History 391
Jews in the Mediterranean and Near East
from Nebuchadnezzar to Muhammad
Fall 1999
Instructor: Gary Reger Meeting Place: TBA
Meeting times: WF 1.15-2.35 Office hours: 9-12 Wednesdays
Phone: 2393
Email: gary.reger@mail.trincoll.edu
Webpage: http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~greger/index.html
This course explores the history of the Jews in Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean world in one of the most interesting and important periods of Jewish history. We will focus particularly on the creation of diasporic communities -- first in Mesopotamia, later in the Greco-Roman world -- and the relationship between those communities and Palestinian Jews on the one hand, and the hegemonic powers on the other. Particular attention will be given to source material and to social
and cultural history.
Books in the Bookstore
Harper Collins Study Bible
Josephus, Complete Works
Margaret H. Williams, The Jews Among the Greeks and Romans: A Diasporan
Sourcebook. Baltimore 1998.
Reserve Readings.
There will be many items on reserve in the Library; in addition, I will from time to
time give out xeroxed readings.
Assigments
1. Do the reading and participate in discussion. Except for the first three
substantive weeks, this class will be run as a discussion; its success depends entirely on
your willingness to prepare and to talk.
2. Lead discussion for one text. Each student (sometimes in combination with
another) will undertake primary responsibility for leading the class discussion of one of
the texts we read. This task includes: (1) Preparing a handout with secondary bibliography
for the class two weeks before the discussion. You may certainly recommend, or
even require, that we read material in the bibliography by way of preparation. (2)
Preparing a set of questions about the text to help focus discussion for distribution one
week before discussion. (3) Leading us through a preliminary discussion of the
nature, contents, date, authorship, and other matters of the text on the first day. (4)
Summarizing the problems left after the discussion and proposing further matters to think
about for the second day. (5) Leading us through the second discussion.
This is one of the main tasks of the class; it must be done thoroughly, carefully, and
with plenty of preparation.
3. Primary source exercise. Jos., Ant. 12.138-144 and 148-153,
purports to quote verbatim two decrees of Antiochos III (reigned 223-187 BCE) relating to
the Jews. Are they genuine documents or forgeries? Read the certainly genuine decrees of
Antiochos collected in C.B. Welles, Royal Correspondence of the Hellenistic Period
(London 1934) nos. 31, 36, 38-39 [if you can read French, you should read these two in the
new edition of Jeanne and Louis Robert, Fouilles d'Amyzon (Paris 1983) 132-137
no. 9, 138-141 no. 10], 41-44; other useful documents (again, assuming you read French)
can be found in Louis Robert, "Encore une inscription grecque de l'Iran," CRAI
1967 281-296 (Opera Minora Selecta 5 [Amerstam 1989] 469-484), and in Philippe
Gauthier, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sardes II (Geneva 1989) 14-15. Back up your
answer with specific textual arguments. This paper is due on November 10. We will devote
the meeting that day to a discussion of it; be prepared to present a five (5) minute
summary of your approach, argument, and conclusions, and to engage on lively discussion
with classmates who have reached a different result.
4. Final research paper. This paper, of 20-22 pages, will use primary source
material and secondary literature to address an historical problem of your choosing -- in
consultation with me. It will be developed on the following schedule:
1. Choose a topic. I will meet with students the week of October 4 to help you choose a
topic.
2. Thesis statement and bibliography. Due on October 18. The statement should be a 1-2
page summary of your intentions. The bibliography should list all primary sources
you intend to use and as many secondary works -- including journal literature -- as you
have yet found.
3. On November 17 we will have a discussion in class of your progress and problems. Be
prepared to make a brief presentation.
4. Final oral presentations of your work of 10-15 minutes will take place on December 3
and 8.
5. Final version of paper due on December 8.
Schedule of Classes
Sept. 1: Introduction
Sept. 3: Library orientation
Part I. Historical Overview
The first three weeks of the class, September 8-24 (6 class meetings), will be devoted
to a broad historical overview of the period and historical problems. In particular, I
will try to provide students with an understanding of the institutional and political
arrangements of the various societies -- Persian, Greek, Roman, and early Islamic -- which
this course covers, as well as to summarize important events in the history of both
Palestine in specific and the larger eastern Mediterranean world in general.
Part II. Texts and Discussion
In the balance of the class, we will read seven primary texts and talk about them.
Typically, we will read one text per week. As noted above in the course Assignments,
students are expected to take the lead in dealing with these discussions.
Sept. 29: "The Book of Ezra"; Jack Hoblitzell
October 1: "The Book of Nehemiah"; Matt Wikstrom
Oct. 6-8: Selections from B. Porten, The Elephantine Papyri. Three Millenia
of Cross-cultural Continuity and Change (Leiden 1996).
Oct 6: Jon Rosen
Oct. 8: Ben Flaccus
Oct. 13-15: Midsession (no classes)
October 20: Thesis statement and bibliography due.
Oct. 20: I Maccabees; George Kaneb
Oct 22: II Maccabees; Runjan Dhar
Oct. 27: Joyce Reynolds, Jews and God-fearers at Aphrodisias. Greek inscriptions
with commentary (Cambridge 1987); Mary Austria
Oct. 29: Jos., Ant. 14.185-264; Mike Divney
Nov. 3-5: Josephus, The Jewish War
Nov. 3: Faisal Sheikh
Nov. 5: Thom Peck
Nov. 10: Source paper due; discussion of results
Nov. 12-15: No class
Nov. 17: Individual meetings about progress on your final paper
Nov. 19: No class
November 23: Naphthali Lewis, The Documents from the Bar Kokhba Period of the Cave
of Letters. Greek Papyri (Jerusalem 1989); leader TBA
[NOTE: Class meets today despite the fact that it's Tuesday]
Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving Break (no classes)
Dec. 1: The Constitution of Medina (material on reserve or handed out); leader
TBA
Dec. 3: Presentation of research papers
Dec. 8: Last day of class