Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (538 S.C.E. - 70 C.E.)

505 Pages·2002·29.988 MB·English

by  Lee I. Levine

JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM
Portrait of the City
in the
Second Temple Period
(538 70
S.C.E. - C.E.)
2002.5763
THE JEWISH PuBLICATION SOCIETY
PHILADELPHIA
.JTSl;~
PuBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH
THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF AMERICA
Copyright © 2002 by Lee I. Levine
First edition. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any infor
mation storage or retrieval system, except for brief passages in connection with
a critical review, without permission in writing from the publisher:
The Jewish Publication Society
2100 Arch Street, 2nd floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Composition and design by Desperate Hours Productions
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levine, Lee I.
Jerusalem: portrait of the city in the second Temple period (538
b.c.e.-70 c.e.) / Lee I. Levine.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-8276-0750-4
1. Jerusalem--History. 2. Palestine--History--586 B.C.-70 AD. 3.
Jews--History--586 B.C.-70 AD. 4. Judaism--History--Post-exilic
period, 586 B.C.-21O AD. I. Title.
DS109.912 .L484 2002
933--dc21
2002006014
Support for the publication of this book
is provided with admiration and respect
for Professor Lee I. Levine
by the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies
and e.G. Foundation Jerusalem Project,
Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University,
Ramat- Gan, Israel
and
by the
Lucius N. Littauer Foundation
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"P"'l~ 'Y.3'O'~
0"'0'"
Ingeborg Rennert Center for
Jerusalem Studies
Publications
To our children:
David and Havi, Elana, Tali and Arjon, Dafna
And grandchildren:
Shira, Yoav, Nadav, Tiara
vii
Contents
Preface xi
Introduction Xlll
Part I. From Cyrus to the Hasmoneans
Chapter 1. The Persian Era (539-332 B.C.E.) 3
The Restoration of City and Temple 8
The First Returnees: Hopes Thwarted by Hardships 12
The Temple Rebuilt 15
The Era of Ezra and Nehemiah 20
Ezra 20
Nehemiah 23
Religious Reforms 28
The Enigmatic Fourth Century B.C.E. 31
The Persian Era in Perspective 42
Chapter 2. The Hellenistic Era (332-141 B.C.E.) 45
The Ptolemaic Era (301-198 B.C.E.) 48
Leadership of the City 51
In the Hellenistic Orbit 54
Judaism in Ptolemaic Jerusalem 60
The Seleucid Era (198-141 B.C.E.) 65
The Decrees of Antiochus III 65
Jason's Reforms and Their Aftermath 69
The Seleucid Akra 75
Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt 78
viii CONTENTS
Dedication of the Temple and the Festival of Hanukkah 82
Jerusalem under Jonathan the Hasmonean 86
Chapter 3. The Hasmonean Era (141-63 B.C.E.) 91
The Hasmonean Factor in Jerusalem Society 92
Biblical Precedents 93
The Wedding of Politics and Religion 95
Between Judaism and Hellenism 97
Three Episodes in Hasmonean Jerusalem 99
The Great Assembly and Simon's Installation-140 B.C.E. 99
vn
The Siege ofJerusalem by Antiochus (ca. 134-132 B.C.E.) 102
Civil Disobedience and Rebellion under Alexander Jannaeus 104
The Urban Setting 106
Political and Religious Groupings in Hasmonean Jerusalem 114
Hever Ha-Yehudim 114
The Priesthood 115
Religious Sects 119
Pharisees and Sadducees 124
The Ideological Dimension 124
The Sociopolitical Dimension 126
Other Aspects of Hasmonean Pharisaism 129
Essenes 130
Other Religious Circles: The Literary Evidence 132
Common Judaism under the Hasmoneans 133
The Temple in Hasmonean Jerusalem 134
Temple-Related Observances 137
"Purity Burst Forth in Israel" 139
The Avoidance of Figural Art 142
Hellenization in Hasmonean Jerusalem 143
The End of an Era 147
Part II. Herodian Jerusalem
Chapter 4. The Historical Dimension 151
Transition to Roman Rule 151
From Pompey's Conquest to the Rise of Herod (63-37 B.C.E.) 158
Herodian Politics: At Home and Abroad (37-4 B.C.E.) 165
Herodian Rule in Jerusalem 170
Herod's Domestic Woes 179
CONTENTS ix
Evaluating Herod and His Rule 181
The Reign ofA rchelaus (4 B.C.E.-6 C.E.) 183
Chapter 5. The Urban Landscape 187
The Antonia 194
The Western Towers 196
Herod's Palace 198
Entertainment Institutions 201
Funerary Remains 206
Water Supply and Installations 213
Chapter 6. The Temple and Temple Mount 219
The Temple Mount: Physical Dimensions and Functions 226
The Temple and Its Courts 237
Temple Functionaries 243
The Temple as a Religious Focus 245
Chapter 7. Jerusalem in the Greco-Roman Orbit: The Extent and
Limitations of Cultural Fusion 255
The Temple 257
Residential Quarters 260
Funerary Remains 261
Political Institutions 265
Language 270
Pharisaic Exegesis 276
Defining the Limits ofA cculturation 278
Part III. The First Century C.E.
Chapter 8. The Historical Dimension 285
Direct Roman Rule: The Earlier Period (6-41 C.E.) 285
Jerusalem under Agrippa I (41-44 C.E.) 295
Procuratorial Rule (44-66 C.E): The Collapse ofJ erusalem Society 302
Chapter 9. The Urban Configuration 313
Geographical Expansion 313
The Third Wall 315
Topography 318
The Lower City 319
The Upper City 326
The Northern Commercial Quarter 335