The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian Contributor(s): Modrzejewski, Joseph Mélèze (Author), Cornman, Robert (Translator), Cohen, Shaye J. D. (Preface by) |
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ISBN: 0691015759 ISBN-13: 9780691015750 Publisher: Princeton University Press OUR PRICE: $55.10 Product Type: Paperback Published: November 1997 Annotation: The story of the adventures and misadventures of the people of Israel in the land of Egypt. Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski draws upon archaeological research, historical documents that include edicts of emperors as well as the humble correspondence of common people, and scientific analysis to illuminate the reality underlying our image of the past and Jewish culture. Photos. Maps. Illus. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Jewish - General - History | Ancient - Egypt - Religion | Judaism - History |
Dewey: 932.004 |
LCCN: 97033449 |
Lexile Measure: 1270 |
Physical Information: 0.68" H x 6.93" W x 9.81" (1.35 lbs) 301 pages |
Themes: - Theometrics - Secular - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Middle East - Cultural Region - North Africa - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish - Religious Orientation - Jewish |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Hellenistic Egypt was the setting for perhaps the first Jewish Golden Age, a time golden in Jewish memory as an era of vibrant cultural interaction between the Jews and their gentile hosts. This is the story of the adventures and misadventures of the people of Israel in the land of Egypt the years shrouded in the mists of biblical history under the Pharaohs; the strange intermezzo of the Jewish mercenary detachment on the island of Elephantine on the upper Nile; the apogee of Jewish culture under Ptolemies; and finally, the Jewish community's rapid decline and catastrophic disappearance under Roman rule. Joseph Mélèze Modrzejewski uses scientific analysis to illuminate the reality underlying our image of the past. The biblical accounts and Jewish and pagan literary texts are juxtaposed with discoveries of a century of archaeological and papyrological research that has unearthed the edicts of emperors as well as the humble correspondence of common people. In a tantalizing epilogue, Modrzejewski probes a turning point in Western civilization: the brief but crucial episode when budding Christianity and the Alexandrian Jews parted company. |