by hadassah | Oct 31, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
The action begins with a preliminary hearing before the Imperial Council, the Consilium Caesaris (symboulion in Greek), on the fifth of Pachon, the day before the Calends of May, i.e., April 30. The year has not been conserved but we may assume it was the first of...
by hadassah | Oct 30, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
Judeopagan Conflict Berlin Papyrus Inv. 8877; CPJUD. II 156C, Col. 2 Isidoros: “My Lord Augustus, with regard to your interests, Balbillus (e.g. leader of the Alexandria mission) indeed speaks well. But to you, Agrippa (King of Judaea), I wish to retort in connection...
by hadassah | Oct 30, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
Judeopagan Conflict/ The Temple Mount and Statue of Caligula Both the Jews and the Greeks (e.g. sent emmisaries to Rome) continued to plead their respective causes before the emperor. A Greek delegation, composed of “elders” (gerontes), left for Rome just after the...
by hadassah | Oct 30, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
Jews and Synagogues of Alexandria/ Judeopagan Conflict/ Murder/ Statue of Caligula in Synagogues The Jews of Hellenistic Egypt met with a certain amount of “anti-Judaism,” even during the period of their greatest influence, but things did not turn noxious until the...
by hadassah | Oct 19, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
Under the Ptolemies, the Jews had been part of the community of “Hellenes,” the dominant group of Greek-speaking conquerors. When the Romans, in their turn, conquered Egypt, the situation was altered from top to bottom. There was no room within the limits of Roman law...
by hadassah | Oct 11, 2016 | Jews of Egypt
The Book of Esther, in a Greek version written in Judah, was introduced into Egypt, probably in 78/77 B.C.E., during the reign of Ptolemy Auletes, the father of the seductive Cleopatra VII. It was accompanied by a letter requesting the Egyptian Jews to join their...
