Becoming Diaspora Jews : Behind the Story of Elephantine / Karel van der Toorn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Toorn, K. van der, author.

Series:

Anchor Yale Bible reference library.

Yale scholarship online.

The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arameans.

Jewish diaspora.

Jews--Egypt--History.

Jews.

Judaism--History.

Judaism.

Elephantine (Egypt).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (285 pages).

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2025.

Place of Publication:

London : Yale University Press, 2019.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

text file rdaft

Summary:

Based on a previously unexplored source, this book transforms the way we think about the formation of Jewish identity This book tells the story of the earliest Jewish diaspora in Egypt in a way it has never been told before. In the fifth century BCE there was a Jewish community on Elephantine Island. Why they spoke Aramaic, venerated Aramean gods besides Yaho, and identified as Arameans is a mystery, but a previously little explored papyrus from Egypt sheds new light on their history. The papyrus shows that the ancestors of the Elephantine Jews came originally from Samaria. Due to political circumstances, they left Israel and lived for a century in an Aramean environment. Around 600 BCE, they moved to Egypt. These migrants to Egypt did not claim a Jewish identity when they arrived, but after the destruction of their temple on the island they chose to deploy their Jewish identity to raise sympathy for their cause. Their story-a typical diaspora tale-is not about remaining Jews in the diaspora, but rather about becoming Jews through the diaspora.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. Elephantine Revisited

2. The Aramean Heritage

3. The Aramean Diaspora in Egypt

4. The Origins of the Elephantine Jews

5. A Military Colony and Its Religion

6. Becoming Diaspora Jews

Epilogue

Appendix: Translation of Papyrus Amherst 63, Adapted from AOAT 448

Abbreviations

Notes

General Index

Index of Ancient Sources

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2019.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contains:

Container of: Papyrus Amherst. 63. English.

ISBN:

0-300-28830-1

0-300-24949-7

OCLC:

1117508771