Jewish History Archive
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The Divine Eye in Ancient Egypt and in the Midrashic Interpretation of Formative Judaism
Posted on January 7, 2013 | No CommentsGenerally, the eye in the ancient Near Eastern world represented an all-seeing and omnipresent divinity. The eye served as the focus of all types of myths relating to the visually perceivable. In other words, a deity was reduced to an eye, and the form of the symbol suggested a meaning to the viewer or religious practitioner. When the eye is transformed into language, an ocular icon becomes a verbal icon. -
The Birth of Christmas
Posted on December 24, 2012 | No CommentsChristmas enjoys such a prominent place among modern believers that only with difficulty can we picture an age when Christians did not celebrate it. how did a feast commemorating and honoring Jesus -
Astrology in Philo of Alexandria’s De Vita Contemplativa
Posted on December 16, 2012 | No CommentsAmid the quest for knowledge and philosophical excellence found in Alexandria, Philo wrote his treatises, determined to show how Judaism excelled all in its piety, righteousness and philosophical brilliance. -
The Queen of Sheba: A Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia?
Posted on December 9, 2012 | No CommentsJosephus clearly identifies the queen who visited Solomon as 'the woman who ruled Egypt and Ethiopia,' and tells us that her name was Nikaulis. -
Zoroastrianism and Biblical Religion
Posted on October 21, 2012 | No CommentsFor the past 200 years, scholars of Scripture have recognized the literary relationships between biblical narratives and various extra-biblical sources. -
Flavian Visual Propaganda : Building a Dynasty
Posted on October 11, 2012 | No CommentsIn addition to demonstrating the application of the three themes in these instances, I would like to draw particular attention to the interrelation of the following: the misunderstood significance of the Temple of Isis in the Flavian triumph; the refiguring of Nero -
Tiberius, Tacfarinas, and the Jews
Posted on September 29, 2012 | No CommentsDespite this relative wealth of sources, their combined evidence does not allow of a clear explanation as to why exactly Tiberius expelled the Jews from Rome in AD 19. Although they preserve broadly similar accounts of the circumstances surrounding this expulsion, they differ among themselves in several points of detail and interpretation. -
A Struggle Over Status: Citizenship of Alexandrian Jews During the First Century CE
Posted on September 19, 2012 | No CommentsIn 38 CE an incident occurred that would ignite the tensions of the city. -
Was there Science in Ancient Judaism? Historical and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Religion and Science
Posted on September 17, 2012 | No CommentsThis essay will attempt to map part of this terrain and to chart directions for further study. It will begin by considering some of the methodological challenges involved in seeking evidence for scientific interests and inquiries in our ancient Jewish sources. It will then survey material related to astronomy and cosmology in Second Temple and Rabbinic Jewish sources. -
Divided We Fall: The Roots of the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome
Posted on September 16, 2012 | No CommentsThe major divide between the advocates and opponents of the war can be drawn along the line of class and religious belief. In general, it was the lower-class, faced with severe economic and religious oppression by
