INTRODUCTION TO SECOND TEMPLE JUDAISM SPRING 2011

3 SEMESTER HOURS WELCOME I look forward to our shared opportunity of learning as we get to know each other by studying together an often neglected period of biblical history. Many OT courses never make it this far in the history and NT courses simply skim the surface before jumping into the Roman historical period. Hopefully this course will help us fill out the “blank page” between the OT and NT in our Bibles. I encourage you to think beyond credits and grades and enjoy exploring this period of history. COURSE DESCRIPTION In this course, we will study the history of Judah/Judea from 539, the rise of Cyrus and the Persian Empire, to 70 CE, the destruction of the second temple. The focus of the course will be the socio-political highlights surrounding Syria-Palestine and their implications to the political and religious developments of Judah primarily during the Persian and Greek periods with some attention given to the early Roman period. We will survey significant people and events via historical sources of the period (including biblical and intertestamental documents), archeological findings, and secondary interpretations. COURSE RELATIONSHIP Prerequisites for this course are OT 520 Old Testament Introduction and NT 520 New Testament Introduction. PERSONAL INFORMATION Alan Cope alan.cope@asburyseminary.edu 103 Seamands Dr., Wilmore, KY 40390 615-415-4746 alancope.wordpress.com TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Learning is shared experience just like a great meal around the table. Each of us should prepare something to share with others and engage each other in conversation, laughter, debate, listening, insight, and discovery.

COURSE OBJECTIVES The course will enable us to:

Assemble a framework of the socio-political highlights of the period linking it with existing knowledge of the OT and NT historical periods

Survey, summarize, analyze, and compare primary historical sources

Develop skills in researching, thinking, writing, reading, and working

together

Learn and apply skills in evaluating interpretations of history

Identify, plan, and assess one additional learning goal of your own choosing

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS • Weekly Participation & Learning Assessments (360 points)

Each Monday a weekly assignment will be posted in the online classroom. The assignment will include the reading for the week and some learning activity you will participate in. These learning activities may include postings on the online discussion board, group activities, short writing assignments, or simple visual projects like a timeline or diagram. Your participation and contribution will be assessed either individually or as part of a group. There will be twelve assignments during the semester each worth 10 points. Most often I will do the assessment but sometimes it will be on the basis of feedback from your group mates or yourself. See rubric.

• Book Surveys (240 points)

We will prepare book surveys, using the IBS model, for Ezra-Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees ( a separate survey of each book). This will include summarizing the contents of the book with chapter title, classifying the major units of the book and their structural relationship to each other, and identifying recurring themes in the book. Each of the three surveys will be worth 80 points (see reubric). A more detailed description and examples will be provided.

• Creative Project 200 points

This will be a product you create as a result of a more intense focus upon a particular person, event, writing, etc. from the period. The end product may be a research paper (10-12 pages), a writing portfolio (15-20 pages), an audio-visual project (see separate guidelines), etc. Please consult with me on your ideas so that we can agree upon expectations.

• Final Exam 100 points • Your Personalized Learning Objective 100 points

In addition to the projects outlined above, you may choose one additional learning objective for yourself. This may be congruent with the course objectives above or in addition to them. You will identify one additional learning objective, describe to me how you will accomplish it, and demonstrate to me through some product, performance, or process that you have accomplished the objective. Some idea or examples will be discussed in class.

GRADING The grading will based on the following ten point scale that is a function of the grading rubric below: POINT SCALE

Points Letter Grade Points Letter Grade 10 A 5 C+ 9 A- 4 C 8 B+ 3 C- 7 B 2 D 6 B- 0-1 F

GRADING RUBRIC

Assessment Area Scale Description Content 0-3 the information in and insight of your work

Attitude 0-2 the tone of your contributions and participation: respectful, scholarly, positive, encouraging, etc.

Skill 0-3 your writing (grammar, spelling), argumentation, structure, use of evidence, reception to feedback,

Habits 0-2 timeliness, form, style

ONLINE EXPECTATIONS What you can expect of me: 1. Prompt replies to questions and postings. 2. Interaction, participation, and direction in the online discussions 3. Prompt feedback and assessment on assignments. 4. Occasional mistakes as I continue to learn this mode of teaching What I expect of you: 1. Participation in online discussions. 2. On time completion of assignments. 3. Honest questions when you don't understand the material or the instructions. 4. Your patience as we work together in this medium. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS Grabbe, Lester L. An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism. London: T &T Clark,

2010. Vanderkam, James C. An Introduction to Early Judaism. Grand Rapids, Mich.:

Eerdmans, 2001. A Bible that includes the Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books. For example,

The Harper-Collins Study Bible (NRSV).

Other specific readings will accompany each module. As permissible, these will be provided in the on-line classroom.

RECOMMENDED READING See the items marked by an asterisk under BIBLIOGRAPHY below. TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE (To be provided separately.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY These are the sources that I have been reading in preparation for our class. The sources marked with an * would be good places to begin as you read more deeply in this period. *Primary Sources Ezra-Nehemiah, Harper Collins NRSV, (37 pgs) Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Harper Collins NRSV, (24 pgs) Josephus, Ant. XI, Loeb, ed. (84 pgs) Behistun Inscription, (in Kent, Old Persian) (19 pgs) Elephantine Papyri , COS, (16 pgs) Cyrus Cylinder Nabonidus Chronicle Secondary Sources Ackroyd, Peter R. “Archaeology, Politics, and Religion: the Persian Period.” Iliff Review

39:2 (1982): 5-24. (20 pages) -----. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968. (256 pages) Bright, John. History of Israel. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000. (chps 9-

10, 62 pages) Dandamaev, Muhammad. “Assyrian Traditions during the Achaemenid Times.”

Assyria 1995: Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki, September 7-11, 1995. S. Parpola and R. M. Whiting, eds. Helsinki, 1995. (10 pgs)

Eph‘al, Israel. “Syria-Palestine Under Achaemenid Rule.” Cambridge Ancient History. Volume IV. J. Boardman, N. G. L. Hammond, D. M. Lewis, M. Ostwald, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. (25 pages)

*Grabbe, Lester L. Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian: the Persian and Greek Periods. Vol. 1. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. (chps 1-2, 145 pages)

Hoglund, Kenneth G. Achaemenid Imperial Administration in Syria-Palestine and the Missions of Ezra and Nehemiah. Atlanta: Scholars, 1992. (247 pages)

*Kuhrt, Amélie. The Ancient Near East c. 3000-330 volume 2. London: Rouledge, 1995. (54 pages)

*Leith, Mary Joan Winn. “Israel Among the Nations: The Persian Period.” The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Michael D. Coogan, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. (40 pages)

Olmstead, Albert T. History of the Persian Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948. (524 pages)

Root, Margaret Cool. “Art and Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire.” Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Jack Sasson, ed. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2000. (22 pages)

Smith, Morten. “Jewish Religious Life in the Persian Period.” The Cambridge History of Judaism. W. D. Davies and Louis Finkelstein, eds. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. (61 pages)

Stern, Ephraim. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, Volume II: the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.). New York: Doubleday, 2001. (Part III, chps 1-5, 169 pages)

*Stern, Ephraim. “Archeology of Persian Palestine.” Cambridge Ancient History. Volume IV. (88-114) J. Boardman, N. G. L. Hammond, D. M. Lewis, M. Ostwald, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. (26 pages)

Yamauchi, Edwin M. “Persians.” In Peoples of the Old Testament World. A. Hoerth, G. Mattingly, and E. Yamauchi eds. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994. (17 pages)

On my reading list Dandamaev, Muhammad. Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great

(626-331 B.C.). Marvin Powell and David Weisberg, eds. Victoria Powell, trans. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984.

Dandamaev, Muhammad and Vladimir G. Lukonin. The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Grabbe, Lester L. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah. Vol. 1. London/New York: T & T Clark, 2004.

McCullough, W. Stewart. The History and Literature of the Palestinian Jews from Cyrus to Herod, 550 B.C. to 4 B.C. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975.

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

Yamauchi, Edwin M. Persia and the Bible Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990. Hellenistic Period

*Primary Sources 1 Maccabees, Harper Collins NRSV, (46 pgs) 2 Maccabees, Harper Collins NRSV, (32 pgs) Ecclesiasticus (selections), Harper Collins NRSV, (c. 20 pgs) Tobit, Harper Collins NRSV, (22 pgs) Letter of Aristeas, OTP, (28 pgs) Zenon Papyri (selections) Josephus, Ant. XII, (selections) Secondary Sources

*Bickerman, Elias. The God of the Maccabees. Leiden: Brill, 1979. (92 pgs) ____________. The Jews in the Greek Age. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,

1988. (90 pgs) Bosworth, Albert. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Michael D.

Coogan, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. (4 pgs) Bright, John. History of Israel. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000. (chap 11,

25 pages) Collins, John J. The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic

Literature. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998. (50 pgs) Davies, W. D. and Louis Finkelstein, eds. The Cambridge History of Judaism, Vol 2. The

Hellenistic Age. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

• Marie-Christine Halpern-Zylberstein, “The Archeology of Hellenistic Palestine” (34 pages)

• Martin Hengel, “The Political and Social History of Palestine” (44 pages) • Mathias Delcor, “The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hellenistic

Period” (40 pages) • H.L. Ginsberg, “The Book of Daniel” (20 pgs)

Derfler, Steven L. The Hasmonean Revolt: Rebellion or Revolution. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1989. (77 pgs)

Goldstein, Jonathan. 1 Maccabees. The Anchor Bible. Vol. 41. New York: Doubleday, 1976. (105 pgs)

*Grabbe, Lester L. Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian: the Persian and Greek Periods. Vol. 1. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. (chps 3-5, 164 pgs)

*Greenspoon, Leonard. “Between Alexander and Antioch.” The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Michael D. Coogan, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. (35 pgs)

Habicht, C. “The Seleucids and Their Rivals.” Cambridge Ancient History. Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C. Vol. VIII. eds. A.E. Astin, M.W. Frederiksen, and RM. Ogilvie. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. (63 pgs)

*Schäfer, Peter. “The Hellenistic and Maccabaean Periods.” Israelite and Judaean History. John H. Hayes and J. Maxwell Miller, eds. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1977. (66 pages)

Tcherikover, Avigdor. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1959. (265 pgs)

Turner, E. G. “Ptolemaic Egypt.” Cambridge Ancient History. The Hellenistic World. Vol. VII part 1. F. W. Walbank, A.E. Astin, M.W. Frederiksen, and R.M. Ogilvie, eds. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. (57 pgs)

On my reading list Bosworth, Albert. Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great.

Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Debevoise, Neilson. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1938. Goldstein, Jonathan. 2 Maccabees. The Anchor Bible. Vol. 41a. New York: Doubleday,

1983. Grabbe, Lester L. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: The

Coming of the Greeks: The Hellenistic Period (335-175 BCE). Vol. 2. London/New York: T & T Clark, 2008.

McCullough, W. Stewart. The History and Literature of the Palestinian Jews from Cyrus to Herod, 550 B.C. to 4 B.C. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975.

Nickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.

Schalit, Abraham. The Hellenistic Age: Political History of Jewish Palestine from 332 BCE to 67BCE. The World of the Jewish People. Vol. 6. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1972.

Schürer, Emil. The Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. G. Vermes, et al., rev. 3 vols. In 4. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1973-87. (Hendrickson republished this work in 1994 in 5 vols.)

Early Roman Period

*Grabbe, Lester L. Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian: the Roman Period. Vol. 2. Minneapolis:

Fortress, 1992. (chps 6-7, 149 pgs) On my reading list “Herodian Dynasty,” “Herod’s Building Program,” “Herod the Great,” “Herod

Antipas,” “Herod Philip,” “Archelaus,” “Agrippa,” “Felix,” and “Festus Porcius,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Volumes 3 and 4. David N. Freedman, ed. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Nickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.

Schürer, Emil. The Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. G. Vermes, et al., rev. 3 vols. In 4. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1973-87. (Hendrickson republished this work in 1994 in 5 vols.)

Smallwood, E. Mary. The Jews Under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian. Leiden: Brill, 1976. Cor. and repr., 1981.

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