor of Jewish Studies at SOAS, University of London. Diana V. Edelman is Emeritus Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo.
- Edited by Diana V. Edelman
- Edited by Catherine Hezser
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