Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea: A Study of the Bar Kokhba Documents (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library) - Hardcover

Book 30 of 55: The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

Wise, Michael Owen; Collins, John

 
9780300204537: Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea: A Study of the Bar Kokhba Documents (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0300204531 ISBN 13: 9780300204537
Publisher: Yale University Press, 2015

Synopsis

This comprehensive exploration of language and literacy in the multi-lingual environment of Roman Palestine (c. 63 B.C.E. to 136 C.E.) is based on Michael Wise’s extensive study of 145 Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean contracts and letters preserved among the Bar Kokhba texts, a valuable cache of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts. His investigation of Judean documentary and epistolary culture derives for the first time numerical data concerning literacy rates, language choices, and writing fluency during the two-century span between Pompey’s conquest and Hadrian’s rule. He explores questions of who could read in these ancient times of Jesus and Hillel, what they read, and how language worked in this complex multi-tongued milieu. Included also is an analysis of the ways these documents were written and the interplay among authors, secretaries, and scribes. Additional analysis provides readers with a detailed picture of the people, families, and lives behind the texts.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Michael Owen Wise is Scholar-in-Residence and Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Languages at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul. He lives in St. Paul, MN.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Yale University Press
Publication date
2015
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0300204531
ISBN 13 
9780300204537
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
544