99000 - History of the Jewis People in the Ancient World (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students understand the historical-critical methods and socio-anthropological perspectives to evaluate the history of the Jewish people in the ancient world. They are capable to focus on the socio-political implications of the interaction among groups, and evaluate problems linked to religious pluralism in ancient societies. They apply appropriate methods of investigation to evaluate topics relevant in the field of research and are capable to critically examine materials, both bibliographic and documentary sources of different types, in order to conduct historical-religious investigations.They explain and communicate the contents learned and formulate valid judgments in the historical field and are able to give form to the results of their own research in the field of Contemporary Christianity, documenting accurately the information on which they base their conclusions and giving an account of the methodologies of investigation used. They know how to apply the tools of communication and digital data in the editorial and publishing field.

Course contents

The course begins on 4th February 2024 and offers an in-depth study of some critical points in the history of ancient Israel through the reading of selected sources. During the course, students are required to read the contributions indicated in the bibliography, so as to have a general overview of the history of ancient Judaism.

Documents of various kinds and origins will provide a focus on the socio-political context of Syria-Palestine in the pre-state era, the historiographical reconstructions of the so-called time of Joshua, the monarchy of Israel and of Judah up to the time of the Babylonian exile, the Second Temple in Persian and Hellenistic times until the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD.

The subject will be presented in five modules. The first will deal with the ethnogenesis of Israel starting from the comments of two sources (a letter from Tel El Amarna, i.e. EA 287, and the stele of Merenptah). In the second module, the political strategies of the states of Israel and Judah in the Neo-Assyrian era will be appreciated, paying particular attention to the ancient accounts of the siege of Jerusalem both of Jewish origin (2Kings 18-20; 2Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36-37) and of Mesopotamian relevance (the Sennacherib Cylinder). In the third module, the period of the Babylonian exile and its resolution with the edict of Cyrus will be investigated through the documentation found in the ancient site of Āl-Yāḫūdu, the reflections handed down in certain biblical passages (Jeremiah 29; Ezra 1:1-4) and the Cyrus cylinder. The fourth module will focus on life in the diaspora, and particularly in the colony of Elephantine in Upper Egypt and in the capital of Alexandria, starting from the reading of papyri such as TAD A4.8 and P.Cair.Zen. 1 59076. In a final module, a commentary on excerpts from the Damascus Document will lead to evaluate the nature of the site of Qumran and to outline the variety of Jewish groups in the Hellenistic-Roman period.

Readings/Bibliography

- Students who will regularly attend classes will receive handouts with the relevant sources discussed during the course.

- All students are required to read the following items:

M. Liverani, Israel's History and the History of Israel, London, Equinox, 2005 (chapters 1-2); L.L. Grabbe, Ancient Israel. What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?, London, T&T Clark, 2019, pp. 71-259; M. Goodman, A History of Judaism, London, Penguin, 2019 (part. 2)

OR

C. Frevel, History of Ancient Israel, Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature 2023

Teaching methods

Each class shall focus on documents which shed some light onto different socio-historical contexts of the life of the Jews in the ancient world. Students will be encouraged to take part in the discussion and will be trained to find pertinent literary and documentary sources, to collect updated relevant bibliography, so that they can give their own competent contribution to the field.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

In order to sit the exam students are require to write a paper on a topic related to the course. This paper is to be sent by email 3 days before the oral exam and will be discussed during the oral exam. Students who regularly attend classes will write a 3.000 (± 10%) word long paper, whereas students who do not regularly attend classes are supposed to write a 4.000 (± 10%) word long paper.

The exam candidates will receive a note falling into one of four assessment ranges: 1) excellent (28-30 cum laude), 2) good (24-27), 3) sufficient (18-23), insufficient (fail), according to their ability to give a correct evaluation of the texts discussed, to articulate their knowledge with the appropriate terminology and to locate a specific issue in an overall competent understanding of the whole subject.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint slides will facilitate the discussion of the documents on which each class shall focus.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Settembrini