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Review of Biblical Literature Blog

Rabbinisme et Paganisme en Palestine romaine: Étude historique des Realia talmudiques (Ier-IVème siècles)
Friedheim, Emmanuel

Leiden: Brill, 2006 pp. xxii + 447. $199.00

Series Information
Religions in the Greco-Roman World, 157

Description: This study deals essentially with the knowledge of the Palestinian Rabbis concerning paganism in the days of Mishna and Talmud. The Late Professor Saul Lieberman wrote that “Many isolated items on idolatry and idol worshippers are scattered all over rabbinic literature. It would require a large volume to treat this topic”. This valuable and exhaustive study proves methodically that the Rabbis had deeper knowledge about Syrian, Arabian, Anatolian and Graeco-Roman Pagan cults than is commonly believed. Clear, accessible and displaying considerable scholarship this work will undoubtedly provide an important challenge to both historians, archaeologists, and scholars of Rabbinic texts.

Subjects: Methods, Historical Approaches, History, History of Judaism, Greco-Roman Period