Though scholars have largely overlooked demons as a source of information about rabbinic law, cross-cultural interaction, and theology, this dissertation has asked how the inclusion of rabbinic demonology enriches our picture of rabbinic discourse and thought in Late Antique Sasanian Babylonia.
Read MoreAndrew Perrin Discusses the Dynamics of Dream-Vision Revelation in the Aramaic DSS
Brian Davidson interviews Andrew Perrin about his book The Dynamics of Dream-Vision Revelation in the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls (V&R, 2015).
Read MoreBook Note: Magness, Archaeology of the Holy Land
It shouldn’t take very long for the reader to recognize that a career’s worth of knowledge has been condensed and organized into this outstanding textbook—she had wanted to write this book for “more than twenty years” (p. xii).
Read MoreCurrents in Biblical Research: Interview with Editor Jordan Rosenblum
The Augustan poet Vergil in a 3rd-century mosaic or Peer Reviewers deciding a submission's fate...you decide.
The Augustan poet Vergil in a 3rd-century mosaic or Peer Reviewers deciding a submission's fate...you decide.
The Ancient Jew Review sat down with Jordan Rosenblum editor of Ancient Judaism at Currents in Biblical Research. Learn about the scope of the journal as well as submission advice.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | Peter Anthony Mena
El Mestizaje by Oswaldo Guayasamin
El Mestizaje by Oswaldo Guayasamin
In Borderlands/La Frontera of the Late Ancient Egyptian Desert: Space, Identity, and the Ascetic Imagination, I consider the descriptions of desert space in Christian hagiography from Late Antiquity.
Read MoreWilkinson, Women and Modesty in Late Antiquity
Kate Wilkinson’s Women and Modesty in Late Antiquity argues that Christian ascetic modesty was challenging work.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight: Shayna Sheinfeld
‘Ezra Reads the Law’
‘Ezra Reads the Law’
This project examines the implications of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch in understanding Jewish leadership in the period following the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E.
Read MoreOn Judeo-Persian Language and Literature | Part Two: Texts and Bibliography
In a two-part series, Dr. Adam McCollum addresses the possibilities for the field of Judeo-Persian language and literature. Part Two includes a helpful bibliography and four text samples.
Read MoreOn Judeo-Persian Language and Literature | Part One: State of the Field
In a two-part series, Dr. Adam McCollum addresses the possibilities for the field of Judeo-Persian language and literature. Part One addresses the state of the field.
Read MoreThe Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad | Interview with Seth Schwartz
Recently the Ancient Jew Review sat down with Dr. Seth Schwartz (Columbia University) to discuss his newest book The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | Diane Fruchtman
St. Felix
St. Felix
"Living in a Martyrial World" demonstrates the necessity of recognizing that, in Christian traditions, martyrdom does not always require death.
Read MoreCultural Heritage at Risk in Libya
Philip Kenrick, author of the Libya Archaeological Guides to Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, describes the threatened antiquities in Libya.
Read MoreShikhin Excavations with James R. Strange
Oil lamp, photo courtesy James R. Strange.
Oil lamp, photo courtesy James R. Strange.
Brian Leport interviews Dr. James R. Strange about the excavations at Shikhin.
Read MoreLeftovers: Understanding Culinary History
Leftovers is a blog that explores historical cookbooks as a way of understanding culinary history.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | Rebecca Falcasantos
Constantine the Great presents the city (Constantinople) and Justinian the Great presents Hagia Sophia to the Virgin, mosaic
Constantine the Great presents the city (Constantinople) and Justinian the Great presents Hagia Sophia to the Virgin, mosaic
Falcasantos, Rebecca. “A Land Cleansed of Heretics”: Cult Practice and Contestation in the Christianization of Late Antique Constantinople. Ph.D. dissertation, Brown University, 2015.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | John Mandsager
Moan Synagogue
Moan Synagogue
Mandsager, John. To Stake a Claim: The Making of Rabbinic Agricultural Spaces in the Roman Countryside. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 2014.
Read MoreKosmin, The Land of the Elephant Kings
Paul Kosmin’s Land of the Elephant Kings is an attempt to understand the royal ideology of the Seleucid dynasty, examining how this vast empire was constituted and imagined by its rulers.
Read MoreStudents Think Better with Thinking Pieces: Why You Should Consider Using Low- Stakes Writing Assignments in Your Class
Relief in Neumagen near Trier, a teacher with three discipuli (180-185 CE)
Relief in Neumagen near Trier, a teacher with three discipuli (180-185 CE)
As you prepare your syllabi for the upcoming academic year, consider using low-stakes writing assignments as an assessment option.
Read MoreElegy for Hatra: The City of the Sun God
I began writing this post after the Islamicists' rampage through the Mosul Museum, but now news reports are coming in that ISIL bulldozers are also on their way to destroy the ancient city of Hatra some 80 km away
Read MoreEdelman and Ben Zvi, Remembering Biblical Figures in the Late Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods: Social Memory and Imagination
Remembering Biblical Figures in the Later Persian & Early Hellenistic Periods is a new edited volume examining the biblical texts through the theoretical lens of social or collective memory.
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