Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the Roman Empire

(Paperback)

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The study of the ancient Jewish Diaspora is developing in exciting new directions as a result of fresh archaeological material and new frameworks of interpretation. The six studies collected in this volume have been composed by an international group of scholars at the forefront of Diaspora studies and explore key features of the cultural dynamics of the Jewish Diaspora. Studies on Jews in Rome (Margaret Williams) and Alexandria (Sarah Pearce) examine the dialectic of local and translocal identities, including a new theory on Jewish sabbath-fasting in Rome. Through careful analysis of inscriptions in the Balkans (Alexander Panayotov, in the first study of the material in English) and Asia Minor (Paul Trebilco), the often ambiguous expression of Diaspora Jews is examined. Two essays on the historian Josephus (by James McLaren and John Barclay) examine his crafted reconstructions of Judaean history, and indicate his subaltern tactics, deploying the tools of colonial culture for the advantage of his own. A thorough Introduction relates these studies to the broader field of 'Diaspora studies' in current cultural anthropology. This is volume 45 in the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement series.

Reviews

"...this book will be profitable for anyone interested in the study of the Jewish Diaspora. The indexes of authors and references are quite useful, as well as the final bibliography...this is a book that shows how modern sociological theories can enlighten the study of late antique realities."- Pablo A. Torijano, The Society of Biblical Literature
Review ~ International Review of Biblical Studies, vol 51, 2004/05
'This book brings together essays which interact carefully with a broad base of primary material: archaeological as well as literary. It will be helpful for anyone interested in the study of Diaspora Judaism.' Stephen Catto, Themelios, 32/1 -- Stephen Catto * Themelios *

Author Bio

John M.G. Barclay is Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, UK.