Overview

In this book, Bob Becking provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the origins, lives, and eventual fate of the Yehudites, or Judeans, at Elephantine, framed within the greater history of the rise and fall of the Persian Empire. The Yehudites were among those mercenaries recruited by the Persians to defend the southwestern border of the empire in the fifth century BCE. Becking argues that this group, whom some label as the first “Jews,” lived on the island of Elephantine in relative peace with other ethnic groups under the aegis of the pax persica. Drawing on Aramaic and Demotic texts discovered during excavations on the island and at Syene on the adjacent shore of the Nile, Becking finds evidence of intermarriage, trade cooperation, and even a limited acceptance of one another’s gods between the various ethnic groups at Elephantine. His analysis of the Elephantine Yehudites’ unorthodox form of Yahwism provides valuable insight into the group’s religious beliefs and practices. An important contribution to the study of Yehudite life in the diaspora, this accessibly written and sweeping history enhances our understanding of the varieties of early Jewish life and how these contributed to the construction of Judaism.

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9781646022441

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Reviews

A good and stimulating read. It represents an innovative approach to research on Elephantine. The most important strength-construing the fate of the Yehudite community in light of the rise and fall of pax persica-makes the book a contribution to the Yehudite community's history and a microhistorical contribution to Achaemenid studies. Both students and experts will gain from reading the book. -Gard Granerod, Review of Biblical Literature

Author Information

Bob Becking is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University.

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