Judeophobia: Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Ancient WorldTaking a fresh look at what the Greeks and Romans thought about Jews and Judaism, Peter Schafer locates the origin of anti-Semitism in the ancient world. Judeophobia firmly establishes Hellenistic Egypt as the generating source of anti-Semitism, with roots extending back into Egypt's pre-Hellenistic history. A pattern of ingrained hostility toward an alien culture emerges when Schafer surveys an illuminating spectrum of comments on Jews and their religion in Greek and Roman writings, focusing on the topics that most interested the pagan classical world: the exodus or, as it was widely interpreted, expulsion from Egypt; the nature of the Jewish god; food restrictions, in particular abstinence from pork; laws relating to the sabbath; the practice of circumcision; and Jewish proselytism. He then probes key incidents, two fierce outbursts of hostility in Egypt: the destruction of a Jewish temple in Elephantine in 410 B.C.E. and the riots in Alexandria in 38 C.E. Asking what fueled these attacks on Jewish communities, the author discovers deep-seated ethnic resentments. It was from Egypt that hatred of Jews, based on allegations of impiety, xenophobia, and misanthropy, was transported first to Syria-Palestine and then to Rome, where it acquired a new element: fear of this small but distinctive community. To the hatred and fear, ingredients of Christian theology were soon added--a mix all too familiar in Western history. |
Contents
| 15 | |
The Jewish God | 34 |
Abstinence from Pork | 66 |
Sabbath | 82 |
Circumcision | 93 |
Proselytism | 106 |
TWO KEY HISTORICAL INCIDENTS | 119 |
Elephantine | 121 |
Egypt | 163 |
SyriaPalestine | 170 |
Rome | 180 |
AntiSemitism | 197 |
Abbreviations | 213 |
Notes | 215 |
| 287 | |
Index | 299 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abstinence from pork according Agrippa Alexandria ancient anti anti-Jewish anti-Judaism anti-Semitism Antiochus Antiquitates Apion Apionem Apollonius Molon argue argument ass-worship Bickerman Cassius Dio century C.E. Chapter Christians circumcision Claudius conflict context Contra Apionem cult Diodorus doubt eating pork edict Egypt Egyptian origin Egyptian priests Elephantine emperor Exodus tradition expulsion story fiscus Iudaicus Flaccus foreigners Gager Gaius GLAJJ gods Greek Hadrian hatred heaven Hecataeus Hengel historical hostility Ibid impiety interpretation Isidorus Jerusalem Jew and Gentile Jewish customs Jewish religion Jewish Temple Jews Jews of Elephantine Josephus Judaism Judentum und Hellenismus Judeophobia Juvenal king later lepers letter Lysimachus Manetho mentions misanthropy Moses motif nation numen obviously Osarseph pagan papyri Passover Persian Petronius Philo Plutarch political Porten proselytes refers regard religious Roman Rome Sabbath sacrifice satire Saturae Semitism Smallwood Stern Strabo superstitio superstition Tacitus Tcherikover tion tōn trans Varro worship xenophobia xenophobic
Popular passages
Page 16 - Hence the natives of the land surmised that unless they removed the foreigners, their troubles would never be resolved. At once, therefore, the aliens were driven from the country, and the most outstanding and active among them banded together and, as some say, were cast ashore in Greece and certain other regions; their leaders were notable men, chief among them being Danaus and Cadmus.16 But the greater number were driven into what is now called Judaea, which is not far distant from Egypt and was...