Priests in Exile: The History of the Temple of Onias and Its Community in the Hellenistic Period

Meron M. Piotrkowski

Book

Priests in Exile

The History of the Temple of Onias and Its Community in the Hellenistic Period

Meron M. Piotrkowski

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2019

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This book is in the series

Volume 106 | Studia Judaica

This book is in the series

Volume 4 | Rethinking Diaspora

About this book

Priests in Exile is the first comprehensive scholarly opus in English to reconstruct the history of the mysterious Temple of Onias, a Jewish temple built by a Jerusalemite high priest in his Egyptian exile that functioned in parallel with the Temple of Jerusalem.

Piotrkowski’s book addresses a topic that is mysterious, important and anomalous: a Jewish community of mercenary priests in the (Egyptian) Diaspora in which the priestly sacrificial ritual was carried out daily over a period of more than two hundred years until the first century CE, outlasting the Jerusalem Temple by about three years.

Although the book focuses on the very circumscribed topic of the parallel Temple it casts a wide net, placing the story in the context of Jewish Diaspora life in ancient times. Ancient topics and texts are brought to bear, including papyri, epigraphy, archaeology, as well as the modern literature. Piotrkowski throws new light on a fascinating episode of ancient Jewish history that is usually left in the dark.

Author / Editor information

Meron M. Piotrkowksi, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface and Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: The Sources on the Temple of Onias
Chapter 1: Flavius Josephus and Oniad History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
Chapter 2: The Second Book of Maccabees and Oniad History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Postscript: Theodore of Mopsuestia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
Chapter 3: The Book of Daniel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
Postscript: The Silence of the Lambs: The ‘Animal Apocalypse’ and the Death of Onias III (1 Enoch 90:8) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Chapter 4: The Rabbis and the Temple of Onias Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Chapter 5: Archaeology and the Temple of Onias Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Chapter 6: Voices from the “Land of Onias”: Epigraphy and the Oniad Community Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Chapter 7: Onias in the Papyri Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
Part II: Jewish Hellenistic Literature and the Temple of Onias
Jewish-Hellenistic Literature and the Temple of Onias: An Approach toward Oniad Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Chapter 8: The Third Book of the Sibylline Oracles – An Oniad Book of Prophecy? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Chapter 9: Re-evaluating 3 Maccabees: An Oniad Composition? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236
Chapter 10: Pseudo-Hecataeus: An Oniad Reaction to Hasmonean Kingship? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Chapter 11: Joseph & Aseneth: Oniad Fiction? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Part III: The History of the Temple of Onias in the Hellenistic Period
Chapter 12: Reconstructing Oniad History: From the Establishment of the Oniad Community in Egypt until the Roman Conquest (168/167 – 31/30 BCE) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Part IV: Priests in Exile: The Oniad Community and Oniad Judaism
Chapter 13: The Temple of Onias and Qumran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	367
Chapter 14: Priests in Exile: The Oniad Community and Oniad Judaism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	397
Concluding Oniad History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	417
Appendicies
Appendix 1. A Genealogical Chart of the Oniad Priestly Dynasty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	429
Appendix 2. Did the Jews of Egypt Pay the Temple Tax to Onias’ Temple? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	430
Appendix 3. Some Reflections on the Phenomenon of Multiple Jewish Temples Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	435
Appendix 4. IJudO i BS19: A Russian Onias? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	443
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	445
General Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	481
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	494
Index of Places Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	499
Index of Ancient Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	502

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

June 4, 2019

eBook ISBN:

9783110593358

Hardcover published on:

June 4, 2019

Hardcover ISBN:

9783110591071

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

19

Main content:

524

Coloured Illustrations:

2

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110593358

eBook ISBN: 9783110593358

Hardcover ISBN: 9783110591071

Keywords for this book

The Temple of Onias; Flavius Josephus; Jews in the Egyptian Diaspora

Audience(s) for this book

All those interested in ancient Jewish Diaspora, Jewish history, epigraphy, papyrology and archeology

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Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Priests in Exile

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Bibliographic data