At the end of the course, students will have understood the essential lines of the historical path of the Jews, having followed the main phases of development and transformation of the Jewish civilization from the Ancient Near East to the early Mediterranean diaspora.
No prior knowledge or skills are required. An interest in historical-religious studies will be helpful.
Frontal lessons with multimedia tools. Commented readings of both biblical and epigraphic texts, in translation.
Oral exam on a selection of topics covered during the lessons.
1) Ancient Israel and Judaea: M. Clauss, Israele nell'età antica, Il Mulino, Bologna 2003. ISBN 978-88-15-09304-2
2) Roman and Late Ancient Italy: G. Lacerenza, Gli ebrei nell'Italia antica. Dalla diaspora all'età cristiana, Carocci, Roma 2025. ISBN 978-88-290-3017-0 (capp. 1, 2, 3, 5; e pp. 169-183).
Teaching materials on ancient Hebrew inscriptions will be provided by the teacher.
The course offers an overview of the documentary history of the Jews between East and West, from ancient Israel to the Roman conquest of Judea, up to the arrival and consollidation of the Jewish diaspora in ancient and late ancient Italy.
Main topics:
1. Israel in the context of the Ancient Near East: territory, borders, neighbors
2. sources: biblical narrative, archaeological data, epigraphic documentation
3. periodization and chronology
4. the pre-exilic age
5. the Babylonian exile and the Second Temple period
6. the Hellenistic period: Hellenization, the Maccabean revolt and the Hasmoneans
7. Rome and Judea; Herod the Great and his successors
8. the anti-Roman revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem
9. the Bar Kokhva revolt and the documentary sources of the Judean Desert
10. the Qumran manuscripts
11. the Jewish Diaspora in the West
12. the formation of the Jewish community of Rome
13. the Jews in Italy in the early imperial age
14. the legal status of the Jews before and after the Christianization of the Empire
15. relations with the Church
16. the diffusion of the Jews in late ancient Italy.
Italian
