Identity in Persian Egypt : The Fate of the Yehudite Community of Elephantine / Bob Becking.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Becking, Bob, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Egypt.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

University Park, Pennsylvania : The Pennsylvania State University Press, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In this book, Bob Becking provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the origins, lives, and eventual fate of the Yehudites, or Judeans, at Elephantine, framed within the greater history of the rise and fall of the Persian Empire. The Yehudites were among those mercenaries recruited by the Persians to defend the southwestern border of the empire in the fifth century BCE. Becking argues that this group, whom some label as the first “Jews,” lived on the island of Elephantine in relative peace with other ethnic groups under the aegis of the pax persica. Drawing on Aramaic and Demotic texts discovered during excavations on the island and at Syene on the adjacent shore of the Nile, Becking finds evidence of intermarriage, trade cooperation, and even a limited acceptance of one another’s gods between the various ethnic groups at Elephantine. His analysis of the Elephantine Yehudites’ unorthodox form of Yahwism provides valuable insight into the group’s religious beliefs and practices. An important contribution to the study of Yehudite life in the diaspora, this accessibly written and sweeping history enhances our understanding of the varieties of early Jewish life and how these contributed to the construction of Judaism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Introduction

List of Abbreviations

Chapter 1. How Persian Power Entered Egypt

Chapter 2. Yehudites at Elephantine: Provenance, Identity, and Religion

Chapter 3. Multiethnic Elephantine: Some Remarks on Different Minor Ethnicities in a Persian Border Garrison

Chapter 4. Pax Persica: Cooperation, Cohabitation, and Acceptance

Chapter 5. Control Through Education, Law, and Military Power

Chapter 6. Disruptions of the Interethnic Solidarity

Chapter 7. “Khnum Is Against Us Since Hananiah Has Been in Egypt”: On Two Historical Movements in the Fifth Century BCE

Chapter 8. Beyond the Final Curtain: The Aftermath of Elephantine

Bibliography

Index of Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781646020744

164602074X

OCLC:

1243538348