Localized law : the Babatha and Salome Komaise archives / Kimberley Czajkowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Czajkowski, Kimberley, 1987-

Series:

Oxford studies in Roman society and law

Oxford Studies in Roman Society and Law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dead Sea scrolls.

Jewish law--History--Sources.

Jewish law.

Roman law--History--Sources.

Roman law.

Manuscripts, Hebrew (Papyri).

History.

Genre:

History.

Sources.

Physical Description:

viii, 240 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

In the early second century CE, two Jewish women, Babatha and Salome Komaise, lived in the village of Maoza on the southern coast of the Dead Sea. This was first part of the Nabataean Kingdom, but came under direct Roman rule in 106 CE as part of the province of Roman Arabia. The archives these two women left behind not only provide a tantalizing glimpse into their legal lives and those of their families, but also offer a vivid window onto the ways in which the inhabitants of this region interacted with their new rulers and how this affected the practice of law in this part of the Roman Empire. The papers in these archives are remarkable in their legal diversity, detailing Babatha and Salome Komaise's property and marriages, as well as their disputes. Nabataean, Roman, Greek, and Jewish legal elements are all in evidence, and are often combined within a single papyrus. As such, identifying the supposed 'operative law' of the documents has proven a highly contentious task: scholarly advocates of each of these traditions have failed to reach any true consensus and there remains division particularly between those who argue for a 'Roman' versus a 'Jewish' framework.00.

Contents:

1 Beginning to Reinterpret the Archives 25

The Tales Told in the Archives 26

Case Studies 33

Concluding Remarks 59

2 The Scribes 60

Reasons for Hiring a Scribe 62

The Identity of the Scribes 72

3 Legal Advisors 88

Legal Advisors in the Ancient World 89

The Archives 93

Scribes and Advisors: A Purely Terminological Distinction? 103

4 The Parties 107

The Non-Greek Documents 109

The Point of Change 113

The Greek Documents 115

5 The Alternatives to the Assizes? 133

Local Tribunals: A Socio-Anthropological Perspective 133

The Possible Venues and Authorities for Alternative Legal Fora 137

Local Tribunals and Roman Imperial Power: Effects and Interaction 162

6 The Roman Officials 166

The Roman Governor in the Provinces 167

The Roman Governor in the Archives 187

The Spectre of the Roman Court 197

Conclusion 199.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198777335

0198777337

OCLC:

952182466

Publisher Number:

99971293231