Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period

377 Pages·1989·57.632 MB·English

by  Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough, Jacob Neusner

JEWISH SYMBOLS
IN THE GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD
ABRIDGED EDITION
MYTHOS Tke PnncetontBolliTigen Senes tn World Alytkoiogy
J. J. Bachofen MYTH, RELIGION, AND MOTHER
RIGHT
Joseph Campbell THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND
FACES
Henry Corbin AVICENNA AND THE VISIONARY
RECITAL
F. M. Cornford FROM RELIGION TO PHILOSOPHY
Mircea Eliade IMAGES AND SYMBOLS
Mircea Eliade THE MYTH OF THE ETERNAL
RETURN
Mircea Eliade YOGA. IMMORTALITY AND
FREEDOM
Erwin R. Goodenough JEWISH SYMBOLS IN THE GRECO-
(Jacob Neusner, ed.) ROMAN PERIOD
Jane Ellen Harrison PROLEGOMENA TO THE STUDY OF
GREEK RELIGION
Joseph Henderson & THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT
Maud Oates
Carl Kerenyi ELEUSIS: ARCHETYPAL IMAGE OF
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
Roger S. Loomis THE GRAIL: FROM CELTIC MYTH
TO CHRISTIAN SYMBOL
Bronislaw Malinowski MALINOWSKI AND THE WORK OF
(Ivan Strenski, ed.) MYTH
Ench Neumann AMOR AND PSYCHE
Erich Neumann THE GREAT MOTHER
Maud Oakes with WHERE THE TWO CAME TO THEIR
Joseph Campbell FATHER
Dora & Erwin Panofsky PANDORA S BOX
Paul Radin THE ROAD OF LIFE AND DEATH
Otto Rank, Lord Raglan, IN QUEST OF THE HERO
Alan Dundes
Gladys Reichard NAVAHO RELIGION
Geza R0heim FIRE IN THE DRAGON
(Alan Dundes, ed.)
Robert A. Segal, ed. THE GNOSTIC JUNG
Philip E. Slater THE GLORY OF HERA
ERWIN R. GOODENOUGH
J E W I S H S Y M B O L S
in the
Greco-Roman Period
ABRIDGED EDITION
Edited, with a Foreword, by Jacob JVeusner
0I0
BOLLINGEN SERIES
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
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IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD
COPYRIGHT© 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1964, 1965, 1968
BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
FOREWORD AND ABRIDGMENT COPYRIGHT © 1988
BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION
DATA WILL BE FOUND ON THE PAGE FOLLOWING THE
INDEX. THIS IS A ONE-VOLUME ABRIDGMENT OF "JEWISH SYMBOLS
IN THE GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD," BOLLINGEN SERIES XXXVII,
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1953 AND 1968
LCC 88—5857
ISBN O—69I—O9967—7
ISBN O—691—OI922-3 (PBK.)
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS
ARE PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER, AND MEET
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SECOND PRINTING, FOR THE MYTHOS
PAPERBACK EDITION, 1992
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
pa{!,f
Editor's Foreword
IX
Abbreviations XXXIX
PART I. THE QUESTION, THE METHOD
(frOIll VOIIIIll('S I & IV )
CHAPTER 1. The Problem 3
( Volume I. pp 3-32 )
CHAPTER 2. Method in Evaluating Symbols
(VolumeIV.pp 25-62)
A. THE PROBLEM 37
B. WHAT IS A SYMBOL? 38
1. The Psycholopcal Approach to SymbohslIl 42
2. Relzpous Symbols 45
3· JHigralion of Live Symbols 47
4. The Lmgua Franca of Symbolwn 49
5. Modern Symbolmll 51
6. The Paradox of Symbols 54
C. THE JEWISH SYMBOLS 56
D. EVALUATING THE JEWISH SYMBOLS 59
E. PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION 62
PART iI. THE ANSWER
(fiOTli VO/lIlIIn II' & VIII )
CHAPTER 3. The Shofar
( Volume lV. pp. 167-94. pp 208-12 )
A. THE SHOFAR ON THE MONUMENTS 82
B. THE SHOFAR IN THE TRACTATE ROSH HASHANAH 85
C. THE AKEDAH 87
I. In the Talmud 87
2. In the Mldrash 89
3. In the Cabbala 101
D. SYMBOLISM OF THE SHOFAR 104
E. CONCLUSIONS III
V, COXTE.YTS
CHAPTER 4. Pagan Symbols in Judaism: Astronomical Symbols 116
( Volume VIII. pp 167-218 )
A. ASTRAL SYMBOLS IN JEWISH REMAINS LL6
B. ASTRAL SYMBOLS IN PAGANISM 127
1. In Religious and Philosophic Thought of the Greco-Roman
Period 127
2. In Pagan Art 134
C. ASTRALISM IN JEWISH LITERATURE I47
1. In Rabbinical Writings 148
2 In Merkabah and Apocalyptic 155
3. In Jewish Gnosticism of the Maaseh Beieshith lgg
4 In HellenizedJudaism 161
D. HELIOS 168
E. SUMMARY 170
PART III. THE SYNAGOGUE
AT DURA-EUROPOS
(fwm Yv!Hints IX-Xll)
CHAPTER 5. Interpreting the Art of the Synagogue at Dura-Europos 177
( Volume IX, pp. 3-24 )
A. RELATION TO SUR VI VING JEWISH LITERARY
TRADITIONS 178
B. DURA AND BABYLONIAN JEWS 183
C.PROCEDURE 184
I. Architecture 185
2 Pagan Symbols 185
3. Older of Considering the Paintings 188
4 Methods of Interpretation 1 90
D. THE "PHILOSOPHER" OF THE SYNAGOGUE 192
E. THE GOUGED EYES 193
CHAPTER 6. Cosmic Judaism: The Temple of Aaron 195
( VolumeX. pp- 2—26 )
A. THE PAINTING AND ITS DETAILS 1 96
B. INTERPRETATION 2 13
CONTENTS vi i
CHAPTER 7. The Judaism of Immaterial Reality: The Ark vs. Paganism 222
( Volume X, pp. 74—97 )
A. PAGANISM 222
B. THE ARK 22G
C. THE THREE MEN 241
D. CONCLUSION 246
CHAPTER 8. Summary: Judaism at Dura 249
( Volume X,pp 197-2/0, Volume XII, pp 197—9$)
Index 267
List of Illustrations 279
Illustrations 283

EDITOR'S FOREWORD
T
HIS ABRIDGMENT presents to a new generation of readers some of
the more important parts of Goodenough's now-classic Jewish Symbols in the
Greco-Roman Period (I—XIII). Goodenough took as his problem the interpre­
tation of symbols of art and archeology in the study of religion. In his monu­
mental work, published between 1953 and 1968, he developed a method for
explaining, without recourse to literary testimony and evidence, the meaning
and use of symbols. In this synopsis I mean to provide a clear picture of Good-
enough's method and how it works in substantial examples of his results. Let
me first briefly explain the structure of this book, then proceed to an account
of Goodenough and his principal ideas.
In Part I we go straight to Goodenough's statement of the problem he
proposes to solve in this study, then to the method he uses to work out his an­
swer. In Parts II and III we then review Goodenough's discussions of specific
problems and give a brief summary as he provided it. How does this abridg­
ment relate to Goodenough's Jewish Symbols?
The original work was set out in thirteen volumes:
VOLUMES !-in The Archeological Evidence from Palestine and the
Diaspora VOL HI: 1209 illustrations
VOLUME iv The Problem of Method; Symbols from Jewish Cult 117
illustrations
VOLUMES v-vi Fish, Bread, and Wine 455 illustrations
VOLUMES vii-viii Pagan Symbols in Judaism 459 illustrations
VOLUMES ix-xi Symbolism in the Dura Synagogue VOL. XI: 354 illustra­
tions, 2 1 color plates
VOLUME XII Summary and Conclusions 5 text figures
VOLUME xiii IndexesandMaps
Goodenough's massive conception encompasses three separate issues. First, he
describes the archeological evidence for Judaism in Greco-Roman times, in
Volumes I to III. I do not reproduce that part of his work because, while ac­
curate for its time, it is now dated by recent discoveries. I believe, moreover,
that the current generation will find more interesting Goodenough's method
and results than the archeological finds he surveyed.
Second, in Volume IV, Part V, he takes up the interpretation of specific