Persian period (538–332 BCE)

Illustrations by Gustav Dore

Ezra Reads the Law to the People

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls

According to the Book of Ezra, the Persian Cyrus the Great ended the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE,^[14] the year after he captured Babylon.^[15] The exile ended with the return under Zerubbabel the Prince (so-called because he was a descendant of the royal line of David) and Joshua the Priest (a descendant of the line of the former High Priests of the Temple) and their construction of the Second Temple in the period 521–516 BCE.^[14] The Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples and repatriation of exiled peoples, has often been taken as corroboration of the authenticity of the biblical decrees attributed to Cyrus,^[16] but other scholars point out that the cylinder's text is specific to Babylon and Mesopotamia and makes no mention of Judah or Jerusalem.^[16] Professor Lester L. Grabbe asserted that the "alleged decree of Cyrus" regarding Judah, "cannot be considered authentic", but that there was a "general policy of allowing deportees to return and to re-establish cult sites". He also stated that archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle" taking place over decades, rather than a single event.^[17]

The Persians may have experimented initially with ruling Judah as a Davidic client-kingdom under descendants of Jehoiachin,^[18] but by the mid–5th century BCE Judah had become in practice a theocracy, ruled by hereditary High Priests^[19] and a Persian-appointed governor, frequently Jewish, charged with keeping order and seeing that tribute was paid.^[20]

A second group of 5,000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BCE. The first was empowered by the Persian king to enforce the Torah, the second had the status of governor and a royal mission to restore the walls of the city.^[21] The Bible mentions tension between the returnees and those who had remained in Judah, the former rebuffing the attempt of the "peoples of the land" to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple; this attitude was based partly on the exclusivism which the exiles had developed while in Babylon and, probably, partly on disputes over property.^[22] The careers of Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE were thus a kind of religious colonisation in reverse, an attempt by one of the many Jewish factions in Babylon to create a self-segregated, ritually pure society inspired by the prophesies of Ezekiel and his followers.^[23]

Silver coin (gerah) minted in the Persian province of Yehud, dated c. 375-332 BCE. Obv: Bearded head wearing crown, possibly representing the Persian Great King. Rev: Falcon facing, head right, with wings spread; Paleo-Hebrew YHD to right.

The Persian era, and especially the period between 538 and 400 BCE, laid the foundations for the unified Judaic religion and the beginning of a scriptural canon.^[24] The final Torah is widely seen as a product of the Persian period (probably 450–350 BCE).^[25] This consensus echoes a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra a pivotal role in its promulgation.^[26] It has been suggested that Darius' reform of the empire's administrative structures, which included the collection, codification, and administration of local law codes, was the driving force behind the Jewish Torah's redaction.^[27]

Yehud's population significantly decreased during the Persian era; it is likely that it never exceeded 30,000. This represents a 70% decrease when compared to the late First Temple period.^[28] Jerusalem's area was also smaller compared with the late First Temple period. The city shrank to its pre-eighth century BCE size, and its inhabited areas—the City of David and the Temple Mount—had a population of around 1500. Together with the surrounding farms and unwalled settled areas, Jerusalem's population was around 3000 people. The rest of the population lived in small, unwalled towns and villages.^[28][29] The Israel of the Persian period consisted of descendants of the inhabitants of the former Kingdom of Judah, returnees from the Babylonian exile community, Mesopotamians who had joined them or had been exiled themselves to Samaria at a far earlier period, Samaritans, and others.^[30]

Hellenistic period (333–110 BCE)

Marble bust of Alexander the Great, discovered in Beit She'an (2nd or 1st century BCE)

In 332 BCE, the region was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon, ushering in the Hellenistic period. After his death in 322 BCE, his generals divided the empire and Judea became a frontier region between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt.^[31] Under the Hellenistic kingdoms, Judea was ruled by the hereditary office of the High Priest of Israel as a Hellenistic vassal.^[32] On the same time, Hellenism gradually spread to varied degrees on all sides in the region through a variety of contacts, but especially as a result of the development of commerce and the arrival of Greek settlers.^[33]

Between 301 and 219 BCE the Ptolemies ruled Judea in relative peace.^[34] Jews often found themselves working in the Ptolemaic administration and army, which led to the rise of a Hellenized Jewish elite class (e.g. the Tobiads).^[35] This period also saw the rise of a Hellenistic Judaism, which first developed in the Jewish diaspora of Alexandria and Antioch, and then spread to Judea. The major literary product of this cultural syncretism is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koiné Greek. The reason for the production of this translation seems to be that many of the Alexandrian Jews had lost the ability to speak Hebrew and Aramaic.^[32]

At the turn of the 2nd-century BCE, a successful military campaign in Coele-Syria led by the Seleucid Antiochus III finally brought the region into the Seleucid empire, with Jerusalem falling under his control in 198 BCE.^[35] The Seleucids, like the Ptolemies before them, held a suzerainty over Judea: they respected Jewish culture and protected Jewish institutions.^[36]

This policy was drastically reversed by Antiochus IV, possibly due to a dispute over leadership of the Temple in Jerusalem and the office of High Priest or a revolt whose nature was lost to time. Antiochus IV issued decrees forbidding many traditional Jewish practices and began a campaign of persecution against devout Jews. This triggered a revolt against his rule, the Maccabean Revolt.^[36] These decrees were a departure from typical Seleucid practice, which did not attempt to suppress local religions in their empire.^[37] Scholars of Second Temple Judaism sometimes refer to Antiochus' reign as the 'Antiochene crises' for the Jews,^[38] and as a period of civil war between Hellenized and orthodox forms of Judaism.^[39][40]

Hasmonean vassal state (140–110 BCE)

Main article: Hasmonean dynasty

After Simon was assassinated and replaced by his son John Hyrcanus I (r. 134–104 BCE), Antiochus VII led a large army into Judea, forcing Hyrcanus to surrender as a vassal ruler in Jerusalem after a two-year siege. However, following Antiochus' death in the Seleucid-Parthian Wars in 129 BCE, the Seleucids were soon too weak to pursue an active policy outside of Syria; Hyrcanus was relieved of his burden,^[3] establishing the now de-facto independent Hasmonean state of Judea, minting coins for the first time, and doubling the state's territory.

Stone bowl fragment with the name “Hyrcanus,” which was discovered in the Givati Parking Lot, Jerusalem

Hasmonean period (110–63 BCE)

Around 110 BCE, Hyrcanus launched an invasion of Transjordan.^[3][53] His army laid siege to the city of Medeba and took it after a six-month siege. After this victory, he turned north and invaded Samaria, which had long separated Judea from Jewish settlements in Galilee.^[3] Shechem was reduced to a village and the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed.^[54][55] Archaeological evidence places these events between 111 and 110 BCE.^[54][56] Hyrcanus also launched a military campaign in Idumea, capturing Marisa and Adora. The Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism, by threat of exile or death, depending on the source.^[57][58][59]

Map of the Hasmonean kingdom

Following the death of Hyrcanus, his son Aristobulus I (r. 104–103 BCE) assumed the title of king for the first time and combined it with the office of high priest. People were now more open to Hellenistic influences that had been demonized as un-Jewish during the war; the Hasmonean kingship bore clear Hellenistic monarchy traits, but combined these with theocratic elements.^[60] Aristobulus conquered and annexed Galilee.^[5][3] The Galilee, which had previously been sparsely inhabited, mostly by pagan populations, but also by Jewish communities, experienced an influx of Jewish settlement following these conquests.^[61] Josephus writes that he had also subjugated and Judaized Iturea, but this claim is not supported by archeological evidence.^[3][62]

Alexander Jannaeus (r. 103–76 BCE) waged a series of expansionist wars, primarily against the Hellenistic cities surrounding Judea. Unlike his predecessors, who were focused on the concentration of the Jewish population in one country, his military efforts were motivated by a desire to control key economic points such as ports and trade routes. On the same time, he carried on his predecessors' conversion policy, and destroyed Pella because its inhabitants refused to convert. During his reign, the Hasmonean kingdom expanded to its greatest extent, now including the coastal plain, the northern Negev, and western parts of Transjordan.^[6][4][5] Jannaeus' dual role as king and high priest, his inclination towards the Sadducees, the high cost of the wars in both money and lives threatened the governmental balance and sparked opposition to his rule, resulting in the Judean Civil War, which Jannaeus brutally suppressed.

Salome Alexandra (r. 76–67 BCE), Jannaeus' widow, ascended to power following her husband's death. Under her rule, the priesthood was separated from the other powers of government for the first time since the rise of the Hasmoneans. Salome appointed her son, Hyrcanus II, as high priest and his brother, Aristobulus II, as army commander, and pursued a moderate, mostly defensive policy that included the formation of a large and deterring army. Her nine-year reign is described as one of peace and economic prosperity, during which the country recovered from wars. The queen clearly supported the Pharisees, even allowing them to persecute and punish the Sadducees. Her rule had a distinct Hellenistic flavor, as there was no tradition of female rule in Judea.

Hasmonean kings attempted to revive the Judah described in the Bible: a Jewish monarchy ruled from Jerusalem and including all territories once ruled by David and Solomon. In order to carry out this project, the Hasmoneans forcibly converted neighbor nations to Judaism.^[63] Some scholars argue that the Hasmonean dynasty institutionalized the final Jewish biblical canon.^[64]

Early Roman period (63 BCE – 70 CE)

After Pompey's conquest of Judea in 63 BCE, Hyrcanus II assumed the role of ethnarch; however, his advisor Antipater was ruler in practice and managed the kingdom's affairs. Some cities which were conquered by the Hasmoneans were removed from Judaean rule, including Azotus, Jaffa and Samaria, as well as Scythopolis and several cities in Transjordan, which formed the semi-autonomous Decapolis.

Hyrcanus II's rule was unstable. Alexander II, Aristobulus II's son, raised a large army and seized Jerusalem, forcing Hyrcanus to leave the city. The Roman general Aulus Gabinius invaded Judea in retaliation, sent Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem, and reinstated him as high priest. When Caesar's civil war broke out, Julius Caesar attempted to install Aristobulus on the throne; however, Aristobulus was poisoned, and his son Alexander, who was preparing to support him, was beheaded at Antioch at the command of Pompey. Antipater and his sons Phasael and Herod gained status and power at the expense of the Hasmonean dynasty's waning power.

When the Parthians invaded the area in 40 BCE, they installed Antigonus II Mattathias, Aristobulus II's youngest son, as king. Phasael committed suicide, and Hyrcanus II was taken as a prisoner to Babylon after having his ear severed in order to prevent him from ever acting as high priest again. Herod, who fled the Parthians, found his way to Mark Antony, who then controlled the eastern part of the Roman Republic. In agreement with his co-ruler Augustus, who controlled the western part, the two decided to appoint Herod as king of Judaea, and sent him with an army to seize the throne. In 37 BCE, Jerusalem was taken after a siege, and Antigonus was captured and executed.

Herodian dynasty

Main article: Herodian dynasty

In 37-36 BCE, Herod the Great was appointed king of the Jews by the Roman Senate. The kingdom of Judea during his period is also referred to as the Herodian kingdom. As a close and loyal ally to the Romans, Herod extended his rule as far as Arabia and the Hauran. Herod undertook many colossal building projects, including fully rebuilding the Second Temple and expanding the Temple Mount, and founding Caesarea Maritima as a major port city. Herod also constructed the enclosure around the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the fortress at Masada, and Herodium. The Herodian kingdom under Herod experienced a period of growth and expansion.

Reconstruction of Herod's Temple in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem

The port of Caesarea Maritima

Herodium, a palace fortress built by Herod

After Herod's death in 4 BCE, the kingdom was partitioned to several parts to each of his three sons (initially four parts), forming the Tetrarchy. The central part of the Tetrarchy was given to Herod Archelaus, including Judea proper, Idumea and Samaria. Herod's death in 4 BCE caused the release of built up frustrations of the people who were suppressed by his brutality. Many people were impoverished because of Herod's high taxes and spending. When he died, his building projects that once allowed for job opportunities were stopped, and many people lost their jobs. This built up frustrations that ultimately contributed to the causes of the First Jewish–Roman War.^[65]

First Jewish-Roman War

Main article: First Jewish–Roman War

In 66 CE, the Jews of Judea rose in revolt against Rome, sparking the First Jewish–Roman War (66-73 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt. Flavius Josephus, a contemporary Jewish historian who fought as the commander of Jewish forces in Galilee but later defected to the Roman side, chronicled the events of the war in his book The Jewish War.

The hill where ancient Yodfat stood; the ruins of Gamla; stone piles near the Western Wall thought to have been thrown by Roman legionaries during the destruction of the Second Temple

Vespasian, an experienced Roman general, was sent by emperor Nero to crush the rebellion. He arrived at Ptolemais along with legions X Fretensis and V Macedonica. There he was joined by his son Titus, who arrived from Alexandria at the head of Legio XV Apollinaris, as well as by the armies of various local allies including that of king Agrippa II. During the Galilee campaign, many towns surrendered without a fight, and others were taken by force. Yodfat, a fortified town in the Lower Galilee, was besieged for 47 days before it fell to treachery; the city was razed, many people were killed, and the rest were enslaved. Gamla, the major Jewish stronghold in the Golan Heights, fell after a one month siege. Following a lull in military operations caused by civil war and political turmoil in Rome, Vespasian was summoned to Rome and appointed Emperor.

The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the Roman triumph celebrating the fall of Jerusalem. The procession includes the Menorah and other Second Temple vessels.

In early 70 CE, Titus moved to besiege Jerusalem, the center of rebel resistance in Judaea. The city had been taken over by several rebel factions following a period of massive unrest and the collapse of a short-lived provisional government. The first two walls of Jerusalem were breached in three weeks, but the Roman Army was unable to breach the third and thickest wall due to a stubborn rebel standoff. According to Josephus, a contemporary historian and the main source for the war, the city was ravaged by murder, famine and cannibalism.^[73] On Tisha B'Av, 70 CE (August 30),^[74] Roman forces finally overwhelmed the defenders and set fire to the Temple.^[75] Resistance continued for another month, but eventually the upper and lower parts of the city were taken as well, and the city was burned to the ground. Titus spared only the three towers of the Herodian citadel as a testimony to the city's former might.^[76][77] Josephus wrote that over a million people perished in the siege and the subsequent fighting.^[78] While contemporary studies dispute this figure, all agree that the siege had a major toll on human life, with many people being killed and enslaved, and large parts of the city destroyed.

After the fall of Jerusalem, Titus returned to Rome, leaving the remaining Jewish strongholds, including Herodium and Machaerus, to the Roman Legions. The war ended in 73-74 CE with the siege of Masada. According to Josephus, the siege resulted in the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels and resident Jewish families, though the historicity of the mass suicide is debated.

Aerial view of Masada, the last stronghold of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman siege ramp appears to the right.

Aftermath

Two generations after the First Jewish-Roman War, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE) erupted. One reason seems to be the re-establishment of Jerusalem as a Roman colony under the name of Aelia Capitolina. The revolt was brutally suppressed by the Romans and resulted in the extensive depopulation of Judean communities, more so than during the First Jewish–Roman War of 70 CE.^[79][80] Some scholars have described these events as genocide.^[80] According to Cassius Dio, 580,000 Jews perished in the war and many more died of hunger and disease, 50 fortresses and 985 villages were destroyed. In addition, many Judean war captives were sold into slavery.^[81] Some modern historians assert that Dio's numbers were somewhat exaggerated,^[82] but based on the archeological evidence, virtually all scholars support Dio's claim of massive depopulation.^[83] The revolt put an end to Jewish aspirations for the reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as well as, more concretely, for Jewish settlement in the region of Judaea.^[84] The province of Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina.^[85][86]

Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt.^[87] Nevertheless, there was a continuous small Jewish presence and Galilee became its religious center.^[88][89] Jewish communities also continued to reside in the southern Hebron Hills and on the coastal plain.^[79] The Mishnah and part of the Talmud, central Jewish texts, were composed during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE in Tiberias and Jerusalem.^[90] Over the next centuries, more Jews emigrated to flourishing communities in the Diaspora. Others remained in the Land of Israel, and some converted to Christianity.^[91] Jewish historians occasionally refers to this time period, which corresponds with the world's late antiquity, as the Rabbinic or Talmudic period.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism separated into a linguistically Greek and a Hebrew / Aramaic sphere.^{[92]: 8–11} The theology and religious texts of each community were distinctively different.^{[92]: 11–13} Hellenized Judaism never developed yeshivas to study the Oral Law. Rabbinic Judaism (centered in the Land of Israel and Babylon) almost entirely ignores the Hellenized Diaspora in its writings.^[92] It is unknown whether Hellenized Judaism ultimately vanished as its adherents assmiliated into the Christianized Greco-Roman society, or if it persisted as a distinct, bible-oriented community that later affected the development of Karaite Judaism.^{[92]: 14–16}

By the first century, the Jewish community in Babylonia, to which Jews were exiled after the Babylonian conquest as well as after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, already held a speedily growing^[93] population of an estimated one million Jews, which increased to an estimated two million^[94] between the years 200 CE and 500 CE, both by natural growth and by immigration of more Jews from the Land of Israel, making up about one-sixth of the world Jewish population at that era.^[94]

Literature

The religious literature of the Second Temple period can be split into three categories: the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha; the literature of the Greek-speaking diaspora; and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The first two categories were preserved by Christians, while the third one was discovered in the 20th century in the Qumran caves.^[97]

The Apocrypha ('hidden books') were accepted as canonical scripture by various Christian denominations, and includes books like 1–4 Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch (inc. the Letter of Jeremiah), Tobit and Judith, along with 1–2 Esdras and Prayer of Manasseh which are not considered as canonical by any church. The Pseudepigrapha ('false superscription') include books attributed to well-known biblical figures, including Enoch, Abraham, Moses and others. The Dead Sea Scrolls are generally believed to be the library of a mystic sectarian community that lived at Qumran, most likely the Essenes. Together with the works from the first two categories, it also contains other writings including the Community Rule, the Damascus Document, the Temple Scroll, the War Scroll, the Thanksgiving Hymns, the pesharim, and others.^[97]

A fourth category would be some parts of the Hebrew Bible that were composed during the Second Temple period, including the prophetic books of Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi, Joel, and parts of Isaiah (24–7, 56–66), all dating from the Persian period, along extensive portions of the Ketuvim. However, these books are not typically included in scholarship as part of the Second Temple period literature.^[97]

Agriculture

Almost all of the national Jewish economy's needs during the Second Temple period were met domestically; there was virtually little exporting or importing.^[98] Agriculture played a significant role in economic life. Josephus explains why earlier texts did not mention Jews by stating that:

As for ourselves, therefore, we neither inhabit a maritime country, nor do we delight in merchandise, nor in such a mixture with other men as arises from it; but the cities we dwell in are remote from the sea, and having a fruitful country for our habitation, we take pains in cultivating that only.^[99][98]

It is believed that the majority of Judaea's farmland was used to grow grain, predominantly wheat but also hardier but less popular barley in drier areas. Archaeologists have found numerous olive and winepresses, indicating the importance of these products as well. Rabbinic literature, Josephus' writings, and the New Testament further reveal that herbs, garden vegetables, and legumes were also grown. Legumes were especially important, because they could be stored for a long time and frequently flourished in years when other crops failed.^[100] Sources from the late first and early second centuries CE indicate that rice was introduced to Palestine by Jewish farmers during the early Roman period. The local crop was fine, large-kernel rice.^[101]

The main products of livestock were milk, butter, and cheese (albeit these foods made up a small portion of the diet), wool, and food for the Roman army, whose diet, unusually for the time period, included a daily ration of meat. There was also fish, probably generally pickled, though not in great quantities. The Galilean city of Tarichaeae, located along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, got its name from Greek: ταρίχη, "pickled fish".^[100]

A few small areas in the province dedicated to the cultivation of cash crops. A famous example is the balsam plantations around Jericho. Josephus also indicates that in his day, the olive was extensively grown in some parts of Upper Galilee, and that its oil was occasionally sold to neighboring cities.^[100]

Import and export

There are several sources that do suggest there may have been a limited amount of importing. Wheat imports are mentioned in Makhshirin 3:4, and the rabbis' ruling that imported pottery and glass were ritually impure also seems to suggest that these products were brought into the region. The Hellenistic-period Hefzibah inscription demonstrates that there was some exchange of goods among the local communities, and there may have even been some export. it is also possible that the area served as a form of commerce enclave, as balsam and dates from the Jericho area were sold outside the area and it is obvious that the locals there were not self-sufficient in other ways.^[98]

But, when looking at the overall economic picture, the scale of imports and exports was insignificant. For instance, the Romans imposed a yearly land tax and harbor tax on Hyrcanus in the sum of 20,665 modia, or around 135.5 tons of wheat for Joppa. A levy of 135.5 tons of wheat was absurdly low considering Joppa was the main Jewish port, indicating that the city only exported a little amount of goods.^[98] According to Josephus, the main commercial hubs were the Phoenician coastal cities. They took part in international trade in the Mediterranean sea and reportedly served as the main ports for the Land of Israel's meager import and export requirements. Some of those cities were conquered by the Hasmoneans, while they may not have been completely abandoned, their economic situation and prestige degraded. During this period, only Ascalon remained an independent city, and Joppa continued to function as a small harbor city. The Phoenician coastal cities prospered once more and resumed their status as economic hubs after the Romans seized Palestine.^[98]

Importing food was important at times of drought or famine, as it was during the time of Herod,^[102] and Helena.^[103][98] Nonetheless, as is evident from the Testament of Job,^[104] trading at this time was often a characteristic of the coastal cities.^[98]

Goods

Hurvat Itri, a partially reconstructed village of the Second Temple period

A rock-cut wine press at Hurvat Itri

Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period was a significant center of consumption at this time. This economic center developed to meet the needs of both the Temple and pilgrims, as well as those of the locals who did not work in agriculture.^[98][105] Doves were raised in the Judean Lowlands and sent to the Temple.^[98]

The locations from which the Temple received high-quality agricultural items are listed in the Mishnah's Menachot tractate. The highest quality fine flour was transported from farms in Michmas and Zonicha (now Zanoah). The Aforayim flour came in second. Olive trees near Teqoa of Galilee served as the Temple's main source of olive oil. Regev in the Transjordan came in second. Qerouthim (Keruthim) and Hatoulim were the main producers of wine, followed by Beit Rima (now Bani Zeid al-Gharbia, Beit Lavan (now al-Lubban al-Gharbi), and Kefar Signa (in the lower Galilee).^[106]

Overview

Judea's linguistic situation during the Second Temple period is defined by the co-existence of two spoken languages: Aramaic and Hebrew.^[107] The meaning of the population's bilingualism is debated; opinions differ on whether speakers express themselves equally in Hebrew or Aramaic, or whether one language is preferred over the other depending on region. Aramaic became widely spoken in Samaria and Galilee, while Judea continued to use Hebrew.^[107] Although Aramaic had eventually surpassed Hebrew as the most widely spoken language in the region, many people learned Hebrew as a liturgical language.

During the two centuries of Persian rule (538–332 BCE), the administrative language was Imperial Aramaic.^[107] Beginning in 333 BCE, Koine Greek became the official language of administration and was used to spread Hellenistic culture. Even under Roman rule, the administrative language in the eastern provinces, including Judaea, remained Greek.

The square script (also known as Ktav Ashuri) had probably already started to replace the paleo-Hebrew script during the Persian period, though the transition was not complete until the Hellenistic period and traces of the previous script were still in use until the Bar-Kokhba revolt.^[107]

Latin, the language of the Roman army and higher levels of administration, had almost no impact on the linguistic landscape. It is less common in texts and archaeology. Only a few Latin papyri were discovered in the region; those discovered at Masada belonged to the Roman garrison.

Aramaic

During the Persian period, Aramaic was the civil administration language. The contract texts were written in Aramaic. The ketubah (marriage contract), get (divorce certificate), and other legal documents mentioned in the Talmud are written in Aramaic. The formulas for the Aramaic texts of the ketubot have been preserved since the Persian period, even though they were modified during the Hellenistic period. Elephantine's Jewish community has adopted Aramaic, and it was the main language used in the Elephantine papyri and ostraca. Jesus, a native of the Galilee, and his disciples spoke Aramaic.

Funerary inscription in Aramaic: "Yehosef bar Aglon"

Despite the fact that Aramaic has become the most widely spoken language, there are few Aramaic texts that provide information on the language spoken in the region during the Second Temple period. Three books of the Hebrew Bible contain passages in Aramaic: Ezra 4:8 to 6:18 and 7:12 to 26 and Daniel 2:4 to 7:28. The Megillat Ta'anit ("The Scroll of Fasting") was written in Aramaic around the first century CE. This is also true of the targumim, or Aramaic paraphrases of the Bible, but dating them is difficult.

Hebrew

Portion of the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, written in Hebrew during the late Second Temple period

Some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible, including Ezra and Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, and Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, are explicitly dated to the Second Temple period. The first and second verses of the book of Ezekiel were written during the Babylonian exile. There are varying opinions about when Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Jonah, some of the Psalms, and possibly the Book of Job were written. The majority of researchers, however, agree that they were composed during the Second Temple period. Most of these books were written in what linguistics call "Late Biblical Hebrew".^[107] This later form of Biblical Hebrew is particularly notables in the Book of Chronicles since it occasionally rewrites sections from Samuel and Kings and modifies parts to conform to post-exilic usage.^[107] However, not all of the Second Temple literature exhibits the language traits of late Biblical Hebrew to the same degree; some of it is written in a manner that is strikingly reminiscent of classical Biblical Hebrew.

Hebrew was still a spoken language during the Second Temple period at least in some areas of Judea. It continued to be used up until 200 CE, and possibly even after. It is thought that the Hebrew spoken during the Second Temple period evolved from Biblical Hebrew, possibly from a distinct dialect. This form of Hebrew is now known as Mishnaic Hebrew. The Hasideans, who are believed to be the precursors of both the Essenes and the Pharisees, used a combination of Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew as their literary language, with Mishnaic Hebrew dominating.^[107] The literature of the Tannaim and Amoraim of the Land of Israel and Babylonia is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, which is later found in the Mishnah. Among the earliest are the tractates of Tamid and Middot. It reflects a living Hebrew that is not just an artificial language reserved for Jewish scholars, despite the fact that this language has been fixed in rabbinic discussions. The Qumran group continued to use Late Biblical Hebrew, which was still a literary language, while fusing it with their own unique linguistic traits.^[107]

The first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus asserts that he addressed the people of Jerusalem in Hebrew. But as usual, his testimony is ambiguous and at odds with the Aramaic transcriptions he uses to describe Jewish traditions. Spoken Hebrew saw a brief resurgence in interest during the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). The Mishna, however, was written down circa 200 CE because it could no longer be memorized and could no longer be transmitted orally due to the lack of Hebrew speakers who could memorize it.

Archaeology provides evidence of the usage of Mishnaic Hebrew in the Second Temple period. It can be found in texts found in the Judaean Desert from the first and second centuries, including the Copper Scroll found in Qumran and the Bar Kokhba letters and other writings found in caves near Nahal Hever. These documents provide a glimpse of everyday Hebrew, without indicating which regions they pertain to. Judean Desert examples tend to indicate that it is a southern dialect.

Greek

The Temple Warning inscription, one of two tablets found.^[108] This Greek inscription served as a warning to pagan visitors to the Second Temple not to go any further.

Greek was the primary language of the Jews of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, particularly those of Alexandria. Although the Jews of Egypt used Aramaic in the early Ptolemaic period, it was quickly abandoned in favor of Greek. It is only in the early Byzantine period that Egyptian Jewish communities communicated with one another in Hebrew, which again served as the official language.^[109]

The use of Greek was not limited to the Jewish Diaspora. From the third century BCE onward, almost all inscriptions in the Southern Levant were written in Greek, with the exception of tombs and ossuaries, as well as those in synagogues.^[109] Many ossuaries of the period bear inscriptions in Greek, either indicating the tombs of families descended from the Diaspora or assisting authorities in identifying the tombs. According to the Mishna, Greek was even present in the Temple of Jerusalem.^[110]

Greek was widely used in Judaea, at least in a certain social stratum. Greek was also used in legal documents such as the Babatha Archives and the Bar Kokhba letters. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was not limited to Jews in the Diaspora - it was also used in Judea, as evidenced by the discovery of fragments at Qumran and Nahal Hever.

Greek names like Jason, Menelaus, and Alexander were popular among Jews throughout most of the Second Temple period. Some Pharisees, too, had Greek names like Antigonus of Sokho or P[t]ollion.

Nationalistic aspirations

Early Hellenistic Greek observers described the Jews as eastern philosophers who lived outside of the Hellenistic political unrest of the time in an autopian ethno-national context. Jewish texts from the Persian era don't reflect any political aspirations for independence, and later, in the early Hellenistic era, Jews had a favorable view of the Hellenistic rulers.^[95]

However, the circumstances leading up to the Maccabean revolt caused a militaristic-zealot tradition to form between the 170s and 160s BCE, and it continued to play a key role in the national life until the Bar Kokhba revolt.^[95]

Diaspora

The homeland remained the common symbolic tie of Diaspora Jews. It was the center of the universe, despite the fact that the majority of Jews living abroad would not come back and despite the fact that many of them showed a love for both their native Greco-Roman cities and the city of the temple in Jerusalem.^[115] It is possible that the Jews of Smyrna, Asia Minor, donated money to support city projects. Trebilco refers to them as "former Judeans" rather than "former Jews," implying that they were being referred to as a group whose origins were in Judea but who were now devoted to their current city of residency and even made contributions to public enterprises. Jews in Acmonia, Phrygia made donations to their city and referred to it as their patris, "home city" or "native town".^[115]

The works of Philo of Alexandria, writing in the early 1st century CE, shed more light on the connection of Diaspora Jews with Judea. At Philo's time, Jews had long been present in the Diaspora and particularly in Alexandria for quite a long time, and because his fellow nationals had lived in Alexandria for many generations, Philo appears to have thought of it as his city. But on the same time, Philo wrote that while the Diaspora Jews refer to the place where they were born and raised as their fatherland, they consider Jerusalem to be their mother city:^[115][116]

...they hold the Holy City where the sacred Temple of the most high God to be their mother city, yet those which are an inheritance from their fathers, grandfathers, and ancestors even farther back, are in each case, accounted by them to be their fatherland in which they were born are reared.^[117][115]

In an effort to explain the situation of the Jews in terms that Greek readers would comprehend, Philo portrayed the Jews in the Diaspora as immigrants who founded colonies (Greek: apoikiai), with Jerusalem being their mother-city (metropolis). According to Kasher, Alexandria could only be considered a homeland in this case since it was where a Jewish "colony" was founded. The colony was organized as a distinct ethnic union with a recognized political and legal status (politeuma), with Jerusalem serving as its mother-city.^[116]

For Philo, the ethnic distinctions between Egyptians and Jews are more significant than those between Greeks and Jews since native Egyptians from Alexandria are the lowest-class residents and practiced ridiculous habits. Around the same time, Apion, an Alexandrian who may have Egyptian ancestry, spoke of the closeness between Jews and Egyptians and the inherent enmity between Jews and Greeks. Apion held the view that Jews were descended from Egyptians, which Josephus denied. As Philo himself writes, both communities practiced circumcision and showed passion for their nationalistic and religious beliefs, yet the bulk of each population was not Roman citizens.^[115]

By area

During the late Second Temple period and up until the Bar Kokhba revolt, Judea proper, Galilee, Peraea, Sharon, and western Samaria constituted a band of nearly continuous Jewish settlement. Central and northern Samaria was inhabited by Samaritans.^[83]

Total numbers

The number of Jews residing in the world and in Judea in ancient times is almost impossible to determine, as it is with other ancient populations, and research in that area has fallen out of scholarly favor in recent years. Nonetheless, a few academics have offered estimates over the years using different approaches.^[128]

In Jerusalem

The monumental tombs of the Kidron Valley, photographed in 1862 by Francis Bedford

A number of especially lavish tombs were built around Jerusalem during the early Roman period. Examples are the so-called "Tombs of the Sanhedrin" and the monumental tombs of the Kidron Valley. As a common practice in the Greco-Roman world, these tombs were built along ancient roads that have since disappeared. Scholars believe these tombs were built by individuals seeking to elevate themselves and their families in the eyes of Jews in both the Land of Israel and the Diaspora by employing temple-like architectural designs.^[135] One of the most well known sites of the period, also built near Jerusalem, is the rock-cut funerary complex known as the "Tombs of the Kings", which may be associated with Helena of Adiabene.^[136]

According to Jewish Law (Mishnah, Bava Batra tractate), due to the sanctity of Jerusalem and the impurity of the dead, burial was only allowed beyond the city's walls and fifty cubits away.^[137] When the city expanded, the cemeteries were removed (except for the graves of the House of David and Huldah).^[138] It has been suggested that the Uzziah Tablet, which says "Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Not to be opened", might indicate that king Uzziah's tomb was relocated beyond the city's walls during this period.^[139] Jericho's cemetery was also located outside the town's limits.^[133]

In rural Judea

The funerary complex of Deir-ed Derb, Western Samaria, modern-day Qarawat Bani Hassan

Elaborate rock-cut tombs with designs resembling those found in Jerusalem were found in multiple sites in Western Samaria, including Khirbet Kurkush, Deir ed-Derb and Mokata 'Aboud, and in the Western Hebron Hills, including Khirbat al-Simia, Rujm el-Fihjeh and Khirbet el Jof. The great similarity between these tombs and the Jerusalem tombs and the lack of a local Hellenistic prototype have led the researchers to the assumption that the decorated tombs in western Samaria and western Mount Hebron are not the result of an internal development of the burial system there but rather the result of a deliberate copying of the Jerusalem tombs, at the special request of local, affluent families.^[140][141]

Most researchers concur that these tombs date from the same period as the Jerusalem tombs that were served as a model for replication, however, Magen thinks otherwise: the visible difference in the quality of the design and carving between the tombs indicates a chronological gap between them in his opinion, and therefore he suggests dating the tombs of West Samaria and the Western Hebron Hills later than the Jerusalem tombs, at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second century. Magen also raised the possibility that their hewing is connected to the flight of Jewish artisans to Samaria and the Hebron Hills with the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem and perhaps even a little earlier, when the construction enterprises in the city began to dwindle and many quarrymen were left without employment.^[142][141]

Peleg-Barkat suggests distinguishing between the rock-cut tombs of western Samaria and those of the western Hebron Hills. In her opinion, the western Samaria' tombs are closer to the Jerusalem style, and imitate them. The Hebron Hills' tombs, in comparison, do not try to imitate the facade decorations of the Jerusalem tombs, but are influenced by them to a certain degree, and display Judean and Nabatean influences at the same time. In her opinion, the tombs should be dated to a date before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, although it is possible that the tradition of decorating in the Jerusalem style continued even after that. The phenomenon indicates that the adorned tombs of the Jewish elite in Jerusalem had an impact on the local elites in the towns and rural communities of Judaea.^[141]

Citations