Distinguished classical and religious scholars from Canada and the U.S. present a day-long workshop on ancient Jewish culture and society. Lost Worlds: Jewish Life, Roman Rule will explore the lives of Jews in Judea and the Mediterranean communities of the Diaspora as they came to be increasingly dominated by the power of Rome during the first century.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP
In the first century of the Common Era, Jewish society was complex, and Jewish culture rich. Jews lived not only in Judea, but in all the major cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. But as they awaited the coming of their messiah, they found their lives increasingly dominated by the power of Rome and, in the first century and beyond, Jews and Romans clashed repeatedly.

The emperor Nero launched a war against Jewish rebels that resulted in the destruction of the Temple in 70CE, and 65 years later the emperor Hadrian first destroyed Jerusalem and then rebuilt it as a Roman city named after himself. What was every day life like for the Jews of Judea and those who lived in the communities of the Diaspora cities of the Mediterranean? Join us for the day as we learn about the religion and culture of the Jews in the lost world of Judea, and in the new worlds they created.

PROGRAM 10:00 am: Welcome
Jamie Cassels, Vice President, Academic and Provost, UVic, Ingrid Holmberg, Acting Chair, Department of Greek and Roman Studies, UVic, and Michael Levy, Jewish Community Centre

10:15 am: The Temple as a Source of Unity and Conflict (So What Else is New?)
Eliezer Segal, Department of Religious Studies, University of Calgary

11:15 am: Break

11:35 am: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jodi Magness, Departments of Classics and Art History, Tufts University

12:35 pm: Lunch
If you are registered for the traditional Jewish dairy cuisine lunch, please proceed to the University Centre cafeteria.

2:00 pm: The Jews in Roman Eyes: Aliens, Oddballs, Rebels
Erich Gruen, Department of History and Classics, University of California, Berkeley

3:00 pm: Break

3:30 pm: King Herod’s Buildings: Personality and Politics
Kenneth Holum, Department of History, University of Maryland

4:30 pm: Closing Remarks Rabbi Harry Brechner, Congregation Emanu-el

THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Eliezer Segal
Department of Religious Studies, University of Calgary, Alberta

Eliezer Segal’s primary areas of research include Talmudic literature, Jewish law and homiletics, and comparative Biblical interpretation. His scholarly publications include Case Citation in the Babylonian Talmud (1990) and The Babylonian Esther Midrash: A Critical Commentary (3 vols., 1994) as well as many articles and book chapters. He has contributed to comparative studies on topics as diverse as afterlife beliefs, scriptures and traditions, religious practice, and criminal justice and has a popular site on the Web ().

Two collections of his non-specialist articles have appeared under the the titles Why Didn’t I Learn This in Hebrew School? (1999), and Holidays, History and Halakhah (2000). His children’s book Uncle Eli’s Passover Haggadah (1999) has been very successful, and will soon be followed by Uncle Eli Repents, a humorous rhymed version of the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement prayers.

Dr. Jodi Magness, Departments of Classics and Art History, Tufts University

Jodi Magness is Associate Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology and has taught at Tufts since 1992. Professor Magness’ research interests, which focus on Palestine in the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods, include ancient pottery, ancient synagogues, Qumran, and the Roman army in the East. She has participated on 20 different excavations in Israel and Greece, including co-directing the 1995 excavations in the Roman siege works at Masada. In the summer of 2002, she will co-direct excavations at the Roman fort at Yotvata, Israel.

Professor Magness has published one edited volume, with S. Gitin, entitled Hesed ve-Emet, Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs (1998), a monograph entitled Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology circa 200-800 C.E. (1993), and numerous articles in journals and edited volumes. She has two monographs in press: The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine (Eisenbrauns), and The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eerdmans).

Dr. Erich Gruen
Department of History and Classics, University of California, Berkeley

Erich S. Gruen is Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley. He has twice been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and a recipient of the Austrian Cross of Honor for scholarship and the arts. He also received a Distinguished Teaching Award at Berkeley. Among his recent books are Culture and Identity in Republican Rome (1992), Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition (1998), and Diaspora: Jews amidst the Greeks and Romans (forthcoming).

Dr. Kenneth Holum
Department of History, University of Maryland

Kenneth Holum specializes in Late Antiquity and the archaeology and history of Greek and Roman cities. Since 1989 he has directed the Combined Caesarea Expeditions, an international archaeological project that explores Caesarea Maritima, a Roman city located on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. His books include Theodosian Empresses (1982) on imperial women in Late Antiquity, and King Herod’s Dream (1988) on the antiquities of Caesarea. He served as curator for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling museum exhibition “King Herod’s Dream” (1988-90), and has consulted on four films on Caesarea. Professor Holum has been awarded a number of grants and awards. He is currently Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland.

FEE
$51.36 CDN (includes GST) or $10.70 CDN for UVic students A traditional Jewish dairy cuisine lunch is available for an additional $16.05 CDN.

TO REGISTER
Call (250) 472-4747. For more information, call (250) 721-8463 or e-mail pfaulds@uvcs.uvic.ca

This workshop is brought to you by the Jewish Community Centre of Victoria, the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, and the Division of Continuing Studies.