This volume traces the development of the Jewish calendar from its origins until it reached, in the 10th century CE, its present form. Drawing on a wide range of literary, documentary, and epigraphic sources, this is the first comprehensive book to have been written on this subject. Stern shows that the Jewish calendar evolved during this period from considerable diversity (a variety of solar and lunar calendars) to unity. This consolidation of the calendar is one element in the unification of Jewish identity in later antiquity and the early medieval world.
This volume traces the development of the Jewish calendar from its origins until it reached, in the 10th century CE, its present form. Drawing on a wi...
Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings is more than a question of legal status: it is the experience of being Jewish or of 'Jewishness' in all its social and cultural dimensions. This work describes this experience as it emerges in Talmudic and Midrashic sources. Besides the question of "who is a Jew?," topics include the contrast between Israel and the non-Jews, the physical embodiment of Jewish identity, the 'boundaries' of Israel and resistance to assimilation. Jewish identity, it is argued, hinges essentially on the Divine commandments (mitzvot) and on Israel's...
Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings is more than a question of legal status: it is the experience of being Jewish or of 'Jewishne...
This illuminating study focuses on the absence of a concept of time in ancient Judaism, and the predominance instead of process in the ancient Jewish world-view. (Judaism)
This illuminating study focuses on the absence of a concept of time in ancient Judaism, and the predominance instead of process in the ancient Jewish ...
Sects and sectarianism are popular themes in Jewish history, but the meaning of these terms is elusive, often raising more problems than solutions. This volume, drawing on the expertise of a wide range of scholars, examines several Jewish groups from Antiquity to the present day that have been traditionally identified as 'sects' or as 'sectarian', including most famously the Qumran community and the Qaraites. It questions whether 'sect' and 'sectarianism' are appropriate or effective as historical categories for the interpretation of social and religious movements in Jewish history.
Sects and sectarianism are popular themes in Jewish history, but the meaning of these terms is elusive, often raising more problems than solutions. Th...
Calendars were at the heart of ancient culture and society, and were far more than just technical, time-keeping devices. Calendars in Antiquity offers a comprehensive study of the calendars of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, Gaul, and all other parts of the Mediterranean and the Near East, from the origins up to and including Jewish and Christian calendars in late Antiquity. In this volume, Stern sheds light on the political context in which ancient calendars were designed and managed. Set and controlled by political rulers, calendars served as expressions of...
Calendars were at the heart of ancient culture and society, and were far more than just technical, time-keeping devices. Calendars in Antiquity
The study of time, astronomy, and calendars, has been closely intertwined in the history of Western culture and, more particularly, Jewish tradition. Jewish interest in astronomy was fostered by the Jewish calendar, which was based on the courses of the sun and the moon, whilst astronomy, in turn, led to a better understanding of how time should be reckoned. Time, Astronomy, and Calendars in the Jewish Tradition, edited by Sacha Stern and Charles Burnett, presents a wide selection of original research in this multi-disciplinary field, ranging from Antiquity to the later Middle Ages....
The study of time, astronomy, and calendars, has been closely intertwined in the history of Western culture and, more particularly, Jewish tradition. ...
