Seminarium Zakładu Historii Starożytnej

Zakład Historii Starożytnej serdecznie zaprasza na wykład:

Prof. Sylvie Honigman (Tel Aviv University)
The gradual development of purity practices among Judeans in Hellenistic times: the evidence from Judea and Egypt

📆 22 października 2025 r. (środa)
🕐 godz. 13:15
🏛 Wydział Historii UW, sala 125

Wykład odbędzie się w języku angielskim.
Zapraszamy wszystkich zainteresowanych historią starożytnego Bliskiego Wschodu i świata śródziemnomorskiego!

Abstrakt:

The practices and beliefs that define modern Judaism emerged in the Hellenistic period, and are first well documented in ancient Judea starting from the days of the Hasmonean Kingdom (late second and early first centuries BCE). Chronology is also a clue to causality, and therefore a key debated question is to which extent the rise of the Hasmoneans as an indigenous dynasty was a key factor in the development of early Judaism. The talk will show that the various practices in question—such as genealogical purity (marriage rules), food taboos, and ritual bathing—in actuality emerged much earlier, either starting from the early Hellenistic period or even earlier. They also emerged gradually and at different paces each, and moreover certain practices are first documented in Ptolemaic Egypt, not in Judea. Both this revised chronology and geographical setting raise methodological questions that will be addressed in the talk.