"This project investigates the meaning and usage of a particular set of linguistically related Talmudic terms in order to show how and in what cultural context the Talmud began to take shape in the emerging scholastic centers of rabbinic learning in late Sassanian Babylonia."
Read MoreIdentity, a Way Forward (Perhaps)
Friedrich Adolf Hornemann Lesender, Mönch, public domain.
Friedrich Adolf Hornemann Lesender, Mönch, public domain.
Dr. Todd Berzon tackles the ambiguity of identity and suggests "the use of identity operates to conceal analysis rather than illuminate it. The term is not simply under-explained (and under-theorized), but its imprecision hints at a more fundamental problem: identity usually means something else entirely."
Read More“The Most Daring Blasphemy”: Getting Students to Think Critically About Extra-Canonical Texts
Dr. Sarah Rollens turned a final paper assignment into a rhetorical exercise in canon formation.
Read MoreCreation and Creativity: Teaching Critical Thinking Beyond the Term Paper
Bailey Fryer, 2015.
Bailey Fryer, 2015.
Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz turned a course on creation into a creative pedagogy experience.
Read MoreEmbracing Change in the Search for Canon
Workshop of Jörg Breu the Younger, via Wiki Commons
Workshop of Jörg Breu the Younger, via Wiki Commons
How does one recognize a canon? Francis Borchardt responds to the 2015 AJR Canon Forum.
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | James Walters
Gospel of Rabbula via Wikimedia Commons
Gospel of Rabbula via Wikimedia Commons
James Walters argues that "Aphrahat articulates an uncompromising vision of Christian identity, dependent upon yet distinct from its Jewish roots."
Read MoreCoins of the Jewish War
David Hendin from the American Nusimatic Society describes the coins minted during the Jewish War.
Read MoreAnthony, Crucifixion and Death as Spectacle
Crucifixion and Death as Spectacle argues that "the crucifixion that happened in the Umayyad era was undergirded by meaningful Islamic ideas that nevertheless had important precedents in late antiquity."
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | Jonathan Pomeranz
Dura Europas Synagogue | Marsyas CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dura Europas Synagogue | Marsyas CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
"The dissertation argues that rabbis in Babylonia developed closer relationships with ordinary Jews over the course of the rabbinic period."
Read MoreDissertation Spotlight | Carmen Palmer
Qumran Mikveh by Teqoah CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Qumran Mikveh by Teqoah CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Carmen Palmer argues that the Qumran movement includes Gentile converts to Judaism by means of mutable ethnicity.
Read MoreTraveling for the Summer? Contribute to AJR!
Archaeology, Museums, Conferences! Find out how to contribute to AJR.
Read MoreKalleres, City of Demons
City of Demons "explores how demonically embattled cityscapes in the late Roman world were creatively structured and restructured by Christian ecclesiastical leaders."
Read MoreUnexpected Influences | Elizabeth A. Clark and Tal Ilan
![Miss Auras, The Red Book (1907). John Lavery [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5449167fe4b078c86b41f810/1462977081414-S4HH7Q7W864OALN7N906/image-asset.png)
Miss Auras, The Red Book (1907). John Lavery [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Miss Auras, The Red Book (1907). John Lavery [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Elizabeth Clark and Dr. Tal Ilan share a book that was an "unexpected influence" upon their academic work.
Read MoreDavid as Warrior at Dura-Europos
Dr. Michael Peppard describes the memory of David as anointed victor in the church at Dura-Europos.
Read MoreJohn Ma on the Maccabees
The Ancient Jew Review interviewed Dr. John Ma of Columbia University about inscriptions and the accounts of the Maccabees.
Read MoreThe Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud at SBL 2015
Personification of Spring, Zippori Synagogue, 5th cent
Personification of Spring, Zippori Synagogue, 5th cent
Dr. Alyssa Gray reports on the Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud panel from SBL's 2015 Annual Meeting.
Read MoreSmoak, The Priestly Blessing in Inscription and Scripture
Smoak argues that in writing the Priestly Blessing in the literary space of the book of Numbers, the authors – likely priests – found a novel way to solidify their ritual authority in blessing Israel.
Read MoreNeis, The Sense of Sight in Rabbinic Culture
Neis’s book stands as a corrective to a long tradition that has assumed “a Jewish resistance to, or even incapacity for, vision” (p. 1).
Read MoreIs there a Canon in this Class?
Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder
Dr. Chris Jones reflects on AJR's recent canon forum and its implications for the classroom.
Read MoreTales of High Priests and Taxes with Dr. Sylvie Honigman
The Ancient Jew Review interviews Dr. Sylvie Honigman.
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