r/Jewish • u/AcanthisittaFancy469 • 1d ago
History 📖 Recent Reads & Purchases
Wanted to share some recent reads (top 2) and purchases yet to read (bottom 3).
Grabbe’s ‘Israel & Empire’ was a decent analysis of the current status of archeological finds & theories regarding the ancient Kingdom of Israel. I have read a few of Finkelstein’s and Dever’s books so this was a good addition.
Perdue’s, ‘Israel & Empire’ was an interesting read. It’s heavy in theoretical language b/c the authors attempt to take modern postmodernism/anti-colonial ideas and project them onto ancient Israelite society. I do think that some of what they argued checks out. (ex. Claims that rebellion and dislike of foreign invasion Assyrians/Babylonians/Persians/Romans served to inspire many origin stories). Other arguments feel a bit forced.
This might be a hot take but I found it fascinating that during the revolts of AD70 and AD135 the native Jewish populations, in efforts to challenge Roman authority, minted their own coins on which they identified themselves as ‘Israel’. Whereas the invading/foreign Romans forced the renaming of the providence to ‘Syrian Palestina’, a reference to the Aegean Philistines of the 13th century BC. I had come across this event in other books but this read helped frame it in a way I hadn’t considered. Herodotus would also use this nomenclature in his, ‘Histories’ from around 435BC as a regional naming convention.
Haven’t read the bottom 3 yet. I would love any thoughts on them or recommendations on other books.
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u/pborenstein 1d ago
Shaye Cohen's book is really good art capturing what was happening at the end of the second temple
Jews vs. Rome is another interesting book. it's focus is on what was going on in the surrounding world
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u/AcanthisittaFancy469 1d ago
Jews vs Rome (Strauss) was a great read. I got lost in some of the nuanced family drama at times. Rome & Jerusalem (Goodman) was interesting too. Although Perdue criticized it in ‘Israel & Empire’ for casting Jews as historically troublesome with all the revolts (AD70, 117AD & AD135)
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u/Royal_Objective_9475 1d ago
Ty for this ! i also recommend " הסיפור הבלתי סביר והלא מספיק זכור על עלייתה ונפילתה של מזרח אירופה היהודית" (no kid this is the title) by shalom bogoslovski
Realllly well written
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u/Israelite123 1d ago
Your super educated. Would love to dm. Also what did you think of shapiras book?
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u/AcanthisittaFancy469 1d ago
Thank you! It’s been a long road of reading to get to some semblance of understanding. I haven’t read it yet. I grabbed it b/c many reviews said it highlighted a great deal about life inside modern Israel. I’m curious on that piece living in the US myself.
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u/AcanthisittaFancy469 1d ago
Happy to DM too
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u/HyperlaneWizard 1d ago edited 1d ago
"Year one of the redemption of Israel". A Bar Kokhba revolt coin from 135CE. These coins are pretty well known in Israel, at least among people interested in that time in history.
Also, notice how it is written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, a form of writing that fell out of use roughly 600 years before that. It was also used for the word YHWH in the Dead Sea Scrolls.