Empire, Power and Indigenous Elites: A Case Study of the Nehemiah Memoir: 169 (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism) - Hardcover

Fitzpatrick-Mckinley, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9004289887 ISBN 13: 9789004289888

Publisher: Brill, 2015

Synopsis

Ancient Near Eastern empires, including Assyria, Babylon and Persia, frequently permitted local rulers to remain in power. The roles of the indigenous elites reflected in the Nehemiah Memoir can be compared to those encountered elsewhere. Nehemiah was an imperial appointee, likely of a military/administrative background, whose mission was to establish a birta in Jerusalem, thereby limiting the power of local elites. As a loyal servant of Persia, Nehemiah brought to his mission a certain amount of ethnic/cultic colouring seen in certain aspects of his activities in Jerusalem, in particular in his use of Mosaic authority (but not of specific Mosaic laws). Nehemiah appealed to ancient Jerusalemite traditions in order to eliminate opposition to him from powerful local elite networks.

About this title

About the Author:

Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley, Ph.D (1994), Trinity College Dublin, lectures in Second Temple Judaism in the department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Trinity College. She has published a monograph on Torah and a number of articles and edited volumes on Persian period Yehud.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brill
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 9004289887
• ISBN 13: 9789004289888
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 340