Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament

208 Pages·2019·191.348 MB·English

by  Sabine R. Huebner

PAPYRI AND THE SOCIAL WORLD
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
In this book Sabine R. Huebner explores the world of the New
TestamentprotagonistsandtheearlyChristiansusingtherichpapyr-
ological evidence from Roman Egypt, a resource which gives us
unparalleledinsightsintotheeverydaylivesofanonelitepopulation.
What were the daily concerns and difficulties experienced by
a carpenter’s family or by a shepherd looking after his flocks? How
did the average man or woman experience a Roman census? What
obstaclesdidwomenlivinginapatriarchalsocietyfaceinprivate,in
public,andintheearlychurch?GiventheflightofJesus’familyinto
Egypt, how mobile were the lower classes, what was their under-
standing of geography, and what costs and dangers were associated
with travel? This volume gives us a better understanding of the
structural, social, and cultural conditions in which figures from the
NewTestamentlived.
sabine r. huebner is Professor of Ancient History and Head of
the Doctoral Program in Classical Civilizations at the University of
Basel. Her research focuses on social and religious history and the
everyday life of common people in antiquity. She has published
monographs including The Family in Roman Egypt (Cambridge,
2013) and is co-editor of Growing up Fatherless in Antiquity
(Cambridge, 2009), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (2012),
Inheritance, Law and Religion in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
(2014), Mediterranean Families in Antiquity (2016), and The Single
LifeintheRomanandLaterRomanWorlds(Cambridge,2019).

PAPYRI AND THE SOCIAL
WORLD OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT
SABINE R. HUEBNER
UniversitätBasel,Switzerland
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doi:10.1017/9781108556453
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Contents
ListofIllustrations pageviii
Acknowledgments xi
Maps xiii
I EgyptandtheSocialWorldoftheNewTestament 1
II TheSocialMilieuofEarlyChristiansinEgypt:
WhoWeretheFirstReadersoftheNewTestamentGospels? 18
III “Inthosedaysadecreewentout...”:TheHerodian
KingdomandtheAugustanProvincialCensusSystem 31
IV “Butthesewordsseemedtothemanidletale”:
DiscriminationandtheStruggleforWomen’sEquality
inEarlyChristianity 51
V “TheCarpenter’sSon”:TheFamilyandHouseholdof
aCraftsman 65
VI “InthosedaysMarysetout...”:Travelbythe
LowerClassesinRomanTimes 87
VII “Inthatregiontherewereshepherdslivinginthefields...”:
AnOccupationontheMarginsofSociety 115
VIII Afterword 135
Notes 138
Bibliography 165
IndexLocorum 183
GeneralIndex 189
vii
Illustrations
Coverimage:“FlightintoEgypt”byEugèneAlexisGirardet(1850–1907)
©ThePictureArtCollection/AlamystockPhoto
MapoftheEasternRomanMediterranean. pagexiii
MapofRomanEgypt. xiv
SatelliteimageofEgypt.Googlemaps©2015. xv
1.1 PapyruslettersentfromRometotheEgyptianvillageof
Karanis(Fayum)(P.Mich.8.490).Imagereproducedwiththe
permissionofthePapyrologyCollection,GraduateLibrary,
UniversityofMichigan. 4
1.2 Receiptfor4drachmaswrittenonapotsherd,datedtothe
EgyptianmonthofThoth(P.Duk.inv.233).Imagecourtesy
DavidM.RubensteinRareBookandManuscriptLibrary,
DukeUniversity,Durham,NorthCarolina. 5
2.1 LetterfromtheChristianArrianustohisbrotherPaulus,dated
tothe230sce (P.Bas.2.43).BaselUniversityLibrary. 20
2.2 MapoftheRomanArsinoiteNome(Fayum). 22
2.3 LetterfromBishopSotastoPetrus(PSI3.208).Biblioteca
MediceaLaurenziana,Florence,MSPSI208.Reproduced
withpermissionofMiBACT. 29
2.4 Mummyportraitofaman.EncausticonLinen.Hawara,25–
75ce.©AEIN1425byNyCarlsbergGlyptotek.DantesPlads
7;1556KøbenhavnV. 30
3.1 MapofJudaeaanditsneighboringregions. 33
3.2 CensusregistrationofRomancitizens(latesecondcentury
bce).Louvre,Paris.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséedu
Louvre)/HervéLewandowski. 36
3.3 Censusreturnoffivebrothers(SB10.10759).Image
reproducedwithpermissionofthePapyrologyCollection,
GraduateLibrary,UniversityofMichigan. 38
viii
ListofIllustrations ix
4.1 GreekfragmentoftheGospelofMary(P.Oxy.50.3525).
ReproducedwiththepermissionoftheEgyptExploration
SocietyandtheImagingPapyriProject,Oxford. 52
4.2 GreekfragmentoftheGospelofMary(P.Ryl.3.463).©John
RylandsLibrary,UniversityofManchester. 53
4.3 Foliumofthefifth-centuryCopticGospelofMary.Coptic
CodexBerolinensisGnosticus8502.©ÄgyptischesMuseum
undPapyrussammlung,StaatlicheMuseenzuBerlin. 55
5.1 Funerarysteleofacarpenterfoundonl’IsleSaintJacques,
France.Muséed’Artetd’Histoire,Metz,France.©Laurianne
Kieffer,MuséedeLaCourd’Or,MetzMétropole. 67
5.2 Frescoofacarpenteratwork,HouseoftheVettii,Pompei.
©BridgemanImages. 68
5.3 Ivoryreliefofacarpenterfromfourth-centuryAlexandria.
PrincetonUniversityArtMuseum. 69
5.4 ApprenticeshipcontractofacarpenterfromTheadelphiain
theArsinoitedatedto128ce (P.Mich.inv.4238).Image
reproducedwiththepermissionofthePapyrologyCollection,
GraduateLibrary,UniversityofMichigan. 71
6.1 TravelroutebyshipfromAlexandriatoRome.ORBIS:the
StanfordGeospatialNetworkModeloftheRomanWorld. 93
6.2 NilemosaicdetailofariverboatfromPraeneste.National
ArchaeologicalMuseum,Palestrina,Lazio.©CameliaBoban. 94
6.3 Romanreliefdepictingachariot,firsttosecondcentury.
ChurchofMariaSaal,Klagenfurt,Austria.©MariaSaal. 94
6.4 ReconstructionofaRomancarriage.Römisch-Germanisches
Museum,Cologne.©RheinischesBildarchiv,Cologne. 95
6.5 Manfeedingadonkey.Detailofamosaicfloor,sixthcentury
ce.GreatPalaceMosaicMuseum,Istanbul.©Alamy. 97
6.6 TravelroutefromtheFayumtoAlexandria.ORBIS:the
StanfordGeospatialNetworkModeloftheRomanWorld. 102
6.7 TravelroutefromOxyrhynchustoCoptos.ORBIS:the
StanfordGeospatialNetworkModeloftheRomanWorld. 104
6.8 LandroutefromAlexandriatoAntioch.ORBIS:theStanford
GeospatialNetworkModeloftheRomanWorld. 109
7.1 StatueoftheGoodShepherd.Thirdcenturyce.Fromthe
CatacombsofDomitilla.MuseoPioCristiano,Vatican.
Dnalor_01,WikimediaCommons,CC-BY-SA3.0. 116
7.2 Faustulusfindingtheshe-wolfwiththetwinsRomulusand
Remus.Decorativerelief,so-calledCampanaplaque.
x ListofIllustrations
Clay.Secondcenturyce.Antikensammlung,Pergamon-
museum,StaatlicheMuseenzuBerlin,Preussischer
Kulturbesitz. 118
7.3 Ashepherdandhisflock.DetailoftheFourSeasonsmosaic
fromca.325ce foundinDaphne(nowAntakya,Turkey).
LouvreMuseum,Paris.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséedu
Louvre)/PeterWilli. 119
7.4 ReliefofashepherdwithhisdogonaRomansarcophagus
datingfromthethirdtofourthcenturyce.VaticanMuseums.
©Alamy. 120
7.5 Reliefofashepherdwithhisdog,asheep,andagoaton
aRomansarcophagusdatingfromthesecondcenturyce.
WaltersArtMuseum,Baltimore. 121
7.6 FrescooftheGoodShepherdfromtheCatacombsofSS.
MarcellinoePietro,Rome,cub.76.©PontificalCommission
forSacredArchaeology. 126
7.7 YoungEgyptianshepherd. 127
7.8 Shepherdsmilkinggoats.Mosaic,sixthcenturyce.Great
PalaceMosaicMuseum,Istanbul.©Alamy. 134
The systemof abbreviations used foreditionsof papyrological texts is
theChecklist ofGreek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri,Ostraca and
TabletseditedbyJ.D.Sosin,R.S.Bagnall,J.Cowey,M.Depauw,T.G.
Wilfong,and K. A. Worp.
The English translationof the OldandNew Testament follows THE
HOLY BIBLE,NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
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permission. All rights reserved worldwide.