Alexander the Macedonian's Image in the Jewish Temple: A Medievaval Tale of Jewish–Non-Jewish Encounter

Narratives about Alexander the Macedonian's life were extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages all over Europe and beyond. Crossing cultural boundaries, they were also adopted and adapted for a Jewish readership. In the latter context, the episode about the king's visit to Jerusalem se...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ḳog'man-Apel, Ḳaṭrin 1958- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Pennsylvania Press 2024
In: AJS review
Year: 2024, Volume: 48, Issue: 1, Pages: 100-126
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Summary:Narratives about Alexander the Macedonian's life were extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages all over Europe and beyond. Crossing cultural boundaries, they were also adopted and adapted for a Jewish readership. In the latter context, the episode about the king's visit to Jerusalem served as a topos of interreligious encounter between the Jews and their non-Jewish rulers. It was first told by Flavius Josephus in the first century as a tale that sets idolatry in contrast with monotheism. Among other episodes, the text reports a dramatic encounter with the Jewish high priest. In medieval versions, Alexander suggests that the high priest erect a golden statue of himself in the sanctuary to honor God. The paper offers an in-depth analysis of this latter motif in different versions of the narrative against the background of medieval Jewish-Christian relations., Abstract:, Narratives about Alexander the Macedonian's life were extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages all over Europe and beyond. Crossing cultural boundaries, they were also adopted and adapted for a Jewish readership. In the latter context, the episode about the king's visit to Jerusalem served as a topos of interreligious encounter between the Jews and their non-Jewish rulers. It was first told by Flavius Josephus in the first century as a tale that sets idolatry in contrast with monotheism. Among other episodes, the text reports a dramatic encounter with the Jewish high priest. In medieval versions Alexander suggests that the high priest erect a golden statue of himself in the sanctuary to honor God. The paper offers an in-depth analysis of this latter motif in different versions of the narrative against the background of medieval Jewish-Christian relations.
ISSN:1475-4541
Contains:Enthalten in: Association for Jewish Studies, AJS review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/ajs.2024.a926059