Further Reading on Jews and Judaism in the Greco-Roman Period

Greco-Roman Period
Surveys and Source Readers

Avi-Yonah, Michael. The Jews of Palestine- A Political History from Bar Kokhba War to Arab Conquest. New York- Schocken, 1976.

—The Holy Land- A Historical Geography from the Persian to the Arab Conquest 536 B.C. to A.D. 640. Jerusalem- Carta, 2002.

Cohen, Shaye. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Louisville- Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.

Feldman, Louis H. Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World- Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian. Princeton- Princeton University Press, 1993.

Fine, Steven. Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World- Toward a New Jewish Archaeology. Cambridge; New York- Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Goodman, Martin, ed. Jews in the Graeco-Roman World. Oxford- Oxford University Press, 1998

Linder, Amnon, ed. The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation. Detroit- Wayne State University Press, 1987.

Safrai, Shemuel, Menahem, eds. The Jewish People in the First Century- Historical Geography, Political Geography, Political History, Social Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions. Philadelphia- Fortress Press, 1974-76.

Sanders, E.P. Judaism- Practice and Belief, 63 BCE-66 CE. London- SCM Press; Philadelphia- Trinity Press International, 1992.

Schafer, Peter. The History of the Jews in Antiquity- the Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest. Australia; United States- Harwood Academic Publishers, 1995.

Stern, Menahem. Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. 3. Vols. Jerusalem- Israel Academy for the Humanities and Sciences, 1974.

1. Jews in the Persian Period (520-332 BCE)

Anderson, Robert. The Keepers- An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans. Peabody- Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.

Cook, J.M. The Persian Empire. London- J.M. Dent, 1983.

Crown, Alan. The Samaritans. Tubingen- J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1989.

Grabbe, Lester L. “The Persian and the Greek Periods.” Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian. Vol. 1. Minneapolis- Fortress Press, 1992.

Porten, Bezalel. Archives from Elephantine- The Life of an Ancient Jewish Military Colony. Berkeley- University of California Press, 1968.

Stern, Material Culture of the Land of the Bible in the Persian Period, 538-332 B.C. Warminster, Jerusalem- Aris Phillips, Israel Exploration Society, 1982

2. Jews and Judaism from Alexander to the Maccabees (332-63 BCE)

Bar-Kochva, Bezalel. Judas Maccabaeus- The Jewish Struggle Against The Seleucids. Cambridge- Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Bickerman, Elias. From Ezra to the Last of the Maccabees- Foundations of Post-Biblical Judaism. New York- Schocken, 1962.

Feldman, Louis. Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered. Leiden; Boston- E. J. Brill, 2006

Hengel, Martin. Judaism and Hellenism, 2 Vols. Philadelphia- Fortress, 1974.

Lieberman, Saul. Hellenism in Jewish Palestine- Studies in the Literary Transmission, Beliefs and Manners of Palestine in the I Century B.C.E.-IV Century C.E. New York- Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1994.

Tcherikover, Victor. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews. Peabody- Hendrickson Publishers, 1999, c. 1959

3. Culture and Religion in Hellenistic Israel (circa 332 BCE-70 CE)

Baumgarten, A.I. The Flourishing of Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era. Leiden- E.J. Brill, 1997.

Schiffman, Lawrence. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls- the History of Judaism, the Background of Christianity, the Lost Library of Qumran. Philadelphia- Jewish Publication Society, 1994.

4. Judea Under Roman Rule (63 BCE-66 CE)

Appelbaum, Shimon. “The Jewish People in the First Century- Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural, and Religious Life and Institutions.” Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testament. Ed. Shmuel Safrai, and Menahem Stern, 1974.

Holum, Kenneth G., and Robert Hohlfelder, eds. King Herod’s Dream- Caesarea on the Sea. New York; London- W.W. Norton & Company

Richardson, Peter. Herod- King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans. Columbia- University of South Carolina Press, 1996.

Richardson, Peter. Building Jewish in the Roman East. Waco- Babylor University Press, 2004

Schurer, Emil. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 BCE-A.D. 135). 2 vols. Ed. Geza Vermes, and Fergus Millar. Edinburgh- Clark, 1987.

Smallwood, E. Mary. The Jews Under Roman Rule- From Pompey to Diocletian. Leiden- E.J. Brill, 1981, c. 1976.

5. The Rise of Christianity (circa 4 BCE-330 CE)

Crossan, John D., and Jonathan Reed. Excavating Jesus- Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts. San Francisco- HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ- the Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus. New Haven- Yale University Press, 2000.

Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism. Philadelphia- Fortress Press, 1985

Neusner, Jacob. Aphrahat and Judaism- the Christian-Jewish Argument in Fourth Century Iran. Leiden- Brill, 1971.

Schafer, Peter. Jesus in the Talmud. Princeton- Princeton University Press, 2007.

Schiffman, Lawrence. Who was a Jew? Rabbinic and Halakhic Perspectives on the Jewish Christian Schism. Hoboken- Ktav, 1985.

Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew- A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels. Philadelphia- Fortress Press, 1981, c. 1973.

6. From the First Jewish Revolt to Bar Kokhba (66-135 CE)

Goodman, Martin. Rome and Jerusalem- The Clash of Ancient Civilizations. New York- Knopf, 2007.

Feldman, Louis, and Gohei Hata, eds. Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity. Detroit- Wayne State University Press, 1987

Fine, Steven, ed. Sacred Realm- The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World. New York- Oxford University Press- Yeshiva University Museum, 1996.

Levine, Lee. The Ancient Synagogue- The First Thousand Years. New Haven- Yale University Press, 2000.

Levine, Lee I., ed. Ancient Synagogues Revealed. Jerusalem- Israel Exploration Society,1981.

Schafer, Peter, ed. The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered- New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome. Tubingen- Mohr Siebeck, 2003.

Yadin, Yigael. Masada- Herod’s Fortress and the Zealots Last Stand. New York- Random House, 1966.

—Bar-Kokhba- The Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero of the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome. New York- Random House, 1971.

7. The Age of the Rabbis- The Formative Years (circa 70- 3rd century CE)

Bokser, Baruch. The Origins of the Seder- The Passover Rite and Early Rabbinic Judaism. Berkeley- University of California Press, 1984.

Fine, Steven. “This Holy Place”- On the Sanctity of Synagogues During the Greco-Roman Period. Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.

Levine, Lee. The Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity. Jerusalem- Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi- New York- Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1989.

8. The Talmud and the Daily Life of the Jew (3rd-7th century CE)

Heinemann, Joseph. Prayer in the Talmud- Forms and Patterns. Berlin; New York- de Gruyter, 1977.

Reif, Stefan. Judaism and Hebrew Prayer- New Perspectives on Jewish Liturgical History. Cambridge; New York- Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Rubenstein, Jeffery. The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud. Baltimore- Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Safrai, Shmuel, ed. The Literature of the Sages. Vol. 1 and 2. Assen- Van Gorcum; Philadelphia- Fortress Press, 1987-2006.

Stemberger, Günter and Hermann Strack. Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash. Trans., ed. Markus Bockmuehl. Edinburgh- T & T Clark, 1996.

9. Palestinian Jewry under Byzantium (324-638 CE)

Avi-Yonah, Michael. The Jews of Palestine- a Political History from the Bar Kokhba War to the Arab Conquest. Oxford- Blackwell, 1976.

Wilkin. Robert. The Land Called Holy- Palestine in Christian History and Thought. New Haven- Yale University Press, 1992.

10. The Babylonian and Greco-Roman Diasporas (332 BCE-7th century CE)

Brettman, Estelle Shohet. Vaults of Memory- Jewish and Christian Imagery in the Catacombs of Rome. Boston- 1985.

Barclay, John. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora- From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE-117 CE). Edinburgh- T&T Clark, 1996.

Borgen, Peder. Philo of Alexandria- an Exegete for his Time. Leiden- E.J. Brill, 1997.

Gruen, Erich. Diaspora- Jews amidst Greeks and Romans. Cambridge- Harvard University Press, 2002.

Lieu, Judith, John North, and Tessa Rajak, eds. The Jews Among Pagans and Christians; in the Roman Empire. London; New York- Routledge, 1992.

Neusner, Jacob. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. Leiden- E.J. Brill, 1969

Rutgers, Leonard Victor. The Jews in late Ancient Rome – evidence of cultural interaction in the Roman Diaspora. Leiden; Boston- Brill, 2000.

Schafer, Peter. Judeophobia- Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Ancient World. Cambridge- Harvard University Press, 1997.

Trebilco, Paul R. Jewish Communities in Asia Minor. Cambridge; New York- Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, eds. The Jewish Presence in Ancient Rome. Jerusalem- The Bible Lands Museum, 1994.