King Herod in Ardashir's court: the rabbinic story of Herod (B. Bava Batra 3b-4a) in light of persian sources
The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, encounter with Bava b. Buta, and construction of the temple, found at Bava Batra 3b-4a, has long puzzled scholars. Many aspects of this story diverge from Josephus's account, our main source...
| Published in: | AJS review |
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| Subtitles: | Research Article |
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Pennsylvania Press
[2014]
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| In: |
AJS review
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Herod I Judea, King 73 BC-4 BC
/ Maccabees 165 BC-37 BC
/ Rabbinic literature
/ Power
B Slave / Narration / Temple / Rabbi / Astrology / King / Son / Talmud |
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Bavli's story of Herod's rise to power, murder of the Hasmonean family and of the rabbis, encounter with Bava b. Buta, and construction of the temple, found at Bava Batra 3b-4a, has long puzzled scholars. Many aspects of this story diverge from Josephus's account, our main source for historical knowledge of Herod's life and deeds. This paper argues that the storyteller has been influenced by Persian sources from the Sasanian period. Important elements of the Bavli story were modeled on the account of the rise of Ardashir, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, as recounted in a Sasanian text known as the Karnamag i Ardashir i Pabagan, “The Book of the Deeds of Ardashir son of Pabag.” The rabbis understood the transition from the Hasmonean to Herodian dynasties through the prism of the transition from the Parthian to Sasanian dynasties. They identified Herod with Ardashir, and constructed a story of Herod's usurpation and rise to power on the basis of Ardashir's usurpation and rise to power as recounted in Sasanian sources. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4541 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Association for Jewish Studies, AJS review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0364009414000257 |