Jewish Glass and Christian Stone: A Materialist Mapping of the "Parting of the Ways"

181 Pages·2017·13.774 MB·English

by  Eric C. Smith

ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WORLD ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WORLD
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“In this creative and groundbreaking study, Smith places material culture front I
and center as he explores the rich contact zone of the figurative ‘valley’ between S
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the ‘mountain peaks’ that represent late Roman Judaism and Christianity as

clearly distinct religions. Building on the recognition that modern concepts of G
religion, and with it understandings of Judaism and Christianity, distort our L
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understanding of the Roman world, Smith rethinks early Christian/Jewish
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‘relations’ through a deep engagement with critical race theory, hybridity, and S
intersectionality. This accessible and engaging book contributes significantly
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to the study of early Christianity, Roman Judaism, identity-construction, and
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religion, and demonstrates clearly the value of the materialist turn.” D

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Christina Shepardson, University of Tennessee, USA
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In recent years, scholars have reevaluated the “parting of the ways” between Judaism
T
and Christianity, reaching new understandings of the ways shared origins gave way I
A
to two distinct and sometimes inimical religious traditions. But this has been a
N
profoundly textual task, relying on the writings of rabbis, bishops, and other text-

producing elites to map the terrain of the “parting.” S
T
O
Jewish Glass and Christian Stone takes up the question of the divergence of Judaism
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and Christianity in terms of material — the stuff made, used, and left behind by E
the persons that lived in and between these religions as they were developing.
Considering the glass, clay, stone, paint, vellum, and papyrus of ancient Jews and
Christians, this book maps the “parting” in new ways, and argues for a greater role
for material and materialism in our reconstructions of the past.
E
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Eric C. Smith is Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity and New I
C J E W I S H G L A S S A N D
Testament Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, USA.
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C H R I S T I A N S T O N E
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EARLY CHRISTIANITY/EARLY JUDAISM
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H A MATERIALIST MAPPING OF THE
Cover image: Heinrich Kiepert’s Map of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, 1856 (public domain) “PARTING OF THE WAYS”
ISBN 978-1-138-20212-2
www.routledge.com
E R I C C . S M I T H
9 781138 202122
Routledge titles are available as eBook editions in a range of digital formats
i
JEWISH GLASS AND

CHRISTIAN STONE
In recent years, scholars have reevaluated the “parting of the ways” between
Judaism and Christianity, reaching new understandings of the ways shared
origins gave way to two distinct and sometimes inimical religious traditions.
But this has been a profoundly textual task, relying on the writings of rabbis,
bishops, and other text- producing elites to map the terrain of the “parting.”
Jewish Glass and Christian Stone takes up the question of the divergence of
Judaism and Christianity in terms of material— the stuff made, used, and left
behind by the persons that lived in and between these religions as they were
developing. Considering the glass, clay, stone, paint, vellum, and papyrus of
ancient Jews and Christians, this book maps the “parting” in new ways, and
argues for a greater role for material and materialism in our reconstructions
of the past.
Eric C. Smith is Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity and New
Testament Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, USA.
ii
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE EARLY

CHRISTIAN WORLD
www.routledge.com/ Routledge- Studies- in- the- Early- Christian-
World/ book- series/ SECW
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iii
JEWISH GLASS AND

CHRISTIAN STONE
A Materialist Mapping of the
“Parting of the Ways”
Eric C. Smith
iv
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Eric C. Smith
The right of Eric C. Smith to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
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and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Smith, Eric C., 1977– author.
Title: Jewish glass and Christian stone : a materialist mapping of the
‘parting of the ways’ / Eric C. Smith.
Description: First [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2017. |
Series: Routledge studies in the early Christian world
Identifiers: LCCN 2017023845 | ISBN 9781138202122 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781315474731 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Judaism–Relations–Christianity. | Christianity and other
religions–Judaism. | Material culture–Religious aspects–Christianity.
Classification: LCC BM535 .S635 2017 | DDC 261.2/609–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017023845
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 20212- 2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 315- 47473- 1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Out of House Publishing
v
FOR JESSA, HAZEL, ELI, AND AMOS
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vii
CONTENTS

List of figures x

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: the geographies of identity 1

Situated scholarship 1
On the edge of Appalachia 2
Encountering the other 5
The plan of this book 6
1 Mountains, valleys, and stones 10

Twin daughters 10
The menorah and the cross 13
Sinai and Zion 17
Raising up mountains 19
Germanos in the valley 21
2 Mountains: the construction of world religions 26

The death of Mme_ _ _ _ 26
Inventing “religion” in modernity 27
Inventing “religion” in antiquity 29
(Re)Constructing identities 31
Hybrid Jews and Christians 33
Identity, hybridity, materiality 35
3 Valleys: intersectional, material antiquity 39

Religion in text and creed 39
Materialism 40
Feminism 42
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viii
CONTENTS
Critical race theory 45
Intersectionality 49
Hybridity 52
A materialist mapping 56
4 Glass: the identities of things 61

A fragment 61
Syncretism and hybridity 64
Hybrid things 68
5 Clay: the economics of belonging 77

Light in the tombs 77
Beth She’arim 78
Consumer theory 80
Clay vessels 84
Intersectional Probos 85
6 Marble: stories in stone 93

Jonah cast up 93
Israel’s stories 96
Jonah in stone 101
Haptic hybridity 105
7 Paint: the hollowness of symbols 111

The menorah and the cross, again 111
The menorah 112
The cross 114
Other Jewish symbols 116
Other Christian symbols 117
Jewish and Christian symbols 121
8 Vellum: “relations” in miniature 127

“Relations” and the “parting of the ways” 127
The origins of illumination 128
The Vienna Genesis 130
The wash of interpretation 135
9 Papyrus: the practice of text 142

Euplus reads 142
Text as material 143
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ix
CONTENTS
Text as practice 145
Jewish and Christian texts 147
Other kinds of texts 152
10 The mountains from the valley 159

Abstract categories of the scholar 159
Index 165

ix