Writing on the wall: graffiti and the forgotten Jews of antiquity

Few direct clues exist to the everyday lives and beliefs of ordinary Jews in antiquity. Prevailing perspectives on ancient Jewish life have been shaped largely by the voices of intellectual and social elites, preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus and the rabbinic texts of the Mishnah and T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stern, Karen B. (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
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Published: Princeton Princeton University Press [2018]
In:Year: 2018
Reviews:[Rezension von: Karen B. Stern, Writing on the wall. Graffiti and the forgotten jews of antiquity] (2019) (Ahuvia, Mika, 1983 -)
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Mediterranean area / Jews / Inscription / Classical antiquity / History
Further subjects:B Jewish architecture
B Jews-Social life and customs
B Jewish art and symbolism
B Jewish Art History
B Graffiti
B Jews Social life and customs To 70 A.D
B Jewish inscriptions
B Religion / Judaism / History
B Graffiti Religious aspects Judaism
B Jews History To 70 A.D
B Synagogue art History
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Few direct clues exist to the everyday lives and beliefs of ordinary Jews in antiquity. Prevailing perspectives on ancient Jewish life have been shaped largely by the voices of intellectual and social elites, preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus and the rabbinic texts of the Mishnah and Talmud. Commissioned art, architecture, and formal inscriptions displayed on tombs and synagogues equally reflect the sensibilities of their influential patrons. The perspectives and sentiments of nonelite Jews, by contrast, have mostly disappeared from the historical record. Focusing on these forgotten Jews of antiquity, Writing on the Wall takes an unprecedented look at the vernacular inscriptions and drawings they left behind and sheds new light on the richness of their "idian lives.Just like their neighbors throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, ancient Jews scribbled and drew graffiti everyplace--in and around markets, hippodromes, theaters, pagan temples, open cliffs, sanctuaries, and even inside burial caves and synagogues. Karen Stern reveals what these markings tell us about the men and women who made them, people whose lives, beliefs, and behaviors eluded commemoration in grand literary and architectural works. Making compelling analogies with modern graffiti practices, she documents the overlooked connections between Jews and their neighbors, showing how popular Jewish practices of prayer, mortuary commemoration, commerce, and civic engagement regularly crossed ethnic and religious boundaries.Illustrated throughout with examples of ancient graffiti, Writing on the Wall provides a tantalizingly intimate glimpse into the cultural worlds of forgotten populations living at the crossroads of Judaism, Christianity, paganism, and earliest Islam.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:1400890454
Access:Restricted Access
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.23943/9781400890453