A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism

An innovative approach to the study of ten centuries of Jewish culture and history A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism explores the Jewish people, their communities, and various manifestations of their religious and cultural expressions from the third century BCE to the seventh century CE. Presenting a collection of 30 original essays written by noted scholars in the field, this companion provides an expansive examination of ancient Jewish life, identity, gender, sacred and domestic spaces, literature, language, and theological questions throughout late ancient Jewish history and historiography. Editors Gwynn Kessler and Naomi Koltun-Fromm situate the volume within Late Antiquity, enabling readers to rethink traditional chronological, geographic, and political boundaries. The Companion incorporates a broad methodology, drawing from social history, material history and culture, and literary studies to consider the diverse forms and facets of Jews and Judaism within multiple contexts of place, culture, and history. Divided into five parts, thematically-organized essays discuss topics including the spaces where Jews lived, worked, and worshiped, Jewish languages and literatures, ethnicities and identities, and questions about gender and the body central to Jewish culture and Judaism. Offering original scholarship and fresh insights on late ancient Jewish history and culture, this unique volume:  Offers a one-volume exploration of “second temple,” “Greco-Roman,” and “rabbinic” periods and sources Explores Jewish life across most of the geographic places where Jews or Judaeans were known to have lived Features original maps of areas cited in every essay, including maps of Jewish settlement throughout Late Antiquity Includes an outline of major historical events, further readings, and full references A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: 3rd Century BCE - 7th Century CE is a valuable resource for students, instructors, and scholars of Jewish studies, religion, literature, and ethnic identity, as well as general readers with interest in Jewish history, world religions, Classics, and Late Antiquity.

List of Figures xi List of Maps xiii Notes on Contributors xv Acknowledgments xix Maps xxi 1 Introduction 1 Naomi Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler Part I Where Jews Live 13 2 Where Jews Lived in the West 15 Ross S. Kraemer 3 Jewish Towns and Neighborhoods in Roman Palestine and Persian Babylonia 33 Mika Ahuvia Part II Languages and Literatures 53 4 Late Ancient Jewish Languages 55 Azzan Yadin-Israel 5 Literature of the Jews, Fourth Century bce to Second Century ce 69 Eva Mroczek 6 Rabbinic Literature 87 Michal Bar-Asher Siegal 7 Material Culture of the Second Temple Period (pre-70 ce) 105 Karen B. Stern 8 How Do Jews Matter? Exploring Late-Ancient Mediterranean Jews and Jewishness Through Material Culture 127 Cynthia M. Baker 9 Material Culture of the Jews of Sasanian Mesopotamia 145 Jason Sion Mokhtarian 10 Non-Jewish Sources for Late Ancient Jewish History 167 Naomi Koltun-Fromm Part III Identities and Ethnicities 181 11 Contesting Identities: The Splitting Channels from Israelite to Jew 183 Yair Furstenberg 12 Imagining Judaism after 70 ce 201 Jonathan Klawans 13 Rabbis and the Poor in Palestinian Amoraic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud 217 Alyssa M. Gray 14 Diaspora and Center 229 Joshua Ezra Burns 15 Jews and Their Others (New Testament) 245 Sandy L. Haney 16 Rabbis and Their Others 259 Mira Beth Wasserman 17 What is Jewish Law? Jewish Legal Culture and Thought in Antiquity (Fifth Century bce to Seventh Century ce) 277 Natalie B. Dohrmann 18 Arabian Judaism at the Advent of Islam: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Judaism 291 Aaron W. Hughes Part IV Bodies and Genders 305 19 Sexualities and Il/licit Relationships in Late Ancient Jewish Literatures 307 Federico Dal Bo 20 Embodied Scriptural Practice 323 Elizabeth Shanks Alexander 21 Bodies That Matter: Piety and Sin 339 Jane L. Kanarek 22 Rabbinic Gender: Beyond Male and Female 353 Gwynn Kessler 23 Disability Studies in Jewish Culture in Late Antiquity: Gender, Body, and Violence Amidst Empire 371 Julia Watts Belser 24 Gender, Sex, and Witchcraft in Late Ancient Judaism 391 Sara Ronis Part V Spaces 405 25 Domestic Spaces 407 Meredith J.C. Warren 26 “Do Not Say ‘I am Poor and Cannot Seek Out Knowledge’”: The House of Study and Education in the Second Temple Period 425 Cana Werman 27 Locating Diaspora Jewish Philanthropy in the Ancient Mediterranean Public Arena 441 Shira L. Lander 28 Sacred Spaces 455 Sarit Kattan Gribetz 29 Jewish Prayer, Liturgy, and Ritual 477 Laura S. Lieber 30 Agriculture and Industry 495 John Mandsager Index 511