Table Of Content

LIBRARY OF SECOND TEMPLE STUDIES 47 formerly Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Series Editors Lester L. Grabbe James H. Charlesworth Editorial Board Randall D. Chestnutt, Philip R. Davies, Jan Willem van Henten, Judith M. Lieu, Steven Mason, James R. Mueller, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, James C. VanderKam To Professor John Rogerson Friend and Colleague and to My Friends and Fellow Labourers in the Persian Paradeisos, Professor Amelie Kuhrt and Professor Pierre Briant A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 1 Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah Lester L. Grabbe T&.T CLARK INTERNATIONAL A Continuum imprint LONDON • NEW YORK Copyright © 2004 T&T Clark International A Continuum imprint Published by T&T Clark International The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX 15 East 26th Street, Suite 1703, New York, NY 10010 www.tandtclark.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset and edited for Continuum by Forthcoming Publications Ltd www.forthcomingpublications.com Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by Cromwell Press ISBN 0-5670-8998-3 (hardback) CONTENTS Preface xiii Abbreviations xvi Map: The Province of Yehud (Borders Reconstructed) xxi Part I INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: PRINCIPLES AND METHOD 2 1.1. Aims 2 1.2. Principles of Historical Method: The Current Debate among Historians 3 1.2.1. Writing History from the Ancient Greeks to the 1960s 4 1.2.2. The Past 40 Years: The 'Linguistic Turn' and the New Historicism 6 1.3. Principles of Historical Method: The Current Debate among Biblical Scholars 11 1.4. Principles of Historical Method: Those Assumed in this Book 13 1.5. Writing a History of the Persian Period 16 1.5.1. Problems Peculiar to Persian Yehud 16 1.5.2. Plan of the Present Book 17 1.5.3. Modern Secondary Studies 18 1.6. Terminology and Other Technical Matters 19 Part II SOURCES Chapter 2 ARCHAEOLOGY: UNWRITTEN MATERIAL 22 2.1. Judah 22 2.1.1. Individual Sites 22 2.1.2. Surveys and Synthesis 27 2.2. Samaria 30 2.2.1. Individual Sites 30 2.2.2. Surveys and Synthesis 32 2.3. Phoenicia and the Coast (including the Shephelah) 34 2.3.1. Individual Sites 34 2.3.2. Surveys and Synthesis 41 vi A History of the Jews and Judaism 2.4. Idumaea and Arabia (including Transjordan) 43 2.4.1. Individual Sites 43 2.4.2. Surveys and Synthesis 49 Chapter 3 ARCHAEOLOGY: WRITTEN MATERIAL 54 3.1. Aramaic Papyri and Ostraca from Egypt 54 3.2. Inscriptions, Ostraca, and Papyri from Palestine 55 3.2.1. Wadi Daliyeh Papyri and Seals 55 3.2.2. Ostraca and Inscriptions from Palestine 58 3.2.3. Seals and Seal Impressions from Palestine 60 3.3. Phoenician Texts 63 3.4. Coins 64 3.4.1. Yehud 64 3.4.2. Samaria 67 3.4.3. Phoenicia and the Coast 68 Chapter 4 BIBLICAL WRITINGS 70 4.1. Ezra and Nehemiah 70 4.1.1. Structure and Theology 72 4.1.2. Three (Four?) Foundation Legends 74 4.1.3. Sources in Ezra-Nehemiah 76 4.1.4. 1 Esdras 83 4.2. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi 85 4.2.1. Haggai 87 4.2.2. Zechariah 87 4.2.3. Malachi 89 4.3. Other Prophetic Writings 90 4.3.1. The Isaiah Tradition 90 4.3.2. Joel 94 4.3.3. Jonah 95 4.3.4. Ezekiel 96 4.4. The Books of Chronicles 97 4.5. The P Document 99 4.6. The Writings 101 4.6.1. Proverbs 101 4.6.2. Job 102 4.6.3. Esther 104 4.6.4. Ruth 105 4.6.5. Song of Songs 105 Chapter 5 PERSIAN, MESOPOTAMIAN, AND EGYPTIAN SOURCES 107 5.1. Aramaic Inscriptions and Papyri 107 Contents vii 5.2. Old Persian Sources 109 5.3. The Elamite Texts from Persepolis 110 5.4. Babylonian Sources 110 5.4.1. The Babylonian Chronicles 111 5.4.2. The Cyrus Cylinder 111 5.4.3. The Murasu Documents 112 5.4.4. Berossus 112 5.5. Egyptian Texts 112 5.5.1. Udjahorresnet 113 5.5.2. Pherendates Correspondence 113 5.5.3. Cambyses Decree on the Reverse of the Demotic Chronicle 115 5.5.4. The Susa Statue of Darius 115 5.6. The Gadatas Inscription 116 Chapter 6 GREEK AND LATIN SOURCES 118 6.1. General Introduction 118 6.2. Herodotus 120 6.3. Thucydides 122 6.4. Oxyrhynchus Historian 123 6.5. Ctesias 124 6.6. Xenophon 124 6.7. Ephorus 125 6.8. Diodorus Siculus 126 6.9. Pompeius Trogus 126 6.10. Plutarch 126 6.11. Pseudo-Scylax 127 6.12. Strabo 127 6.13. Pliny the Elder 127 6.14. The Oeconomica of Pseudo-Aristotle 127 6.15. Athenaeus 128 6.16. Cornelius Nepos 128 6.17. The Alexander Historians 128 6.18. Josephus 129 Part III SOCIETY AND INSTITUTIONS Chapter 7 ADMINISTRATION 132 7.1. Organization and Administration of the Persian Empire: An Overview 132 7.2. The Province of Yehud 134 7.2.1. Extent and Status of the Jewish State 134 viii A History of the Jews and Judaism 7.2.2. Was Judah under the Jurisdiction of Samaria? 140 7.2.3. Governmental Structure of Judah 142 7.2.4. Governors of Yehud 148 7.2.5. Other Provincial Structures and Officials 150 7.2.6. Scribes, Language, and Literacy 151 7.2.7. Conclusions with Regard to the Province of Yehud 154 7.3. The Neighbours of Yehud 155 7.3.1. Samaria 155 7.3.2. Phoenicia and the Coast (including the Shephelah) 159 7.3.3. Idumaea and Arabia (including Transjordan) 162 Chapter 8 SOCIETY AND DAILY LIVING 167 8.1. Jewish Identity and Joining the Community 167 8.2. Social Classes 172 8.3. The Legal Sphere 173 8.4. Women, Marriage, and Sexuality 183 8.5. The Calendar and Chronology 185 Chapter 9 ECONOMY 189 9.1. General Comments on the Ancient Economy 189 9.1.1. Difficulties of Socio-Economic Studies on Ancient History 190 9. .2. The Understanding of Economic Theory in Antiquity 190 9. .3. Interests of Imperial Powers 190 9. .4. Agriculture vs. Commerce 191 9. .5. The 'Asiatic Mode of Production' 191 9. .6. Dependent Labour 192 9. .7. Wealth, Poverty, and the Tax Burden 193 9.2. The Persian Empire in General 194 9.3. The Economy of Yehud 197 9.3.1. Geographical Context of Yehud 197 9.3.2. Demography of Yehud 199 9.3.3. The Province of Yehud 202 Chapter 10 RELIGION I: TEMPLE, CULT, AND PRACTICE 209 10.1. The Persian Government and Religion 209 10.1.1. Documents from Elephantine 210 10.1.2. Other Inscriptions from Egypt and Asia Minor 212 10.1.3. Persepolis Tablets 214 10.1.4. Conclusions about Persian Policy on Religion 215 10.2. The Temple and the Cult 216 10.2.1. The Physical Temple 216 Contents ix 10.2.2. The Sacrificial Cult 218 10.2.3. The Cultic Year and Other Celebrations 220 10.2.4. Music and Singing 223 10.3. The Priests and Other Cult Personnel 224 10.3.1. Priestly Divisions 225 10.3.2. The High Priest of the Achaemenid Period 230 10.3.3. ASanhedrin? 234 10.4. Financial Support for the Temple 235 10.5. Prayer and the Question of the Synagogue 236 Chapter 11 RELIGION II: LAW, SCRIPTURE, AND BELIEF 238 11.1. The Development of ' Scripture' 238 11.2. Scriptural Interpretation 238 11.3. Beliefs 239 11.3.1. Deity 240 11.3.2. The Spirit World 243 11.3.3. Land, Exile, and Return 244 11.3.4. Covenant 246 11.3.5. Remnant 246 11.3.6. Concept of Israel 247 11.3.7. Theodicy 247 11.3.8. Eschatology 247 11.4. Prophecy and Apocalypticism 250 11.5. 'Popular Religion' 252 11.6. Magic and the Esoteric Arts 254 11.7. The Question of Sectarianism 256 11.7.1. Morton Smith 257 11.7.2. O. Ploger and P.D. Hanson 258 11.7.3. Other Theories of Persian-Period Sects 259 11.7.4. Analysis of the Theories on Sectarianism 259 Part IV HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS Chapter 12 THE EARLY PERSIAN PERIOD 263 12.1. Background 263 12.1.1. Geography and Environment 263 12.1.2. History of Judah before the Persian Period 264 12.2. Persian Rulers 265 12.2.1. Cyrus the Great 265 12.2.2. Cambyses 267 12.2.3. Darius I 268 12.3. Sources and Reliability 269