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The First Jewish Revolt: Archaeology, History and Ideology

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Here is a collection of essays by various scholars that is simply wonderful--all sorts of arguments and archaeological information about the war that truly changed the world.

Before the Jewish war began in 66 AD the Jewish religion was temple based, sacrificial, and led by priests. Many pagans regarded the Christians as merely another Jewish sect, and a peculiar one at that. After the war, the Jewish religion altered; without a temple, sacrifices ceased, and without the long lineages kept in the temple, the priesthood ended. "It is safe to say that had there not been a Jewish revolt in Judea in 66-70 AD Christianity and Judaism, as we know them today, would not exist. The forms, structure, and theologies that are part of both of these great religious traditions owe much to the crisis provoked by the Revolt and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem" (p 5).

It was arguably one of the most important wars in history.

And so here is a book with plenty of information about the war, from all kinds of viewpoints, as well as pictures and drawings of recent archaeological finds.

Gruen argues that "Roman anxiety is nowhere in evidence " (p 32) regarding the Jews, either before or after the war. In another provoking essay, Berlin argues that "archaeological evidence demonstrates that for over two generations, Galilean Jews resisted Rome--individually, collectively, consistently, and actively" (p 70). Avhalom-Gurni and Getzov agree that "In the first century AD the Jewish population seems to have developed a growing adherence to religious dictates and commandments, which in turn caused them to become more insular and closed-in" (p 81). Pork bones, and other influences of paganism are pretty much nonexistent. Hellenism apparently had little effect on the Jewish people's fierce monotheism from the time of the Maccabees through to 70 AD.

Tessa Rajak explores whether or not the revolt had any underpinnings of eschatalogical beliefs, especially that of Daniel's 490 years, and notes that "It is at one's peril that one assaults Martin Hengel's classic reconstruction of the beliefs and ideas of the Zealots" (p 177). This is an outstanding essay, and I highly recommend it, but it is too complicated to discuss.

Neil Asher Silberman essay ends the book, noting that the Revolt was not just a distant historical event but "a searing human nightmare that has--despite time, social transformation, historical distance....simply refused to fade away. Its image of brute force triumphant" ( p 238), and its huge historical implications, fascinate us even today.

Anyone with any interest in history, or the Jewish and Christian religions will enjoy this book.