10212 Jewish History during the Second Temple: Judea and Rome 1

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Ancient History of the Jewish People

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: From Exile to Independence

Authors: Uriel Rappaport, Arthur Segal, Menachem Mor, Rivka Nir, Lea Roth-Gerson, Aya Barsky-Elishav, Israel Ronen

The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the central events and processes in the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora under Roman rule.

The course covers a period of three hundred years (63 BCE – 220 AD) from the internal struggles in the Hasmonean kingdom and the conquest of the Land of Israel by the Romans, through the renewed flourishing of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in the days of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch. The history of the Jewish people under Roman rule was replete with struggles and revolts which brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (70 AD) ending with the crushing of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 AD). In the process of recovering from this revolt, a new Jewish leadership was formed in the Land of Israel. The culmination of this process was the period of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch.

Topics: From the Hasmonean kingdom to Antipater; Herod’s rule; Herodian monumental architecture; Judea under the rule of princes and governors; Judea before the fall of Jerusalem; The war of the Jews against the Romans; Judea between the revolts; The Jewish Diaspora in the Hellenistic-Roman world; The revolt of Diaspora Jews; The Bar Kokhba revolt; From Judea to the Galilee; Rabbi Judah the Patriarch.

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1Due to overlapping material, students will get no more than 6 credits for this course and The Jews in the Roman Empire 70-220: From Rabban Johanan Ben Zakkai to Rabbi Judah the Patriarch (in Russian, 42110). For details, see Overlapping Courses.