A01=Shaye J. D. Cohen
ancient judaism
ancient religion
antiquity
Author_Shaye J. D. Cohen
Category=DSBB
Category=JBSR
Category=NHB
Category=NHC
Category=NK
Category=QRA
Category=QRJ
conversion
converts
early judaism
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnic identity
ethnicity
gentiles
hebrew bible
hellenistic judaisms
herod
herod the great
intermarriage
jewish
jewish groups
jewish herod
jewish identity
jewish literature
jewish studies
jewish world
jewishness
judaica
judaism
matrilineal descent
nationality
nonfiction
rabbi
rabbinic texts
race
race ethnicity
religion
religious history
religious studies
spirituality
theology
Product details
- ISBN 9780520226937
- Weight: 635g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 17 Jan 2001
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In modern times, various Jewish groups have argued whether Jewishness is a function of ethnicity, of nationality, of religion, or of all three. These fundamental conceptions were already in place in antiquity. The peculiar combination of ethnicity, nationality, and religion that would characterize Jewishness through the centuries first took shape in the second century B.C.E. This brilliantly argued, accessible book unravels one of the most complex issues of late antiquity by showing how these elements were understood and applied in the construction of Jewish identity - by Jews, by gentiles, and by the state. Beginning with the intriguing case of Herod the Great's Jewishness, Cohen moves on to discuss what made or did not make Jewish identity during the period, the question of conversion, the prohibition of intermarriage, matrilineal descent, and the place of the convert in the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. His superb study is unique in that it draws on a wide range of sources: Jewish literature written in Greek, classical sources, and rabbinic texts, both ancient and medieval.
It also features a detailed discussion of many of the central rabbinic texts dealing with conversion to Judaism.
Shaye J. D. Cohen is Ungerleider Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University. His earlier books include Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development as a Historian (1979) and From the Maccabees to the Mishnah: A Profile of Judaism (1987).
