Language and literacy in Roman Judaea: a study of the Bar Kokhba documents PDF
Preview Language and literacy in Roman Judaea: a study of the Bar Kokhba documents
Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea Y4346.indd 1 3/10/2015 12:58:46 PM The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library is a project of international and interfaith scope in which Prot- estant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries con- tribute individual volumes. The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any par- ticular theological doctrine. The series is committed to producing volumes in the tradition established half a century ago by the founders of the Anchor Bible, William Foxwell Albright and David Noel Freedman. It aims to present the best contemporary scholarship in a way that is accessible not only to scholars, but also to the educated nonspecialist. It is committed to work of sound philological and historical scholarship, supplemented by insight from modern methods, such as sociological and literary criticism. John J. Collins General Editor Y4346.indd 2 3/10/2015 12:58:46 PM The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea A Study of the Bar Kokhba Documents Michael Owen Wise New Haven and AYBRL London Y4346.indd 3 3/10/2015 12:58:47 PM “Anchor Yale Bible” and the Anchor Yale logo are registered trademarks of Yale University. Copyright © 2015 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. office) or [email protected] (U.K. office). Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wise, Michael Owen, 1954– Language and literacy in Roman Judaea : a study of the Bar Kokhba documents / Michael Owen Wise.—1st edition. pages cm.—(The Anchor Yale Bible reference library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-300-20453-7 (alk. paper) 1. Literacy—Palestine—History. 2. Language and culture—Palestine. 3. Jews—Palestine—Intellectual life. 4. Judaea, Wilderness of— Antiquities. 5. Bar Kokhba, –135. I. Title. LC157.P35W57 2015 302.2'244095694—dc23 2014037410 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Y4346.indd 4 3/10/2015 12:58:47 PM Dedicated to James Alan Wise† Little brother, best friend Accept for now these things, final gifts of an ancient custom given, sad of duty and wet with a brother’s tears. —Catullus Y4346.indd 5 3/10/2015 12:58:47 PM This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations, xiii 1. Status Quaestionum and the Present Study, 1 2. Jerusalem, Herodium, Jericho, and Environs, 62 3. En Gedi, Mahoza, and Kephar-Baru, 135 4. Epistolary Culture in Roman Judaea, 206 5. Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea, 279 Appendix A: Significant Documents of the Bar Kokhba Discoveries: Signatories and Writers, 357 Appendix B: Signatories and Writers Listed by Name, 373 Notes, 393 Index of Subjects, 501 Index of Modern Authors, 507 Index of Ancient Sources, 515 Y4346.indd 7 3/10/2015 12:58:47 PM This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments When I first began graduate study of the ancient Near East at the Uni- versity of Chicago years ago, wonderful as that opportunity proved, it also meant closing the door to the classics and especially to Greek literature, my first academic love. This was a love born of such as James Allen’s First Year of Greek, of Plato and Herodotus and Candaules, the man who fell in love with his own wife. I always hoped that one day it would become possible to go back and push that door open again. Some years ago the opportunity did present itself, and I entered a second doctoral program, this time at the University of Minnesota. There I found a place of academic rigor combined with nurture and unquestionable goodwill directed toward the students. I was taught well by able and distinguished faculty who had invested their lives studying Greek and Latin literature and attendant fields. I found with them and with my fellow students what I sought: not merely the text, but fellowship around the text. It is a pleasure to record my deep gratitude to the department and especially to Doug Olson, Betty Belfiore, Chris Nappa, Phil Sellew, and Nita Krevans, and most particularly to George Sheets, my principal instructor. George taught me much about classical philology and Latin literature and became a good friend as well as my dissertation advisor. The present book grew out of that dissertation and so owes much to George and his mind, which grinds very fine indeed. Others at my own institution, the University of Northwestern–St. Paul, aided and encouraged this project. Boyd Seevers displayed an unflagging interest in the matters under discussion and offered helpful ideas regarding the geography of the Bar Kokhba finds based on his intimate familiarity with the land in which he lived long himself. Walter Schultz read portions of the manuscript and discussed them with me after passing the pages beneath his philosopher’s flaw-magnifying logic. Our statistician Jonathan Zderad read and critiqued the first and final chapters and generously offered his expertise ix Y4346.indd 9 3/10/2015 12:58:47 PM
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