A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud, the Persian Province of Judah (Library Of Second Temple Studies)

494 Pages·2004·19.78 MB·English

by  Lester L. Grabbe

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
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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