Judaism in late antiquity.
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The authors have asked of the documents of the Dead Sea Library found at Qumran a simple question: how does each participate in a single Judaic religious system? They propose a reading of the Scrolls from the hypothesis that all of them, in one way or another, rest upon one, authoritative, Judaism. Their analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls describes how diverse writings hold together to make a single coherent statement, to stand for a religious system possessed of integrity and wisdom. This account of the world view of Judaism covers principal questions addressed to any Judaic religious system: the doctrine of God, the Torah, and matters of history, wisdom, and mysticism. When it comes to the way of life, they include the evidence of the material culture of the community as well as practical matters of religious conduct. How the community's world view comes to realization is suggested by its treatment of the calendar, by its provision of laws that concern women, by questions of cultic and secular purity, by its piety and forms of worship and views of Temple, sacrifice, and the like. Finally, with the community's definition of 'Israel' and of itself in relationship to 'Israel', inclusive of Israelites excluded from this 'Israel', an account is gained of the theory of who and what is Israel that animates the particular Judaism represented in these writings.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xii, 196 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294189 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Ägypten. Corpus der bildlichen Quellen zu Leibesübungen, Spiel, Jagd, Tanz und verwandten Themen /
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This two-volume work is a comprehensive collection of the pictorial sources for sport in Pharaonic Egypt. Adopting a broad definition of sport, its scope embraces relevant cultic scenes as well as archery, charioteering and horsemanship, hunting, wrestling, open-air games and board games, acrobatics, dancing and water sports. Over 2,000 documents are given detailed descriptions, with systematic annotations relating to the place, date and content of the documents, as well as the most important secondary literature. The hieroglyphic captions are given in transcription and translation. A representative selection of the pictorial documents, accounting for approximately half of the total material, is presented in the illustrated volume. Accompanying maps classify the material by subject area with indications of their topographical distribution and chronological proximity. The publication of this corpus of materials makes available for the first time the complete pictorial tradition of a great, ancient sporting culture, the intention being to stimulate and intensify research in these fields by the provision of the basic materials.
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1 online resource (vii, 450 pages) : 950 illustrations. :
9789004293922 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbuch der altägyptischen medizin /
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Some 25 years ago the famous nine-volume Grundrisz der Medizin der alten Ägypter by Hildegard von Deines e.a. (editions.) saw the light. One of the editors was Professor Dr. Wolfhart Westendorf, the author of the new Handbuch der altägyptischen Medizin now published in Brill's series Handbook of Oriental Studies. At last the present handbook offers the readership an abridged and revised edition of the old Grundrisz . It deals with Ancient Egyptian Medicine from the second millennium up to the Roman period. In selecting the material for this volume the author based himself not only on the extant papyrus texts (both hieratic and demotic), but also on relevant passages from Egyptian literature like magical texts and ostraka and on archaeological evidence (mummies, represenations of patients). After an Introduction (science, religion, magic), there are chapters on sources, formal organisation of the underlying texts, patients and diseases, the physician (profession, social status, title, methods of treatment, dealing with drugs, using magic power, et cetera) on the end of Egyptian medicine in Coptic and Greek medicine, and the Ebers and Smith Papyri (with translations). The work concludes with extensive indices (places, themes, et cetera)
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1 online resource (2 volumes (xviii, 853 pages)) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294073 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A history of Zoroastrianism /
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This volume traces the history of Zoroastrianism at times and places where its existence has previously been largely ignored, or treated only episodically. Literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence has been drawn on (some of it only recently brought to light), and local developments are distinguished. In Iran itself some 200 years of Macedonian rule had little effect on the national religion. To the east, Zoroastrianism survived in the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms and under Mauryan suzereinty, where it came into contact with Buddhism. In Eastern Mediterranean lands it was maintained by Iranian expatriates well down into Roman imperial times. They adopted Greek for their written tongue, and Zoroastrian doctrines thus became known in the Greco-Roman world. Study is made accordingly of Zoroastrian contributions to Hellenistic thought, and to Judaism, Christianity and Mithraism; and an excursus provides a thorough reassessment of the Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha.
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Vol. 3 written by Mary Boyce and Frantz Grenet, with a conritution by Roger Beck. :
1 online resource (xx, 596 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004293915 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Geschichte des hethitischen Reiches /
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The Anatolian people of the Hittites (ca. 1700-1200 B.C.) are the subject of the underlying work. In recent decades scholars have increased our knowledge in the field enormously without bringing the new insights together in a new comprehensive handbook. This long-awaited handbook deals with the whole of the influential political history of the Hittite Empire. After an introduction on the natural conditions of Anatolia, chapters follow on the Hittite history of the early period, the old kingdom of the Hittites, the 'middle' kingdom and, extensively, the new kingdom or empire period. The book is organized chronologically, and each chapter starts with a section on the sources and secondary literature, followed by the actual text on the subsequent periods. In a separate chapter Professor Fiorella Imparati offers a survey on the political structure of the Hittite Kingdom and its foreign policy. Chronological tables, a bibliography arranged by the subsequent periods, a section on problems, and several illustrations conclude this important volume. Given the tremendous amount of material and its lucid organisation this will be one of the few reference works on the Hittites for years to come.
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1 online resource (xxvi, 428 pages, [36] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 394-411) and index. :
9789004294066 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The law of agriculture in the Mishnah and the Tosefta : translation, commentary, theology /
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This project presents in three volumes the Mishnah's and the Tosefta's first division, Zera'im (Agriculture), organized in eleven topical tractates, together with a systematic history of the law of Zeraim in the Mishnah. To the exposition of the Halakhah on the chosen topic, the Mishnah-tractates are primary but complemented by the Tosefta's presentation of its collection of glosses of the Mishnah's law and supplements to that law. The Mishnah's and the Tosefta's tractates are integrated, with the Tosefta's complement given in the setting of the Mishnah's rules, and the whole is given in English translation. The presentation in each case encompasses an introduction, a form-analytical translation and commentary, a systematic integration of the Tosefta's compositions into the Mishnah's laws, an explanation of the details of the law, and an inquiry into how the Halakhah of the Mishnah and that of the Tosefta intersect, item by item.
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1 online resource (3 volumes (2,787 pages)) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047416371 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Mishnah : religious perspectives /
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Condensing research concerning questions of religion which encompass the social history of ideas and the religious uses of language, this book deals with three questions: the relationship of the Mishnah to Scripture, the relationship of the religious ideas people hold to the world in which they live, and the religious meaning of the formalization of language that characterizes the Mishnah in particular. In discussing how the Mishnah relates to Scripture - in the (later) mythic language of Rabbinic Judaism: \'the oral Torah\' to \'the written Torah\' - a complete analysis is presented, based on a systematic application of a single taxonomic program. Then an examination is made of how the stages in the unfolding of the Halakhah of the Mishnah relate to the principal events of the times, which delineate those stages. Here focus is given to those pre-70 C.E. components of the Halakhah that later come to the surface in the Mishnah, but discussion extends to the periods from the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. to the Bar Kokhba War, concluded in circa 135 C.E., then from the reconstruction, 135 C.E., to the closure of the Mishnah, 200 C.E. Finally attention is given to methods of interpreting the rhetorical forms of the Mishnah in the context of the social culture laid bare by the socio-linguistics of the documents concerned. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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" ... this book completes the condensation and recapitulation of large-scale research of mine"--Preface. :
1 online resource (xii, 249 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004294110 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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These two volumes introduce the sources of Judaism in late antiquity to scholars in adjacent fields, such as the study of the Old and New Testaments, ancient history of Classical Antiquity, earliest Christianity, the ancient Near East, and the history of religion. Here, in two volumes, leading American, Israeli, and European specialists in the history, literature, theology, and archaeology of Judaism offer factual answers to the two questions that the study of any religion in ancient times must raise. The first is, what are the sources - written and in material culture - that inform us about that religion? The second is, how do we understand those sources in the reconstruction of the history of various Judaic systems in antiquity. The chapters set forth in simple statements, intelligible for non-specialists, the facts the sources provide. Because of the nature of the subject and acute interest in it, we also raise some questions particular to the study of Judaism, those dealing with its historical relationship with nascent Christianity in New Testament times. The work forms the starting point for the study of all the principal questions concerning Judaism in late antiquity and sets forth the most current, critical results of scholarship.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xiv, 318 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004293960 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The kingdom of Kush : handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic civilization /
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The individual character of Kingdom of Kush has often been overshadowed by the overwhelming cultural presence of its neighbour Egypt. This handbook in our series \'Handbuch der Orientalistik/Handbook of Oriental Studies\' for the first time presents a comprehensive survey of the rich textual, archaeological and art historical evidence for this Middle Nile Region Kingdom of Kush . Basing itself both on the evidence and scholarly literature, this work discusses the emergence of the native state of Kush (after the Pharaonic domination in the 11th century B.C.), the rule of the Kings of Kush in Egypt (c. 760-656) and the intellectual foundations and political history of the Kingdom in the Napatan (7th - Third centuries) and Meroitic (3rd century B.C. - 4th century A.D.) periods.
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1 online resource (xv, 589 pages) : maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 533-559) and index. :
9789004294011 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals /
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Among the most important sources for understanding the cultures and systems of thought of ancient Mesopotamia is a large body of magical and medical texts written in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. An especially significant branch of this literature centres upon witchcraft. Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals and incantations attribute ill-health and misfortune to the magic machinations of witches and prescribe ceremonies, devices, and treatments for dispelling witchcraft, destroying the witch, and protecting and curing the patient. The Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals aims to present a reconstruction of this body of texts; it provides critical editions of the relevant rituals and prescriptions based on the study of the cuneiform tablets and fragments recovered from the libraries of ancient Mesopotamia. \'Now that we have the second volume, we the more admire the thoughtful organisation of the entire project, the strict methods followed, and the insightful observations and decisions made.\' Martin Stol, Bibliotheca Orientalis lxxIV n° 3-4, mei-augustus 2017
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1 online resource : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004318557 :
1566-7952 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sources of evil : studies in Mesopotamian exorcistic lore /
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Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore is a collection of thirteen essays on the body of knowledge employed by ancient Near Eastern healing experts, most prominently the 'exorcist' and the 'physician', to help patients who were suffering from misfortunes caused by divine anger, transgressions of taboos, demons, witches, or other sources of evil. The volume provides new insights into the two most important catalogues of Mesopotamian therapeutic lore, the Exorcist's Manual and the Aššur Medical Catalogue, and contains discussions of agents of evil and causes of illness, ways of repelling evil and treating patients, the interpretation of natural phenomena in the context of exorcistic lore, and a description of the symbolic cosmos with its divine and demonic inhabitants.
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1 online resource (xiii, 382 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004373341 :
1566-7952 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mani at the court of the Persian kings : studies on the Chester Beatty Kephalaia Codex /
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In Mani at the Court of the Persian Kings the authors explore evidence arising from their project to edit the Chester Beatty Kephalaia codex. This new text presents Mani at the heart of Sasanian Iran in dialogue with its sages and nobles, acting as a cultural mediator between East and West and interpreter of Christian, Iranian, and Indian traditions. Nine chapters study Mani's appropriation of the 'law of Zarades' and of Iranian epic; suggest a new understanding of his last days; and analyse his formative role in the history of late antique religions. These interdisciplinary studies advance research in several fields and will be of interest to scholars of Manichaeism, Sasanian Iran, and the development of religions in Late Antiquity.
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1 online resource (viii, 320 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-307) and index. :
9789004282629 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Creation, covenant, and the beginnings of Judaism : reconceiving historical time in the Second Temple period /
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This study examines the relationship between time and history in Second Temple literature. Numerous sources from that period express a belief that Jewish history began with an act of covenant formation and proceeded in linear fashion until the exile, an unprecedented event which severed the present from the past. The authors of Ben Sira, Jubilees , the Animal Apocalypse , and 4 Ezra responded to this theological challenge by claiming instead that Jewish history began at creation. Between creation and redemption, history unfolds as a series of static, repeating patterns that simultaneously account for the disappointments of the Second Temple period and confirm the eternal nature of the covenant. As iterations of timeless, cyclical patterns, the difficult post-exilic present and the glorious redemption of the future emerge as familiar, unremarkable, and inevitable historical developments.
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1 online resource (xii, 216 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-208) and index. :
9789004281653 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Empire, power, and indigenous elites : a case study of the Nehemiah memoir /
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Ancient Near Eastern empires, including Assyria, Babylon and Persia, frequently permitted local rulers to remain in power. The roles of the indigenous elites reflected in the Nehemiah Memoir can be compared to those encountered elsewhere. Nehemiah was an imperial appointee, likely of a military/administrative background, whose mission was to establish a birta in Jerusalem, thereby limiting the power of local elites. As a loyal servant of Persia, Nehemiah brought to his mission a certain amount of ethnic/cultic colouring seen in certain aspects of his activities in Jerusalem, in particular in his use of Mosaic authority (but not of specific Mosaic laws). Nehemiah appealed to ancient Jerusalemite traditions in order to eliminate opposition to him from powerful local elite networks.
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1 online resource (xii, 327 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-314) and indexes. :
9789004292222 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Jewish dialogue with Greece and Rome : studies in cultural and social interaction /
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Twenty-seven interdisciplinary essays on aspects of Judaism in the Greco-Roman world, exemplifying a wide range of techniques, by a well-known scholar. Three are previously unpublished, including a reappraisal of the Judaism and Hellenism debate and a study of the Sardis synagogue. The book's overall coherence derives from the author's long-standing interests in the analysis of texts as documents of cultural and religious interaction, and in how Jewish communities were woven into the social fabric of Greek cities in the Hellenistic and Roman East. The four sections are: Greeks and Jews, Josephus, The Jewish Diaspora and Epigraphy, and finally Beyond the Greeks and Romans, essays which extend into Christian literature and on to the nineteenth century reception of the Judaism/Hellenism dichotomy. Scholars and students from a wide variety of backgrounds will benefit. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource (xix, 579 pages cm) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047400196 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Calendar and chronology, Jewish and Christian : biblical, intertestamental and patristic studies /
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Judaism and Christianity are both religions of history and remembrance and rely on calendars and accurate chronologies to recall and reenact the signal events in their histories. The import of dividing the day and night, of knowing the moment of Sabbath and Lord's Day, of properly timing Passover and Easter cannot be overstated. Throughout the history of both religions, these issues were central to worship and practice of religion and had far-reaching effects from messianism to prophecy. But their very centrality meant they were issues of controversy and debate. Roger Beckwith looks carefully at the Jewish and Christian records concerning calendar and chronology, compares, contrasts, and challenges rival solutions to these complex questions. His breath of research - from the ancient Near East to Qumran, from Josephus and Philo to the Maccabean writings, and from the points of view of Paul and Jesus to the Fathers of the church - and his focus on the more controversial issues of dating make Calendar and Chronology an essential book for any serious scholar of history, liturgy, worship, and interpretation. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource (xv, 333 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004332874 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.