Ancient Jewish Sciences and the History of Knowledge in Second Temple Literature

Seth L. Sanders

Published by New York University Press 2014

Ancient Jewish Sciences and the History of Knowledge in Second Temple Literature

Seth L. Sanders
Edited by: Jonathan Ben-Dov

Volume 3 in the series ISAW Monographs

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479823048.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Until very recently, the idea of ancient Jewish sciences would have been considered unacceptable. Since the 1990s, Early Modern and Medieval Science in Jewish sources has been actively studied, but the consensus was that no real scientific themes could be found in earlier Judaism. This work points them out in detail and posits a new field of research: the scientific activity evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Jewish pseudepigrapha. The publication of new texts and new analyses of older ones reveals crucial elements that are best illuminated by the history of science, and may have interesting consequences for it. The contributors evaluate these texts in relation to astronomy, astrology, and physiognomy, marking the first comprehensive attempt to account
for scientific themes in Second Temple Judaism. They investigate the meaning and purpose of scientific explorations in an apocalyptic setting. An appreciation of these topics paves the way to a renewed understanding of the scientific fragments scattered throughout rabbinic literature.

The book first places the Jewish material in the ancient context of the Near Eastern and Hellenistic worlds. While the Jewish texts were not on the cutting edge of scientific discovery, they find a meaningful place in the history of science, between Babylonia and Egypt, in the time period between Hipparchus and Ptolemy. The
book uses recent advances in method to examine the contacts and networks of Jewish scholars in their ancient setting. Second, the essays here tackle the problematic concept of a national scientific tradition. Although science is nowadays often conceived as universal, the historiography of ancient Jewish sciences demonstrates
the importance of seeing the development of science in a local context. The book explores the tension between the hegemony of central scientific traditions and local scientific enterprises, showing the relevance of ancient data to contemporary postcolonial historiography of science. Finally, philosophical questions of the demarcation of science are addressed in a way that can advance the discussion of related ancient materials.

Online edition available as part of the NYU Library's Ancient World Digital Library and in partnership with the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW).

Author / Editor information

Ben-Dov Jonathan :

Jonathan Ben-Dov is Senior Lecturer, Department of Bible, at the University of Haifa. He is the author of Head of All Years: Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in their Ancient Context.Sanders Seth L. :

Seth L. Sanders is Assistant Professor of Religion at Trinity College. His first book, The Invention of Hebrew was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Reviews

Professor Francesca Rochberg, UC Berkeley:
It will open doors to new areas of importance for the study of ancient Judaism and its culture as well as for the study of ancient sciences.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgments Jonathan Ben-Dov and Seth L. Sanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
1. Introduction Jonathan Ben-Dov and Seth L. Sanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
2. Enoch and the Beginnings of Jewish Interest in Natural Science Philip S. Alexander Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. Enoch’s Science James VanderKam Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
4. “I Was Shown Another Calculation” (אחזי חשבזן אחרן): The Language of Knowledge in Aramaic Enoch and Priestly Hebrew Seth L. Sanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
5. Philological and Epistemological Remarks on Enoch’s Science: Response to Papers by Seth Sanders and James VanderKam Loren T. Stuckenbruck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
6. Ideals of Science: The Infrastructure of Scientific Activity in Apocalyptic Literature and in the Yahad Jonathan Ben-Dov Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
7. Networks of Scholars: The Transmission of Astronomical and Astrological Learning between Babylonians, Greeks and Jews Mladen Popović Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
8. “Ancient Jewish Sciences” and the Historiography of Judaism Annette Yoshiko Reed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
A Bibliography for Ancient Jewish Sciences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: April 28, 2014
ISBN: 9781479873975