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Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine | British Academy Scholarship Online
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Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine

Martin Goodman and Philip Alexander

Abstract

This volume brings together studies in the rabbinic literature of late antiquity by specialists in the history of the Jews in that period in order to reveal the value of rabbinic material as historical evidence and to show the problems and issues which arise in its exploitation. An introductory section discusses the current state of knowledge about Palestine in this period and debates the difficulties involved in editing and dating rabbinic texts. Specific core texts and text categories are then introduced to the reader in a series of ten discrete studies. The volume concludes with six themati ... More

Keywords: rabbinic literature, late antiquity, Jews, historical evidence, Palestine, editing, dating

Bibliographic Information

Print publication date: 2011 Print ISBN-13: 9780197264744
Published to British Academy Scholarship Online: January 2012 DOI:10.5871/bacad/9780197264744.001.0001

Authors

Affiliations are at time of print publication.

Martin Goodman, editor
Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Oxford; Fellow of the British Academy

Philip Alexander, editor
Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Literature, University of Manchester; Fellow of the British Academy

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Contents

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Front Matter

Title Pages

Notes on Contributors

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Glossary of Hebrew terms

Introduction

MARTIN GOODMAN

Part I The Issues

1 Using Rabbinic Literature as a Source for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: Problems and Issues1

PHILIP ALEXANDER

2 The Palestinian Context of Rabbinic Judaism

FERGUS MILLAR

3 Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis

PETER SCHÄFER

4 The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature

CHAIM MILIKOWSKY

5 Current Views on the Editing of the Rabbinic Texts of late Antiquity: Reflections on a Debate after Twenty Years

PETER SCHÄFER, and CHAIM MILIKOWSKY

Part II The Rabbinic Texts

6 The State of Mishnah Studies

AMRAM TROPPER

7 The Tosefta and Its Value for Historical Research: Questioning the Historical Reliability of Case Stories

RONEN REICHMAN

8 Halakhic Midrashim as Historical Sources

GÜNTER STEMBERGER

9 The Talmud Yerushalmi

SACHA STERN

10 Problems in the Use of the Babylonian Talmud for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: The Example of Astrology

RICHARD KALMIN

11 Literary Structures and Historical Reconstruction: The Example of an Amoraic Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah)

ALEXANDER SAMELY

12 The Future of Ancient Piyyut

WOUT JAC VAN BEKKUM

13 Targum

ROBERT HAYWARD

14 The Epistle of Sherira Gaon

ROBERT BRODY

15 Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism

PETER SCHÄFER

Part IIIHistory

16 ‘Rabbinic Culture’ and Roman Culture

SETH SCHWARTZ

17 Material Culture and Daily Life

CATHERINE HEZSER

18 Rabbinic Literature and the History of Judaism in Late Antiquity: Challenges, Methodologies and New Approaches

MOSHE LAVEE

19 Rabbinic Perceptions of Christianity and the History of Roman Palestine

WILLIAM HORBURY

20 Politics and Administration

AHARON OPPENHEIMER

21 Economy and Society

HAYIM LAPIN

Conclusion

MARTIN GOODMAN

End Matter

Index