The book provides an invaluable and coherent description of the life of Jewish communities in Asia Minor.

What was life like for Jews settled throughout the Mediterranean world of Classical antiquity--and what place did Jewish communities have in the diverse civilization dominated by Greeks and Romans? In a probing account of the Jewish diaspora in the four centuries from Alexander the Great's conquest of the Near East to the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 C.E., Erich Gruen reaches often surprising conclusions. By the first century of our era, Jews living abroad far outnumbered those living in Palestine and had done so for generations. Substantial Jewish communities were found throughout the Greek mainland and Aegean islands, Asia Minor, the Tigris-Euphrates valley, Egypt, and Italy. Focusing especially on Alexandria, Greek cities in Asia Minor, and Rome, Gruen explores the lives of these Jews: the obstacles they encountered, the institutions they established, and their strategies for adjustment. He also delves into Jewish writing in this period, teasing out how Jews in the diaspora saw themselves. There emerges a picture of a Jewish minority that was at home in Greco-Roman cities: subject to only sporadic harassment; its intellectuals immersed in Greco-Roman culture while refashioning it for their own purposes; exhibiting little sign of insecurity in an alien society; and demonstrating both a respect for the Holy Land and a commitment to the local community and Gentile government. Gruen's innovative analysis of the historical and literary record alters our understanding of the way this vibrant minority culture engaged with the dominant Classical civilization.

Examines the relationship between social networks and religious transmission to reappraise how new religious ideas spread in the Roman Empire.

"Modified and updated version of a book that first appeared in Paris in 1993 under the title Juifs des Balkans ... (Editions La Decouverte)"--Acknowledgments, p. [xi].

The Sacrifice of Isaac is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. It is also a shocking account of how Abraham's faith in God was demonstrated by a willingness to sacrifice his long-awaited son at God's command. This story has been a source of fascination for Jews and Christians for many centuries and here, Edward Kessler offers an enthralling account of Jewish and Christian interpretations of this biblical story. For understandable reasons, it has been assumed that Judaism influenced Christian interpretation but relatively little attention has been given to the question of the influence of Christianity upon Judaism. Kessler provides an insight into this absorbing two-way encounter and argues that neither Jewish nor Christian interpretations can be understood properly without reference to the other. As Jews and Christians lived, and continue to live, in a biblically orientated culture, Kessler shows how both were 'bound by the bible'.

This comprehensive survey of Jewish-Greek society's development examines the exchange of language and ideas in biblical translations, literature and archaeology.

'Being Jewish in Galilee, 100-200 CE' provides the first in-depth archaeological study of Galilee's Jewish society in the period of 100-200 CE. The period of 100-200 CE was a lively one in the history of Galilee, northern Israel - one leaving a considerable mark upon Jewish history in general. The destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE, as well as the failures of the two revolts, lead to Galilee becoming the heartland of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Our reconstruction of Galilee's Jewish society during this period has been primarily informed, however, by a single retrospective voice - the later rabbinic writings. This obviously brings with it certain limitations, not least of which is its reliability. A new source from which to understand the period in question is therefore desirable. 'Being Jewish in Galilee, 100-200 CE' provides an in-depth archaeological study of Galilee's Jewish community in the period concerned. It explores evidence of infrastructure, art and architecture, as well as ritual practices from this period in Galilee by drawing comparisons with the period before and by contextualizing this material within the broader cultural environment of the Roman East. Set within debates of cultural interaction in the Roman East in general, the book offers an archaeological understanding of what 'being Jewish' meant to the Jewish communities in Galilee during this period; and in what way these communities differed from their Phoenician, Syrian and Arab neighbors. Rick Bonnie is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions and the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires, both situated within the University of Helsinki. He holds degrees in archaeology from Leiden University (MA) and the KU Leuven (PhD).