The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 1, Introduction: The Persian Period

The first three volumes of The Cambridge History of Judaism cover the history of the Jews from the Exile in 587 BCE to the early Roman period extending into the third century CE. A comprehensive examination is made of all the relevant literary and archeological sources, and special attention is given to the interaction of Iranian, Semitic, Hellenistic and Roman cultures. The contributors include both Jewish and Gentile scholars from many countries, and this History thus helps to deliver the study of Jewish history and Christian origins from geographical and religious limitations, and contributes to a deeper understanding and a broader tolerance. This first volume opens with three introductory chapters to the work as a whole dealing with the geographical background, the chronology and the numismatic history of Judaism. The remainder of this volume concentrates on the Persian period, the two and a half centuries following the Babylonian Exile.

Preface; List of abbreviations; Part I. Introduction: 1. The geography of Palestine and the Levant in relation to its history Denis Baly; 2. Numismatics Uriel Rappaport; 3. Calendars and chronology Elias J. Bickerman; Part II. The Persian Period: 4. The Persian empire and the political and social history of Palestine in the Persian period Ephraim Stern; 5. The archaeology of Persian Palestine Ephraim Stern; 6. Hebrew and Aramaic in the Persian period Joseph Naveh and Jonas C. Greenfield; 7. The Jewish community in Palestine in the Persia period Peter Ackroyd; 8. Prophecy and Psalms in the Persian period Gunther Wanke; 9. Wisdom literature in the Persian period Harmut Gese; 10. Jewish religious life in the Persian period Morton Smith; 11. Persian life in the Achemenid age Mary Boyce; 12. Iranian influence on Judaism: first century BCE to second century CE Shaud Shaked; 13. The Diaspora: A. Babylonia in the Persian age M. Dandamayev; B. The Babylonian captivity Elias J. Bickerman; C. Egypt, Persian satrapy Edda Bresciani; D. The Jews in Egypt Bezalel Porten; Bibliographies; Index; Chronological table.

This volume opens with three introductory chapters to the work as a whole dealing with the geographical background, the chronology and the numismatic history of Judaism.