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Author: Kenton L. Sparks
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
ISBN: 1575060337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
From the introduction: "When we speak of ethnicity, we bring into view a particular kind of sentiment about group identity wherein groups of individuals view themselves as being alike by virtue of their common ancestry. It is something of a truism to point out that ethnicity has played an important role in the history of Judaism, both in the postbiblical era and prior to it....The reason for this interest is twofold. First, in virtually every discipline of the humanities, there seems to be a general unhappiness with the superficial way that scholars have handled the issues of culture and identity. More specifically, with respect to ancient Israel, recent biblical scholarly activity--both literary and historical--has raised serious doubts about the supposed origins and antiquity of Israelite ethnicity." With this agenda in view, Kent Sparks provides a summary of current studies in ethnicity and ethnic identity, then moves to a discussion of Israel's ancient Near Eastern context and expressions of ethnic identity in the written remains from surrounding nations. Turning next to ancient Israel itself, he examines texts generally considered early in Israel's history for information relevant to Israel's ethnic identity. Sparks then investigates the witness of the prophets and the historical materials relating to the Judean monarchy and the exilic period, looking for expressions of ethnic sentiment. His research will likely prove to be the foundation on which future study of the topic will be built.
Author: Kenton L. Sparks
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
ISBN: 1575060337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Get Book
Book Description
From the introduction: "When we speak of ethnicity, we bring into view a particular kind of sentiment about group identity wherein groups of individuals view themselves as being alike by virtue of their common ancestry. It is something of a truism to point out that ethnicity has played an important role in the history of Judaism, both in the postbiblical era and prior to it....The reason for this interest is twofold. First, in virtually every discipline of the humanities, there seems to be a general unhappiness with the superficial way that scholars have handled the issues of culture and identity. More specifically, with respect to ancient Israel, recent biblical scholarly activity--both literary and historical--has raised serious doubts about the supposed origins and antiquity of Israelite ethnicity." With this agenda in view, Kent Sparks provides a summary of current studies in ethnicity and ethnic identity, then moves to a discussion of Israel's ancient Near Eastern context and expressions of ethnic identity in the written remains from surrounding nations. Turning next to ancient Israel itself, he examines texts generally considered early in Israel's history for information relevant to Israel's ethnic identity. Sparks then investigates the witness of the prophets and the historical materials relating to the Judean monarchy and the exilic period, looking for expressions of ethnic sentiment. His research will likely prove to be the foundation on which future study of the topic will be built.
Author: Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781793020598
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 104
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Book Description
One of the principal theological themes of the Hebrew Bible is the relationship between Israel and God. At the heart of this bond is the supernatural experience at Sinai. The Torah focuses on the uniqueness of God and His relationship with the people of Israel. The singularity of this relationship amidst surrounding polytheistic cultures is so much emphasized that Israel's principal contribution to the world of religious ideology is often regarded as uncompromising covenantal monotheism. Israelite identity and in later centuries Jewish identity was also expressed in terms of ethnicity and a special connection to the land of Israel. This book provides an introduction to these topics.
Author: Jürgen Zangenberg
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161490446
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 548
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Book Description
What is a Galilean? What were the criteria of defining a person as a Galilean - archaeologically or with respect to literary sources such as Josephus or the rabbis? What role did religion play in the process of identity formation? Twenty-two articles based on papers read at conferences at Cambridge, Wuppertal and Yale by experts from 7 countries shed light on a complex region, the pivotal geographic and cultural context of both earliest Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. In these papers, ancient Galilee emerges as a dynamic region of continuous change, in which religion, 'ethnicity', and 'identity' were not static monoliths but had to be negotiated in the context of a multiform environment subject to different influences.
Author: Gary N. Knoppers
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1575066114
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297
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Book Description
Most of the essays in this volume stem from the special sessions of the Historiography Seminar of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, held in the late spring of 2007 (University of Saskatchewan). The papers in these focused sessions dealt with issues of self-identification, community identity, and ethnicity in Judahite and Yehudite historiography. The scholars present addressed a range of issues, such as the understanding, presentation, and delimitation of “Israel” in various biblical texts, the relationship of Israelites to Judahites in Judean historical writings, the definition of Israel over against other peoples, and the possible reasons why the ethnoreligious community (“Israel”) was the focus of Judahite/Yehudite historiography. Papers approached these matters from a variety of theoretical and disciplinary vantage points. For example, some pursued an inner-biblical perspective (pentateuchal sources/writings, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah), while others pursued a cross-cultural comparative perspective (ancient Near Eastern, ancient Greek and Hellenistic historiographies, Western and non-Western historiographic traditions). Still others attempted to relate the material remains to the question of community identity in northern Israel, monarchic Judah, and postmonarchic Yehud.
Author: Mark Brett
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004493549
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 522
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Book Description
Contemporary social theory has been much concerned with the re-assertion of ethnic identities in both Western and non-Western politics. This international collection of twenty-one essays contributes to the wider conversation by examining the construction and contestation of ethnic identities both within the Bible itself and in biblical interpretation. An introductory essay brings into focus the main themes of the book - ethnocentrism, indigenity, concepts of culture and the politics of identity - and highlights the ethical issues arising. Part One explores selected texts from the Hebrew Bible and from the New Testament, making use of methodological perspectives drawn from a range of disciplines. Part Two, Culture and Interpretation, looks at examples of how ethnicity figures both in the popular use of the Bible and in professional biblical interpretation. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
Author: Avraham Faust
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134942087
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
Winner (for best semi-popular book) of the 2008 Irene Levi-Sala Prize for publications on the archaeology of Israel. The emergence of Israel in Canaan is a central topic in biblical/Syro-Palestinian archaeology. However, the archaeology of ancient Israel has rarely been subject to in-depth anthropological analysis until now. 'Israel's Ethnogenesis' offers an anthropological framework to the archaeological data and textual sources. Examining archaeological finds from thousands of excavations, the book presents a theoretical approach to Israel's ethnogenesis that draws on the work of recent critics. The book examines Israelite ethnicity - ranging from meat consumption, decorated and imported pottery, Israelite houses, circumcision, and hierarchy - and traces the complex ethnic negotiations that accompanied Israel's ethnogenesis. Israel's Ethnogenesis is unique in its contribution to the archaeology of ethnicity, offering an anthropological study that will be of interest to students of history, Israelite culture and religion, and the evolution of ethnic groups.
Author: E. Theodore Mullen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
Author: Andrew Tobolowsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009089137
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 299
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Book Description
The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel is the first study to treat the history of claims to an Israelite identity as an ongoing historical phenomenon from biblical times to the present. By treating the Hebrew Bible's accounts of Israel as one of many efforts to construct an Israelite history, rather than source material for later legends, Andrew Tobolowsky brings a long-term comparative approach to biblical and nonbiblical “Israelite” histories. In the process, he sheds new light on how the structure of the twelve tribes tradition enables the creation of so many different visions of Israel, and generates new questions: How can we explain the enduring power of the myth of the twelve tribes of Israel? How does “becoming Israel” work, why has it proven so popular, and how did it change over time? Finally, what can the changing shape of Israel itself reveal about those who claimed it?
Author: Jonathan M. Hall
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521789998
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252
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Book Description
In this book Jonathan Hall seeks to demonstrate that the ethnic groups of ancient Greece, like many ethnic groups throughout the world today, were not ultimately racial, linguistic, religious or cultural groups, but social groups whose 'origins' in extraneous territories were just as often imagined as they were real. Adopting an explicitly anthropological point of view, he examines the evidence of literature, archaeology and linguistics to elucidate the nature of ethnic identity in ancient Greece. Rather than treating Greek ethnic groups as 'natural' or 'essential' - let alone 'racial' - entities, he emphasises the active, constructive and dynamic role of ethnography, genealogy, material culture and language in shaping ethnic consciousness. An introductory chapter outlines the history of the study of ethnicity in Greek antiquity.
Author: Ann E. Killebrew
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
ISBN: 1589836774
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
Ancient Israel did not emerge within a vacuum but rather came to exist alongside various peoples, including Canaanites, Egyptians, and Philistines. Indeed, Israel’s very proximity to these groups has made it difficult—until now—to distinguish the archaeological traces of early Israel and other contemporary groups. Through an analysis of the results from recent excavations in light of relevant historical and later biblical texts, this book proposes that it is possible to identify these peoples and trace culturally or ethnically defined boundaries in the archaeological record. Features of late second-millennium B.C.E. culture are critically examined in their historical and biblical contexts in order to define the complex social boundaries of the early Iron Age and reconstruct the diverse material world of these four peoples. Of particular value to scholars, archaeologists, and historians, this volume will also be a standard reference and resource for students and other readers interested in the emergence of early Israel.
